instafriend

My friend and birthdate twin came to visit for a few days.

{Somehow, I could only get my phone to take a full picture of my own head.}

Isn't it the best catching up with someone face to face?

Especially when that someone is an old friend whose face you haven't seen in quite some time.

Are you on instagram yet? Tell me, I wanna follow you!

better than new

Please note that Grant's faux hawk is back as well as the fact that he is still wearing basketball clothes. AND I really need to hang some drapes in our front room...

It is Grand Central Station around here today.

There are like, 1,000 repairs being done on our house.

The main warrantee is up next month, and the builders like to get this stuff in (along with my signature which will protect them legally down the road, I presume). Considering we are the first and only owners of the house to date, you wouldn't think there would be much to do. We had a professional inspection done - pretty standard procedure - which revealed quite a list of mostly minor things.

They are all getting fixed, hurray!

Our new doorbell has been ringing all morning.

Also, today is my 31st birthday.

Cori got party blowers for the kids and told them to follow me around all day blowing them.

They've done a good job.

He felt sorry that all this house work was being done today.

There are worse things than watching a slew of workers make our house better than it was on the day we bought it. And on someone else's dime too. I feel like I've had such a productive day without really doing anything.

Plus, he gave me a fatty gift certificate to MCP Actions.

And the kids gave me Michael Jackson The Experience for the Wii we will own someday.

AND we have a date night ahead which I think will involve some wizardry.

I'm feeling a little better than new myself.

blessings

This happened last night at dinner. All of our plates ended up around Grace as she had the appetite to clean them all. I am so grateful for our healthy, happy kiddos. Grace and Grant dashed to our post box with me a couple of afternoons ago. It is down by the park at the end of our street. Grace ran the whole way home with Grant clipping at her heals with his bike. They were laughing and happy in the hot sunshine. I was amazed watching their little healthy bodies work and work. This week I am also grateful for:

• The Gospel of Jesus Christ especially in times of trial and sorrow. We have several friends dealing with sudden and unexpected losses in their families. Our hearts break for them. I am certain of the promises made through the atonement of the Savior. The blessings of resurrection and eternal families are realities, and these blessings are the only shining ray of hope and comfort in times like these. As we try to do what little we can, I am so grateful that these families are being watched over and cared for by a loving Father who knows their needs and questions, and who is caring for their departed loved ones.
• Computers and all the good that can be done with them. I am glad that I got this blog going several years back thanks to the example and inspiration of friends. I just wrote a super-sized post on our recent trip. It took me all week- Blogger was being super finicky with me as I tried to load pictures, and I didn't have much computer time to spare. I finally got it up and somehow, three hours later, it was gone. The title and labels are still there, but the content of the post is empty. I may have sworn very loudly in my head at this discovery. It is still quite frustrating to imagine doing that work all over again. But I look back over posts written these last 5 years or so, and I am so grateful for this medium that has made it (relatively) easy for me to document and share our little adventures.
• My birthday is this week, hurray! Celebrations started early this year as I was given some cute socks and a candy bar in YW. Sweet!
• A backyard pool. This summer has been SO much more tolerable than last summer. It has been a little cooler. And I'm not enormously preggers. But swimming away the hottest part of the day has really helped.
• This conversation that made me laugh all yesterday afternoon. I normally wouldn't include it in this post, only I don't know how soon I'll get around to posting it somewhere else as I have some re-catching up to do now:

Grace: talking about the Habitat for Humanity service project I had just returned home from Oh, so the young men were there too?

Me: Yep.

Grant: Wow! A MAN was there? I've never seen a man before...

Me: Looking at Cori for his reaction. He is calmly preparing food.

Grace: Uh, Daddy is a man.

Grant: I mean, I've never seen a REAL man before.

Me: Laughing, I mean, looking at Cori for his reaction. He is a bit more affected.

Cori: HEY!

Grant: Knows he is busted and the wheels begin turning... I mean, I've never seen a real man... who is a genie!

Everyone else: ?

Grant: I've only seen Genie Pete. You know, from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... I've never seen a real man genie before.

Everyone else: ?

Me: Nice recovery, bud.

Grant: smiles the smile of one who has narrowly escaped impending doom

the big fat 4th of july post: 2011

This post will be rebooted soon. I'm still so mad about it!