Grandparent visit, Birthday, Pumpkin Carving!!

Lots to catch up on.

My parents came for a visit last weekend.  It was great to see them (and Puppy) and spend time with them.  There was really no down time while they were here.  They came in Thursday and we spent the day at Legoland on Friday, Saturday was Dylan's b-day party, and Sunday we went to church and then to Julian, and Monday it was back to the airport.  

We had a great time at Legoland.  It is the perfect place to go for those with kiddos in elementary school or younger.  The park was filled with young families 

and grandparents.  It was great.  Dylan had a fun time.  He rode his first roller coaster!! I hope to go back when Jaydon is a bit older.

Dylan celebrated his birthday with a Motocross party.  He had a few boys from his class come over to help celebrate.  His favorite gifts that day were his TX longhorn jersey, R/C motocross bike, and his tons of dollars from Blake and Nissy.  His creative uncle and aunt taped $20 together and Dylan thinks he is rolling in the dough.  :)  Grammy made the coolest cake with some direction, of course, from Dylan.  It was so fun for me to have the little boys over and watch them interact together.  We played games and had pizza and cake.  We missed having so many of our loved ones here to help us celebrate, but thank you all for your gifts and sweet birthday wishes.

After church Sunday, we went to Julian, CA.  It is known for its apples.  For the next couple of months it has an apple festival on the weekends.  It is a cute, quaint town.  It was really busy, but still so fun to experience.  We had apple pie and bought a couple of carmel apples.  It was so fun watching Jaydon eat the carmel apple.

The time came quickly to say goodbye to my parents, as it always does.  We hope to see them again soon.

Yesterday, we took Dylan out to Lake Elsinore to ride his bike.  He started on his Honda, but thankfully, it got a flat and he had to get on his KTM to continue riding.  He went from a bit timid on the bike, to having more confidence and wanting to ride the KTM.  We just need to make a point to get him more seat time.  He is too good and enjoys it to much, not too.  

We (really Garth) carved our pumpkins last night.  He is so creative.  One is just a traditional jack-o-lantern, but the other Dylan wanted to be a FOX pumpkin.  So, daddy came though and we now have a FOX pumpkin.  Too cool!!  I even roasted the pumpkin seeds.  Yummy!

I think that gets you caught up on our lives.  There are so many little details like - I got a haircut for the first time in 5 months, we had sushi last night, and someone had the nerve to take my McCain/Palin sign (don't get me started on that one!).

Well, thats it for now.  We are still missing our family and dear friends, but know we are adjusting and doing well.  Blessings to you all.

Pumpkin Patch

Dishwasher Uses

There have been many times I have wanted to sit down and blog about something, but I just couldn't get myself to sit down and do it!!!  So because of that I will give you a snapshot of what you have missed because of my laziness.

1.  I am now a coffee drinker.  I know - I can't believe it either.  I like those iced coffees. Especially the iced vanilla coffee from McDonald's of all places.  I have started making a version of them at the house to save Garth's hard earned $.  I also enjoy mochas.  We even bought an espresso maker, so we could make them ourselves.  If it ever gets below 90 degrees around here, I think I will enjoy using it.

2.  I enjoy a good walk or jog.  I used to hate working out.  Something about our coach dropping us off 2 miles from the school and then driving behind us telling us to pick it up - that just steals the joy.  Now I get joy in a good 2-3 mile walk or jog.  Maybe it has something to do with my health.  I don't know how long I have to be active, so I may as well enjoy it now.  I also think I am a better wife and mom because I take a few minutes out of the day to do something for myself.

3.  I can't believe the nature of our dinner conversations now.  I never thought I would be at a point in my life where I was truly concerned with a presidential election and the state of the economy.  I obviously have always wanted the best for the country and the economy, but I never imagined that I would be discussing the topics of the day.  On that note - we have a McCain/Palin sign in our yard.  I'm really not that type of in your face, let everyone know what I think person, but I just feel this election is too important.  Unless things change, it appears Obama is the winner, but I am at peace (I never said I liked it or wouldn't do my share of complaining) because of the following:

Psalm 2:10-12

Now then, you kings, act wisely!

Be warned, you rulers of the earth!

Serve the Lord with reverent fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

Submit to God's royal son, or he will become angry, 

and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities-

for his anger flares up in an instant.

But what joy for all who take refuge in him!

The words to cling to are - But what joy for all who take refuge in him!  No matter what happens in this old world, we are called to cling to him - Jesus Christ!

Enough of the catch up blogging.  There were many other topics and thoughts, but I will save those for another day.

My real reason for this post is how the uses of your dishwasher change when you have a toddler.  Today my dishwasher has been a dishwasher, a zoo for a giraffe, a landing strip for an airplane and a race track for a car.  Oh the joys!!!  These pics show the dishwasher play and Jaydon using a tape recorder as a camera to take a pic of me.  Cheese, Mom!!