Water Skiing

We've been trying to get down to the lake to ski since Memorial Day weekend and something seems to happen every weekend. We finally made it down yesterday!

Sarah seems to like the boat (she's gets real nervous if one of us isn't holding her) and she definitely loves seeing other boats, the water, and birds (she's going to go nuts in Maine with all the lobster boats and birds that swarm them!)

her super-duper new life jacket!

Louisville visit

Sarah and I spent the week in Louisville visiting my sister's family. We had so much fun!!! It was our 1st "girls" trip - Sarah did great in the car. She definitely had her moments, but I was impressed.

Sarah had a blast playing with her cousins - Callie (6), Connor (4), & Caroline (13 months)

Alysia & Caroline

they have a great yard for kids, and Sarah LOVED it!

Sarah & Callie

their trampoline was a huge hit with Sarah! Our last day, she figured out how to get up and down by herself ... yikes!! I love the static hair :)

I joked that their pantry is a "Seven Eleven" - for 1, they have way better snacks that we have. But my sister does The Grocery Game - you sign up for your local stores, and then each week "the list" tells you what is on sale and what coupons are out, so you use your coupons to match up with sale items; thus you either get steal deals or even things for free - so she has quite the stock pile built up and has been saving money!! In the picture above she's pointing at the Gold Fish :)

We took the kids swimming in a neighbors pool ... poor Sarah in a bikini! I forgot her bathing suit and that was the only extra one Alysia had! Her belly was a site to see!

We are so excited for these little girls to become best buds as they grow up! I'm so thankful that Sarah has a cousin her age!

On the way home, she fell asleep with in 10 minutes and slept for 2 hours!

I loved the time with my sister. She is such a great mom and I have a lot to learn from her! Her patience amazes me, and she's so laid back. I love it!

Atlanta!

For Father's Day I gave Jon 4 tickets to a Braves game. So we headed to Atlanta yesterday, and met up with our friends Toby and Elizabeth at their house (they have 1 of our puppies, so it was fun to see the little guy again) and then headed to the game. Jon and I were amazing by their kids, Ada and Machen! They sat calmly and still, and eventually fell asleep! Sarah would have been all over the place ... so she stayed home with Grams and Pops. Jon has been friends with them since college, but we had never spent time together as married couples. It was so fun!!!

(at the end of the game, this guy was push mowing on the field - you're kidding right??!)

such precious kids and amazing sports!

The Braves rallied in the bottom of the 8th and won in the bottom of the 9th - so it was an exciting ending to a not exciting game! The craziest thing was running into my friend Lydia in the concession stand line! :)

Before we had Sarah, we seemed to get to Atlanta at least a few times a year, and would always use Priceline.com to get a nice, cheap hotel room. Since mom and dad had Sarah for the night, we decided to try our old trick and got a great deal on a hotel. It was such a treat! - especially seeing 8:50am on the clock when I woke up!! :)

Outside!

Sarah has been fever free since yesterday morning and is returning to her fun little self. We spent the morning outside - I think she was so relieved to finally be allowed/able to go outside again!

already she loves to help mama - and I try to reinforce how great that is!!!
("smelling" a leaf - we've really worked to teach her to smell flowers not pick them - so now she smells grass, weeds, you name it!)

our girls :)
and worn out Isla. I love how tired puppies get!!

This is why I love our cats - Niamh is the bushes which means no snakes are!!! In the last picture you'll notice Rory high up in the tree - Mattie has taken to playfully chasing them and he had had enough. Isla on the other hand is becoming little buddies with Niamh!

Sick

Sarah's had a fever since Sunday morning. I took her to the doctor today - she has a viral throat infection. Apparently it's going around. It's so sad to see her not feeling well. I do like how cuddly she is when she's sick ... but it's more sad. Her impeccable timing always amazes me. This is the 3rd time in her life that she has been genuinely sick (we really are lucky in how rarely she gets sick). The first time was when she got the throw up bug the night before we moved. The next time was in Austria. And now this time, we were supposed to head up to my sister's Monday morning. Luckily, my sister and I both have free weeks next week too, so hopefully Sarah and I will be headed up there this Monday.

Here are a few recent pictures. I love the 1st 2! It's so rare for me to be able to capture her smiling at the camera! Sarah has been a far cry from this jolly little girl the past few days. The last one captures a classic Sarah movement with her belly poking out and arms stretching out in her dramatic little fashion :)

Father's Day!

These holidays are a bit cheesy in my opinion ... but a good opportunity to "public" praise the Fathers in my life!

Watching Jon be a "papa" to Sarah has made me love him even more. He is amazing with her. 1 of my favorite things is hearing Sarah's giggles as Jon tickles her and plays other games. He has an amazing balance of discipline and gentleness and love. And she adores him. It's so evident and so beautiful! Jon and I are also incredibly blessed with dads of our own - who we love, respect, and look up to. We have so much to learn from them! They (along with our moms) are some of the greatest role models in our lives.

I've been sobered this weekend in the sudden death of Tim Russert. Jon's Uncle David died the same way 3.5 years ago. I think of Russert's son Luke and pray for him - he just graduated from college and now is facing life without his dad. You never want anyone to have to go through the heart wrenching experience of suddenly loosing someone close. I pray with all my heart that the Lords protects those close to us. Yet I also rest in the fact that our Almighty Father has grace beyond grace and love beyond love, and grants us what we need for whatever He brings our way.

All that to say this Father's Day, I am thankful for the dads in our life, and sobered by the fact that it is a gift that we have our dads still in our lives.

On a final note, I always loved watching Tim Russert and will miss his presence on the air!

Gyp & "Mr Red"

This post is for our nephew Arie, and friends Em & Josh ... who are counting down the days until they meet their pup (Mr Red will be officially named once Em & Josh meet the little guy!)

Here they are! (some of the pictures are a bit blurry - they're so active that it's hard to catch them when they're still!!!)

Sarah & Lee Lee

Sarah and her cousin Lee Lee

(this is the best of the attempts of a picture of the 2 of them; see the slide show for the rest!)

My cousin Cathy is 14 years older than me, so we never thought we'd have kids the same age. That all changed when they adopted precious Lee Lee from China. We laughed so hard trying to get a picture of the 2 of them together. Sarah looked like a statue afraid to move!!! She also looks like a giant next to petite little Lee Lee - and Lee Lee is almost a year older! We are so glad God has blessed our family with Lee Lee!

Sarah loves her cousin Alli, and she is so good with Sarah. Alli played with Sarah for a while on Saturday night - you can see in Sarah's face how much fun she's having!


Last night after we put Sarah down, Alli came over so Jon and I could head to Starbucks to celebrate my birthday. What a treat!

So words do not do justice to the insanity at times of having 5 dogs and 2 cats. This morning, while filling 4 water bowls for Mattie and the 4 remaining pups, twice in a 8 second span, the same cat scared me so bad that I spilled water. I'm terrified of coming across a snake, so all the cats have to do is move when I'm not expecting it and I'll jump in total fear/shock (granted we have seen 2 snakes and the people who lived here last year had a COPPER HEAD NEST). Fear is merited! Almost daily as I brave the bushes to turn on the hose to water the garden, 1 of the cats will jump in a seeming attempt to make me scream. This morning, after filling all the bowls, I headed down to the kennel to let the pups out to enjoy a day of wrestling and destroying our back yard with Mama Mattie. On opening the kennel gate, the puppies go absolutely nuts all trying to out do the other to get the closest to you. Over the past weeks, they've caused Jon do to a face plant with Sarah on his back and made me do a front somersault down the hill. Words really do no just to it! While we've loved the pups, we can't wait for Toby & Elizabeth to come get theirs this week and for Em & Josh to get theirs in 2 weeks! Then we'll drive Gyp to Maine when we go ... coming home to only 2 dogs and 2 cats!

One more topic change ... our garden of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, soy beans, rosemary, mint, basil, thyme, parsley, and sage seems to be growing and surviving. I love having a garden, but by no means am I a "gardener." (just look at my yard to tell you that!) I'm learning though!

Pictures!

It's HOT here. Summer has arrived with a vengeance. 90 degrees in early June seems too much. To add to the misery, the AC in my car is broken. Thus, Sarah and I have been arriving at destinations wind blown and sweaty! (we are getting the AC fixed on Tuesday before we drive 3000 miles to Maine and back). After lunch at the Golf Club yesterday, Sarah and I headed to Wal Mart to buy a little pool to pass the afternoons in. Instead of using a swimmie diaper (which aren't cheap) I just stripped her down and let her play!



Lunch at the Golf Club is not a normal occurrence for us. This weekend is the annual Swing Ding tournament - it's a member-guest tournament, and Jon always plays with his brother. 4 days of golf = highlight of Jon's year. Last night was the fancy dinner. Tonight is the family dinner. During the day, the guys play, and families typically follow and watch. It is fun. It's also great because I don't have to cook from Thursday-Sunday! This picture is from last night - it's a bit blurry, but we'll keep it since we almost never dress up this nice :)

This last slideshow is just a bunch of pictures from over the past weeks. We're bringing Isla up to the house a lot to help her adjust to being our dog as opposed to just 1 of the puppies. Sarah is learning to co exist with another dog and Isla is learning not to jump all over Sarah. It's a battle keep Isla from chewing on Sarah's toys - and to keep Sarah from trying to play with Isla's chew toys!!

Piddling

Jon is playing in a golf tournament and Sarah's in bed ... so I've been piddling. I've caught up on reading friend's blogs and then I decided to "redecorate" my blog.

Last Thursday I cut a run short and announced to Jon that I needed to take a 2 week break from running. My left leg still hurts from Boston. It's been a battle. Everything in me just wants to go for a run! To be safe, I went to the doctor today. Thank goodness I don't have a stress fracture in my shin - it's just inflamed! BUT. But I have some cartilage damage to my knee. Not the knee that I've had surgery on and sliced open down to the knee cap. My good knee! It is the knee that locked up after Boston though. He told me to take 2 weeks off, take anti-inflammatory and use a topical anti-inflammatory. 2 more weeks of no running??? That'll mean 3 weeks total. I just hope the rest does some good and that I'll be set after this hiatus.

I know most of you who check this blog would much rather see pictures of cute little Sarah than read my narrative. Soon! :)

Several titles for this post ran threw my mind ... New Computer! All the puppies are sold! We named our puppy!

I'm typing on our brand new computer! We decided to go with another Dell laptop, with the hope that in 3 or so years we can buy a Mac desk top. I feel like I'm back in the land of the living!

As of yesterday, all of the puppies are officially sold. Hallelujah!!! We still have 4 at the house (friends come next week to get one, other friends come June 22 to get one, and then we'll take one to Maine when we go). We're definitely thankful that each one has a good home.

We've named our little girl "Isla" (pronounced "eye la"). It's a Gaelic name. It's been fun bringing her up to the house and letting her get used to our routine. I'm so glad we're keeping her!

I'll get back in the swing of pictures soon!