Our Recent Visitor

I don't know why, but I never named her. I don't know why I assume she is a her, either. She's huge. Seriously, the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life. I know, I'm a wuss from California and the country bugs and animals are new for me. I didn't believe my eyes the first time I saw one of these spiders. This spider is, seriously, at LEAST the size of a silver dollar. Big enough to make me shiver just looking at the pictures.

They are called Yellow Garden Spiders and other than being extremely gross, they make the coolest webs I've ever seen. HUGE webs with zig zags and they're amazing. Nothing in the bushes when I come home from work, and a nice bug-trap when I leave for work the next morning. I know, I contradict myself with my amazement at the industrial nature of spiders, and just how completely creepy they are to me. The web in this picture is nothing compared to what we had earlier this summer. At one point we had 2 of these spiders living in these flowers which line the side of the house. They made webs easily 3 foot tall. I keep expecting to open the front door and have a web on the front porch and one of these giants in the middle of it. Yep - made myself shiver again.

These pictures are from this morning as I was getting ready to leave. She had moved her web almost onto the front porch - finally at an angle I could capture digitally for the world to see...well, at least, the part of the world who reads my silly blog.

And it's begun...

PIGTAILS!!!! You have no idea how excited I was to give this a try. Her hair is long, but still not long enough to put all up into the pigtails, but I think she sure looks cute.

I included the picture with her eyes closed so you can see how insanely long her eyelashes are...all thanks to her father. Josh's are long as well, if not longer.

by the way - Josh's mohawk is back...pictures to follow...

The Goofy Kid Turns 1

It has arrived. Katie is 1 year old. We don't do parties right now, but we always are sure to buy cupcakes and sing Happy Birthday. Thursday night we all sat around the kitchen table and turned Katie loose on her first cupcake. It was very fun and a very nice bright point amidst our current trials. We all had a wonderful time and I must say, those cupcakes disappeared quite quickly.

I took this week off of work and it has been such a blessing. Amidst struggle, we have managed to pull together as a family more closely than ever. I am eternally grateful for my loving spouse, my beautiful children and the Gospel in our lives which allows us to grow together and feel more joy than I know how to express.

8 Things Tag

I was tagged. I know, it's like one of those chain letters I always delete (yes, I really do always delete them and I'm still alive, have all of my limbs and none of my pets have come up missing. It's a shocker, I know). Even with the chain-ness involved with Blog-tag, I am a sucker for surveys, as long as I have time to complete them. Today, I had time.

8 THINGS I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT:
*My husband - he's my best friend
*My family
*The Gospel
*Having fun!
*Good Stories (books, movies, whatever)
*Music - most every kind
*Bettering myself
*Sleeping

8 WORDS OR PHRASES I SAY WAAAY TOO OFTEN:
*That's retarded (I am working to eliminate this one)
*Shut-up! (as an exclamation of surprise - not a command)
*Whatev
*So...
*Anyways...
*Babyhead (as a name, exclamation or simply trying to get my way)
*Um...yeah
*Anywho

8 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
*Get better about Serving others
*Be better about Loving others
*See my kids married in the Temple
*Serve a mission
*Visit Europe - especially the UK
*Earn my Masters Degree (it'll happen, even if I am old and gray)
*Have a car that is fun to drive, and simply not practical
*Take a nice long vacation

8 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY PAST:
*Forgiveness can be earned.
*Hard work is rewarded, but not always in the way you expect.
*Having faith is hardest when things seem easy.
*Forgiving yourself is necessary.
*The right path is seldom the easier one.
*It doesn't matter what people think of me or my actions.
*I can't do it alone.
*Blessings come in all shapes, sizes and people.

8 PLACES I WOULD LOVE TO SEE:
*Alaska
*London
*Scotland
*Sunrise on a beach
*Hawaii
*The Caribbean
*The Grand Canyon
*Yosemite - it doesn't matter that I've already seen it, I want to see it again and again

8 THINGS I CURRENTLY NEED OR WANT:
*New paint in my house
*More energy
*More discipline
*Stress relief
*"How-to" knowledge
*A money-tree - it HAS to exist!
*Focus (as usual)
*More storage space

8 MORE PEOPLE I TAG!
*Jenny L.
*Carol M.
*Sarah W.
*Chaundra W.
*Karla H.
...yeah, I don't have enough people who read my blog, so 5 will have to do.