Remember the Purple Chair?

Don't worry Sam has already seen the pics :)

This is the week...

This is the week. Three days of work and then off to St. George for the wedding. The blogging maybe sparse until we get back. Everyone is busy with work and school and wedding stuff.
A2 and W.E. fly out to Utah on Wednesday.
A1 and her "boys" are in New Mexico, visiting Alex's parents. They will arrive in St. George on Thursday.
Mike and Carrie leave South Africa tomorrow- it probably takes two days to get back which turns out to be 1 day that really feels like 2. They will arrive in St. George on Friday.
A3 and A4 and their "guys" will arrive, also, on Friday.
Ron, Mom, and I fly out on Thursday afternoon. I'll try to do a couple of other posts before we go. I'll have to see how my schedule runs- it is spring break here and girls are shopping for prom- so maybe busier than normal at the store this week. That is good and bad- good for business- bad for getting last minute projects finished up :)

Not Dead Yet...

Karen is probably expecting this to be my last tribute to the burb after reading the comments on my other post. Instead we are not giving up without a fight- we are fixing it. It will be 3-4 days for a new transmission, then back to the original mechanic for a new air conditioner. We are actually getting used to only having one car. It just means that I take Ron to work and then go back and pick him up- it's not too bad. The offers for 0% interest on a new car loan is very tempting! But after considering that, we decided to only stimulate the economy by $3000 rather than by $30,000. That doesn't mean, we might not still give in to that temptation, but at least for now we are trying to follow our own advice to not get into any more debt. Besides, I'm still holding out for the car manufacturers to go under and start giving away free suburbans :)

Wedding #3

In just 2 weeks, we will have had three weddings within one year. A3 daughter got married in June, A4 daughter got married in August, and now A2 daughter is getting married on March 21.
Last summer when Ron's coworkers would ask him how it was, to have two weddings in one summer, he replied, "Do I have the deer in the headlights look?" It's like he was minding his own business on the road of life, when this "wedding wagon" ran him over. It's all of the planning, and buying, and organizing, and planning some more, and buying some more etc. etc. Mostly Ron's job is to provide $ for the "buying some more" :) Just about the time we finished the first one- along comes the second one. More planning, buying, organizing, PAYING. Then Ron is asking, "Do I have the deer in the tail lights look?" So here he is, still laying on the road of life trying to recover from getting hit twice by the "wedding wagon"- when he hears a familiar sound- he raises his head to look around- and yes, here comes that "wedding wagon" again ! He is starting to think maybe he should get off the road :) This time, A2 and W.E. did most of the planning, buying, organizing, and even the paying. We did give a cash "donation" to the cause- but they have done all the work. Of course you know that this is all in fun! We love the fact that all of our children have found wonderful "soul mates" and we don't mind at all that we will have had three weddings in one year. It has been alittle hard on the cash flow- but other wise great blessings for our family. Besides we own a bridal shop. There are two ways to look at the cost of those three dresses- either we got a great deal and wholesale prices on each one or they each only cost us about $100,000 a piece. I prefer to have Ron think of it in terms of the first option :)

This is the deer in the headlights look when he realized that the "wedding wagon" was about hit him- no time to move- got hit hard :)

This is the deer in the tails lights look after getting run over TWICE within 2 months by the "wedding wagon".

So this is the deer- after getting run over twice and just beginning to put it's head up again- and here comes that "wedding wagon" again! No time to get out of the road- I guess he'll get hit again :)

The amazing thing is that Ron cooperated and let me take these pictures, even when he knew where they would end up. Maybe life is too boring around here. (We aren't even good at watching TV together- we tried that last night and we both fell asleep :)

Good News Bad News Day

The bad news for today- my suburban needs a new transmission that costs more than the car is worth. We are not sure yet, what we'll do. It had to be towed to the mechanic- do you think we can just leave it there? :)
The good news for today- Ashley and the baby are both well and I can start buying "Pink Stuff"!
I wonder if Ron has a catagory in our budget for pink stuff?
I already have pink ribbon and paper to scrapbook with- Annie did not cooperate with the pink scrapbook idea :) I knew I could use it for some body :)

Interesting..Very Interesting

Last night, through a friend on facebook, I discovered an interesting...a very interesting website for "buying and selling". Go there and take a look. www.etsy.com
Of course this appeals to me because of my artsy/crafty talents, but also because of the possibilities it presents for a world wide market place for selling such items. My friend has the "Gigglebugbaby" store on there. She is a stay at home mom, in Denver, using her talents to make cute baby items. This website/organization was started on some very interesting principles- hunt around on the site and find the "about" button. Then watch the "about" video. For me this could be the beginnings of some thing (very interesting), look out Ron, I maybe going off on another wild idea :) -- or at least an awesome place to shop :) for unique items.

"Mommy Blogs"

For those of us who don't live near our grand children, the "mommy blogs" are giving us the opportunity to watch them grow up. It gives us the opportunity to peek in on their daily adventures. Yes, sometimes small, but yet significant. I am always checking in hoping for new stories and pictures, but even when the posting is slow due to busy lives...I can always look through what has already been posted, and bring a smile to my face and a bright spot to my day. This technology is a blessing to our generation. I sometimes wonder how my family would have been different, if I had been "mommy blogging" when my children were small, for my own parents to participate in. The good relationships that Ron and I have with our children is a unique thing in this day and age, and it is only enhanced by the mommy blogs. I wish I had "cute picture material" (like Owen in round glasses) to post, instead you only get "peeks" at what old people do from here :)