So this picture of Ellie may seem silly but her expression of grit and determinedness really show the true nature of Ellie. She is a stubborn little sweetheart that likes to do things by herself and in her own way!!

Olivia will now pose for me! I love it! She is wearing one of Lexie or Alysa's prom dresses and had fun getting all dolled up.

Olivia and Ellie at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.

So the first three pictures are post surgery and the last three are before the surgery! I knew the the computer would do that! ugh! Well, she was very brave! She kept saying my voice is different. mommy take out my IV.

Well we have one more glorious month of summer left. July was a busy month for us. My sister Anne and her family came to visit for a week of swimming, camping and lazing around watching the Office. We also had fun firework display from our own backyard compliments of the neighbors by the lake and Jaron and Jay. No one was seriously injured although I do believe Sean stepped on some hot sparks. ouch!!

Then, Olivia had her tonsils and adenoids out with a small frenuloplasty. look it up y'all! just kidding. she had a short frenulum and it was clipped and stitched. Everything went very well. I accidentally gave her a little apple juice in the morning despite reading the instructions over and over and getting a Master's degree. unfortunately nothing prevents stupidity and absentmindedness.....so we had a wait a couple of extra hours at the surgery center. Olivia was a little sad after the procedure so I held her in her hospital bed for a few hours....ate some Popsicles....slept some more...ate applesauce and then we were able to go home. She is great now and absolutely SNORE-FREE!! yay! the girl could hardly breathe before her surgery while she was asleep.

Our garden has done very well this year. We harvested a lot of corn, tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, a little crookneck squash and finally Cantaloupe!!! yummy. I love gardening. It shows me the bounty and greatness of God in each little seed.

We also gave Annabelle away. We got her a week after we got Maggie and it was just too hard trying to train two puppies at once. A nice lady adopted her yesterday and so far I am very relieved although Olivia and Ellie miss her!!

Nose Crinkle

Okay Emily, here is a picture of Ellie singing "5 Little Ducks go quack, quack, quack!" with her characteristic nose crinkle. The girl is hilarious. We've been swimming outside a lot!

Jaron and Susan took the girls for a hike one day while I rested. Susan apparently carried Ellie the whole way down the mountain like this on her back. Olivia was hitching a ride in the Kelty. I love this pic. of Livvie carrying the water. What a trooper!!

Our newest addition to the family is Maggie Lou. The girls adore her. She is a springer spaniel with a bit of beagle mix added in. She is so sweet! We actually brought her sister Annabelle home a week ago and will post her pictures next!! Also our garden is growing. This is 2 weeks ago and it has pretty much doubled!

Jaron, Susan and Anne contemplating life in the early morning. Ellie playing mommy and baby with her blueberries.

Well the last 6 weeks have flown by. The fun began when one of my favorite mission companions came to visit for a few days in May. Wendy brought her youngest Taylor to play, rest and eat alligator tail. It was so much fun having such a good friend to hang out with and time to reminisce about France and our missions!

A couple of days later my parents flew into Nashville. We all went and picked them up, went to Trader Joe's~ yummy~ then to an exceptional Greek restaurant. it had some good baklava. wow! then after that everything we went to was closed (the Pantheon) or too late so we just headed back to Huntsville. On Sunday, Jaron was called to be Elders Quorum President. My dad got to help set him apart. It was really exciting they could be here for that. Then 3 more days were filled with visits to Barnes and Nobles, walks around the lake, a little fishing, Green Mt and a lot of well-planned naps for our tired guests. The girls loved having Grandpa Fred and Grandma Choo Choo all to themselves. So then on Wednesday, we all loaded up and drove to Birmingham to drop my parents off at the airport. Jaron, myself and the girls all KEPT driving to Texas. We stayed the night near Lafayette and arrived at noon the next day! My brother Keith and his girlfriend Shantay flew into Texas so we had a mini family reunion minus my brother Dave and his wife Emily. We missed them! My brother Ryan and his wife Natalie both graduated from college so we had fun at some graduations! ha! Anne and Jay cooked us lots of good bbq, we spent a couple of days at the beach and then we came home!!

The day after arriving home we found out about our miscarriage so that was sad. Anne flew out for 4 days and Susan, Jaron's mom for 10 days which was very helpful. Anyway, maybe you're getting tired of this travel log but man it has been crazy!!! I love being surrounded by my family and friends though so if any of y'all need a little respite or break from the world come on out!!! We hope to be home soon for maybe a wedding...but otherwise we'll even meet you somewhere!! love ya!!

Well we have had a great visit with Grandma Sue. We are sad to let her go but Jim is really missing her so off she goes!!! We have been so blessed to have had Anne and Susan with us the last week and a half. I love them!!! Well, I'll post some pictures asap of their visit. take care y'all!

Playing at the Park with Grandma Sue

Curveball

Well, today we went to the doctor because I had had some spotting and we found out that the baby didn't have a heartbeat. I'm 18 weeks so in a few days they will induce labor. We are of course very sad. Thankfully Jaron could be with me for the appointment and then take the day off. Life and especially pregnancy is full of risks and sometimes throws you a curveball. We are grateful to at least have 2 beautiful daughters and a healthy marriage. If God wills it, He will bless us with another child or more. Thanks for your support. We love you and know that we will be okay although we do mourn the loss of a child. Love you!

Life...oliviadadada

Well we are so glad that Jaron is done studying!! He took his test on Friday from 7:45- 5pm with a one hour lunch break. It was pretty hard. The first 4 hours he breezed through but the last 4 hours were quite challenging. We'll find out pretty soon if he passed. yeah today in 2009 with a multiple choice test, it will take 3 months for the Engineering Board to grade his exam! so crazy. but at least we can hang out again and watch the Office and work outside together and sleep through the night without awakening with anxiety!! I'm so excited our garden is in and Jaron installed a drip irrigation system. Pictures are coming soon! Wish us luck!!

So today in the car Olivia goes, "Mom, maybe when Daddy gets home he can figure out where I got this booboo on my leg from. He's really smart Mom. He's the smartest one in our family. He's even smarter than you Mom".

really Olivia, why do you think Daddy is smarter that me?

" Because he's an engineer Mom".

Yep, Daddy's really smart.


Last month she told me that someday she was going to get married and have a baby. I go, "Olivia and guess what, I will be her grandma!!"

No, Mommy, you will be her babysitter.

Sprinkler Day

Well the weather has been gorgeous the last two days (after 40 degree windy rain/snow!) so we are really happy! what a run on sentence! geez! So today the girls and I played outside, planted some lettuce and parsley and dill and then Olivia goes, "Mom! Can you turn on the sprinkler for us???" so they ran and got on their suits and played for around an hour in the sprinkler. Ellie doesn't really like getting wet lately so she kept crying when her swimsuit and her hair got wet. She's in a little OCD phase. but she still had fun! One nice thing about living in a warmer climate! Can't beat swimming outside in April! Oh and as we speak Jaron is putting our boxes in the garden for square foot gardening. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. so here I am updating our blog! ha! Well my tummy is starting to pooch. For those extremely interested, I'll post some pictures as soon as I take some!! love ya! Leslie

Our Budding Photographer

Our little Olivia has discovered the joys of photography!! So now we have hundreds of funny, odd pictures. Here are a few that she took of Ellie, herself and her friends Natasha and Nicole! Now we know what they are doing when they won't let me come and play with them.

Cousins!!

My dad and I. I really needed that shoulder rub! and who could live without their sisters! not me!

Classic Jaron shot. Kari, you are so cute!

Olivia, Kari and Ellie love each other!! We were lucky enough to go to Texas a few weeks ago for my niece Kaia's baptism. It was def worth the drive. The service was very spiritual. My dad gave an awesome talk on the Holy Ghost, Kaia was only dunked once and we had some really good family time. We missed my mom and Dave and Emily of course. Anne cooked some good BBQ ribs and we all slept on air mattresses on her house!! It was great. Jaron ended up going last minute. He changed his mind at 7 am the morning I was leaving. He's so sweet!!

Thank goodness he came too because we got a flat tire in Lafayette and even though I learned how to change a tire in Young Women's I really was glad my skills didn't have to be put to the test. So two tires, two hundred dollars and three hours later we were back on the road to Texas! It was quite the drive (12 1/2 hours) but worth the adventure and family time!!