to tide you over...

All right so my camera hasn't been out as much as it should have been over the recent holiday but we did happen to capture this small video. Last year we taught Boomer how to open a present gently. He usually opens it and then if its small enough to hold in his mouth he parades around the house like a king that has just been crowned. While watching notice how his tale is up, curled, and wagging, thats his super happy wag. So call me a nerd.......we know all of Boomers barks, whines, howls, and postures and what they mean.....I know its sad but it has worked out to our advantage to know when he is stressed or relaxed,etc. He definitely has taught us a thing or two! Enjoy this until I can post some more happenings of the moon household later!

Fantiggidytastic!

That title is for you Haley Jo!!!

So today marks a couple of milestones in Linds' and my life. Right about now exactly 5 years ago today....Lindsay and I were sitting together on a bench in a sealing room in the Spokane washington temple with President Wagstaff talking to us about our marriage that was about to take place.

As I reflect back I remember lots of things about that morning.....waking up early nervous and excited.........going to the salon to get my hair done by Eleasha..............rushing to the temple to get in my dress and meet Lindsay.................sitting together in the celestial room while we waiting for our guests to go into the sealing.......walking into the sealing room hand in hand and amazed that so many people had shown up (we had standing room only!)...............looking into Lindsay's eyes as we were sealed for time and all eternity knowing that he is my best friend, my companion, my lover, and who I wanted to spend forever with!

It was so grand! I remember coming out of the temple that morning and being surprised that it was snowing like crazy! My nerves were gone by that time but I still didn't feel well. Lindsay and I had gone to lunch at applebee's with his family and his best friend Erik following the temple and then Lindsay and I went back to our first apartment to finish packing for Mexico. I remember feeling so sick in the car on the way that I almost wanted to make him pull over....I didn't say a word and Lindsay still claims to this day that I was sick because I got cold feet. I assure you that was not the case, I was truly sick (I had even called in sick a few days prior to the wedding from work). Once at the apartment I ended up puking and I was so embarrassed....who wants to be sick on their wedding day and have their new groom watch that? Not me.

So we finished packing and left for the reception. By that time it was like a blizzard out but we didn't care we were excited to celebrate and head to mexico. The reception was splendid, we have my mom who was a huge part of the planning to thank for that!

And then it was off for our first week as a married couple.

So today we not only celebrate 5 years together which have been fun, tough, a learning experience, blissful, emotional, and adventurous but we also got to talk to our sweet birth parents on the phone for the first time. It was amazing to hear their voices, to hear their strength, to talk about some of the details with traveling and openness.......today is just a great day!

S and B (birth father) have decided for right now that we will send them pictures and letters to let them know about how the moon babe is doing after placement. We are so glad that modern technology makes this communication so much easier than in previous generations to help them heal and move forward. Honestly I feel so blessed to have these two individuals in my life, I could not have picked better people! Poor Lindsay got sick while he was out of town this week and so was all congested but it was nice to talk. And S's caseworker seems fantastic and very on top of it! She has been working on getting things laid out for all of us for when placement occurs. It would be nice to have her there for S and for us but we will all be all right!

So everything is falling into place, Heavenly Father is paving the way for us. I truly believe that. I was a bit worried last night that Lindsay was going to miss the call because he was flying home last night and his flight was delayed, and earlier in the week when he left the same thing happened and he almost missed his training, we prayed that he would make it so that he wouldn't have to reschedule this training. I know that by our faith and asking for help that we are all being blessed!

Also I talked to a woman who owns a rescue this morning about Sadie and she will take her! We are going to continue to foster her for a little bit but the rescue is going to pay for her to be spayed and the rest of her shots and then will take her out to get her a forever home, such a relief!

Hope all of your saturday's are going well! I think you should all help us celebrate and buy yourself a nice hot cocoa with caramel or mint mixed in or something. Today should be good!

Tree Schmee

That's right....I am having one heck of a time with ours cooperating with us this year. Last year I just had a little fake table top tree that I loved because our house was so little and there wasn't room but also Lindsay was deployed and was maybe going to make it home on Christmas eve, so I didn't want too much stuff up. I had borrowed the tree from my mom, so this year I told Linds that's what I wanted to do again, cause I ended up really enjoying the little tree. Well we went to Kmart (it's the only "real" store in our town besides home depot) to see what they had to offer. They had a few that were outrageously priced so we said no to that. So we were trying to decide if we should wait for a trip into the city or buy a normal size live tree. Lindsay decided he would rather have a live tree because we get the yummy smell and when it came to moving out of our house we wouldn't have to worry about packing up a fake tree and toting it around from place to place. So we buy it and pick it out and then it occurs to me.......hmmmm..................all we have is our little car with no racks and no rope or twine. How are we going to get this home? Lindsay being the total adventure man that he is says "I will just hold it" I am thinking..are you kidding me? He is not kidding, I ask him how he plans on doing that and he replies with "you will drive and roll down your window, you will hold onto the top of the tree from your seat and I will sit in the back passenger seat and hold the back. I just smile and laugh but know deep down inside that is exactly what is going to happen. I however do not have much faith in myself, driving and holding on! It's a stick shift! I would need three hands for that. Luckily the drive is short and I tried to take neighborhood roads the whole way so we didn't have to go fast but there were a couple times I thought it was a goner.

So that is adventure no.1.....now we have to get it into the house and in the stand. Should be no big deal right? wrong? the sucker has a larger trunk than it should, not by much but just enough to make it bothersome. Lindsay had already cut off some of the lower branches and things and brought it in the house, I set up the stand so we tried to just plop it in and there was no plopping. So then we lay it down on the carpet (yuck!) and I find a hand saw from our camping stuff and we saw off some stuff hoping it will work. It almost does and we call it good. The tree isn't sitting all the way to the bottom but its standing and working.

Fast forward a few days....it's been sitting waiting to be decorated in our front window and looking pretty, it's really a nice looking tree, I think its cocky though, it didn't want to leave the tree farm. I come home from a friend's house on Sunday and ms. Sadie dear has chewed bottom branches and knocked it over spilling the water, pulled off the tree skirt that was protecting her from drinking the water and triumphantly peed on it 10 ft. away. Those two are in cahoots with each other.

I pick it up, adjust it as much as I can and last night I finally decided to put lights and ornaments on mr. cocky tree. I am so happy that it went smoothly, I enjoyed pulling out the ornaments and remembering where they came from (mostly from my parents who have given me one every year for the last 10 years and from our wedding-2 weeks before christmas). I vacuum up the last bit of stuff on the floor and go to tackle another project and seriously less than 5 minutes later I heard ornaments falling and breaking! Yikes--

I am ready to throw the tree in the backyard and let Sadie brawl it to it's death. The dumb thing has now spilled again, with tree trimmings on the ground, it's twisted in the stand and I don't have the strength to make it right so this is how it is in my house now. Well I have since cleaned the water and vacuumed again. It is waiting for a boxing match with Lindsay.

I even remembered to be smart and not put ornament in the bottom few feet of the tree so that the dogs wouldn't bother the tree too much. But Mr. Cocky tree has a mind of his own, he doesn't like our house-and I don't like him!

Super Saturday

I love Saturdays. I don't know what it is, but for some reason I feel more motivated on a Saturday morning to clean my house than on a weekday with Lindsay at work. Call me crazy but I think it's because we usually do chores together, and as my Grandma always used to say, "many hands make light work." Usually Lindsay and I don't do the same chore together but we are both working on something around the house. We crank the music, goof around and act like goombahs and then shower and reward ourselves by doing something fun.

Yesterday was a bit different but still fun! So we got up and Lindsay went to a ward members house to help them move. So I decided instead of doing the normal chores that I would work on cleaning and rearranging stuff for the moon babe's nursery. Friday I had gone to the base to pick up a pack n play and eat lunch with Lindsay and run a few errands. Friday night we set up the sweet pack n play and so by yesterday morning I was rearing to put it in it's new home. One of our friends is going to let us use her crib as soon as she transitions her toddler to a big girl bed, so we firgure a pack n play will work just fine. Ours has a bassinet and changing table all built in with cool music, sounds, lights, and vibration. But what I love most about it is that is totally unisex and in a great way. Sometime unisex stuff can be bland but this one is so cute. Usually it tends to go a bit more masculine (in my opinion due to no one wanting a boy to be frilly) but this is the perfect balance. We could make it have more frills for a girl or keep it as a cute boy. See what you think, I think we scored!

Anyhow so while Lindsay was off providing service, I worked moving stuff around. Here is where I got in there. Not complete, but a good start! Notice the bookshelf? I have collected children's book since I was a kid and can't wait to share my love with moon babe. The third picture is a book that I think is adorable and where one of Lindsay's and mine term of endearment came from.

After finishing up and Linds coming home we took the dogs to the dog park and let them run ragged. On the way home we picked up burgers from a local ma and pop shop. I waited in the car with the dogs and was petting Boomer. I felt something weird in one of his armpits and after looking closer I realized it was a tick. At first I thought it was a skin tag, but no. So then I just wanted to hurry home to check for more, get it out and check Sadie and Us. when I told Linds he said that he had felt earlier in the week but forgot about it. Well I ended up pulling out that one and we found one other one by his manhood (or lack thereof). Poor guy, those things are nasty. Luckily we found no others.

Then we celebrated a one year birthday for Hannah girl at her house! So fun!

A long productive fun filled Saturday, you've got to love them!

Pioneers we will be!

Holy Schamolly ladies and gentleman! We are so humbled and grateful for all of the emails and phone calls, excitement and donations already received for our new moon babe! In the wake of excitement we have been looking more into the website that Lindsay's Father so lovingly set up for us. Getting the funds to our own account is a bit more complicated than first thought so we are directing donations elsewhere. If you would like to donate we have a paypal account. All you need is our email address which is sommermoon@hotmail.com or if you wish to send a check to us please email us and I can give your our mailing address. If you live in Spokane, you can give donations to our parents and they will make sure that they get to us. Please don't hesitate to ask us any questions.

Again Lindsay and I feel so loved by the outpouring of support from everyone. We have had a number of people tell us that they had tears just like we did (or rather I!).

In other news I talked to our social worker this afternoon and it looks like we will be pioneers in this whole process of the military and church joining forces to make this special event happen! Lindsay and I feel blessed that since we have been in the military for so many years that we understand some things and will have more access than say a civilian couple. LDS Family Services Headquarters is working with JAG (the military legal system) to work out the kinks. Right now we are working on how to get our baby a passport as quickly as possible after birth.

Such is the life! Although I am a bit stressed I will admit, I am still in awe and enjoying this hustle and bustle to bring our baby home! And I know that "S" is working extra hard on her end too! And I don't think I told you but we have also been blessed with a Birth Father who is very supportive, cooperative, and seems very nice. We don't know as much about him, but we know that he too is very courageous, and has the best interest of our child at heart. For our Birth Parents we are sooooo thankful!

More to be posted soon! I have something fun I want to show you all a bit later!

See you then!

No words to express!!!!

All right so I have been anxiously awaiting this post... I have been taking time to think about what exactly I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. You see there is so much going on in my head right now and Lindsay's too!


I'm thinking I should start the week of Halloween (I'm pretty sure that is when it all started). Actually nix that we will go back to July on our trip down to our new home in Cali. On the second morning of our trip I was sitting in the car at the gas station while Lindsay was filling up. I decided to check my email from my phone cause I was bored. I wasn't expecting anything but just thought I would see what was in my inbox. Totally surprised we had a message from Eve, yes the "Eve" of LDS Family services web admin. I was a little shocked and my heart skipped a beat. When Lindsay got back in the car I told him we had been contacted by a Birth Mother and wanted to to know a bit about us and some about his military career. My mind was racing for a while. That afternoon when we reached our destination we sat at the computer together, Lindsay wrote the response. We were excited but we didn't hear back right away and our minds got swept away with the moving, finding a place to live, boarding Boomer, etc. You know all the fun stuff. So although we were stoked about it we moved on after not hearing thinking the timing for us may have been off. We felt ok. We knew after our recent experience with the last almost adoption not to get carried away to early.

Fast forward to the week of Halloween, we get another email from "Eve!" Wow we were so excited and responded back. The emailing with "S" as we will call her has continued right up to this day. Turns out she had emailed us on the way to Cali, timing was not right for her either (Heavenly Father does know best!). We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this courageous and faithful woman. Yesterday we found out that we were chosen to raise her child!

It went something like this.....I woke up and checked the email (usually Linds checks it first but I happened to) we got a message from "S" speaking of typical conversations we have had back and forth. Then late in the afternoon I got a call from our caseworker, he asks if I had gotten an email from "S" today? I reply "yes this morning but nothing to be alarmed about why?" I am thinking something has gone wrong or maybe just maybe good news is coming. He tells me that I should probably check my email again, I ask is there something good, he says I think so. He then proceeds to ask me if Lindsay is home, when will he get home, he will be out of the office tomorrow but will call on Thursday to talk. I am stoked! I call Lindsay to find out when he is coming home, turns out he left early and is already halfway done with the commute. I tell him about the phone conversation and ask if he wants me to wait for him to get home or read it out loud to him. He opts for the latter. So I open and start reading, I do fine for a while and then can't hold back any longer-the flood gates open, I struggle to get the last bit out. He remains silent for a moment and then calls me a "Sweetie." It was perfect. Lindsay and my pet names for each other usually don't sound nice to other people so sweetie was precious, usually they include fartknocker, stinky face, poopsquat and such nonsense other than the typical babe. Ahhhh, I am reveling............................

We are beyond words, we are stunned, grateful, overjoyed, ecstatic, it still hasn't sunken in yet!

The below picture is currently what our messy hobby room looks like....


Soon this will transform into a beautiful nursery to hold our Moon babe. We will be traveling to Germany to pick up our child and say thank you in person to our beloved "S" at the end of Januaryish. We are so excited for her to be a part of our lives and know that our love for her will continue to grow! You may be wondering how LDS family services can help with this adoption in Germany. Without going into too much detail "S" is on a military base, and thus on U.S. soil, thus a domestic adoption! How sweet it is!! A miracle is in the works friends and we are so happy to be a part of it! We believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and know that things come full circle, people are blessed, we believe in the power of prayer, faith, and can't wait to teach our child about these things also!

Exciting eh? (these pics are super cheesy but I couldn't contain my excitement this morning, I didn't do anything with my hair after a shower, thus the wildness, but hey I get to be a MOM soon, who cares!)

Thanksgiving in Southern Cali

Since Sommer and I are away from our families for the first holiday season since moving, we decided to have a non-traditional celebration. My friend Matt joined the two of us for a 16 mile hike to Sespe Hot Springs in the Los Padres Nat'l Forest. We planned to stretch the hike over 3 days and enjoy the hot springs for a while. The week prior was full of rain storms and it turns out that California back roads don't hold up in the rain very well. As you can see from our first picture, our Protege went off the road into an eroded ditch. After someone pulled us out, we made it a couple more miles down the rad but had to park at an impassible creek which would add 8 miles to our planned hike. When you add the additional 1.5 miles when we got lost, our overall hike was over 25 miles. The first day was 13.5 miles and the last couple hours was in the dark as we tried to navigate our way to Sespe.


To reach the hot springs we followed Johnston Ridge Trail which was a challenging hike on the way down the valley and on the steep climb out. In the last 4 miles we lost over 2100 ft in elevation. The reward at the end of the trail was great. Here is a picture of Sommer and I in the hot shower that rained out of the rock wall above. A lot of the usual pools hat washed out due to the rains and a previous fire.

We did have beautiful views as we reached the top of the valley where we made camp the second night. A perfect vantage to catch the rising sun. During the day the temps were around 70 and at night it dropped to the mid 30's. Not bad for the last week of November. We hope everyone is doing well during the holidays and know that we are thinking of you, even as we are out exploring the world....We hope you enjoy the pictures as well. Thanks Matt!

National Adoption Day!

Well well kids I am so excited. Lindsay and I have been working hard on trying to get our profile moved from Washington down here to California so that we can be prepared down here come what may. So with that comes some extra expenses and such. So we decided a few weeks back that we would host a garage sale and ask our friends down here to help us out by donating items to sell with all proceeds going to our adoption fund. It was totally fun! My friend and I made some home made things ( I made a couple of scarves and lots of cards, she made english toffee-yummy!) and we had the big event today.

side note: the above pic is my friend Amy, her beautiful Hannah-which I always munch on- and me. The side note is my eyes always look crazy in pictures. not sure why but for some reason I always look demonic or something. I do know that my pupils are abnormally large and maybe that messes up with the camera, it's worse in dark pictures with the flash. Crazy huh?

The weather worked out wonderful for us. I was nervous because back in Washington it would be way to cold and out of season to have a sale, but here it was nice. It was a bit windy but take a look at how busy we were first thing!

We were able to raise money, have fun, eat some yummy stuff and talk about adoption! So great! We totally appreciate all the help with donations and support of people coming by to either say hi or purchase or give us moral support. It was a TOTAL SUCCESS!

And my cards sold which was exciting because I always thought it would be fun to do a craft fair or something just to try it out and say that I did. A life goal I guess you could say. So great!

all of your weekends have been fun! P.s. for all of those who read this and have been posting about anything for National Adoption Awareness month, I have thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks!

Tag I'm It!

All right kiddos, I am gonna have a few posts for you today. I was tagged again so here it goes. But before I start this picture of Lindsay was taken just this week on veteran's day. He was up in our nectarine tree pruning for next season. We were not sure how to prune it so we guessed. Hopefully we will get fruit, there was a lot of dead stuff on it. Anyhow I love his smile. And yes it is black and white because he is the photog and I am not. Therefore he had changed the settings and I didnt know how to change them back. Oh well!

Answer all the questions HONESTLY and re post as "How I met _____"

1.Where did you meet?
We don't have a specific place and time but we grew up in the same stake at church and I actually dated his brother for a while (it's too long of a story, maybe for a rainy day!)
2.What was the first thought that went through your head when you met?
Umm, he is waaaayyyy out of my league (he was older and uber-popular)
3.Do you remember what he/she was wearing?
No because there wasn't a specific instance, but at one point when we were starting to hang out he was wearing a black workout shirt with khaki cargo shorts playing volleyball at fhe and I thought that he was/is HOT!
4.Where was the first time you kissed this person?
Entryway of my parents house
5.Where did you go for your first date?
Shotgun shooting on someone's property
6.How long did you know this person before you became a couple?
Knew of him-6 years Knew him-3 years
7.How did he/she ask you out?
He came up to me after a fireside to see if I wanted to go shooting with some friends. I told him I didn't know and to call me the next day. I was scared, but gave in. Went...found out I was his date on a double date, and it was all over from then on.
8.Has this person ever proposed to you?
Oh yeah!
9.Do you and this person have kids together?
Someday
10.Have you ever broken the law with this person?
Yes, but my lips are sealed on this one (just kidding, see #5 above. We were unknowingly trespassing until we were warned the cops were going to come if we didn't leave. we did.)
11.When was the first time you realized that you liked this person?
While we were shooting
12.Do you get along with his/her family?
Totally!
13.Do you trust this person?
I wouldn't have married him if I didn't
14.Do you see her/him as your partner in your future?
No brainer
15.What is the best gift she/he gave you?
compliments- but worldly speaking, my down rei jacket!
16.What is one thing He/She does that gets on your nerves?
I think this should stay between him and I, but I will tell you something that drives me nuts but every time I actually see him do it, I laugh. Whenever he changes his clothes he thinks it's hilarious to fling or throw his clothes around the room (I am not talking seductively, he just thinks it is funny). He turns into a little boy. I get to pick them up, but I can't help but giggle at the little boy inside him.
17.Where do you see each other 15 years from now?
Backpacking with our kids somewhere fun!
18.What causes the most arguments?
Another personal one, but I'd say when communication is lacking.
19.How long have you been together?
A bit more than 5 years
20.Are you Married?
Yes, just about to hit the 5 year anniversary!
21. Who Do you Tag?

My missy miss Haley Laley (sorry girl but I miss you and like hearing from you!)

LA Weekend

Thanks to work, Sommer and I spent the night in an Anaheim hotel. I went down earlier in the week for an Air Force conference and Sommer drove down the last night so we could spend it together and look around LA while we were there. We randomly drove around until ending up at Newport Beach where we walked around "people watched." As you can see from this first picture, we finally found Waldo. He is hanging out with his buddy at the beach.

We walked out to the pier to take a picture but the wind was so strong, we didn't hang out for long. Luckily Sommer had bought me a new coat the day prior or I would have had nothing warm to wear. Even with the wind, it was more nice at Newport Beach than on our return to Tehachapi. The clouds were very low and dark as we drove up the mountain and it appeared to have snowed in the higher mountains, while we were gone.

Boomer and Sadie were glad to have us back. Sadie was so happy, she left us a present on the carpet right after we walked in. Even with the cold weather, it is always nice to come home. We hope everyone had a great week. I will leave you with a picture of my beautiful wife peering out over the beach. That photographer must have some stellar skills, if I do say so myself.....

Tag, I 'm it!

All right so my dear Wendy tagged me. I must admit this is the first time I have been tagged.....


Rules: Copy and paste questions. One word answers only. Tag other people.


1.Where is your cell phone? pocket
2.Where is your significant other? Awards Banquet
3.Your hair color? blonde
4.Your mother? loving
5.Your father? Italian
6.Your favorite thing? Lindsay
7.Your dream last night? none
8.Your dream/goal? Motherhood
9.The room you’re in? lobby
10.Your hobby? crafts
11.Your fear? alone
12.Where do you want to be in 6 years? content
13.Where were you last night? Amy's
14.What you’re not? rich
15.One of your wish list items? wheat grinder
16.Where you grew up? Spokane
17.The last thing you did? email
18.What are you wearing? jewelry
19.Your t.v.? little
20.Your pet? Boomer!!!!!
21.Your computer? dieing
22.Your mood? tired
23.Missing someone? Lindsay
24.Your car? efficient
25.Something you’re not wearing? socks
26.Favorite store? Urban Outfitters
27.Your summer? busy
28.Love someone? forever
29.Favorite color? orange
30.Last time you laughed? hmmmm...
31.Last time you cried? yesterday

I know some people hate these things but I always love reading them and they let everyone in on little random bits!

I tag Corinne & Jill!

So Linds and I are on a sort of getaway! He is at a convention and I joined him today. Crazy thing....we are literally 3 blocks from Disneyland! Too bad we are saving our money or else that would be a blast!

Talk to you soon!
Som

Survivor Sadie!

So little Miss Sadie is a trooper to say the least! She is coming back from the nasty disease of Parvo and she is coming back with a vengeance! She is still rail thin (we have been calling her our back of bones-poor thing) but now she is not puking or having diarrhea and so she is now starting to gain back weight, which is great. With the weight her personality and spunk is back too and she is so fun. The potty training thing has totally reverted back to square one but she is smart so I am sure she will do just fine.


This is a picture of where Lindsay found her when we was getting ready to finish his business. SOrry-kind of gross, but too funny not to show! And the second is just a picture of her curiosity.





On friday night Lindsay and I attended our Ward's Trunk or Treat and because it was raining we passed out candy from the classrooms. It was a fun night, it was especially nice to get out after having cabin fever with Sadie all week. It was nice to be her little nurse but nice to socialize too.




This is my dear friend Amy and her sweet Hannah girl! I am lucky that I get to see her cute dimpled face in the mornings when we walk and whenever else we hang out.






I talked to Haley (BEst friend and Sister in-law) this weekend and even though I already knew we got to talk a bunch about her pregnancy and how she is having a sweet little girl! My brother and his wife Wendy are also going to have a baby next year, but we don't know what they are having yet. If they have a girl then Lindsay and I will have 5 nieces and no nephews, crazy huh? But that's all right that just means everyone can share hand me downs and girly stuff. I miss our families so much and hope that we can make it home for Christmas.

Families have been on my mind a lot lately and I was reading another blog yesterday where they had bore their testimony. I thought that was very courageous and inspiring. So today I would love to share a part of my testimony with you all as well and please feel free to follow suit on your blogs or in emails!

I know that Heavenly Father has an amazing plan for each of us, the plan that some of us know as "The Plan of Happiness." I also know that each of us while here on earth will suffer and go through things that we think we can not handle at times. Whenever I get to this point, I am always humbled as I pray-feeling warm conforts from the spirit and knowing that part of Heavenly Father's plan was to have an Atonement. This event that continues to play out in all of our lives leaves me speechless! I know I do not understand the whole thing but I do know that it has given me the most rich blessings and I can't wait to learn even more.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to pray and talk to my Father knowing that He hears AND answers my prayers. And when I recognize the answers it always makes my heart swell with JOY because it makes me feel special that he knows me so well and always gives the best answer, even if it is across the moon different from what I had in mind.

I know that Families are forever and that through temple ordinances our families can be sealed for all Eternity, the Greatest Blessing! I love my husband with my entire being and am so glad that no matter what we will always be sealed.

I hope that each of you feels the love that God has for you and knows that YOU are HIS children and he loves you. I look forward to reading your testimonies as well.

With love,
SOmmer

Poor Puppy!

So this cute little one is a stray that our neighbors found.We told them that we would foster her (who couldn't foster such a cute girl?) until we could find a home for her and asked that they would still look also. Well those of you who know us, know that we are huge dog lovers! Lindsay first off wanted to keep her, but our rental lease only has Boomer on it. We didn't name her for almost a week hoping that we could find a home and not get too attached. Well we ended up naming her-Sadie. When she first came to us we could tell that she had worms so we went to the vet and got de-wormer and took care of the nasty little things.

She has honestly been the best puppy we have ever watched, and let me tell you we have not only had plenty of dogs of our own but watched many other military members' pets while they were TDY (temporary duty- business trip) or Deployed. She is not perfect but has picked up potty training well and is eager to learn. Just all around great.....

....Sad news is she has got Parvo! Yikes! She has been in the hospital since this weekend and I am picking her up today to help her continue to recover which is a miracle in itself. Most puppies don't survive. She is a total survivor. So we are now debating whether or not to try to convince our landlord to let us get a new dog, or still try to find a good home for her.

On other news.....Lindsay and I had a great weekend! We went hiking this weekend to keep in shape and keep the skin on our heels tough ( I know sounds totally lame, but blisters suck on the trail!) and then I made Proposition 8 calls with my dear friend Amy from our ward.

It is so amazing at what some people believe on this issue. They think it is just about the definition of marriage, but it goes so much deeper. Parents will lose rights to what their children are taught in schools, and religious institutions such as LDS Family Services could lose their right to help with adoptions. HOw ridiculous!!!! It is so sad, so we were calling to make people aware of repurcussions. Please anyone who knows anyone in California please tell them to check out protectmarriage.com and vote YES on PROP 8!!!!

Later on Saturday we went to a church function where I got to play softball and we had a big picnic dinner. It was so fun! OUr team lost but it was fun anyways.

Sunday we rested, and then Last night for Family night we did self defense with our friends Orin and Amy! Orin is a highway patrolman and knew a bunch of stuff, so he taught us how to take a gun out of someone's hands and get out from underneath someone who had you pinned down, and flip them over your back. It was outstanding! I like to know how to protect myself!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Snuggly Bunch

So Lindsay and I have been quite the homebodies lately. And quite frankly I have really enjoyed it. We have been having lots of family snuggles as the weather has been cooling off. Although it is quite weird to me that it is almost November and I can still wear t-shirts and capris some days. But the nights and mornings are chilly. Just enough to call for Hot Cocoa. Mmmmm!
A few saturdays ago we were trying to decide what to do on a great Saturday morning and Lindsay said we should try to make homemade bread. I was astonished that he would want to do that but totally thrilled so we made bread. The recipe made two loaves so after we made the dough we each took over a loaf and punched them down, let them rise and I shaped them for us (at that point Linds had left to go dirt bike riding with some friends), I thought I was quite funny, mine was braided and his was a turd! It was great! But they both tasted amazing. Our goal is to make home made bread more often so that we dont have to pay for the ridicously expensive bread here and plus....who doesnt like home made bread.
Other news......well there really isn't much too report. We are hoping to get our adoption profile moved from Washington down here soon and get that process back in motion. I am going to a conference on Saturday about bringing visual arts into the schools here. One of the ladies in my ward is a substitute teacher and wanted to know if I would want to come and help teach some art classes in the elementary schools throughout the year. I am excited about that. Never thought I would be able to use those talents in such a way but hopefully it will work out well.

Oh Lindsay and I went garage saling this last weekend and we got the sweetest deals! Check this out. I have been looking for some type of cabinet or something for my scrapbooking and art/craft supplies to organize them. I wanted a cabinet or whatever so that once kids actually come into our house I could move that into whichever room it needed to go in and it would all stay together. I got this sweet deal for $3 and nothing was wrong with it!

And Lindsay got two of these for $3 total as well. We didn't even haggle at all, that's just what they were asking-how cool is that? I was so proud of us!

So Lindsay and I have been trying to do fun things without spending money lately and we don't have tv but we can watch dvds at our house. Some of the things that we have been doing are sudoku races (see who can finish them first), scrabble, renting movies, walks, shooting guns (Lindsay reloads his own ammunition), and going to open-mic night at a local coffee shop. These activities have been quite fun I must tell you but I think it would be great to have more ideas. Any ideas anyone?

On Top of the World

All right kiddos, so this is going to be a big post. A few days after my last post I received word that a close family friend had passed away. Actually it happened on September 11th, which brought on a whole new meaning to the day this year. So I scrambled to find a way to Arizona where the family lives and mourn with them (as well as play and have fun, cause Bob would NOT want people crying over him, just enjoying each other). Unfortunately Lindsay was not able to come with me, which was so sad cause it would have been nice to have him there, but I made it.

You see Bob Bess was an amazing man. Him and his wife Cindy met my parents when both were newlyweds and went on to create an amazing life long friendship that anyone would envy. Me and my siblings grew up in our younger childhood years next door or near The Bess boys and were like extended siblings. Bob's death came as a shock to all of us but everyone is doing well. It is so nice to have an understanding of the Gospel of Christ and a belief in the Plan of Salvation knowing that we will be reunited with our loved ones after death!

So I went to Arizona and we played and visited, spent time in "memory of Bob" shopping and eating. The funeral was probably the most amazing that I have been too. There were lots of great musical numbers as Bob's favorite things in life were Music/Media and food. And there was an abundance of food provided from all sources (Bob worked in a corporate position for a grocery chain). It was amazing! There were lots of tears shed and lots of comfort but all in all we kept laughing and joking about things Bob would have commented about.

Some of my favorite memories include having Lindsay learn how to give a good foot rub from Bob (He gave Cindy one every night!), eating off the BBQ by their pool, going to Disneyland, going to the raceway tracks, bartering in Mexico, and just listening to his wisdom and advice that he knew just how to give. Him and his family ( minus one son) also came to Spokane for My brother's wedding a few years back and ended helping Linds and I clean our house that we were moving out of to prepare for an inspection and helping us move in. I felt so bad that they spent part of their vacation doing that and yet they say they had fun. Crazy!

His memory will not be lost on many people and I know his wisdom will continue to pass down. Here are some pics from that trip.....

I get the opportunity to go back tomorrow because I am going to pick up a car down there! Yes, we will now have two cars which will be so nice! I am sure that with small trips I will still bike, but I can grocery shop in the day now and run into the city if I need to without trying to find a ride, or take Boomer to the vet. It will be so grand! I can't wait.

Also I got to see this little boy for the first time in person....

This little guy's name is Carson and he is one of my best friend's from high school little boy. I got to spend an afternoon with the two of them and it was so nice. Last time I say my friend was while she was six months pregnant with Carson! It seems that their little family is doing well indeed and I want to wish Kasey good luck with your new job!!!!

The next morning after I got back Linds and I went on a backpacking trip that we had already planned and had a complete blast! We were able to take Boomer with us and see some of the gorgeous fall colors in central california! A few highlights and a lowlight....the colors made the forest look like it was on fire-greens, fire orange, yellows, and a bit of red here and there, towards the beginning of the trail it was like you were walking through an enchanted hallway of aspens, totally breathtaking. Usually Lindsay and I have a hard time taking pics cause we are too busy having fun but we took almost 70 pictures of this trip it was all so beautiful. Continuing on with highlights and such......we hiked by six lakes all of which were crystal clear greens and blues and you could see fish swimming in them, it was perfect weather (about 60-65 sunny with a breeze) for hiking. It makes me want to go back thinking about it. The not so good, we had this dinner that we were preparing that smelled delicious-especially after that day's hiking and I was starving. You are supposed to boil water then pour it in the pouch, stir, and let sit for a set time. Well Lindsay thought otherwise, we boiled the water, he poured it in, and instead of stirring and sitting, he decided he could seal the bag and just shake it. Not so good, this is the outcome ( so sad!)

I actually started laughing cause it all happened in slow motion. Poor Linds burned his hand and thigh in the process and Boomer got a tasty dinner. I actually did try some of it off the ground. I was just so hungry and it smelled and looked so good. Luckily we re-rationed our food and cooked a not so good Mexican rice and Chicken dinner. Better luck Next time!

And this last thing is a hilarious video we took of Boomer the night prior to leaving. We bought him some booties because we weren't sure if it was going to snow, or have ice, and just in case one of his paws were to get injured. We tried them on at home and they are now dubbed the "Anti-Gravity Boots." Oh so funny, it was like the booties spring loaded Boomer's feet off the floor when he moved. I hope you enjoy!