have i mentioned how much i hate my banner?

(i'm sure most of you never see it from google reader).

i need some help.

3+3=heaven

3 days at the cabin + just the 3 of us. amazing.

swinging.

(yes, she is wearing a dress and lounge pants. you can do that at the cabin).

lunch at the weber river.



she screamed her first ride, then wouldn't stop asking for rides on the "motocytle."


horses. mountains. trees. fresh air. wonderful.

for a good cause

I'd been asking, begging, pleading for a few years. But the answer was no every time. "Not until it comes out in hi-def," was Jayson's answer. I agreed, for the most part, but the horrible personality flaw of one-track-mindedness (is that a word?) got the best of me sometimes. Jayson had recently relented and told me that if they didn't announce a hi-def unit by Christmas, that we would get one. I was pretty satisfied with that.

But yesterday was amazing.

It was the school carnival for Hillcrest Elementary where Joy teaches. We had to go and support her because she's a rockstar. The best part of the carnival was the silent auction where we hovered for a few hours. Jayson and I each had our things we were bidding on. We didn't want to win many of them, but we really wanted to prices to go high so the school would earn a lot of money.

Near the end of the auction, I was especially hovering around the wii, wishing I could bid. And then I realized...if we're going to get one anyway, I would much rather buy it at the auction where I know the money will go to the school than to target. GENIUS! How could either of us resist supporting such a noble cause?


We won. We love it. I'm so tickled. And both Jayson and I have tennis shoulder today.

p.s. I won't even tell you how many auctions we won. Or how many rounds of golf Jayson will be playing here soon.

drew

After a long wait and much anticipation, my little brother Drew received his mission call. He opened his call at my brother Kirk's house, but all of my brothers and sisters were on the phone, as well as my parents (who woke up at 4:00 in the morning).

A few of you might know what this means to Drew, to my parents, and to my family in general. It's taken Drew a little bit longer to get here, but I know his experiences will make him a better missionary. We're so proud of him and his decision to serve a mission.

dress up

tomatoes

I've never fertilized.

I've never watered by hand.

I forgot to put up tomato cages.

I've completely ignored my garden.

And still, I get this:

handsome jalapenos.

Basil that I planted from one of those "living herb" packages you buy at the grocery store. All of the leaves were stripped off this plant one month ago when I planted it, and I've taken leaves off several times since. And still, it grows....

Rosemary. This plant has grown and grown and grown. And I love rosemary.

Tomatoes. I planted 4 little plants a few months ago--beefstake, cherry, roma, and celebrity. One of them didn't make it, but the other three exploded. I had to take out the cherry tomato plant because I just couldn't eat them fast enough. And they were crowding out the other tomato plants (whose fruit I really did want to eat).

It looks like a jungle, doesn't it? The plants are really a mess, but the tomatoes are sooooo delish. We've had salsa, homemade tomato soup, tomato mozzarella salad, and chicken rice and black bean salad. And still, we can't keep up with these tomatoes. And the romas haven't even gone red yet. 

Not pictured is my greek oregano (that makes the most amazing souvlaki), my other pepper plant, and my peach tree (that has one lone peach on it this year). 

Since our yard is all front yard, I really struggled with if/how to have a vegetable and fruit garden. I really wanted to give it a shot, but was really nervous because I've killed every thing I've ever grown. This year was a real confidence booster because I've succeed and not really done anything. Wahoo!

I'm already jazzed for next year. I still don't have room to grow beans, corn, or squash. But I can do tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. And that tickles my toes. 

p.s. I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle right now. Anyone else read it? Did it change your life? 

they're here!!!

A new shipment of J Dawgs shirts arrived last week. We have sizes from 2T - adult 2X. Let me know if you need some.

pretty!

Mae loves the girly things--shopping, clothes, etc. A few weeks ago when we pulled up to the mall, she started yelling "yes, yes yes!"  Mercy, we're going to make a handsome (and expensive) duo.

She also loves makeup ("pretties"). If I am putting some on, she insists that she needs some as well. This is usually okay with me because I can give her stuff to put on that doesn't show up on her face. The problem we run into is when she finds my makeup by herself and decides to put it on. 

A few weeks ago it was mascara.

This week it was lip gloss.

Whenever I catch her in the act, she looks at me with that ridiculously cute grin and yells "pretty!" We laugh hysterically, take pictures, and then I have to pull myself together and try and help her understand that she can only do "pretties" with my help. Obviously our pep talk hasn't worked.

BTW, she figured out how to open both containers. And the lip gloss was much harder to get off.