On Wednesday afternoon, two of our church widows surprised us with two beautiful flower arrangements for our front porch! When we first moved in, they had gorgeous geraniums waiting for us on the porch, and in the last 3 months, those geraniums have died. So they came to replace them. What a sweet gesture from women who could be sitting at home feeling sorry for themselves. Another challenge from the Lord for us to give!!!!

Garage Sale Bargain

Wednesday night after church a friend and I went to a "pre-garage sale" - someone in the church let us look through all their stuff before it went out the next day. And I found a bargain! I got TWO matching couch covers (one couch and one loveseat) from SureFit, in perfect condition, for only $45! It just happens that we have a couch and loveseat in our basement that desperately needed covers. And I had given up hope until next year b/c I did not want to spend lots of money on them. So what a blessing! :-)

One Cool Dude!

Sunglasses are so fun! We put this broken pair on Adrianna's face more times than I can count today. The word of the day is "cracker." We said it in the car during our entire 20 minute drive to Holland today. Adrianna is really enjoying being able to walk around by herself now - crawling is becoming a thing of the past. That's the latest exciting news in the life of AJ! :-)

A little brag on my hubby . . .

I have to tell everyone what my sweet husband did for me this morning. He usually tries to take Mondays off, so today we woke up and talked about what was on the schedule. I had plans to do a little grocery shopping, but nothing else. So as I'm getting ready, he says, "Babe, why don't you go "fun" shopping today." To which I replied, "We don't have the money in the budget this month." To which he replied that he had been saving up money for me to spend a day shopping for clothes. Isn't that sweet? So he sent me out to hours of fun at Kohl's and the mall, and he stayed home and played with Adrianna. It kind of felt like Christmas and I shopped to my heart's content. I am SO privileged to live with such a thoughtful, loving guy. Thanks, Nate!!!

Say "Cheese!"

My photogenic daughter!!! Now each time I hold up a camera to Adrianna's face, she gives me this silly face and says "cheese!" What a goober!!!!

Adrianna has a nasty head cold, so today we just hung around. For her afternoon snack, I put on her absolute FAVORITE: Praise Baby DVD (which I try to show her only once a week b/c I'm afraid she'll learn to beg for it. :-)! She loved it, clapping and dancing the whole time. It was worth it to see a big smile on her face. :-)

The Big Bad Bully (with the big bad belly)

Unexpected Gift

We received an unexpected gift from some friends in the church today. I've become good friends with a girl named Donna, and I guess I mentioned the fact that we don't have a dryer (ours is old and electric, and we need a gas dryer here). So I've been doing all my drying on the line out back, which hasn't been that bad except when it rains (which it did last night with a load on the line). So Donna and her husband Dan called last night and said they (and another anonymous couple) bought us a new dryer. They said the Lord kept laying that on their hearts, and they knew they just had to do something about it. How humbling is that!!! Not only are we thrilled with their generosity, we're also challenged by their sensitivity to the Lord. What a blessing for great friends.

Our first tomato. :-)

Roller Skating, 70's style

We had a 70's roller skating teen activity tonight; it was a blast. I think I only made it around the rink 4 times before I lent my sweaty socks to a poor soul who didn't have any. I didn't mind sitting it out. I just had to post a picture of my groovy man's get-up. The pictures really don't do the polyester justice. Thank you, GoodWill!!!

Cutie-Pie

Nate's Birthday Bash

Last night I took Nate out to celebrate his birthday (2 days early). We went to a fancy restaurant on the beach and had steak. Then we walked the beach for quite awhile and watched the sunset. And no, this last picture is not of a forest fire. It's the Musical Fountain (don't laugh). Yes, this massive fountain is all lit up and puts on a show with music for about 20 minutes. We sat in a grand stand and watched it over the water - apparently it's a pretty big thing in our town. I have to admit that we had a few good laughs about watching a fountain sing.

Happy birthday, a day early, Nate. I thought you were Prince Charming the first day I met you, and that hasn't changed one bit in the nearly four years we've been married. You're my constant cheerleader and friend, and I'm honored to spend my life with you!! I love you!

A new dress from Grandma

Pictures from our vacation

Vacation in MN!

We just got back from a week long vacation in MN with my side of the family. I've done this ever since I was a little girl. We go with my grandparents and rent a cabin at a resort. It's on a lake, and we eat, swim, sleep, fish and play games all week. What a life! This was our first year with Adrianna, and she did so well. The trip was long, and she slept very little. But we were pleasantly surprised with how well she did. Her 1st year molars are popping through, two down, two to go. And she is getting better at her walking. Of course she got spoiled rotten, and it was so fun to see her recognize Auntie Sue. :-) I'll add a few slideshows from our fun time!