Forecast : showers

Bridal showers that is! Along with my mother and a few of her friends, I am hosting a Bridal shower for my sister Bekki today! She will be marrying Brady on August 21st. The house has been buzzing with "wedding" ever since I arrived in North Dakota. After 5 years of married bliss I have nearly forgotten how excited and wonderful it is to plan a wedding. I am having so much fun helping with whatever I can. I am excited to be the matron of honor and can't wait to see all the fun gifts that Bekki gets showered with today!

I found a few more pics of the girls b-day party and thought I would share them with you today!

The girlies pre-party in their tutus!

cupcake time

forget the fork!!!

A pretty bracelet that Destiny got as a gift from Vicki!

A special elephant gift for Addi from Auntie Lili.

both smiling...in one picture! AMAZING!!! now if only the deer wasn't a part of the pic! oh well! such is life!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the pics. I best be off to prep for the shower. More pictures to come on that!!!

Enjoy today!

What could possibly be better than...

time spent with family, 2 bands, a jam session, 320 lb. pig roast, my favorite macaroni salad, dancing, hula hoops, perfect weather, and a special game? ...NOTHING!

We had a great day spent in Towner, ND. Just for the people who have no idea where that is or why we went there. Towner is near the geographical center of North America (Rugby, ND). My dad grew up on a farm close by there. My Aunt Lila and Uncle Fudd throw a HUGE party there every year and they call it : Fuddstock or Fuddfest or Lilapalooza or too many other names to write! So, here is how I spent my Sunday!

Deja Vu is a band that both my Uncle Fudd and Cousin Rex are in. They were great!

Here is the family walking to the festivities! Destiny was wearing her tutu from Auntie Lili for the festivities!

Destiny held Pa's hand.

A rare picture of me...usually I'm behind the camera.

A special game created for my Auntie Lois.

Destiny's favorite spot during the day...the swings!Some one sportin' a hat made out of mike's hard lemonade boxes.

Destiny and Miss Kaylee playing in my cousin Robin's camper.

Auntie Ora starting off the dancing.

Great music!

Destiny and the girlies she had so much fun playing with Kaylee and Kaydence...and of course her Great Auntie O and cousin Robin!

Pool time!

My cousin MaryAnn sang a song honoring God on the beautiful Sunday.

The 320 lb. pig...

Addi loved the watermelon!

Bekki and Addi dancing!

We had a great time in Towner! It was so much fun getting together with friends and family. It makes me look forward to Bekki's wedding even more! I can't wait to see everyone for that event too!

Well, I'm off to bed. Busy day tomorrow too!

Enjoy today!

What keeps Matt up at night?

Happy Saturday!



What a glorious day! I have enjoyed some down time with my family and little garage saleing with a close gal pal! Also, time spent exploring Bekki's reception area and church for her wedding. What fun!



So, I bet you are wondering what keeps Matt up at night! Here is the newest story involving his work/submarine. Please visit the website below.



http://www.komonews.com/news/local/98650719.html?tab=video



Our hearts go out to the family and friends of these young men. We pray for recovery and justice.



Matt's time at U.S.S. Seawolf is drawing to an end. He received an award yesterday that he has been wanting for a long time. We could not be more proud of him! He is beginning to be kicked out of meetings and has fully handed over his job to YN1 Long. He will join us here in North Dakota in about 1 week!



We are off to the church to scope out the decorating prospects!



Enjoy today!

We are Family!

Life is busy, busy right now so I don't have much time for the blog. Believe it or not this blog takes a lot of time and energy! haha! I thought I would post some pics of what we have been up to for the past week!

Destiny has been going to vacation bible school and loving every minute of it! Today she has a program as it marks the end of the school.

Also, one of my best friends forever is in town so I have been able to hang out with her. Maybe we'll get a picture of the two of us tonight so I can post it.

My auntie O from Washington is coming to town for lunch today with a couple of her friends!

Life is so fun and busy and amazing right now. I am just trying to live every moment to the fullest and enjoy being surrounded by family and friends.

So, here are the pics!

The girlies took a dip in the pool!

Destiny and Kaya got tattoos at the "Christmas in July" party at Lewis and Clark state park.

Addi got to swing...no tattoo for her!

Addi trying on Auntie Bekki's sunglasses.

That's right...my life just got a whole lot busier! Addi is WALKING! She takes a few steps then falls, but I know where this leads...she'll be running around the house in no time!

Addi playing with Pa...so sweet!

We took a quick trip to Tioga to visit my Grandma! She had the best sweet potatoes I have ever tasted. Yum! Destiny loved "performing", dancing and singing for us!!

Addi met a new friend!

Then we had a visit with Great Auntie Mona. Destiny and Mona put together a puzzle that Mona and I used to put together when I was Destiny's age!

I got to explore the basement a little and I found a juicer! yahoo! A little side note: I LOVE Mona's house. It is one of the most comfortable places in the world to me. I have so many fond memories in the house; I just get warm fuzzies every time I enter.

Addi played with some books while Mona read books to Destiny at the kitchen table.

As you can see, I am so blessed right now with the support and love from my family! My girls are SO lucky to be here and to be able to spend some time getting to know my relatives!

Enjoy today! (I know I will!)

Where are we going? *clap clap clap*

Where are we going? *clap clap clap* - Destiny often sings this as we travel in the car. It's a little jingle that Dora the Explorer sings as she figures out what kind of adventure she will be embarking on in each episode.

Well, the answer to that question is: Canberra, Australia for our family. Matt is due to report there in early September and we will follow him in November.

A part of me wants to wait to learn anything about Australia so I can just dive right in to the culture. However, the more cautious part of me wants to be studying and reading up and learning all about Australia. I have had very little time to do reading, but have had the chance to read a couple of books. The first one is a children's book. Sometimes I think children's books break things down so nicely and it is so easy to understand. The pictures were a BONUS too!

I also read "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson. It was a hilarious book and taught me much about Australia. I suggest it to any one looking for a good read. You will be entertained! I found myself giggling out loud at some of his stories of his adventures down under!

This map shows Canberra. It is southwest of Sydney.

Below are some photos of the city itself. As described in This is Australia, "Canberra is the capital of all Australia. After a federation of Australian states was achieved in 1901, an independent district called the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.) was carved out of the state of New South Wales. It is an artificially created city. Even its lake is man-made. It is named Lake Burley Griffin after the American architect whose master plan for Canberra was selected out of many. In Canberra extraordinary attention is paid to public parks and private gardens. Anyone who buys a house in the city gets trees for his garden free from the government. Every scenic place in the vicinity of Canberra has a picnic area with gas barbecue pits for weekenders."

In the back of the book it further describes Canberra, "Canberra is entirely a planned city. Griffin's plan was influenced by the garden city movement, which means planned self-contained towns surrounded by greenbelts. There is much natural vegetation and it has the nickname "bush capital." Up until 1984, each homeowner was given about 100 plants to help green Canberra."

Sounds lovely, huh?

Prior to leaving the states, I have decided I NEED to have some goals for our time in Australia. I wanted to share some of them with you.

My first goal is to learn how to make breads and pastries. I am a big fan of home made products and would love to be able to learn and to provide for my family in this way.

My second goal is to learn how to cook fish. Every time I have tried I cook it for probably 10 minutes longer than it should have been cooked. Me and my family end up chewing on rubber that resembles fish! haha!

Goal number 3: Scrapbook, scrapbook, scrapbook!!! I need to get caught up! For goodness sakes, I have had another daughter and the scrapbook world doesn't even know it yet!

Goal number 4: Do some traveling while I am there! I am not sure where I would like to travel, but I have a few ideas up my sleeves!

A Mini goal within the traveling goal is to HOLD A BABY WOMBAT! How cool would that be?!?

I would love to see Sydney. Maybe attend something at the opera house (now this is just a dream, folks!)

I would LOVE to venture up to Ayers Rock.

Or maybe visit a little bit of wine country.

Other places that would be fabulous to see would include, an outback excursion, Tasmania, New Zealand, so many places to choose from!

Everything will be bright and new and exciting when we first arrive. I am nervous but very much looking forward to the adventure my family is about to go on. I look forward to trying new things and living in the moment!

Hope you enjoyed learning a bit about where we are off to in a few short months!

Enjoy today!

A question for you: What would you like to do if you had the chance to visit Australia?

*I love input your imput and appreciate all your comments!