Baby Shower Fun

Tuesday night I got to host (with my sister Missy and sister-in-law Kim) a baby shower for my younger sister Jenny! It was so much fun and I finally get to be an aunt soon! Missy keeps telling me how much fun it is to be an aunt and I can't wait!

(picture: Sarah (cousin), Mom, me, Kim (Casey's wife), Jenny, Missy - the crew)

We had about 30 people and were going to have a nice outdoor shower on the patio to accomodate everyone. Well, of course once I got the tables set up outside a huge downpour of rain started. So, with help from the crew, we moved some furniture, dried off tables and chairs, and decided on a nice indoor shower! It worked great and I think everybody had a fun time! As one of the shower "activities", we made Troy (Jenny's soon-to-be baby boy) a blessing quilt. We had each guest guest decorate a quilt square with buttons and ribbon and write a "blessing" for Troy as he grows up and becomes the boy and man God has planned! We're going to put it together and give it to Jenny as a keepsake for Troy. People had some really great ideas and made really cute squares. I can't wait to get it all put together:-)

Jenny has about 3 1/2 more weeks + or -! We can't wait to meet new cousin Troy!!!

My First Harvest

 When we got home from 4 days of camping, my garden had definitely grown! Not only did it look like half a lawn with all the grass that had grown in it, but I noticed some color popping out of the ground underneath my radish leaves! I decided to see if the largest one was ripe and found a beautiful red radish! I don't like radishes but Adam doesn't mind them so he will be the one to taste the first produce from my garden! Cole had the very first bit and said "hot, hot". I never really realized that radishes were spicy! It is so rewarding to be able to eat something that I grew myself from a seed! And if Adam gets sick of radishes, his dad loves them so we'll pass them his way:-)

Memorial Day Weekend

We finally organized a camping trip and got out of town for the long weekend! We decided to go the opposite way of the crowds of campers and hit the Owyhee mountains. We didn't see a single other camper, 4-wheeler, or motorcycler the whole weekend! Up towards McCall, Idaho City, etc., you can't even find a campsite over a holiday weekend! Adam was able to take Friday off work and we got up there Friday early afternoon. We just got our camp all set up when we heard some rumbling. Looking at the sky told us that we'd better head inside the camper to wait out whatever those dark, angry clouds had in store for us. Luckily, it was Cole's naptime and we watched as the clouds moved in and hit us with hail and then rain for a couple of hours! We were snug and warm in our camper and decided to take a little nap ourselves!

Over the next couple days we did lots of 4-wheeling, hiking, and throwing sticks and rocks in the creek by our campsite (Cole's favorite activity of the weekend!). Cole had his first s'mores and loved it but of course wanted to "do it" without any help! Dirt sticks really well to a marshmallowy face too and isn't very easy to get off! The last night we roasted hotdogs over the fire and celebrated our 6th anniversary in God's great outdoors! It's awesome to me that we've been married for 6 years and have loved every day more than the last! We have a deep friendship and commitment to each other, a beautiful son, and one more baby on the way to show for 6 years of our love! I can't wait for the next 50+!!!

Anyways, we had a great weekend and can't wait till we can get out camping again!

Living Proof Conference!!!

I spent my first night away from Cole this weekend! I went to the Beth Moore - Living Proof Conference in Boise. My mom, sister -Jenny, aunts, cousins, and friends of ours stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown and had a girls weekend out! The conference was Friday night and then again Saturday morning. In between we went out to eat, shopped, and just had fun being together! It's so nice to have such a fabulous husband that I didn't even worry once about Cole! (Thanks honey!)

(pic above: Aunt Lona, Sarah (cousin), Jenny, my mom, me)

The conference was fabulous! For anyone who has done any Beth Moore Bible studies or has heard her speak, you know how much God speaks through her and how awsome she is! She spoke about the fact that God has entrusted each of us, no matter where you come from, who you are, or what your circumstances, with extraordinary gifts! And because of that, we need to gaurd those gifts and get out there are use them for His glory! She teaches straight from the Bible and really dives in and gets into the truth of it! The lessons were from 2 Timothy 1: 6-7 and 12-14. My favorite is verse 7 - "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind." I just think that is so awsome! I think for women especially, fear can become so consuming and our minds can just run away with us! To know that God has given me power over fear, a spirit to truly love God, myself, and others, and to have control over my mind is an incredible thing! He gives us those three things so that we can use them in getting out there and doing what he intended us to do! I love that he has given me the ability to accomplish great things and trusts me to do them! I'm so glad that I can trust him to help me when I stumble and fumble along the way. God is awsome!!!

It was such a great time of encouragement, worship, fun, and relaxation! I was reminded again too of how truly blessed I am to have the heritage of faith I do and my mom as such an incredible mentor! God has really placed so many strong Christian women in my life to help me along the way and I'm so thankful! It was so much fun to do some shopping and go out to eat without a 1 1/2 year old too, a well needed breather and refresher!!!

By the way, if you haven't done a Beth Moore study, I highly recommend them! It's a great way to get into the Bible and she truly is a gifted teacher! I've done the Living Beyond Yourself study on the fruit of the spirit and it was amazing! Check the Living Proof website out at www.lproof.org! 

Splashin' Around!

Cole and I went on a little picnic the other day to our neighborhood splash park. We had been a few times last year but he wasn't all that sturdy on his feet and wasn't too sure about the water. This year I have a feeling we'll be there quite a bit! We got there and he was fascinated with all the kids playing. He wanted to go play too! At first he didn't really want to get wet and went over to stand on a spout that wasn't on at the moment. In a few seconds in sprayed up and got him right in the face! He looked so shocked for a second and then started laughing and playing in the water! (I was glad because it could've gone the other way and there might not have been anymore splashpark this summer:-) Anyways, he just ran around and played and had a great time! I'm sooooooo glad that spring/summer weather is finally here! The 93 degree today reminded me a little too much of hot summer days but I'll take it after snow a couple of weeks ago:-)

My big helper...

Doing the laundry today I found out what a good helper I have in Cole! Once I fold a pair of his socks, I give it to him and tell him to go put it away in his room. He also likes to put the dryer sheet in the dryer for me and close the dryer door. Then he picks up the laundry basket full of socks to carry it to the family room for me. He says "heavy, heavy" the whole time he's carrying it and then is so proud of himself when he gets it to his destination! I did find about 4 pairs of his socks in a drawer in the bathroom, but it was pretty close! It keeps him busy while I get a few things done around the house and he loves to "help it".

Mother's Day!

We had a great Mother's Day! Adam got up with Cole when he woke up and brought him in to our bed to "nuggle daddy". (every morning Cole asks to snuggle with Adam!) Then he brought me a present! It was a dress that he had picked out all on his own, no prompting or even mentioning that I liked it! It was perfect!!! It fit just right and is so cute, I just had to wear it to church! After church we went to Adam's parents where Keith and Michelle, his brother and his wife, had brought over an awesome brunch! We had crossiant sandwiches, strawberries, little puff pastries, and other yummy stuff! It was great and the guys did the dishes so that was really nice! Then after an afternoon of laziness, we went out to dinner at Red Robin with my parents! It was really fun and was just a great day! I'm so thankful to be a mom and feel so blessed with my family! God is good!!!

Spring Blossoms!

I've been watching over the last few days as the trees in our yard have started to blossom. It's amazing how fast they go from buds to full, fluffy flowers! I love it!!! It makes me feel like spring is finally here to stay! Here's a few of my favorites this year! Of course Cole had get in some of them too:-)

Big News!

Well, we have some big news! Cole's going to be a BIG BROTHER!!! He hasn't a clue what that means other than that we keep telling him to say "baby's comin'" (see video) and "big brother" which comes out as "big bruvver". We're very, very excited and thought we'd share our big news with our friends and family! We went in for our first OB appointment last Monday and were able to see the heart beat of our new little one! It's so amazing to see this unrecognizable "blob" on the ultrasound screen and have it resemble nothing of a baby but then be able to see this tiny little spot that's blinking and know that it's heart is beating even now and that it's brain and spinal cord and bones are all forming and everything else that will make it the person it will be is happening right now! It's so incredible! I have a hard time understanding how people can think there isn't a God when you go through this amazing experience! The next time we see it it will look a little more like a baby. So, for the details, I'm 2 months along and the due date is Dec. 16th. When Adam mentioned that we could have a Christmas baby, my doctor (Auntie Fay) laughed and said we'd have this baby before Christmas. I definitely hope so because otherwise that would be over a week late and that's unacceptable if you ask me!!! No guesses yet on what it is but we'd be happy with either! Just very happy!!!

Cole's first "buzz"!

Well, with warm weather approaching and a very shaggy haired Cole, we decided it was time for a haircut again! We got a chair set up outside and Adam got out the clippers and set to work. With the first swipe down the middle of Cole's head, I realized the clippers he had on were much shorter than what he had used before and Adam was practically shaving Cole's head! (maybe that's a motherly exageration but close:-) Anyways, what can you do once you realize but have already given your son a "skullet"? So we continued and just buzzed the whole thing. It's definitely not as short as my brother Casey's buzzes when we were little, but you have to start out small when he's 1 1/2! I would have included pictures of him during the haircut, but it's not exactly his favorite thing and it takes 2 people to do it. He did get ice cream and a bath afterward though as a reward for being good, with tears streaming down his face:( When I got him out of his crib this morning, I forgot he had a new do! He looked so grown up instead of my little baby! Sooooooo cute though:-)