..Where Have We Been?..

It's been quite awhile since my last post.  Some of that is because I haven't been motivated to post, but most of that is because we have been busy, busy, busy enjoying our summer.  What have we been up too?

Nelson spent the last 3 months in the "great" state of Washington on a job that felt like it would never end.  We saw  him for a total of 7 days during that 3 months.  Once when we flew him home to go camping with us for Memorial Day, and once when he drove down to Utah while we were there so he and I could celebrate our...

...9th Anniversary!  Wow, where did the time go?  Our 10th is staring us in the face and I can hardly believe it.  I don't feel old enough to be celebrating 9 whole years of marriage.  Don't get me wrong, there have definitly been moments when it has felt like an eternity, but as cliche as it is to say, I am more in love today than I was the day we wed.

As you  may have guessed, the boys and I made the trek to Utah in June.  On the drive out we had Candice and Stephen with us, but the drive home was solo.  I was really afraid it would be a nightmare trip, but to the credit of my boys, it wasn't too bad, and they even did it without a DVD player. While in Utah we...

...Played with cousins! (And aunts and uncles!)

...Visited Kennecott Copper Mine.

  ...Panned for gold, rode the mini train, and rode a pony at the This is the Place Monument.

...Went to the Eccles Park Dinosaur Museum.

Once we got home, we jumped back into life by...

...Getting 5 pigs! Welcoming 3 goat kids, 2 boys: Ace and Atom, and a girl: Abigail.  The addtions bring our farm count to 1 cat, 2 dogs, 5 pigs, 6 goats, 20 chickens (and an occasional fox).  It's a full house around here.

...Keeping up with our garden.  I got a little crazy and planted 25 tomato plants, among other things.  So we have been canning tomatos like crazy!

...Swimming and getting tan!

...Getting glasses for Ronnie.  Mostly for school and reading, but I couldn't believe how excited he was. He is growing by leaps and bounds and is very excited to be BAPTIZED this December.

...Teaching Ryland how to talk.  He is in speech thereapy and making notable progress.  He gets to start a special pre-school this year, so we're hoping that will help more.  He still has absolutely no interest in potty training though.  He spends quite a bit of time in time-out, as most 2 year olds do.  This particular time, he just went ahead and took his nap while he was at it.

...And baking cakes.  I had 3 wedding cakes scheculed 3 Saturdays in a row.  CRAZY! but fun.  And it put a little extra cash in my pocket, which is always nice.

I am also staying busy as a housekeeper for my sister-in-law, on top of trying to keep my own house clean,

 which is no easy task with 2 live tornadoes living in it.

Nelson got home last night at about 10:00pm.  Finally!!!!!!

 And last but certainly not least, today is Ryland's 3rd Birthday. 

The rest of our summer will consist of spending as much time with Nelson as possible before he leaves for Hazard, Kentucky and preparing for school which starts in 2 weeks.