A quick post from Vermont: Picture me...

...with tan legs and a smile on my face.  We are having a blast on vacation here in Vermont!!  I have to admit I am homesick. :(  If Aaron were able to come with us I could stay here for another month...He and Nana will be here on Thursday for a long weekend and we can't wait to see them.  We will be celebrating Jake's big 1-0 birthday.  Where has this decade gone?

Now I have to get back to the lake...My toes are starting to lose the wrinkled up raisin look so it must be time to get back in. :)

Aaron and Nana-be ready to see Jake's amazing pocket knife he bought with Papa G when they walked/hiked 3 miles  (one way) to the little store that sells ice cream on the rail road tracks.  He spent several hours today whittling the bark off his walking stick.  :)

ALSO!!!!  Are you looking for some fun, interesting, and inspiring blogs to check out in the next few weeks? Check out these posts from two of my favorite blogs Chocolate on my Cranium and Welcome to the Madness, for a sneak peek on the fun stuff they have planned.  I am so excited!!!! (Wish me luck...I am going to be a guest poster on Welcome to the Madness. :)  I will let you know when.)  These ladies are my hero's!!!!

A Quick Post from Vermont: In less than 24 hours....

...my Mom and Dad will officially be home from their mission!!!!  We will be meeting them at Grampa Smith's house tomorrow around 2 o'clock when they drive in from their 4 day trip across the country from Seattle. :)

  We are in Vermont and the drive up flew by uneventfully (thank goodness!).  Thanks in part to The Chronicles of Narnia dramatized on CD, Jake's portable DVD player and a Kindle with the funny voice reading me the rest of Wuthering Heights (which by the way is not my favorite book...at all...Way too depressing!!!).  This is one of those journal posts. I have to document the moment. :)  Jake is soooo excited and I am too.  Can't wait to see you Nee and Papa G!  We miss you Aaron/Daddy-can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks!!!!

We are going into Camp tomorrow (where we will officially be computer/phone free) and can't wait to dip our toes (and everything else) in Groton Lake.  So, far this week we have: Swam at Peacham Pond and Camp Garrett (were Sadie learned to swim and killed a frog...); went to the Ben & Jerry's factory, took the tour, meet Jerry (as in the Jerry of Ben & Jerry's), ate yummy cider doughnuts we got at the Cidar Mill, hiked, spent time with cousins, built a fort in the woods at Aunt Sue and Uncle Ron's house...and basically had a blast!!! Gotta get back to the fun!!!  Hope you all are having a great summer.

My Blog Vacation....Because of my real life vacation!

This Saturday, Jake, Sadie, and I, will be starting our 18 hour drive to Vermont.  We are so excited to make our annual trip to New England and this one will be extra special because we will be meeting my mom and dad their who will be getting back from their mission!!!  We will be gone for over a month.  I feel kind of like I should be in a Jane Austin book taking off for so long-what a life they all lived back then going visiting for weeks on end! All my extended family is still up north so we always enjoy seeing everyone.  My sister will also be making the trip with her kiddos all way from the Ukraine!  Talk about an amazing family reunion.  Aaron and Nana Harmon will be flying up to spend a long weekend with us over Jake's b-day weekend and we are planning on celebrating his decade birthday in style-on the lake!  The picture I have with my blog title is one of my all time favorites.  It is of Jake last year in Lake Groton where we will be...Did I mention I was excited?!?!?

I am officially starting my blog vacation a few days before the real one starts.  My list of things I have to do is not shrinking, but the number of days to do it all is....Not to mention the fact that I just found out I have a pretty big blog project ahead of me.  I finished reading Sense and Sensibility last week (LOVED IT!!!) and I was going to change the picture on the left side of my blog to show the book I am reading next (Wuthering Heights-I am really trying to love it but it is depressing...but I can't put it down, even though it is depressing!!!) but I couldn't...It turns out I have used up all the space that blogger allows for uploading/storing pictures.  When I get back from vacation I have to start the long and tedious process (thank you Jamie over at Welcome to the Madness for explaining to me how to fix it!  She is the go to for all things blogging, homeschooling, preparedness, homemaking...You get the picture-she is a genius!), of making my pictures smaller to make more room.  Because really what is the point of blogging without pictures!  Especially when I will have 2,547,934 pictures to post when I get back from my month long trip!!!  You are jealous aren't you?  Not about the hours of fixing my blogging mistake, but of my MONTH LONG TRIP!!!  (****Just in case any would be burglars are reading this-remember my husband will be home and our house is protected by Smith and Wesson.  I have always wanted to say that. :)  But it really is so please don't try and break in.  That concludes the "paranoid thoughts" part of my blogging...****)

I will miss you all my blog friends!!!  I will have to take a whole day to read all the posts you guys write while I am gone! :)  Did I mention that Camp (that is what our whole family calls the cabin on the lake my Grampa Smith built, where we will be staying 3 of the 4+ weeks we will be gone.  Camp is the cabin's name I guess you could say.  I will post pictures of camp when I get back...and fix my blog!)  has no phone, TV, computer, or cell service?  It is a REAL vacation. :)  So, don't have too much fun with out me and check back in about the middle of September when I will re-enter the blog world!

If you only go 2 places in the blog world today GO HERE:

1. Check me out on a great blog I LOVE called Diapers and Divinity!  It is Find-A-Friend Friday and I am the friend!!!  Stephanie's blog is amazing!  You will love her great take on motherhood, beliefs, and life in general.  Thanks for having me on your awesome blog Stephanie. :) 

2.  Check out Jaime's great post on Welcome to the Madness. It is about food and  the shortage of it in parts of the world, our throw away society, and a society untouched by the world.  READ IT, WATCH THE CLIP, AND SEE WHAT POPS INTO YOUR HEAD PEOPLE!!!  LOVE this blog!  It really made me think about how prepared our family is and if I am listening to the promptings I know I am getting...

A glimpse into Aaron's life.

Broken record moment: Aaron works 3rd shift.  I worked third shift last night too...8pm-6am pulling tags and putting up new ones.  I was okay until around 4:30 when my ipod batter died and I took a little break.  Bad idea-stopping made me realize my head was a little foggy.  Jake got to spend the night with our long time family friends (first time he has spent the night alone at a non-family members house.  But they really are family so I don't know if it counts or not) Sharon and Ron.  Sharon is my mom's best friend from high school and I grew up with her children.
I was excited to get home and get in bed for a nap/sleep but couldn't fall asleep.  When Aaron got home at 7:00 he gave me tip to read and it would make me fall right to sleep.  It didn't...I am at too good a part in Sense and Sensibility to fall asleep!  I finally gave up around 8:30 and slept, waking up every 15 minutes until 10:30 and I headed out to get the Jakester.  He had a great time with Sharon and Ron building with Lego's, playing Mario Kart, and using this very cool Crayola tracing thing-a-ma-gig from when Sharon's children were kids.  But he missed me and gave me about a million hugs and kisses when I got to their house. :)

Fast forward and it is almost 2pm and we have one of Jake's friends from church over until after Cub Scouts tonight.  His parents are chaperone's (sp?) at Youth Conference and we planned a couple of months ago to have him over a couple of times while they are gone so he could have a break from his 2 nieces under the age of 3. :)  Who knew it would fall on a day following my first time ever working 3rd shift.  I am glad I told BiLo I could work 2 days a week for the 3 weeks before going to Vermont (good gas money for the drive) so it could give me a glimpse into the sacrifice Aaron makes for our family 5 nights a week.  I told you he rocks.  My brain feels oddly empty and I don't feel like eating at all.  Maybe I should stay up all night more often.  I wouldn't ramble on all the time and I would have to lose some weight by not eating right?

I looked out the window and what did I see?....

...It wasn't popcorn popping on the apricot tree like in the sweet Primary song. It was Sadie playing in her little pool that was almost empty and had the hose laying in it from when we filled it for her yesterday....You see we fill it up and she spends her time splashing it all back out (then rolling in the dirt when she is all wet...).  We turn on the hose with our foot because the hose bib is behind a bush.  It has this adorable metal bunny on it rather than the regular circle knob and it pretty easy to turn on just by tapping it down with your toe and then turning it off by putting your toe under it and lifting.  Apparently Sadie has seen us do it and turned it on herself.   I looked out the window (after letting her out 20 minutes before) and saw that the pool was over flowing and she was dancing around it happily....We have created a monster.  So, the question is how so we stop her from turning it on when ever she feels like it?  Any suggestions?

Brain Declutter...I have a lot on my mind.

Some of it important, some of it not so much....

*I went and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 in 3D today.  I have read all the books and seen all the movies.  It is so strange to have spanned over a decade in one book/movie series.  It was a really good movie.  It played out like it did in my head when I read the book.  I really enjoyed it.  It seems strange that it is "over".  I am not saying I am emotional about it or anything...Just saying it has been a long time span from when I read the first book all the way to watching the last movie...As for my first 3D movie, it was cool but I don't think it makes the movie better.

*"Perspective" has been on my mind lately.  What is important? I have been thinking about life in general every since there was a death on Aaron's side of the family.  Kirsten is Brian's (Aaron's cousin who is just a year or 2 older than us) wife of not quite 6 years who just passed a way from cancer.  They have 3 children under the age of 5, one isn't even a year old.   They found out she had cancer in the winter and she died just a couple of weeks ago.  What will Brian do?  How do you pick up the pieces from that?  He lives in Texas, with no family close by.  Kirsten was a stay-at-home mom.  Will he put them in day care?  And those are the easy questions.  How do you keep the memory of your children's mother a live when none of them will remember her?  Do you pack up your whole life and move closer to family?...I can't imagine what I would do without Aaron...or what he would do with out me.  My heart aches for them...All I can do is pray for them...Did I just say "all"?  You know what I mean right?  I guess what I mean is there is nothing I can physically do that will help.  You know what I mean?  When you say your prayers tonight keep The Wren family in your thoughts please....

*We leave for Vermont in 2 weeks!  Which means: MY PARENTS GET OFF THEIR MISSION IN 2WEEKS!!!!  Where has the past year and a half gone?  We are so excited to see them!

*I finished reading Pride and Prejudice a couple of weeks ago-did I mention that?  It was so good!  I loved it!  I celebrated my first time reading it by renting the movie (the newest version.  I was going to rent the older one to but our local video store doesn't have it...) and it was wonderful.  I already knew that though because I have seen it several times.  I am onto Sense and Sensibility and I am enjoying it so far.  Now that I am done watching Jericho I can get back to reading...

*Jake had two firsts in the past 2 weeks.  He ran a mile without stopping with Aaron on Tuesday while I was at a Primary meeting and he met me at the door to "brag" because he was so proud of himself.  I am proud of him too. :)  He also bore his testimony of Joseph Smith to me a week ago Friday as his morning devotional while we were homeschooling.  It was amazing to hear him bare his testimony and feel the Spirit and know that he really did know Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the earth.  We continued to feel the Spirit while we read our scriptures that tied in perfectly with what Jake had borne testimony of.  Long story short we both had tears in our eyes and the Spirit in our heart.  What a great way to start the day!
 
*My sister and her family have had a really tough week.  They have waited a long time and finally welcomed a puppy into their family last Saturday.  Stella Luna is the name that Saku (my nephew and her owner-he has wanted a dog for a long time...) gave her and he said the name just came to him.  Long story short they have spent the week wondering if she was going to make it because of a very serious virus she came down with the 2nd day she was with them.  They live in another country and the vet has been coming to their house to treat her.  In the states this very sick (in critical condition) would be staying at the vet and they take care of everything. They have had this sick, sweet little puppy at their house trying to care for her the whole week.  Just today she was taken to the vet so they could try to recoup and get some sleep...So, if you don't mind keep Stella Luna and her family in your prayers too.

*Jake asked me today (this is a conversation that comes up every now and then) what I would do if someone came to our house and offered us $500,000,000.000 (yes that is 500 billion) in exchange for Sadie.   I said I would take it...Is that bad?  Jake said he wouldn't take it.  I of course would miss Sadie terribly but I feel like she would understand. I mean dogs really want their masters to be happy right?  Since this is a hypothetical I am adding in that they are wonderful people who have acres of land with rivers and lakes, other dogs for Sadie to play with, and that we can visit her anytime we want!  Does that make me a bad person?  I mean I love my dog and she is a spoiled girl that leads a great dog life...Why do I feel bad about this when it would obviously never happen?

*Did you know that if you are making a recipe that calls for cream you can substitute milk mixed with melted butter?  I didn't know it but it works.  Google is a good thing.

That is good for now...There is a lot more very random things rolling around in my noggin but I am sick of typing and I am sure you are sick of reading (if any one is).