What did Santa bring you?

Christmas night Makyra and I were sitting on the couch. I asked her if santa came, she said mmm-hmm. Then I asked her what he brought her. She thought for a moment, then patted my belly and said, "a baby."

Ultrasound Picture

We're twenty weeks along today. It's so exciting. Yesterday we went to an ultrasound. The technician looked the baby over. It's strong and healthy. This child is going to have long legs. The legs measured a week farther along than everything else.

Makyra is so lucky. She's going to be a big sister to a little sister.

Snow Snow Snow

We got lots of snow the past two days. Sunday we woke up and there was a few inches but it all melted during the day (then refroze for a nice icy street). That night it started snowing again and this morning we had lots more on the ground.

Makyra learning to make a snow angel. We are just swinging our arms the wrong direction.

Mommy and Makyra

Daddy and Makyra

Trudging through the snow.

Daddy pouring snow on Makyra's head.

An attempt at a family self portrait. We are so bundled you can hardly see Dan.

I'm so glad we can come in to a nice warm house after playing in the cold snow. The snow was very dry and wouldn't hold together so we didn't get to make a snowman. Maybe later this week we can get snow that is more moist.

FHE with Friends

We have some great neighbors and we all got together and had FHE tonight. Makyra and the kids, Kaleb and Olivia, had a great time taking pictures, especially of their mom, Kristin.

Kaleb and Makyra snuggling on the couch.

Kristin, Olivia, and Makyra. Kaleb took this picture and then had to retake it because you can't see the baby doll.

Don't worry Kristin, I won't add anymore of just you.

Santa's Little Helper

We went to the mall to see Santa but everything that could go wrong that day seemed to go wrong, so we got there 20 minutes after Santa left for the night. Argh. At least we still had a cute thing to take pictures of.

A little Christmas Disco

The best looking face of the night - she likes to make silly faces or look away at the very last moment.

The next night we went swimming and afterwards went over to the high school where a church was sponsoring a food drive. They had sleigh rides (BRRR it was so cold, but we were all snuggled up together and kept fairly warm) and of course Makyra FINALLY got to meet Santa, she even sat on his lap. Usually she doesn't like men with beards or hats, but she has watched so many Santa movies that she couldn't resist. She was still a little nervous though.

Christmas Tree Chopping

We went and got our Christmas tree a little while ago. This was the first year we cut our own down. The little tree farm was so cute and the guy running it sold us some honey he got from the bees he is raising. Ah, the small town life is so funny sometimes.

Chopping down the Christmas Tree...

Makyra loves to take pictures. Here is one she took of us:

Art Classes

This term I took 2 art classes. My major is accounting, but it had been so long since I took an art class that I signed up for two. It took SO much time and I don't think I'll ever do 2 in one term again. I took stained glass and pottery. I have taken quite a few pottery classes, but this was my first time trying stained glass, which I've been wanting to do since high school. My first project was of a lily and my second was of the Portland Oregon Temple.

This was quite the project and took lots of extra hours, but I love it. I drew the design by myself and then went to pick out the glass. I intended from the beginning for this to go on the wall, and not in a window. In the end I decided to compromise a little and got a shadow box made, then strung tube lighting behind it. I had to tweek it a little and ran posterboard acrossed the back of the glass because you could see the lights too much. Now it is pretty close to what I liked, but I might mess with it a little more before being completely satisfied with the setup. I stained the soldering lines black but left the temple lines a silvery color. I hung it behind the Christmas tree, so I couldn't get a full on shot, it is 20 by 30 inches. This picture doesn't show the detail, like the sandblasting in the temple wall, or the cranberry glass in the reflection pool. For those who want to see more I will take a better picture after Christmas.

This is a closed form that I threw on the wheel (where it spins around and you use your hands to shape the clay). I raku fired it (a japenese technique where you take a glowing hot form and throw it into an airtight container. I am happy with the way the glazed turned out, I love the blue and green. It's probably about 4 inches in diameter.

These are a few more of my pottery from this term. In the picture the pie plate looks very large, but actually the green bowl is the largest at about 11 inches in diameter, the plate is about 9 or so. I'm really pleased with the green bowl, it is really evenly thrown and the stability of it is nice. It is probably one of the best forms I've thrown (and the largest). The other bowl I threw in there because of the brilliance of the glaze. The blue and purple inside is amazing (this glaze was a mistake in the lab and no one knows how they got that color, so sad to say, it will be gone once it's gone), the outside is a different, darker purple blue glaze.

All in all, it was a pretty good term. I also took a business class, which isn't nearly as exciting to take pictures of. Next term I am only going to take 9 credits, pottery, math, and a PE class. I figure I'll be super pregnant by the end and it'll be plenty for me. Well, let me know what you think, particularly of the temple because that was my most unfamiliar median this term.

Time Out!!

This happened a while ago but I wanted to post it on here so I wouldn't forget:

Makyra does not like to hear us tell her to do something. She shush's us in the middle of talking if she doesn't want to hear it. This is a HUGE no-no so she gets a time out when she does it (she's starting to quit doing it now). One morning Dan was telling her to do something and she got upset. So she went over to the stairs and started pointing at them, saying 'time out, time out'. She was trying to put daddy in time out!

School has been really busy, but finals are this week and then I will post some pictures of the projects I've been working on.

Halloween... a little late

I wanted to post a few pictures of our costumes this year.

Our little piglet at the Ward Halloween Party.

Me, Daniel and Makyra Trick or Treating at Dan's Mom's house. Dan got to choose what we were this year and he wanted to be vampires. I am not one to dress up scary, so it was a new idea for me. Next year I get to choose, I keep telling him that we are all going to be flowers with petals all around our faces. Lately, I've changed it to kangaroos, and that is the best idea he's ever heard (he does NOT want to be a flower). We probably won't be either of those things, but it's funny to see his reaction.

I liked the picture of Makyra in the picture of the three of us so much I decided to pull her out and put it in another photo. I'm not great at extracting the image yet. I just downloaded paint.net, which works a lot like photoshop. You can get it at getpaint.net and try it out. It's completely free to use.

My Little Ballerina

Makyra loves to dance. She recently started watching Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princess all the time. She likes to mimic what they do on the screen. So here she is, dancing to the music, and doing the dance that they do (well kind of).

P.S. I debated about posting this because our house isn't picked up and she is in her pjs with morning hair, but it was too cute, so ignore the clutter.

Now the video is working, and I put the right video up this time, so enjoy.

Just a Mix

So today we were pulling out of the Safeway parking lot in Salem and there was this Hispanic lady waiting to cross the driveway with a stroller and two kids, the stroller had a baby seat so that one must have been little, and the older of the two walking kids had to have been no older than 5. Well, as we waited for this sweet mother to cross the drive, Dan pointed out that there was another little girl (probably about 2) sitting in the basket underneath the stroller, her little head and torso poking out. The stroller was obviously not made for two, but it touched my heart to see this mother love her children and just do the best with what she had.

This week we got a membership to the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village. Every year we get a membership to some family place (besides the pool, which we usually go to all the time) and I think we are going to LOVE the Gilbert house. The have this slide that is two stories high. It is a tunnel slide. Makyra and I went down it and while we were in the middle it was pitch black, because there was no light from the beginning or end that we could see. They have lots of different rooms that are themed differently (a grocery store, a china room, a jungle room, a bubble room, a human body room, etc.). This Saturday they are having a harvest festival that we are going to go to. There will be a cider press, and a little band you can listen to on the hay bales while they light the pumpkins at dusk. We are going to go.

I had a midwife appointment today. She found the heartbeat but only for about 2 seconds before the baby flipped away again. That little one seems to be so active. She gave me a prescription for nausea. It haven't thrown up too many times, but when I do it's really violent and I break all the blood vessels in my neck and face, yuck. It will also help me sleep at night, which has been really difficult for me during this pregnancy. Mindie (my midwife) asked us if we wanted to come back in 2 weeks (although usually it's 4) since I've still been spotting off and on. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the baby or pregnancy, but just for our reassurance until I can feel the baby move and know it's OK. So of course we took her up on it so we can hear the heartbeat. I hate throwing up, but I've also never appreciated it more, because it means everything's OK.

So other than that nothing is really new, Dan is working at the school, and both of our classes are going well. I feel like I've done well in pottery so far, after having not thrown (where you spin the clay on the wheel and use your hands to shape it into things) for over a year I'm surprised at how much skill I've attained since I first started. I got 15/15 on my critique tonight. We had to throw to cylinder as straight and evenly as we could (they also had to be 8 inches high) and then cut them to see how straight and even our sides where. Afterwards I made a big bowl, it's the biggest I've ever made. I started with 10 lbs of clay, but probably on ended with about 8, from centering and straightening the thing. I'm excited to see how well it ends up in the end.

Baby Center

OK, my great neighbor started me on Babycenter.com now I am on there frequently, so I was wondering if anyone else has an account and what their name is. Then I can stalk on blogs and babycenter, haha.

Our Rollercoaster

OK, technically it's not the 3rd because it's after midnight but I'm going to write like it is.

Today was our due date. It's been a crazy year with lots of ups and downs. We were so excited to find out we were pregnant at the beginning of this year and then miscarried at eight weeks. It was so hard. We miscarried at home and had this little tiny body that we had to bury. It was so small, about the size of a quarter, but very distinctly a baby. It was one of the saddest moments of my life so far.

We eventually accepted it and moved on, although my body had a hard time getting itself back on track. My cycles were completely off and a month and half ago I hadn't had a period for 12 weeks and all my pregnancy tests were negative. I called my DR and he ran lots of blood tests, from diabetes to thyroid, thankfully everything came back normal, except the pregnancy test. It was inconclusive, not high enough to be positive, but elevated enough to not be negative. A week later I went back in for another blood draw, by this time I knew I was pregnant, and it was positive.

I set up an appointment right away with my extremely patient midwife, Mindie. She had us come in at 6 1/2 weeks, checked us out, and gave me an ultrasound. There was a beautiful little heartbeat and a blob of cells surrounding it.



Everything seemed to be going OK. I was sick, but not nearly as sick as with Makyra. Then this Sunday I started spotting. I tried so hard not worry, it stopped by the end of the day with a little bed rest and since I had an appointment in 2 weeks Mindie and I decided that if it didn't start again then we would wait and see if we could find the heartbeat then, if not she would send me for another ultrasound because at the point you can't always find the heartbeat by Doppler.

So I waited, but I started spotting again and then I was really freaked out. It was after hours so she had me go to the local ER (which has been a great place in all of our other experiences.) We waited for 3 hours to see the DR and then he just said that he didn't have an ultrasound machine, he didn't do any blood work or anything (I was really shocked that they didn't check anything out because usually we've been really happy with their services, especially with Makyra.) I called Mindie on Thursday (the next day) and she told me to come to her office and get my blood drawn and then set me up with an U/S for the next day (today).

I was so scared to go to this appointment today. It was my due date and if we found out that we had lost another baby on the same day that we were supposed to bring one into the world I don't know if I could take that very well. The technician took pictures of everything and then FINALLY got to the baby. There was this little flicker of a heartbeat on the screen and I just started bawling. I am so relieved. The heartbeat was 160 (at 6 1/2 weeks it was 127) and the baby was moving all over the place. She actually had a hard time getting the heart rate because it wouldn't hold still long enough. It's about an inch long now. I got some pictures but my computer isn't downloading right now like it should so I can't post it now, but I'll post it later. It had these tiny arms and legs. I am so so so happy that it's OK.

I got my messages from Mindie when I got home (my phone had died) and she said that my HCG levels (for those of you who don't know what this is, they are at great levels) at 6 weeks was around 72,000 and then yesterday they were over 250,000. When we miscarried, at 8 weeks they were around 420, just so you can compare. She said that I'm probably bleeding because the baby implanted really close to my cervix and the placenta is growing right next to it. (I researched this, because I know it's a problem if the placenta is over the cervix, but usually it will grow upward and not stay were it is, so I'm not worried about it.)

So that is our little adventure with babies this year, so much emotion. But we are excited and I think everything is going to be OK now. We are 9 weeks along.

P.S. There is a sister in my ward who is due the same day as me, it has been so fun to compare and have someone that is right there at the same point of pregnancy. This is her fourth, so she's pretty much an expert (although it's her fifth pregnancy because she also miscarried). It's going to be so fun watching us and then the babies grow together.

P.P.S. Sorry if this is a little detailed, but that's just how baby growing is.

Lilies

My computer is frustrating me a little, so I'm not going to post any pictures.

My husband is so sweet sometimes. I LOVE lillies (especially stargazers). I am taking a stained glass class this term at school and for our first assignment we have to do an 18 x 9 in panel with no more than 18 pieces. Well, I don't like being limited much by size or numbers so I am trying to decide what I can do and of course lillies are the thing that comes to mind. Well, Dan knew I was going to be doing a panel and so he went and bought me beautiful stargazing lillies. They are so gorgeous. Now I have to come up with design (and it has to be my own). I've found one on the internet that I love (though has too many pieces for my project) and that I wanted to share.

All right, this computer is driving me crazy so here is the link: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.homestudioartglass.com/images/strother.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.homestudioartglass.com/res.htm&h=382&w=536&sz=185&hl=en&start=1&sig2=qlex8loaCNd-kV-osYcSRg&um=1&usg=__kzdKLWQrYP_k1FFWjSCo1LwbVck=&tbnid=5-Q6gu8O7qHdyM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=132&ei=0SnjSLikD6qkpASC6NiNDA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstargazer%2Blillies%2Bstained%2Bglass%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-Address%26rlz%3D1I7ADBF

I'm excited for this class and although it's a bit messy I can actually do it at home unlike pottery which requires so much equipment (I'm taking another class on pottery, I think I'm addicted to it).
This term is kind of a play term with 2 art class, but I haven't taken art since summer of 07, so I really don't feel bad at all.

Also, Makyra was sitting at her desk a few weeks ago and just counted to ten. I was surprised because I didn't know she knew all the numbers in order. She won't do it when I ask her yet, but she knows them. She does have a hard time remembering 6, it's a sneaky number anyway. She is the sweetest little girl. The other day I was driving and I turned around to look at her. She had her baby cradled in her arms and she was bouncing it up and down shushing it. She then gave it a little kiss on the head and kept bouncing it. So cute. Another thing she did recently was when I came down the stairs one morning I had on a shirt that was a little shiny in one spot and had flowers on the side. She jumped up from the couch, 'pitty mommy pitty... cute, pitty" She came over and had to touch it, she is so much a girl.

This is kind of a random post.

Resolve High Traffic Foam

We've lived in our apartment to 1 1/2 years now. Although the carpet isn't that old it has started to look really dingy, especially from the living room to the kitchen, which is where the most traffic occurs.



I keep seeing all these commercials for Resolve High Traffic Foam and decided, why not, let's try it and see what it can do. So here are the results.

Before

After

It's probably not as great as it would be if we actually go them professionally cleaned, but for a couple bucks it looks A LOT better. I don't know that the pictures actually does it justice, as it may surprise you all that I'm not a professional carpet photographer.

Our Egg Friend

Makyra has decided that it's OK to go across the street without us. So, how do you teach a two year old that streets are scary and they can get hurt?

...our egg friend.

Makyra and I made a face on an egg (much like the picture from the internet to the right). We brushed her hair a little and gave her a name. Then we went outside and she tried to squish her with her hands, which she couldn't do. I told Makyra how unsafe it was to cross the street. I then rolled our egg friend into the street and Dan drove the car around and squished it.

Poor Makyra was so shocked that her egg friend had been crushed into a puddle of gooiness and shell. We let her look at the shell and told her that cars can hurt us and we need to stay next to Mommy and Daddy so that they can keep us safe near streets.

Part of me still feels a little bad, but not too much because it worked. She hasn't ran into the street since and whenever she sees a car coming she gets real close to us and hold our hand. If she forgets we just remind her about her egg friend and she seems to get the hint.

Our camping trip to Cottage Grove Reservoir

So this is a little late. We went camping about 2 weeks ago. It was fun, although like most camping trips just about everything goes wrong. To start, we were about ten minutes from our house and Dan got stung by a bee, and it just went from there. We had fun though and the lake was gorgeous. It was perfect weather and not too many bug bites.

A view of the lake from our site the first morning. It was beautiful with the fog.

Our campsite and tent.

Makyra getting a drink of water. This is her favorite way to drink water.

Of course, with Daddy's help. Notice him sporting a super cool baby doll backpack/headband.

Makyra's Poor Right Foot

Dan, Makyra and I go swimming a lot. We are probably at the pool 3-4 times a week. Makyra is a little fish and now she can jump off the side of the pool (without her life jacket) swim back up to the top of the water and come to me about 4 feet away. She then pushes off of me and grabs onto the side of the pool, pulls herself up and starts all over. She know has bruises all over the backs of her legs from this, and she doesn't care.

So, Makyra has been really wanting to try the diving board. We got permission to have Dan underneath it to grab her and I could walk her out. Friday night we decided to let her try, that child is fearless. Well, as we were starting to climb up the ladder her foot slipped and curled under her, causing the top of her foot to hit the concrete. She started screaming, which is uncharacteristic of her. It bruised a little and swelled a little. Per the recommendation of her pediatrician we took her to the ER to make sure it wasn't broken (I myself have had 10 broken bones, so who knows if she got that wonderful quality.) After waiting in the room and getting her X-rays the determined that it wasn't. This morning she still didn't want to walk on it and would just cry a bit and want to be picked up but as the day progressed she did better and better, limping all the way.

Tonight we went to Dan's parents house and played the lovely English family tradition of Croquette. Makyra had her own little soft ball and we would try and keep her out of the way. If you've ever played croquette you know that those balls are solid. We were almost done with the game and WHACK!! a little lone ball hit by someone who loves her very much crashed into her little knobby anckle bone on her right foot that sticks out. Now she was REALLY crying. That one started bruising immediately and still doesn't look very good. I was not going to take her into the ER a second night in a row for the SAME FOOT. They'd probably think we're crazy, letting her go off the diving board, hitting her with croquette balls, she's now got bruises all over her legs, back, knees, and foot (from various incidences).

She's still limping, but seemed to do much better after some loving from her mommy and Nana (when it was her mommy's turn to go) and of course some happy birthday dirt cake for her Aunt Meri.

Impromtu Bath

Today Makyra was at a friend's house, Madison, while she was taking a bath. Most of the time Makyra just sat by the side of the tub, until Madison's mom turned around to pick up the phone. Makyra jumped into the tub fully clothed and then before Madison's mom could get to her, Madison dumped water over Makyra's head.

Another funny thing that happened recently: I teach the five and six year old primary class. Last sunday one of the girls said the closing prayer and prayer that her teacher at church would not be fired so that she could still be her teacher. They're so funny.

Finals and Colors

Well I am done with finals, though my mind hasn't settled down from it all yet. Dan has one more class to finish then we are both DONE until October, he will go 3/4 time then and I am not sure if I want to go full time or part time, we will see how the break goes.
Things for us to do while not in school:
CAMPING CAMPING CAMPING
organize the house and finish unpacking (I think we've been 'finish unpacking' for a year now)
Clean every knook and crany
make yummy food
oh yes, and go swimming, we love to swim and probably at least 3 times a week lately. We live about 2 blocks from the pool and have an annual membership. I like to do the aquacize classes. Makyra can jump off the edge (without a life jacket), swim back to the top of the water (but can't quite get her head ALL the way out), and then grab onto the ledge again.

Colors
We have been playing the M&M game Don't Eat Pete with Makrya. She loves it and is learning to be patient while everyone else gets a turn also. She has also learned her colors better by playing. Her favorite color has always seemed to be yellow, now she recognizes a lot more.

You can get a game board and instructions of Don't Eat Pete (or as she says it 'no pete!') at www.zakadoo.com.

Locks of Love

Today I cut my hair. It is the shortest it has even been. It is an A line cut, so the back is shorter, I didn't want it TOO short in the front. I am donating it to locks of love, so what better excuse is there? It will take some getting used to, but at least I can use less shampoo, and it's not all over my neck anymore.

Has anyone else ever had an experience with Locks of Love? If so, please share.

For more information on Locks of Love go to http://www.locksoflove.org/

Danny's Birthday

Dan had a birthday two weeks ago, and I haven't posted it yet.

We had a blast. I surprised him and we went to the Linn County Fair.

First we saw a balloon man show, it was this crazy guy who had this giant balloon. He blew it up with a leaf blower and then stick it on his head. Next, he started putting his whole body into the balloon. I know this sounds crazy, that's because it was. Sorry no pictures.

Second we saw the Rhinestone Ropers show. This was an awesome wild west show. The guy is the world champion in trick guns and his wife is also in trick rope. They were both amazing. They had a well trained horse, their whole show was funny and great. So for the finale they did the wheel of death. He said that many people have heard it but only few have seen it in real life. His wife is on the wheel. And yes, those are bowie knifes.

Makyra tried a little trick roping too.

After meandering the fair for a while; taking Makyra to the terrifying petting zoo (she isn't too fond of animals) and looking at all the booths we headed for a Craig Morgan concert. He sings country, "What I Like About Sundays", "A Little Bit of Life", and "International Harvester." Our seats were great. We just got in with the price of the fair, which was free anyway, and then put our little blanket down to save our spot while we played.

Madison (our neighbor and Makyra's best friend), Dan, and Makyra during the opening act. They were taking turns jumping on him.

A picture we took of Craig Morgan from our seats.

Our wonderful family self-portrait. This was the best one because everyone was actually in the picture.

The stage from where we were sitting/standing. Dan took this so he could see over everyone's head. It's nice having someone tall enough to reach the top of the top shelf.

And lastly, a little video of Makyra dancing during the opening act. She is so funny, I love to watch her dance. I want her to take dance lessons, but she can't start until she's three. Nothing starts until she's three, swimming, dancing, karate (her grandpa is a third degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do, good thing I found that out AFTER we were married, or it would've been a little intimidating.)

What a great day, and a great way to celebrate Danny's Birthday. We will definitely do this again next year.

Front Page Debut

Makyra got the front page picture today in the Polk County Itemizer-Observer (our local newspaper).
We were at the park the other day and the ice cream man asked if he could take the kids' picture for the paper (he gave them free ice cream).
So here it is folks:
http://www.itemizerobserver.com/images/7404.jpg

This is in the archives now, so this link reflects that.

Our Crazy Day

So I've been really slacking on the posts. I have a bit to catch up on. We've done some BBQing, some camping, a wedding for Dan's sister, etc. But for now, today...

Today we drove up to Portland to pick up some friends from the airport. The way up was eventful as the temperature gauge kept climbing higher and higher. We pulled over to the side of the road and popped the hood. there was antifreeze spewing out of the radiator cap. Great. So we called our friend who has a car lot and he said that if we just keep the engine cool enough then it should be fine. So we drove with the heater on full blast the rest of the day!! I think it was 100 degrees today anyway. Needless to say, we were dying. As soon as we got home Dan ran into the house and grabbed the swimming suits. We then headed down to the pool for and hour and a half.

Makyra swam around the pool for probably about 45 minutes straight. She was wearing a life jacket but didn't want us to touch her. Those little legs were moving so fast. We went from end of the pool and back again, then to the other pool, swam around that one, and on and on. She even jumped off the side into the deeper water. Her favorite pool is the 5 foot pool, but even in the shallower ones she doesn't want to touch the bottom.

On the way home from the airport we stopped by the Portland Temple. It was closed but we were able to get a few shots of Makyra in the summer dress that I made her.

Good-bye Paci

OK, Makyra hasn't had her pacifier for over 24 hours. She usually just gets it when she sleeps. Yesterday I couldn't find her paci and she wanted it for her nap. She calls it a 'fire'. I told her that it wasn't there and that the pacifier went bye-bye. I hadn't planned on not giving it to her again, but it just somehow happened.
Now, although it's taking her longer to go to sleep, she does not seem terribly upset. I, on the other hand, can't believe that I have ANY emotional attachment to that dumb pacifier. I'm feeling a little unsettled about the whole giving up the pacifier thing, and she is fine.
I've sat here and thought about WHY in the world I could even care, besides being glad that we won't have to search for it all night. I have come to the conclusion that it makes me a little sad because it's pretty much the last 'baby' thing she does. She hasn't used a bottle in over a year, she doesn't need to be rocked to sleep. She'll only cuddle for about 2 seconds before she wants down to play. Although she still wears diapers, she wants to sit on the potty all the time.
My baby is no longer a baby. It's a little hard to see that time in her life pass and know it will never be that way again. On the other hand, these are wonderful days and she is a delight. I know that in a few years I will feel the same way, when she is no longer a toddler/preschooler but a kindergartener.

Anther thing, I can't help but think that Makyra needs a sibling so badly. The other night I went upstairs and kissed her goodnight, as I left her room it felt like I wasn't done with the goodnight kisses, that there should've been someone else to tuck into bed. I hate those moments when my guard is down. I still really miss that little baby that we had for such a short time. We would be in our third trimester now. It makes me sad, but also so grateful to have our little girl. She is my life and I don't know what I would do without her.

Sorry this is kind of a depressing, personal blog. Thanks for reading.

The Strawberry Patch

Saturday we went to the Strawberry Patch and picked berries. There were a few basic needs to take care of before we left.

Makyra thought that one of those things was a little mascara for her. She did a pretty good job; even getting some above her eye and on the lashes (you can't really see it very well in this picture). The patch was amazing. So beautiful, nice country air and strawberry plants galore.



Makyra loves 'awberries' and relished in the taste of her hand-picked fruit.


She would take one bite, then contribute it to our box of berries. We found many that were biten out of when we got home. She definitely ate her share from at the farm.

This is a picture of the old hay bale rollercoaster (or whatever it's called) from the barn loft. It was a lot longer but a tree has grown around the lower half.

And finally, our lovely strawberries. We brought home 32 pounds. That night we probably used a third of those for strawberry shortcake. Still, we had enough berries to make 13 pints and 16 half-pints of jam (we use a half-sugar recipe). We had fun and it marks the beginning of our canning season. We plan to also can peaches, apples, pears, and probably blueberries. Who knows what else, last year was our first year canning, so we are still new to the experience.

Father's Day BBQ

On saturday evening we went to Dan's parents house with most of his siblings (we missed you Leah and Branson) and had a Father's Day BBQ.

The kids found a huge moth.

(Lexi, Spencer, and Emily examined it closely)

The guys and Kids threw around a football.

(Here is Danny)

Meribeth was clobbered by Makyra, Jessica, and Spencer.

But also loved by Emily, Makyra, and Kaylei.

Cody blew some great bubbles, and of course we all ate hamburgers and hotdogs.

Makyra also got a few hugs from the best Grandpa.

We had fun saturday night, and love you all.