What my hands hath wroth...

These are some photos of my little deck. I'm posting about this in hopes to express the joy my plants have brought me this summer. I've always wanted to plant flowers and such, but never had the earth to do it in. So this year, with the help of my dear Mama Jan, we planted these pots. There are three and they have grown so beautifully. These pictures don't do it justice, but they have stayed healthy and bloomed. They actually are still flowering. I love to water them. It makes we so happy that I haven't killed them like many of my house plants. I hope to someday have a garden of my own. A place to work the soil with my hands. It makes me feel close to God and nature. That might sounds silly, but I think of all the centuries of people working in their fields and the labor that it takes to help something grow. It is a beautiful thing!

The other aspects of my little deck are my Adironack Chairs, side table, pillows and my paisley lanterns. I love lanterns! Marty says they are gypsy lanterns, but he hangs them for me anyway. I love you Marty! All in all, I think the deck turned out very cute this summer!

Two by Two

The cute tiger match

The Ark and Animals

The Front

The Back (ziploc to collect all the matches)

When I was young I thought these file folders looked so fun. I would see other kids at church playing with them, wishing I could play too. So when I decided to make one for Graham I had big plans to make a good dozen- matching numbers, colors, word of wisdom fun, match the prophets , etc. Well, let me tell you it took me a lot longer than I had planned and hoped. It turned out really cute and I had fun coloring, but I still only have one. I think I'll try to start another while I watch the Olympics tonight. Last night I painted my fingernails during the diving. I love the Olympics. Don't you?

Lake Powell Living

Our beautiful view from the back of the houseboat

Marty and Rich being themselves... Ladies, Rich is single and oh so great!
(It is a fake tat, if you were wondering!)

Volleyball with the fam. I was sitting on the porch finishing Eclipse and enjoying myself thoroughly!

The Girls, me, Julia and Andrea. I have the greatest sister-in-laws on the planet. They are so fun to be with. I love just being around them because they are so witty and funny. I usually just stare at them with my mouth wide open in awe at how cool they are. I try to keep up with them, but mostly I just smile and enjoy there awesome company!

Scott and Andrea

Jewels and Cody

Marty and Rich would hang on the back of the boat and drag behind. They pretended to be Salmon. They were laughing so hard. It was a highlight!

So we had a lot of grand fun. We planned Halloween, played Guitar Hero, ate and ate, played volleyball and badminton, napped, tanned, ate snowed cones, surfed and mostly I READ! It was so so fun to read Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I haven't had time at home so I took advantage of all the down time and enjoyed myself more than I can say. I love curling up with a good book, especially at Lake Powell. I'm only half-way through Breaking Dawn. So no discussion yet. That will come in time, but OH MY it is so fun!

And we are off...

Marty and I are going to Lake Powell with his entire family (minus the kiddies). It should be such a wonderful trip! Food, movies, swimming, napping, planning Halloween, and soaking up the sun. Thanks to my Mama and babysitters for helping with Graham. I'm already getting sad when I think of leaving him tomorrow.

I plan to get caught up on this whole Twilight phenomenon while I'm away, so I'll report my progress. Wish us a grand ol' time and lots of great tan lines!

Adios!

Toast Post

The past few weeks I've been thinking about things I've always wanted to do and never had the time, energy or knowledge to do so. I've been trying to eat healthy, which got me thinking about wheat, and Marty loves anything made of wheat because it says he thinks it is what God wants him to eat. This lead me to making whole wheat bread. This is a little window into my soul, but I rarely can accomplish anything entirely on my own, so I immediately talked with my mother-in-law, Tayva, and we made it happen that day. She had recently ground her own wheat. Impressed? You should be! So we made the bread and it was so good. I'm a little nervous to try it on my own, but I plan to do so soon. I think I'm ready to grow my own herbs and sew my own dresses. I've never been the most domestic gal, but I'm liking my home-tasks so much I think I might try to make strawberry jam to go with my bread!

Baby Legs

These leg- warmer- lookalikes have been so useful while looking quite cute on Graham's tiny baby legs! They prevent rug burn and make it easy to change his Diaper! I recommend them for the crawling type!

9 Months

So I couldn't take any pictures a few weeks ago (when he was actually 9 months) because he had Rosiola Virus and had a serious rash. It wouldn't have made for a very nice photo. I also wasn't feeling very well and my heart was bothering me everyday for about a week. I'm doing better and getting some energy to do frivolous things again. It is so interesting to see how your life goes into survival mode when you aren't feeling well... eat, sleep, take care of baby, etc. But here he is... my Graham.