Tiffany's Mom

Today Mike and I drove to Visalia to attend the funeral of Tiffany's Mom, Judi Jordan. She spent half of her life living with a debilitating disease that left her unable to use the many creative talents that she was blessed with. She had MS (multiple sclerosis) I cannot imagine being a gifted painter, cook, flower arranger, and seamstress and not be able to use these talents because of the degeneration of my body. I cannot imagine trying to parent my children from a wheelchair for a good portion of their lives. I cannot imagine the physical pain and discomfort of not being able to hold up my head or use many other body parts. And yet somehow Judy learned to to live life like this. I guess it just makes me grateful for the things that we all take for granted- chasing butterflies at the park with my children, not needing assistance to perform daily duties, and having good health.
And so today I was inspired to be more grateful for the blessings in my life. And I hope that Tiffany know how much I love her. She is the little sister that I never got!!!!

Cousin SUmmer Fun

This summer we have had a lot of fun with the cousins. Sorry, these pictures are probably only exciting to my family. Jonathon visited from Spain and we had a fun week with him going hiking, to the beach, and the zoo. I am grateful to live so close to family. Blake and Julia absolutely love the attention showered on them by Jean's kids, especially 12 year old Andi who has endless enthusiasm and patience for them.
Andi pulling Blake on the "boat".

Jeffrey, Jonathon and Blake at the Zoo.

Jean, Andi, Jonathon and Blake at the end of our hike.

Julia and Andi.

Jonathon, Jeffrey, Blake and Andi tryingto knock down the pinata at Jean's birthday party.

Andi, Blake, Julia and me hiking. Note that Andi pushed this stroller almost the whole hike.

Add another one to the list.....

And you all thought I went to Spain to see my sister........
I know this is several days past prime time news, but I really am beginning to wonder if there is any politician out there who doesn't belong on the dirty old man list. Shame on you John Edwards, if only I already knew when I met you I would have punched you in the face!!!!!

Surprise Getaway

Mike surprised me this weekend by taking me on a 24 hour getaway for our 5th anniversary. It was so much fun, and at the end of it all, I wanted to hit the rewind button so we could enjoy it all over again. The best part about it was that I was truly SURPRISED. Ever since I was little, I have always managed to find out about surprises before they actually happen, and I have to say that I really knew NOTHING about this. I came home from a run on Friday evening to flowers and Mike telling me to take a shower and pack my bags. He had safely deposited our kids with our friends and handed me tickets to see Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl. I love the Hollywood Bowl, and I love Les Mis!!!

We spent the night at the Hilton in Downtown LA which is an amazing hotel. We even went swimming in the rooftop pool/spa at 1am. It was such an awesome view from way up there.

We spent the next day wandering around downtown LA, eating cupcakes from Sprinkles Bakery, and going to the temple. So Happy 5th Birthday to our family and thanks Mike for a wonderful life and weekend!!!!!!

Garden Treasures

Our garden has started producing some good treasures. Julia is holding a zucchini and Blake is holding some snap peas. I made these tasty zucchini fritters out of some of our plentiful zucchini.

There is nothing better than homegrown tomatoes and basil from our herb garden topped with some fresh mozarella cheese(which did not come from a cow in our backyard-maybe next year)

I'm especially glad to reap the rewards without any of the labor. Thanks Mike for producing such a lovely and delicious garden.

Ginger

I haven't posted for a long time. On July 20th, my friend Ginger, wife and mother of 4 small children passed away from unknown causes. She was 30. Her children are 1,3,6 and almost 8. I am terribly saddened by this loss and pray that her family is given the peace and comfort they need.
So today, hug your family a little longer. Love a little more, because we never really know if today will be our last day. I was so touched that the day before she died, she posted a picture on her blog of her daughter hanging from a tree and entitled the post "happiness".

The Sad Truth

Poor Julia, she was cursed with bad breath and stinky feet. Every time I take off her sandals I recoil from the unpleasant odor emanating from those cute little feet. And every morning when she wakes up, I try not to let her breathe on me because I want to faint when I smell her breath. How can someone so adorable be so stinky. The worst part is that she gets both of these problems from me. Sorry kid, and good luck.

Does anyone have any good remedies for the stinky feet problem?