Thankful Thursday...ahem, Friday!

So after finally getting up a post yesterday (after almost a week of NOTHING! {sorry}) I then realized it was THURSDAY! But decided to do the Thankful Thursday post today instead...

We are having a great time with family this summer. We have already made 2 trips back to my parents, Mom has been here twice, we will be going there in 2 weeks, she will be coming with my sister-in-law in August, and most likely again in September, and this weekend we get my Aunt & Uncle for a couple of days!

What a blessing it is when you can be surrounded by family and friends so often. We even cause our world to 'crash' a bit every once in a while and have friends over while family is here...it is grand!

I am thankful for being able to do this, while we choose to move away from the family...we didn't want that to mean that we were forgotten, or they were for that matter like has happened in some instances.

Thank you to the friends and family that have been out to see us or even 'dropped' by on your way through...we love it!

Since we have been out here:

~ 1 of my Aunts (and Uncle) on Mom's side have come to visit

~ 2 of my Aunts (and one Uncle) on Dad's side...after this weekend

~ 1 of my cousins {2 times!} (His wife, and another cousins' wife) on Dad's side

And of course, my parents, my brother & wife, and hubby's parents too!

Reptile Gardens

Mom came on the 26th of June, and that Saturday we went to Reptile.Gardens in Rapid.City for some family fun.

Here we have the kids & Grandma Pancakes (not sure who is more excited) as we arrived at Reptile.Gardens.Princess loved the giant turtles, Boo didn't think so much of them. I thought it to be interesting that 1 of the 3 was 128 years old!"Hello Mr. Turtle"In the prairie dog bubbleMarilyn the pythonMale CobraBoo more interested in the camera than the nasty snakes!
Do you see my Princess' little hand on that BIG snake? Apparently Boo was brave for Daddy and actually touched Marilyn too!Just because I am a tourist at heart!And because Grandma Pancakes loves her grandkids!He posed for me! heeheI am a wonderful mom and made my kids go in for a picture, although I have to say Princess had no problem going to sit and said, "Hello Grandpa"Boo needed Daddy's presence to be brave Maniac, a 15.5 foot/1250 pound crocodile, was pretty impressive. His head was much bigger than my children! See his story here.

Getting a little up close and personal with the lizardA cool looking not-so-huge snakeAnother great family photo op, ok, so maybe I was slightly taking advantage of the fact that we had someone (thanks MOM!) around to take pictures of the whole family for once!This baby turtle was not much larger than a quarter...finally, we found something that Boo liked!

It was a fun day, but seriously, any tourist thing we do with my mother is fun...she is just a big kid!

Will be back...

Hey all! I just wanted to let you know that I will be back after the weekend. We have had my mom here since last Friday and Dad was able to get off the farm and join us yesterday! The kids are loving having them here and I am soaking it up...any time my family can be around just is wonderful.

So not to worry, I will have stuff up after this weekend!

The big SpLaSh!

She is getting more and more brave!

Swimming Pumpkins!

Pumpkin BooPrincess PumpkinPumpkin KjCPumpkin KjB

Chilly Day for Swimmin'

In mid June we had a week of rainy/cooler weather that didn't allow for us to spend much time outside, let alone swimming! Well the Blue Birds LOVED that weather, and I enjoyed watching them from the window by my desk! One of the days, it was maybe 71* outside and after the Pumpkins left the Patch my kids talked me into filling up the baby pool so they could play....IT WAS CHILLY! They enjoyed it none the less, what can I say...little fish they are! We also tried out a new sprinkler thing I had gotten for them, it isn't good for trailer parks...it hits 4 houses and some cars if you have it on all the way to function properly! They thought it was fun for a little while anyway...

Team work... His toes must not feel much, this was seriously chilly and he stood in there for a good long while!

But it was a good day for taking pictures of him: He was in a good mood, the light was just right, and he was flashing smiles my way like crazy!And silly faces, this doesn't look like a baby face any more, but a very grown up little manMore team work!He thought something was funny

Pretty boy...She was cold, but wouldn't tell me because I had warned her!So handsome with his sun kissed cheeks and his big blue eyes...My little Cali Surfer Dude!He got the idea to splash Mommy
But Mommy beat him to it!

try, Try TRY again!And again!When Daddy came home from work, he was able to help me put the rest of the newest climber together, we are still waiting on the missing parts to put the swings up though!It was fun even without the swings!

Princess' Roses

Princess and I went to the store together one night and they had a dozen roses for $5! I couldn't resist buying them from her since we didn't get her any for her dance recital! They were BEAU.T.FUL!

And she loved them...

Thankful Thursday, ahem, I mean Friday

Well, it has been one of those weeks, the kind that is basically a roller coaster ride that you cannot get off of! {Part of life with PCOS}

Anyway, my thankful post this week is going to be directed to my mom & dad. I am so thankful for the way that they stand beside us even if they are not on the same page. The love us, and they love our adopted children (apparently this is difficult for some other family members) with an unconditional GRANDPARENT kind of love (aka ~ spoil them rotten.)

But before there was grandchildren there was just us as a couple and before that there was just me their daughter. While I was a rather confusing teenager, and had a VERY strong opinion of my own (and most of the time acted on my own thoughts and beliefs) they still were there every time I needed to talk, or needed help with something, or even if I needed gas money! Sometimes I wish you could remember more from your younger days because it would be fun to remember what they were like at parents from my toddler years...but I know one thing, they sacrificed often for my brother and I. And even though I grew up to be someone far different than they could ever have imagined, I grew up to be someone that has alot of them in me too!

We were blessed enough to be able to be with them over Father's Day weekend, and now my mother will be getting in her car and driving the 7 hour drive any minute! We get to have her from today until a week from Sunday...Daddy will be joining her next week sometime to celebrate the 4th as a family. It is always so wonderful to have them around! We are thankful!

Mama's little helper

The kids are at the age where they want to do everything themselves, JUST.LIKE.MOMMY.&.DADDY! Well it is no different when it comes to being in the kitchen. I was browning some pork to put in our soup the other day and she wanted to help REAL bad. I had already put the rest of the soup in the crock pot while she napped and there was nothing left for her to do, so with VERY CAREFUL SUPERVISION {I mean I NEVER left her side} she learned out to brown meat...and did VERY well about keeping her one hand on the handle and her other elbow up so it didn't come close to the pan....what a sweetheart!

(PS~my thankful Thursday post is coming on Friday this week!)

'BIG' Hair Day

Happy Birthday to Me!

While it is my birthday today, most of my birthday related celebrations are already finished...
~ My HUSBAND gave me a fire pit and because there was no place to hide something so large, I received it on the 13th!
~ Another part of my gift/his father's day gift was getting to go and see Randy.Travis in concert on the 19th
~ We took off just after the concert to head out to my parents house for the big weekend of my home town - Saddle.Horse.Holiday - which was a happy blessing. We were not planning to go until out of the blue I called Dad the Tuesday before (16th) just to chat. He half jokingly asked if we would be interested in coming home because he needed someone to drive his truck in the parade, I (jokingly) said if you pay for gas we will be there! The rest is history, he helped with gas, we went!

I had been thinking for a while what kind of post I wanted for my 'Birthday Post' and couldn't come up with anything wise or witty...so I'll just leave you with this. Since this is our family blog, I have decided to start a new blog for ME!

It is called, 'JustExactlyNothingExciting' as you can see the first letter of each of the words spell my middle name. You can go here to see my first post and explanation of what the purpose (or lack thereof) this blog will be!

PCOS

There are many people in my life that have been more than supportive of the face that I may not always be able to control my tears, and have a hard time loosing weight that seems to be gained overnight, along with other wonderful things like being 26 and still fighting acne full time, being tired often, and many other things. There are many women out there that know the routine, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

We found out officially last summer that I had PCOS, but because of a wonderful friend were suspicious that I may have had it for a few years prior. What finally lead to finding it was that my body faked a pregnancy last year. I had all the symptoms, started gaining a little baby bump, the list goes on and on. I didn't go to the doctor because, well because of my history! Finally where I would have been about 3 months I went and did the regular tests and the doctor found PCOS. It wasn't a surprise to me, but what she told me was...she said with her help and lots of prayer she was 100% sure that we would be able to conceive. Well, she ended up moving to New Zealand after just 3 months of working with her.

But let me tell you, while the testing, ultrasounds, blood work, and giving myself shots were not that great for those 3 months...the fact that I was, well, normal was wonderful. Handsome and I have often talked that we wished that it didn't cost so much to go through month after month because we would like to have the normal even steven and able to have fun and love life me back on a regular basis, but it was between $750 & $1000 a month out of pocket!

Anyway, PCOS can affect 1 in 15 women (MINIMUM) and the symptoms can run the gamut from person to person. As a general rule PCOS ladies are heavier and have trouble loosing weight, but even smaller ladies can have PCOS as well. Because it is becoming so widespread, I would like you to check out this website and read more about it.

***Countdown to my birthday: 1 DAY!

Talking to Grandma

Princess really enjoys talking on the phone...A LOT!

Her favorite person to talk to:Grandma Pancakes

Her favorite person to talk about: Grandpa Windy Car

Her favorite person to imitate while on the phone: Mommy!
Too cute for words!


***Countdown to my birthday: 2 DAYS!

Clouds on the Hills

One of my Thankful Thursday posts was about how I loved the rainy/cloudy weather in the hills because of how beautiful it was (see that post here), well this time my Handsome was driving so I was able to snap some pictures...though the pictures do NOT do the beauty of this ANY justice at all! See how the clouds just roll over the hills and come into town...LOVE IT!




There are houses up in those clouds!

I just think it is BEAUTIFUL!

***Countdown to my birthday: 3 days!

Like Father, Like Son

Lately, Boo has really been excited to 'match' his Daddy. So when we are going anywhere as a family I try to wait to dress Boo until I see what Handsome has picked out and then try to find something that Boo has similar. This was a couple of weeks ago getting ready for church. It worked out very well because the only thing different was that Handsome had a wedding ring and Boo didn't (not that I am in a hurry for this or anything.) But the shirt was VERY similar, blue jeans, shoes that looked alike and similar necklaces...Boo was in heaven, and Daddy must have liked it as well because he asked for a picture to be taken!

***Countdown to my Birthday: 4 days!

Upper Case Living

A couple months ago I was invited to an Upper.Case.Living party that our pastors' wife was having. I had seen some U.C.L before, but not much of it. I looked at the website several times before going to the party and had picked some things that I thought would be nice to have in our house....but, when at the party the U.C.L. lady had some photo books of work that clients had special ordered and I saw one that someone had done like this only it was "The Johnson Family Establish 1994" or something like that (do not remember the exact name and year.) And decided that would be perfect to put up around our family picture.

Well, I was able to put up the 'Established 2002' part by myself the day after it came, but was able to finally wrangle my husbands help a week ago to get the bigger part up. I am very happy with how it turned out! I also ordered some stuff to make Christmas gifts for two family members...but since they are blog readers I cannot show or share anything about it until then!

***Countdown to my Birthday: 5 days!

Thankful Thursday

There is a couple that really deserves an entire post, they sure have been a blessing & encouragement to us even before the latest disaster (being told we had until January 30th to get out of the parsonage the week before Christmas.) We bought our suburban from them in January 2008, and Handsome has continued to get to know them after that. I didn't really get to know them until the issue, but have gotten to know them well since.

Mark & Teresa are some of the most caring people you could ever meet. It just so happened to be that when we needed a place to live 'at the drop of the hat' they had a home for sale. They were willing to even help us out a bit until Pumpkin Patch DC is two years old and the bank recognizes it as income! To go through and list every single thing that they have done to help us out in the last 6 month would 1st off, embarrass them...but secondly be so long you guys would get bored! I used to joke around with Teresa about us being so needy and how I didn't understand why they would want to be around us because every time we turned around we needed help again! Well that all culminated on March 6th when I fell and knocked myself unconscious on the ice. After I was allowed to leave the ER that night Teresa came up and put her arm around me and said, "A, this sure bring your being needy to a whole new level!" I thought that was funny...and it has only been brought up jokingly since.

Our children have also fallen in love with these great people. The kids love to go to their house and spend time there, and I couldn't be happier with the fact that they are willing to watch our kids!

Well, I could go on and on about these great people....but they are definitely two people that we have come to love dearly over the last 6 months. People that I am so thankful that God allowed us to cross paths with!

***Countdown to my Birthday: 6 days!

Bowling with Friends!

We had the chance to go bowling with our friends Eric & Michelle a couple weeks ago...don't worry, they knew when I was taking the pictures that they would end up on the blog!

The funny thing about taking pictures while bowling...you don't get to see too many faces! Look at her great form! And then my not so happy dance!This was the first night I was sportin my new specs!Then there is Mr. "I haven't bowled in 10 years" that rocked!I could have taken a picture every time Eric watched his bowling ball went down the lane, he posed different!"SPARE"There goes that awesome form again!"STRIKE!"This was the best pose of the night though...I made him redo it so we could get it on the blog!The kids thought it wasn't fair that Mommy & Daddy, Eric & Michelle all got to 'roll the balls' and they didn't!Wish this would have turned out better...it looks like it would have been a cute one! I must apologize for the quality (or lack of) the pictures, I never really did find a great mode with my camera while in the bowling alley!

***Countdown to my birthday: 7 days! {1 week!}

Our Humble Little Home

Handsome has been working very hard to get the outside up to his standards lately...and it is paying off! Not looking to shabby...thanks honey, love you lots n lots!


***Countdown to my Birthday: 8 days!

Topless through the Canyon

The car, that is....was topless! The last day of May we were able to use a friend's Mustang.Convertible to take a drive up the canyon. With all the moisture that we have been receiving, it sure was green! You really notice things you would not have in a car with a top! It was a great afternoon! Thanks Mark!My Bridal Veil Falls!You cannot see Boo, but he is in there!So what does one do while in a topless car? Take pictures of the beautiful clouds!Look straight above the 'tc' in Patch and notice the wind whipped clouds flowing over the thunderhead!The sky was an amazing blue, and the thunderheads looked like they were glowing!I mean really, it was glowing!Then the thunderheads crashed together to form this storm that we tried to outrun!But, we failed and got a little shower!

Even though my Handsome really still doesn't love convertibles, he did enjoy driving one for the day!Looking back over Deadwood...SO.GREEN!Again...
Oh how much fun we had that day. We got to Sturgis and stopped by DQ and headed home for the church's softball game!

***Count down to my Birthday: 9 days!