Jake...oh...Jake

Okay...for those of you who don't know...Jake...well...he is Jake. His hands work faster than his mind thinks sometimes. Case in point...he was three years old when we went to visit Nana at the bank she worked at here in Millard. Nana loved to show off her grandkids and took him and Cam back behind the counter to get some suckers. Jake says, "Hey Nana...what this?" Before she even had a chance he pushed the panic button. Yes...that is right...the panic button. The whole bank had to close for awhile after that, the cops were there...the cops wouldn't believe Nana when she said, "My grandson hit the button," because the cops are trained to believe that the cops and robbers will make you say anything. It was quite the fiasco.

Well...yet again...and I am sure there have been others and I am sure there will be more...but this one is well worth typing about. He went out with Papa to ride Papa's horse Sparks. By the end of the day, Jake was seeing Sparks other than the horse! He got off the horse and said, "Hey Papa, what's this" and before Papa could say more than, "JAKE, DON'T", he had grabbed the electric fence. Yes it was on. Yes you can imagine Jurassic Park. Jeff's uncontrollable laughter was due to his envisioning of Jurassic Park...but it wasn't quite that severe. His hair did not stand straight up...but dad said he sure jumped out of his socks! He was scared to death. According to dad, Jake was crying and thought he was going to die. Poor thing. But OH SO FUNNY! Will he EVER learn???

Lake Powell, Part 2

We were at the Lake for 5 fun filled days! The first day or so, I spent most of it with the kids. Major was still sick and was very clingy. Oh...I may have forgotten to mention that. In Flagstaff he came down with a fever. It lasted 3 days so we took him to Urgent Care in Flagstaff and he had an ear infection. So we got on antibiotics the day before we left for Powell. So, that first day at Powell he was still fairly unhappy. So that first day I spent sleeping and resting with him....which honestly was fine by me. I really needed the rest. It was nice to be able to do it. I missed out on some fun...but rest was badly needed for both Major and I.

After Major felt better he started to play more. Here is a picture of him "Driving" the houseboat! Each night a couple made dinner and another couple cleaned up. Same with breakfast and lunch. Here is Blayne and Dixie...though they are not a couple...they were THE couple to make dinner that night and it was sure yummy!

By Friday Major was feeling better and so I was able to play more. Don't get me wrong...I played SOME before Friday...just not a ton. The slide was beckoning my name....so I tried out the slide...I went out on the jet ski....I went out on the jetski with Cam (that was scary) and on the jet ski with MaKenna (that was even scarier)...we had tons of fun though! I let them both drive...hence the fear. No...they did good! Here is me with my oldest and my youngest after a long day of play!!

Jeff took Kenna out a lot on the jet ski too. She LOVED it. She is my little speed demon that is for sure!

Here is Jeff's first fish! He ended up catching quite a few actually. He LOVES to fish. We could be ANYWHERE...just give him a fishing pole and he is happy.

Major was very clingy to me, so Aunt Holly wanted to give me a break. Here are Major and Aunt Holly. I am not sure that we ever got him in that little floaty thing. He just didn't like it. He didn't really seem to like the water much either...even when I tried to put him in it.

I thought this was a postcard worthy picture!! It even has Danny and Caitlin's new boat in it!

Jeff's favorite past time.

Another postcard worthy picture. We had a couple storms blow through. None that were that bad...but one blew all of the boats including the houseboat way out of alignment. It took us a good portion of a couple hours to get all of the anchors reburied and the boats straight again.

A Perfect Mess, Book Review!

Here is another book review! Same as usual. You will read the summary on the back of the book, the author bio, etc...then you will get my take.




Click here to see all of the different options where you can purchase the book online.

Book: A Perfect Mess
Author: Lisa Harper

Summary:

Caught up in the self-imposed pressure to do and be all the things they think a Christian woman ought to do and be, countless women are working desperately to convince everyone, including God, that they have it all together. Few have any idea that the Creator of the universe looks at them with delight even when they yell at the dog, drive a minivan littered with French fries, or think bad words about that rude clerk at the store.

A Perfect Mess offers hope to every woman who yearns for a vibrant relationship with God but worries she isn’t good enough or doesn’t do enough to merit His affection. With characteristic authenticity, speaker and author Lisa Harper shares poignant stories from her own imperfect life to showcase the real-life relevancy of the Bible in the lives of modern women.

As she guides readers on a story-driven journey through selected Psalms, they will be inspired to experience for themselves how God’s incomparable love transforms the messiness of life into a gorgeous work of grace.

Author Bio:

Lisa Harper is a master storyteller whose lively approach connects the dots between the Bible era and modern life. She is a sought-after Bible teacher and speaker whose upcoming appearances include the national Women of Faith Conferences. A veteran of numerous radio and television programs and the author of several books, she also is a regular columnist for Today’s Christian Woman magazine. Lisa recently completed a master’s of theological studies from Covenant Theological Seminary. She makes her home outside Nashville.

MY TAKE:

This book was really easy to read and very uplifting. Lisa Harper is very comedic and tells stories to help solidify what she is saying. I learned great things from her point of view, I learned great things about the Psalms, and I learned other great facts. Like, according to a study done, "Grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of depression and stress." Boy....I think I might start being more grateful ALL the time!!! I also had my eyes opened up to a fact that I guess I always knew, but didn't know....does that make sense? She talks about Christian women...Mary's and Martha's...and how the busiest people in the church are often labeled as best, but their exhaustion begets disenchantment and they limp away seeking a less demanding water hole. Sadly, Lisa says, some of the most jaded and emotionally spent people I know got that way from being overly committed to Christian causes. This struck a cord with me because that is one thing I have to really be careful about. I am a Yes woman. I LOVE to help, I LOVE to say yes, I LOVE to do for God....therefore, I can overcommitt....so I need to really be careful....this just solidified it for me. I would recommend this book to you. It really was a great book. If you want to learn more about a few select Psalms, this is the book for you!!!

Lake Powell, Part 1

So...after saying our goodbye's to Grandma and Granddad Holbrook (they were going to go, but Grandma hurt her back the day we were to leave), we were off to Lake Powell! The picture below is Papa Jerry, Jace, Grandma Gwin, Jake, Cam, Major, Jeff, Makenna, Grandma, Grandad and me.
Also going up Wednesday was of course, Danny, Caitlin and Cade, and Holly, Brandyn and Blayne (Brandyn's little brother)...oh and I can't forget to mention Lincoln, Holly's lab! Dixie met us up there on Friday. So Wednesday we headed up and filled up the houseboat with all of our luggage and food. We stayed on the boat that night at the dock because we couldn't take it out officially until Thursday. It was a four bedroom houseboat, dining room, kitchen, living room and two bathrooms with a slide in the back, a deck in the front and the back and the entire top of the boat was a deck, plus a wetbar, and captains chair. It was nice to be at the lake for once with air conditioner and bathrooms! I can't believe I did it all those years with small babies, and no air and no bathrooms! Thursday morning we headed out to find a camping spot. Holly and Brandyn, Danny and Caitlin, took their boats out to find a spot, then let us know where to go. They found a really nice beach! Kudos to them for finding something so nice!!!
The rest of Thursday we just got everything set up, got our suits on and started going down the slide...swimming...whatever caught our fancy!
Here is a picture of Blayne, just chillin' on the deck, with Papa Jerry snoozin' behind him!
Brandyn and Holly lovin' every minute of it!

Jake playing with the remote control boat!

MaKenna...part of Jake...and their new cousin Cade!

Dragon

We named Peanuts still born pony. Well...we didn't. MaKenna did. Cam wants to make a stepping stone for the pony with the Plaster of Paris stuff...so we needed a name. MaKenna was supposed to have naming rights anyway, so she names him Dragon.

When we told the kids, Cam was openly sad...Jake didn't say a word, and MaKenna didn't seem to care. So I held her and I said, "Do you understand." She said no. So I said, "Peanuts baby was a little boy...but he went to Heaven and is with Nana." She thought about it for a minute and said, "Now Nana has a horse!" That apparently made it all better!

I think she had heard Cam say that first...but it was awfully cute coming from her and knowing that "A-HA" she got it!

Peanut is doing well so far. She is still hanging on. Keep the horsey prayers going up! I'll post pictures of Peanut and the new horses getting to know eachother soon!

Massage Envy, Blayne Tullis

While we were at the Lake....which I WILL blog about later. I am just a little slow with everything that is going on....sorry....but while we were at the lake, I found out that Blayne Tullis, Brandyn's little brother (Brandyn is my brother in law, married to Jeff's little sister Holly), who was also with us at the lake, was a Masseuse at Massage Envy. We have Massage Envy's here and I LOVE it! He works in Flagstaff...so if you are in Flagstaff or NEAR Flagstaff go to Massage Envy and ask for Blayne Tullis! He is GREAT!!! He did a FANTASTIC job! You all know me...I am not shy...so I just asked him if he would massage me! :-) He did very graciously...and like I said, he is fantastic. My stress, worry...everything just melted away. THEN....my old man husband went wake bording and hurt his back pretty bad. Again...non-shy Tonya says, "Would you mid working on Jeff....I don't want to drive 24 hours with him in the car miserable tomorrow". Which I ended up doing...but it wasn't because of his back...I'll get to that later. Anyway, Blayne being the EXTREMELY giving and nice guy that he is said, "SURE!" So he worked on Jeff for quite some time, and by the time he was done the once hunched over Jeff was standing straight up and dancing with a mop. Yes...a mop....I was replaced by a mop. But...at least his back was better!

SO!!! Moral of this story? GO SEE BLAYNE TULLIS AT MASSAGE ENVY IN FLAGSTAFF, AZ! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!! Here is a picture of Blayne with my other sister in law Dixie as they made dinner that evening. Very good pasta they made!

Museum Club, Route 66, Flagstaff, AZ

I just wanted to put a plug in for my brother in law's club in Flagstaff, Arizona. It is called The Museum Club. Check out the website, and if you are ever in the area, you TRULY need to go. It is an incredble place! If you KNOW of anybody in the area or going to visit the area, make sure they know about it to so they can go and invite their friends. It is a historical building so nothing has been changed...just cleaned! It is like visiting a museum almost, with lots to drink, lots of space to dance, a stage, a back porch area with horseshoes, and lots of GREAT music. Mostly country, but they have all sorts of live bands. Brandyn Tullis is the owner, and he is married to Jeff's little sister Holly.

One more plug for this great club. It is where Jeff and I shared our first date!! And many others to come. At that time Brandyn didn't own it, but it was a really good place then too...but it is EVEN BETTER now!!

Be sure to check it out if you are there or near there ever! Check out the website too!!! Spread the word!!!