Thursday, June 18, 2009

Family Pictures (finally!)

Ok so we're not really on the ball with the whole family portrait thing.
This is our FIRST TIME getting a professional family picture taken! How sad!
But we like them and so I'm satisfied that we won't have to do it for another few years. Don't ask where we got them done, or how much we paid. It's embarassing. And yes, I scanned these into the computer, so if they're crooked, it's my fault.
Enjoy!













Tuesday, June 16, 2009

What A Week

Today was lovely. It was pretty normal. Much UNlike last week.

I knew looking at the calender at the start of last week, that it was going to be a busy one. I had scheduled: two Young Women meetings, a Mom's Group outing I organized, making potato salad for the Stake Youth Trek, writing 10 letters for Girl's Camp, babysitting for a family in our ward going through a difficult time, an activity at the library I promised Caroline we'd do, and a visit from Dave's mother. And of course my usual activities - cooking, cleaning, taking care of husband and child, mutual and preparing a YW lesson for Sunday.

Yes, it promised to be a busy week, but I had no idea how crazy it would be too!

My most daunting task was the potato salad. My assignment was to make enough potato salad for 50 people. I was given 15lbs of potatoes, 2 dozen eggs and lots of veggies. I decided to brake this up into 3 days. I boiled/peeled eggs one day, boiled potatoes and chopped the veggies one day (boiling took forever because I didn't have a pot big enough - it took 6 shifts!) and the last day I cut the potatoes and eggs, made the dressing and put it all together. It took many hours in the kitchen!

Then the Bishop asked if we could speak on Sunday. Sure.

Then Friday happened.

Late in the afternoon, we heard the tornado sirens. The power went out and Caroline and I camped in the bathroom. Dave stayed at a house he was working on until it was safe and came home around 7:30. We still didn't have power so we went out for a late dinner. Parts of the city were still out of power and our neighborhood was a mess of tree parts. Our house and yard was fine, but the wind broke our fence lock. The tornado touched down about 10 miles east of us in Olive Branch and did damage to a lot of homes and buildings there, so we were lucky.

I fully expected to have power when we got home, but no. I did get a message though that the Trek was cut short and they no longer needed the 25lbs of potato salad in my fridge. Crap.

So the next morning, we still didn't have power but we did have 2 extra little girls to watch and talks to write! Our freezer had melted over night and there was a pool of water in our kitchen. The girls kept asking for TV and popcorn or macaroni and cheese! Sorry, no electricity! The poor things were hot without AC and fans. It was an...interesting day.

We got power back late that afternoon. I literally did a happy dance! But we found out at church on Sunday that many in our ward still didn't have electricity.

So today I'm thankful simply that it's today and not last week! I'm thankful for Air Conditioning!

I hope this is not a common occurrence around here...

Sunday, June 7, 2009

A Weekend, Just for US

Thursday night before bed, Dave told Caroline he had a surprise for her the next morning. I had no idea what he was talking about. Friday morning came and I had forgotten about the promise, but before he left for work he told Caroline, "Guess what? Today, you get to go to Aunt Joleen's house and have a sleepover!" I was thinking, "she is?". He then told me to pack a weekend bag for Caroline and an overnight bag for myself and he'd see me after work!

What?!!!! :)

My sweet husband arranged a whole weekend for just the two of us. Caroline went to her cousin's house for the weekend and we went to the Crown Plaza!



He'd been planning the whole thing all week, and I didn't have a clue! I love surprises!




We ate at "Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken" We saw it on the Food Network once and always wanted to go. It's one of those places that if you knew nothing about it, and happened to walk by it, you'd be scared to go inside! But it was so delicious and very friendly!


We walked around down town and watched the sunset at the park by the river.




The next day we went to the Brooks Art Museum. This is the only picture we got, because of course, they don't allow photography inside.




Dave got his first look at the Mud Island River Walk and I think he was impressed!



Then we went on a Mississippi River Boat tour cruise!


This was really pretty cool. We had planned on going for my birthday, but just didn't. I'm so glad we went though.

We learned a lot from the historic tour guide on deck. I was worried that it was going to be hot, but with the shade and the breeze it was perfect!

Then we went to the movies! I can't tell you how rare an event that is for us! We've now seen 2 this year!
What a great weekend. Really, my guy surprised me good! I had no idea he had this whole thing under his sleeve. I felt like it couldn't have come at a better time - we totally needed it. It was nice that we only went 30 mins. away but it felt like a mini-vacation.

And needless to say, Caroline had a blast with Aunt Joleen, Uncle Jeff and cousins Emily, Jessica, and Ashley! They even offered to keep her one more night, but I said no - I missed her too much! So a HUGE thank-you to them!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Because Kids are for Laughing at... I mean with




Dave and I are busting a gut right now, in case you were wondering.
And just so you can remember that she really is sweet and cute...


Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Tagged - 8 Things

8 Favorite TV shows:

-The Office
-American Idol
-Ace of Cakes
-House Hunters
-The Soup
-Seinfeld
-What Not to Wear
-Lie to Me


8 Things I Did Yesterday:

-laundry
-cleaned floors
-grocery shopping
-took a nap with Caroline
-had Family Home Evening
-read The Book of Mormon
-ate an icecream cone
-said something I wish I hadn't

8 Restaurants I love:

- On the Border
-Olive Garden
-Chalo's (in Safford, AZ)
-Chik-fil-a
-Eegee's (in Tucson, AZ)
-Taco Bell
- Subway
-R&R Pizza (in Thatcher, AZ)

8 Things I'm looking forward to:

- Going swimming today with Caroline
-Taking a nap today with Caroline (because she'll be exhausted after swimming!)
- Going to AZ!!!!!!
-Going on a date with my husband (whenever that will be)
-Dave conquering that stupid test.
-Seeing my friend's and family's new babies
-PayDay
-My DownEastBasic package! should be any day now....



8 Things on my Wish List:

- A piano
- A better computer
- Donuts
- A sibling for Caroline
- A kitten for Dave
- A foot massage
- A weekend away with Dave
- A sense of direction

8 People I Tag:
-Jen
-Cara
-Paij
-Adrian
-Joy
-Amy
-Jami
-Brad

Sunday, May 31, 2009

How to Build A Deck

1. Tell your husband you want a deck.

2. Save money for many months.
3. Remind your husband you want a deck.
4. Repeat step 3 as necessary.
5. Buy lumbar.
6. Call Ryan for help.
7. Take a siesta (only applicable if you're a cute 3-year old girl)
8. Work like crazy into the night. (Only applicable if you're a big strong man)
9. Enjoy the fruits of your labor with a BBQ!


We are loving our deck! Dave did a great job and worked so hard! We still have a few more things to do with it - stain, steps, railing. But at least we can use our patio furniture and enjoy the backyard a little more as it is. Dave is hoping for a new grill for Father's Day now!