Summer Days

Kate and her friend had a blast at the local pool today!  :-)

Spring Days

School is out for the summer now, but here is a look back at what we were up to on a few spring days. 
Kate is starting to look so grown up ~ sigh.  Where does the time go?




 Kate was on bus patrol at her school this year!


Grant and a friend doing what boys like to do ~ play video games! :-)

Piano Recital

This was Grant's first piano recital.  He's only been taking piano lessons for a couple of months.  He did a great job and seemed to enjoy himself! :-)



Katie is an old pro at recitals now! :-)  One of the songs she played was, "Fur Elise."  It is such a pretty song and she played it beautifully!

Birthday Boy

Happy birthday to my son, who made me a mom with his entrance to our family 13 years ago! He is maturing into a wonderful young man and his dad and I are so proud of him! HOW can he be a teenager, already, though?!! The time is flying by all too quickly, but we are loving the journey of watching him grow and we are so incredibly thankful to God for him!!!



Back in the day .. when Grant was about 2 years old.  

Two Beauties

 

Sweet Sisters

Birthday Girl

A New Year Begins

My husband brought me flowers for our anniversary. :-)


Back to school and the homework blues.

January 2nd was our 18th wedding anniversary. The next day we celebrated with a lunch date while the kids were at school. (free babysitting! ;-) ) It was such a good day, even though our conversation went deep and cut a little. Years ago we could never have talked like that on our anniversary! But, it was authentic and rich and good. We both agree it was a wonderful day and we wouldn't change any of it! :-)

Christmas Eve 2010

Making Gingerbread (Graham Cracker) Houses

To Find A Christmas Tree

We drove to a nearby tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree today.  It is a tradition that we keep every year on the day after Thanksgiving.  



It was beautiful out there, but it sure was cold!  We chose our tree quickly and hurried back inside to warm up!

Boxes of Love

 Here's Life Inner Cities' annual Thanksgiving Boxes of Love were packed by volunteers at the Here's Life warehouse a few days before Thanksgiving and distributed by local urban churches to people in their neighborhoods.

First Snowfall

 

This is the scene we woke up to outside our window on Saturday, November 13th.  The kids were giddy with delight and couldn't wait to get out and play in the snow! And play in the snow they did.  For hours!  They finally came in, warmed up and went back out for round two.

I admit that I do love the snow, from November through February, that is.  If only it melted away in March and we could enjoy a warm spring...but usually winter drags on and on until sometime in April.  And by then I am pretty sick of winter and snow!

So, for now, I say, "Welcome, Winter!"   (Just don't stay too long!)

Walls!

After many months of stop and start work on the basement, the walls are finally up and they are painted!  Whew!  It is a relief to have actual WALLS down there!  We still have to put up baseboards and trim around the windows, but having walls is a huge step and we are glad to be this far along.  Home improvements seem to take much longer than anticipated!! 

Brunch Date

The kids were at school and my husband had the day off, so we went to a fun bakery/cafe for brunch and then walked downtown.  We had so much fun talking, laughing and just being together.  I know this is a bit blurry, but it captures the memory of our fun date and makes me smile.

Last Warm Days of Fall

Pepper

Pepper is my daughter's guinea pig. He was given to us by a neighbor because their other guinea pig and Pepper did not get along.   I didn't really want a guinea pig,  but my daughter was in love with him, so Pepper came to live with us. I did not know that guinea pigs are sweet, social and cuddly, and that they make the cutest sounds when they are happy! So, now we all love Pepper. What a fun surprise gift he has been to our family!

A Look Back At Summer

Two of my favorite people enjoying summer...

Mom

I am so thankful that my mom could come for a visit!  She has braved the unusually cold and windy weather we have been having in what is typically a beautiful and mild month in terms of the weather.  I'm sure she misses her warm Arizona home, but I am SO GLAD she came!  We all love her so much and wish she lived closer!