EKjourney Backup

The week following a busy week can be such a let down!! It is hard when Phil has to go back to work after a nice break, when guests leave, when the flurry of activities stop. All this is compacted because I want to be busy! Having a lot to do keeps my mind off of the impending labor. Having help with the children is such a blessing when I am uncomfortable and anxious, thus a less patient Mommy. I cashed in on a delightful Birthday gift – a prenatal massage! The masseuse came to our house yesterday evening with her folding bench. I turned up the heater and lay on my side while she worked my sore back muscles and neck with delicious smelling mango butter. Phil took the kids to get the tires rotated and an oil change so the house was quiet and relaxing. It felt so wonderful!!! I was surprised by one of my dear friends today, Abby! She dropped by on her lunch break and had lunch with us. It was great to see her! Our lives have busied and changed so much in th...

On this day, three years ago, our little Sawyer was born!! It is hard to believe that we have a three year old already. We had a fun birthday celebration with Auntie Tina, Uncle A, cousin Zellee, and Grandma and Grandpa visiting from Idaho . (We celebrated Sunday with my parents because they weren’t able to make it today.) Dinner was a Sawyer favorite; hot dogs, oven fries, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, and salad (for the adults). I asked Sawyer if he wanted Mom, Auntie, or Grammy to make his birthday cake and he said, “Daddy”, so Phil made a yummy ice cream/Oreo/caramel/whipped cream cake. Today was also Jubilee’s half birthday. She turned one and a half! It was somewhat of a rough day for her. She was cranky from the get go and fell and “bonked” herself several times, including a run in with the corner of the coffee table. She is currently still awake in bed an hour past her bedtime. Poor thing! Dinner Thumbs up for a new truck Cake Gr...

What a nice vacation we have had! We all love, love, love when Daddy is home. There is nothing better than being together as a family. For Thanksgiving, we went to my parent’s place. My brother’s in-laws joined us as well. My mom, as usual, had a delicious spread: smoked turkey, pickled cabbage, roast veggies, stir-fry Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, salad, homemade apple cider, pumpkin pie and cheesecake. It was delicious! Here is the centerpiece: Friday was an outdoor work day. It never ceases to amaze me how much Phil can get accomplished. He cleaned out the garage and built shelves to put all our storage stacking bins on. The entire front was still a mess from the summer’s building projects and now everything is put away and stored. Oh, and he had Sawyer as a “helper” the entire time!! Jubilee and I spent some time outside and then moved inside for house cleaning. We got the other car seats cleaned today. Yuc...

There have been so many things that I want to blog about but I keep running out of time in the evenings! Phil has switched my blog to a different place. Hopefully this will enable us to add pictures a little more easily. Here is the new site. Saturday morning… I know this was awhile ago but it was such a nice morning that I wanted to share it with you. Both kids slept in until 8:30, which is always a treat for us because we get to sleep in too. Sawyer crawled into Jubilee’s crib with her and they were delighted to see each other and kept laughing. What a beautiful sound to start the day with. Phil wasn’t exhausted from staying up all night doing film breakdowns so we all got up as a family. Phil and his helpers started a fire while I made a big breakfast. We had a nice meal together and then the kids piled onto beanbags by the fire while Phil read stories. One of the stories was about a chimp who wanted a hug. He was sad so the kids kept kissing him. ...