“I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.” -Beryl Pftzer

Our Rainy Day

To the left is a door that slid open. I would knock on it and she would open it and say, "hello?" I'd ask if I could come into her house and she would excitedly say, "yeah!" It had a lip on the bottom and it may look easy to climb in and out of, but I have bruises all over my shins that say otherwise.

She spent the entire day in there! We made all three meals together and ate them in her little house. She played house in there with her baby the entire time. I was amazed at how much she was able to pretend. I pulled back one of the sheets and let her watch a, "moomie" :o)

Her bed. She would go climb in it for two seconds after she put her baby in it's bed.

Her living room.

Her baby's room

Her dinning room. To the right of the rocking chair is a little high chair that my grandmother gave her. I used to play with it and the crib in the previous picture at her house when I was a little girl.

It took up our entire living room. I have to admit I had way too much fun making and playing in this fort!

Can't wait for the next rainy day! ;o)

"My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living." -Anais Nin

Girls road trip to Auntie's house

I quite possibly have the best little travelers.

Turns out nap time is the best way to start any trip.

The scenery on the way there was amazing!

The colors were breath taking and the little streams and rivers along the way had me stopping more than once to capture their beauty. I'm going to have to make this trip again next fall. Only this time I'll be expecting all the splendors of fall in that area and will be prepared to make stops often

 Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and had to use my crummy cellphone camera. It doesn't do it justice. One day I will own a beautiful, expensive camera and our road trips will forever be changed. It will probably take us twice as long to get there.

Auntie had yummy chocolate chip cookies waiting for us when we got there. The only thing she and I have in common...but that deserves a blog all of it"s own.

Apparently Haddie shares that same love. :o) I have to insert here that I make the yummiest whole wheat choc. chip cookies. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but don't knock it till you've tried them! We forgave Auntie of her evils ways, but before I left I burned all her white flour to help her over come it's enticing ways so she wouldn't be drawn back in. She was ever so grateful....really. 

Isaac adored his little baby cousin. He was asking to hold her every time I turned around. I think he would enjoy a little baby of his own (hint hint Auntie) Haddie and Caleb only clashed when they were eating, sleeping, or playing. Those two have a long history together. Unfortunately, Haddie's side of the story looks more like a rap sheet.

I know I said we only had one thing in common, but I lied. We both love breakfast and man, can she make a mean breakfast! There were several things to pick from and all were scrumptious...not saying that I ate all of them....:-S ok, I did, but I worked it off...or I'm planning to anyway. No, really, I am. Bible study is in two hours and believe me I will have worked up a sweat whipping this house into shape AND getting dinner ready. Who needs Jillian Michael's when you're cleaning up after two toddlers all day?!

Ok, back to the trip...it was so much fun getting to spend quality sister time with her. It amazed me how she is still that little girl who begged me to play house with her. She would spend two hours getting the "house" ready, all of her babies dressed, and the meal (mud, pine needles, grass, and whatever else we thought looked good in a pot) ready. I would patiently (bah!) sit around and wait for her to be ready to play house while she got everything just so, only to have her say after two hours, ''Ok, now what do you want to play?". It wasn't at all frustrating...

She is the perfect little homemaker and mother, cleaning up after the kids while cooking for us, baking and preparing for a baby shower that she was hosting, preparing for and teaching Sunday school, as well as spending quality time with me. I don't know how she does it! She probably doesn't blog...

She was my best friend throughout my childhood and this trip really made me miss those days.

Uncle was amazing! He watched the kiddos for us a few times and when I was packing and trying to get the car loaded he took fussy Jenna for me and put her right to sleep. He is a great daddy and I enjoyed watching him interact with both his kids and mine.

We had such a great time. The weekend went by way too fast. If you notice Caleb has a hold of that chair. He is ready for undeserved abuse at any random moment. I think he was brokenhearted to see us go.

As if the eight hour round trip drive wasn't enough, but of course it wouldn't be a road trip without road construction

I had to do something to entertain myself. Like I said my kids are great travelers and both were passed out in the back seat. Two super late nights in a row make for a long drive. It was a fun drive back tho. I was in a storm pretty much the whole way. The rain was pouring and there were angry clouds hovering at all times. I came to a sign that I wish I could have gotten a snap shot of. It was on the highway and by the time I saw it it was too late to accomplish without causing a wreck. It said water on road. I found it quite comical since we were in the middle of a down pour. Maybe they wanted to make sure the drivers new that rain created water on the road. I thought that was pretty obvious, but it was Oregon. After all their speed limit is only 65. 

“I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.” -Oscar Wilde

OUR STORY

Jake and I met at my sister's house. She tried to get us to go on a date, but neither of us were that interested. 6 months later while babysitting her kids while her and her husband were out of town I saw him at a birthday party. We started talking and we and some others continued talking late into the night. Before he left he asked for my email address. He wanted to email about bible study stuff....or so he said ;o) There was an email waiting for me before i went to bed that night. I think I knew then that a relationship was in the works.

 5 months later my sister invited Jake and I to accompany her and her family on a trip to Disney Land. I jumped at the chance to get to spend 8 whole days with him because we dated long distance. It was in California on a beautiful beach with the sun setting when Jake asked me to be his forever. It was incredibly perfect and romantic! We were sitting on the beach watching the sun set over the ocean when he started telling me all the things he loved about me and how we fit so perfectly. he pulled me to standing and those of you who know me well know how perfectly this next part fits into this story...yes, i tripped. he caught me and gave me a hug. in my shoulder i heard a muffled, "don't move!" now, what is your fist reaction when someone says not to move?! I was trying not to freak out about the huge bug that must be climbing up me when he dropped to one knee and popped the question. I completely forgot about the "bug" and started laughing, crying, and hugging him all at once. I was a bit confused as to why he would stay on his knee after asking me. He anxiously asked, "well?". I had completely forgotten to say yes! I quickly and repeatedly said yes just in case he was still uncertain. Still he hesitated in getting up and in fact starting digging in the sand. The "bug" was actually the ring that he dropped in the sand when he was trying to non conspicuously open the ring box and get it out while hugging me. He found it, blew it off and put it on my finger.

Our wedding date was set for October 6th. What a crazy 5 months! I planned my wedding long distance while working three jobs! It was a beautiful day and a lovely wedding. My wedding!

Some wonderful friends gifted us with their vacation home in Florida for our honeymoon. Those 10 days were so fun!

Yes, it's real. Yes, we were that close. And no, we weren't at a zoo. We went to a restaurant with a river behind it. We asked the waitress if there were any alligators in it and she said "oh yeah!". She took us out back with some bread and starting calling it like you would call a pet cat when it's meal time. The thing popped out of the bushes and made it's way over to us where it ate the bread she gave it. It was awesome!

We found out we were expecting in April. We were both so excited.

The pregnancy went very well and 2 days after her due date she arrived.  Hadassah Jean joined our family on Dec 17th.

After a grueling 23 1/2 hrs all of her 9 lbs arrived healthy. She was born in our home and the little stinker made me feel every bit of my decision to go medication free. She was posterior, giving me a lot of back labor and she pretty much kicked her way out. She made up for it by being a great sleeper and she was an easy baby.

Our little family was growing and I loved every min of being a mom, so much so that at three months old I tried to talk Jake into doing it again. He thought I was crazy...silly man. After 7 months of begging we found out we were pregnant again.

Second time around went as well as the first one. We decided to wait on finding out the gender. I'm glad we did! It made the birth even that much more exciting.

Jenna Elizabeth was born July 18th, 5 days after her due date. Her birth was amazing! It was fast and I would even go so far as to say it was easy. It was incredibly short compared to Haddie's. We had her in my parents home with my mom, 3 sisters, cousin, and friend present. She was actually a week old before we named her. We thought we were probably having a boy and hadn't agreed on any girl names. Jenna means fair and soft and we couldn't have picked a better name for our little bird.

(By Teeter Photography)

Now this family of four is adjusting to the new dynamics. Haddie adores her little sister and Jake and I couldn't be happier. I wouldn't mind having another one already, but i haven't resorted to begging yet. ;-) I think we'll take a break and enjoy these two little ones...for a while anyway. :-D



“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish." -John Jakes

I have started this blog for a few reasons. 1) I want to share our little journey in life with my family and friends , especially those far away. 2) I enjoy writing. 3) I want to forever capture my thoughts, joys, and struggles as a young wife and mother, to one day share with my children. I hope to be faithful with it, and I hope it makes you laugh, makes you think, and makes you keep coming back for more! :o)