Happy Father's Day, Popsicle!

little lambs.

Thirteen days and I'll be in the merriest-land-of-all. And I am so so excited. I've actually (unofficially) been planning this trip since about January when I realized that the 4th of July fell on a Saturday this year, and now its coming together! And another wonderful detail about this trip is i got my tickets today for $49 (+ tax) a piece! s-c-o-r-eeeee!

It's been almost 2 years since I've been to Maryland & Wabanna; it will be wonderful to go back and see some familiar faces from past summers.

Did I mention I am SOOO excited?

p.s. - for those of you who I will get to see, I arrive late Wednesday and leave after dinner on the following Tuesday. see you all soon!

this is what i miss...

i am laughing.

here.

here.

here.

all list... because at the end of day one, that's about all you can get out. oh how i miss it. my day at work was much less interesting. but i did get to hold a sweet little friend while i ate dinner and watched t.v. with sisters and a brother-in-law. so i guess it isn't too bad=)

thanks for letting me take a peek, A, T & L! you made my day!

happy summer camp!

praying for you all as you watch over the pool, teach crafts, watch banana boats, belay the rock wall, survive on little sleep and draw yourself and others closer to Him.

i miss you and will see you in a few weeks!

my little Pillow

This is a story, a brief story, about how Lois came into my world.

On October 14, 2008, my 22nd birthday, some of our family went out to eat for dinner. It happened to be a rather small gathering for our family - C was away at school, J & T and J, K, E, & A were all in Florida for their fall break. Little did I know, J & T were actually on their way back home and were going to stop at the restaurant. We were close to being done with our food and in came J & T. We were all very surprised to see them there - thinking that they were still on vacation. I noticed J looked tired but didn't say anything because who really likes to hear, "you look so tired, are you sick?" Well not me. So I said nothing. That night, I learned something about my Mom. She has an incredible pregnancy-dar... you know can tell exactly when someone is pregnant? Well that is her. She said that J was pregnant. I hoped so, but didn't really give it too much thought.

Please note the foreshadowing AB & R are displaying... not for Ruthie but for J & T.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2008. Our family had finished eating Thanksgiving supper and we were all making our way to the living room. Out of the blue, Teddy said something about telling everyone what we were thankful for. BINGO. I knew it. Quickly, I ran upstairs to find Ruthie and told her - J & T are going to have a baby and they are going to tell us tonight. So the going around the room, telling what we were thankful for began. Now as most of you know, our family is pretty big and even more so on holidays. So after listening to what people were thankful for the time came to T. He was thankful for his job, health, and other things I'm sure. But he didn't say he was thankful for a baby. So we went further around the circle and got to Jessie. "I am thankful for Teddy, my job and the BABY we're going to have!" Success! I wish I had video of everyone yelling and jumping up - but I don't. So just imagine it.

R, C & I on the way to shop at midnight after we found - we were excited!

The soon-to-be-parents at our Christmas photo session.

Months went by and I felt Jessie's baby inside her stomach... felt it move... felt its elbow... its bottom. What a cool feeling. I don't suggest going up to strangers and feeling there stomach but it is such a cool feeling! Along the way, my niece and I decided to give little one a name. We didn't know if it was going to be a boy or girl so we couldn't pick an actual name. So we wanted something that was soft and big. PILLOW. That's the name we came up with. And we called it that for a majority of the pregnancy.

In late May, J had dilated and was feeling uncomfortable. I thought for sure that the baby would be here any day. So not knowing much about babies and how they will come only when they want to-regardless of how many centimeters there mommy is dilated-I made a promise to Jessie. I wouldn't drink Starbucks until she went into labor. This way it be exciting to have a Starbucks and not just like every other coffee. (are you realizing how lame I am yet? good.) It's not that I am addicted but I love having a special drink about once or twice a week. Well, of course, J went for much longer than expected. But like I thought, when she went into labor and I got my coffee, it was truly WONDERFUL. So it proved it was going to be a good day - not because I was enjoying my coffee I had gone without for about two and a half weeks - but because I was going to see little PILLOW!

We waited at the hospital from about 6:30 a.m. until about 6:00 p.m. when they said they were ready for her to start pushing. As about 15 of us stood around a cell phone that was on speaker, we could hear laughing and counting "1-2-3-4- c'mon J-5-6-7-8-9-10!" And about 20 minutes later, we heard the doctor say, "It's a girl!" Now I'll be quite honest, ever since we knew Jessie was pregnant we thought for sure it was a boy. I don't know what made us think that but I always referred to it as a him and laughed when people said it was a girl. That was until mom's pregnancy-dar went off again about a week ago. Mom looked at her and said, "she's having a girl." At that moment, I believed it was going to be a girl but still referred to it as him out of habit. Of course as expected, mom was right - AGAIN.

We waited for a few minutes and T came into the room telling us that they were both fine and revealed the name. Lois Catherine Tanner. A beautiful and special name to our family. My grandmother, Delores Queen, who passed away in December, was always called Lois by my grandfather and T's father and oldest brother's name are Louis, so its definitely a special name that this little one will carry.

I'm so grateful for this little one and I'm so blessed to be apart of this big family that celebrates new life in such a special way. I can't wait to watch my little Lo grow!

welcome little one

Welcome to the world, Lois Catherine Tanner.

Your Auntie Rachel loves you very much.

more about today later...

what you don't want to see...

This is a post about what you don't want to see...

when you turn on the lights...

to a dark room...

at a retirement community.

(see below)

My heart really hurt from the scare I got after I saw this morning. I laughed about it later. I still do not know why this was on our stage or who put it there. Maybe they were playing a joke.

Welp, they got me.

Today, I...

• played in mud

• played with a face masque

• played in more dirt

• played in the river on a boat ride

• played volleyball

• played with a dog

I like Saturday's. They allow much PLAY time.

hmmm...

Today I bought my first plant.

As I told some of my family tonight, hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers and I like them even more when they are marked down to $5! So this weekend I am going to try to plant it in a cool pot my mom said I could use. If you have any hydrangea growing advice, let me know!

I was thinking today... I miss the more simple life, not to say I wasn't tired, out of my mind and sunburnt, but I still miss it. I am thankful to have a job though that keeps me going from one thing to the next. I'm always busy - usually doing stuff that I enjoy. So really - I have MUCH to be grateful for. And like I said at the beginning of the summer, I am going to have a good attitude regardless=)

Until then, I will have to work on my trip to the merry-est of all lands! A little less than a month away if all goes as planned!

oh and I hit two big milestones this week in my life - one year on the blog and one year at my job... what a year!

So I really am growing up... buying plants, thinking of a different time in my life, keeping a job for a year, planning my first vacation... this is crazy.

any day now...

Still waiting on Pillow (J&T's little one that is due on June 11)... anxiously waiting. We don't know if it will be a boy or girl. J & T have yet to tell anyone the names they have picked out. It's all a big bundle of suspense in her tummy... and I can't wait to see the surprise revealed!