Eudora KS

 We had a blast at Mimi and Gpa's house in Eudora!  We headed to the city pool (which has a slide, spray grounds and small lazy river-sweet stuff!), did a Pilates classes with the girls-I was a wee bit sore after that one, helped out on rebuilding the deck, rode the 4-wheeler, played in the sprinkler, dipped our toes and threw rocks in the pond, went to the aquarium-SeaLife and did lots of playing and reading!!  It was a fun to be at Mimi and Gpa's house!  Thank so much-we love you guys!

 Even Mimi and Gpa had fun in the sprinkler!  Thanks for doing the 'Olympics' with us!!

Journaling-It's just the way things are right now...

It seems right now I can't get things together.  Everything is falling apart every time I turn around.  A few instances...

1. Owen, who is potty trained for the past 3 months pees on the plane back from KS.  I didn't have any clean clothes so his wet little bottom sat on my lap the last 20 minutes after I cleaned up the chair he was sitting/sleeping in. Lovely.

2. I cleaned the house yesterday and today it is a mess. The kids have trailed crumbs around the house even though they normally stay in the kitchen/dining room. They are wanting to do gymnastics on the couch cushions, and why not the Olympics seem to use pillows.  Plus I can remember doing this.  :)

3. Our refrigerator stopped cooling.  And if you know anything about my frustrations with this appliance I was over frustrated this morning at 6 am.  It will be fixed on Monday, but in the mean time I have had to defrost the entire thing, unplugging it and moving food.  Thankful for our friends the Beavers as our friger stuff that didn't go bad overnight is over at their house.  And thankful for some space in our deep freeze.  Oh and a thanks to Robin for coming up here just to keep me sane.

4. Owen drank some of a kids liquid suppository.  Hummmm.....at least it just past through him like it was supposed to and there wasn't a bunch of throwing up.  Poison Control was called and assured me he probably drank only enough to make things pretty loose.  Okay.

5. Over the weekend while we were gone a few large branches broke off in a wind storm.  Still trying to get up with the tree service to have them trim them out.  Dead Branches in the front yard-a beautiful site.

6. I think after traveling the kids have been in play mode.  Let me rephrase that...they have been in super creative mode and have pulled EVERYTHING out of it's place.  It took Katie 2 hours to clean her room.

7. I have a few phone calls that need to be made and my phone keeps dropping things or I forget to call during business hours.

8. I just feel behind with life right now.  I am not content with things because they seem out of control.  But it is never in my control anyway right?  The Lord has me where he wants me-solely to depend upon Him!  When is the last time I have sat down to study the scriptures?  Why am I living on crumbs when there is a feast to gleam from? He is faithful, I am not and the more I depend upon His hand to guide my life the better it is...

9. things I am grateful for...a pool, kids that are creative, money to get our refrigerator fixed, sunshine, cold water, a house I love...and many many more...

But with all that, I can say that I am choosing to be thankful for two healthy kids.  A husband that works to provide for us with the strength Jesus provides and a God that can calm my heart even though it is racing and wants to hide in a corner, read a good book and sip a yummy coffee.  He alone can handle my life and I rest in His care and refinement of me in this season.  Wouldn't trade it, but praying for peace in it!

A Sneak Peek at the Beautiful Wedding!

Oh sooooo beautiful...

and much much more to come!

Love you Mrs. Brandi Dulan!

melt. my. heart.

...Owen just told me I was his best friend.  Then he told Katie he loved her so so much.

Love that little boy.

Hanging out in Salina KS

We spent a few great days at Aunt Pie's and Uncle Dustin's house.  It is a beautiful house they are redoing from the 1960's.  It is set in an old neighboorhood with lots of hills and unique houses.  

We did lots and lots of playing!

And lots and lots of playing in the water...spray grounds to a water park and a hike to Indian Hill (photos of that later)!

One thing I found interesting was that whenever the kids stepped out of the water, they were cold.  How could one be cold when it was over 100 degrees??!!  I can attest the humidity is lower in the midwest and it was a dry breeze!  Even though it was still humid somedays, it was nothing compared to NC.  That was a refreshing change!

Paxton showed off his crawling/walking skills.

Yep, Katie LOVED helping out with P.  :)  

We had some yummo frozen yogurt.  Mimi and Gpa came up too!

I LOVE the view from this photo.  Something that I have always loved are the wide open spaces in KS.  

Thanks Pie and Dustin for being great hosts and making the most of our three days!  We cannot wait to do it again soon!

Love, us

Handmade Beautiful Gifts!

 My brother, Tommy, has been working with wood and other furniture for a few years now and has his own line.  He sells the ManTable which has taken off well, especially in nurseries for baby bottles or within the Senior Citizen population.  The Man Table was originally designed for the man that wanted a refrigerator in his sports room, but with the woman in mind because the design conceals it well as a side table!  He is also working on another end table with multiple uses as well-to be released soon.  Then there are these beautiful pieces of work.  His hand made cutting boards.  He makes each one by hand with beautiful exotic woods to give each piece an unique look with the colors popping throughout the design.  He has a few different styles and sizes.  They are great for a cutting board, displaying cheese, chocolates...I am hoping to get one soon!  I will post the website soon.

Tommy, I am proud of your work and all that you have accomplished in the last few years!  And Julie, I know you stand behind his work too and he couldn't do it without your help and encouragement!  

:) PS-How soon before you have these pieces in boutiques down here in Raleigh??!!

It was like, "We Bought A Zoo".

First stop in KS...Tanganyika Wildlife Park!

My sister, Jessa picked us up from Wichita Mid-Continent Airport and wisked us away to a secret destination-'Africa' to Katie and Owen!

It was A-MAZING.  

If you live in KS, go and check out this park.  It isn't large, meaning that one can walk around it in a few hours, but the best part is getting to touch or feed so many animals!  They have worked to make it interactive and hands on.  And you'll be able to tell from the photos we got very very close to these beautiful animals!

Thank you Pie, for our adventure! (And thanks to Sherry for all the free goodies-what a blessing! You all run an incredible wildlife park.)

And this giraffe was about 3 feet behind Owen-wow!

Even though at 6 pm it was still hot - above 100 degrees - we were ready to see it all!

When we walked out of the entrance doors we were greeted with giraffes incredibly close by!  There aren't any fences for these animals because the giraffes are to heavy to hold their weight if they stepped up on the stone wall.   Amazing!  We tried to feed these guys some lettuce at the feeding station, but they walked right by us.  They are HUGE!

WOW...wouldn't want this guy chasing me down. He is a real life tank!

I chose to feed the birds...WHAT was I thinking!??  Okay I wasn't thinking!  The whole time they were eating their nectar out of the cup, I was saying...hurry up and finish!!!!!!   Take the picture I am about ready to loose it!!!  Robin, yes, thought of you and I am with you...never again will I feed birds.  But alas, I am alive so it was okay.

We were so close to the big cats, that I felt a bit like I was being stalked. They are incredible animals as well.  And the snow leopards in the above photo I couldn't believe I had held in college at a Fort Hays Cross Country Meet as a kitten!  

We got to pet the kangaroos which were super soft.

And the turtles...

Hey there Paxton, thank you for being so chill the whole time!  You did great riding around with your cousins pushing you everywhere.  :)  Amazing job for a 1 year old!

The kids LOVED feeding the bunnies.

A HUGE HUGE play set to run and play on!

And I didn't know they existed...but there is such a thing as a warm weather penguin!  

This guy did some swimming and performing for us.  It was great to see a real penguin after reading Mr. Popper's Penguins!

My favorite were the Lemurs.  They were pretty soft and cuddly!  I liked the babies the best.

Owen wanted to sit on my lap, but he wasn't so sure about feeding them.

This big kid did great!  He had no nap this day and finally fell asleep at 10:05 pm in the middle of a sentence while driving back to Salina.  love him.

Yes, I look tired?  And I was!  But look at the other big trooper in the back...Katie you did a great job with a happy attitude and a willing spirit to see everything the park had to see!

We were happy, hot and sweaty.  Thanks again for the adventure, Pie!