Surprise visits and summer fun....finally!

So I'm a little late, but I wanted to give a shout out to my dear Grandma who drove all the way from Calgary, Alberta to surprise me for my birthday. I heard the doorbell ring shortly after my sister had arrived from Kennewick to celebrate my b-day, and lo and behold, my Grandma was standing there with a huge card in front of her face!! I knew it was her right away and was so shocked and excited. I almost wanted to cry because when she had asked me earlier what I wanted for my birthday, I told her I wanted to see her more often! And she drove all that way despite horrible gas prices for just one weekend! My Grandma is an amazing woman and I love her so much!! Here she is surprising me at the door and my big happy family. Also, Tim has tried to beat my dad arm wrestling pretty much our whole marriage to no avail...until the infamous match at Olive Garden. My dad had to cheat to put Tims down. We'll never know who really won, and there's been some serious debate, but I think Tim woulda taken him down!! Go Hubby!!



Also, I wanted to say how incredibly grateful I am that the sun has finally decided to shine, and in celebration we have bought an outdoor slide for the backyard, a little pool for the kids to swim, and have gone on many outdoor adventures. Thanks to Kathy and Chelsea for taking me hiking! We went strawberry picking and I made my first batch of freezer jam! Thankfully I had some guidance from a veteran so it turned out ok! The kids have made me smile so much lately! Things are looking good for the adoption and she has officially been in our care for 6 months! Now the fun begins! We have all sorts of meetings and paperwork to look forward to, but I'm hopeful everything will work out smoothly. The things Dustin has been saying lately crack me up! I find it hard to get mad at him because he sounds so dang cute when he talks. He has a small little lisp that melts my heart. The other day he spilled his milk and looked up at me and said, "oh man, milk evywhre!" So cute. He's at an age where he can communicate enough that I know what he needs, but not so much that everything is a debate. Perfect! Here's some pics that made me smile!

Birthdays...

So I have yet another random blog. I get so jealous of all you people with super cute blogs and themed entries and neat templates! Creative writing was never one of my strong suits. However, today is my birthday and since my husband is downstairs cleaning up the birthday mess, woot woot, I get some blogging time. So this is the first birthday that I actually feel older. All of those things I remember Moms telling me would happen, are starting to happen. In fact, I looked in the mirror yesterday and swore my Moms butt and thighs were staring back at me! It's not like I'm freaked out about getting older, it's just such a strange feeling to be on the other side of the fence. I remember being little and thinking about adults as, "old" or "mature" or in other words, "no fun". I remember when my "fun" aunt got married I was totally devastated because I thought that meant she was "grown up" and wouldn't be any fun anymore. And here I am, married, and a Mom myself. So, in light of my recollection that I am now the old, mature, no fun grown up I didn't want to become, here are a few fun thoughts about me.

• I really dislike washing dishes. I put EVERYTHING in the dishwasher. Even if it says not to. And all those things that say "top rack only" oh yeah, I put them on the bottom.
• I say seriously all the time. Seriously.
• I sometimes think I was meant to be a ballerina. Seriously, (ha, there I go again) I have naturally curved arches and pointed toes that dancers work for years to get and long arms. If I was 15lbs lighter and my dang mother had put me in a ballet class when I was 3, I might be famous.
• I sometimes fantasize about being famous.
• I won state in a speech and debate tournament my junior year for Radio Commentary.
  
• I am pretty sure I got skipped on the whole "natural ability" thing. I don't think I have a special ability to do anything naturally. I don't know that I've ever made an all natural meal, I didn't have a natural birth, and I naturally suck at anything that involves making things from nature.
  
• I am a carb-addict. I eat a piece of plain bread for a snack all the time.
  
• I love musicals and one of my lifelong dreams is to have everyone burst out in song and dance in a random place like a mall or restaurant just like on My Best Friends Wedding.

Well, there you have it. More random thoughts from Jen. We had a fun barbecue with some friends to celebrate and our awesome neighbors came over for the first time for my b-day bash. Good food, good company, what more could a girl ask for!?!