I finally did it....

Last week I went grocery shopping at Walmart and did a very strange thing...I bought a whole turkey. Why is this a strange thing you might ask? Well, it all started many years ago ( 12 years ago, almost to the day) when I decided to have Thanksgiving supper at our home. Dan and I were living in married student housing at Montana State University in Bozeman. The apartment was, well...small, but it was perfect for a newly wed couple. The kitchen, for example, did have all the appliances (frig, stove, sink) but all were of "smaller" size. So, not having ever even attempted a Thanksgiving meal on my own, I boldly volunteered to cook for Dan and my parents, thinking "How hard can it be?" Everything went very well ..until...I decided to defrost the bird. My how quickly things go wrong! I thought you were supposed to unwrap the turkey and then set it in a sink of cold water. Nope! Don't do that, just in case you were thinking of trying it. So, off to the store for yet another turkey. This time it was mom to the rescue and she showed me how to properly thaw a frozen turkey without giving your guests food poisoning. I though this might come in handy some day. So, the next step is brush melted butter all over it, season it, and then put it in the oven. Sounds simple, and would be simple if you had a normal sized oven. Can you believe the turkey didn't fit in the oven???!!!! Quite honestly I don't remember what we did to make it fit, but eventually it did. In the end the meal turned out pretty good (thanks to my mom) and I haven't attempted a turkey since then.

So, why did I make this spur of the moment decision to buy a turkey? My friend Autumn was talking about how she has never made a turkey, but was going to give it a try for a church Thanksgiving meal. Now, Autumn is a number of years younger than me (and an amazing cook) so I thought, OK, I need to get it together and try this again. She inspired me to give it another go.

On Saturday night, after a very FULL day, including a no show open house, I attempted turkey #3 (remember the first experience involved 2 turkeys!). And guess what... It turned out GREAT! I was so proud of myself! It looked good and it tasted very good! What a treat So, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures just to prove that I really did conquer the bird.

First Piano Recital

Yesterday my daughter had her very first piano recital. She did such a great job and really handled being nervous like a pro. The recital was at the Hearthstone which is an assisted living facility. There were quite a few kids that played and everyone did a great job. The kids were encouraged to dress up so she went as Sharpey from High School Musical. I am thankful that she enjoys piano and I really hope that she sticks with it. She played a piece titled "Hopscotch Halloween".

Weekend Getaway and 3 Goals!!

This past weekend, Dan and I were able to attend a conference in Idaho. I have to admit that it was not quite what I had expected, but never the less, it was still very informative. The conference was entitled "Strategic Perspectives Conference: Intel, Insight and Inspiration". It was hosted by the Koinonia House and we were able to see one of our favorite speakers Chuck Missler. We have been listening to his material for quite a few years now and find most of it very fascinating. We listened to people speak on quite a few different subjects, and all of them were extremely passionate about what they spoke on. My personal favorite speaker at the conference was a pastor from California named Steve Berger. He spoke about the church in Ephesus in the book of Revelation. It was such a great message because they were a church that had it all. They were doctrinally sound, morally upright, and were doing great works of service. Sounds like a perfect church, until you see the the grievance that God has against them. They had left their first Love! It was a sobering reminder that you may think that you have it all together spiritually because of what you "look" like, but really matters is your heart! I loved hearing that message. I have never ever thought that I had it all together spiritually, but I often times forget about the heart issue of loving God first because He first loved us! What a great truth.
So, after all was said and done, we both walked away very challenged to seek out answers scripturally as to what was said, especially with the last speaker, who was actually an ex PLO terrorist and had his own personal security guard with him. He was very interesting to listen to.

Our kiddos had a great weekend as well. They stayed with a couple of our good friends ( Thanks again Liz and Pam!). My daughter had her last soccer game of the year, and I was so bummed that I missed it. She scored 3 goals!!!! I was so proud of her!
It's good to be home and getting back to a normal routine again. (Is there really such a thing?)

Tagged....Twice!

I was tagged by my good friend Autumn and then by another good friend Alisa!

Autumn's tag was to post the 4th picture of my 4th folder... and here it is. Renee is about 3 years old and riding Dr. Pepper with Grandpa Jerry leading. This picture was taken in Pony, MT on a beautiful winter day.

Alisa's and Jessica's tag was to post the 6th picture of the 6th folder ... and here it is. This picture was taken 2 summers ago at the end of the year gymnastics party at one of the owners home. The kids are 3 and 6 and are riding our horse True Grit. I think it is especially funny that my daughter is wearing her swimsuit with her healey tennis shoes on and also riding a horse in the same saddle as her brother!

Must be a horse theme or something?

O.K., I tag everyone who is reading this, but specifically I tag Kelly, Erin, Beth, Caryn, and Michele. Have fun ladies!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

At 1:00pm eight years ago today, God gave me the most precious gift, a baby girl! I remember that previous night and morning very well, but the rest of the day, after 1:00 is mostly a blur of amazement and wonder. I still stand in amazement and wonder with this wonderful gift from God.

OK, So I got this idea from another blog and I thought it would be fun to do. Since she turns 8 years old today, I want to list my 8 favorite things about her:

1. I love her kind and generous spirit.

2. She makes good choices when faced with difficult decisions

3. I love her beautiful eyes and hair.

4. Her smile and laugh are wonderful!

5. I love her sensitive spirit.

6. She has great fashion sense!

7. I love that she delights in friendships and family.

8. And most importantly, I love that she loves and honors Jesus!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday RGO, Happy Birthday to you!
Here is a slide show of her party that we had last Friday night at the bowling alley. It was a blast!

The next day her gamma gave her a great present. She opened the bag first, to find one of her own shoes! This was rather perplexing to her until she read the card. The card said that her birthday present was a shoe shopping spree! A little background on that.... A couple of months ago my daughter had a dream and she came running into my room the next morning to tell me about it. She said, "Mom! I had the best dream! I dreamt that we were rich!" and I said, "How did you know we were rich?" and she said "Because I had lots of shoes, just like gamma!". Thus, the shoe shopping spree.

We all drove to Tri Cities that day and she picked out 2 pairs of boots (really cute ones!) and a pair of converse tennis shoes.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I LOVE YOU!! XXXOOO

Lowe's!

For the past 6 months we have been eagerly awaiting the grand opening of our new Lowe's store. We drive right past it every day on the way to and from school, so we were able to track it's progress. A couple of weeks ago, a much anticipated postcard arrived announcing the grand opening and my kids (husband included) were so excited. So, needless to say they were there on the opening night and came home with a great stash of goodies.

Bean Boy!

My son LOVES refried beans! What a crazy kid! What a smelly house!

Every time he eats them he sings:

"Beans, Beans, a cowboys fruit.

The more you eat, the more you toot.

The more you toot the better you feel,

So let's have beans for every meal!"

Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday we loaded up the van and drove to a wonderful country store that was hosting a harvest festival. They had everything from huge hay bale pyramids, to a petting zoo, a corn maze, and best of all about 3 acres of a pumpkin patch. None of us has ever experienced a "real" pumpkin patch and we had a blast! It was so much fun walking through the fields and trying to find the best pumpkin. We even found a bunny rabbit that was trying like crazy to blend in and not be caught. Dan did his best in chasing it down without stepping on any pumpkins, but in the end it disappeared.

I love Fall! It is by far my favorite season. It is interesting how diverse our family is in their favorite seasons. My son loves winter and my husband loves spring. I think that my daughters favorite would be summer, but not the part where it's too hot to be outside. Looks like we are well rounded.

Looking Groovy...Still!

We just returned home last night from a great weekend full of celebrating birthdays in Great Falls, MT. For the last 6 months we have been planning a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom. We, being me, her best friend Dian, and my dad, collectively named KDW Inc. We sent out invitations at the beginning of the month and told everyone to keep it a secret. For the most part she didn't have a clue as to what was going on. We did eventually have to break down and tell her that there was going to be a party, but she had no idea of any of the details. I am pretty impressed that word did not get out to her! A huge shout out to the guests for keeping it a surprise. Anyways, the theme of the party was "Lookin Groovy...Still!" and we decorated the whole room in 60's items, complete with tie dyed shirts and peace earrings for all the event coordinators. I have to admit that I have never worn peace earrings or a tie dyed shirt before this weekend.

In the end, it was a huge success and my mom was moved to tears of joy as she spoke to her guests. We followed that up by a slide show of old pictures and some of her favorite songs. She sure is still "looking groovy" for 60!

The next day we were able to celebrate my nieces 1st birthday. It sure was fun to have family together. The cousins are especially excited to spend time together and always leave asking "When do we get to spend time with them again?".

So, after a whirlwind trip to MT, complete with 2 big birthday parties, 18 hours in the van, one flat tire, one sleepless night with the stomach flu (ugh!), and endless hours spent playing the ninetendo DS we are ready to slow down.

Prayer Needed

When my husband and I were in college we had the incredible privilege of serving the Lord with an organization called Campus Crusade for Christ. During our years with them we got to know the McLeod family very well. Tammy McLeod spend many afternoons mentoring me and became a good friend and trusted sister in Christ. We recently got some hard news from them and thought it would be good to pass it along as I know they would greatly appreciate your prayers.
Their oldest son, Zack, was playing in a football game 2 weeks ago and sustained an injury to his brain. He was air lifted to the hospital and was already in a coma when he arrived. He has undergone 2 surgeries since then. The first of which was to remove the blood clot and the second to relieve the pressure on his brain. Please join with us in praying for this dear family. They are an incredible family and very strong in their walk with God, but they still need to be covered with prayer.
Here is the link to a site where they try to give updates when they can.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/zackmcleod
Thank you so much for your prayers!!!

For Sale By Owner

Well, we finally did it! Today marks a big day in our new adventure of life. The whole day started off like any other day, until I got home this afternoon and sat down to read my emails. I got an email from the local newspaper about the 5:00pm deadline for listing an open house for this weekend. So, I immediately began to work on what I needed the ad to say and found a good picture of the house and sent it off. Then, one thing led to another and I started working on the actual package for selling the house by owner. Before I knew it, I pushed the "confirm purchase" button, and just like that....our house was officially for sale! I have to admit that I was a little bit unprepared for the flood of emotions that quickly swept over me. I have known that this was going to take place now for at least 3 months, but for some reason when I hit that button and all was confirmed it kinda took me back. I am not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't a joyous feeling. For me, the whole fact that we are moving has been bittersweet. I really do enjoy living in Moses Lake. We have a great church family and church, we have made some life long friends, our kids both attend wonderful Christian schools and we are only a days drive away from family. However, both my husband and I are glad to be moving closer to family. It has been an interesting experience not having them near by. We have had a number of tragedies occur on both sides of our families since we moved here, and each time it brings us back to the fact that nothing can replace a families love.

So, this weekend we are having an open house. It's going to be on Saturday from 1-4 and I am a bit anxious about what to expect. We still need to finish a couple of things on the outside of the house, but the inside just needs a good cleaning. I'll let you know when all's said and done.

As far as family goes, it has been a busy couple of weeks. I left off the last post by venting...and I hope that didn't scare everyone away. I promise that I have it together, at least for the moment! My daughter had her first soccer game, and her first slumber party. She had a blast at both and can't wait for the next ones. It just so happens that she has one more slumber party and soccer game this weekend. She is a busy little girl, but she wouldn't have it any other way. My son, on the other hand, has been enjoying preschool, but it perfectly content with staying at home in the afternoons. He kind of a home body, but I like that. One thing that has been so enjoyable lately, has been the fact that for the first time I have been home in the afternoons when my kiddos get home from school. It's so good to be able to be with them, and talk with them about their day and to help them with homework and piano lessons, and just enjoy being a mom.

I am about to vent...

I am about to vent, so if you don't want to read this I will understand.
I officially had a moment today, in front of who knows who, and I am still sitting here thinking about how mad it made me.

I do understand why we have horns in our cars. There are many good uses for them. They can
1. Warn animals to get out of the road
2. Alert someone who is not paying attention to the stop light that has turned green
3. Warn someone that they may be backing up into your car or something else
4. To say hello to someone passing by

There are may more ways to use your cars horn politely. A simple and short little beep-beep is all that is needed. There are a very few situations where a long loud horn honk is in order, but those are all reserved for emergency purposes only. Why then, do people feel like it is alright to unleash their frustrations by honking at every little thing that makes then upset? It makes me so mad when someone feels like blaring their horn at me or someone else.

Today is a point in case....As I was coming out of a parking lot I was turning onto a street with a stop light at the corner. I made the turn and entered into the line of cars waiting to turn. The lady behind me decided that I didn't have the right to be there so she lays on her horn for about 5 seconds to let me know she is upset. As I am watching her in my rear view mirror she is freaking out yelling at me. Now, seriously, is this a case where it is necessary for this to happen? No! After coming from an incredibly frustrating parent pick up line at my daughters school I was in no mood to be scolded. So, I put the car in park, and calmly got out of my car and walked back to her car to ask her what her problem was. She was yelling at me still until I started walking toward her car and then all of the sudden she got very quiet. The yelling stopped and she ducked her head. Not so brave anymore?? I got back in my car and then all the millions of "I should have said this, or I should have done that's" started going through my mind. Finally, I have come to the conclusion that what I wish I would have done is took her license plate number down (right then and there with her watching me write it down) and then reported her for harassment to the police. It probably wouldn't have come to anything, but at least she would think twice before she freaks with her horn again. UGH! I really do wish that cars did not have horns because 9 times out of 10 they are used in anger and sometimes even rage. It only makes the situation worse. I know...I know.... I should just have probably driven away, but I guess I have this new boldness after I read a speech that Charlton Heston gave. I read it the other day while checking on an erumor that had been sent to me. He was speaking about how we need to start standing up for what is right, and stop being so politically correct. If someone is wrong don't skirt around the issue, stand up for what's right, not for what's politically correct. Here's the link to that page. http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/heston-harvard.htm

Well, with that all said, today has been an exceptionally bad day. I am not sure why, but it seems like it has been an all out assault on my emotions and heart. I have had a couple of people upset with me, a couple of people let their anger out on me, and I am having a bummer day. There has to be a light at the end of this days tunnel, right? So, here it is. I resolve to make sure that my emotions are in check before I get behind the wheel of my car, and I resolve to make every effort to not be offended because that is when I sin the most.
There you have it. Now, I am going to end this late afternoon post by saying that I am going to go and read some comfort words from my Lord. I need to curl up in the arms of the one person who will not blare their horn at me, get upset with me for things that were out of my control, and who loves me because I am me....Jesus!

A very "Happy Heart"

Wednesday was my sons first day of preschool. He was so excited to be back with his friends. I don't think he really realized that it was his first day of school until he started getting ready for the day. What a cutie. I absolutely love his teachers and I am so thankful that he is able to learn in a God centered environment. What a blessing! Here are a few pictures of him and his great teachers, Mrs. Swedberg, Mrs. Hake and Mrs. Grogan.

Mrs. Swedberg

Mrs. Hake

Mrs. Grogan

Hilarious Story

Please check out the post titled "Curls and Questions" on the Maddox family website. It is one of the links that I have listed to the side. I laughed so hard when I read it and I think it will make you smile as well.

2nd Grade...At last!

Today marks the beginning of my little girl's 2nd grade year. She was so cute getting ready this morning. When I woke her up and reminded her that it was the first day of school, she smiled the biggest smile and then was up and our of bed lickity split. She put on her new outfit and I did her hair for her while she ate breakfast. When the morning was all done she was beautiful and ready to start a new year. What a great kid! I love her so much ! I am so proud of her and the amazing person she is. I actually cried as I dropped her off for school this morning. That's kinda weird to say since I haven't done that yet in all the previous years. Well, here's to the beginning of a great year! I love you sweetheart!

Family Time

The longer we live away from family, the more I realize how really important it is to keep in close contact with them. The older I get, the more I realize what a precious gift they are!

Take for instance Grandma Sylvia. She is 95 years old and truly an amazing lady. I once heard it said that she prays for each and every grandchild every day. She now has many grand kids and great grand kids that are covered in prayer and I must say, it is a great comfort to know that she prays for my husband and my kiddos. She still plants a garden every year and is as sharp as a tack. I hope that if I make it 95 years old that I am as sharp as she is. She has this wonderful smile that really tells you how genuine her heart is and when you are around her you can actually see the joy of the Lord coming from her. It is a privilege to know her and I love getting to know her better.

My parents are amazing people as well. I love being around them because I know that they love me and my family unconditionally. We are continually blessed by them. I love that they thoroughly love my kiddos. As we were waiting for the wedding rehearsal to begin, my dad and son were finding berries in the bushes at the park. My son decided to make a family out of the ones that he found. There was a dad, mom, girl, boy,doggy and a baby. (He like to littlest berries, so there had to be a baby). Well anyways, I thought it was pretty funny because he called them his berry family. My maiden name was Berry so I thought I might take a picture of the berries and the Berry's.

The berries

The Berry's

Congratulations Eric and Marty!

We spent this last weekend in Pony, MT (what? you've never heard of Pony?) celebrating the marriage of my husband's cousin and reconnecting with family. We had many late nights and a ton of laughs. It was fun to meet all of the people that my husband grew up with and many friends that he had not seen in a very long time. Our kiddos had a blast playing with cousins and my daughter's new favorite thing to do is play on the round hay bales. I think all the kids played on top of the bales for a couple of hours and were still really bummed when we told them we had to go home.

The wedding was held in the park at Pony and everything went very well. The groomsmen looked great and the flower girls were princesses!




We had a great time dancing the night away at the reception. I kept thinking about how fun it is to be at a wedding reception where everyone is just plain having fun. It reminds you that most of us take life way to seriously. Sometimes it's good to be goofy! I don't know if it's just our group of friends or not, but it seems like every time we go to a wedding of our friends or family, the reception ends up being a really great time. OK, so on the corny side of that thought, I want to say that I think that "Dancing Queen" by Abba is one of the best wedding reception songs! I have this great memory of my friend Tanya at her reception dancing to that song in the middle of a circle of her closest friends and every time I think of it, it makes me smile. THAT was a good time.
I also love dancing to YMCA, almost all 80's songs and anything that I can jitterbug with my husband to. He is a great jitterbugger (is that even a word?)!
Speaking of dancing, here are a couple of pictures of the kids and the dollar dance.




So, what is your favorite wedding reception song?

Miss My Little Girl

Last Sunday I sent my daughter to MT with my mom. They have this really special little bond and I love the fact that she gets to spend quality time with both my mom and dad this week, but I have to say....I really miss her! Everything that we do seems just a little bit weird without her. I miss her wonderful smile, her gentle spirit and her little brother has kind of been lost without her. He's been like my shadow ever since she left. He is always asking me if we can call her, but when he gets her on the phone he just wants to say "hi" and "what are you doing" and then he says "wanna talk to mom?". We will be driving to MT tomorrow for a wedding and we will be picking her up on Friday. I can't wait to give her a big old momma bear hug and see that beautiful angel face again. I was planning on letting my son stay with my mom and dad for the next week and then they would be bringing him home when they come to visit during Labor Day weekend, but I am not sure that he will be alright with that. He's still pretty young to be gone that long, but we'll see.
On another random note, has anyone read "The Shack" by William Young? I have been reading it bit by bit over the past 3 weeks and I have to tell you, it's really rocked my world. I know that it is just fiction and someones interpretation of scripture, but it has really made me take a good hard look at how I view God. It is a great book and I highly recommend it, but I don't necessarily agree with all that is said in it. If you are reading it, or have read it, leave a comment and let me know what you thought. I am about 4 chapters away from finishing it.

I Love My Mom!

Is it really the end of August? Where has the summer gone? I am a little bit sad that it is slowly ( maybe I should say quickly) coming to an end, and yet in a weird way I am excited to get back into a routine again. It has been absolutely wonderful having so much time with my kiddos these past 3 months. I have been blessed by them again and again and again. They play so well together and those expected sibling arguments are at a minimum. Life is good!

Last week I had a wonderful surprise. My mom drove all the way out here from MT and spent 5 days with us helping me get the inside of the house ready to sell. We had a great time and the inside of the house if ready to put on the market. We rented a storage unit and filled it up pretty good with all the extras. It was a a lot of work, and I am extremely grateful for her help. My mom has the gift of service. She delights in lending a helping hand, especially to her loved ones. I can't tell you how many times this last week that the tears started flowing because I was so thankful for her and her help. I love her so much!! I am even crying tears of joy as I write this, because my cup runeth over with love for her. Thanks, Mom, for who you are and for your unconditional love. I love you!

OK, so the last time I posted, my daughter was starting a soccer camp. That week is long since past, but the memories are still very fresh. She had an excellent week. She learned so much, and the biggest lesson that she learned was how to be a little bit tougher when she doesn't feel very good. She was hit in the head, stomach, hands, legs and many other places by the soccer ball, and didn't cry while out on the field. I was really proud of her. She cried pretty good that night because she was so tired, and she really did hurt her hand, but over all she was a trooper. They had the girls mixed in with the boys as they scrimmaged and the boys did not give the girls any special advantage. So, she really had to hold her own. It was very good for her to be given the opportunity to be a little bit rougher as she played. She is so kind and gentle that it goes against her nature to be rough. It will be interesting to see how she competes this Fall season. The coaches were great! They were from England and Ireland. It took a couple of days to understand what they were saying through the thick accents, but the kids didn't mind. Here is a picture of my daughter with them, and also the award she got at the end of camp.

This and That...And Oh yes....Corn!

I am lovin summer! I can't believe that August is already here and the summer is slowly coming to an end. It has been a very mild summer and that is the way I like it. Heat makes me cranky, and when mama ain't happy.. well, you know the rest.

One of the best things about living here is the fresh fruit and vegetables that are in abundance when harvest time comes. We found a lady selling corn from the back of her little El Camino a couple of days ago and we bought 10 ears of corn for $2.00! How awesome was that! We cooked it up that night and my kids thought it was so yummy that they were begging, yes begging, for seconds and thirds! When have they ever asked for seconds on vegetables? (When have they ever even asked for vegetables?) So, late Saturday afternoon we stopped by her truck again and my husband bought 20 more ears of corn for $4.00. By 7:00 pm Sunday we were already down to only 10 left. My kids were so cute as they were mowing down their corn on the cob.

Well, we finally had a full week and weekend here at home. That is a first since the last week in June! It has been a busy and wonderful summer for us. We still have 2 camps this next week (dance in the morning and soccer in the evening) and then we will be traveling back to MT for a wedding, then school starts! I can't believe that the first day of school is coming up. I am amazed at how quickly kids grow up. I have really tried to take in each moment with my kiddos this summer. Even though we were very busy, I made sure to slow down and cherish the things that they were saying and doing. I have even decided to start a journal of the wonderful little memories and other odds and ends that I don't want to forget. I hope that I will keep up with it, as I think it will someday be a treasure.

One final note...as my husband was reading through all the postings since the beginning of July, he said to me, "How come you have so many hits on the view counter, but nobody leaves comments?" . So, I sadly agreed that the comments are few and far between. If you are visiting please leave a little note, or something. I would love to know who really is reading. Maybe all the hits have been search engines. OK, that's depressing, thinking about that!

She's Here, She's Here, She's Finally Here!!

Hey Everyone, check out the blog page that I have listed under "Destination Desert Oasis". Our friends just welcomed there newest addition to the family last night. She is only 4 lbs 7 oz, and still needs a little help with breathing, but as far as I know everything seems to be alright for the moment. Please keep this family in your prayers, especially this itty bitty one. Thanks! :)
Congratulations Scott and Alisa!

Great Weekend!

We just got back last night from a wonderful weekend vacation! We absolutely had the best time. It all started on Friday night as we drove to Seattle to pick up my cousin and then on to Olympia. We met up with my husband's sister's family and were able to catch the last part of my nephew's birthday party. The next day we drove up to Mason Lake and met my husband's oldest sister and husband there. They are back for a couple of weeks from Kosovo, so it was a real treat to be able to spend time with them. Most of the afternoon was spent just relaxing in the beautiful house while the kids did their best catching fish. My son caught his very first fish!! He was so proud of himself!

It was a fairly windy and cool day, but for a short period of time it was actually warm enough to go for a jet ski ride. My daughter an her uncle hopped on the jet ski and away they went. I was slightly concerned that she might be a little bit scared, but boy was I wrong. When they came back her uncle kept saying" She's crazy! She's insane! She has no fear!" I guess when he let her drive, she put the pedal to the metal and didn't hold back. She had a blast, and I think her uncle was a bit concerned, or at least he pretended to be. ;)

On Sunday we were able to go to the farmer's market. I love it there. The food smelled so good, the plants and produce were beautiful and we had a great time just browsing. We then walked over to an awesome Thai food place and had a delicious meal of Phad Thai. YUMMM! As a short detour, we stopped by a boat sale and browsed through some pretty impressive boats (yachts!). The kids told us which boat we should buy (right?!) and then walked back to the dock and posed for a picture.

My husband, of course, had to do his interpretation of some famous statues. Can you guess which ones?

As we were walking back my husband put my son on his shoulders because he was to tuckered out to keep walking. The next think I know he is actually asleep. I guess those large Swedish heads really do come in handy for some things!

We spent the rest of the day thoroughly enjoying family and even had a few hours to go shopping. On Monday we drove to one of my favorite stores and spent about 3 hours there! Yes, that was 3, but oh so worth it. My husband enjoyed it for the most part, but after about the first hour he lost his enthusiasm. Anyways, Ikea will always be one of my most favorite places to spend an afternoon. We especially loved the fact that it played into our current favorite car game. It has actually become some what of a competition as to who gets the most "slug bugs" during the car ride. My husband actually got sick because he was trying so hard to spot them as we were driving.

Over all, it was a wonderful weekend and I was once again blessed by family.