5 Wonderful Years

I can hardly believe it's been 5 years! It sure doesn't feel like it. It's been a terrific ride. This summer reminds me of that summer 5 years ago when it was way cooler than normal for July. Our lives were fairly boring for the first 2 years, in hindsight. During year 3 we built our house, during year 4 we had our sweet baby girl. What will year 5 hold? Who knows. One thing is certain, that God has blessed us above and beyond our wildest expectations! Looking forward to the next 45+years! I love you Jeffrey!

First Trip to the Zoo!

It was a gorgeous day in St. Louis last Friday. And since Jeff's off every Friday in the summer, we decided to take a trip to the Zoo. We packed a picnic lunch and headed out. We were planning on paying to park, but even that lot was full...all's well, we ended up parking on the street for free only a short distance from the entrance. :) Like I said, it was a nice day for a stroll. Lilian noticed the animals, but not as much as the people. She kinda pulls the shy act when she's in a new surrounding, but it doesn't take long for her to come out of it. She soon was making noises and pounding on the glass at the monkeys. I didn't get too many good pics, but it was a fun family day. Life is good, we are blessed beyond measure, thanks God!

How does my garden grow? yup, still growing

I'm already WAY behind on posting garden pics. It felt like it was moving along very slowly but now it seems to be exploding. The corn is tasseling and the ears are starting. The beans that did come up are in full bloom, I might get one good mess out of them. The tomatoes are coming along. I have a few tomatoes started and lots of blooms. Same for the peppers. I have a couple good sized peppers now and several blooms. My favorite part is the watermelon. There are 7-10 blooms and now 1 little watermelon about the size of a milk dud. I sure hope it grows! :) Here's a couple pics.

Some grape tomatoes coming on!
Growing garden

Snow Cones

While our family was here from TN, we went to the Mt. Vernon City Park for some refreshing snow cones. Wonderful stuff! Great faces!

1st birthday pics

First ride in the new carseat!

Opening Presents

CAKE!

Is this the same person?!?!?!?!

The first time Jeff saw this comparison, he could hardly believe it! She looks like a totally different person. Here is the side by side view of the first time Lilian was put in her car seat to go home from the hospital and the last time she sat in her rear-facing car seat. Wow!

Women of Faith

I attended the Women of Faith Conference in St. Louis. It was a blast! First of all, the 5 of us from church that went had a really good time together. Never a lack of conversation. The trip got started off right when we stopped by Starbucks! YUMMY! My favorite speakers were Marilyn Meberg and Patsy Clairmont. They had really good things to say and they were hilarioius! The musical guests were Steven Curtis Chapman, Mandesa, and Sandi Patty...and that was my order of favorites. I cried all through the friday night session which ended with Steven Curtis Chapman. It was a good thing though. I learned a few things, one of which was that people out there have much bigger problems than I have ever faced. I am so blessed to come from a strong Christian family. I had a stable childhood, and my husband is the same.

Also at the conference was Lisa Welchel, "Blair" from the 'Facts of Life'. I LOVED that show. And although her talk wasn't my favorite, I was excited to meet her. It was all good and ended with a stop at Maggie Moo's for ice cream! Good times! Can't wait to do it again, Indy next year...I hope the Penn's have a house by then. ;)

Where do I begin????

Hello all! I've been really busy it seems for these last couple weeks. The garden is off and growing, I attended a Women of Faith conference in St. Louis, hosted a couple guys from FWBBC (Free Will Baptist Bible College) during their stay in IL, hosted 6 members of Jeff's family during the weekend of...Lilian's 1st birthday! Hopefully, I'll get some posting done here during nap times. ;) Here's a sneak peak at some Lilian shots!