From Afar

Hi!



I meant to say good bye, but didn't have a moment to sit and type in the midst of packing for our trip to California and Idaho.



It was a long drive out West, but well worth it to see our beloved family.
Unfortunately our stay here is too short, and we'll be heading to Idaho in a couple days when all our worldly goods have been loaded into trailers to be carted North.

Will we be moving to Idaho?
Umm... I still consider us gypsies -just gypsies with a place we own again (thankfully!).

For now, I am trying not to pine to loss of my computer for a month, and be thankful for the adventure of trying to get our new retreat fixed up for our dwelling comfort (did I mention that a toilet would be nice?!).
Char and Hannah's family, Travis, John T., and Jon and Jana are all trooping up there with us for a week of work and play. I am really looking forward to enjoying our time together:-)

Please promise to come see if I'm still alive in about four or five weeks! I look forward to getting into a new swing, and practicing my journaling once again.
Until then, please pray for our family that we would glorify our Lord in everything we do.

He is very faithful!

Love!

More Birthday

A package arrived today...














And some birthday cards full of moola!



















Everyone is thrilled!








































Carolina is reading to see if this T is 100% cotton - will it shrink?














The boys wasted no time assembling their new puzzle!

































So you noticed that Carolina is sitting up today?
































It really is a first! We're so excited until we remember that she's over 8 months old.














I take it back... we're excited about her new achievement even when we know she's as old as the hills! (Cuteness goes a long way!)

Sisters...

...Lip Balm, that is!














Emma and I are tag-teaming our posts, so if you want some more of the scoop, you'll have to go to her blog:-)

We made lip balm in my usual half-hazard style: no exact recipe.
However, it turned out great!
Besides that, we bought these cute little tins to put it in and made labels to boot!
Emma put her labels on the lids of her half of the batch, and I put mine on the bottoms.
You can see here what I put on the lids of my half! (I love it!)
























We used one part beeswax to roughly three parts coconut oil, then added peppermint essential oil.
In some batches we tried adding honey, but it wanted to separate, so wasn't the best outcome.
In a few batches, we added cocoa powder and it was an agreed success!!

I have to tell you that this is the first lip balm that has stayed moist on my lips without making them peel! I don't know if it's normal to peel, but I'd resigned myself to being a strange anomaly.
It's nice to have something that works, feels good, and looks nice.

We didn't mass produce this time, but after having it turn out so well we're inspired to make more!

Note: we called it "Sisters" just in case a couple or three other's want to join us in our ventures (hint-hint!)













For more pictures, see Emma's post here,
and just wait girls...
we're bringing it home to share!!

Love!

Birthday Boy!

Zachary Christian

Seven years old today!


























Zack with brother's gift



































His first Bible!

































Clayton getting into the spirit of the occasion:-)



















Making cupcakes with Auntie Em



















Party with Smith's - celebrating Kaidn's 6th birthday as well



























Trying out birthday gifts












































































































The first flights were short (and I wouldn't have wanted to be a passenger on the plane when it landed!), but there were a few good ones.
Quite to my amusement, the few decent flights landed in the street, in the tree, or...
ended like this one!

OUCH Clayton!!!

Sometimes the best flights are the do-it-yourself kind:-)



















Ending the evening with a cartoon (a FULL couch!)














Girl time! (Two sets of sisters)














HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY!!!!!

















I love you Buddy:-)

Olivia. My Sunshine!

Thanks Gramsie!

A taste of Summer from home in California!

A Little Piece of Our Fourth

Reply to Comment #5

Well this might be a little odd, but I am going to break out of the box as I feel inclined:


Molly-


Thank you for posting on your blog. I look forward to glimpses into your life even if I have to wait as long as, say... a month!
I must say that you don't disappoint a girl who waits (except perhaps for not posting pictures of Cancun yet!), and your pictures of Brittany are beautiful!
I'm only slightly jealous that I didn't get a photo shoot like that! Where were you to make me look that good at nine months pregnant?

I really want to toot your horn for you - please post more pictures because I'm sending my friends over to your site to see some of your work.
I'm very proud of you!!

Molly Hightower (aka "Picture Sister") is my dynamic, daring, dramatic, lovely and talented, (though those don't start with D) and did I mention dramatic? (You can actually read drama in the written word, so I have been discovering!) ;-P ...Sister.









Aren't I lucky?!

So anyway Molly, I would have called you before now...and Mom ...and Heather ...and and and...
except that our phone here at the house really doesn't work most the time.
But (drum roll please) my very own cell phone is soon to arrive in the mail and I will be entering that class of classy people who get no peace and remove everyone else's!
And the upside is that I might actually be reachable for a change:-)

So there you have it.
I think you guys should come up and check out our new digs. Nick would LOVE it I think, and there is a ton of great fishing in the area, of course!!
I imagine YOU will be more inclined to honor me with your presence when there is indoor plumbing, but I wouldn't count on that any time soon. AJ has been chatting with Mr. Smith in Iraq, and "the boys" seem to think a shooting range is a higher priority!

Humph.

You know, on second thought...
We did find fresh bear scat down by the creek... those guys may have my blessing!

If the indoor plumbing is a while in coming, we girls can go to town -which is just darling and touresty, and has lots of cute stores and fun places to eat (VERY PICTURESQUE!! hint-hint).
















There's one store we drove past several times called Eve's Leaves, a womans clothing boutique. I've been wanting to go check it out just because the name is so fun!




Anyway Sister... I can't wait to see your pictures of Cancun!
I hope to hear that Brittany is safely delivered, and that
your new job is going well.
I love you lots and look forward to seeing you in about two weeks!

Lotsa love,
Sis