#36!

My 36th birthday celebratory dinner with some of the most amazing girls ever!

Nessa - my baby Sister, 

Melinda - best friends since 16, 

Anne - friends since 14, 

and Brendian - friends since our Singles Ward days!

Summer Morning Laziness

How wonderful to have a lazy morning.  I'm still in my pajamas as I write this!  This morning Danny woke up bright and early as usual, but I am trying to fight off a head cold so I told Danny to go and play quietly in his room, so I could sleep a bit longer.  I woke up an hour later to this . . .

He had colored his entire hand with a blue marker!  Luckily it is washable.  I think the extra hour of sleep was still worth it!

We got him all cleaned up, and then made some french toast and have just been bumming around the house.  Danny got real quiet again so I realized I had better go and see what he was up to and this is what I found . . .

Awwww, he was reading the scriptures!  Then I realized he was on the map pages.  That's still ok, I thought to myself, at least he is opening and looking at the scriptures.  And then I realized he was using them to plan a backpacking trip and I just had to laugh!

Austin was thoroughly enjoy getting to be lazy this morning too.  He came and told me several times how nice it was to just relax and not have to go to school.  That lasted til about 11:30, then he was ready to start inviting friends over and go outside and play!

And I am thinking it is now time for me to get dressed and get the laundry done!

Trinity Lake - Memorial Day Weekend Camping Trip

The boys and I got to go to Trinity Lake this last weekend with my cousins Andera and Miriam, her hubby Gatlin and Gatlin's family.  It was a corner of the world I had never been to before and it was so beautiful!  The little town of Weaverville I can't wait to go back and explore.  We had fun hanging around the camp playing (or napping) in the hammock, playing badminton, a lot of time around the campfire due to the chilly weather and good food, and if there was water and rocks near by the boys were in heaven!  I especially loved getting to explore waterfalls, playing in the hail storm, target practice and all the dogwood trees and wildflowers in bloom.

Just Because

 Some pictures - just because I hadn't picked up my camera for a couple of days and was feeling the need to shoot something!

just some pictures/thoughts that struck a cord with me . . . snagged form the Le Love blog

Itty Bitty Bouquet

Danny picked this itty, bitty, teeny, tiny, bouquet for me yesterday morning.  Isn't it so sweet!

Watch Out World!

Austin is now a Decided Low Green Belt in Taekwondo.  And that means he gets sparring gear.  He is beyond excited about this.  I had to talk him out of sleeping in his gear last night!

Happy to Me!

So . . . I have been just a bit spoiled lately with early birthday and mother's day gifts, not to mention some wonderful quality time with my friends lately!

My bestest friend (since we were 16!), Melinda, decided that I needed some new inspiration to get me back in my crafty groove.  Can I just say Oh.My.Goodness!  I am definitely inspired!  We spent quite a bit of time playing with my new birthday toys!

 My friend Brendian and I took ourselves out for a night without kids!  We went crazy at the thrift store (EcoTrift on Greenback Ln. in Carmichael is a very cool place!).  We decided, that just for curiosities sake we would try on anything that struck our fancy, hence the completely overfilled cart.  We found some great stuff, my favorite was my new Roxy sweatshirt!  We also took ourselves out to dinner at BJ's, and oh, my goodness, it was delicious.

 My mom made me a new necklace for my birthday.  It has the birthstones for Austin and Danny on it.  It is so delicate and beautiful, I love it!

For Mother's Day I treated myself to a new pair of slippers.  They are so soft and comfy and the flowers make them fun to wear.

 My dad took me down to Pardee's Camera store in Sac. to treat me to a new camera bag, to help get my photography business up and running.  I ended up getting a Passport sling and I love it!  It holds everything I need, while still being easy to carry and not get in the way.  I ended up with a very pretty and comfortable new camera strap too.

See, what I mean.  I have been totally spoiled lately!  But what really means the most is the loving thoughts, warm wishes,and listening ears that I have been so blessed with in my life.  There is no way to take a photograph to express and share all that.

Planting in the Garden

We are attempting a garden!  The boys are very excited about it and love helping out.  It is a project that they will actually stick with when it comes to helping.  They chose to plant; 3 kinds of pumpkins, sunflowers, watermelons, zucchini, summer squash, sugar snap peas, garden beans and tomatoes.  They have worked so hard, I really hope things grow!

 

And I love this edit of Austin at the garden gate

Mormon Helping Hands

Austin and I went and helped our ward with the Mormon Helping Hands project last Saturday.  We went to Charles Brown school and helped weed, clear brush, and make a nature trail (my official job was to take pictures but I did double duty and helped out too).  Austin loved his orange gloves and getting to use any sharp tool that he could!