Father's Day!

Fathers Day weekend Bryant's Ma and Pa came to stay! Uncle Roger and Aunt Zennie(pronounced Zeenie) came to say hi for a few hours and we all visited late into the evening.


Saturday we went to a birthday party for a kid we don't know but somehow related to. We ended up having a really good time.The fact that they had a pool might of had something to do with it!Harley had a blast, she was very sad every time we took her out to warm up.

Sunday Bryant and I made yummy french toast, bacon, sausage and cheesy eggs(I had these at Jen's and can't stop eating them) for breakfast. After we all loaded into the Blazer and Dad Howell took us for a drive around the Yakima her grew up in.
Later we had dinner and visited with more family. Too soon it was time to call it a night. Monday morning Bryant was off to work and the Howell's headed back across the mountain.


That's all for now!

I was there, I swear!

I realize now that when you're behind the camera it doesn't look like you were there at all! Yesterday Aunt Zennie, Uncle Roger and their grandson Jeffrey invited us to go miniature golfing. Jeffrey's a good boy and was practically raised by his Nana and Papa. For some reason he has really latched on to Bryant, Harley and I......I say "some reason" because he's very shy and doesn't get close to people. He calls from his Nana's phone almost every day,( he spends every afternoon there during school and lots of weekends(some times weeks) there in the summer) and asks" Do you want to come over today?" Needless to say, we spend a lot of time at the Millers. Strangely though he'll only visit for a few minutes and then disappear into the computer room, where he spends most of his time. Then suddenly he'll run back into the room to make sure we didn't leave, pick Harley up and hold her for a while, then run back to his computer game(Just in case it decided to up and leave too!) He's very soft spoken and very sensitive. You have to watch his mouth if you want to catch every thing he says..... I have to hardest time telling him no, for fear he'll be crushed. So of course, we went.

Any way, we had a great time and I can't wait to go back because there's bumper boats, go carts, batting cages, an arcade and tennis courts too!

Harley was very helpful carrying our golf balls and picking them out of the holes!

In a miniature world Harley fits right in!

Home is where the heart is......aka Yakima!

Here is a glimpse of our new home it was built in 1920 and has lots of charm. We moved in on the 1st of June and were was a little scared that it would be a tough adjustment but we're all settling in fine. I feel like we've lived here forever!

Our cutie home is Two bedrooms, one bathroom. Living room , dining room Kitchen, mud/ laundry room and full-unfinished basement which became our storage and workout place. Things are looking up (finally) and it's sunny and warm. We live 10 min from every thing, (shopping wise) about 4 blocks from a pool, museum and park and still have enough distance that we don't feel like we're directly in the city.

Harley has a nice fenced yard and we we're blessed to have roses lining our fence on both sides of the house. There's a huge tree in the back yard with swings on either side and a pond and tricking stream(man made) in the front.

One trailer full of possessions in a ditch: x dollars. Two adults sanity and one infant crying for one out of three hours drive to Yakima: x-dollars. Getting there safely, having a home and getting along beautifully: priceless.

Auntie Em came to visit our first weekend here. She left bright and early Sunday morning and came to church with us. After church we had a french toast and egg brunch(stuffing our selves completely), put Harley down for a nap and settled in to a Lifetime movie that neither of us watched because we fell asleep too!

Later we went outside, played with the pups for about an hour and soaked up the warm afternoon. Too soon it was time for Autie Em to head back to Kansas(Yelm) She caught a twister ( Jumped in her rig) around 4pm. A perfect ending to a crazy yet fun week.

Harley had a blast at the pool on Wednesday and was a little upset when I took her out to warm up!

Well friends that's all for now, but I'll keep ya posted!

READ THE SECOND ONE FIRST FOR THIS TO MAKE ANY SENSE

Now lets get to the Lemon of the weekend. Because Bryant recently got a job in Yakima we are relocating! He came home this weekend to help pack and take a load back with him. This is what happened to that plan. The black truck that you see here was pulling a trailer with almost EVERYTHING we own including, washer, dryer, range fridge etc...... Luckily Bryant was only going about 45 when the trailer started fish-tailing and he was able to slow to about 25 before he, followed by a trailer full of really heavy stuff, ended up in the ditch. This was Tuesday. Now rewind. Lets re-cap so you can get the whole picture. Friday -up late. Saturday-up early, Howell shin-dig all day,and up LATE. Sunday- up early cleanup, take down , start packing. Monday- pack ALL DAY, up late( At this point I'm not sure if we've slept a wink)and my bonding(a tooth colored build- up on my FRONT tooth) pops off, yeah it POPPED off. Very attractive.Tuesday -finish loading and He's off in the evening. Tuesday night- phone call, wait up till 1am when Bryant gets home after re-loading all of our belongings in relatives trucks. And now you're up to speed.

At this point I threw my hands in the air and really just wanted to scream, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!"

Wednesday morning- Go to dentist to repair my retarded tooth and tell Carrie Garner( a woman who's known me my whole life) the story. Who tells her husband and daughter who give us a brand new washer and dryer. And find a dresser they were willing to part with also. Dale( Carrie's Husband) calls the relief society President, who calls our bishop who consents to get us a new range if there was one at the distribution center(they didn't end up having one). And this is why every thing( like my tooth buildup popping off) happens for a reason.

The most important thing is that Bryant is 100% fine, not a bump or bruise on the guy. And once again we were blessed in adversity( an ongoing theme in our lives) to be reminded what really matters in life. Family, friends and the Gospel. With these thing we are able to be back on track and have every thing we need to continue on. Satan CONSTANTLY beats us down. Every time we get close to doing something good we get met with some crazy obstacle. But I am actually really happy that we do because it reminds me that there must be something really amazing and special about our family for Satan to work so hard on us.

When life gives you lemons, make a puckery face and cry. Cry till you can't cry anymore.

I was reading Jennis' blog and she mentioned that we've been slacking on updating so here goes nothing. This past Saturday was the Howell parent's 50th wedding anniversary complete with the renewing their vows. I didn't have any thing to wear so of course I waited until the night before and after cooking all morning, and decorating all afternoon, and hauled Harley to JC Penny and shopped and shopped until closing. We had Aunt Zennie and Uncle Roger staying with us( they're the ones Bryant is stays with when he's in Yakima) and Jeffrey, their ten year old grandson. I didn't get our pooped out baby home until 10:15pm and then she visited with then for another half hour. Needless to say it probably wasn't the best way to get the weekend started but Friday was over. So In the morning I got Harley dressed, packed food and we were off to the church to finish setting up. Did I mention that the day before 20 more people called to say they were coming and we were 3 tables short? So we had to get more table cloths, candles, flowers and center pieces. Long story short it turned out fine. The food was awesome and we had more than enough of everything.

Hello Sunshine!

I'm so happy spring is here. I really think I'm a much more optimistic and happy person when I can see some sun peekin' through the clouds. I'm back to working part time and soon will be at the office four days a week. Two with Harley and two without. Bryant's been working steady which is such a blessing with all the lay-offs in the construction business. but is having to drive to Kelso( about an Hour and a half away) every day. Nevertheless, things are good and we seem to be getting some projects done(and others started) around here.