My sweet Jake...

My baby is eight...I can hardly believe that eight years have gone by so quickly and today my sweet boy gets baptized! I just had to reminisce a little and was looking at some old pictures. These are just random pictures from 2004. Seems like just yesterday! I will post pictures of the big day later. But for now here are some favorites of Jake at age 3 and 4...

Random pictures from August!

I just had a few pictures I wanted to post...

My mom and Jake playing legos. Nee came down to take a couple of days to swim in the pool and then take Jake back to her house for a week! I am so glad she came because she was nice enough to do some touch up paint I have been avoiding! Thanks again Mom!

Jake and Nee finishing off the ice cream.

Jake and Bella playing dress up. Bella wasn't thrilled to have her picture taken but she had fun dressing up.

Jake before I made him throw away a fish he painted at school, and a night light he painted years ago and we never used! (This is how we have gotten so good at throwing things away. We just take a picture of it and toss it! Then we have the memory with out the mess!) The fish were made out of 2 liter soda bottles and hung from the ceiling when Jake's class did a play called "Under the Sea" at the end of the year. And guess who got to cut out all 20 something...Yours truly! Two liter bottles are not easy to caught and staple...trust me!

Just what I needed.

My house selling blues were replaced with a weekend of fun! Aaron's little brother, Matt, got married on the 8th of August and it was just what I needed to leave reality behind and focus on the big picture for a few days. We went on Thursday night, with all the family, for Matt and Erin (his new wife who is also my former Beehive-for non-members this means I was one of her youth leaders when she was 13 and I was 23!)to go through the temple for the first time. My mother-in-law was beaming! It was the first time all her children and spouses were in the temple together. It was a wonderful experience. It is a great reminder of what Heaven is going to be like. I am so excited to have a new sister-in-law. I have the best and to add another that was already a great friend was perfect!

We spent Friday chopping food and decorating for the reception on Saturday and we had a blast doing it! Saturday morning we all headed to the Temple for the Sealing (marriage for eternity ceremony) and it was wonderful. My parents were there too so it was another wonderful experience. Columbia South Carolina in August is hot so we took pictures as quickly as possible and I didn't get a whole lot with my camera. The reception was in Spartanburg that evening and we had a great time dancing!

The temple is always the perfect place to step out of the world and think about what is really important. I needed it and I feel soooo much better. I know that Heavenly Father loves me. I know that he his mindful of my needs. I know that he only wants me to be happy. I am going to be patient and now that this house will sell when it is supposed to. I know that Heavenly Father knows better than I do what the plan for my family is and I am putting my faith in him. This doesn't mean it won't be frustrating sometimes or things will always go smoothly. It means that Heavenly Father will work it all out as long as we are doing our part! I am so thankful for the temple and the knowledge I have that I can be with my family forever!

My cute new sister-in-law, Erin Harmon


Jake and Megan (Aaron's older brother's youngest daughter)


Chopping with the ladies in the kitchen! We had so much fun!


Wow...Aaron this is a great picture....Jake took this one of Aaron!


Some of the cousins-Riannon, Sara, Della, Jake, and Megan.


The happy couple! Erin and Matt coming out of the Columbia Temple.


Nana, Papa, and all the Harmon grandchildren!


Jake and his cousins outside the Temple.


Keely doing her Maid of honor duty! By the was she is 24, single, and AWESOME! So if any one knows a good Mormon boy for her to marry let me know. I wish Aaron had another brother!


Jake at the reception with some of his cousins.


Keely and some of the kids on the dance floor.


Aaron, Mike (Aaron's older brother) and Jake after the newlywed's left. The guys of course decorated Matt's Jeep with saran wrap, toilet paper, vasoline under the door knobs, etc...They also took a distributor cable so it wouldn't start!

I'm so bummed...I need your help please friends.

(Sorry this is long, but if you could read it and help that would be great!)
Well, as you know we are trying to sell our house. We have had a bunch of people look at it and love it! We have some one who put their house on the market hoping to sell theirs so they can buy ours. Great. We have another single mom who loved it, but after crunching the numbers realized she just can't afford it. Awesome. We then had the cute little family who are 2 weeks a way from closing on another house, but stumbled upon ours and fell in love with it...They then realized it would be very hard to get out of the contract with out losing money and they wanted us to lower the price, pay all $5000 closing costs, and here is the kicker...We are selling it ourselves and they have a real estate agent. Well, to any of you who don't know this (I did. This is our 3rd house) the seller has to pay the real estate agent. So, this cute little family found our house on their own. Looked at it on their own, and left to tell their agent they wanted to buy it. And so you see they wanted us to be okay with paying the above mentioned things and pay their agent, who did nothing. Let me repeat that NOTHING! Pay her 3%! Well, all that adds up to a lot of $$$$$! Who are we, thinking we should actually pay off the mortgage when we sell our house! Sweet.

Here is were my heart break comes in...This cute little early 20 something couple came to look at our house last Thursday. They loved it. They loved it so much that they came back on Sunday to show "Nanny" (his grandmother) and she loved it too. (this is starting to get exciting!!) They call back Monday and want to come immediately to show the next set of grandparents. No problem! I am covered in Sophia puck and there are "Little People" and other toddler toys scattered around my house! Come on over I say as I scramble to put Barney on with one hand and pick up with the other! They come over and guess what? They love it too! Yippeeeeeeee! This is getting good! You see UNCC starts Aug. 25th and Aaron is enrolled to start then. And Jake would start his new school (that we are working to get him transferred into because the school he would go to, in Monroe, already started-year round school- and is HORRIBLE!!!) the same day. Not to mention his 8th birthday is the 28th so he gets baptized that day and in Asheville there is a big church thing going on that makes it almost impossible to get the poor child baptized on his birthday!..Sorry, but selling now as you can see would be nothing less than perfect timing! Well, the phone rings Monday night and they make a ridiculously low offer that wouldn't even pay off our mortgage!...But through negotiating we reach an agreement! Picture me jumping up and down because this couldn't be any more perfect! I can tell the people I sit for, I can only babysit one more week (the next sitter is waiting to take over when the time comes-Thank you Tonya!) and have 2 weeks to pack and actually spend some time with my own child before we move and start the 3rd grade! I am so happy that I can't sleep that night! Thank you Heavenly Father for answering our prayers! Jake is thrilled for the first time about this move! Things are going to work out. They are going to come on Wed. and sign the contract and get the ball rolling to close in 30 days! Then as I am sitting and relaxing Tuesday night, (why clean like a maniac after the little girls leave! I can take a break because the cute little couple is buying our house!) my cell phone rings. I pick it up and it says "Lauren-looked @ house" (this is the wife in the cute little couple who is going to buy our house! I save everyone's phone # who looks at our house like that). I look at Aaron and slowly answer the phone...It is Derrick (cute little couple husband) and he says "I have some bad news. (pause) The family member who was going to help us with our down payment decided they would only give it to us if we buy a new house...And we can't afford your house with out that money." I want to scream "my house is practically new-it is only 2 years old and it is immaculant! I am a germaphobe! I clean all the time!!!" That is what I want to scream, but I don't. I try to feel bad for them at this moment, but really I am only thinking about my cute little family. I am heart broken. So, I didn't sleep last night because I am devasted. Okay, so typing this has totally made me start bawling. At least I am getting it out now. Because since that moment I have felt totally bitter. I don't want to feel this way, but I do. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of me, my family, and our needs. I realize that I need to be patient and it will happen according to his plan. I need your help to feel that way. Please continue to pray for my house to sell. But most of all can you please pray for me to be able to be patient and have a little more faith. I know it will work out. I know it could be so much worse. I know I need to just get over it. But I can't right this second. I need to be bummed for a minute. I am bummed that next week Aaron is going to have to drop his classes that aren't online, because we aren't going to be there on time. I woke up this morning and cleaned again from top to bottom to start this process all over again. I am so tired of cleaning. I got my hopes up too high. It was just too perfect to work out I guess. So, I am going to have my little pity party, get over it, and sell this stinking house I love so much. Just keep me and my family in your prayers please. Thanks in advance ladies.

I forgot about our camping trip!

We went camping The last weekend in July and had a great time. Here are some of the pictures!
Aaron and Jake setting up camp.

We got to Davidson Campground in Pisgah National Forest Thursday evening. We set up camp and had some smores that were yummy!

The next day we hiked to Court House Falls (it is a short easy hike) and swam in the freezing cold water. The water is always cold in Pisgah but this spot had the coldest water I have ever felt and I grew up swimming in a lake in Vermont! This is Jake holding a flower he found for me on the trail.

Aaron in front of Court House Falls.

Eating lunch after we same in the freezing cold water.

Emily is such a sweet dog. She did not like us swimming in that water at all. She would swim around us and try to push us back to land.

Jake and Emily headed back down the trail.

The next day we hiked to John's Rock and this the waterfall you see on the way. I can't remember the name of it, but it was beautiful.



On top of John's rock! It was a long hike but worth it...Except for the copper head on the way and the garter snake that laid in the sun 8 feet away from us while we ate lunch. I didn't eat. I couldn't with that stinking snake so close. I gave my sandwich to Emily. Aaron said he would scare it away but I was afraid it would head right for me and I was sitting on a steep rock and I had already taken my shoes off. I hate snakes...But the veiw was great!



Emily after the hike. We hiked almost 7 miles so that means she probably hiked at least 10. She runs with Jake and comes back to see us, then off the trail...You get the picture. She was tired, we all were!

Packing up camp!

Isn't it funny..

..How it seems like it will be a nice little vacation at home when your child is away, but really you still have to do everything you usually do and wonder what your child is doing now..and now...and now! My Mom came down last Wednesday to spend a few days going to the pool and hanging out. She ended up taking Jake with her when she left on Saturday morning, for the week. I have to admit Saturday was a nice break. Aaron was at Youth Conference, so besides the dog I had the house to myself. I watched a couple of shows on HGTV (one of my favorite channels), picked up a little (the house was already ready if someone wanted to stop by unexpectedly to see it), and finally I took a nap. It was nice to relax. But I still wonder what Jake is up to about every other minute. Not because I fear for his safety. I know my mom and dad will take good care of him. I just wonder if he is having fun dressing up and going to a Tea Room (where they will be drinking hot chocolate) with my mom's best friend and her 2 grand daughters that are visiting. Or going to "Monkey Joe's" a child's dream from what I hear. It is basically a big warehouse with every inflatable known to man inside. Or making home made ice cream. I know he is having fun and I am so happy for him. He has spent his summer doing fun things here and there, but mostly just hanging out with the babies I watch. He loves those girls so he doesn't mind. But I do feel guilty that we don't get to be spontaneous and go play in the rain (Sophia is too little-we got caught out in the rain a couple of weeks ago and she was not a fan). Or drop everything and go to the Nature Center for the day. Bella and Sophia are portable but it is hard to let some one else's baby miss their nap time. If they were mine we would just go and live with the sleepless consequences. But the guilt inside me when I send home sleepy, grumpy babies is too much to do it very often. Thank goodness for awesome Grandparents! I know Jake is having a ball and I am so glad for that. I just wonder what he is doing now...and now...and now.