It's Time to Confess My Newest Addiction

You may have guessed by now that I have somewhat of a compulsive-obsessive nature. My latest addiction is blogs. I now have 35 blogs listed on my favorites. You can just be thankful that I haven't added them all to the blog, blog, blog feature on this blog.

The problem with following that many blogs is that it now takes me about one hour to check them all each morning and then read the ones that have been updated. The cool thing about following that many blogs is that it has expanded my prayer list. There are at least 5 blogs that I'm following simply because I'm praying for them.

My daughter Jessica sent me links to two cross-stitch blogs over the weekend, which led me to looking at some of their favorite cross-stitch blogs. I've found a whole new category of blogs to follow. Of course, It also got me to thinking about starting my own cross-stitch blog... we'll see if I follow through or not.

If you'd like to see a sample of the four generation pictures we had taken this past weekend you can see them by clicking here. I can't wait to see the rest of the photos. We had so much fun during this shoot, and my friend Joanna is great to work with. Picture taking is usually torture for me, but she creates a very relaxing, non-intimidating environment as she works. I highly recommend her if you want some professional photos of your family!

OK, gotta run, I have more blogs to read...

A Happy Father's Day

Friday night at Famous Dave's - I couldn't decide which picture to use, the one that's good of Dan and Gabe...

or the one that's good of Sunny!

Happy Father's Day Gramps!

Happy Father's Day, Papi!

Dan, Katie, & "I'm tired of taking pictures..." Sunny

This year Father's Day was a multi-day event. We had dinner with Katie & Gabe on Friday night. On Saturday we met my friend, Joanna in downtown Glendale to take four generation photos with my mom. Afterward, Katie & Sunny came back to the house to open Dan's present. On Sunday, we took my folks to breakfast and then went to IKEA to bargain shop. Dan spoke to all the kids on the phone, and relaxed the rest of the evening. Believe it or not, he chose to go to IKEA for Father's Day. What a guy!

Happy Birthday JD!

JD turns 25 today. I can't believe he's that old, especially when I only feel about 35! JD is my second child, my first son. When I was pregnant with him, I lied to the Doctor about my dates. I know, I know, that was really stupid. But I had a very good reason, I didn't want to take a chance on him being born on my mother-in-law's birthday... but that's a whole other story.

Since I had c-sections, his birth was scheduled for 6-18-85. When they handed him to the pediatrician, the Dr said "This isn't a 39-week baby!" Oops, I was found out! Oh well, he was perfectly healthy and hopefully not traumatized by his (somewhat) early entrance into the world.

JD has always been a kid that marched to the beat of a different drummer. He sets his mind on what he wants to accomplish, and he goes for it, regardless of what other's think. As a kid he tried cub scouts, tried sports, but excelled at music. He joined the band in elementary school and continued throughout the rest of his school years. He participated in Jazz Bands, Marching Band, the band at church, State level competitions, all the while amazing us with his ability to get up at 5:00 am for band practice without complaint or reminder. This feat is more amazing than you realize... he's definitely a kid that wanted to sleep late whenever possible. We never thought he'd actually get up for early practice, but he proved us wrong.

JD went off to U of A his freshman year, but when it was finished, he surprised us once again by transferring to Manhattan Christian College in Manhattan, KS to pursue a degree to be a Youth Pastor. Approaching graduation, he met the love of his life, Janel. They were married in July 2008 and settled in Bartlesville, OK where JD was youth pastor at a local church. Once more the drumbeat sounded and JD left that position to move to Columbia, SC where he is pursuing his master's degree in adolescent counseling.

We are so proud of JD, and have been at each milestone of his life. The only negative for us is that he lives so far away. We can't wait for the day when he moves closer to us and we get to have more time with him and Janel.

So on this day, I'll pour over JD's childhood photos, relive the best memories, dream about his future, and celebrate the day this very special son came into our lives. Happy Birthday, JD! We are immensely proud of you and love you more than you can know.

Christmas Corner Update

Check the Christmas Corner page for tips to make your holiday season stress-less!

Monsoon Season

"Monsoon Expected to be More Intense this Year" was the headline of an Internet article on Arizona's Monsoon season. The season started yesterday and lasts until September 30. For those of you not familiar with the monsoon, it means "seasonal wind shift". It takes place each year in the summer months and can bring torrential rain, damaging winds, haboobs (dust storms), hail, and deadly lightning. In Phoenix, we get an average 2.76" of rain. It is the wettest part of the year. We love it!

It also appears to be Monsoon season in my personal life as well. But not in a bad way. It's just that all of a sudden we have a lot of changes happening. Yesterday when I called Dan to tell him of the latest news, he said "wow, we have a lot going on". Now for him, that's the equivalent of "O my gosh! What's happening?! I'm not sure I can handle it all." Ha ha, just kidding.

It's really kind of cool that we have all of this excitement. One child is moving back to the area (hallelujah!). One of my best friends is moving back to the area (yippee!). We're planning a vacation this fall (ahhh!). And we just found out that a wedding may be thrown into the mix (fantastic!). Another child may be moving out of state (sad, but a really good opportunity for him).

This is what I thought our "empty nest" years would be like. Lots of comings and goings. Lots of sharing in the kids joys and sorrows, opportunities and challenges. A change of focus from our insulated home life to something bigger. I'm very excited!

Flip-flop Drive Update

As you can see from the totals to the right, our flip-flop drive for God's Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti is progressing well. Just a note, if you  want to participate I have a bargain alert for you. Michael's is offering their flip-flops at 50% off this week 6/13-19. What a deal! Thank you to those of you who have already donated.

Saturday Ramblings

When I picked my "Verse of the Day", I had not read "Today's Quote"... they sure go together! I love it when things work out like that.

Those of you that look at my blog regularly must wonder why I keep changing the backgrounds so often. I just haven't found one that I love. Plus, I'm just that way. It kind of goes along with the whole paper addiction, color obsession, perfectionism side of my life. I'm committing to leaving this background on until September 1st when I will switch to a fall background. Just count yourselves lucky that I'm not constantly switching to Christmas backgrounds year round!

The high temperature here today is to be around 90 degrees. That is absolutely unheard of in Phoenix in June. I have the doors and windows open, enjoying the cool air. Three weeks from today we will be in the middle of the hottest week of the year. Typically temps that week are the in the 115+ range. Since I enjoyed everyone's winter weather pictures this past winter, I plan to return the favor by running out and taking pictures of the really hot days here this summer!