Eli's blessing!

Just a few pictures from our nephew (cousin) - Eli McGuire's blessing ... We were able to go to North Georgia to Jordan's (Jonathan's brother) football game - Benjamin LOVED the Tiger... then for a meeting with a recruitor - while my sister watched Benjamin. She took some adorable pictures of Benjamin and William (her little boy) ... which I still need to get!

Eli's big day was Sunday ... here are a few pictures!

Recipe Exchange!

This is for all the "locals" ... we are doing a recipe exchange as one of our Enrichment activities... a fun night out for Moms!

When: Friday, September 19th
Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Where: MY HOUSE
821 Michelle Court (Pamir Place Subdivision)
What to Bring: A fall favorite - along with the recipe

Plese pass the word along ... and invite a friend! Let me know if you'll be able to make it so I can plan on how many to expect!

If you decide to come at the last minute - PLEASE COME!

See ya Friday!

Little Piper and Trig!

This will probably go down in history as one of those genuine acts of sisterly kindness!

">

So ... I am a HUGE Sarah Palin fan at the moment. I wasn't quite so sure about John McCain ... but after his choosing Sarah as his VP choice ... and hearing her speak ... and knowing she's a mom just like me ... as of now they have over the top won my vote... not that Obama was ever in the running (where would our country REALLY go... and who would my doctor be ... and where would my kids go to school ... and HOW many taxes would we have to pay ... now that Jonathan will soon have a REAL job...) don't get me wrong - I am a 100% fan of helping the poor, homeless, father-less and any person in need - and we feel that we give very generously for what we have -- BUT I don't think it should be the GOVERNMENTS "right" to take freely from me/us -- and give to the millions upon millions who choose to sit at home and get on every government "free" list that they can... NOTHING in life is truly "free" ... it is a price for someone, somewhere. We will continue to give to the poor, needy - but I'm not about to let the Democratic party go down without a fight.

Aside from all of that ... for those of you who did or did not stay up to watch Sarah's speech last night ... I really did enjoy her speech AND this special moment! Amid laughter and tears ... the Palins showed that they are a true American family - just like me! Piper, what a GREAT big sister to little Trig!

Daughter of a King!

I usually posts about the comings and goings in our family, but today is a special day for our little family. August 17, 2005 - we were blessed with a choice spirit. Not as most would think, but our first little one here on earth. We went to our routine doctor's appointment -thrilled to finally be pregnant. Everything looked just normal - but the doctor decided to do a sonogram.

To our disbelief, the baby that was in my tummy had already come and gone. Of course there is a wide range of opinions on when life really is life - but for us ... this was our first child. We have a few sonogram pictures that we cherish -as you can see the tiniest little body... and because of the size, the doctor could tell that this little one had at one point had a heartbeat.

With this all said ... I'd like to share some of my thoughts and feelings as a mother - more fore me, than probably for any readers.

Within the few short weeks of being pregnant, I had many impressions that this little one would be a girl. The first an only thing that I bought for "her" ... was these little pink shoes. They are a treasure to me and to our family... as they are one of the few things that were hers in this life. I believe that each spirit that comes to earth is truly a son or daughter of our Heavenly King, and thereby making our little girl -a daughter of the most-high King. She had hands and feet and a beating heart - she needed that tiny yet frail body to complete her mortal existance. Both with this little one, and with Benjamin - I kept a journal of thoughts and experiences prior to their arrivals here on earth. Because of the short time -I just had one journal entry for her ... and her journal became Benjamin's... and he will always be able to read about her.

Here are a few thoughts from the journal entry to her (dated: August 14,2005):

"We know you are a chosen and special spirit, reserved to come in these latter days. You have a strong and everlasting testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ... Heavely Father has held you in His arms, hs walked and talked with you, and is excited to see you again in His presence... You will be a great help to your Dad and I... You have a spirit that my spirit knows and loves. We were close befoer we came to earth and I cherrish every second I think of you. With all the Love a Mother could have for a little one, Your Mommy"

This little one has been a HUGE help to Jonathan and I - probably our biggest trial in life was losing her - but the greatest blessing to bring the two of us closer to eachother. Now that three years have gone by today - tears still fill my eyes to think of her as joy fills my heart that I will be able to see her again, as I sometimes feel her presence so near. With all the majestic places on earth, I sometimes wonder what the heavens will be like. I'm grateful to have this daughter of our Heavenly Father and King, as part of our family as I look forward to the day we will be together again... and I will know her then, just as I know her now.

Boston and MORE!

Jonathan and I are celebrating our 5th Anniversary this August ... so we decided to take a trip together ... saved all our pennies and headed to Boston! We had a WONDERFUL time together ...so here is a quick bio on our trip to Boston! We enjoyed so many things about the trip, I'm sure I will miss a few things!

This is me in front of the USS Constitution - that is stationed in Boston. It is a pre-Civil War Navy ship - and will never be de-commissioned. So we actually had to go through security before we got on board. Also known as Old Ironsides ... probably because a large portion of the wood is from GEORGIA... enough history - on we go:

Well here is a bit more history - one of our FAVORITE stops - Plimoth Plantation - note the spelling is the CORRECT spelling! There were actually families living here that depict the first settlers and also the Wampanoag Tribe (that are still members of the tribe) - even spoke with the English accent... but thankfully not in Wampanoag language. The little town was amazing ... we couldn't get enough of this little place!

The vegetable gardens were AMAZING... and probably NO deer in this place like at our house!

Here were are at one of the MANY Harbors on Martha's Vineyard ... probably one of our other favorites ... as we saw amazing gardens, beautiful lighthouses and homes We really enjoyed this little island.

A light house in the distance with ships coming in and out!

So we debated on moped ... or bikes. Thank goodness we went for the moped - especially after Jonathan's WRONG turn that took us on a 11 mile ride in between two of the towns. BUT then again - we probably should've gone with the bikes for 2 reasons:

1. Jonathan had a hard time turning a few times ... once landing us on a sidewalk for a whole entire block -- thank goodness no pedestrians were on the sidewalk at the moment!

2. We had a yummy lunch AND ice cream... we could've used the exercise!

All of the homes had beautiful flowers and the houses were all nice and tidy ... to live here, or own a house here requires LOTS of money! Thank goodness for those who do so we can enjoy a little bit of heaven on earth!

The Boston Temple at NIGHT!

This was probably the highlight of our trip! Jonathan and I were able to go to the Boston Temple - which was an amazing place. We always enjoy going in August - to remember our wedding day - and also a little one we lost (miscarried) August 2005. We were running a little late - so sorry for the night time shots!

Here we are in front of the Mayflower II - a reproduction of the original - but WOW ... I'm still not sure how they made it over, and in such a tiny ship! The Plimoth Rock was being "renovated" ... so we could only see the tip-top under the scaffolding.

Fenway Park ... oldest baseball stadium in the USA... and they still have some of the TINY wooden seats!

Here I am at the Museum of Art ... I'm not really up and up on art - think it is pretty... so I had to take a picture in front of paintings I actually knew: MONET.

This was another favorite! This is at the Old North Church - where the lanterns were held for Paul Revere to see ... but the best part was the pew boxes ... it is a square box - that your whole family sat inside. What a way to keep the kids entertained. AND you got to bring furniture/pillows/blankets etc. from home to decorate them with!

This was our last day in Boston - running from the pastry shops back to our hotel to grab our luggage ... sorry you can't see more of the downtown!

Among other things ... that are not "pictured":

*Cape Cod potato chip factory - Jonathan would probably die if I didn't put that on here!... *MIT museum, *trolley tour around Boston, *110% amazing buffet breakfasts at our hotel... that came with our room (thanks to Jonathan) - which would've been $45/morning... for 3 mornings! Our favorites were the specialty omelets, waffles and fruit, * dinners at East Bay Grille, The Daily Catch and Morton's Steakhouse, *cannolis and cream puffs from Mike's pastry shop, *to-die-for raspberry-blackberry tart in a dark chocolate crust, *$150 off our hotel bill because it was the "city-view" and not the "harbor-view"(again thanks to Jonathan), *riding the T (or train/bus system), *getting incredibly lost in Boston, *running LOTS in the rain - because it rained EVERYday... and we were to cheap to by a $5 umbrella until the last day, *Jonathan bargaining for the moped... $69/day instead of $89 and most of all just being together.

A HUGE thanks to my mom, dad, Laura and even Daniel. Benjamin had as much or more fun staying at "Mom Mom's house!" We were so glad to see him when we got back... and he couldn't stop smiling either!

"My going to school...just like daddy!"

Benjamin had a BLAST on his first day ... I think his favorites were playing hide-and-go-seek (he hid under the table ... at least that's what he said), riding the cars and bikes INSIDE, and eating his lunch. Which came home all over his clothes. This ironically, made me happy that he ate his sandwich (PBJ...with blackberry jam) all by himself! They also learned the color: Blue ... which he already knows - but it was a GREAT review as we talked about everything BLUE on the way home! He is going to pre-school 2 mornings a week ... his teachers are WONDERFUL and he couldn't stop smiling because he had so much fun! The icing on the cake for HIM was getting a sucker at the end for being a good boy! I loved how happy he was and eager to tell me EVERYTHING!

A week in HOT Atlanta!

Well ... it seems Sundays are my big post days ... but the weeks have been so jam packed - it's my only free moment to catch up and do my enjoyable things! Jonathan did a 2 week rotation in Atlanta - the last we were able to spend with him ... thanks to 30,000 Marriott points we have been saving up! So here are a few of our fun outings and adventures:

Monday night we had family home evening with the Forscutts at the Braves game ... unfortunately they lost pretty bad -but we had a great time being with Chris, Elizabeth and Kinsley ... and with eachother ... well at least UNTIL ...

we tried to ride back on the MARTA (Atlanta railway) -- the 20 minute trip took an hour and a half ... due to some issues with the doors opening and closing. At one point they told us to get off - so I got off with Benjamin (no shoes because it was 11 pm at night) -- and Jonathan was holding my purse (with phone inside) ... well the doors shut... the train took off - and there we were - shoeless Benjamin, no phone and no Marta pass. Luckily we were able to get on the next train ... BUT - un-beknownst to me - Jonathan's train took a side track - to try and repair the doors, we headed to our train station ... and Jonathan was no where to be found. After searching the scarey station for 20 minutes - I finally concluded that Jonathan had gone on to the car without us ... so Benjamin and I belly crawled on the ground under the Marta gates ... only to find ... Jonathan NOT at the car -- now we were locked out of the Marta station - AND there were lots of CRAZZZIES!! Thankfully, Jonathan got there about 5 minutes later!! What an adventure ...

Wednesday ... was a VERY busy day: Benjamin and I went to the Botanical Gardens ... I LOVED it ...and would recommend it! I didn't get lots of pictures of the flowers ... Benjamin just wanted to look at EVERYTHING. I love this cow ... check out the toothbrush: very fitting!

Wednesday night: Our trip to Stone Mountain. The hike was WONDERFUL ... but VERY VERY VERY hot ... and I enjoyed teasing Jonathan about wearing PANTS... in Georgia ... hiking... in JULY! He was completely drenched (well we all were) by the end of the night. The laser show wasn't as good as in years past - but as you can see we had a lot of fun!

(and yes - Jonathan HAD to buy the $6 light up sword for Benjamin!)

Jonathan and I were both able to go to the Temple during the week - I let Benjamin walk around the Temple grounds - he kept wanting to go inside - I told him he needed to be big like daddy - he replied: "my am big mom."

Lastly ... a trip to the Varsity ... the original one in downtown Atlanta. I LOVE the hamburgers... Jonathan not so much! Benjamin just thought it was GREAT to get a milkshake and orange soda in the same meal (definitely treats at our house!)

We did get to do a good bit of swimming ... and sleeping since we had to drop Jonathan off at the Marta station every morning at 6 am... which was very early for us - being that we were up late most nights! We headed home via the Outlets in Commerce ... for some tax free shopping -- and boy did we stock up! Happy school clothes shopping (even though I'm not in school!) ... we'll update more ... soon!

Boston TIPS!

Jonathan and I are going on our 5 year anniversary trip to Boston ... any tips on must sees, must eats, or must do's?? We are also going to spend some time on Cape Cod as well ... but I know a few of you have been/lived in Boston! We're excited ... my mom is planning to keep Benjamin for us!

A Mush-Room?

About two weeks ago - I looked out the window and saw this AWESOME little - well BIG, mushroom ... so why are they called mush-rooms anyways? So I HAD to show Benjamin because he had never really seen one before -and definitely not THIS big!

So as you will see he had to explore every bit of it! He LOVED how soft it was and kept saying, "it's soft mommy." I kept agreeing. He even tried to re-plant it ... I had to tell him that it's kind of like a flower, once you pick it ... it's picked! Oh the fun summer brings!

7-0-4-5 Cola-what?

So yes ... we've spent a LOT of time at 7045 Colaparchee Road lately! We most recently spent the week house-sitting while my parents were gone and Jonathan was completing a rotation in Atlanta. So this is the home I actually grew up in ... I wish I had taken a picture (maybe next time) - but it is so fun for Benjamin to experience all of the SAME things that I did -and even a few new ones. In the past few weeks we've gotten to swim in the pool, have blueberry picnics in the pool (blueberries right from the bush), Benjamin rode the tractor and 4-wheeler with Jonathan (and my brother Daniel), he got to see a deer in the woods, pick the garden, catch lightening bugs, play on the swingset -and Benjamin even helped with some cleaning projects!

So here is a picture of Jonathan and Benjamin riding on the tractor... note the flip-flops and shorts ... definitely not a farmer :)

This was from one of our first trips this summer... Jonathan and Benjamin rode the 4-wheeler so much that Benjamin just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

All in all we've had a really fun summer so far ... and it's not over yet!