I'M ADJUSTING FINE TO HAVING A NEW BROTHER, WHY DO YOU ASK?

Yah, so after Carly turned about 7 or 8 months old I couldn't have coaxed her into this swing with a dozen chocolate chip cookies or a gallon of ice cream--and those are two of her very favorite things! But, this morning when I pulled it out to use for baby brother and started to put him in it she had a crying fit. I put him in it anyway.

Carly stayed at his side and monitored his swinging and pushed all the buttons on the swing a million times. She tried to climb in on top of him once and got in trouble so she kissed his head again and again and loved on him. She just couldn't leave the side of the swing as long as he was in it. He stayed in it for about a half an hour until he was hungry and started to fuss.

As soon as I took Jonathon out of the swing and turned my back my little 28 lb toddler climbed in the swing and began calling for me to start it and turn on the music for her. Now I'm pretty sure there is a 12-15 lb weight limit on this thing. But the delight on her face was so huge I couldn't resist taking a few pictures before I got her interested in something more exciting to do. Poor thing is having to share the limelight and just doesn't know quite what to do with herself!

Carly and Jonathon

Carly loves having a brother, I think. One minute she is kissing him and the next she is trying to sit on top of him. One minute she is giving him a hug and the next she wants him to get out of his carrier seat so she can rock in it like a baby. Actually, she has been very cute with him, she is just doing a little reverting to babyhood herself. She's been a little more whiny and cranky and needing to be held and cuddled the last couple of days. She threw her bottle down today and grabbed his. She was checking us out to make sure we weren't feeding him better than her. She didn't keep it long. She's on straight, fresh milk. He's getting formula. Yah, I'm just sayin'.

FINALLY, HOME SWEET HOME!

WAY DOWN YONDER IN THE PAW PAW PATCH

That's where it feels like we are . . . I'm a home-body and I want to get home with my new baby and be with my girls again. I'm sure I have mentioned this before but patience is not one of my virtues. So, I am waiting but not so patiently.

YOU DIDN'T EXPECT A NEW SUBJECT, DID YOU?

Jonathon is doing so well. He eats and sleeps well and he is so darn cute. We are just amazed by him.

THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!

It is so neat seeing Rob with his first son. Although, he has had a hard time letting go of the she and hers and remembering that this time he actually has a HIM! What a wonderful blessing this is. We are so grateful for this darling little boy in our lives and for all of our beautiful girls. Our Father in Heaven has been good to us. Here are a few more pictures of Jonathon Robert.


I am this big!



I am this adorable!



I am this lovable!

I SUPPOSE YOU THINK I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING YOU . . .

Well, I promise it's been for a really good reason. We became parents again this week to a handsome and amazing baby boy! Yes, A BOY! Rob actually has a boy! We cannot even begin to describe our excitement and joy! Here's a few pictures of little Jonathon:

BUBBLE, BUBBLE POP!

My baby loves bubbles. Even before she really knew what bubbles were she loved the word bubbles. We sing her a song about bubbles and have since she was tiny and it was one of the first clear words she said. Rob and I used to sub in the Nursery pretty often at church and that's one of the activities they would always do with the little ones--blow bubbles and let them catch them. Carly was too small to really do much but she was fascinated with them. This morning she brought me her bottle of bubbles and really wanted to play with them. She does that fairly often and I always tell her I will take her outside sometime to play with them. Of course, sometime, has not come yet--so she keeps pushing. So, I took her in my bathroom and snuggled her up in my lap and sat on the floor and we started blowing bubbles. She was so excited!

Oh my goodness, I wish I had stopped my world to do this sooner and more often. She had such delight on her face. It was such a simple thing and it made her so happy. The best part, though was that she would always watch the bigger kids in nursery catch some of the bubbles on the blower handles or lightly on their hands. It never occurred to me what she was thinking but this morning I had the blower and was blowing the bubbles so she kept trying to catch them with her hands. Well, that wasn't working at all. She was too rough trying to catch them. When that didn't work she tried to catch them with her mouth. That didn't work either. She got this really confused look on her face and I realized that all along she thought I would blow the bubbles and she would catch them. She didn't realize that the bubbles would pop without her catching them and it really bothered her. She didn't understand.

Once we got past her disappointment at not catching the bubbles she soon went back to delight and wonder. I loved being a part of those moments with her and witnessing the joy and the learning on her face. In those moments I say a silent prayer and thank my Father in Heaven for this amazing and wonderful daughter he has given me the privilege of being a mother to. I am so blessed.

ONLY ONE NAP A DAY BRINGS THE CRANKIES OUR WAY!

You would think we would learn. We are the adults and we have the capacity to learn. I mean, these are things we already know--if we would just learn to follow what we know we could be happy, right? I guess that is pretty much true for all of life. It's true for your weight--follow a good eating plan, your health--don't drink, don't smoke, don't text while you drive, don't smack yourself in the head with a hammer. I mean, these are just basic things we know will keep us feeling good, right?

At our house we know if we want a happy little girl she needs to take two naps a day. Now the dumb thing is that she doesn't even fight us on it. She gets tired and cranky and we put her down for a nap--once in the morning and once in the afternoon. She usually sleeps for a couple of hours each time. If she doesn't get the second nap she can be a little terror all evening long.

We just put her down for the night after one of those long, terror filled evenings and none of us could figure out why she was being so cranky about everything. That is until Rob asked me if she got both naps today. "Hmmm. No, I said. She didn't."

Truth be told, she took a long first nap and I guess none of us clicked on it when she started getting cranky. We just kept trying to give her food or attention or toys and forgot that what she really wanted and needed was some shuteye!

I started to say I can't wait til she can talk so she can tell me what she wants but then I realized how dumb that was--No child is ever going to come up and ask you to give them a nap! However, I am going to try to tattoo that thought in my brain so we have a few less cranky evenings around here! Maybe if I just promise myself that every time she gets her afternoon nap I get one too! Now that will probably work!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

Today is Rob's birthday. We celebrated with cake, a small family party and then we all went to see "Night at the Museum 2". It was pretty good - definitely better than the first one which I didn't like at all. Let me qualify that by saying that I'm the only one in my family that didn't like it. Everyone else thought it was great.

Rob got home last night after being gone for almost two weeks for training. I was so glad to see him! Everybody was. Carly was the funniest, though. She reacted like she was on a sugar high or something. She was all over the place, chattering, laughing, running and showing off. It was like someone pushed her on button and got it stuck on fast forward. That's my crazy little munchkin!

School starts on Monday. Julie is both psyched and scared. She's going to be a sophomore! I think I'm just plain scared! Yikes! At least I have a few more years before Carly goes to school. I'll comfort myself with that thought.

G'night.

Robin, my friend in the pictures from yesterday, did Carly's hair this morning. I've been nervous to do a lot with it and Carly isn't really a fan of sitting still for me to try new things, either. But, while Robin did her hair Julie and I and Robin's kids entertained her. She was pretty good natured about it most of the time. These are called "puffs" and they can stay in for up to a week. It gives me a chance to moisturize her scalp. It was fun to learn firsthand how to do some hairstyles.

OUR DEAR FRIEND ROBIN

This is our angel friend Robin. She is moving to the South this week and we will miss her tons! She helped us on our adoption journey. We love you Robin! Bon Voyage!

FUN AT CHURCH

Sunday at church Carly had a good time. We were in Sacrament meeting--and we got there a little late so of course the only seats available were the ones up front. It's an hour and ten minutes long which is about forty minutes too long for Carly. It's not that we don't come prepared, we do. We have toys, books, treats, her bottle, her blankie--anything she might want but somehow they don't do the trick past the first thirty minutes. Now that she's learned to walk and run she has lots of ideas of things to do that don't meet up with what I want her to do. And in a church meeting where you are trying to be reverent she has me over a barrel because she is NOT afraid to scream loud if I try to change her plans.

So it's Sunday and we have hit the thirty minute wall. She doesn't want anymore treats, toys or bottle and she's getting a little frustrated at our attempts to keep her quiet and busy. She is on the floor between the pews and I try to pick her up only to get one of her loud tirades. I quickly let go. She then climbs under the pew and escapes to the front of the church. Darn!

Do I go get her and make her scream or let her stay there if she keeps quiet? I choose the latter. She is quiet but she is dancing around at the front and the Bishop and his counselors can see her and are snickering. Julie and I are shaking our heads. Carly sees them laughing at her and gets more animated. I take this opportunity and go and pick her up while she is in a good mood and bring her back. Yay! No screaming.

No sooner do I sit down with her on my lap than she scrambles down and under the pew and does the exact same thing. Hey, it got rave reviews the first time--why not? ARRGH!

There are large floor to ceiling windows with curtains on both sides of the chapel at the front. She goes to one side and grabs the curtains and flings them open and twirls herself around in them. I am horrified. Julie is laughing so hard she is shaking. I try looking at Carly with my most serious "Mommy is not happy with you" face and motioning to her with my finger to come here right now. That does not even begin to work.

Finally the closing song and prayer. I think it is almost over. I look up during the prayer and see that she is climbing the steps toward the stage where the pulpit and microphone are. I start praying for a short prayer. It ends just in time for me to grab my little trouble-maker and run!

Then, all the way out everyone stops us to tell her how cute and adorable she is. "Don't encourage her!", I tell them! She'll come back for an encore!

MORE OF ROB'S PARENT'S 50TH

This is our family with Rob's parents,sans Katie our 26 year old and Sara, our twenty year old who did not make it for the event.



This is the whole family, minus one son who was unfortunately unable to be there and if my count isn't off eight grandchildren who could not make it, either.



Here are the Grandparents with all but eight of their Grandchildren.



Last, but certainly not least, here's Carly, in her usual place, perched on Rob's shoulders! She just loves to hang out up there.

KETCHUP

The thing you do when you are behind!

Sorry everyone, this week got away from me. I was so tired by the end of each day that I completely zonked before I even thought about blogging. Then when I did think about it I'd think "Fiddle Dee Dee, I'll do that tomorrow!" Turns out tomorrow took several days to come! So, welcome to tomorrow!

SO, IT TURNS OUT . . .

That once picked, a green tomato is a green tomato is a green tomato! There is no ripening after it is picked. I tried the paper bag trick and even added some fruit to the bag and several days later it is still a very hard, green tomato. No change. But, the ones that were red and almost ripe ripened right up. So, there you have it. Don't let your 18 month old help you pick tomatoes unless you love fried green tomatoes!

A COUPLE NEW PHOTOS

This is Carly with her cousin Keona, Rob's brother's little girl. They look really cute but don't let those smiles fool you. I'm sure they were up to something!



These photos were taken at Rob's parents 50th wedding dinner a couple of weeks ago. I'll put a few more up tomorrow. We just had a small family dinner for them--but it was nice.

I'm putting this picture up because it's one of me that I actually don't hate! I haven't had any pictures taken of me for quite a while that I was happy with! I think it's the whole aging thing. I'm just not any good at it. Oh well.

TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK . . .

Wow. I registered Julie to be a sophomore today but I might as well have been registering her for college. At least that's how it feels to me. It's all happening so fast--way too fast. I keep thinking of that "Turn around" song--you know, "Turn around and you're a young girl . . . I don't remember all the words but one day they are a little girl and the next day they are grown. It seems like Julie was just barely 11 and now she's in her second year of high school. I just feel like I am going to turn around tomorrow and she will be gone to college or be married with kids. Time just seems to be moving so quickly. Guess I'm just feeling a little wistful, tonight.

SUMMER MEALS ARE A BREEZE

I was lazy today. I fixed the same thing for lunch and dinner. I did it without making anyone eat leftovers though. I mean, I fixed both meals separately. It's just that we had BLT's and chips and it was pretty easy fixin's. The great thing is that when you have fresh garden tomatoes no one complains about having to eat them twice a day!

JULIE'S HOME

Julie got home today from girl's camp. She had a great time. They did lots of fun things but I think her favorite was river rafting (something I was personally against because I didn't want her to drown.) Anyway, she didn't and they did have a fun time. I'm posting a couple of the pictures from her rafting trip. Looks like a great time!

By the way, Julie is the one on the top right, kind of sitting on the side just above the word "River" on the side of the boat. The second picture shows her better than the first.

NO, GIVE ME A BITE, PLEASE!

Today I have been trying to teach Carly to say "yes". She has learned "no" really well. She even says it when she means "yes". I know most little kids do that and she is no different but I thought it would be good if she could learn "yes" early on. However, she is not very interested at least not as interested as I hoped. She seems to think it is fine if mommy keeps deciphering when she means yes and when she means no. I guess that is O.K. for the time being. I have to admit it is fairly easy.

This afternoon Carly and I went out to pick green beans, well, I picked green beans, Carly picked green tomatoes. Yikes! Trust me--they are not good fried--no matter what Southerners say! My mother decided we would try them one summer and had about as much success with them as she did with liver at our house. I'm pretty sure even she didn't like them. I did put them in a paper bag to see if they would ripen. Rob doesn't think they will but if you believe the stuff people send on the Internet, anything you put in a paper bag will ripen, won't it?

Hmmm. Guess we'll see.

MY GREEN THUMBS

Today I picked green beens, Swiss Chard, beets, lettuce and tomatoes from my garden and we had a lovely tasting meal. Of course we did add to that some delicious tasting home grown corn a neighbor brought by and some bacon to go with the oh so tasty home grown tomatoes. Mmmm Mmmm good! I can't believe I am actually growing something. Who knew my thumbs were green? I certainly didn't! I can't keep a house plant alive to save my life but I am loving this new ability to garden outside!

So, if you want a great garden meal come on over, I'm cookin' !

WHAT TO DO . . .

Julie is at girl's camp for the week so Carly and I have been keeping busy cleaning out the garage and going through boxes of old stuff. That means we've been making a lot of trash and sending a lot of stuff to charity. Now if we only had enough energy left to weed the gardens, clean the house, mow the lawn and cook for Daddy. Man are we slackin' around here. We didn't even put our naps on the list!

THIS IS AWFUL! THE UK SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED.

Mom in U.K. Fined for Grieving Too Long at Baby Son's Funeral

Wow, I guess you need to be careful not only where you die--but where and how long you grieve. Good grief! (No pun intended)

A grieving mother in Britain was fined $173 for spending too long at her son's coffin before it was taken away for cremation.

Terrie Rouse, 32, said her grief turned to shock when officials told her she had taken too long to say goodbye, The Daily Mail reported.

"The vicar had asked if I would like to spend a bit more time saying goodbye," she said. "I sat by the coffin for 10 minutes, telling my son how much we loved him and begging him not to be scared."

Officials at the crematorium, run by a local English council, impose an extra charge if any funeral runs over its 30-minute slot.

However, the couple's funeral directors said there was plenty of time for the next funeral which was not due to take place for another 50 minutes.

Rouse’s partner, Lee Smythe, said the fee was "sick and disgusting.""Terrie was weeping hysterically," he said. "She just wanted a few extra minutes to say goodbye to our much-loved little boy."

The couple’s son, Zane, died at five weeks from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on April 9.

The family waited three months before they could have a funeral to allow for tests to be carried out.

"It was distressing enough having to wait for the funeral because we were left in limbo, but this has just made it all worse," Smythe said.

FOR THOSE WHO ENJOY THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

(OR SEVERE DISTORTIONS OF IT)

* Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.

* A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.

* Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.

* Practice safe eating - always use condiments.

* Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.

* A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.

* A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

* Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.

* Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

* Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

* Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.

* When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.

* What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away)

* She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.

* If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.

* With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

* When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.

* You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

* Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.

* Every calendar's days are numbered.

* A lot of money is tainted - It taint yours and it taint mine.

* A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

* He had a photographic memory that was never developed.

* Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

* Acupuncture is a jab well done.
-Author unknown-

PROCRASTINATION

We had big plans today. Get up early, clean out the garage, the storage area, weed the gardens, cut back the tomatoes. It didn't happen. I think the plans began to fall apart when we slept through the "getting up early part."

We did forget to notify our teenager when the plans first began to fall through. So she got up early but that ended up being lucky for us because the baby tends to wake up fairly early, too and they were able to play together while we continued to sleep.

Actually, I did have a migraine that took me a while to get rid of and Rob had a very long week of traveling and work. Anyway, once we didn't get started early, we never did get started on our "to do" list. Oh fiddle-dee-dee, we'll worry about that tomorrow . . .

A FUN COLLAGE

I've been playing around with Picasa making some collages lately. Here's one of them.

SO ANYWAY, I WAS SAYING . . .

I didn't realize my whole blog didn't print last night. So here's what I was saying:

There is a Congressman from Louisiana that I love! He has proposed a House resolution that I'd like to call "What's good for the goose is good for the gander!" It's House Resolution 615. You may not know this but while all the politicians are changing up our healthcare they are exempt from anything they are doing to ours. They have their very own, very premium insurance for life that will be absolutely unaffected by what they do to ours. Same for the President. So this Congressman-John Fleming has offered up this resolution and asked all of our legislators to sign it. The paragraphs below are taken from his official website and explain more.

House Resolution 615

As of July 30, 2009, over 150,000 Americans from all 50 states have joined Congressman Fleming in supporting House Resolution 615. Sign the online petition and send a message to Congress - If You Vote For A Government Take Over of Health Care, Then Promise To Use The Plan!

Under the current draft of the Democrat healthcare legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, keeping their existing health plans and services on Capitol Hill. If Members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them lead the way. Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating. Together we will work to ensure that any plan that is good enough for American families is good enough for every member of Congress.

Together we will work to ensure that any plan that is good enough for American families is good enough for every member of Congress.

There is a list on his website of the members of Congress and Senate who have signed it. So far no Senators have signed it and far too few Congressmen. If they don't have enough faith in what they are planning for us to use it; I don't want them forcing it on me.

You can see all this info on Congressman Fleming's website at http://fleming.house.gov

Well, that's the end of my rant for now! I'm sure there will be more later.

MY HEALTHCARE RANT

I am really frustrated with our congressmen and senators and this whole healthcare mess! The fact that they are even considering a vote without having the legislation finalized and without reading it makes me so mad! Not only that but we should have a chance to read it and know what is in it as well--and a chance to respond to them about it so they can do what WE SENT THEM THERE TO DO--REPRESENT US!

There is a website up with a pledge for congressmen and senators to sign saying they will do just that-READ the healthcare bill before they sign it. Do you know that only 98 of some 500 and some legislators have signed it. They have all been asked to sign it multiple times. The arrogance of those we have sent there who plan to vote on this important bill without reading it is remarkable to me. We should throw them all out in the next election.

If you would like to take a look and see if your congressman (or woman)or your senator has signed the pledge go to www.pledgetoread.com

The other thing happening at the same time is that someone

WEEDING THE GARDEN

I've been needing to weed the garden for a week or more. I've been putting it off because the temperatures have been over 100 for that whole time. Tonight I finally went out around 8:00 p.m. and spent an hour on the weeds. Carly went with me and tried to be helpful. She watched what I was doing (pulling weeds out of the ground) and started doing the same thing. We only have two flowers currently ready to bloom and of course Carly honed in on those two and started tearing off those blooms. I caught her before she got the last bloom off my pretty lily that was about to bloom but she went back to it two different times and almost got it those times, too. Good thing I'm quick! She had the right idea--just the wrong plant!

She really liked playing in the garden, er, dirt! We had to throw her in the tub when we came inside. But she was a happy, dirt-y baby!

BACK TO SCHOOL SO SOON?

It doesn't seem possible that Summer has gone by so quickly but sure enough I have the high school registration papers to prove it. They came in the mail the other day. I couldn't believe it. Time to register my teenager, buy books, school clothes, soothe away the jitters. Gosh, only a few weeks left and she's off to school again. It seems like only a few weeks ago that she got out for the summer. It's been nice having her around during the day. I am going to miss that! So is Carly--big time! She gets upset if Julie goes downstairs or outside to get the mail without her permission. Going to school without her is not going to go over big! Carly is so much more aware of what is going on around her now! This should prove interesting. Anyway--back to school here we come!

GRANDMA AND CARLY

Carly likes her Grandma! These are some pictures we took during our recent visit. Carly also likes her blanket as you can see. It's her woobie and she loves to suck on the corners of it. Yeah, I know, gross! We wash it a lot!

DOGS AND FIREWORKS

My husband and his brother love to set off fireworks--especially around our dogs. Not because it scares the dogs but because the dogs like to bark at the fireworks and chase them. It is actually pretty funny to watch. They get some really good exercise and seem to have a good time, too. I wish it were light enough out at the time to take good pictures. It's not, but I took a couple anyway to try to give you an idea of what they do. These are just ground fireworks we set off. If you look close you can see the dogs in the photos. The first one just has Tashie our black lab in it. The second has Tashie, and Sadie, our Collie/Lab mix. Happy Fireworks! Enjoy!

JULIE AND THE CATWALK

This is the waterfall on my grandparents farm. It was a magical place to grow up. The catwalk was always the challenge and we knew we were pretty grown up when we had been able to successfully tackle it. For us it was a rite of passage.

My Mom would have preferred that we never went near it--but it was way too tempting for kids who were watching their older cousins go back and forth across it. The catwalk is about a two inch ledge where you can put your feet--er, uh, toes and its across the top is wall of shale rock that you don't dare trust to hold onto. If you do hold onto it for safety, you will most likely find yourself holding a rock that has come off of a rock wall and losing your balance at the same time. In order to cross successfully you just have to lean your whole body into the wall and shimmy across.

Were you to fall from the catwalk, it is a drop of about twenty feet into more jagged rocks. So, you don't want to fall. I had told Julie about it and she really wanted to cross the catwalk and I thought it would be cool to teach this rite of passage to my daughter.

I was very careful and explained all the precautions to Julie. I went all the way across and came back to get her so she could see how to do it. However, as I took her across I experienced the same fear I'm sure my mom used to have when we would get on the catwalk.

As we got almost halfway across Julie screamed and nearly jumped. Her body jolted backward a bit and scared the living daylights out of me. Why did she scream, you ask? That's what I asked--because she nearly lost her footing and could have fallen. It was a Daddy-long legs spider that made her scream. She doesn't like bugs. I calmed her down by telling her the spider didn't have a mouth big enough to bite her and that there were a million more bugs where she was putting her hands so she'd better get used to it. What would really hurt would be to fall from that height so she should concentrate on where her feet are and keeping her body against the rock. Forget about the bugs.

My original plan was to take her over and back on the catwalk but she was more worried about the bugs the whole way over than about falling and thus, scared me to death, so we went back a whole different way! I wanted us to live to tell the story!

MEMORIES . . .

This picture kind of makes me sad. Right where my family is standing is where we used to play croquet when I was little. It's basically the side yard of my grandparents house--that is if it was still standing. It burned down several years ago now. It was a wonderful place to be. I wish it was still there. Although, part of its magic was my wonderful Grandma and Grandpa. So, even if it was still standing there would be an emptiness. But--Oh,the memories . . . the wonderful, amazing, memories.

CARLY LOVED ALL THE ANIMALS WE SAW ON THE TRIP

We went to my cousin Sheila's house for dinner and this little horsey was a big hit, not to mention the fantastic food and great conversation!

SISTERS, SISTERS . . .

This is a picture of my mom and her sisters. Aren't they cute? We celebrated July 4th at a big family get together. We had lots of food, fun and fireworks--oh yah, and we got rained out on the 4th so we celebrated on the 5th!

L. to R. Louise, Kaye and Carolyn (my Mom)

MAMA, I NEED SOME SHADE!

Carly's newest thing is to grab any pair of sunglasses she can find and put them on. She didn't just find these ones laying around, she dug them out of my purse and I tried to wrestle them away from her. You can see I am having lots of luck! What a little pill! Gee, I love this pill!

MY LITTLE POSER

This is Carly in my parents back yard. My uncle Seth caught her enjoying the flowers. We had such a fun time visiting with everyone. Carly got to meet family for the first time and though she was shy at first she warmed right up! We loved seeing everyone!

EATING FROM THE GARDEN--YUMMY!

This is the first year I have ever had a vegetable garden and I love it! For dinner tonight Julie and I picked zucchini and banana squash, swiss chard and lettuce. The tomatoes and peppers, green beens and beets aren't quite ready yet. But we took what was ready and made a lovely dinner with them.

I made spaghetti sauce with zucchini and banana squash instead of meat and it was really good. I also steamed some of them just to eat as well. I boiled the swiss chard (it tastes like spinach) and then you serve it with vinegar or butter. We made a great salad with the leaf lettuce we grew. It was just really fun to eat from our own garden.

I was going through pictures from our trip today and found a cute one of Julie and Carly. I'm in it too, trying to hold Carly on the Carousel. We stopped to eat and let the girls have a walking break on our drive home. We were at a mall and inside they had this fun carousel. Carly was so excited to get on it--but once it started moving it was all I could do to keep her on the saddle.

The Cousin Reunion or The Return of the Motley Crew

This is our mini-cousin reunion photo. There were only 7 of us there to photograph but there were a few others that came around while I was there. All together there are 19 of us. Sadly a few years ago we lost our cousin Bill to a fast moving cancer. So there are only 18 of us living. You know, you never get used to things like that happening--especially when they happen within your own family to people you love. We have always been a fairly close group. But once everyone grew up we kind of went our separate ways and it's been awhile since we have all been in one place. It was really nice to see each other and catch up again. I just wish more of us could have been there. Love you guys!

. . . AND WE'RE BACK

Sorry for the delay in posting eveyone (yah, like I have a bunch of fans out there!) anyway, our hotel Internet wasn't working most of the time and since we got home Sunday night I just haven't been able to start my engine. It's beginning to turn over a little bit now--so I'm expecting it to start any time now. Hee hee.

Let's see--where to begin. We had a terrific time with family. It was WAY TOO SHORT! We had a small cousins reunion. I say small because not everyone was able to make it but those of us who were had a good time. I will post some pictures of it later.

Tonight I have to show you the coolest thing in the world--at least to me. My grandmother was a seamstress. She could sew anything and she didn't even need a pattern. Anyway, I was packing up a lot of my parents things and my mom came across some of the clothes she had worn as an infant and toddler that her mom had made for her. A little hat she had knitted, a glove and a top she made. As I was carefully repacking these items I got to looking at the little top. It was in perfect condition with the exception that it needed it's button sewn back on and the button was with it. Other than that it looked brand new. Julie sewed the button back on and I had a thought. It was made for a toddler. My mom had worn it when she was about Carly's age. I mentioned it to my Mom and she gave me the go ahead. So, we tried it on Carly and it looked adorable.

I won't tell you my Mom's age--but here we have a grandmother and a granddaughter who both wore the same shirt as toddlers. For one it was made by her mother--for the other it was made by a great grandmother she will never meet in this life.

Well, when I got it on her it was more than I could take in and the tears started to come. I loved and adored my grandmother and I still really miss her. To see my little daughter in something she sewed that had been so well preserved was like having her there holding and rocking my daughter--something I would have given the world to have happen. She loved all of us kids so much and I know she would have adored mine, too. I'm sad she didn't get to meet them but I know she sees them now and approves. I love you Grandma.

O.K. well, I said I wouldn't tell you my mom's age and I won't, but I'm going to post some pictures of Carly modeling this top my Grandma made-and I have to give you a little bit of an idea of its age just because it is so amazing how well kept it is. The top is more than 60 years old. Can you believe that? It really is a treasure. Well, here's a peek!

HOME, SWEET HOME

There's nothing like coming back to a place you haven't lived for 20 or 30 years and hanging out with your cousins and aunts and uncles and friends. I've been back to visit many times but others have moved away too so they haven't always been here when I've visited. However, several of us made a special effort to come at the same time this time and it has been really nice to see each other and catch up. I've missed my family. I love my family. It's strange how we got all spread out and for so long without meeting back up again. But this has been a happy gathering and I'm so glad I could be here for it. I love you guys!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

After several hours in the car today we took a break and let everyone out for a few minutes to goof around--and as you can see they did! We found a great spot near a small tributary. It was really pretty and very relaxing--at least for those few moments.