I {Heart} Peeping Toms

A while back I added a Traffic Feed to the bottom of my blog because I was curious as to who (other than a few loyal friends/family that leave comments - thanks guys!) was reading it. While I don't know exactly who everyone is just by reading their locations I usually have a guess as to who some long lost acquaintances might be. I can also figure out who some might be because the Live Traffic Feed tells me how someone got to my blog.

It's funny because the first time I came across a Traffic Feed on some stranger's blog, I felt like I was caught doing something I shouldn't. I thought, "Oh no! These people know a lurker is reading this!" It was weird! But in thinking about it further, I am perfectly happy when someone I don't know comes upon my blog. I feel pretty safe with what I put on it. I try not to put anything on it that makes my family's exact location known. The whole reason I started this blog was to share pictures and stories about what is going on in our family's lives with our far-away family and friends. If some stranger is interested enough to read about our crazy happenings, great!

Tonight, as I looked through the Live Feed, I made two observations:
1. I don't know world geography so well! Sure, I know where most countries are of the people that read this, but I've never heard of some of their towns/cities.
2. If I want more people to come to the blog, I need to include a famous person's name in a post. I've had quite a few people google the name "Maura Tierney" (I made mention of her name in the previous Monkey post), and they've come to my blog. I found it interesting that people came to my blog by googling her name rather than two more well-known actors I mentioned, Denzel & Jim Carrey.

On perhaps my favorite stranger blog that I visit daily, Dawn often posts about strange and sometimes weird things people google that get them to her blog. That's one of my next things to figure out how to do because I'm just nosy. :)

P.S. How do you end a senctence when you want to put one of these----> :) little guys in? Do you end it with punctuation, or is that your punctuation? What exactly is :) etiquette? :{o

5 Little Monkeys

Friday night our local Parents As Teachers organization hosted a Diego party. They had different stations set up, all related to a Diego theme (vest decorating, painting a clubhouse, animal games, live kittens and puppies, and someone dressed as Diego). But the most popular attraction by far was the 3 month-old chimpanzee. You can't even imagine how cute she was!!!!

She was so tiny and adorable!!! I'm guessing she was about 8 pounds. The woman who brought her to the party owns about 8 chimps (and other anminals) and has had many others over the years. She and her husband operate a rescue. Many of the chimps they have had over the years are ex-animal actors. She had a photo album of some of the actors her animals have worked with over the years. She had pictures of Denzel Washington (I don't know what movie he was in with a chimp), Jim Carey dressed in full Ace Ventura costume, John Leguazamo and Maura Tierney from an ER episode, and there were a few others.

These people travel to people's houses for "Chimparties." For a mere $150, they will bring a chimp to your party for 30 minutes for up to 10 people. For $200, up to 8 people can go to their ranch for an hour. It sounds like an astronomical amount, but if you think about it, the money they charge goes toward the care and upkeep for their animals and ranch.

This baby chimp (Makayla) clung on to her human Momma, kissed her on the lips, and snuggled with her just as a human baby would. You could tell she was a bit timid of all the strangers, just as a human baby would be. She had her own security blankie, and travelled around in her own car seat.

Mallory was so funny with her! After waiting in the HUGE line, Edward set her down on the table right next to the chimp. The chimp was sitting very still, and Mallory put her arm around her, I guess thinking it was a stuffed animal. When she moved to look up at Mallory, she just just about soiled herself. It was too funny!

Lucky #20

We just got a call this evening that we have a new nephew! Andrew McKay Sanders was born to Jan, John, Caroline, Julia, Sterling, & Angel Baby Kathryn. He was 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 22 inches long(How do my skinny sisters-in-law grow such big babies, while I have six pounders?!?!) We're grateful for this new blessing that Jan, John and kids (and the rest of us) have been given.

And, he makes grandchild #20 on Edward's side. The oldest grandchild is 11! Welcome baby Andrew!

Mmmm. What's for lunch?

Yesterday Drew came to me to tell me he was making his "world famous cheese taco." In my mind I was thinking, "Not another mess to clean up!" But I allowed the chef to work his magic because sometimes I tend to do a bit too much for my kids just so I can avoid unnecessary messes. I just stayed out of the kitchen so as not to see his creation take shape. Bad idea. I got busy doing something else, when a few minutes later Drew came to me and said something about it burning at the exact same time I smelled something burning. I ran into the kitchen to find smoke pouring from every crack in the microwave. The time was at 12:00, so I have no idea what he set the time at. Maybe 17 minutes? Apparently Chef Drew knows how to make the world famous cheese tacos, but his lovely assistant, Elizabeth, usually controls the microwave.

I now have see-through "china." And my house smells like an ash tray.

Funny things I've heard recently

Saturday night Edward and I took Ross and Elizabeth to another Cardinal's game. As we were walking to the stadium, I smelled yucky sewer gas and said, "Eww. Something stinks!" Elizabeth said rather seriously, "It could be a homeless person, Mom." (The kids have a fascination with hobos.)

And, as we got up to the stadium, there was a wedding party posing for pictures on a walk-way connecting the parking garage to the stadium that was above the street. Obviously, the bride and groom wanted Busch Stadium in their background. Elizabeth asked, "What's going on?" I replied, "Someone got married." She asked, "On a HIGHWAY?!!??!!"

And then on Sunday, we were making the rounds visiting some of our grandparents for Grandparent's Day. The kids enjoyed picking apples from my grandma's big apple tree in her front yard. Yesterday, as Drew and I ate an apple for our snack, he said, "Grandma Wright makes really good homemade apples."

Yesterday, Ross said to me, "You know Mom, I've become more popular since Mallory has been born." Yes, son. Now you see why babies are also known as "Chick Magnets."

Daredevil

One day last week I was typing at the computer when I heard Mallory saying something over and over and over and over. When I turned to look at her, this is what I saw:

She was standing on the back of the couch saying, "Careful. Careful. Careful. Careful. Careful."

She likes to climb up the stairs, walk through the railing, then jump down on the couch. She makes the circuit continuously, giggling the whole time. Yes, I anticipate several ER visits with this one as well!

Inspiration

Today at church, one of our friends shared an experience that totally impressed me. In our church, the first Sunday of each month is called Testimony Meeting. After a few songs, prayers, and the passing of the Sacrament, anyone who would like to can come up to the microphone to share his/her testimony of the gospel. One of our friends, Brad, felt inclined to share some of his feelings.

First, a little background: Brad had some trauma at his birth that has left him permanently disabled. He walks with a pretty severe limp. He has faced numerous surgeries through out his life. He also has a significant speech impediment that can make it hard to understand him at times. He had a pretty rough childhood. Fast forward to his adult life, he married and had two children - a four-year old girl, and a six-year old boy. His son has ADHD and can be a challenge. About two years ago, kind of out of the blue, Brad's wife decided she wanted a divorce. Even though they share custody of the kids, Brad has them most of the time, as he juggles part-time college with a full-time job at a residential facility for trouble teen-aged boys. He is the type of person who deserves so many breaks in life but never seems to get them. He just keeps plugging along, doing the best he can with a positive outlook.

Back to today: He was sharing with the congregation his feelings of gratitude to The Father for his trials. TRIALS! He related the following story: A few weeks ago, he was dropping his nephew off at home after church (he diligently brings the 11 year-old to church, along with his own two children). As he was slowing down to turn into his sister's driveway, he stopped to let a pedestrian cross the street. The man waited, and Brad motioned for the man to go ahead. The man motioned back, so Brad went ahead and turned into the driveway. As Brad got out to help his nephew into the house, the man said, "Sir, I would like to talk to you." Brad said, it was obvious the man was drunk, and he was rather intimidating looking because he was 1.) covered in tattoos and 2.) very large. Brad has a hilarious, dry sense of humor, and he said, "I thought, 'There's no way I could take this guy if he wanted to do me harm'." He told the nephew to go on in, and he got his own two children out and sent them in, just in case this wasn't a good situation. Anyway, this man basically just fell into Brad's arms, sobbing that he'd lost his wife and children. Brad began hugging him and telling him he, too, knows how devastating divorce is because he has also been through it. The man told him it wasn't because of a divorce, and he began saying he wanted to join them. Before he knew it, Brad was sitting on the curb with this man, this stranger, giving him comfort. He said his arm was around his shoulder, and he was holding his hand, just as he would a small child. The man talked of wanting to end his life because it was too much to bear. Brad continued to show compassion to this broken man. After a while, the man made mention of wanting a cigarette, so Brad told him he would go in the house to find one, knowing full well that he would take that opportunity to call the police instead so they could provide the man the adequate help he desperately needed. As Brad got up to go into the house, the stranger pleaded, "Don't leave me." Brad returned to the man's side to offer him his shoulder and the unconditional love he was deserving of. A few minutes later, three police cars pulled up, as a neighbor had made a call upon realizing what was taking place. He was then taken away to either sober up in a holding cell or to receive mental health care.

Brad didn't tell this story to be boastful - that is not in his character at all. He simply told the story to relay his gratitude to The Father for the life he has been given. He was reminded that so many others have if far worse than we.

Upon hearing the story, I can't help but think, how many of us would think badly of the drunken man stumbling in the streets? How many of us would take the time to speak to him? Or would we come up with some excuse as to why we couldn't? Even more, would we put our arms around him, and embrace him as he hopelessly cried on our shoulders?

I am touched by Brad's humble Christ-like service. He has certainly made an even bigger impression on me. His story made me think of Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus speaks of the day when He returns and will separate the people of the earth as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. The sheep on His right hand are those who have served others while the goats on His left are the selfish, thinking only of themselves.

He tells the sheep (34-40) "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."

"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

The last verse is what immediately came to my mind as I was hearing the story -- "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Compare that with what he tells the goats who did not serve others, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."

As I've been thinking of this today, I ask myself, "What do I hope to be -- a sheep or a goat?"

Labor Day Weekend

Our Labor Day weekend was spent visiting with not-seen-often-enough family. We got to go to a fun birthday party for my cousin's little girl, Ellie on Saturday. She got quite the haul, and all the little girls in attendance were rather envious, to say the least! Thanks Kate & Jason! It was fun!

We moved westward to visit Edward's mom & her husband in Jefferson City, where we spent the rest of the weekend. His brother's family from Columbia, and his oldest sister's family from Kansas City were kind enough to make the effort to meet up with us there. We had a great time BBQ-ing and just visiting for the weekend. And of course, everyone gathered around the TV Saturday night to watch the big Mizzou/Illinois game. We pretty much didn't have any interaction with our oldest three kids the entire weekend because they were playing with their cousins the whole time. Jani & Papa Otto's pool table and backyard were in use non-stop from Saturday to Monday.

Sunday was spent at church, and of course there was more visiting and playing afterward. I have to share a funny story about our church experience. When we got there that morning, I settled into our seats in the back while Edward took the older three to the bathroom and drinking fountain before we got started. Other people were finding their seats and visiting with each other in the chapel. At the very front of the room I spied an older woman, probably in her 80's with short white hair. Just about that time, Mallory starts shouting, "Grandma! Grandma! Grandma!" I looked at her eyes to see where she was looking, and she was watching that same woman. Mallory watched her make her way all around the room, never taking her eyes off her and saying, "Grandma! Grandma!" over and over. As the woman passed by us, "You must look familiar to her!" The woman was indeed a sweet, animated grandmotherly type who took the time to talk to Mal and play with her. She told me many children call her Grandma when they see her - she just has "that look" I guess! Anyway, we saw her several more times through out the morning, and every time we saw her, Mallory had the same response. I suppose she thought she looked like my Grandma, although the resemblance was very slight in my eyes. After church, we waited in the foyer for our large group to reconvene when the sweet lady, Sister Herndon, walked toward us again. Once more, Mallory began shouting, "Grandma!" She stopped to speak with us again for several minutes before heading toward the door. Mallory called out, "Bye Grandma!"

Monday we headed over to our beloved Columbia where we went to Rock Bridge State Park to visit the famous cave - Devil's Icebox. The park is great, but Devil's Icebox is definitely the draw. As you descend about 50 steps toward the cave, you feel the air get cooler and crisper with each step. I think it is about 65 degrees down there year round (it seems like I heard that once, but I could be wrong). Anyway, we had a fun time exploring the cave entrance, climbing on rocks, and splashing in the cold water. After we left, we stopped off to get ice cream before parting ways. Thanks Felkers, Hildebrands, and Carles for a fun weekend!

Bathing Beauties - Mallory & Katrina

The whole gang minus Jani & Papa Otto (I think they decided to stay home and nap and enjoy a quiet home!) & Uncle Andrew (studying at law school)

My Little Old Lady

We love teaching Mallory new tricks!

Mother of the Year, I am not.

Here is what a one-year old eats for breakfast when her mother is not feeling well:

Chocolate Chips.

Not chocolate chip pancakes. Just plain ole chocolate chips in a bowl. On the floor.

I have a cold that is knocking me down today. Every thing I pulled out for Mallory to eat for breakfast she was refusing this morning - even her favorite- frozen pancakes. So it was on to the pantry where I showed her Pop Tarts. "No." "Toast?" "No. Caw-caw." "Chocolate?" was my reply. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" with an emphatic shaking of her head. Frankly, I didn't feel like trying to talk her into something else, so she got what she wanted. I don't guess it can do her too much damage! Heck, I occasionally have chocolate for breakfast myself!

And doesn't she look so pleased to have gotten her way?

Go Cards!

Last night, Edward and I were able to go to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. He and his two secretaries, through lots of hard work, qualified through a promotion in his district to attend the game with their spouses. All in all, about eight agents were there along with their office staff and spouses. It was a lot of fun, and the Cards pulled through in the end to beat Milwaukee 5-3. They were down the whole game, and everyone from our group had left except for his district manager, his secretary and her family, and us. It paid to stick it out because the Cards rallied in the seventh and eighth innings to pull out a win. I think that's the best kind of game to attend!

We parked right under the arch to make the LLLOOOONNNNGGG walk to Busch Stadium. It was only about four blocks away, but those are city blocks. Then, when we got through the gates at the stadium it was quite a haul up the three stories of winding ramps, and then we had another flight of stairs before we reached our seats. We were running a bit late (shocking for us, I know), so we were really bookin' it to get to our seats. My little legs were quite tired by the time we got there.

When the game was over, and we were walking back to our car we saw quite a few obnoxious drunk people. I'm always so amazed at the herd mentally some people have. I know without the large mass of people (and without the alcohol) normal people wouldn't be using such awful language or behaving extremely inappropriately with statues. But living my sheltered life, I am aware those things do happen.

What in the world?

Do you ever see people out and about, and upon seeing their attire or behavior wonder, "What were they thinking?" I've been asking myself that a lot lately. Today I was at the store where I observed a young man wearing shorts and a THICK wool sweater. What? It's August. In Missouri. Granted, it's much cooler here (80 degrees) than it normally is in August, but that hardly warrants breaking out the winter clothes in my opinion.

It had me thinking about the people I observe in theme parks during the summer. I'm always baffled when I see people who wear black from head-to-toe, especially long pants and long sleeves. I recognize some religions require the head-to-toe dress, so certainly that's not what I'm talking about. It's usually "Goth" teen-agers. I don't get it. I understand they are trying to express themselves, but is that a higher priority to them than comfort?

And what about the ladies at theme parks or malls that walk around in stiletto heels? How in the world do they do that?!!? Or bling out with 47 pounds of jewelry. Give me comfort any day!

And what about extreme thrill seekers? I really don't get that! Specifically this guy:



What in the world was he thinking? I'm guessing he's really going to regret making that decision. But apparently he wasn't the only one who thought kite-boarding in a tropical storm sounded like a good idea. There is another guy helping him that is also in kite-boarding attire! Birds of a feather...

What to do with all these green peppers...

We are happily being bombarded with green peppers from our first ever garden. I'm trying to come up with some new recipes to use them up. I found some on my favorite recipe site, and they were delish! They were in no way healthy, but oh, so yummy!

Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Dinner

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 (8 ounce) package processed cheese food, cubed (I actually used 4 oz. of Cheese Whiz)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk, or as needed

DIRECTIONS
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, place the ground beef and onion into a large skillet, and cook, stirring to crumble, until meat is no longer pink, and onion is tender. Just before the beef is done, add the bell peppers, and cook until tender, but still green. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese food, condensed soup and milk to make a thick sauce.
Remove from the heat, and stir in the macaroni noodles. Serve and enjoy!

Spicy Sausage and Rice Casserole

28 ounces fresh, ground spicy pork sausage
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 slice onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed (I used fresh tomatoes.)
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a skillet, brown sausage and drain grease. Stir in rice, onion, garlic and peppers. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Pour into 9x13 inch pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Or, at this step, you can cover and freeze it. (I actually just cooked this in a skillet on the stove - much quicker!)

School Started Today!

Not So Great Clips

I am a bargain queen. I love the thrill of the victory when I know I've saved money. Even though I have found a hairstylist that I really love (I enjoy her even more because she just charges $12 for a cut!!), I had a $5 off coupon to Great Clips that was burning a hole in my pocket. Normally, I'm comfortable going there if I just need a trim. For a new style or a shorter cut I usually go somewhere else.

Today I decided to take advantage of my niece's babysitting services before she goes back to school. I made a quick dash to Great Clips while Mallory napped. I got right in and told the "beautician" that I just wanted a little trim. Apparently, that translated to "cut off two inches and do whatever you want." She literally was done in 10 minutes. My left side had layers while my right didn't appear to have any. She started to blow dry my hair when I spoke up and said, "Um. This side looks quite a bit longer than the other side." She took out the scissors again and barely cut anything. I spoke up again and said it still looked longer. I part my hair on the side and she told me, "It's really because of the side part. When I pull both sides down, they look even." In my brain I was saying, "That's fine and dandy, but I don't go walking around in public pulling both sides down now do I!" She picked up the scissors and started cutting some more. I was terrified because she made way shorter layers than I wanted. They were about an inch shorter on my right side." I had to tell her three times to please trim my bangs. She snipped the scissors, but I don't think any hair ever fell down. She would ask, "How is that?" After the third time I just said, "That will work" all the while knowing I would cut my own bangs when I got home.

I feel like I'm walking around with a helmet. I hate the back the most. I wanted to keep it slightly stacked. There is NO shape at all - just a straight, blunt cut with one shorter layer. Ugh!

After I got home, Ross commented that my hair looked longer on one side. Ahhh! I hadn't even mentioned that to him! For a nine year old boy to mention it, it must be pretty obvious. Then later tonight, as I was bathing Mallory, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I said, "I HATE MY HAIR!!" Drew, not to go against the grain, said, "I hate your hair, too, Mommy."
After MUCH work (and hairspray) tonight, I'm feeling a bit better. This short of hair shouldn't have to take so long to make it look decent. I'm worried I'll find myself in the black of Glamour magazine as their "Don't."

It doesn't look as bad in this picture as I think it is. I will let it grow out for about a month before I go back to get it fixed. Remind me not to use my Great Clips coupons again!

Baby Birdy

This was my favorite picture of the trip. I accidentally deleted it in the previous post, and I wasn't about to re-type the whole thing.

Beach Vacation

For some crazy reason, I can't get Slide.com to work with my blog right now, so you've all been spared from the MANY pictures I was going to share!

Anyway, my parents treated my family to a week in Perdido Key, Florida. It is just between Gulf Shores, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida. We had a WONDERFUL and relaxing time.

The 11 hour drive was much better than we expected! The longest our kids have ever ridden in a car is five hours, so we were all a little apprehensive. I was the most worried about Mallory because she doesn't understand why she can't get out of her seat. In all honesty, she was THE BEST traveller of all the kids! She did amazingly well. She never cried once. The only time she had some trouble was just for about twenty minutes on the ride home where she called out, "Mom! Mom! Mom!" other than that she was perfect! Whew! We did try to take bathroom breaks about every two hours, and everyone went back to their seats without complaint. It makes me feel like we can attempt this again!

The beach we went to was about an hour away from Edward's sister's family. The crazy thing is about a week before we left, our brother-in-law was called to work in St. Louis (an hour from our house) for the entire week we were in Florida, and their whole family went along. How ironic was that! Anyway, they were driving home on the same day we were, and we miraculously managed to meet up as we passed each other on the highway where we pulled off for dinner together. It was WONDERFUL to be with their family, if only for an hour!

We arrived on a Saturday night. After eating dinner and shopping for groceries it was too late to go to the beach. We went to church the next day and played games before going down to the beach to take some photos. My dad had checked the weather that day and found that our area was feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Eduard and that the gulf was very dangerous. As we were taking photos that Sunday night, we saw lots of emergency vehicles about a half mile up the beach from our condo. It turns out a 56 year old man from Metairie, LA drowned while trying to help another swimmer. The next night another man drowned just a couple miles up from us in the other direction. So sad! Needless to say on Monday and Tuesday we only played in the water up to our shins.

The Wright Family
Our last night in Florida we waited for a ridiculous 2 hours to eat at this restaurant (The Fish House) in Pensacola. Pretty good food, but SO not worth the wait!!!!


Grammy & Grandad & the kids
I LOVE the bottom picture!!!


Mallory

Drew

Elizabeth

Ross

Felker Family

Playing around at the beach

The jellyfish were SO BAD the first few days we were there!!! The were all stirred up thanks to the tropical storm. Pretty much everyone in our group got stung numerous times. The best was when poor Harrison got stung and his helpful big brother alleviated his pain by urinating on his foot! I heard roars of laughter and saw Grant and Harrison off to themselves, Harrison's leg sticking out with a Grant taking aim. Brotherly love! Thanks to the education of Spongebob, Drew really wanted to make some jelly from all those jellyfish.

He also made me laugh when he told me, "I know what sand is made out of. It's made from a lot, a lot, a lot of salt and pepper.

The routine of most of our days was to eat a late breakfast, head to the beach, then I would leave early to bathe Drew and Mal in the garden tub. Taking long baths in the whirlpool was probably their favorite part of the trip. Mallory liked catching the drips from the faucet.

We took a dolphin cruise while we were there, and it was awesome! This company takes two boats out at a time, and where they know the dolphins are, they speed together side by side. The dolphins swim in between the boats and jump up out of the water. It was amazing! I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

Poor Drew was scared to death! All kids 8 and under had to wear life jackets, but no one could give him any comfort for the first 20 minutes. He was glued to the floor for fear of falling overboard. Poor little guy! It got a lot easier for him after he got more comfortable.

We went to a cheesy souvenir store (the entrance was through the shark's mouth) where there was plenty of junk for everyone! There was a lot of goofing around in there. Check out some of the charming merchandise:

goofy hats, mullet wig/hats, dog head staplers, faux kittens, and real alligator heads

We'd been promising the kids all week we would go hunt for crabs one night. On our final night there we made good on our promise, and we had a really fun time. We headed down to the beach with nets and flashlights. There were a lot of laughs because the of darkness and the thought of creatures scampering in the sand. Drew was particularly jumpy that night. We released the crabs back into the sea and sand after we'd caught about 10. The kids had a blast.

30

I'm entering into a new decade today, and at this point I'm fine with it. My oldest two think I am so old. Last week Edward asked the kids what they thought they should do for my birthday. It was agreed upon that I should have breakfast in bed. Elizabeth, however, told me that I had to have an "old person's breakfast of oatmeal and prunes, with Tums to finish the meal." Oh, the perspective of a child!

My sweetheart sent me the following message this morning, and it made my day:

STEPHANIE I CAN NOT BEGIN WITH THE MANY WAYS I LOVE YOU BUT I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A LIST OF AT LEAST 30 REASONS I LOVE YOU....

1) YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL TO ME....OH HOW I LOOK AT YOUR FACE AND MY HEART GOES PITTER PATTER WITH LOVE
2) YOUR ONLY WORKING DESIRE IS TO BE A MOTHER
3) YOU HAVE A TESTIMONY OF THE GOSPEL
4) YOUR LOVE OF FAMILY
5) YOUR QUIET LEADERSHIP ( I SEE THIS IN SCOUTS AND SAW IT AS A PRIMARY PRESIDENT...WOW I AM IMPRESSED)
6) YOUR UNFAILING LOVE FOR ME, REGARDLESS OF MY FAULTS
7) YOUR CAPTIVATING LAUGH
8) YOUR ABILITY TO TELL A STORY AND TELL IT WELL
9) THE SACRIFICE YOU MADE TO CARRY AND BIRTH EACH CHILD
10) I LOVE THE BLOG YOU HAVE BEGUN AND MAINTAIN
11) HOW YOU TAKE CARE OF ME WHEN I AM SICK
12) YOU COOK DINNER FOR OUR FAMILY WITHOUT COMPLAINT
13) YOU DESIRE TO ATTEND THE TEMPLE
14) YOU LOVE THE KIDS REGARDLESS OF WHAT TYPE OF DAY YOU MAY HAVE HAD
15) YOU LOVE BABIES
16) YOU ARE FUNNY
17) YOU TELL ME YOU LOVE ME
18) YOU TELL THE KIDS YOU LOVE THEM
19) YOU READ WITH THE KIDS
20) YOU TEACH THE KIDS AND ME THE PIANO
21) YOU WORK WITH TEACHING THE KIDS HOW TO WORK THROUGH OUR BELOVED CHORES
22) YOU MAKE ME WHAT EVER KIND OF CAKE/DESERT I WANT FOR MY BIRTHDAY.
23) YOU ARE A HARD WORKER
24) YOU KEEP ON ME ABOUT KIDS AND FAMILY PICTURES, THAT I KNOW I ENJOY AFTER THE GRUELING PICTURE TIME...
25) YOU KEEP THE HOME STOCKED WITH FOOD
26) YOU RESPECT MY FAMILY...MOM AND SIBLINGS...THANK YOU
27) YOU LOVE ALL PEOPLE
28) YOU DO NOT COMPLAIN WHEN I HAVE TO STAY LATE AT WORK, OR NEED TO GIVE EXTRA TIME IN SERVICE IN MY CALLINGS AT CHURCH
29) YOU LET THE BOYS WRESTLE, EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT YOUR FAV OF SPORTS
30) BEST OF ALL I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART BECAUSE YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE!

I LOVE YOU

How lucky am I?

11 Years of Wedded Bliss

While we were on our trip Edward and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary. We both agreed it seems like we've been together forever. It's hard to remember life without each other, and that's a great thing!

We celebrated by going out to eat at a great little restaurant. Edward was happy with a cheeseburger, and I was in heaven with crab legs. He joked that I always enjoy the "Polo" while he gets the store brand.

After dinner, we capped off the night with a go-kart race. He won, but we both had a fun time.

Here's to many more!