Nothin' says SUMMER like BBQ's. baseball, and....a frog!

Happy Summer Everyone!!!
Just thought I'd post a blog about our summer so far! We're off to a great start, and I have a feeling it is only going to get better...and busier! Well, to get into the swing of things, we celebrated summer by having a cook-out, a delicious vanilla mousse cheesecake and lots of playing outdoors!! Garrett and Emily each have their own bat and balls for baseball....the light duty ones, of course....and so far Garrett is pretty darn good at that game! He gets all sorts of hits in, and he thinks it's so much fun!!! Him and Andy usually play baseball a little bit every day! We also got the kids' swimming pool all set up and ready to use and so far they LOVE it! They spend as much time it there as mommy will let them!!! We also celebrated Father's Day on the 19th of June...but thanks to the weather, our picnic didn't happen. But we still enjoyed a nice day as a family and had lunch with my parents. Other than that, not much else is new....except....we had a frog the other day!! Yep, that's right...a frog! Andy found it swimming around it a water puddle in our backyard! We put the little fella in our pool and the kids (and dogs!!) spend a good portion of the morning frog watching! He was pretty cool, but when we came back after lunch he was gone. Still, it was fun for the kids to watch him. He will forever be known as "Froggy" in our household!! Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer! Will have plenty more to post later. Until then, Happy Summer!!

Our 5th Anniversary!

Two souls with but a single thought,Two hearts that beat as one.
- Fredrich Halm



On June 3rd Andy and I celebrated our 5th anniversary!! I can't believe that we have already been married for 5 years!! They sure did fly by fast! Together we have come a long way since the beginning. So far, we have enjoyed our journey through life together.So here we are, 5 years later, with two beautiful children, a cozy home, and 2 rambunctious dogs! We love the way our life is unfolding and we have been so richly blessed in 5 short years. So, because the majority of my posts are about our kids, I thought that I'd re-cap a little about Andy and I! Andy is still working at the mine and he likes it there!! He is still a hunting addict, which I don't think will ever change! But, I'm fine with that! Andy works hard at work, hard at home and still manages to find the energy to help me with the kids, so he deserves some 'guy' time! I am still a stay at home mommy and wife, which I love and I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world!! I love spending the days with my kids, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, baking, and so on. For me, it's my dream come true and I have never been happier! So, for us, there isn't much new, but we are just still happy, healthy and content!! Well anywhoo, we didn't celebrate 'big' or anything for our anniversary.  Andy had to work, but he grilled out steaks when he got home and I made a delicious fruit pizza for dessert! For us, it was the perfect way to celebrate! So here's to the 5 years we've already enjoyed and to many more beautifully blissful years of marriage!!

Summer So Far!

For me it seems like it's been a while since I've updated this. But we've been keeping busy and I'm afraid now that summer is finally here, I will only fall further behind in my postings. I apologize for this, but will definitely try and keep up as best I can. If not...I'll see you in the fall!
Ok. So far this summer....

Well, to start with, Andy and my Dad have been working on finishing up the fence. It is up, and keeping the kids and dogs in, but there is a little 'fine tuning' that needed to be done. Andy is hopefully going to finish that up this afternoon! We've been busy with the everyday stuff so far. Mowing the 'yard', spraying for bugs, and LOTS of playing outside with the kids!! I never get much work done during the summer...and if it isn't a 'regular chore' for me, forget it! I enjoy being out with the kids though. They enjoy the outdoors so much and it's great for me too. I enjoy the sunshine, reading and drinking my coffee on the deck! Other than that though, I don't much care for summer. I always look forward to it coming to an end. I know, I know...that's backwards for me than it is for most people...!

So moving on...there isn't a whole lot of 'news' to post. Mostly just pictures...which I will have below. The busy part of our summer is yet to come. Sometime while the weather is nice, we'd like to finish painting our living room, dining room and hallway. I have my color picked out, all we have to do is do it! Also, my best friend is getting married. I've been working on her bridal shower, making sure I fit into my dress and just helping as much as I can, which isn't really much at all. She lives too far away for me to do much, but sometimes it's nice to just pick up the phone and chat!! At times like these especially, I wish she was living closer. Maybe someday....So anywhoo, the weekend after her wedding we are planning a camping trip up to the mountains with my parents. We are super excited for our camping trip and can't WAIT!

Well, that is about all I have to post. We've spent the majority of out days...and nights...outside!! We are enjoying this beautiful weather!! We haven't had too many SUPER hot days yet...which makes me think they're coming and they'll probably stay later this year, but for now, we're just enjoying the super nice weather! Please enjoy the pics of our summer so far!!

A little of this, a little of that!

Just some updated pics of the past month or so!! Our spring has started out busy and we keep going full speed ahead...and don't see any signs of slowing down for a while!! But we're enjoying every minute!!
 (And yes, Emily is wearing a pair of Garrett's undies....she puts them on all by herself!! What a big girl!! LOL!!)!

Rainy day fun!

The kids helping put up our fence!

Happy Birthday, Andy!!

~ A husband is someone a wife cherishes more all the time...he's the joy she holds deep in her heart." ~

On May 19 Andy turned 27!! We had a party for him on the 20, but Andy's parents weren't able to make that day, so Andy's mom came over on the 19th and we celebrated with his parents on his actual birthday, after the guys were off work. Andy's mom brought a pizza for dinner and a birthday pie for afterwards! It was super nice, and the kids and I enjoyed spending time with Grandma P. while Grandpa and Daddy were at work. I hope that Andy enjoyed his birthday celebrations to the fullest! He is the greatest husband anyone could ask for and he deserves to have the best birthday ever!

Home is where you hang your memories...

Well it  has been a while since I've posted last and I figured that today would be a good day to do it. While I'm keeping my mind busy waiting to hear how mom's surgery went, I will post a few updates!! First of all, on May 14 we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being in our new home. I know it seems kind of dorky to celebrate, but still, we are thrilled to be here and are so thankful for all the ways we've been blessed in this year. We've been able to improve a little along the way also. We've had some rock delivered and made a nice, mud-free walk for ourselves from the house to the cars, we've done some major painting (and some more on the way!!), and the biggest achievement so far, is our fence. We were able to fence off the entire property and put up a gate, that way the dogs have free run whenever they want!! It has been SOOOOOOO nice!! I've made a picture collage of our first year and I hope you enjoy! We have some of our best memories in our old house. It was the house I moved into after Andy and I got married, we brought home two beautiful babies to that home, and we enjoyed life with our perfect little family there for a little over 4 years. But we are happy to move on and build new memories in this home. And, I must say, we've done a pretty good job of that already!! We are off to a good start here!! If this is what the first year is like, I can't wait to see year 50!! Please enjoy the picutres of year one!!

Happy Easter!!

Hello Everyone!
It is that time of year to post about Easter!! Hopefully everyone had as good of an Easter as we did!! Our day couldn't have been any better! It was absolutely a gorgeous spring day!! Warm, sunny and just beautiful!! Andy and I spent all day on Saturday preparing for the big day! Andy smoked a turkey in our smoker while I spent the day in the kitchen cooking. Sunday morning we all went to church and then came home, let the kids discover their Easter baskets and prepared dinner. The kids got binoculars (they love the outdoors!!) and Garrett got 101 Dalmatians and Emily got Tangled! We have already watched them both...a few times!! For dinner we made ham, turkey, potatoes, and marmalade glazed carrots. We also had, fruit and veggie trays, deviled eggs, and a candy bar salad. For dessert (the best part), I made a blueberry bread pudding that was DELISH! We also had a variety of cupcakes and....CANDY! After dinner we headed out for an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard and enjoyed some of this beautiful spring weather!! We enjoyed the day as a family and we loved every minute of it!! It is always so nice to get together with everyone!! And the kids were loving being spoiled by both sets of grandparents and their uncle, aunt and cousins!! We had a fabulous Easter and are truly blessed to have such a great family! Please enjoy the pictures of our best Easter yet!!