Forks

Hey all you Twilight fans out there-

Are you jealous?

Michael & Catherine

Can you believe it? One of my brothers finally got married. I seriously thought that day might never come.

I am SO totally completely thrilled to have Catherine Biel Leavitt as my Sister-in-law and so proud of my brother Michael for choosing so wisely. I couldn't be any happier that the two of them are married. We arrived a day early to meet her family. They are fabulous! I am excited that my brother married into such a wonderful family!

They were married in the Seattle temple. Their reception dinner was held at Matt's in the Market at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Here is the view from the restaurant. I can't take credit for any of these photos though. I stole them all from Catherine's facebook page.

Here is a picture of the newlyweds. Catherine looked stunning in her wedding dress!

Another picture of the cute couple. They are going to be living in New York City for the next few years.

Doesn't Michael look happy? What a great day it was for all of us. I am so happy to have Catherine in the family.

HOPE

This morning I was feeling really sad and discouraged....

Enter my daughter Makenna who walked by humming, "We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet." And the phrase that ran through my mind was, "When dark clouds of trouble hang oer us. And threaten our peace to destroy. There is hope smiling brightly before us. And we know that deliverence is nigh."

I guess that is what I need to focus on- HOPE! Even when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, there is always HOPE.

House Hunting

We have been doing a bit of house hunting lately. We placed a bid on this one yesterday. Isn't it cute? We love it!!! There are tons of houses hitting the market soon, so we will probably be placing bids on some of those too. It may seem like a strange time for us to buy, but I am trying to be optimistic. And we're not actually committing to anything by placing a bid. The whole process takes several months...

The Sunken Family Room. This house is 3,400 square feet. I love the idea of having more space!

This is a fabulous kitchen with beautiful cabinets. The counters are not granite :( , but are nice nonetheless.

I love taking baths, so the quality of the bathtub can make or break a house for me. This is a nice one.

I love the yellow walls of the bedroom and would probably keep them this color. Love the spaciousness of this room.

Uh Oh! My blog is not letting me put a space in here. How frustrating!!! So what do you think? Like it? Please keep your eyes and ears open and let me know if you hear of anything new that might be hitting the market soon. The prices are fabulous right now!!! I'm just grateful that we weren't househunting three or four years ago. OUCH!!! We wanted to buy at that time, but Jared was starting his residency and we were way too poor and home prices were way too high for us to even consider it. I was sad at the time, but very grateful now. We are definitely hitting the market at a good time. What a blessing!

Cleaning Weekend

Jared and the kids are going to California for the weekend. And what am I going to do with all my free time? CLEAN, CLEAN, and CLEAN some more! Hopefully, I can have a perfectly immaculate house by the time the gang gets home and it will stay that way forevor and ever and ever.

Missing Matthew

Those of you who know my parents know that they LOVE to travel. When I was growing up we would spend a full month traveling around the U.S. each summer. My parents are still spending their summers traveling, though now they spend much of the time visiting their various timeshares around the country.

Last year Makenna accompanied my parents on their travels and had a great time. A few weeks ago, I started worrying about how I could keep my kids occupied throughout the long, hot summer months. Then I had this great idea! I called my parents and asked how they would feel about taking Matthew this summer. They went for the idea and so did Matthew. I congratulated myself on my fabulous idea!

But when it was time for Matthew to take off last Wednesday, it suddenly didn't seem like such a great idea anymore. The day before there had been a terrible car accident involving a group going to girls camp. Two girls had died. You can understand why I would be anxious to send my little guy off the next day on a road trip. But Matthew was so excited about the trip that I bit my lip and sent him off for a month +.


I sure miss this little guy! Luckily, he is having a fabulous time and totally enjoying himself. As a neglected middle child, I think he is loving having all of his grandparents' time and attention for himself.

Matthew and my parents are currently staying at my parent's time share in Crossville, TN. It is on a lake. Beautiful, isn't it?

Here is a picture of the time share. Makenna took all these pictures when she was there last summer.

Each day, a little turtle suns itself on this dock by my parent's place. Matthew ADORES turtles. I'm sure he is in heaven and having a fabulous time. And life is certainly easier with three kids instead of four. Still...I MISS HIM!!!

Take Me Away!

Jared and I are spending the weekend at Lake Las Vegas. Am I ever excited! I definitely need a break from the stresses and humdrum of daily life. I can hardly wait!