Yeah!

I love flowers! Not the formal, perfect bouquet that you see in a store but, the kind that is plucked from a homegrown garden in someone's yard. While I am trying my hand at arranging my own garden, I visited a friends yesterday that has an amazing garden. Troy and I commented on our favorites and she surprised us by coming by with a bunch of them today, Yeah! I told her that it was like Christmas for me. There is just nothing like the comfort and decor of real flowers in my home. I prefer the look of hand picked wildflower types for many reasons, one of them being my ability (or lack thereof) to arrange them. This is not a talent of mine but, I find that arrangements with such flowers don't have to look perfect (at least to me). This realization has given me the confidence to display them. I don't admit this very often but, my husband is even better at arranging them than I am. He is also a better cook, what is wrong here? Oh well. Anyway, sunflowers are one of my favorites! Before we moved to Moses Lake I used to plant several varieties every year. I haven't found a good spot for them at our new home yet so, I have felt a little deprived. However, not today, I have been re-motivated!

Troy's favorite are the Gladiolas. Aren't they beautiful? I have never been a big fan of these but I have to admit these are just beautiful and so colorful. It was also easy to put them together because they are so tall and thick. It is kind of my way of forcing myself to try to be creative and I think I like it. I have enjoyed trying to figure out how to put my own garden together and there is a lot of trial and error going on but, I have decided to just relax and enjoy the process of creation. It doesn't have to happen quickly, it is a learning process and I really enjoy that. It is kind of like being an artist. I love driving by homes and seeing the landscape and how creative people can be. It is a way to put your own personality into your home. It also helps to have friends who are already pro's and willing to help with their experience. A dear friend of mine has the following saying in her home, "May all your Weeds be Wildflowers." I love it not only for the flower reference but for life in general. Life is really as good as we think it is, isn't it?

"Summer Luvin"

Kate loves being outside in the summertime. We call her our little Pocahontas because she gets so dang, dark! She is all about the thrills as well. I have to say, my girls tend to be a little more on the adventuresome side than my boys. After the initial shock to my system of seeing her come screaming down the hill, (imagining all sorts of cuts and stitches that were sure to happen any second), I decided to keep my mouth shut and let her have some fun!

Brawley Girl

This morning I woke up, freezing! I couldn't seem to warm up. When Troy goes to bed he opens all the windows and turns the fan on to cool the house off. Come afternoon, the house is still cool and it feels good. However, it is always very cold in the morning. A coat just isn't cutting it either. So, I told the kids that we needed to get into my bed and snuggle up and maybe that would do the trick. Well, Alex proceeded to tell me that I was just a, "Brawley girl." I laughed and thought to myself, "Yeah, I guess I am." Brawley is my hometown and is a smeltering, humid 115 in the summertime. Here are a few pictures. You would walk out the door and instantly sweat. I never owned more than one, very light jacket at a time and that was more of a fashion statement than a necessity. There was never any guessing on what the weather would be like - HOT and SUNNY!

We were always barefoot. Walking down to Thrifty's for a ten cent ice cream cone with my sister and friend was one of the coolest things we did and swimming in canals. Pools were never heated and sunburns left us quaranteened to the house for days. I remember getting out of the tub once and not being able to tell the difference in my body temperature. I will be one wrinkly granny.



Here is a picture of the sand dunes that were close by, Glamis. They were huge and always a HOT spot. Just looking at them makes me feel warmer. Although, you couldn't bear enjoying them at least until November. The specs in the middle of the picture are ATV's and trucks.

Since moving to the northwest, I have fallen in love with the beautiful landscape, evergreens, mountains, flowers, etc. however, I will always be a "Brawley Girl."

Crazy Fan Girls

Troy and I had been trying to think of something to surprise Alexis with because of her GREAT report card this year and finally decided on..... taking her to her first concert, The American Idols Live Concert. Her reaction when we told her was.... Crazy Fan Girl, Woo Hoo! Yes, Troy was happy that he wouldn't have to tag along on this one as well, ha ha. I decided to make a day of it since we would have to travel to Tacoma for it. We ate out, went shopping at the outlets, WooHoo and ended the day by going to a great concert! I know I have been a little crazy about these top ten but, they were REALLY Good! I thought they all sounded much better in person than they did on TV. The people that I didn't think sounded very good on the show, sounded great live! Even David Cook, he was good! And of course, my favorites (David Archuleta, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson) were even better as well. Here we are going into the Tacoma Dome right before the concert. Alex took most of the photos because she didn't want to miss anything.


After the show Alex wanted to try to get some autographs from the idols and I wasn't very thrilled about it because we were driving home that night but it was her day so, I caved. We waited for awhile and we got a few autographs but our favorites were still missing. Then Michael Johns came out and I was a little starstruck by him, he was great. Then, finally came David Archuleta, he didn't have much time so he couldn't sign autographs but high fived everyone in line. Here is a picture just before he got to us. Alex was so funny, she looked back at me and said, "Mom, he is so cute!" Ha, Ha!


I had to include a picture of Michael because well, he's just a cutie. He also stopped signing autographs right before he got to us. She was not happy about that, neither was I.

We had a great day: Shopping $$, tickets to the concert $$$, being a crazy fan girl with my daughter = priceless!

Brilliant Fairies!

Friday, Kate lost her first tooth! She bit into her burrito and out it came! She was so excited, she raised her hands, like so and let out a Yah!

Having the tooth fairy come that night was all she could talk about. It made me think back to when our oldest, Austin, lost one of his teeth. He had already lost quite a few, so he was a little older and could write. He decided that the Tooth Fairy was not giving him enough money for his teeth. (His friends were getting way more money.) So, he wrote her a note stating why he thought he should receive more. He said that things cost more than they used to, his tooth had a filling in it, so naturally, it was worth more, ha ha, and he was going to spend it on a gift for someone. It was a good half page essay! Well, that night, when the tooth fairy found the note, she decided that because he went to all that trouble, he was deserving of the extra cash. Little did she know that an older, manly like tooth fairy had already visited. Austin ended up with double the amount he had asked for the next morning! Smart boy! Or just a couple of BRILLIANT fairies!

My Vacation Top Ten List

10. Taking a 14 hour automobile ride with 5 kids! WooHoo! Thank goodness for DVD players!


9. Seeing beautiful scenery along the way! (I miss the mountains.)


8. Shopping with my sister and finding amazing deals! Isn't that a cute shirt Alex has on?


7. Boating with John and NOT having to go to the Emergency Room! LOL! We love you!


6. SKINNY DIPPING!


5. Sharing small quarters with 10 cousins, 2 aunts, and 1 uncle! Someone was actually in the hall, in front of the bathroom.


4. NOT having to apply sunscreen on the kids while swimming!


3. LAUGHING, sometimes til the wee hours of the night!


2. Offroading on the Reagh plantation! WEEEE!


1. Spending time with my family! I miss you guys already!

"Welcome to the Gun Show"

Well, we have been on vacation for two weeks and during that time we drove down to Las Vegas to watch Luke and the rest of his group perform at "Nationals." It was HOT, as in 114 degrees and very exciting! They took first place once again! So, by popular demand here is a video of their very first performance. We were not able to videotape the actual competition so, here is their first performance in Moses Lake!