Disc Golf

My brother Joey introduced us all to his disc golf passion this week, in the forest, in the rain.

Just a little photo essay tonight. Not much to say other than that we had the best time, I love to see my kids getting dirty outside, and I have kind of been thinking about disc golf A LOT since then. Joes, I can see why you're hooked.

Here we go:

(Hello. That's a bright picture. Use caution when looking directly at it.)

Looks fun, yes?

Caleb and I were present, though not pictured. Too busy working on our disc golf form.

And about Caleb. Haven't seen much of him at all since he started work 2 weeks ago. That is dumb. 

Saturday will be his first day off in 14 days. Ugly long nasty 14+ hour days. I guess this is what we signed up for, but I tell ya, I'm looking forward to Saturday like a big fat ol' knit stocking stuffed with Christmas cheer. Maybe more like a cold, soothing bag of frozen veggies after a kick in the face.

Thanks for following along on our disc golf adventure. Please try this at home.

See Jane's Day

See Jane turn six years old.

See Jane's request for breakfast in bed: strudel and crepes with berries and cream. 

See Jane happy.

See Jane's sisters.

 See Jane's decor.

See Jane happy.

See Jane's birthday dress. (A night before request. See Jane's mom grumble and buy a pre-made top at Target to make life easier.)

See Jane happy.

See Jane's fans.

(One of them prefers to dine au naturel and one of them was having a moment.)

See Jane make a birthday wish.

See Jane happy.

Sweet, fiesty, thoughtful, passionate, clever, life-loving Jane. It makes us so happy to see you happy.

Happy Birthday.

See Jane grow here, here, here, and here.

Independence Day 2012

I love this day.
 We weren't in our sweet little Utah home town (the best place on earth to find yourself on the 4th) and we woke up too late to catch a parade in the morning, but we still managed to have ourselves a fine time.

Red, white, and blue pancakes with "help" from Olivia.

And later, a picnic, swimming, and the 'works with new friends.

Newly neighbored cousins watch the fireworks:
Cousin Lucy: I'm told.
Emme: I use my baby fat to keep me warm.

Cousin Lucy: What da heck was dat?!

Both: heeheeheeheehee.

Uncle Joey gave us a rather unforgettable FHE lesson this week on "Why America is the best 

country in the whole world." 

Excerpt:

Joey: "What's your favorite thing?"

Kid: "Candy."

Joey: "Candy is in AMERICA!"

Joey: "What's your favorite thing."

Other kid: "My toys."

Joey: "Your toys are in AMERICA!!"

Joey: "Do you know that in some countries, their kings just kill people whenever they want for no reason?"

Kids: (woah, this just got scary.)

Joey: "Do they do that in AMERICA?"

Kids: "No!"

Joey: "See how lucky we are to live in AMERICA?! So when you say your prayers, be sure to thank Heavenly Father that we live in America, the best country in the whole world!"

I did. And I do.

Happy Birthday America, we lit some candles for you last night.

This Week. . .

. . .we liked:
Jane-picked roses-

Good reads-

Poolside buns-

"Drive-in" movies-

Backyard blackberry pickins-

Sisterly love. . .

. . .and window seats.

Painting

Quite an undertaking. . .

. . .but I am loving our new grey walls so much. 

Glad Tom Sawyer here could help me out before he starts work next week.

Home

Hey, thanks for all your insightful comments that time when I was bummed. With this new blogger format sometimes I forget to disable comments before I post. I think I'll forget to do that some more for a little while. Moral support can be really nice when you're starting over.

Here we are, going home:

(Pardon blurry pics. Good glass is packed)

I think we're going to like it here just fine. Now on to the settling in. . .

Musings of a Sleep-deprived Soul

Well, we drove away from Pittsburgh.

That didn't feel too good.

I woke up this morning on a mattress on my brother's floor in Memphis. It was barely light out and for a few moments I thought I was in my own room in our old little red house. Then a tight feeling around my heart sorted things out for me. We really left. Were we really there?

I lay there trying to make sense of how the people that have filled my life for the last four years are now, at least day to day, just black and white letters in an email in-box and a sparse few pictures on a blog. That doesn’t seem right. I guess, though I do recommend it, caring hurts.

I've been in to see our new house. It's lovely, but feels like it doesn’t belong to me. I'm anxious about whether or not I can make a place a home again. Like, I don't know if I have it in me.

Now, because this post is borderline "Old Yeller,” I will add that living close to my great older brother and his wonderful wife I just know is going to be gangbusters. 

Also, I shouldn't write blog posts late at night when everyone has gone to sleep and I'm feeling tired and lonely. I guess since I'm the only one awake I'm going to have to tell myself to buck up and have a little faith.

Hey, Kate. Buck up! And have a little faith.

 It's gonna be alright.