the mckinneys

Immigrating to west was a step of faith for us. We left a lot of friends and a church family that we loved. And we knew no one between the eastern edge of California and the Mississippi River.

It had the potential to be a very lonely time for a young family.

Luckily, we were blessed with some fast friends. Christine was one of Kenyon's co-workers. She and her husband Gary are passionate gearheads skiers and although they live about 11 hours away, they had been coming to our little ski town for vacations for over 20 years.

Christine and Gary have six grown children of their own and just as many grandchildren. Yet, they have made room in their hearts for our crew and they have become family to us.

We share happiness and sadness with them. We talk to them on holidays and celebrate birthdays with each other.

And although they have a timeshare condo here in town that they visit once a year, we've now convinced them to come and stay with us at other times so they can kick our butts on the slopes we can ski together.

Our boys are blessed to have another set of grandparents in their lives. Christine always brings very noisy battery operated presents when she comes. Best of all, they have their little inside jokes with the boys like, "Have you been pinched today?" or "I'm going to scob your knob!"

We love our dear friends the McKinneys. Here's a fun video of last week at the pool in their timeshare complex. You can see why the boys love them!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

baby jonah

This was brought to my attention this week.  Get a box of tissues and click on the link.

Our God is a God of miracles and I'm praying for one.

Hunter's haiku

My love for writing comes from the journalism side of creative writing.  I have never adopted a love for poetry, and struggled to produce anything in that genre throughout college.

So, I think it goes without saying that the poetry segments of our home school curriculum are torture not my favorite thing to teach.

And because he probably senses my attitude toward it the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it is not Hunter's favorite thing to learn.

We just finished an extensive unit of poetry writing and I feel so proud that we made it.  He stretched himself and stopped copying my examples and actually wrote some original words.

We had a little fun with haiku.  I think Hunter liked them because they are short poems, consisting of three lines in the 5-7-5 syllable combination.

I wanted to share my favorite.

Untitled by Hunter

snow shines in bright sun
skiing down the steep mountains
I'll sleep well tonight

missing this...

It has been extremely hard to come back this week to the cold and snow and RESPONSIBILITIES!!!  I miss every moment of my time being all about me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On second thought... I sure am glad to be back to this:

This is where I belong.

time to recharge

When the testosterone gets too deep in my home, I flee to recharge my estrogen batteries.

I'm posting from sunny Palm Desert, Cal-if-orn-I-A!!!

My college roommates, Amanda and Carrie, and I have met on our annual girls' weekend for many years now.  We usually meet up in one of our homes once a year for a weekend, but occasionally, we impose on Amanda's parents in Palm Desert and plant ourselves in the sunshine and hot tub until margaritas run out for hours on end.

 

We've had lazy mornings with coffee in the sunshine.

With views like these, it is hard to miss home!

 

Colors... the girls have been trying for years to get me to get a professional color analysis. 

From the fashion gurus themselves, knowing what colors look good with your hair, skin and eye color combination makes a difference in how you look and ultimately saves you money because you don't buy anything that doesn't look good on you.

Amanda had this done several years ago.  Carrie had it done last time we were here (two years ago) and they finally talked me into it this year.  It's not a small investment and I was reluctant because I'm fashion retarded not stylish to begin with.

This is Andie and apparently, she is the best there is where color is concerned!

She looks through the peep hole of these color samples to determine my skin, hair, and eye color.  This is what it looked like from my point of view:

 

Although Andie was the expert and the final authority, Mrs. Landin, Amanda, and Carrie would each submit a vote as well.

  

Conclusion:  I'm a "True Honey Toned Spring"

Translation:  I will be wearing corals, medium blues, brown, off white, and every other color that will arrive next week in my own personalized color palette. 

Carrie and Amanda never leave the house without their palettes and they are a force to be reckoned with in any TJ Maxx or Target!

Luckily, my palette will be very similar to Amanda's and she and her mom have a color memory like a steel trap, so we ate lunch at the golf club and then we were off to shopping.

The best part is.... we have two days left!!!

it's a bird.... it's a plane... it's

 

 

If I could, I would freeze time and keep him at 20 months old forever.