she can't walk, but she can swim

Swim Swim Swim

Today after visiting Mount Vernon, The Jefferson Memorial and FDR memorial we took the kids swimming at the pool for a much needed break. The heat index today was 104!

We took a little video of fearless Sally Jane jumping in!

{music by Green Chili Jam band, The magic bike}

Home fragrance
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I love a good smelling home and one could even say a strong smelling home. I have always had Gold Canyon Candles ( I love these because they have two wicks) burning in my home. But when we moved here the closest person who sells them is in Virginia. I even got the information to sell them, but don't want to do home parties for candles, just so I can get them.
So while Jeff and I were in Georgetown on Friday we stopped off and bought the oil set up at the Body Shop. My friend Sonja D. loves this stuff and her home always smells so great!
The great thing about this is that you only burn the candle for 15 min vs constantly. Then the smell lasts for 4 hours.
We bought the Lemon Grove scent. I couldn't remember what scent Sonja always had. I know they have great ones in the fall.
So, so far so good and Jeff loves it.
What do you do for home fragrance?

also i must also reccomend Gold Canyon car scents. The Ginger lime is amazing!

don't miss this one.
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I want to give a huge plug for the Creature Comforts blog. It is a great resource for yummy ideas and treasures. I was thrilled to be added to her list of links.
I am so jealous of her wonderful typepad blog of being able to organize her posts into categories. She is opening a boutique called Wren Eleven. check it out for you hand crafters you will love the idea.

Ephesians 6
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Today in church one of the speakers (a 19 year old boy) talked about Ephesians 6. read it here if you would like. And something he said hit me like a ton of bricks.
He asked the question, The piece of the body that is not covered with armor is what? I honestly could not even think of what is not covered.
He said, "it is the back".
Which means the battle we fight to do what is right in our lives must be done head on, marching forward. We do not turn around and run, or we will not be protected.
Keeping our families strong, our marriages, relationships, being honest, protecting our children... can not be done with our backs to the battle we must face it head on. No matter how hard it is.
I needed to hear this today and I hope it helps anyone who reads this as well.

Busy Weekend
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Theis weekend was busy busy. Friday night date with Jeff in Georgetown. Cleaning house, swimming, going to Virginia for a fun filled day. I wrote all about on our D.C adventures blog. Don't miss the video of the girls!
Click here.
the above photo was taken at one of the antique shops we visited.

Incredible Week O'Mail.
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This past week has been amazing in the mail department.
We first got a package fromKatie, Lara A's sister. (whom I have never met) It had two scrapbooks to hold our photos of D.C. One is for Annie Kate and it is all put together! She had put awesome stickers and rick rac and paper galore. All Annie Kate has to do is paste in the photos. The other book was for our family. There is the awesome photo bracelet too, I love that thing! Thanks Katie that was so generous and thoughtful.

The second package was from Jill. The box was HUGE! She sent something to everyone in the family and even remembered Caroline's favorite chips. She sent Jeff a new book, which I know his Dad will strongly endorse. The great thing was the thoughtfulness for Annie Kate. She gave her some stationery to write some letters to friends she misses. She made 6 cards that day and was so excited to put them in the mail. Jill Thank you so much for our awesome package.

I have been excited about sending out good mail this week too and I after this week I need to pay it forward! I started sending out mailings for the Christmas swap, so for those of you who signed up look out for those and for those of you waiting to sign up you only have until the 10th. There are a few of you who I am waiting to hear from and you know who you are ... CP, LG, KG, EG, HL JZ, and many others... I am waiting or I will start stalking you with annoying emails!

Floam part 2
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so I have now found that I am not the only one with a floam problem! Take a minute to watch the two homemade video's on the subject. If you have not seen the comericial watch that first so that video 2 will make more sense.
I took tasha's advice and wrote the company, we will see if I get a response back. It may be that they may be getting a load of emails like mine.
Floam video 1
Floam video 2

also, if your child has been begging for Heely's too and you want to save the money here is how you can make your own pair. What were we thinking purchasing them at the store.

Floam! Don't buy it!
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The other day I took Annie Kate to the craft store to find something fun to make together and we came home with this stuff called Floam. I guess there is commercials on T.V because Annie Kate knew just what it was. I had no idea what I was buying. click on Floam link to watch the deceiving commercial.
It is the messiest, worst, non functioning product. We covered the girls marble jars with it and then set it out to dry. Caroline and Sally Jane got a hold of it an hour later and this is what we found. Photo below, Sally Jane covered in Floam. It was in her hair, (we had to wash her hair in Peanut Butter)all over her clothes, it did not dry to the bottle as it said on the box. It was a mess. I am the mom who never buys playdough so I am so disappointed in myself for buying this stuff. It is a waste of money. Sorry Floam makers I can not endorse this product.

Christmas in July!

It is 5 months until Christmas. I have already started thinking about many things to do for Christmas, cards, love gifts for the girls, Jeff's gift and then I thought what could I make for all the bloggers,ohh too overwhelming, So I came up with the idea to do a Christmas gift swap! Here is how it goes.

Anyone who reads my blog (yes even you lurkers who do not comment) and would like to participate in the first annual

"Pink Christmas"

are invited to do so. You can email me at pinkeverythingpink@yahoo.com to add your name to the list or if you know I have your address then you can leave a comment on my blog. I will close the list on August 10th.
I will draw names for a gift exchange amongst us bloggers. So it will be a secret who you have and who has you. Then you will send that person a handmade Christmas gift. Ohh don't freakout when I say handmade and say "I can't make anything" be creative and use your mind, you can do it! A gift from the heart is the greatest kind of gift!
I am trying to this early enough so that you will have time to make your gift and have it done by October 1st. (not that you will send it October but that would be a great goal to have it done by) It does not have to cost a lot of money or take a lot of time, the point is sharing in the spirit of Christmas, by giving, sharing our talents and becoming connected as women. Then you will ship your gift so that they can open their gift on Christmas day, No early peekers allowed. It think it will be so great to see how many different states people are in and watching the giving be shared across the country or who knows the world.

So this is what I need.

1. Your name and you don't even have to send me your last name
   
2. mailing address (where you will be to receive mail by December 15th, in case you will be gone)
   
3. email address. I think it will be so fun to see what everyone posts after Christmas to see what everyone made.

Feel free to link this page on your blog if you want to have some of your bloggers join in as well.

I'm dreaming of a Pink Christmas!

Happy Pioneer Day!
The above photo is one I have hanging in my home. It was given to me by Jeff's mother and it has a real special meaning to me. There was a sweet letter from her that was sent with the print that I have mounted on the back so I will never forget it. It is of a pioneer woman walking with her children holding a bag. It is a painting done by one of my favorite artists, Minerva Teichert.
n 1847, a group of Mormon pioneers, led by Brigham Young, headed out on a journey across the land with covered wagons and handcarts, determined to make a life in the west. They began the journey because they were suffering religious persecution where they were living in Nauvoo, Illinois. It is said that as Brigham Young gazed out on the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, he proclaimed "This is the Place".

As a kid we used to have a parade in NM and dress like pioneers and have a parade downtown, (what must people have thought?) I remember me and Heather and Margaret H. riding our banana seat bikes as we got older.
Today we spent the day at the pool, we needed a break! My friend Paige came by for a dip as well. Then we had a pioneer Family Home Evening watching Legacy and having our own pioneer parade in the basement.
the taffy pull and making paper bonnets just did not happen, maybe next year.
Happy Pioneer day!

Today I taught Relief Society. (no calling yet just subbed)

It is the 4th Sunday so it is more of a discussion than a lesson. I typed an outline of the lesson and gave everyone a copy. ( idea: i then printed one for everyone in Primary and YW with a little note on top that said "We missed you in R.S. today) I think it really helped with the discussion since they knew what questions I would be asking. I went ahead and posted it in case you want to read it. It is a great talk by Elder Holland.

Broken Things to Mend
Ensign, May 2006
Jeffrey R. Holland

I tried to post my handout, but for some reason is is all jumbled. Anyway, it is a great talk that you can hit the link above to read.

300th. post

could this be possible?
What do they say it takes how many days to make a habit?
was that 21 or 300?
I wonder if this blogging thing is going to stick with me??
heee hee.

no mom, that too yucky!

Tonight after our whirlwind tour of the city, we went to Cosi for dinner, which is right in our neighborhood. It is so yummy! We were all so hungry, even my girls (who are the pickiest eaters on the planet!)
Spencer had a pizza with sausage on it. I gave Caroline a piece and she was not even touching it. I said Caroline, "Why are you not eating your pizza?" She handed it back to me and said "No mom, that too yucky!' I said it is not yucky it is good. Then with the most serious and concerned look on her face she said,

"it has poo poo on it!"

Can you imagine what she must have been thinking that her mother handed her a piece of food with poop on it! And it actually did look a lot like her 2 year olds pellet poop. We were all laughing so hard.
We made it up to her by ordering the yummy smores at your table, where you actually roast your own marshmallows.

Busy Busy Weekend.

We have been on a whirlwind downtown tour. I am trying to remember everything we did today and add it to my D.C. blog, you can check out some of the stuff we did today.
I need sleep!

We are family! My brothers and Me!

My brother Spencer and his wife have been in town since Wednesday. Today Bevan and his wife came through town on their way home from Palmyra, NY. So for a few minutes we were all together. So of course I had to get a photo of them kissing me (yes I made them do it!) I turned into my Grandma Alice Rasmussen saying over and over "Who needs lunch? Can i make you a sandwhich? I was making cookies, sandwhiches all while everyone was sitting there talking. I stopped and said, I am Alice. (my grandma was famous for making you a sandwhich right when you walked in the door)
I love you guys!
And super thanks to Bevan's wife for bringing me treats from Canada. Check these out!

I can't believe I am putting a photo of me in my swim suit... am i crazy??

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Heather,
Happy Birthday to you
Cha Cha Cha!

Bombaloo.
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After reading Jill's funny (I don't think it was meant to be funny but it was) post about Seven peaks I decided to write about a book I have been meaning to do for sometime. It is called "Sometimes I am Bomballo" I say it is a must for kids. It was a gift given to us by Jeff's book expert cousin. You can read about it here.
There are just some days when we feel "Bombaloo". In fact now when I appear to be in a bad mood Jeff will say in a very cutesy wootsy voice, "Is someone feeling Bombaloo???" and then try to tickle me to happiness, it usually works.
Check it out it is a great book for all!

Great books.

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Yesterday I went to library. I will have to post more about that because it was incredible! But while I was there picking up my 18 holds, I found these two books. Run to your library and check these out! They have the best entertaining ideas and recipes! The graphics are darling, the text is entertaining. But my favorite thing was the story behind Lilly Pulitzer. If you do not know her story it is worth reading. I thought she was someone who just started designing clothes recently. Oh no, she has a wonderful story and I won't ruin it by telling it to you. But Jackie Kennedy is the one who made her famous...is that a good teaser?
If you don't know who Lilly Pulitzer is you can educate yourself here.
You can buy books here, but I suggest checking them out the library first. These are going on my Christmas wish list for sure!
Don't throw your next party without looking at these books. Especially if you have a little boys birthday party, they have the cutest idea in there!

Great resource.

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I recently sent out my change of address cards. if you didn't get one and thought I had your address or want one, click "email me" on my side bar and I will send you one.
I got them from this company that is fast and cheap. They are not the stylish and the hippest company out there, but cheap and even free!
It is Vista Print. I was able to get 250 moving cards for $60. I also got some Mom cards made. Little cards with my name, phone and email. They always offer 250 business cards for free. I will say that it is worth paying the $7.00 for the heavier paper or gloss finish. (i am a freak about heavy cardstock, 100lb or nothing baby)
I just recently had some magnets made (free!) with our name and phone number for our families. My brother recently said, "this time zone thing really stinks, how can we ever talk to each other" So I had some magnet cards made reminding our family it is never too late to call, and if it is and we are asleep, we won't pick up the phone. Most of our family is is mountain or pacific time zone.
So, if you plan ahead on your free orders, shipping can be as low as $4.00. They always send things sooner then they say, but still plan ahead for gifts and christmas cards.
Enjoy!

Sleep

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Went to bed last night at 6:30 pm and didn't get up until 7:30 this morning. Ahhh. I needed that.

above photo is from the Land of Nod catalog. If you don't get that catalog it is a fun one to get you can sign up here.

Never say never!

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Two of my newest friends are the Swifer Vac and my Bissel spot lifter . The Swifer was only $25 and I use it now to clean the wood floors on the main level of our house and all the bathroom floors. It picks up everything, has no cord and is hidden easily behind our armoire.

The Bissel has saved my best garage sale find ever. Last week Caroline colored all over my lime green velvet 1960's mint condition couch that I got for $30 at a garage sale. she colored on it with a fabric permanent marker. I didn't try to get it off because I didn't' think it would work. So I flipped the main cushins and then thought I would make a slip cover for the rest. Yesterday I thought I would just try to see if it would come out and it did. Oh the joy of getting out a stain!

fabric stores.
I love fabric, paper, ribbon, magazines, and fabric. I now live 2.2 miles (oh love that GPS) from Jo-ann fabric store. The "Good News - Bad News" (as P.C. would say) is that no one shops there so it is packed with sale stuff, but it is gross which is why no one shops there. I went tonight to get the exact color of thread to hem Jeff's class B uniform pants (oh and may I say how good he looks in his uniform, ooh la la!). I hemmed them last night using my blind hem stitch and there was nothing blind about it. I hope the new thread will help.
Anyway, I ran in when it was closing and wow, the store was 70% off. They had a ton of their garden baskets. (Lauara G. you would have loved them) I was able to replace my hanging baskets that I left for our new home owners for so cheap.
The store was a little gross but extremely close and packed full of goodies.
I will add this to my list of what I like about where we have moved, to be posted at a later date.

and for those of you considering a visit, there is a RIBBON OULET 45 min from my house! I got the scoop from a fellow blogger, now if the Lincoln Memorial does not tempt you I know that will.

Great book.
Today we read the new book we got yesterday from Lara A. (i have so many thank you notes to write it is not even funny!) What a wonderful trivia book for the kids. Thanks Lara, it is great. My sister-in-law who is Canadian and was in town enjoyed learning a lot too.

Screaming at the monkeys!
The funniest thing we saw today was not the animals at the zoo but was Sally Jane screaming at them. She sounded like she was scared, but she would laugh so hard after she was done screaming. oh my it was hillarious.
More of day at the National Zoo.

Heelys.

In february we went to San Francisco for David and Lenessa's wedding. While we were there Annie Kate's cousin Mark had these shoes called Heelys. Annie Kate has not stopped talking about them since then and has been saving her money. They are so expensive about $80. We told Annie Kate she would have to earn the money. So when Nordstrom had them on sale for $50 this weekend she was able to get them. ( I won't even go into the details of us ending up getting them at another store in the mall for $65 because Nordstrom was out and Jeff and I made up the $15 without her knowing because I didn't want to go back to the mall in a week)

Annie Kate has done this a few times (ie: video camera that took two years) where she has saved for a long period of time for something and it is so fun to watch her buy the item when she does. It can't even compare to if we would have just walked into the mall and bought them for her. Photo of her with bag coming out of store.

She came home ran and got Alex the neighbor and he began teaching her how to do it. They were out there for a few hours working on it. It was so fun to watch them. Then they came in the house and he wrote up a list of goals for her to practice on over the weekend.

One of the things that Annie Kate said I don't want to forget was after she gave the lady at the store her money, "The hard thing about saving up to buy something is when you buy it you have no money and then you have to start all over again" I said what are you saving up for now, "An Ipod" oh my!

What do you do to encourage your kids to save their money?

Nordstrom anniversary Sale.
Today was the first day of Nordstrom's anniversary Sale. This is the first time I have lived around a Nordstrom since being in college. We went this morning bright and early to get what Annie Kate has been saving her money for... Heely's . They were $20 cheaper for the sale. We all went to fight the mass crowds and parking garage to get to the sale early enough because I had this fear they may be sold out. So we get to the shoe department and no Heely's. Then I see this line of mom's in a line waiting to put their name on a list for Heely's. Nordstrom says that they won't get them until next week and they only have a limited amount so it is first come first serve. Annie Kate was so sad. She has been practicing outside with our next door neighbor Alex on his Heely's.
Well, as we are leaving Nordstrom I decided to look at a few things for Annie Kate for some school clothes. Well, an hour later we walked out with all of Annie Kate's school clothes. She even wore one of her outfits out. This was the first time in 7 1/2 years I let her actually have a say in what she gets to wear. Nothing was pink, nothing was smocked or had a bow on it. And surprisingly I was fine with it. It was a little grunge for my taste but it looked so Annie Kate! Jeff was thrilled especially when he saw her come out in her cute camo pants. He has always thought I dress her a little young. Don't think I am totally giving in to her or letting her get the Brittany Spears look, but I think we have come to a good middle. And I must say now I know why people stand in line to shop those sales, We got some good deals. I love Nordstrom.

Great Mail.
Thanks to my friend Jill for starting the concept of "Good Mail" I have benefited greatly today. My mom sent the girls in the house (me included) a package to ease the stress of our move and let us know that she is thinking about us. The reason I mention Jill because in my moms card she wrote, "I thought you might need some "good mail" as Jill would say" (so thanks Jill)
When the mailman knocked on the door I was upstairs finding Sally Jane, who is now famous for taking off her diaper when she sleeps, covered in ... well should I say it looked like a volcanic explosion. It was 1:30 pm and I was still in my pajamas. So the box was a welcomed distraction.
The girls went crazy! It seriously felt like Christmas.
One of the best parts of our hour that it took to open the box was Annie Kate finding $10 in a card that she sent (top photo) Annie Kate has been saving for something since February and this gave her enough money to buy it (more to come tomorrow) and I captured her realizing she finally had enough money.
So, Mom thank you so much for thinking of us. I know how hard it is for you to get a package like this together (thank you Kari for the help too) The girls loved it and the shampoo and conditioner are such a fun thing that will make me want to wake up and get going in the morning. (I will devote a special post to "one of my favorite things on those for sure)

A day with old friends.
Today we went the National Natural History Museum with my roommate from college Emily and her sister Holly. Between the three of us we had 11 kids. Luckily Jeff came down and met us. You can read more about the museum on our D.C. blog. It was such a great day watching Emily as a mom. She truly is mom of the year. Walking through the museum with her was like walking with the tour guide. She would stop and really teach all the kids about the turtle fossils they found in the ocean that are 6 million years old. It was a great day and so fun to watch our kids play together. (Annie Kate said it was the best day she has had since we moved here, progress!)
Later tonight I went back over to Emily's parents home and we stayed up until 12:30 chatting blogs, smugmug, paper, printers, scanners, ribbons, compound glue, iron on transfers. It was great!
Thanks girls for an awesome day. But the best part for me and I can't explain why one would have to do with the other. But when I pulled into our house tonight it was the first time I felt like this was my home, not that I was here on vacation. It was a good feeling.

{Click on photo to enlarge}

My own civil war
So I recently finished the book for my ward book club, Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
I really don't want to say this, but I did not like the book, not even a little bit. I don't' know if it was because I was waiting for some big thing to happen that never did, or because I couldn't find the house of where the book club was so I didn't get to go. I am so curious why they picked that book for their book club because it is a yearling book. I know I can't complain about it to anyone here because Carl's niece is probably in our ward. But it was seriously painful for me to finish to book.

Anyway, so I went back to reading my Killer Angels ( a book about Gettysburg) book which I have been dying to read. And two nights ago I almost threw it against the wall because I was so frustrated. I seriously rolled over and looked at the book and thought you are not going to get me! It is so hard for me to get into the story. There are so many characters, they call each army three different things, I can't ever figure out if they are talking about the north or the south. This shows my lack of patience. And to think I wanted to teach High School history...ha!
I am so intrigued with the civil war and feel like I want to learn everything there is to know about it, but can't seem to even get through one book! Jeff in the meantime has finished the book along with the two others, which makes me insanely jealous, because ever where we drive he says, "oh this is where to north fought this.. or this where the south surrendered.. etc" So last night after telling Jeff and I can't read this book, it is too much for my little brain. I go downstairs to check my email (ha and an hour later) I come up stairs Jeff is working on the above photo. It is a map of the characters of the story, all the different names they call the two armies, how the commanders know each other etc. So incredible. But of course I make some silly comment on why he had to do it on the paper he did with the skull and graph side and why he didn't do it on the back blank side. He looked at me with the "Kristi be grateful not greedy look" So I didn't think that was the best time to tell him how hard his handwriting is to read either, I am no dummy!
So we stayed up for an hour with him teaching me all the people's names, where they are from, how they know each other. It was great. So now my internal civil war of whether to read the book or not is going in the way of reading it.
I also came across the Sparks Notes and think this will be a huge help to. (not quite the way I used them in High school.. hee hee)
Thanks Mr. Jeff my new history teacher!

Busy, Busy!
This weekend we did a lot of sight seeing. In fact Annie Kate asked on Monday, can we please take a break from museums today!
We saw three memorial and went to a National Park. We had a great time and learned a lot.
In fact if you ask Caroline who is on the penny, she says, "Lincoln!" so cute. Go ahead call her and give it a try.
Check out our new posts on our D.C. Blog.

so today was a great day. I was actually able to clean the house. Everything seems to be finding a place and the boxes are disappearing.

Jeff had his first day of orientation to the U.S. Army. I am sure he stood in line all day. HUAW! (Hurray up and wait)

I took the girls to my friend Emily's house in Potomac. Emily and her sisters are in town this week. Emily lives outside of Boston.

It was so fun to see Emily and her sister Holly. They don't look any different than they did in the 80's, their family just does not age! They are so stinkin cute! It was fun to meet Emily's kids and Annie Kate was in her element, finally kids her age. Emily and Holly both have boys annie kate's exact age and a daughter 2 years older.

But I forgot to bring my camera. I can not belive it. The photo ops were everywhere to be found. I had one of my best days yet. Caroline was a swimming fish. She even jumped off the diving board (she does not swim) Sally Jane then started jumping in off the step. I did so much talking though, i think the girls might have got a bit sunburned.. oops, i am sure blog photos to follow of that.

It was just fun to see old friends. It makes me excited for my two friends Shaylce and Danielle who are starting college this fall, knowing that they will be meeting their new lifelong friends.

note to self. don't leave house without camera!

Talks.

Today we woke up to a very sick Caroline Benson. She had weepy eyes that were running, swollen and half shut. A fever and a horrible cough. Normally not the condition you would take your child to church, but today Jeff and I were speaking in our congregation. Jeff and I of course waited until the last minute and did them in the morning. We spoke on increasing the spirit in your home.
So we had to get little Caroline ready for church, she was a mess. Since we are new we really didn't have anyone to sit with the kids so Jeff and I just ran up to the stand when it was our turn with the other sitting with the kids.
We were a total circus in action. Right in the middle of Jeff's talk when he was talking about the importance of reverence in homes as well at church his three girls are screaming and fighting over something silly. Yes all three were going crazy. I had to take the two younger ones out and then Annie Kate of course followed. It was very entertaining and embarassing at the same time.
Jeff gave a great talk and gave one of my favorite stories about his brother Scott. I spoke a bit about my friends David and Mindy Johnson. (Beware Mindy if you ever come to visit, people here might bow down to you, because I did a lot of bragging about you and it was all true, that is the great thing about talking about them , you don't have to stretch the truth because they are so Great!)
Anyway by the end of Sacrament meeting Caroline looked like the walking dead. I took her home and she just laid in my arms.

So what would you have done? Gone to chruch with sick child, had one person not show up to give the talk, or ask you new neighbor to babysit. (i actually thought of the third option.)
??? i am curious!

the above photo is our ward photo at the 4th of july breakfast. what a cool idea to take a ward photo. Then in the foyer after chruch they had a slide show on a t.v. of all the pictures they took that day. (this ward is full of great ideas)

Happy Birthday Jill!

If you have a blog because of me, if you read blogs because of me, if you now even know what blogs are because of me then really it is because of my friend Jill. She is the one that convinced me that I actually had something to write about to start a blog. Today is Jill's birthday.
The above photos is Jill and I in 1989 in my dorm room at BYU. (Michelle can I just apologize that you had to look at the gigantic girls face everyday what was I thinking. If you look over Jill's shoulder you can see a picture of Chris Pien, again what was I thinking!)

Jill was the first person I met in my life from Michigan. She is seriously the most generous person I know. The reason I can honestly say that is because she gives and NEVER expects anything back. She is the definition of unconditional. I remember when I first met her, she had all these scrunchies that her mom had made for her to take to school. (I of course could not use them with my short hair, again what was I thinking?) But everyone on the floor loved them. She used to give them away and then had her mom make a bunch for everyone and send them to her. That is Jill, if she has something great she wants you to have it to.

Jill loves to read and because of her I now do to. She again is very generous. When she found out that I went to my bookshelf and didn't have a book to read, she went to DI (Goodwill) and bought me a box of books, cleaned them up and sent them to me.
Jill is a photographer. You can see her online portfolio here. She is the first photographer that I have ever seen that brings treats for you kids to keep them smiling. She has such a way with being able to catch the real you.

You can never leave Jill's house empty handed. If you have ever read the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, That is Jill. Just when I visited her in May I was reminded of this as I walked out of her house with treats and drinks for my kids for our drive to Salt Lake. She would give you the shirt off of her back.

Jill has a 6th sense. She is very concerned for the "little guy" and never wants to hurt anyone's feelings. Thus is why I don't know Jill to gossip. She would do everything for everyone. She is not selfish or ever selfserving. That is one of the reasons why she is a great mother.

Jill has been a wonderful friend to me and saved me thousands of dollars in therapy. I have cried on her couch and her shoulder. She is one of the best listeners I know and is cautious to offer her opinion until she thinks you are ready to hear it.

Jill is one of the hardest workers I know. In the dorms she worked at Dunkin Donuts. And had to get up at 4:30 every morning to "make the donuts" She was one of a kind that way!

Jill is incredibly organized and clean. One time after I was married my mother-in-law was coming to visit. She snuck in my home and cleaned it top to bottoms while I was at work. (I still feel so bad for you having to clean that sick-0 bathroom) That is where her 6th sense comes in. She saw a need and just went and did it.

If you have Jill as a friend than you know what I mean when I say she is one of a kind. She remembers birthdays, anniversaries and special days in your lives, which makes them even that much more special.

She has brought so many into the blogging world and taught us to love to read, look out for each other and taught us the art of "Good Mail". She comments on every single post that she reads.

Jill I love you and hope you have a wonderful day.

Click on this link and wish her a happy birthday. even if you don't ever comment on my blog or don't know Jill, pay it forward and wish her a happy birthday!

morning walks

This morning we walked around the neighborhood before going to the farmers market on main street. There are three lakes in the neighborhood, which make for some beautiful walks.

The girls loved feeding the geese and finding a secret path down by the lake. We bought yummy homemade muffins at the market with some white peaches (our family favorites) It was a great morning. It is beautiful here. morning photos

playing Ketchup.

So tonight I stayed up "catching up" on my blogs. There is so much to do around here I can't keep up. I guess that is a good thing right?
so here a few you might have missed. I wanted to keep in them in the correct order for jounaling purposes.

Berry Picking at the farm

Bevan and Amanda's visit

the joy of flowers

Annie Kate's talk

incredible mail

awesome DVD

someone gets a haircut!

Army

new blog

so now I am going to bed!
check out this cool new ketchup from heinz.

Annie goes to Washington.

I fear that our many discoveries and visits to D.C. sights may get lost in my Everything is Pink blog so, I decided to start another one to just put our D.C. outings. Am I crazy or what? This should encourage my non blogging friends if I can have two one is a cinch!

Today we went to the Arlington National Cemetery. You can access it at any time on my sidebar, but I will always post if we go anywhere new.

I hope this will be a great way for Annie Kate to remember all that she does while we live here.
Check it out.

We're in the Army!
Today we went to the PX and the commissary. It was kind of fun and because I love a good deal so it was exciting for me. Jeff bought his uniforms for work. Everyone keeps asking us if he wears them... he will uniforms to and from work and in the clinic but other times just wear scrubs.
The Px (like Walmart) was kind of lame, they say there is a better on in Virginia. The commissary (like the grocery store) was ok. There were some things that were so cheap! We spent $50 and I was amazed at how much we came out with. You don't pay tax which is nice.

Milk $1.40 a gallon
cereal is about $1.50 a box
detergent liquid 300 oz for $5.99

When we were in the store there was a young man about 25 years old with his wife. He had an gray army t-shirt on. He had a prosthetic leg and the left side of his upper body was paralyzed. The war has a different face here that is for sure!

Haircut.

I cut 5 1/2 inches off my hair today and got highlights. The best thing I have done in months. How come any of you that have seen me didn't tell me my hair looked like a bad wig. Ahh. it feels so much better.
(I had plans to bring the hair home and scan it to post it by the salon I went to was super clean and had a sweeper while she was cutting so I missed the chance!)

Great mail for the girls in the house.

Today Annie Kate and I both got great mail.
Annie Kate got the book "Alexander, who's not (do you hear me, I mean it) going to move" from my friend Tasha.
And I got this awesome box from Pam (the blog reader but not blog owner). She is good friends with my friend Jill (blog starter) but her and I have never met. So Pam thanks so much! I loved the Belgium chocolate! And big hunks are my favorite and you can't buy them in TN so it has been too long that I have had some of they yummy white nougat.
The Cutler girls were lucky today that is for sure!
Thanks!

too good to be true.
I had to put a patriotic print of Norman Rockwell on today's post because I feel like I am living in his neighborhood.
We started the day with breakfast at the ward(church) picnic. I could not believe how many people were there. They had tons of food, made many pancakes. They spent some time honoring the scouts, took a history quiz (which was so hard) played games, put mentos in 2 litters of diet coke. It was really great and they had a lady playing the bagpipes! My favorite thing they did was to take a ward picture. What a great idea! We also have family photos taken as well.
We missed the neighborhood parade to go to the breakfast but made it in time for the carnival at the clubhouse. Annie Kate got dunked in the water bucket. Sally Jane rode a horse for the first time ever, she held on so tight. Lots of jumping in moonbounces and then we went home for our first round of showers.
We had a block party and BBQ with our new neighbors, had water gun fights, caught lots of fireflies, played Bocce ball, and walked two blocks to watch the fireworks.
Happy Birthday Uncle Art!
We are some of luckiest people on earth as neighbors, as a family as Americans!

I hope you had a great 4th of july!

Happy Birthday Uncle Art

Happy Birthday America!
Our family got the best 4th of July present ever. A huge package from my friend Emily (Davis) G. I was in shock. Who in the world sends 4th of July packages! It was jammed packed with books for the girls. Bags of treats that all had meanings and instructions, websites of things to do with our family. The Zoo, picking peaches, museums. She also knew it was hard for us to leave our backyard so she gave us chalk to draw flowers in our backyard and a bugbox to catch the D.C. fireflies.
She grew up here so she gave us the inside scoop!
Emily, Thank you so much. it meant so much to me and my girls (jeff was even a little teary.. ha!) And gave us so much to look forward to doing in this town. I can't even imagine how long it must have took you to type up all the information, tie all the ribbons, print all the cute cards etc.
Thanks! We used one of the books yesterday to find out information to the Air and space musem that we went to yesterday.
Happy 4th Emily and to everyone!

Changes for the good.
Although this move has been hard on all of us, I have seen the biggest change in Annie Kate. She does not seem herself for the bad and the good. The good being this.
She is not as shy as she used to be. She goes up to kids at the pool and just starts playing with them. Today she wanted to share her testimony in front of the entire congregation (something we do the first Sunday at our church) She had done it one time in Nashville but it was something she prepared for, for weeks. I could not belive my shy Annie Kate was in front of a bunch of strangers.
The other thing she did today was volunteer to give a talk in primary. This is the first time she has given the talk. The past times in our old ward she got up there, cried and had me read it. So for her to volunteer was shocking. Then she wrote the talk herself, got up there and read it. (It was great that Bevan and Amanda could be there too)
So, for all the weird stuff Annie Kate is doing, I need to be thankful for the new great things that we are seeing in her too.
Here is her talk:

My talk is about praying. When you ask God for something you have to believe with your hear. When we pray, in the beginning you say Dear Heavenly Father and at the end you say name of Jesus Christ amen. I was the only child inmy family for five years. I prayed that I would have a brother or sister. I got a sister. Heavenly Father answered my prayers.
Annie Kate age 7

An idea that our primary does is that they photo copy all the talks given by the kids and then save them and use them in primary program in October. I thought is was a cute idea.

Meant to be.
One of the things I didn't want to leave in Nashville were my three hydrangea plants. I had watched them grow for three years and they were finally starting to do something. I had even changed their original color by adding acid to the soil. But I knew if I dug them up they would die on the trip.
The above photo is our new backyard. With three awesome hydrangea plants. They have beautiful pink blooms.
Is this home meant to be or what?

Fun visit.

We had our second overnight visitors this weekend. My brother Bevan
called on Saturday night and said "hey how about we come up tonight. " He lives in North Carolina. "Sure?" is what I said. Then I got off the phone and looked at Jeff and said I think Bevan is playing a joke on us. We stayed up until 1:30 putting everything on the walls and getting the house to look like a house. They came in at 3:30 am. I was a worried mother wondering where they were (they are cellphoneless)
We had such a great time! We had blueberry pancakes with our new syrup. Oh it was so good. Went to church and went for a walk in our neighborhood.
Caroline and Liam were so fun to watch together. They even got a little smooch time in.
Thanks Bevan and Amanda for coming up, we had a great time.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!
July 1, 1967
(is that not the greatest dress, oh I love it!)