Summer Fun

Jacob decided to excavate the mud out of the hole of the newly planted peach tree. I hope it survives.

The other day Jacob told me, "I would like to help you fold the laundry." So I let him fold the towels. He did a pretty good job too.

The first day of sort of summer temps (77). The kids had been begging to use the pool for about 2 months now. Bridget has no fear of the water, and kept diving in face-first.

I only put about 2 inches in it so she wouldn't get into trouble in all her exuberance. They splashed and splashed and complained bitterly when I brought them in shivering. They probably would have stayed out there until hypothermia set in if I had let them.

Another Reason to Love Idaho

This is one of my favorite news stories, second only to the one about the guy who got stuck down a vault toilet at a rest stop. It posted this evening, and made my day.

http://www.kmvt.com/news/state/96344464.html#tvg

First Camping Trip of the Season

We went camping for a few days, and had a really fun time. We went up Memorial Day, when everyone else was just coming back down out of the mountains. We like going when everyone else is leaving, and this time we pretty much had the whole forest to ourselves. It was nice not having to worry about 4-wheelers running over the kids, or hear loud partiers late at night when we're trying to sleep. I've decided that crowded camping equals exhausting camping.

We took the kids on several little hikes and walks, and they loved it. One of my favorite memories is when Bridget handed me 2 rocks, one of which turned out to be a dry deer dropping. Got to love it.

We finally grew out of our small tent that we got for our wedding. We got this a few days before we went. It's so nice to have enough room to sleep and move around in without having each other's feet in our faces.

Bridget thought running away was a really fun game, so she got to go to the time-out tree every so often.

Me falling asleep, and Bridget doing nothing of the sort.

Jacob decided to hike up this little hill with his stick.

Good times!

The Happy News

After a couple of false starts, it's really happening. Baby #3 is on it's way, kicking it's little leg buds and waving it's arm paddles. I had an ultrasound today, and honestly I didn't know they moved that much when they are so little. It was fun to see, and mostly a relief to see an actual baby in there and a heartbeat...and the wiggling was the icing on the cake.

This is the sickest I've been with any of the pregnancies, and it's been a bit rough, but I've been grateful it's been such a strong pregnancy. Every night I really look forward to going to sleep because it means that I will be unaware of my stomach for 8 hours. Hooray for sleep.

Now, I know you're not really interested in that, so I'll tell you something you do want to know. The due date is December 29, so it will be a Christmas time baby. Being a December baby myself, I swore I would never have a baby anywhere near Christmas, but after the false starts and struggles to get this baby here, I'm just grateful. I'll just have to find ways to make it's birthday special and fun.

2 Years Old

Bridget turned 2 yesterday, and it was a fun day. David's Mom came down for the day, and we had fun...even Bridget, although I don't think she really understood what was going on. Jacob was a lot more excited than she was. He came into our room first thing and excitedly told us that it was Bridget's birthday.
Bridget was terrified of the candles and buried her face in my leg. She wouldn't even look at them until they were safely blown out. She is afraid of all new things.

Jacob kept insisting that Bridget wanted a butterfly cake for her birthday, and so that's what she thought she needed. My birthday cake skills are seriously lacking, so I decided to make cheesecake cookie cups with butterflies make out of candies and cookies instead. It was easier.

Jacob "helping" Bridget open gifts.

Playing with the puzzle Aunt Molly gave her.

She got necklaces and a tutu from both Grandma and Grandpa Strong, and Grandma White. She is so ecstatic about having some girly things finally, she has taken to wearing everything at once. It was a good day in her little life.

We've Been Found

We've successfully evaded David's father for 6 years, but he's found us at last. His father is not a good man, in fact he is a con man. He actually did several years in prison for fraud, and was less than a stellar husband and parent. We have had a policy of non-response to his letters that come forwarded to us several times a year, but the other day one came directly addressed to our house, and another one to David's work. I guess he's learned how to use the internet now.

I have to admit that I was pretty unhappy to see his letter, but I guess the worst that would happen is that he would show up one day asking for money, and David and I have already discussed the answer to that request. No.

His letter got me thinking about the cast of characters that are in our families, and how they are a lot more interesting that characters you could make up in a story. People are interesting and very surprising at times, and worth getting to know. I think every family has it's cast of characters, and the few that make you wonder if they are really larger than life like they seem to be...or more to the point, where did that branch come from on the family tree?

Families are interesting aren't they? Maybe what makes them so interesting is that you can't leave them. You're always a part of them and connected to those people whether you like it or not. Maybe the trick is to smile, shake your head, and keep being a family anyway. (Or tell your father-in-law if he steps one foot on your property you'll call the police.) Whichever works.

Arches

We created some arches to separate the front room and the eating area. I really like the feeling of not eating in the front room anymore.