The Petersen Salon! It was pretty pricey, but I think she gives doscounts if she doesn't paint your WHOLE toe...so check it out!












I splurged because I wanted my toes to be stuck together with polish..

I love the tongue!

Famliy Day hike at Rober E Lee.




Esther "found" some deer anters that were covertly placed on the trail by Daddy. She walked right by it twice and them tripped over it before I had to point it out to her. Ha!

It was SO muddy!

Esther was summoning the deer with her recorder.

This is what I mean when I say that she piles things up from around the house.
This laundry basket consisted of all my jewelry, the diry clothes that were in the basket and pillows and books. (I removed the jewlwry and dirty clothes before taking this picture)















She called it her boat. She was the captain.















The chairs were all lines up, and then the laundry basket and then the blankets and pillows.

It's about that time when mommies start to lose their minds from being imprisoned by the cold weather. The kids start inventing tidy games such as "pile everything in the cover and make a fort" and mommies start inventing games such as "hide all these books that I've already read 40 times today". I tell them 'maybe they fell behind the couch" and leave it at that.
It's also the time when I have time to reflect on the past year's happenings and I contemplate whether I have done anything substantial, (besides raising children). There is a yearning in my heart to be a part of something more than this. I don't mean that I want something more than my family, by any means because there is nothing in the world that could take the place of them. I just want US, as a unit, to be involved in something more. I wish that we had a vision, or a calling. We have always wanted to go on the mission field and join a team and be a part of the work of God in another area. We are just waiting for God to speak that vision into our hearts. It seems that every summer when the missionaries come back from all over the world, we become enchanted and in love with each and every story and fall in love with the people we see in pictures. WE are just waiting for God to tell us to GO! Maybe we are waiting for something grandiose like a message in the sky because we can't seem to hear any still small voice. We have made it very clear to God that we are open and willing and praying and waiting....
The bottom line is that we are not attached to our house, or our cars, or our lifestyles. We know that this life is not our own and these possessions are not ours to keep. That is actually the one thought that beings me peace when times like these set in.
I know that I will not be here forever and that my roots are much deeper than where I live! I am called to a higher adventure and that is the will of God!
Obviously He wants us here now, but I'm glad that He can still l hear me as I pray to Him even if it is from under the couch cushions as I hide in the corner of my "cave" and wait.