... the missionaries.

Today I had the opportunity to provide lunch for the missionaries at a zone conference at our building. There were about 30 missionaries, plus the mission president and his wife. Brother and Sister Brimhall are from Denver, so that was neat.

After lunch was all over, the missionaries offered to sing for us. You haven't lived until you have been serenaded "Called to Serve" while standing in the middle of 30 missionaries. It was awesome. Totally worth all the effort it was for the meal. Wish I'd had my camera.

... the hat party.

Every year we make Rachael a hat to celebrate the Kentucky Derby. This year I decided it would be fun to share it with all our friends at playgroup. (Even though it's mostly boys!) We had a great time.

The one down side? I was so busy helping run everything I didn't get a chance to finish one for Rachael. Oh well - the Derby isn't until Saturday!

... and another sister.

Happy Birthday Erin! (I'll bet she's sorry now that she made that face at my camera. Actually, maybe not!)

... the cardinals.

Last year we had a nesting pair of cardinals in the backyard. This year, we have another pair; or more likely, the same pair. This year we moved the birdfeeder to the deck, so they come all the way up to the deck for some birdseed. The red males are really striking, but I think the females are the most interesting.



I love the variety of birds we have in the backyard... besides cardinals, we have blue jays, goldfinches, purple finches, a variety of woodpeckers, doves, mockingbirds, sparrows, swallows, robins, grackles, and starlings. All fun to watch.

... nursery.

I'm glad we have a nursery at church where Rachael can go and play. She likes the other kids, and she gets along well with the leaders. And she loves to take herself to class, too!

... the neighbor's trampoline.

Our next door neighbors have a trampoline, and they are nice enough to let Rachael and I play on it sometimes. It's so great to have neighbors that are willing to share their fun toys. And we all love what it does for Rachael's hair!

... a time capsule.

I saw this on a friend's blog, and thought it might be fun. Thanks Jessie!

Six months. I had a fascination for the phone.

I'm a girl - it's what we do!

First grade.

Junior High. What I would give for those legs and that blonde hair now!

High school senior. The hours I spent on my big hair... wow...

Wedding, July 1994.

Fishing, 2002

Winter 2007

... a handy husband.

Yesterday we discovered that a pipe had burst in the basement. It's another one of those times when I am so grateful that my husband is so handy around the house - I think he can fix almost everything.

... she likes the piano.

It's all part of my not-so-subtle campaign that "We Like the Piano" and when we are 7 or 8 we are going to want to take lessons.

So we started at an early age...

And now she likes to sit down and sing and play for her herself...

... a fit of giggles.

Rachael and I were reading a story tonight as part of her bedtime routine. I don't know what started it, but something was funny, so we both started giggling. Then it turned into a fit of giggles... and then one of us would say, "Ahhhhh..." as if to end it, and the other would think that was funny, and we were off to the races again. It must have lasted at least five minutes.

I'm grateful for a silly kid.

... a night to myself.

Once in awhile Ryan has got to get caught up on his sleep, so he actually went to bed before Rachael. After they were both in bed, I had the rest of the night to myself. I really should have been cleaning house and folding laundry, but I took the opportunity to watch some of the shows I like on TV and relax. I still have lots of work to do tomorrow, but it was great to have a night "off."

... more Rachaelisms.

fingers are now "bing-ers"

she can now say the letter 'L,' so we have gone from "yeyow" to "yellow"right on to "lellow." Hopefully we can back up to "yellow!"

but we still haven't gotten the hang of "th," so the next door neighbor is still 'caf-ee' (instead of Cathy).

When she's watching TV she gets distracted - so much that she won't use the potty when she really really needs to go. (Good thing we don't watch a lot of TV). So I taught her to use the pause button, which we call the "wait a minute" button. Then when we are ready go again, we press the "triangle button." This has now carried over to my CD player as well - she loves to push the "triangle button."

... the smell of fresh-cut grass.

Ryan mowed the lawn today since the weather wasn't quite good enough for fishing. I love how the grass smells when it has just been mowed. And I am grateful that he is the one that mows it, especially the downhill slope in the backyard!

... momma's little helper.

Rachael loves to help in the kitchen. Today we made a brownie torte for the YW to auction at their spaghetti dinner tonight; she helped stir the pot on the stove. (Melting chocolate and butter).

You would think her favorite part is licking the spoon afterwards, but it's actually standing on the ladder. Anything involving the ladder is fun for her. My favorite part is standing in the kitchen eating chocolate with my favorite helper.

... they all go home.

The last couple of days I have been tending some of my friend's kids. I am grateful that I have such great friends here; we all take care of each other. And I know they take great care of Rachael when she visits at their houses. And I'm glad they now owe me the favors!

And we're especially glad they all go back to their own houses at the end of the day!

Rachael and Grace (we didn't actually babysit Grace, she just came for a visit)

Rachael, Stephan & David

... sisters.

Julie is 22 today... wow, that makes me, um, old.
Happy Birthday Julie!

... and a sweet nickname.

Rachael used to have a hard time saying the letter "L" (which is normal for toddlers). Lately she's gotten the hang of it, but still struggles with my sister's name, Lesley. [What's with our families and all the L's, anyway? Lesley, Julie, Lynne, Lorie... all difficult toddler names!! But I digress.]

Anyway, her version of "Lesley" is awfully sweet; she calls her "Nes-lee." Could have worse nicknames than a chocolate chip.

... past... present... future.

OK Erica I'll give it a try...

20 years ago - 1988

• I started as a freshman at Standley Lake High School.
  
• My parents moved about six blocks, but it was across a county line, so I had to change schools. I was none to happy about it.
• My youngest sister celebrated her second birthday.
  

10 years ago - 1998

• We both graduated two years prior with bachelors degrees.
  
• We were living in our first house.

5 Years Ago - 2003

• We celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary - I got a pearl necklace.
• My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.
  
• Ryan spent most of the year on dialysis, and had a kidney transplant that November.
• I was working at my third job since graduating college. Ryan was still at his first.
• I started taking mostly digital pictures.
  

1 Year Ago - 2007

• We celebrated Rachael's 2nd birthday. Hooray!
• We have been living in Kentucky for two years.
• We spent the year traveling... we went to San Francisco, Key West, Myrtle Beach, Pennsylvania, Niagara Falls, Salt Lake City, and Idaho Falls, all in one year. (We're a little crazy).

6 Months Ago - Fall 2007

• I celebrated another birthday over 30.
  
• We went to Niagara Falls, then to Lesley's house in Pennsylvania to see her third baby girl (Kaelyn Scout) blessed in church.
• We agonized over our trip to Utah & Idaho for Christmas.
  

So Far This Year - 2008

• Rachael celebrated her third birthday with a princess party.
  
• Rachael is almost completely potty trained!
• Less travel... but one trip to Savannah, GA that was lots of fun.
• Ryan has been to China twice so far.
  

What is next for this year?

• I'm going on a girls trip to Nauvoo in May - Ryan will stay with Rachael.
  
• We're going to Disney World!
  
• Ryan will take more trips to China.
• We're going to have Thanksgiving on the beach again.
  

... not much to do.

Last week was one of those weeks where I had somewhere to go at least once a day everyday. Whew! Today there was nothing on the schedule, so although there were piles of laundry to do and piles of dishes, I got to do them all on my own schedule.

Not so for the rest of the week... oh well...

... relaxing afternoons.

Our Sundays are usually hectic in the morning. Church is at 9:30, but on any given Sunday I will be at a meeting, or playing the organ, or staying for choir practice, or helping with a musical number, or playing the piano for a baptism... you get the idea. So I either have to get there early or stay late, or both.

But the afternoons are all mine. Ryan usually fixes dinner on Sunday afternoon and I get to relax and unwind. And because it is Sunday, I don't feel guilty about not starting the laundry or not paying the bills. (I save that guilt for Monday.)

... and the "shopping Nana girl."

I recorded this a few days ago. I asked her what kind of girl she was and she said "a shopping Nana girl!" (Nana is my mom).

... the garden.

Today we put a few cold-weather seeds in the garden; lettuce, broccoli, and celery. I enjoy helping Ryan get the garden started every year and I'm so glad we put one in last year. (And I like that it's his garden and I really only help out a little bit. I like having a garden but I don't like all the work, but I don't mind helping!)

And Rachael loves her new purple Dora gardening loves. We found lots and lots of earthworms; in this picture she is saying "We don't eat worms!"

... and new friends.

Tonight we had a new family in our ward over for dinner. They moved here from Oregon. We can sympathize with the situation - all of their family is out West and this is a big move for them. It was fun getting to know them a little better.

... sparkly toes!

Today we painted Rachael's toes pink and put on some sparkley hearts. (The polish will last, but those fancy hearts are going to be gone by the end of the day.)

We love to do girly things together!

... a reason to clean the house.

I had to clean up the house today - I had an Enrichment committee meeting here tonight. I'm glad that I occasionally invite people over to the house, otherwise we would perpetually live in all our clutter. :o)

... a chance to share.

Today I was asked to play the piano at a funeral. The service was held at a funeral home, and instead of having a piano right in the room, it was an electric keyboard. It was located in a tiny room adjacent to the service, where the sound equipment is also kept. (Picture it a little larger than a bathroom, and painted black.) This is so that the piano can be plugged into the sound system. I kind of liked it; no one could see me! I spent the entire service in this small room with the funeral director.

He was an interesting man. He was raised Jewish but converted to Christianity. He had not heard very many LDS services (we typically have them in our own church buildings, but not always), so he had some questions about our faith. One of the speakers read all the articles of faith, and he was interested in some of the things that were there.

I'm glad I had an unexpected chance to share the gospel with someone!

I was also glad to be able to help with the funeral and the dinner afterwards. I have appreciated in the past when other wards have rendered this service to my extended family, so I am glad to reciprocate.

... my sweethart.

Today is Ryan's birthday. He's 37 years old. We met when he was 22, so we have known each other almost half our lives. We'll celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary this summer. I should quit now; I'm feeling old.

I appreciate all that he does for our family. He goes to work every day, he fixes dinner sometimes, and he can even be counted on to take out the trash.

Rachael decided her daddy needed a Star Wars party, so we went to a party supply store and bought a few decorations. And Rachael bought her daddy a snow speeder, which he loved.


Happy Birthday Ryan!

... her cute little prayer.

I have been encouraging Rachael to say her own prayers at night. Partly because I think it's good for her to learn on her own, and partly because I love to know what made an impression. (The pony castle and dollhouse from Christmas just recently dropped off the list!)

Thank thee for my fwiends,
Thank thee for pink cupcakes, (refreshments from family night; she licked off the pink frosting and was done)
And we could go to a park, (our activity earlier in the day)
And we had a good famwee home eve-en-ing.

At least FHE is making an impression!

... General Conference.

I love General Conference every six months. I like to listen to our leaders and the messages they have to share with us. I always have one or two that really stay with me, at least until the next conference. This year we get to hear from President Monson in his new capacity as prophet and president of the church.

I also like that we get to stay home and watch it in our pajamas. Thank you BYU-TV!

... a great card.

Ryan's sister Lorie knows just the card to get for his birthday. Rachael thinks it's pretty great, too.

... and Macaroni Grill.

I got to have create-your-own pasta at Macaroni Grill today for lunch... I chose my favorite combination of bow-tie pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, and red onions. So yummy!

Simple pleasures.

... the fishing trip restored.

Ryan finally did get to go fishing today, and I'm glad, since that is pretty much his birthday present. He only caught one fish but it was a good one.

... and the "magic potty."

We have used several different potties on the trip - as you might imagine for a 9 hour car trip to a new destination. Some of these are equipped with infrared flushing; Rachael calls it a "magic potty" because it knows when to flush, all by itself.

So we were having lunch at a restaurant today with two stalls, neither of which has such a device installed. Coincidentally, though, the woman using the other stall flushed right after Rachael was finished on the potty. She turned to me with her usual "It's a magic potty!"

Except this time there was a muffled chuckle from the other stall... at least someone is having loads of fun with potty training.

... and a lifetime goal fulfilled!!

I finally went to the Piggly Wiggly! Whoever thought up that name? It's so silly!!

(In case you don't know it's a grocery store chain in the South.)

It's been a lifelong - OK, just the past few years - obsession to shop at a Piggly Wiggly. It was awesome!! I bought hair clips.

... new sights.

One of the things I really love about living in Lexington is that you can go so many cool places. You can draw a 9 hour circle around the city and see so many different things. (9 hours to Lesley's in Pennsylvania, 9 hours to Myrtle Beach, 9 hours to Savannah [where we are now!] and up next 9 hours to Nauvoo.)

Ryan was suppose to go fishing today, but because of bad weather and something with the tides (I'm not sure what, just that it was not right) he had to postpone until tomorrow. So the three of us went to Historic Savannah, walked down by the river, drove over the neat bridge, and climbed the lighthouse at Tybee Island. What a day! It's really beautiful here and well into spring (trees are already leafing out), but kind of humid. I'm glad we are here in April and not August.

... good weather and safe travels.

Another long day on the road, this time to Savannah, Georgia. We have driven all the way to Columbia, SC before (last year's trip to Myrtle Beach) so there was only about 150 miles of new territory. We enjoyed the trip. And Rachael watched a lot of movies.

... consistency.

They say if you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit. I have been blogging now for three months, so I guess that qualifies.

I love it because although it's not as good as a journal, it's a quick look at what I was thinking that day. And I can't believe I have kept it up for this long!

(It also helps that I can change the date on posts, so when I don't get to the computer for a day or two, I can "pretend" like I did!)