My Life Is A....

whirl⋅wind

–adjective

4.	like a whirlwind, as in speed or force

–verb (used without object)

5.	to move or travel quickly

I don't know what other word to use to describe my last week and a half! At the end of January, my husband went to Florida for work.....and before I knew it....we were all in Orlando for a month! He was asked to stay on beyond the original 10 days of his business trip and he agreed as long as we could join him, so here we are!

With just a couple days notice, I packed up myself and the kids, tied up loose ends at home, arranged for a dog and house sitter, put myself, 3 small children, a stroller, 3 car seats, and 4 suitcases on a plane. At this point, we will be home soon....I just haven't posted in awhile. I had envisioned leisurely days while my husband was working - I thought I would have a lot of free time away from the regular duties of home, being able to keep up my blog and a variety of other things.... Turns out, my kids wear me out just as much in Florida as they do at home! Go figure. (this explains why my blog is still celebrating Valentines Day which was 4 days ago)

We have been blessed...although my husband has been working a tremendous number of hours, we are still able to see him more than if we were at opposite ends of the country. We have already spent time as a family at Sea World and Aquatica (Sea World's water park) and I even took the kids to Epcot and Animal Kingdom on my own (how's that for brave?) We are staying at a beautiful place with an amazing pool for the kids...and the weather has been sunny and averaging 75 degrees! We really couldn't ask for more when it comes to how well we have been taken care of. I am now completely reaping the benefit of homeschooling our first grader. If Kylie were in regular school this year, we would not have this opportunity - and I am so thankful!

I am also super thankful to have gotten on line tonight to find this from my (truly) delightful friend, Teresa who was thinking of me from the far reaches of Spain! Thank you Teresa - you made my night! I love visiting Teresa's blog as I aways find something new (with her current tech-savvy-ness) and beautiful creativity - she inspires me....check it out!!

What this award is all about.....

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

(and she thought about ME when she read this!)

AND.....
This reminded me of an award I got a while back from Joey in the UK.... I saved it to my desktop, and never posted it! You know, it is often the little things that make a difference in my day....God knew I needed a bit of encouragement tonight (rough night) and forgetting to post this before was like receiving it again today!

I can't even begin to describe the AMAZING things you will see if you visit Joey's blog - so you have to see it for yourself! (And to top it off, she's a sweetie!)

Good night to all....I'll be back to soon to close out Valentine's Day! :)

Sweet Savannah

My husband has been away on a business trip - but today he is back - yaaa! In his absence, guess what I've been doing?! It has been fun revisiting some baby pictures and doing some long overdue scrapping. Here's a layout I did last night of our sweet, silly Savannah - wasn't she an adorable baby?

We Love Mexico!

I am all over the place with my scrapping - hence the need to finally finish this layout from 2004! I would really like to do some serious catching up over the next few months... Hopefully it won't take as long for me to do the journaling!

Life's Little Pleasures....

S'mores taste even better at the beach!!

Vacation Phase Two: Completed

Someone once said, "all good things must come to an end". I haven't found this to be true across the board, but have unfortunately found it true of our vacations. We spent the past 10 days at one our most beloved spots: Pismo Beach, CA. Our travels have changed greatly since having three children, and changed even more now that the kids are of the age that we need 5 airline tickets :). We spend a lot more time driving now!
Anyhow, we spent lazy days at the beach, hit most of the Farmers Markets, and a few beautiful vineyards along the way. I look forward to sharing some pics (once I get my laptop fixed!). I'm also battling a cold...or the flu...or something that is not fun....so I'll post between getting settled back in to our crazy life and doses of NyQuil. :)

Vacation Phase One : Completed

This summer we split up our vacation time. It was not really by choice, but we had commitments to tend to and decided to take one week away then return home and after regrouping, leave again. We could not be far from home at first, so for phase one we decided to head up to our cabin in Utah. It was soooo nice to be out of the heat (big one for me), away from the hustle and bustle of daily life (telephones, email, etc....) and just relax! We did not spend any time in Utah last summer so it had been a while since we had been there as a family and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We got to spend a little time with my Mom, my brother and my niece. We all live in the same city, but got more time together hundreds of miles from home! Some of the highlights of our trip:

Day One: Daddy caught a horny toad, so we kept him for a couple of days

Sammie became attached to Mr. Horny Toad and even liked him on her head

We had a couple of days of WONDERFUL rain, which meant WONDERFUL mud!

"Grandma D" took the girls out for a ride - all three of them!!

We filled the feeder on our back porch hoping for guests....welcome!

The bird feeder did not have the same draw. Don't know why-can't beat the view!!

Gearing up for a water gun fight!!

Freeze Daddy!!

Up, up and away!
Sammie, Savannah, Kylie and Cousin Jennah say goodbye to Mr. Horny Toad
Samantha Hope

Our Patriotic Journey

Well, we are back from our trip and deep into the craziness of life at our house! We spent 5 days in Washington D.C. – just the two of us! We actually returned very late on Monday night, but have been consumed with catching up with the kids, work, housework, laundry, celebrating the Fourth of July and church this weekend. My husband's mom came into town to keep the kids at home while we were gone, so we were able to spend a few days with her upon our return also.

A dear friend of ours (Kelly) was married last Saturday and it gave us the perfect opportunity to go to D.C. to attend the wedding, spend some time with our goddaughter, Alexis (Kelly’s daughter) and be tourists in our nation’s capitol. There were so many great things about our trip, it is hard to say what was the best part or what was the most meaningful…it seems that all of it was! We tried to fit as much as we could into 4 days of sightseeing. Without the kids we were able to be non-stop tourists from dawn til night!

In addition to our sightseeing, we drove a little bit south of D.C. to visit where my family lived 30 years ago. It is amazing not only how things have changed, but the difference in how childhood memories match up to what we see as adults. The HUGE hill I used to “fly” down as an eight year old on my first bike, was nothing more than a flat street with a very slight incline!

One of the highlights of our trip was definitely Kelly and Jason’s wedding. It was great to see old friends, meet Jason and get to know him a little over the weekend, witness how God has blessed them and be a part of the beginning of all that He has planned for their family. We are so excited for them!

We visited so many places rich with history and were continually reminded of the prominent role God played in the founding of our country. We are truly fortunate to live here. One of the things I enjoyed most at the various sites and memorials were the inscriptions, quotes and stories behind each location…..I found myself in awe over and over again. I hope to be able to share some of the great things we saw and learned……we’ll see how organized I can get!

The Capitol Building

Visiting the White House

At the Museum of Natural History with Triceratops

View from George Washington's House at Mt. Vernon

Lincoln Memorial The Capitol Building
"Washington" at the Washington Monument

"Washington" at the Lincoln Memorial


"Washington" at the White House

At the Wedding Reception

Looking up the VERY steep hill in our old neighborhood :)