And here are a couple more of Max and the passy. He's done this one more than one occasion. He also likes to climb in Merry Grace's portable baby swing. Next thing you know, we'll be tucking him into the crib at night. =)
cory & i celebrated our seventh anniversary by going out last night to a restaurant called the melting pot. for those of you who may not have heard about it, its a fondue restaurant. for our first course we got a pot of three different types of cheeses (fontina, bleu and butterkase) and were given veggies, bread & granny smith apples to dip into it. it was so delicious. i love cheese and this cheese was so rich and creamy and wonderful. this was definitely a highlight. for our next course, we had salad. i had the strawberry almond, cory had the california salad which had a raspberry vinaigrette. i loved the berries in mine, but cory's dressing was awesome. next we ordered entrees. cory got a cajun combination (shrimp, chicken & sausage). i got shrimp and sirloin. we chose the method of cooking (mojo) and began our main course. it was kind of time consuming to cook each individual piece of meat, but it was really, really good. and it was a fun experience and gave us time for lots of good conversation. we also had potatoes, broccoli, squash & mushrooms that we cooked along with the meat. after the main course, we had a chocolate fondue with a swirl of crunchy peanut butter mixed in. we had strawberries, pineapple, bananas, pound cake, brownies, cheesecake and marshmellows to dip in it. WOW! it was the best thing ever. i cannot speak highly enough about it. yummyummyummyummyummyummy.......it was really delicious food, great company, and a fun way to celebrate seven wonderful years of marriage and many more to come!
this is elise's shirt.
This is merry grace's shirt.
This is ian's shirt.
This is elise's pillowcase.
i guess its time to get back to the posts of daily life.
we have vacuum issues in our family. its like "the curse of the vacuum" or something. i think i've said before that my theory is that if i have to pick it up with my hands, then the vacuum cleaner isn't doing its job. after today, i have decided that i will have to ammend that theory. the dirt devil that we bought within the last year has not been perfoming up to par for about a month now. i thought maybe the "ani-clog" hose was clogged or maybe the bag was full. i ran through several different scenarios, but i still wasn't getting great suction. finally, today i took apart the hose (in a way i never knew it came apart) and found the source of my vacuuming woes. a fork!!!!! yes, a regular sized kitchen fork! and then behind that was the clog of all clogs. so i cleaned everything out, disposed of the fork, and now my vacuum cleaner is humming away--sucking up everything in sight. the kids were there with me as i dismantled the machine & when i pulled the fork out of the hose ian goes, "i do dat, mama." after talking with him and asking a few questions, it quickly became apparent that indeed, he did do that. i guess the best we can hope for is that he doesn't do it again. =) so my theory that the vacuum cleaner should pick up everything so i don't have to has now been ammended to exclude forks from things i expect my dirt devil to pick up.
last week our dog, milo, passed away. it was sudden and sad and our hearts have felt the loss so much. i have been amazed at the capacity my heart had to love a little animal. milo was such a good little dog. he was a protector, barking at any and all strangers. he was loving to our family. one of my favorite things was how when we were at mama & daddy's house, elise & ian would sleep in the floor. and every night milo would come into the bedroom with us and curl up at the kids feet and lay there all night. he knew his place was with us. he loved to jump up in your lap and have you rub him and was a good snuggler. i loved how sometimes when i would talk to him he would cock his head to the side, like he was really listening to what i was saying. he had the cutest little underbite, with one or two little teeth sticking out in a cock-eyed sort of grin. he loved to run and chase and sometimes looked like a little white jack-rabbit running through the yard. he was obedient, although a little stubborn--like when he wanted to jump up on the bed when he was dirty and we would tell him "no", it would take a little extra effort to get him down because he had a mind of his own. but he would sit and shake and was so humble when it was time to get a bath or go outside. there were so many things i loved about milo. and our hearts have felt the emptiness without him around. there has been a hole in our home, a hole in the yard where he should be running around and a hole in our hearts that will always miss him. but i have taken comfort in knowing that he is okay. i know that there is a place in the plan of salvation for animals, but more specifically for milo. i have felt the spirit comforting our hearts, and teaching us lessons that apply not just to our situation with milo, but to life in general. and i am grateful for that. i feel that my life has been changed by this event and that in many ways i will never be exactly the same. but all else aside, one thing is for sure--milo will always hold a special place in our hearts.
i was thinking about the pioneers, since yesterday was pioneer day, and in thinking about their struggles, i began to think about the many people in our country and throughout the world who have grave struggles. and it occurred to me how fortunate my life has been. i have never once gone to bed hungry because we didn't have enough food. i've never once thought we might not have a house to live in or at least one car to drive. i've always had more than enough clothes to wear, more than enough food to eat, more than enough house to live in. i've never been too hot or too cold because we were lacking in some basic necessity. i'm overwhelmed with how carefree my life has been. i'm quite sure that i can't comprehend what it would be like to feel like i couldn't feed my kids adequately. or that they got sick because they were sleeping in the cold or the rain. while we have certainly had our struggles, financially and otherwise, it just hits me sometimes how much i have to be grateful for. so often i'm thankful for my family and the gospel and other blessings that i'm in tune with receiving. but then i look at the most basic things that i take for granted and i'm overwhelmed with God's goodness.
why is it that when my kids have a long day and are completely worn out & i get all excited that we're all going to sleep good and long that it turns out to be the exact opposite? maybe one day i'll stop getting my hopes up....
i was struck this morning with how modern the modern world is. ian picked up an envelope off the table and held it up saying, "its email! here's your email!" and it hit me how funny it was that "email" was more familiar to him than just plain mail. when did that happen?
when i have a baby, some people mistakenly think that they are allowed to invade my & my baby's personal space. i love for my family and friends to hold and love on the baby, but strangers....i do not want them touching my baby, breathing on my baby, handling the hands she getting ready to put into her mouth....the most recent incident occured at a restaurant while we were on vacation. someone else was holding her and the waitress came up and was admiring her. granted, she is s cutie, but come on! back away from the baby! she rubbed all over her hands for what seemed like an eternity, and touched her cheeks and so on. this lady was chinese, so maybe there was a cultural breakdown. although i've had similar experiences with americans, so maybe certain people just think that the "don't touch someone else's baby" rule doesn't apply to them. i guess we all feel differently about things and we all come from different places where different things seem okay to us. for me, i cannot imagine going up to someone else holding a baby that i don't know and touching them in any way. if the situation presented itself, i might comment that there baby was cute or tiny or something....people in stores in the south like to talk...but i would not touch them. obviously, everyone doesn't feel this way. so there's one of my pet peeves for the day.
our town had its independence day celebrationon monday & we went to it. it was so humid and hot. we spread out our blankets on the grass and had a little picnic. then the kids spent some time playing on the slides & bouncies. we listened to some great music by a military band & the nc symphony orchestra. and of course, the fireworks at the end of the evening. it was a fun family activity, even if the kids fell asleep before & during the fireworks. it was just a great independence day celebration.
there were lots of kids activities and games. ian and elise had so much fun, but it was really, really hot.
tuesday morning our ward had our annual 4th of july breakfast at the park. some of the men (cory included) arrived early to cook pancakes, eggs, and bacon on their camp stoves. afterwards (and during), the kids played on the playground. they had such a good time. and yes, here ian is LICKING the swing. disgusting!
i just think this is a cool picture of the girls. of course they had fun playing together. they always do.
