Catching up!! About time!

If you can believe it, I was only going to put TWO pictures on this post to just share what is going on with us, BUT....I couldn't stop myself and put about a million! So take a quick look and you'll be caught up on our lives!

Our precious little Bennett!

Love him SO much!!!!

Daniel's graduation and receiving his pilot's wings!!!

Hooray!!!!

Such a happy and proud father.

LOVE this picture!

We had such a fun time with Daniel's parents, grandparents and Uncle Tom and Cousin Malorie.

Ahhh...tender.

Julie makin' bread.

YUM!!

Our new favorite country singer, Josh Turner.

Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis.

Andrew Jackson and his wife lived in this home for 17 years.

Exact replica of the Parthanon....overwhelming.

I actually petted this horse! Notice the beautiful fall colors.

Couldn't get over the beauty of all the colors!

Okay, since we've been home from seeing Julie and Daniel, this is a TASTE of what has been going on at home.....

Can you believe it??

More pictures to come.

LOVED

Women's Conference Last Night!

THE FORGET ME NOT FLOWER

Five Petals

Each represents...

Forget Not to:

1. Be patient with yourself.

* Stop punishing yourself.

* Notice your successes...God does.

2. Choose the good sacrifices over the bad ones.

*Ask yourself where your time and energies are going.

3. Be happy NOW!

* Remember "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"? Are you searching for the golden ticket in order to be happy? Enjoy the candy and stop searching the wrapper.

4. Learn the "WHY" of the Gospel.

* Delight in the sweetness and majesty of "Why"...Not so much the what and how.

5. Know that God knows you and loves you! Invite him in your life!

Canning Tomatoes ;)

This past weekend, we spent a lot of time in Long Beach, in fact, we didn't get home until late this Tuesday afternoon. When I walked out back and saw all the tomatoes in our garden, I knew it was time to can them! Actually never done this before, although I canned salsa about a month ago. Our last Relief Society lesson was on canning, so I decided to give it a try.

I don't know if you can can peppers, but I may have to look into that soon too!

Here's the remaining tomatoes...we'll use those in our salads.

Finished product. :)

This wasn't even hard to do!!!

Next time I'll fill them a little more.

I love you!

Today I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love for my Savior, Jesus Christ and for my family and I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE YOU!! I teach the CTR Valiant 9 class in Primary at church and today the lesson is on "The Mission of Jesus Christ". For the past several weeks we've learned about things Jesus did on earth and about the Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. Today is not only a summation of all of that, but a focus on what WE can do show our love and gratitude...which is to show love and gratitude for each other...everyone.

Also, because today is September 11, 2011...

I don't want another day to go by that I don't tell you how I feel. We never know what day will be our last day on earth, so I just want all of you to know, without any hesitation, that I love you...big time!

Visits with Megan and Bennett

Dad drove Grandmother to San Diego the other day to visit Bennett.

He was SOoooooo ADORABLE!!!

Of course, she just had the time of her life!!

He smiled and laughed and talked to her.

Then today, I went and visited with them too!

Megan just started giving him some solid food...I think this was the second attempt, and Megan said it was much more successful today.

He spit quite a bit out, but eventually swallowed it.

He LOVED the spoon!

Our Trip to Texas

Dad and I had a fun trip to Texas / New Mexico / Arizona

Nearing the end of our time at Kathy's, she got a cold....

Toured the Alamo.

Now I know what people mean when they say, "Remember the Alamo"!

Toured Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico....Something Rich had wanted to do since he was a kid.

We hiked 5 miles underground, descending 700 feet and went from 105 degrees outside to 56 degrees once inside the cave.

We stopped in Arizona to visit Karen for a few days.

On a trip to IKEA, Karen and I were walking around without dad for about an hour

when we got a call from him....he had fallen asleep in this chair!

I can only imagine all the funny looks he must have gotten while people walked by!!

hahaha.

It's nice to be back home and we are looking forward to our next trip to Mississippi for

Daniel's GRADUATION!!!!