here we come!

My ever so thoughtful Father-in-Law sent me this postcard recently:

He said it made him think of me (I do love vintage postcards) and it also helped to get me even more excited about out trip. We leave tomorrow. It is my first time and I can't wait! Jimmy doesn't quite comprehend the whole thing yet, but he knows it means seeing Nano, Nana, and Aunt Angie and also going to the beach so he is excited about all those things. Be back July 12!

best present ever!

I usually get mad at Zach when he comes home from Costco because he buys all sorts of things I think we don't need, but he won me over with this one:

Oh, he does love me and know me so well. It made me day... well a lot of days actually. I think I have eaten a disgusting amount, but as it says right on the front of the box "Always Fat Free" so they aren't even bad for me right? I can't even blame my pregnancy for this one. This addiction goes way back. And don't even get me started about how much better they are then Twizzlers...

Anyway, while on the subject of Red Vines, here is a funny story that my brother reminded me of recently. He has the crazy friend named Patrick who he has known since grade school. He used to invite himself over to our house a lot and we have lots of funny stories about him. We all just laugh and say, "Oh, Patrick!" Well, one time we had one of these buckets, and Patrick took a bit out of every Red Vine in the box and then faced the eaten end to the bottom so that every time someone (namely me I am sure) took a Red Vine out it would already be partly eaten. He thought he was hilarious and well, I have to give him some credit, it is kind of a brilliant idea. After hearing this story, Zach said that I later went through the bucket cutting off all the eaten edges and saying, "These are still good! I am not letting them go to waste!" He does know me well.

fishing with baabee

Jimmy had been asking to go fishing recently. I am not really sure where he got the idea, but it must be from a book he read or something. I don't know if he really understood what it was, but he was excited about it and our first fishing adventure was successful. I told him Baabee (my dad, actually named Bill... long story) would take us and teach him. We just went to Steele Indian School Park where they have a little pond that is stocked with fish. I was worried once we got there that if we didn't catch anything the whole trip would be a bust, but we ended up catching (and releasing) two fish. It was a nice morning and it was good to wake up early and enjoy being outside before the heat of the day sinks in.

WORMS! (Probably Jimmy's favorite part)

I realize I over did it on the pictures this time, but I felt like I needed them all to tell the full story.

(And I do this for me most of all anyway right?)

Here is where Zach and Jimmy caught the first one.

He was pretty excited!

... and then scared so he ran far away from it.

But he came back around.

The ducks were pretty entertaining as well.

Here Baabee and Jimmy catch the second one.

Thanks Dad. We had fun and we will have to try again soon. Hopefully we can fit a camping trip in this summer. We need to put you fishing licenses to good use.

one more thing down

I am proud to announce that after four years (well technically a whole day before that), I finally finished my wedding album! I can't believe it took me so long, but that is what I get for being such a perfectionist and insisting on doing it myself. Sure I can blame my photographer for getting me my photos so late, or the fact that it took me about a year to pick out the perfect book, or the photo corners that kept breaking, or my inability to make decisions in general, but most of all I think I was just a slacker on this one. I mean four years! Who am I kidding. I am supposed to live for this stuff right? Who am I? I have completed Jimmy's baby album and a few other things along the way, but this task was always taunting me because it should have been done a long time ago and other things kept becoming priority. So I was just growing to resent it and not want to do it all. This makes me wonder if I have allowed my blog to interfere with my actual scrapbooking desires. The blog has become a constant family journal/scrapbook that helps me fulfill the part of me that needs to chronicle everything with photos. It is so much cheaper than constantly printing pictures, but I do love real photos. It had been a year and a half since I ordered any prints, but I just recently ordered about three hundred to stick in a family album. I love the freedom that digital cameras give us these days in terms of choosing only good photos, but it does allow me to procrastinate. However, I am determined that everyone of my children will have amazing baby books handmade by their loving mother. All in all, I am happy with how this book turned out. I would have gotten white borders on the photos if I could have, but my photographer had already printed them all without before I even thought to ask. The cover is just solid black, and I was going to have it engraved on the front with just the words "Our Wedding" but the guy at the store seemed unsure about whether it would work he told me, "We can try" and I said/thought, "I am not paying you $45 (way more than I was willing to pay anyhow) to screw with my perfect book." Solid black will have to do. Well, at least I can admit my failings now and just bask it the glory of having one more thing deleted from my Neverending-To-Do-List.

PS- Bess, if you read this, your wedding album is next on my list! Expect it in four to five years.

royal palms

For our anniversary dinner, Zach and I went to T. Cook's which is the restaurant at Royal Palms Inn in Phoenix. My grandparents (Mame and Pop) used to live right behind this resort and we were allowed to use the pools when we were growing up (there was one pool shaped like a heart with amazing tile work all inside, but sadly it is gone). It was really run-down and funky then (I kind of liked it better that way), but now it is all fancy and swankified. It still holds a lot of memories for me, so it was a special treat to go there, especially since it was also my grandparent's anniversary. Zach made fun of me (as per usual) for taking so many pictures, but I have learned to deal with that and just do what I want anyway.

This tile mural is original and I think it is really cool.

I took a picture of this because we used to say the Seven Dwarves lived in there.

I love these gates that are also original.

Okay, I still hadn't figured out that my camera was taking funky pictures, but this way the only picture of us that even kind of turned out.

We were able to sit outside on the patio because it wasn't to hot and they had the misters on. Apparently, everyone else assumed it would be too hot, because we were the only ones out there so we had the whole place to ourselves. Dinner was delicious., but this desert was the highlight for me:

Amazing Caramel Cheesecake Creme Brulee.

(Zach tried to eat all of mine since his dessert was not nearly as good)

Thanks for a wonderful time husband of mine.

family picture

I am trying to make it an annual tradition to take a family picture on our anniversary in front of the St. Thomas the Apostle where we got married. Erin helped us out last year, and this year my dad ever so kindly snapped a few pictures for us before he took Jimmy to his house so we could go out on a date. Of course Jimmy had no patience for it, and unfortunately, my camera got put on some weird setting with a really grainy resolution which I didn't notice until it was way too late. Oh well, we still got some cute ones.

happy 4th and 75th anniversary

Four years ago today I got to marry this cute guy:

He is a wonderful father and husband and I thank my lucky stars for him.

It was a really amazing and blessed day and I wouldn't change one bit of it.

It was a really fun party too...

Also Happy 75th to my late grandparents Don and Helen Woods (aka Pop and Mame).

They got married in the depression and this is the only picture they got to take on their wedding day. I love that I have hundreds to remember our day, but realizing that this was their only one, makes me appreciate mine even more. I guess we get a little spoiled these days and the "recession" that we are living with will never compare to what they went through. They used to have to choose whether they spent money on breakfast and had to walk to work all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge on a freezing cold morning or taking the subway and being hungry. I think it made them such stronger people and taught them to value money in a way so few do today. They both taught me so much and were such a strong example of marriage to me. They taught me that a marriage is hard work, but if you really care you can make it work forever. We would all laugh when they would bicker because Pop would swear and Mame would say, "Oh, Don!" But we never doubted their true love for each other. When they would drive together, my grandma would sit in the middle front sit just to be next to him. They would still hold hands all the time and their entire married life they snuggled up in a full size bed! Mame and Pop I miss you both so much and am honored to have been married on the same day as you. You two are what Zach and I strive to be.

pregnant mother's tea

My dear friend Suzanne decided to have a little tea party luncheon at her house as a shower for all of our currents pregnant friends (there are five of us in my Mom's Group). We had such a nice time and she put together such a lovely event. We all wore hats and dresses so it was fun to have an occasion to get dressed up and be able to chat without all our kids running around.

All the ladies (Back to Front):

Angela, Carmen, Suzanne, Me, Jessica, Dena, Rheannon, Kelly and Lanie.

Lanie was the one baby allowed so of course she got lots of attention.

Carmen and I.

Fake Laughter... well, posed, but still sincere.

Thanks Suz!