feels like fall

so i have not had anything to post about for quite a while. mostly because i've had absolutely no energy to do anything but lay on the couch. gratefully, my energy is slowly returning and i'm feeling like myself again... so hopefully there will be more things to post.

the other night, brandon and i borrowed my sister's kids and visited a little pumpkin patch at the end of our street. not only were we able to pick our own pumpkins out of the field, we were also able to play in a giant corn-box, get "lost" in a hay maze, and spend some quality time with a wallaby, a llama, some pygmy goats, sheep, and donkeys.it was fun to get out of the house and enjoy some fall festivities. our front porch now looks a bit more festive, although it's nothing compared to our neighbor's porch. i think we'll always be a step behind. ;)

first comes love...

then comes marriage...

then comes...

you can probably finish the rest yourself.

the big day is

in march!

--POST UPDATE!!!--

Due to the pinkish nature of the carriage color, some may assume that the baby may definitely be a girl. So in the effort to avoid confusion and just representation, the following must be added to this post.
-B-don

happy, happy birthday!

although brandon had to work on his birthday this year, :( we still had a pretty good day. saturday night we went to my dad's school and watched avatar in his "theater" room, ate pizza, popcorn, and JCW's shakes. then on sunday, i made my very first strawberry pie topped with some sweet sparkler candles.

happy birthday b-don!!!

june 24

~what a good day~

weeds

in the last few weeks our yard has really gotten out of hand. i'm talking 3 ft monster thistles and a variety of waist high weeds. we were looking a little white trash, to say the least.

we went from in-over-our-heads....

to light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel...

to a huge-sigh-of-relief.

i know, i know... we never should have let the weeds get out of control in the first place. we could have spent the day putting in a sprinkler system instead of plowing weeds and getting our yard to the point it was when we first moved in. moral of the story... don't let weeds overtake your life. it'd make a great church talk if anyone wants to borrow it. ;)

hopefully we've learned our lesson and can keep the weeds down until we put in sprinklers and grass.

thanks family for sacrificing a fun day of hiking for a hard day of work. b-don and i never could have done it by a our little 'ole selves.

appreciated

last week was teacher appreciation. i've heard rumors about the gifts some teachers get during this week... gift cards to their favorite clothing stores, certificates to restaurants, expensive soaps and lotions. i wouldn't know. teaching at a low-income school does not produce such gifts. we get something even better.


such as bars of soap....

and dirty, hair-covered, stuffed animals...

i can just see "J" remembering it's teacher appreciation week and searching his house for a proper gift. {he gave me a dirty stuffed zebra for christmas.} i would love to know his thoughts when he saw that bar of irish spring and knew it was the right gift for me. maybe that "shower everyday with soap" lesson actually stuck with him. {at least something did}

and poor "S". she's as dirty as the scorpion she gave me. maybe smellier though. this year she has pushed my already low patience to the brinks of losing all control. {i've had to take lots of deep breaths} but she gave me her scorpion. even if it was covered in pet hair... she was thinking of her teacher and that was nice. it made me want to be a little kinder and a lot more patient with her.

sisters trip

this week millie, abbie, and i drove down to arizona to visit our sister annie and her family.

it was so nice to get away and relax.

we celebrated easter together by watching conference, eating lots of food, hunting for eggs, and soaking up a little sun.

{highlights}

sun, sun, sun
coloring eggs
dinner with millie's sister-in-law's family
almost killing their hammie
annie's ultrasound.... girl... yes, another one
duck pond
hiking... it's getting hot in here...
dinner & movie with guillena's
peanut butter m&ms
freddy's
would you rather.... (such an entertaining game)
speeding tickets.... 2 of them
spending time with the girls i love... big and little

thank you abbie and millie for coming and making the trip entertaining. thank you ellery and aayla for being SO good in the car. thank you annie for letting us visit. i miss you guys.