My Mom

Yesterday was my mom's 60th birthday. She wouldn't like that I just announced that fact, but the picture rather gives it away. She is one of my favorite people. She is so full of love and cares for all who are around her. She's always there to talk and laugh with, and I love spending time with her any way I can.

My mom and I have always had a special relationship. As a teenager I use to spend a lot of time talking at the foot of her bed after being with friends. I loved that. She loved it when I brought friends to the house and always let us know we were welcome to be there by most of the time joining in on the fun.

Now we are able to talk and laugh over the phone. She gives great kiddo advice for those tough days and reminds me that the good times far outweigh the frustrating moments. Mom, thanks for laughing, crying, and listening. I love you more than I can express. Thank you for being my mom. I'm only beginning to understand exactly what that little word means. Happy birthday.

Gardening

We finally have a garden! Our back yard isn't very large, so we made the most of our hillside and built a terraced garden. It's taken much longer than we anticipated due to the days and days of rain we've had. But we literally dug in today and finished. It's taken a lot of shoveling, time, and well, money, but we're happy with the end result. Hopefully it will pay off in the long run in more than one way. Nick is amazing at finishing projects and making them look incredible. Emma had a lot of fun planting. And Ashlyn had fun digging up and stepping on everything that we planted. Gardening with kids is rather hilarious. I'm interested to see how weeding goes! Oh, but I can't wait for the fresh tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, squash, cucumbers, peas, carrots, spinach, and onions.

American West Heritage Center

Nick's cousin Chance graduated from high school and had a grand celebration at the Cache Valley American West Heritage Center. We had so much fun spending time with friends and family. I'll post more pictures soon. Afterwards we went over to our friend Kade's new house and gawked at the beautiful landscaping. He has a beautiful home. Next time we visit I'll take pictures. I wish I could transfer his flower beds to my house.

It took a bit of coercing, but Emma did ride the pony and had fun. (I think this is especially funny since she rode my little sister's horse just a couple months ago and an elephant last summer without a thought.)

Ashlyn loved riding on my shoulders and seeing how stretchy my cheeks are.

Our friend Kade came along and jumped on the chance to hold Lacee's baby Carson. Cool kid, isn't he?

Sad

I've been excited for the past few days because Nick's work is sending him to Cheyenne for a meeting and we were going to get to tag along. Now he'll be flying instead of driving, so we'll be staying home. I just hope our friends in Laramie know how much we love and miss them. We will be heading out there some time this summer, one way or another.

Love

- Kid kisses
- Squeeze hugs from Ashlyn
- Popping bubbles
- Flowers
- Surprise sneak-up-behind-you hugs
- Laughing with friends
- Rocking a sleeping child
- Fresh, warm cookies
- Fresh paint
- Wildflowers
- Completing a project
- Phone conversations with mom and sisters
- New clothes
- A new book, preferably a series with multiple good books
- Music to dance to
- Reading to my girls
- Snuggles

Adopting

My good childhood friend Monica and her husband Matt are two of the most amazing people I know. They have been married for six years and haven't been able to get pregnant, so now they've decided to adopt. I love these two. Monica and I have been friends since elementry school, and she has always been an inspiration to me. She's possitive, kind, athletic, and a true friend. Matt is one the most friendly, motivated people I know. He's constantly working towards running or biking a new race. They're a great couple and I wish them all the luck. They have an Adoption Profile Website you can access here. If you know of anyone who could use this information, please pass on their names. They're going to be amazing parents.

Run-in with a Stray Dog

Sunday proved to be an interesting day for us. I came home from church a bit early (my persistent cold wouldn't let me stop coughing). A few minutes after I got home, I noticed a big, stray dog out my window. Next thing I knew, he had parked himself on my front porch. Every few minutes he would jump up on the door and bark. I ignored him and expected him to go away.

When Nick came home about 45 minutes later, he was still there. Even worse, it decided to guard the house from Nick and the girls. Every time Nick got out of the car, it would bark at him and start tearing around the yard. When Nick told it to get out here, it just got more and more riled. After Nick and I talked to each other through windows, Nick drove off with the girls and I called the dog catcher. While we waited, Nick would drive by every few minutes. Each time the dog saw the car, it would go crazy barking. It took the dog catcher about another 45 minutes to get here, but when he finally did, the dog ran straight to the porch barking. The dog catcher used a 5-foot pole with a loop on the end to catch him.

After that bit of drama, I was glad to feel like I owned my house again and get my girls safely through the door. However, on the way home this afternoon, Emma asked if there would be a mean dog at our house. Crazy animal affected all of us.