Unexpected Blessings

When I was browsing through my pictures, I came across these. They were taken during one of the worst weeks of my entire life. I was so humbled to realize how much love I had in my life surrounding and supporting me through that time. Just thought I'd post as a reminder that the Lord knows what we need and who can help us.

Aedan meeting his "Aunt Mandy" (my best friend for almost 20 years) for the first time. They got along swell.

Bryce Canyon with my sweet husband and little buddy. Their smiles can cheer anyone up.

Thank you to so many others not pictured here. Your help and prayers for me and my family were so felt and appreciated.

It will set you free..

This wonderful post was delayed solely because I don't have words for the occasion. Almost a year ago Michael and I had our 4th anniversary (wow?). Maybe for our 5th I will be more poetic, but for now I just want to shout from rooftops how Giddily Happy In Love I Am!

Which is sickening, so I will proceed with pictures.

While we were staying at the cabin Mike surprised me with a San Fran excursion. We had so much fun, ate ourselves silly, and had a blast with his brother Jayson and his wife Kim, who came along for a piece of it. I swear, all my memories end up being food related. Clam chowder, Ghirardelli sundaes, China Town...something good, etc, etc. Feed me and I'm a happy girl.

(totally unabashedly stole this pic idea from J & K)

It was lovely. And in the spirit of love, here are some of my favorite lyrics of late that speak volumes of truth:

Love

it will not betray you, dismay, or enslave you,

it will set you free

(Mumford and Sons)

Christmas Day 2010

So proud with his new toolbench and tools like Daddy!

P.S. A word on these blocks- Mike spent HOURS cutting, sanding, and waxing these (this is just a few of them). They're beautiful, and so much fun to play with! I can't wait for Aedan to use them for years and years.

Romney Tamale Fiesta 2010

If you're not from the Southwest, the idea of tamales for Christmas may sound a little odd. Around here though, December is Tamale Season! Restaurants, co-workers, random strangers in Walmart parking lots...they're all hawking tamales. Seeing as they're rather labor-intensive to make, that's a good thing.

The Romney's have been having their annual tamale dinner since before I was born, and it just wouldn't be Christmas without it. We get green (corn with green chile) and red (corn stuffed with marinated pork) tamales, and my Mom makes Fideo Soup, a tomato-based noodle soup that warms my heart as much as my tummy. Add fresh tortillas, sour cream, loads of shredded cheese, and you have a fairly simple but delicious holiday meal. I personally love to have something different after just having had Thanksgiving's traditional fare.

Ours was a little early due to schedules. We had some missing this year, my nephew Ryan who is on a mission in South Africa (cool!), and my niece Kiley who was feeling sicksicksick. We sure missed my nephews Isaac and Amos in Utah too. Can't wait to all be together again soon!

(So this pic cracks me up, with my Dad's ever present Pepsi. And I do mean ever present.)

(I love how this captured Mike saying "DO NOT TOUCH THAT" without even opening his mouth)

Aedan's post-dinner damage. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas- more pics to come!

P.S. I will post the Fideo recipe once I can steal it from mi madre.

P.P.S. The best tamale's I ever had were from a random stranger in a Walmart parking lot.

McLean Cabin July 2010

As loyal readers (...you know, all 5 of you....family members...) know, Michael's family makes an annual pilgrimage to Pinecrest, CA every summer to escape the heat and drink up the outdoors. According to his Grandpa Herb, more than 5 generations have used the cabin since it was built as a small, one-room place around 1930. Isn't that wild?! It's had 5 additions since that time, to allow enough room so that someone doesn't have to sleep in the bathroom. Although with the size of Michael's immediate family alone, the threat is growing ever more present!

This was my fifth year at the cabin, and the first with a baby old enough to really enjoy it. And to really get in trouble! We had a lot of fun making makeshift baby gates out of old doors and ensuring nobody went tumbling down the giant driveway of death. No...seriously...it's steep.

I will have to do some flashback posts to catch up on other years, but for now, Cabin 2010:

Railtown 1897, Jamestown, CA

The wonderful thing about the cabin is it's proximity to so many wonderful activities, So many nearby towns were the very heart of the Gold Rush. Railtown is a cute little rail park where people who have a passion for steam engines decided to get together and get one working again. You can take a beautiful little ride on a real railcar, including volunteers in period costumes. Many scenes from "Back to the Future III" were filmed there.





Dirt
Aedan turned the water black every night. His little imagination ran wild.



Water Safety 101

Family

My brother could beat up your brother.

My younger brother David and I are only a few years apart in age. We grew up as the only kids left in the house for a good majority of our lives, so we became really close. I drove him nuts and tortured him a good amount of the time, or at least until he became big enough to stomp me to death if he wished.

As we grew older, our lives got so busy we would sometimes see each other only in passing, even though we lived under the same roof. After high school I went away to college, and it was another few years before we ended up living together again. I remember being so surprised to meet the adult my little brother had turned into. I began to value his opinion so much. He was a man of few words at times, but he had an uncanny knack for seeing things exactly as they were, while I sometimes made the mistake of seeing them as I WISHED they were. David was never one to intimidate the guys I'd date, but he's quietly let me know exactly what he thought. And as much as it often shocked me or drove me crazy, he NEVER, EVER turned out to be wrong. Needless to say, when he told me he thought Mike was a really great guy, I knew I was safe.

In May my little brother married the woman he almost didn't get the chance to find. He was so blessed to be able to meet Natalie, and I know that the Lord not only brought them together, but has blessed their marriage so much. We just love her, and we love how happy she makes him.

So although a bit late, I wanted to show you a few of my very unprofessional shots of their wedding, and congratulate my brother on picking a great girl.

Aedan's first suit...


Just because I think Nat's excited face is one of the best things ever....

Photos at last!

I haven't posted actual photos in at least 9 months- how horrendous! Aedan is almost two, and what a year it's been! I need to post a recent photo of him ASAP- he has grown up so tremendously!

Lately he:

**Learned to turn doorknobs (sigh...)

**Is obsessed by all things sports, especially baseball. You can thank "The Sandlot" for that one. He spends hours turning every object imaginable into a bat (hangers, toilet paper rolls, etc) and has mom and dad toss him the "ball" (balls, socks, foam pieces, shoes).

**Added fingers, toes, and teeth into the body parts he likes to show off.

**Sleeps like a champ. I LOVE sleeping in until 7:30. Lovelovelove.

**Attempts to injure himself by stunts such as riding his little car down our inclined ironing board. Mom caught onto that one really quick.

We have lots of photos to catch up, but here are some of our favorites:

April 2010

May



July


More to come!