Miss A

We were part of a little win-win situation yesterday as we "borrowed" our little friend for photos.  It gave me a chance to practice my photography and was free babysitting for her parents.  Sweet deal if I may say so myself.  Isn't she adorable.  Let me know what you think of the photos; I'm still learning so would love any feedback!

 

Intermittent Springs

When we were in Wyoming, Colby took me on a hike to see this intermittent spring.  He described it and honestly, it didn't seem like it would be all that cool, but I went along with it because he was so excited to take me.  I must admit now though, that it was pretty neat to see.  This spring will be running full force, and then slowly stops completely.  The water completely runs dry.  The below picture is taken at full force, and the one below that is a wider view of the same area about 5 minutes prior--completely drained.  It was crazy cool.  So glad I went.  Besides the spring, the leaves were just beginning to change and it was beautiful! I love the Rocky mountains!

Heiner Family Photo

{click photo to enlarge}

"I went skydiving, I went rocky mountain climbing"

When our friends, the Ahos found out we were going skydiving, Julie flipped. She kept telling us we were crazy and she wouldn't allow it. We spent last Saturday at their home for dinner, and this is what she sereved as dessert, "Ode to skydiving" (or some other really clever name I can't remember.). It was hilarious, and delicious, and didn't make us think twice about going skydiving this weekend. :)

For my birthday, Colby surprised me with certificates to go skydiving. I have never been so surprised with a birthday gift. So last weekend, almost 2 months after my birthday, we did it. It was a blast and definitely unforgettable. We jumped tandem from 10,000 feet out of a rickety Cessna airplane. We both are so glad we did it (and survived to tell about it.) Check it all out in video below.

(music was put to the videos and apparently it beraks copyright so youtube muted it. can't figure out how to put it up with sounds. any help would be greatly appreciated. for now, just imagine screaming. :) )

Wyoming

Last weekend we were able to go spend some time in Wyoming with the Heiners to attend the funeral of Colby's Grandpa. I didn't know the man for very long, but from what I do know and have heard of him, he is a wonderful, kind man. He will be missed, but was welcomed by many on the other side.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought us all together, it was so good to be all together as the Heiner family. It is actually the first time I have been with the whole family at once. It was great to spend time together and just relax. Not until i am in an area like that do I remember how much I really miss mountains. Star Valley is just beautiful.

Since we were all together, we did a little photo shoot in an attempt to get a good family photo. i am working on editing them, but here are a few sneak peaks from the day of the non-whole family shots.

more pictures to come...i gotta get to bed :)

can't sleep

It is 11:54 and I can't sleep. I think I have inherited this from my mom. I can't sleep until all members of my family are home safe, and Colby is still at work. Yes, it is nearly midnight and Colby has not been home. He is busy showing off for one of the executives who asked him to personally put together an executive presentation and it needed some revising. Luckily, this is the only time since our time with Walmart that he has ever worked past 7/8ish. I just hope he comes home soon...my 7:30 work morning is not going to be pleasant.

update: Colby left work at 1:45 am. And he didn't utter one word of complaint. He is a saint.

My baker man

Colby really went out of his way to make my birthday special. One thing that I have always had for my birthday is a cake. Growing up, mom always made one. My first birthday as a married woman, we were on our honeymoon and my mom had helped colby out by sending him with a microwavable cake, which he surprised me with on while in Mexico. This year, I kinda thought I wouldn't have a cake, and to be honest, i was a little sad. But, the night before my birthday I came home from a movie with my girlfriends and smelled fresh baked cake the minute i walked through the door. He had once again surprised me with a cake. He asked me to frost it white, then he decorated it. I'm thinking he may have discovered a hidden talent. :)

ooohh...and he got me the bling bling watch I am wearing in this photo...he has great taste :)

finally fall

As we walked outside for a Sunday morning breakfast at our friends, I felt the cold, crisp air hit me. It is finally turning to fall. We have had such strange weather lately. I hope this stays. While browsing through my photos I found this apple shot; what represents fall better than apples.

My house is now decorated for fall and I am loving it. The only set back to that was discovering that our fall decorations, which were stored in the attic all year long, were covered in candle wax that had melted over the summer. At least it all smelled like mulled cider. :)

Family

A week ago now I was in California with most of my favorite people--my family--this was our first time all being together since our wedding 2 years ago. Mitch just returned home from his Paris France mission and Brad was preparing to leave. Their time home only overlapped 6 days, so Colby and I made sure to be there. It was a non-stop, crazy hectic but totally relaxing, laughing so hard til your face hurts/ crying til all your mascara is on your shirt, never forget kind of weekend. You know it has been a great trip when you return home needing a vacation from vacation.

We did many fun things: Boating with Dad, Padres Baseball game, shopping for 9 family members for coordinating outfits for fam pictures (ok, not the most fun, but still memorable), family picture with fabulous Carolyn, beach day, dinners, Settlers games, and wrapped it all up with Mitch and Brad's homecoming/farewell talks in church and a family dinner/gathering with all of our great southern california relatives.

I love being with family and creating memories together. I have been a little homesick this week as I have been back in Arkansas, 100s of miles away from both sides of our family. Seeing Lindsey and Andrew so much taller than they used to be and listening to Brad and Mitch give such beautiful talks and hearing about Nathan's new endeavors with work and Dental school really made me want to be closer to the epicenter of it all. Someday.

Brad has now entered the MTC and is preparing to teach the gospel in Washington in Spanish. He has matured so much and has such a love for the gospel. He will be a great missionary (following in the footsteps of Mitch and Nathan).

Here's to a great family!

August 2nd is a day of celebration

I know I am not the only one who LOVES this man (but pretty sure I love him more than every one else) ...so I will share some photos from his 27th (27th!!) birthday.

Colby, thanks for being you. I love you.

Beaver Lake

Our friends, the Gordens, invited us out to the lake (actually both Gorden families seperately invited us out for the same occasion...). It was such a blast to get away from the town and enjoy a beautiful day on the lake. Thanks Gorden families!

Canoeing the Buffalo River

A few weeks ago Colby went on a fun Canoe trip with a bunch of guys down the Buffalo river. He keeps asking if I have by chance blogged about it. :) I can now say yes. I may have to convince him to come type up some details, but for now we will let the pictures tell the story (and should we take a minute to take in the fact that COLBY 1, took a camera on the trip and 2, took pictures with said camera. way to go!). From what i have seen from the pictures, the Buffalo River is gorgeous. Rumor has it that next year the trip will include women. Wahoo!

Jaw Surgery

I have been debating wether or not i want to post about this, but then I realized that the reason I have this blog is to keep the people whom I love and who love me informed about what is going on in my life. I am posting just for that reason. If any of you had something this major happen to you, I definitely would want to know about it, and this is the best way to do so.

About 2 years ago I started having problems with my jaw. Things got worse as time went on and a few months ago it was determined through an MRI that I had severe TMJ (sometimes referred to as lock jaw). We tried a very conservative approach to fix the problem that did not work out, so we decided to take the big step to surgery. I had surgery last Wednesday where they made an incision along each ear and went in to my jaw joint to replace the fallen cartilage back between my jaw joint on both sides of my jaw. I also had a wisdom tooth removed. Needless to say, it wasn't an easy surgery. My mom came into town to nurse me back to health for a week; having her here was so wonderful. She was a lifesaver. Colby and I are very grateful to her for doing so. Colby has also been an angel, running me to appointments (I can't drive due to medications), grinding every meal down to mush, and simply wiping my tears away. Neighbors and friends have brought flowers and food and good conversation. I am so grateful for everyone who has helped out, prayed for me and helped us through this difficult time. I am also grateful to live in an area with someone who excels in this field. When I started looking into this and calling around for surgeons, people from 4 hours away in multiple directions referred me to someone whose office is 15 minutes from my house. People fly from all over the world for his work. I don't think this was coincidence. This is getting lengthy so I will close. Just wanted to fill you all in in what is happening in our lives.

Recovery is going well and hopefully will continue this way. Love you all!

Baby Thomas

A good friend of mine just had a new baby and asked me to take some newborn pictures. I was a little nervous about doing this as I had never taken any portrait type photos, but was up for the challenge. She was a perfect person to do this for as she was completely laid back and willing to let me try a few things. It was a fabulous opportunity and learning experience.

Meet baby Thomas...

His older brother got a little camera action too. He was adorable!

One Man's Junk is another [Wo]man's Treasure

Found this two weeks ago at our neighborhood garage sale. It was in sad, sad, shape. But for a dollar, I figured it was something I could attempt to pull the life back out of. Before I started, Colby was convinced this would be for sale in our yard at the next neighborhood garage sale. I think he sees otherwise now.

Whacha think?

{before}


{after}

the color is a little different than I would normally do, but I wanted to try something that would stand out.

One of my favorite things about owning our own home, is having the freedom to have a garden! Colby was just as excited about this, so together we planted our own. In Arkansas, the ground is mostly clay, so we had to build our garden on top of our ground. Colby hauled over 20 wheel barrels full of soil to fill the garden box he had made, then mixed it with compost, etc. We had planted a few of the plants indoors, planted several outside directly in the garden, and had a few purchased "starter" plants. The plants have really taken off (along with the weeds) and we had our first garden food last night, green beans.

Our main garden is 20'x5' and consists of peppers, jalapeno, tomatoes (Roma, Early Girl, Better Boy), summer squash, zucchini, green beans, beets, green onion, peas and a small herb garden (chives, basil, cilantro, oregano, and rosemary). We have a separate flower bed along the side of our house with strawberries, cantaloupe and watermelon and one small fruit tree in the corner.

Here are some pictures. In order to get everything in without photo overload, I made them into collages. If you want to see the details (Mom and Dad), click on the image and you will see it larger. :) Enjoy!

the main garden: mini pictures are green onions, beets, tomatoes, artichoke and zucchini

Beans

peach tree--we have 7 peaches and we planted it this year. We are calling that a success.

Peas

Side Garden--strawberries (covered so the birds don't keep eating all the good ones), cantaloupe and watermelon

From Lemonade Stands to Tattoo Stations

As Colby and I were out for an afternoon walk, two neighbor kids came running out to their corner stand yelling, "Tattoos, 10 cents. You want one?" And they had options, all drawn out nicely on their construction paper to choose from. Apparently Lemonade stands are the thing of the past. Now it's all about hand-sketched, crayola-washables, 10 cent tattoos. In case you are wondering, we passed that one up. I had a good chuckle about it though.

Ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep

The first time I saw fireflies here in Arkansas, it seriously looked like someone had strung twinkling Christmas lights across a large field. To me, it really is a magical sight. As we headed home from the movie theater tonight I saw them; the fireflies are back for this new season. Seeing them made me giddy. These bugs are seriously the coolest thing ever. If you have fireflies in your area, I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am. Good night!