snowrain

Last week was a long rainy week. I love rain, but coming up with indoor activities is always a challenge. Joel was out of town a few nights making things a bit trickier. So, finally we had to get out. We got wet, got cold, and came back inside fast. Jackson wasnt so into it. But I think it killed 20 minutes or so. On a rainy day 20 minutes is a long time :)

Heritage.

So I have these long blank walls. They are not only hard to fill, but expensive to fill. I want to find creative things to adorn the walls of which surround our daily activity, but Im not a good decorator and I dont have a ton of money to blow at this years summer arts festival. SO....upon many hours of pondering what to do I came up with the idea for a historical wedding day wall. Im sure it's been done before, but with pictures of my own family line I could make it our own. Looking through old photo albums was like going back in time (pardon the cliche). To feel the old wrinkly pages and touch the same photos that my great x 3 grandma touched up to a hundred years ago blew. my. freaking. mind. History is amazing. I cant help but stare at these photos over and over.

So here are a few of the oldest family wedding and some non wedding photos I could find. Thought it would be fun for family to look back on...

My Grandparents.

Above: My great grandparents


Below: Joel's Grandparents

Joel's Grandparents

My Grandparents (at a photo booth in the Okoboji Emporium!)

R.R.Brown and family (my great grandparents and the little girl on the stool is my grandma)

My Grandma with, get this, HER GRANDMA. Amazing.

Project Finished. Well actually it's been finished for months.

Green.

Everything is green and beautiful right now. It's been raining here! Those of you who dont live in CO might not know it's a desert here most of the year. Anything that isnt watered doesnt live. So for the few weeks of spring we have, we are going to enjoy the soft lush grass and beautiful greens and blues. At least Im going to. Jackson enjoys the swing, slide, and sand no matter how wet with rain they are.

This makes me giddy.

a week in review.

Our computer is on the fritz. It only took about 3 hours to download my last batch of pictures! I need to figure out a way to buy a new computer without Joel knowing :)

Anyway...this week was busy. Jackson had his 15 month check up today. MMR and all. I hate the vaccine dilemma, but im hoping he does fine the next week. They normally dont affect him, but the mmr makes me paranoid.

The neighbor kids are great. Two girls in particular. They come knocking on our door almost every night wanting to play with Jackson. If we are eating dinner and Jackson has to wait to go outside he throws a fit. It's kind of cute how much he enjoys their company.

They like to hold his hand.

My latest project. Planting seeds and hoping they grow. Surely I will wreck them. Still fun to try.

Easter Weekend in O.

Taking it all in. Easter, extended family time, church at Christ Community, and a reason to put Jackson in a tie. Im trying to breathe it all in, realize the joy in each moment. Taking pictures helps me with that. It gives me a chance to step back and enjoy the beauty of our ordinary.

Alexa. so cute. so excited to be riding. (photo courtesy of Caitlin)

Bonfire weather means we no longer have to microwave our s'mores....Am I the only one that does that?!

Grandpa liked to sneak graham crackers to Jack throughout the night. And then he kept asking for more. Darn sugar snacks. Always keep you coming back for more.

Love him so much.

poor boy. momma took away his candy.

Bag of Tricks.

Easter basket. Filled with things that have nothing to do with Easter, but I thought we might need some distractions for our plane ride this afternoon. Since we take off in a few hours Ill be giving Jackson his Easter basket today.

The things I thought might help us out when we are on a plane with many other irritated passengers:
slinky
toy car
his own set of keys (if those dont do the trick Ill surely be giving him my keys)
blower/spinner thing
And as a last resort because they are so messy-some earth's best teething cookies. Having mashed up cookie all over him when he gets off the plane is better than a temper tantrum. Right?

The total amount of time Jackson ever sits on our lap is about 10 seconds. So...this should be interesting. Joel will probably get really red in the face and I might be nervously laughing. But it will be fun and we are looking forward to celebrating the reason we have our HOPE. Jesus.