Favorite Photo Friday

Lake Tahoe, Summer 2007. MY happiest place on earth.

Thankful Thursday

It seems like forever since I did a Thankful Thursday...here goes!
1. Sunshine

After what seems like two straight weeks of rain it has been glorious to have the sun out today. I LOVED the rain for the first week, but by week two I was ready for the sun to come out. It is only a couple of weeks until Independence Day and it feels like spring still! I'm ready for SUMMER!

2. Summer!
Miquelle is out of school for the summer. Jared and Gabe are not (darn year round school!!) It has been so fun to have Miquelle home. She is very helpful and it is fun to have her friends over. Today she and I took Cole and Cagney to run errands and we got a lot done! It is so nice to have another set of big hands around. And Miquelle is really fun to shop with!

3. New shoes
One of our stops today was for new work shoes for me. My feet and my back have not been on speaking terms for quite some time. It was time to spring for new work shoes. I got some that a lot of people at work recommended. I sure hope they help because they cost probably as much as my last 7 pair of shoes! I would rather have more inexpensive shoes that a couple of expensive pair. But it was time. Hopefully my back and feet with be friends again.

4. Online classes
I'm taking another online class this summer (English). It is SO cool. I have to log in every wednesday morning and listen to a lecture (from the comfort of my own home) from my teacher (that she gives from the comfort of her own home). People in the class can type questions or comments. WOW! Back in my day we had to actually get dressed, leave the house and go to a classroom! AND this teacher is so helpful unlike last semester where my teacher only answered one email the whole semester!! I have a paper due for my class tomorrow that I should be working on right now. If only writing English papers was as fun as blogging. (Rachel would probably disagree with me.)

5. People
How can I put this without sounding weird? Hmmm. I like to surround myself with people that make me feel good, make me laugh, teach me things, make me want to be a better person. And I know a lot of those people! I'm so grateful for those examples. For people that make life bearable, for people who make me laugh, for people who listen, for people who don't judge, for people who make the ins and outs of daily life so much more enjoyable!! If you are reading this chances are you can probably count yourself as one of those people! So THANKS!

Favorite Photo Friday

This is my gorgeous new stove. In the nearly 15 years we have been married this is the VERY first time we have ever purchased a new appliance. THE VERY FIRST TIME!! We have been wanting to replace our very OLD kitchen appliances forever (well as long as we have lived in this house) and had decided that we were going to wait until we had the money to do all of them at one time. Well that wasn't happening so we decided to do them piece by piece. So this week we picked out our new stove. It was delivered and I loved it immediately.

So what happens right after we purchase OUR VERY FIRST new appliance in 15 years? Well the quick and easy muffler job that we took the car in for (the same day we got the stove) turns into a much more involved, MUCH more expensive, many more things that need to be done to keep our nearly 300,000 miles car running job.

THEN the trouble that we have been having with the van (that no one can figure out what the problem is) off and on for months just today became much less off and much more on. All in the same week that we decided it was finally time to purchase OUR VERY FIRST new appliance in 15 YEARS!

SO if you see me outside screaming at the sky, "I DESERVE A PRETTY STOVE!! THE CARS WOULD HAVE HAD TROUBLE ANYWAY!!" just ignore me, grab some popcorn and watch, or better yet join me...I'm sure you have something you could scream about too.

FOUR!!

How can my youngest kids be four already?!
Four years ago I wondered how we would ever survive...

It's a good thing they were so cute, and that we took photos so I can remember how cute they were!

Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

Age 4

And now, even after four years Trevor and I still marvel sometimes, shake our heads and say, "There's TWO of them!"

Four things about Cole at age 4

1. Cole is quiet, thoughtful and deliberate. He notices everything.
2. Cole is a picky eater and sometimes drives us crazy because of it!
3. Cole has a little tricycle that he rides but he doesn't pedal, he uses his feet Flinstones Style. It is so funny to watch.
4. Cole ALWAYS wants his sandwiches cut into triangles.

Four things about Cagney at age 4

1. Cagney is a busy busy girl and seldom sits still!
2. Cagney sleeps with so many dolls and stuffed animals in her bed that there is hardly room for her.
3. Cagney loves to wear skirts and dresses.
4. Cagney is very outgoing and friendly.