Friday, August 31, 2007

Exciting news!

I just checked Stephanie and Richard's blog (she's my cousin) and they found out yesterday they are having a GIRL! :) I am so excited for them! They were not supposed to be able to get pregnant by themselves, but Heavenly Father has blessed them with this precious baby who is truly a miracle. Congrats guys! They have ultrasound pics on their blog. So sweet!


Also, yesterday I drove by Bath & Body Works and they are having their 5 for $15 sale on their oh-so-yummy-smelling soaps. I just love these! I got 5 different scents (I'll have to stock up on some more before the sale ends) and I love them all. My fave is Sparkling Peach. I wish I could put smells on the computer because it is just heavenly. I also bought Fresh Pineapple, Warm Vanilla Sugar, Sweet Pea, and Mango Mandarin.

Frustration!

Have you ever walked by someone and they were so familiar to you, but you couldn't figure out why or place them somewhere in your life? This happened to me last night. I still cannot figure it out. I was at a church function last night and we were all wandering in the halls having refreshments and gathering our groups together and I walked by this guy and I knew his face. He kind of glanced at me at the same time. I kept going. A few minutes later we walked by each other again and he stopped me and said something like, "I know you, but I'm not sure how." I said, "I was thinking the same thing!" We stood there for several minutes trying to figure out the connection, but alas, it was fruitless. We just seemed so familiar to each other, it was weird. We did not grow up anywhere near each other, he's 5 years older than I am, and the only similarity seems to be some time in UT, but we couldn't figure out what. How frustrating is that?! I asked my husband if he had any idea--nope. I called my parents. Again, no help at all. So, it's driving me crazy! Will I ever figure out why I know this guy?

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

A Get to Know You, Get to Know Me

My brother did this on his blog and I really enjoyed reading it! Here's mine:


1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My grandfather's name is Julian and my grandmother's name is Suzanne. They combined the 2.


2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? It seems these days anything sets me off, even cartoons and commercials. That's what I get for having 4 kids. I get more emotional every time.


3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yep.


4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Hmm, ham, turkey, roast beef


5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 4 of them



6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I would hope so. Everyone needs to feel like they have a friend, right?


7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Probably more than I realize


8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes


9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Doubt it.


10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Corn Chex


11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope


12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? After being a gymnast and now hauling 4 babies around, sure I am. ;)


13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Blue Bell Lemon Ice Box Pie (and then anything chocolate as well)


14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? If they are smiling or not

Where did 15 go?

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? That I'm afraid my shyness comes across as being snobby. I really am nice! I'm just really nervous being the one to start talking.


17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My fam around the country and my best friends who are all over as well


18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue jeans and tan slip-on type shoes.


19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Piece of lemon cake



20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The whir of the computer and the fridge, Little Einsteins on Disney



22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Probably a soft pink or soothing blue or green. Hmmm, maybe a light warm yellow. So many choices!


23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Dh after he shaves, clean kids, chocolate chip cookies, mountain air


24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Ben


25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? On a regular basis, none really. I love gymnastics, swimming and anything at the Olympics that's airing on TV.


27. HAIR COLOR?Brown


28. EYE COLOR? Green


29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes, I can hardly see anything without them.


30. FAVORITE FOOD? Potatoes (I'm a meat and potatoes girl thru and thru), popcorn, chocolate


31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings


32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? at the theater--Elizabeth


33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White


34. SUMMER OR WINTER? I like summer for vacations, but I love snuggling to get warm in the winter and all the wonderful holidays.


35. HUGS OR KISSES? With my kids and hubby they come together!


36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Brownie sundae

37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Wild Swans, ADHD a Parent's Handbook


38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad, we have the mouse with the trackball.

What happened to 39?

40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Ghost Hunters (weird, I know)


41. FAVORITE SOUND? Sounds of nature, Ben's voice, babies giggling, kids singing


42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles


43. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Which home? Let's put it this way, I've been to Canada (not any trips of consequence that I really remember--except Niagra Falls). I've never flown over any oceans.


44. HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I am an artist--painting, drawing. I also love to sing.


45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Cedar City, UT


Now copy and paste and fill in your answers on your own blog!

I guess she wanted some cereal...

It is the law in my house that when I am dutifully cleaning up in one room, one of the kids is making a mess in another. Every time...

Megan's First Day!

She got to go to kindergarten today! Yay! We started at playgroup this morning (no fever today and she's eating normally), stopped into McD's for lunch quickly and ran to the school. I walked in with her. They were meeting in the gym and then taking them to the library. Megan seemed to be fine. She just sat quietly in her line and I waited in the hallway until they left the gym just to make sure (just "mommy worries") she was ok! Of course, she was. Now Carli is down for her afternoon nap and I am blogging. There are so many things I can do! What do I do first...

It was pretty sunny and bright when I took pictures of her so they didn't turn out very well. She couldn't open her eyes all the way and she wouldn't smile. Oh well... She looked cute!

Monday, August 27, 2007

This is a MUST READ

You have to check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D130144061675%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

Trust me. :) You will be laughing out loud and saying "Amen!"

First Day of School '07

Here are Brandon and Kate all spruced up for the first day of school. Brandon was not happy about taking pictures, but he did let me get 1. Kate was in heaven, of course. She loves to pose. She looked so darling in her little leopard print skirt and headband and brown shirt. She has a little leopard that she wanted to hold for the pic, too. :)
Poor Megan. I feel so bad for her missing the first day of kindergarten! She woke up with a fever and has been on the couch all morning. She is finally eating a little, but she wasn't keeping even water down this morning. She also has a uti so that's not helping matters at all. I hope she can got tomorrow! The weird thing is last night I had this fleeting thought of how sad it would be for a child to miss their first day of school and here she is, missing her first day ever!
A back shot of Brandon. At least he was all coordinated, even with his backback! He looked very handsome and grown up this morning.
"All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth..." Isn't she cute?! She's actually quite talented at eating an apple with her side teeth.
Cute post of Kate and Brandon hiding behind her.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

FHE Funnies

Tonight we had FHE (as Ben is not home Monday nights) and it started out with a total hoot. Kate directed our opening song and stood in front of the TV and waved her arm to the music while we were singing so Carli decided this was neat so she went and stood next to Kate and started opening and closing her mouth and waving her arms. It was just a riot.

Then Megan stood up to say the opening prayer and wanted Kate to help her. Every time Megan said something she would turn and knock on Kate's forehead to have her say the next part to her. Ben and I were cracking up (quietly, though--it was prayer). :)

We talked about taking the sacrament for our lesson. Brandon asked this morning why we take the sacrament so we thought that would be a good topic to discuss tonight. Ben asked the kids a question and told them to raise their hand to be called on to answer. Of course, they were all raising their hands and saying "Me, me, me," so once again, Carli being the imitator that she is these days, out of the blue held up both her short little arms and called out "Me, me, me!" All of us just busted up laughing. She has never said "me" before and to hear her and see her doing this was too much. We had a good laugh over that one.

Ahhh, the joys of parenthood... :) Now if they would just go to sleep! First day of school tomorrow!

Shadow Puppet Show

This is really fun to watch. I got it in an e-mail from a friend. Enjoy!

Friday, August 24, 2007

Meeting the teachers!

Sorry, I don't have any cute pics, but the girls did wear their new sundresses so you get the gist. Last night was "Meet the Teachers" night at the kids' elementary school. I would say it went fairly well. We started at the kindergarten hallway and Megan would not even look at her teacher. She finally came out from behind me when she offered Megan a sticker and asked which color she would like. We found out that Megan's best friend will be in her class! Hopefully that will make the drop-off Monday easier. I'm a little nervous about her.

Brandon's teacher was next and amazingly, his best fried is in his class, too (brother of Megan's friend)! I hope he has a great year. His teacher is supposed to be really awesome so I hope and pray that she has the skills and patience to help him in the ways that he needs her to.

Kate is another small worry. Turns out that her teacher is a "boy," as she calls him. He's a new teacher at the school this year. I totally did not expect a male teacher, but I'm sure he is great. He was very quiet last night so I didn't get a good feel for what his class will be like. He was in the military for 20 years and I think he's been teaching for 2. We'll see how it goes!

So begins another year of early mornings, lunch making, and hauling kids. Should be fun! :)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Sundresses

My girls got a package in the mail today. They ripped it open and out popped something that made them squeal with delight--sundresses from NaNa! My mother-in-law, Sandy, went to Michigan to the beach last week. She grew up in MI and her best friend still lives there. They went perusing at a fun sidewalk sale and found these cute sundresses by a company called Fresh Produce. They are darling, bright colored, and have cute little designs on the fabric. Of course, the girls put them right on and posed for some pictures. Here they are!







Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Tagged!


I was tagged last week by Michelle, so here goes. :) I did a little of this info a couple weeks ago on our anniversary, but there's some fun stuff, too.


Where did you meet your husband?
We met in Provo, UT, through a mutual friend (my friend was dating his roommate). I was just visiting for the weekend as I went to school down in Cedar City.


What was the first thing you said to your husband?
Not a clue. :) I doubt he would remember, either. Probably, "Hi."


Where was the first kiss? first date?
I guess our first date was to a fireside at BYU. We had just met the day before. He just couldn't stay away, huh hon?!


First kiss was when he came down to Cedar to visit me. We were hugging goodbye for the evening and it turned into a little more...


Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?
Short both. We met Feb. 14, got engaged April 2, married August 8, all in the same year.


Where did you get engaged?
In front of the Christus statue at the St. George Temple visitors center. He "snuck" down from Provo, skipping classes, to surprise me. He just couldn't wait any longer. He had the ring and he had talked to my parents so it was all set, he just had to ask! He showed up at my apt. next to my car as I was getting ready to go back up to campus to check e-mail again since there had "mysteriously" not been any messages from him for a few hours (that was unusual for us). :) He took me to dinner at a Chinese restaurant (where I ate one of those really spicy red peppers thinking it was a carrot a little on the burned side). Then he blindfolded me and took me to the temple grounds. He made me sit out in the hall at the visitors center while he set it all up inside (meaning he talked to the sisters in there and had them ready with the camera). Then he took me in and stopped in front of the Christus and took off the blindfold. He did the whole knee thing and asked me to marry him. Obviously, I said YES and the sister missionary took some pics of the whole thing. The cool thing was she was back there when we got married, too!


Where did you get married?
St. George, UT Temple. Family tradition, somewhat. We had the same room that my parents did and many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. We were sealed by my Grandpa. That was really neat.


How did the reception go?
The night of the wedding we had an open house in Cedar City for family and friends in the area. We had one a week later in OH, where my family was living, and then one in Michigan, where Ben is from. It was crazy, but I got to wear my dress a ton. That was a lot of fun! They were all very nice and the food was yummy. Ben and I sang together at the one in OH. That was neat.


How was the honeymoon?
Pretty darn good. :) We spent the first 2 nights at my grandparents cabin and then we drove to Avon, CO, where we stayed in a condo. We went white water rafting down the Colorado River. It was really fun.


I tag: Rebecca, Jenni, Lanae, and Stephanie.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Peach-Blueberry Cobbler

I found this recipe a couple weeks ago in the latest Cooking Light magazine. I bought the ingredients to make it last week and we finally did last night. Ben made it, actually. He likes to cook when he has time and when it's something he really, really wants to eat. :) Blueberries are one of his favorite things in this world. Here's the recipe:Peach-Blueberry Cobbler

Filling:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. grated lemon rind
1/4 t. salt
3 cups chopped peeled peaches (about 2 lbs)
2 c. fresh blueberries
1 T. fresh lemon juice
Cooking spray

Topping:
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
3 T. chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 c. low-fat buttermilk (we just used 2%, didn't have buttermilk)
1 1/2 t. turbinado sugar (we didn't have this either, just sprinkled regular sugar over)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. To prepare filling, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add peaches, blueberries, and juice. Spoon mixture into an 8" square baking dish coated with cooking spray (we used a stone baking dish and it was fine). Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.
3. To prepare topping, lightly spoon 1 1/3 c. flour into measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk; stir just until moist.
4. Remove the dish from oven; drop dough onto peach mixture to form 8 rounds. Sprinkle dough evenly with turbinado sugar. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until bubble and golden (it took us about 35 minutes to get to golden).

(Serve with vanilla ice cream on top!)

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Pay it Forward

This sounds so fun! I'm really looking forward to it. :)

I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. Also for the 3 people who decide they want to join in on the movement, I will be checking out your blogs to get an idea of something you would really want or need and to get to know you better (if I don't aready)...so feel free to leave me some clues!So who wants some fun mail??? You know you love fun mail. So help me Pay it Forward by joining in!

My brain is working thinking of something really great to send to leave me a comment and let the fun begin! :)

Saturday Musings

Not much going on, but I felt like blogging. Ben and Brandon are off on their first scout fishing trip today. I'm really glad they can do this together. I am happy whenever they get to spend some time together. Of course, we didn't have any fishing gear, so they had fun shopping before the trip. It looks like a good day for it, too, as it is overcast, but not raining...yet.



Yesterday I got Carli's room finally cleaned out and the clothes that she has outgrown into a container and pulled out the next couple sizes up. It looks so cute! I'm dying to paint and get some more cute things to put on the walls. Her theme is Raggedy Ann and Andy, but very muted. Her crib and changing table (which is only used for storage now) are a pretty red cherry finish. I want to paint the walls a soft red or maybe blue. She has a Raggedy Ann quilt wall hanging that I finally hung up yesterday and I have this picture I need to get printed in a large size and frame.


Carli is the baby on the far left. When I was pregnant with Carli there were 7 or 8 other moms at church who were pregnant at the same time. It was so much fun. Before we moved from Cedar Park (3 days before) we got some of the babies together for a picture. I just love it and it's such a great memory of all my wonderful friends there. I thought it would be such a fun picture to have in her room!

Any design tips you want to leave me would be much appreciated! I can't wait to get going on all my projects in our new home. It's going to be a long process because I can only do a little at a time. I'll update with pics and such as I go!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

A wonderful way to start the morning

I got up early this morning to walk with my friend, Lindy, and when I got home Ben was up with Carli. As soon as she heard the door click open she was running straight down the hall to me and I got the biggest hug. She is so sweet! She was then attached to my hip and we got some breakfast (daddy went back to bed). She sat in her chair and I sat in mine and we were eating our cereal. Then she moved her bowl over by me and scooted onto my knee and finished her cereal with me. It was just so cute and simple. I loved it. :) Now I will have a smile on my face all day because of my sweet baby girl.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Will this heat ever end?

It's even too hot to go to the pool! We go in the morning or in the evening, but never later than noon. If we go out we just melt. There is some relief in sight, though. By the end of the week we should have temps in the high 90s instead of the 100s. LOL! :) This heat is just crazy.

Another way we are beating the heat is making popsicles. When my mom and mother-in-law, Sandy, were here a couple weeks ago they found these cool popsicle maker sets that have a little straw in the side so you can sip out the melted part instead of having it drip all over. This doesn't work very well with an 18 month old, but she'll get the hang of it. She loves them anyway!

How are you keeping cool this summer?

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

10 years

This is my hubby, Ben. He has these beautiful piercing blue eyes and a smile that I just adore. Ten years ago today we were sealed in the St. George, UT, LDS Temple by my grandpa. It was 115 degrees, granted, but it was a wonderful day. When I look back I am amazed at how great our life together has been. We're not perfect, but we have done pretty darn well. We will both say the first year was the hardest and when we look back we kind of laugh at the way we were back then.

We met the day after Valentine's Day, 1997. I was going to SUU (Southern Utah University) in Cedar City, UT, and Ben was attending BYU. One of my best friends was dating--or rather, trying to break up with--Ben's roommate. We invited them over for games and the rest is history. They called later that night to see if we would go with them to the fireside at BYU the next night. Laura, my friend, who was really trying to shake this guy off, tried saying no. I think he was getting the hint so he finally said, "Actually, I'm really calling because Ben is very interested in Julianne." Of course, she said, "We'd be glad to come." :) Thanks for the nudge, Laura! We went with them to the fireside and then we walked back to their apartment. Ben gave me his jacket to wear over my dress. What a gentlemen. Something had definitely started.

The next evening Ben had to work and I was going on a blind date with the cousin of another good friend and we ended up at the same place as Ben's ward's FHE--the skating rink at Seven Peaks in Provo. How uncomfortable I was being there with another guy and I was falling for Ben after only knowing him 2 days! I saw Ben skating around the rink. A couple turns later I saw him grab a cute girl's hand and start skating with her. I thought to myself, "I guess he didn't like me as much as I thought." Ok, it had only been 2 days, but you know...jealousy... :) LOL! This is the funny part--it turned out to be James, Ben's identical twin, with his fiance, Lybi. Hee, hee. Ben had not been able to get off work and was not there. According to his roommate, he was pretty bummed he was not going to be there. Remember, I was on a date with another guy! So, the date ended and I headed back to Lehi with my friend and her hubby (the one whose cousin I was on a date with). About 11 pm I got a call from Ben asking if he could come up and bring me something. Of course he could! Why would I say no? :) He drove from Provo to Lehi to bring me a pie because he worked at Frontier Pies. Then we talked until 2 in the morning. Yes, we talked!

I went home the next morning (Tuesday) only to receive a letter on Wednesday from Ben telling me how much he enjoyed getting to know me that weekend and that he would like to see me again. He had been home from his mission for 2 years and had sworn off dating a little while before he met me. Well, I was it for him. ;) We started e-mailing each other several times a day, visited on weekends (remember we were going to 2 different schools, 3 hours apart), and called each other. Five weeks later, on April 1, he called my parents to ask to marry me (yes, it was April Fool's Day--they were tempted to tell him no just for fun but decided that was a little too cruel of a joke) and of course they said yes. We were then sealed on August 8, 1997.

We have lived in Provo (2 apts.), Michigan (3 different places), Indiana (2 moves there), and finally here to TX (where we've moved 3 times as well). I think we are finally settled and stable in Ben's job. He works for Microsoft now and is loving it. We've moved around a lot to find better job opportunities. I think this will be it for a while so I'm really happy to finally be in a place where I know we'll be staying for a while. We have 4 great kids, 1 boy and 3 girls. What a great family we have together. My brother told me when we were going to get married that we were going to have ugly kids (you know what younger brothers say to bigger sisters...) and boy was he totally wrong. Brandon is one handsome little man and the girls are just as gorgeous as they can be. I'm not biased or anything, though. :) We both have really supportive and loving families who we love to be around (we were both very blessed in the in-law department!). Too bad we don't live near any of them, but that's why we savor our family vacations so much. I couldn't ask for anything else in our life together. Mostly, we are blessed by our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have a solid foundation in our family based on the gospel and what a blessing and feeling of peace that brings to us through our trials. We did get married very quickly, but we knew it was right and we have truly been blessed by making good decisions.

Anyway, Happy Anniversary hon! I love you so much and more every year we are together. Thank you for being such a loving and sweet husband and such a fun dad to the kids. You know they love you, too! Many, many more happy years to come. I can't wait to see what is in our future together. I'm glad I will be with you for eternity. Remember, Hawaii for our 15th! :)



Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer's newest book came out today! Eclipse is the third in the series which started with Twilight, followed by New Moon. They are so much fun to read! Yes, they are about vampies, but they are very intriguing and not something I usually want to read about. Her story just grabs you and keeps you turning the pages. I can't wait to read it! You can check out Stephenie Meyer's website and read about the books and her other projects. You'll have to wait a bit to look, though, because her website is temporarily down today (that's what it says when you go to it) and I assume it's because of the release today. Maybe it crashed? Anyway, there are lots of fun things to see on her site.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Wilkinson Quintuplets

The quints are here! They were born via c-section last Tuesday morning, July 31, 2007. Rachelle broke the record for the biggest weight of the babies combined--over 21 lbs of baby! They are all doing pretty well and will probably go home in the next 1-2 weeks. That is such a miracle! Everything went so well for all of them in this pregnancy. Jayson and Rachelle were featured on the CBS Early Show this morning so click and you can see it. Also check out Jayson's blog for videos of the birth and Rachelle's first meeting of the babies after the birth. They are so cool! Congrats Wilkinsons!

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Carli is 18 months

No more roaming the halls at church!!! :) Carli turned 18 months old on July 14, while we were in Utah. She did pretty well in nursery out there, but I stayed with her. I am looking forward to her getting used to her permanent nursery here. I can't believe my little 5 lb almost preemie is such a big beautiful girl now. What a sweetheart she is and she has those angel blue eyes that really make her stand out from a crowd. She loves to cuddle and snuggle with her blankets. She's quite a little monkey and will climb on everything she can. While we were out in Utah I took her out into my mom's beautiful backyard with my camera and just shot a ton of pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Finally

I believe all our travels are now over. It has been so crazy! I returned home from Utah last Wednesday evening and then left with Ben Friday evening for a 10th anniversary getaway weekend. My mom and sister are here and they were so great to stay with the kids so we could go. We spent it at a bed and breakfast, Creekhaven Inn, down in Wimberley, TX, south of Austin in the middle of hill country. It was just beautiful. The room was French country and very pretty and the breakfast each morning was heavenly. We spend most of the day Saturday at Schlitterbahn, the huge water park down in New Braunfels. Ben had a blast. I enjoyed it, the water rides were way fun, but I hate standing in long lines. We will not be doing something like that again for an anniversary--sorry hon. Saturday evening we found the best little German restaurant not far from the water park. It was started by a German family who immagrated here, I think, in 2001. The food was totally authentic and so so so yummy! I can't remember the name of it, but I'll find it and toot their horn so if any of you are ever down there you can check it out. It was really great. Here are some pics of the beautiful inn we stayed at. It was right by the river down a very country road and we listened to the bullfrogs each night.


We drove home Sunday morning. My mother-in-law and Ben's cousin and her husband flew in Sunday for Mary Kay Seminar in Dallas and they all came over for dinner Sunday evening. That was so much fun. Then I headed back to Dallas with them for Seminar, which was Monday morning to this afternoon. So after all my vacations with the kids and Ben I was able to get some really awesome girl time the last couple of days. Mary Kay takes such good care of us so we had a great time. Our minds and souls were filled to the brim and overflowed with excitement, encouragement, belief, and faith. I am so excited to finally get my business up and going here in our new area and enrich the lives of women around me by helping them feel better about themselves. That's what it's all about (the products are pretty amazing, too!).