Thursday, August 28, 2008

My Garden Grows

My garden is growing! Yes, you'll remember, this is my first year -ever- of having a garden. It's growing! We made the garden and it took a while, and we were about a month and a half behind, so my plants aren't quite where they should be for this time of year, but still...I'm so excited! The tomatoes are green...but they are growing, and there are a lot of them--both on the normal plant and on the heirloom tomato plant (and right after I planted them, they looked like death, but they've made a great comeback). The zucchini is finally growing. The cucumber plant looks great and I'm sure one day soon an actual cucumber is going to appear. The beats are delicious (we've already cooked a couple up). The carrots are growin, and the pumpkins will be here for sure soon! My herb garden (in the planter box) is looking great and I can't wait to get some fresh pesto made from the basil. I have a good recipe that calls for sage too that I'll be making soon with the fresh sage.

Next year I can't wait to see where we'll be at by this time in the summer and I'm looking forward to trying a few other veggies---like broccoli and maybe even cauliflower!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My Children, 2008-09 School Year

I love school pictures. I love it too that I can take the younger kids and get theirs done there at the school at the same time. It's easier for me to do this, than to take them to a portrait studio (one of my most UN-favorite things to do). I really love the way they turned out too. I just look at my little blessings and can't believe how full my life is--I can feel my Heavenly Father's love for me when I look at the sweet children he's entrusted to my care.
(Isabel-8, Bryce-6, Rory-3, Kyle-19mo)

Sunday, August 24, 2008

She Sings

We've had this Primary Teacher Improvement Evening planned for a while and we hosted it at our home. Well, we wanted a special musical number--the song "Teacher, Do You Love Me" is so appropriate for the occasion and there is a teacher and child part. So, I thought Isabel might enjoy singing the child part. She's been practicing and singing along with the Primary CD for a while. To our great advantage, I was able to get Olivia to sing with her...and they did such a beautiful job together.
Isabel sang out and was clear and knew her words. She is such a sweety and did a beautiful job. I'm so so proud of Isabel. I'm thrilled with the kind and wonderful daughter of God she is.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Growin Kyle

I can't believe how cute and big he's getting...let me count...how old is he now?? My baby is 19.5 months old! Wow, he's just so much fun and full of so much love. This was a cute outfit that my parents bought him quite a while ago that I thought "it will be a long time before he can fit in them"...but now he is!

Can you slow down your growing...please KyKy?

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Sara & Jim's 10th Anniversary in Vail, CO

July 25th was our 10th anniversary. We celebrated this past weekend. We had big plans to go to NY, but when it came down to it, I was a little nervous about going so far from the kids. We decided to go up to Vail which is only about 2 hours from our home. We had such a nice time. We stayed at a beautiful hotel there at the base of Vail Village...The Vail Plaza Hotel & Club. I highly recommend it if you ever go there. It was as nice as can be. We got a beautiful suite there...and it was luxurious and comfortable. The Village was just awesome. There was a farmers market in the morning, live music all around the village at night, restaurants galore to choose from, bridges everywhere, beautiful flowers, alpine-style architecture. From top to bottom, it was fabulous. I had no idea that Vail was so beautiful.
We did a lot of geo-caching (see my "Treasure Hunting" blog post to learn more about that) while we were there. We even went to sacrament meeting at a cute little LDS chapel in Avon...right near Vail. We spent some time in Beaver Creek (also a gorgeous village/area).
The highlight of our trip was probably going horseback riding. We went for a 2 hour trail ride and it was so much fun! I was on a horse named "Brownie." Jim rode "Gus." It was just gorgeous terrain and we had a blast. We highly considered going back the next day for more riding...to do the cattle round up, but we had other activities already planned. Jim and I often talk about packing up and going to live on a ranch. Okay, Jim has spent some time working on a ranch while he was younger, but other than that, we would have no idea how to get started, but it would be a dream. Okay...a tough dream once the novelty wares off, but still! We sometimes wish we could just do what we want to do in this life...our dreams...and though it's possible if you are willing to give up everything you have for that dream, it's not always practical...you know what I mean?? It's like "we have this life that we've built for ourselves and our family, and we're so grateful for the great life it is" but then there's that "can we trade it all now and do THIS or THAT?" Probably not, so we're content with the few times we can dabble in other life-dreams.
Needless to say, we had a WONDERFUL time in Vail for our Anniversary. These 10 past years with Jim have been the happiest of my life...I never thought marriage could be this good. Jim is my best-friend and the love of my life. I wish everyone were as lucky as he and I have been.

Friday, August 15, 2008

1st Day of School

I have a little bit of catching up to do on my blog. Since I just had my tonsils out and I'm laid up in bed, I've got my laptop and I thought I'd get to work....in between sleeping and not eating. Ha!
Well, Bryce & Isabel went off to school just a few weeks ago. I can't believe that Isabel is in 3rd grade (I have to keep reminding myself--3rd!!), and Bryce went off to all-day-school in 1st grade! He was excited to the bus TO school and HOME FROM school. I'm so proud of my kiddos. They were so excited to go to school and get things started. I love that they love school...and I hope that continues for a long long time.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Yes, we did it...

We bought a dog. I know you're saying "Sara...a dog?" Okay, yes, I'm not a dog lover--I never really had a dog (except when I was super young), but I figure I don't have to love other dogs, but I do love mine--maybe as a whole I'll start liking other dogs too then? I don't know, but I really love our dog.

Her name is Tess. I was inspired by a fabulous tv series called McLeod's Daughters. It is an Australian Western Drama type show. I love it and it's been so fun to watch. Well, one of the main characters is Tess...and when we got our puppy, it just seemed to fit!

We were on our date-night last Saturday and we went by the Pedigree Shop in the Park Meadows Mall. I've been there before and nearly bought a basset hound puppy (it was so dang cute). Well, this time, I saw our little Tess, and she won me over (she's so dang cute too). We held her for quite a while and she was just a doll. I just did it! We got her! My kids have been longing for a pet (a real pet--not just fish) ever since we had to have our kitty find a new home about a year ago (Rory turned up allergic to cats). You should have seen their faces when we brought Tess in to meet them, they were over the moon.

Here are some pictures of Tess. She is a Puggle--a Pug/Beagle hybrid breed. She wont get too big--medium breed--, she only "moderately" sheds and it is short hair shedding, so not too bad (plus we already have our cool Dyson "Pet" all ready to go). She is really really sweet. We are doing some pretty strict training with a trainer...crate training her. Though she's have several house-potty-accidents, we still love her a lot. A great pet for our family and I can't wait until she understands where to put her potty stuff so she can be more free in the house.

Welcome Tess!