We hiked 

 

 

 

The view from the top

Making the decision on how to get down the hill.

A Joshua Tree

After the wedding Friday evening, we spent Saturday afternoon at a park hanging out with family. My children never tire of playing. We finished the evening with cupcakes leftover from the wedding. Julia was super cute. Earlier in the week, she got her finger shut in the van door. We had to make a trip to the ER, and after a couple of hours and some x-rays, the diagnosis was a lost fingernail, severe trauma to the nail bed, and a mild laceration to the top of her finger. They bandaged it all up, gave her some meds and sent us home. She points her finger out and says “Owwww, Owwww!!”  it is so hard to keep it clean, and when it came to cupcake time, there was no keeping one away from her. Great day to be a child!

The day we went to a beautiful wedding. 

 The Icehouse, Phoenix, AZ

 

 

Showing Papa his new suit

 

There are always lots of pictures like this one that don’t get put on here.

 

Gabe figuring out the grass was fake!

 

My absolute favorite picture of the day!

 

Our 88 year old Grandma.

 

And she was wearing the most comfortable shoes of the day!

 

They had sparklers for when they left. The children were very entertained by them during the wedding.

 

After a night of partying, they curled up on a couch at the reception and went to sleep.

I am finally getting caught up on my pictures and blogging. About a month ago, we drove over to Reno. Eric met up with our friend and continued onto Vegas for a dental convention. The children and I hung out with our good friends from dental school for 4 days. We went to museums, climbed a HUGE rock wall, shopped, and played. Lots and lots of play!  

 

A Grape Flower Vase. Given by Josh

Taking a nap in the sunshine

 

Take a second look here…The dog is looking right at Jules pop tart!

Ready for our hike.

Lake Tahoe

Looking over “Fanny Bridge”

Made it to the Farm a few weeks ago to get pumpkins  The children had so much fun running through the field trying to find the perfect pumpkin. I told everyone they could pick one pumpkin, but somehow, when we left we had close to a dozen. I guess it was no big deal.. I have a huge front porch! Everybody explained they picked ones for me and Jules.  The white ones were my favorite.

 

 

 

Michael hurt his foot the day before, so he had a makeshift cane

I have finally finished another room. I painted shortly after we moved in, but after awhile didn’t like the paint. The challenge with this room was all the doors and walkways. It is in the back corner of the house with a door going outside and a sliding door on to the deck. There is a stairwell and two other hallways leading into the room. And it is a small room. The wood stove is in here. This is the door where all the children run in and out to play. So shoes, boots, coats, and whatever else seem to always collect in here. The wood stove makes it a cozy room. Definitely the warmest room in our house all winter. 

So the challenges were these-

1. Make it a “cozy” spot to sit by the fire, or read a book

2. Organize all the shoes, hats, and stuff that needs to be there

3.  Have a good “flow” to the room with all the doors and hallways

This is what I did…(I’m trying to find the before pictures)

 

Super cool lights marked down 90% at Home Depot

$15 chair and $5 table from garage sale
And my favorite piece of furniture, this organizing system from Costco. Each person has their name stamped on a bin. Socks and shoes are stored in them. A few extra bins for hats, scarfs, flashlights, and a “Lost and Found” for all the stuff left behind when we have a party.