Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Owen and I spent a week in Detroit Lakes, MN and my grandmother is still on dial up out there. It took forever for this website to load up ..... I wasn't about to try to post anything. When we came home I discovered our computer was broken so I'm doing this quickly on JJ's work laptop. We leave on Thursday for Seattle and I can't wait. It will be nice to see JJ's parents and we love the pacific northwest. I'll try to update while I'm out there, but I'm not making any promises.
Please pray for my brother, Alika. He'll be moving out here shortly to continue his treatments at the Mayo clinic. We love him and he is always in our thoughts.

Holiday!!

We certainly had a busy holiday weekend. JJ was lucky enough to be off Thursday and Friday last week so I took advantage of that and worked all day on Thursday. I'm going to be traveling for almost a month, and my sister will be gone for three weeks so I'm really trying to work when I can.
We had a really nice, mellow 4th of July. Just a few friends came over and there was a little bit of swimming, and maybe a few margaritas as well. Andy and JJ climbed up on the roof to look for fireworks but it was too cloudy. We had to settle for listening to them instead.
The next day we woke up and decided to fulfill our adventurous spirits. We packed up the car, dogs, and the baby and high tailed it out of the heat. We drove up to Payson and went hiking!! Crazy huh? We didn't have a lot going on and we decided to be spontaneous and I'm kind of proud of us for that. It was actually a pretty good time. We got a little bit of a late start, but we weren't in a rush. But the hike that my lovely husband picked out was a small disaster. We went to Tonto Natural Bridge and if any of you have ever been there, you probably know what I mean. It was nice, don't get me wrong, but it was very busy, steep, and slippery, and we had our baby and our dogs. Oh ...... and, we weren't allowed to have our dogs on the trail. I can't tell you how many times I asked JJ if he was sure dogs were allowed. They were allowed alright ..... in the parking lot!! Not on any of the trails. We just went ahead and ignored that little bit of information and took them anyway. It would have been fine too, had we not run into Mr. Park Ranger on our way back out. He was kind enough to let us off on a warning, but had he decided to give us the full punishment, it would have included tickets, fines, and having our dogs quarantined. I think next time we decide to go hiking, I'll be picking the trails. After that, we stopped at a park with a lake and Owen fed some ducks and played for a little while before we made our decent back down to the valley.
I'm going to be busy this week getting ready for Minnesota. Me, Owen, and Sally are all going to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Paul. We'll be there for a week and I'm understanding its considerably cooler so that's a bonus. I just hope we don't get eaten alive by mosquitos . After that we leave for Seattle so the next month will be a busy one.

story time

Story time takes place a few times a week at the borders bookstore by our house, and it is a really good indoor activity. Today we met Mandy and Marigold for some fun with books and then we all had lunch together. I think it's official: Owen and Marigold belong together. They absolutely adore one another and they were best friends. There were a few tears when Marigold ran up to him and gave him a hug and then they both went crashing to the ground, but it only lasted a few seconds and all was soon forgotten. It's true love!!