More Sisterly Love

We stumbled upon this scene last night before going to bed...I am not sure which one of them didn't want to sleep alone...

Mountain Sunset

9:17am

Ambria went and got her chair and decided to sit by the window and wait for Mariah's bus to bring her home from school.

Our Walk To the Mailbox Turned into an Adventure

Ambria put on her new boots and we walked across the street to the mailbox in the quiet of the morning. On our way back to the house, we heard the cows mooing so we thought we would go take a look. We took a small hike through green field, fresh with morning dew, to the neighbor's fence. The four cows were in the middle of the field grazing or having "lunch" as Ambria likes to say. Then we heard the horses galloping. Four horses galloped right past us, 15 feet away, and me and Ambria were loving the moment. Then the cows thought they would take a closer look at us and the purple boots on Ambria's feet (she likes to wear Mariah's boots). They came right up to the fence and Ambria got a little scared, "mom, hold you, hold you." I had my cell phone in my pocket so I took a picture of the cows.
I know this doesn't seem like anything too exciting, but it is just so different having this in our backyard. I am sure Ambria will tell Mariah all about it when she gets home from school.

We Need Us Some Boots for Country Livin'

Who knew Crocs made boots?! How cute and how perfect for the girls to romp and play in the fields and mud and nearby creek.

Little House on the Prairie

We have the best of both worlds, we have the country peace and quiet at the house but then five minutes away is a small college town, ten minutes away is a little bit bigger town, and twenty minutes away is the city. Perfect.

A View from Our Road

Grateful

It is no secret that this past year and a half or so hasn't been the best year for our family, we were in the valley, God was testing us, we were sometimes full of doubt, anger, and grief, and it was difficult not to question God and His will.

Hindsight now, we needed a huge kick in the pants and something drastic to happen for us to move away from our comfort zone. How ironic that God directed us to a place full of mountains and majestic beauty!

Thank you so much to all of our family and friends for the love, support, prayers, and encouragement during this journey as we learn how to stand... and walk... again. We are blessed to have you in our lives and we are excited to share the next chapter of our life with you.

I love you Jerry, I love you Mariah, I love you Ambria!

They Grow 'Em Big Here

The Taste of Warm Goodness

I wanted to make some chocolate cookies this morning. It was a nice cool morning to turn on the oven, heat up the house, and fill the house with a sweet aroma. Not to mention, it would be a great breakfast...

CRAP, no brown sugar! Are you kidding me?!

Now I have to get ready and at least be presentable to go to the store AND have Ambria looking presentable too. And, while I am at the store, I might as well pick up a few more things...

I forgot the loaf of bread (I will learn to make a list) but the brown sugar worked great!

Lunch was delicious!

First Day of Kindergarten---Take Two

Peeeek!

Sisters

My Kid Doesn't Care What Anyone Thinks

Mariah was VERY adamant that she wanted to only wear ONE pigtail in her hair today. She was VERY excited about this and could hardly hold in her excitement. She absolutely LOVED it!

What do you think...a new fashion trend?

It is Michigan Football Season Again

(On a side note, Mariah was devastated to see her sister wearing her old favorite dress and she cried for literally an hour upon the realization that the dress is now Ambria's).

My Silly Two Year Old

Ambria doesn't like to ride in the cart when we are shopping anymore. This provides a whole new set of frustrations...

"Put that down"
"No touch"
"Walk nice"

Today Ambria decided she wanted to pretend to be a DOG in the middle of the cereal aisle. She got down on all fours, started crawling around and barking.

Gotta love her.

First Day of Kindergarten

Not off to a very good start...

Ended better than it started!

School kid Wanna-be

"Cheeeese!"

So sad. Yesterday was probably our last beach day.

We soaked it up.

Good-bye summer!

A Weekend with My Family

Pictures with Grandma and Papi and all the grand kids. This is always a difficult task working with five kids ages 5 and under.

Cuddling with Grandma in the shade. Ambria was pretty tired at this point as she decided to STAY AWAKE FROM 2:00am to 5:00am!! She thought the sleep over was a blast and decided to wake up the whole house by giggling and squealing with delight. Everyone wasn't as delighted as she was. Thanks, Ambria.

Aiden pushing Ambria. It was so cute watching these two interact and try to "talk" to each other.

The kids playing with the "water rocket" as Aiden tries his best to stay dry. He wasn't too successful.

Thanks Grandma and Papi for such a fun weekend!

My Date

Ugh

Zero motivation today.

Blah.

Big Girl Bed

I almost cried while Jerry took apart the crib. Ambria was more than excited to get a big girl bed and she couldn't get enough of it and laid on it for about an hour after we put it up.

She is laying out her blankie...

Trying out her new bed, with her blankie...

Fast asleep in her new bed, with her blankie,

and her two babies with their blankie.

An Evening at the Beach

There are more pictures on Jerry's blog.

"Bad" Movies

*Mariah: Dad, what are you watching?
*Jerry: Rambo
*Mariah: You mean Rainbow? Like Reading Rainbow?
*Jerry: NO. Like Rambo. (taken a little aback that Mariah would compare Rambo to Reading Rainbow as she adds estrogen to the testosterone filled movie).

(A few minutes later we realize that Mariah was watching the movie during a fighting scene from behind the corner of the wall, so Jerry quick turned off the movie. I took a moment before bed to talk to Mariah about what she saw).

*Me: Mariah, what did you see on the tv?
*Mariah: The guy told the woman he couldn't take her down the river. I also saw a fight. Mom, DAD SHOULD BE IN THAT MOVIE SO HE CAN TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS because fighting is BAD!

10 Year High School Reunion

I had my 10 year high school reunion last night. It was weird. It was weird seeing familiar faces after ten years. I was nervous that I was going to forget people's names, but I did pretty good. Matt? Matt who? Who is that girl with short hair over there? Everyone pretty much looked the same, no one gained an insane amount of weight, no grey hair, no bald heads, not too many wrinkles. Overall, it was a fun night and it was great seeing some of my high school friends again, even though it was pretty weird. I wonder what people are saying about me? :)