Conejos....Home away from Home

"Home is where the heart is" and "Home away from home" are quotes coming to mind right now. It's the night before my family annual trek to CO. The car is probably loaded, everything is set out to grab & go by 4 in the morning. You're giddy and so excited that you can hardly sleep, but you're exhausted from the hectic packing day. Tomorrow Mama & Daddy along with Joshua, Rebekah & the girls will begin all our little annual traditions...shipley donuts, Starbucks frapps, probably subway for dinner, with fun snacky foods in the car, and I'm sure Mom will get her Code Red mountain dew. (her once a yr splurge) The next day will be driving, looking at the beauty, the walmart run to get groceries, but more importantly - fishing licenses!!! Mine is still in my wallet from last year. For the next week or two Caleb & I will probably, at some point each day think about this family vacation and imagine exactly where our family could be. It's such a special place...when you've gone there for many years, and it's special to several generations, it's kinda like going to home to grandma's house.....

It's bittersweet this year...Caleb & I will be home with our own families....truly where our hearts are now. I can't really speak for Caleb, but I'm sure he can relate to how I feel tonight. It's hard being left behind. It's TOTALLY worth it for our own families, and I honestly, wouldn't change it, but there's that tug in your heart...like a alarm is going off that it's vacation time. I don't really expect anyone to understand much of this......and I need to make sure everyone understands that anything I've said concerning Caleb is purely speculation....but, the reason I've brought him up.... He's my brother. He's always been there when I needed him most...after our car accident, he was there waiting for me...he was there in Romania for me...he's gotten more lures out of fishes mouths in CO and is always patient with me....the list goes on & on... Tonight, I wish Caleb & Becky could've gone and had a nice vacation...but, very, very selfishly, I'm glad he's here with me...we may not be together, or even really chat like I'd like, but I know he's here...I know he understands how I feel. Thank you Caleb, for being here, and loving me! You help me without even knowing it. I love you!

Cookies! Cookies Everywhere!!

It's tradition in the McDonald family to bake LOTS of cookies for our annual vacation to Colorado. Mom's kitchen is under renovation, Rebekah's house was full of stuff to pack, Becky had to work :(, so my house was left for our bake day. It was bittersweet as my individual family, along with Caleb & Becky won't be able to join the rest of the family for the trip this year....but the bake day was wonderful and ended with a delicious dinner of fajitas! Thanks Mom, Becky & Rebekah for your help with dinner! And thanks to Suze for your help with the cookies! It was so fun being together....would've only been better if Becky could've come too!

We made Chocolate Chip, Monster, Chocolate chip & chunk, and Molasses Crinkle Cookies! Yummy!!! Rebekah was sweet & shared hers with us! Mama would've if I'd asked...she probably meant to, but forgot. ;-D

Flower, Pretty Flower! :)

Do you ever wonder why the Lord made women (men too, but mostly women) to love flowers? I've been thinking about that the last couple days and have decided that I'm clueless. Maybe it's the intricate design of each one, perhaps the nice fragrance, or the bright, encouraging colors. I don't know, but I like 'em. I'm SO grateful the Lord created beautiful flowers that are so cheery! They make me smile, and maybe even relax a little. Flowers remind me of several verses in the Bible...there's one in Matthew where Jesus was speaking and said, "...consider the lilies of the field; how they grow: they toil not neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Our heavenly Father cares for the tiniest of flowers....just think! if He cares that much about little flowers, how much MORE He cares for you & me.

Graduation Party

Yesterday afternoon was our niece's Marisa high school graduation party at Mom & Dad Moreno's. We are SO proud of Marisa and her accomplishment. She's such a precious young lady. The party was lots of fun as we were able to see most the Moreno family who we don't always get to see. For many, it was their first time to meet Aspen. The BBQ was delicious as a friend, Monster (Gerald Robinson) did the turkey, sausage, & brisket. If any of you need yummy BBQ, I'll get you his number, he has a catering business on the side. Anyway....we enjoyed sitting on the deck swinging & chatting. After it was all over Brian (better known as Bear, in Galveston) & I had the wonderful opportunity to help Mom clean up and just enjoy the nice evening together. I am SO blest to have such a wonder family-in-love.

Grilling!!!

Yay for summer grilling & Brian fixing the grill!!!! I'm SO super proud of him!

The Wii

Last year, when Brian & I were super earlier newlyweds, and had time, we borrowed & conquered the nintendo game Super Mario Brothers. It was fun for me as I used to play the game with my brothers when I was little...more like watch them, but, oh well. All those hours of watching the guys finally paid off as I remembered most the hidden secrets and was able to impress my new husband. Lol The wii game has more tricks & stuff that the older version didn't have, but all the secrets remained the same. Anyway, this week Brian was SO sweet & surprised me by bringing the game home for us to play again. It's been a fun teamwork thing for us to do...most the time anyway...I tend to mess him up sometimes, to which I quickly say "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" He's a good sport and generally laughs it off. :) We get lots of laughs out if it.

We typically don't play our wii very often really...we go through our spurts. As a bachelor, Brian became a pro, so I try to play some with him as I know he likes me too, and once I do, it really is fun...and Mario games I can kinda handle. This week our game time has been after Aspen goes to bed, which I love, mainly because that means she's not just sitting "watching tv." lol (I know, I'm weird about that.) After Brian cut the grass this morning, he showered & then finished cooling off by playing the wii, while Aspen rolled around on the floor. I was busy in the kitchen as the Lord had abundantly multiplied my time and I was getting tons done! (PtL!!)I decided to check in on Aspen...when I looked over this is what I saw... :) lol I laughed, and decided it wouldn't kill her on occasion.

Summer Friday

Since it's summer, Brian has Fridays off. Yay for summer! Can't say it was super relaxing for him....he was SO sweet & went to help my dad again today as they're renovating their kitchen. Here's some pics from after naptime.

Marble Slab

Daddy took mommy & me to Marble Slab tonight. She gave me a Aspen size spoon!!!! It was just perfect for my little hand. But, I can't have ANY ice cream until next year...but the spoon was still fun to chew on! :)

Meet Miss Aspen

Yay!!! We have a blog!!

So...I absolutely love reading blogs. I read my friends, family & thier friends and family's blogspos. Lol I'm making no promises to faithful updating, but I do hope to do so. :) I'll figure out how to blog & post pictures, but I do ask for your patience as I do so. I'm so excited! Now you'll know everything that goes on in my life with my incredible husband & precious little girl. Above all, I hope & pray this blog will glorify our Lord, and bring honor to His name.