Happy Monday!

Happy, happy Monday!

We are celebrating the end of the

of the sickies and back to real

life today!! I cannot believe how

exciting it will be to go to Wal-Mart!

Goodness! We are excited about our

brand new week. Here is the lowdown:

1. Meeting with architect at new lot.

2. Getting grrrreat news about our

old lot . . . God is so amazing.

3. Enjoying the beautiful weather.

4. Reading, writing, and typing papers.

5. Working on "Scouting Heritage"

merit badge with Luke.

6. Taxing kiddos back and forth.

7. Getting ready for Mike and Luke's

next camping adventure.

8. Getting ready for Valentine's Day.

9. Thinking about Tim on the

cruise ship.

10. Going to the Marie Calendar

pie sale!

Have an amazing week!

Last Sick Post.

This is definitely my LAST sick post!

We.all.got.it!! Yep, Luke was really

kind and shared his horrible,

achey, coughing, sneezing,

sore throat flu with the rest of

us. We all got it . . . together.

We laid around in Benadryl induced

comas for about a day and a half

and managed to take turns pressing

the buttons on the remote control.

Luckily, Mike was find and could

make little runs to get our favorite

"sick" must-haves. We are truly

celebrating Sunday and praying for

a wonderful back to normal week next

week . . . WE CANNOT WAIT.

Here's to praying for a wonderful

sick-free week. Mercy! We are

all more grateful for our health and

for our many, many blessings.

Test Holes.

Definitely a looooooong story, but

yes, we did purchase a new lot in

Somersett. A big, beautiful, FLAT lot!!

We are ready to get building that house!

When we started to begin our project on

the other lot, there was clay soil and

a big basement, decks, etc. that were

very difficult for the soil to support.

It required lots of other soil to be brought

in and was very expensive.

However, God is good and we found

a really pretty new lot with beautiful

views of mountains all around. Before

we got to excited about the lot, we

had test holes dug as well as geo-techs

on site to see just how the soil looked.

Yep, yep, yep, the soil is

native soil . . . awesome soil.

I have heard much more about

soil the last week than I EVER

wanted to hear. However, this

lot is a "cut lot" . . . one that was

cut from a large hill or mountain

replete with native soil . . . Soil great

for building a home on.

Hence, we are headed back to the

architect on Monday and revising

our old plans that were approved and

ready to roll. This is a just a little

setback that will really work out

much better for the future.

Test holes, gotta love 'em.

Tim Tietjen: World's Worst Teacher

I had forgotten about these videos

that the boys made when I was setting

up my kindergarten classroom at Hafen.

I was laughing and crying SO HARD at

the SAME TIME watching these videos.

These videos help me to remember what

life is really all about: families and memories.

I am so thankful for my little family and all

of the wonderful memories that we have

made together. Things like these also

help me to remember all of the many,

many blessings that I have and to never,

ever take God and His promises for

granted. I am reminded that all we need

to do is "ask" and we shall receive.

How could a lady be more blessed?

I realize that I am truly blessed beyond

measure more than I could EVER,

EVER deserve.

The Cross.

On our way home last night the boys and

I were talking about the quilt with

crosses on it that a sweet lady from

a different religion gave me when Sam

was born. When she handed me the

package she said, "I think you'll like

it . . . you love the cross".

Yep, if I can be remembered as the

girl who loves the cross . . . It's ALL good!

Too True.

Don't play in the mud with a pig. The

pig likes it, and you just get dirty.

Sick.

Why are kiddos so cute when they are

sick. I know it is crazy, but I secretly

love when my boys are under the

weather . . . They are so cuddly and snuggly

and needy!! I.love.it. Luke has Pig Rock

Fever. He is sicker than a little dog with

a 102* fever, chills, and feeling icky.

He could not even keep his head up

in school. Thank heavens he loves to read.

He was able to get quite a bit of his reading

done during his awake time.

I am praying that he is ready to roll

tomorrow.

This, however, is NOT cute when it

is sick. My little fan made a noise today.

I ran to the Apple Store and it is for

real . . . The fan needs to be replaced.

Of course, they had to order one and it

should be in tomorrow or the next day.

I felt like I was waiting for the results

of a colonoscopy when they came out

to tell me what was wrong with my

"machine". There is NO WAY that

I can be without my "machine" for a minute

with all of my schoolwork.

Sick . . . isn't it.

Blueberries Anyone?

Guess what I had for dinner!?!

Blueberry pancakes . . . perhaps my most

favoritist thing in the entire world.

One of the most yummy things to top

these babies is homemade maple butter syrup.

Can you only imagine . . .

Juicy blueberry pancakes, a dab of

whipped butter, and maple butter syrup.

I am already thinking about breakfast!

Pig Rock.

My Mike and Luke had an

amazingly fun time camping at

PIG ROCK about one hour north

of Reno this weekend. The days

were gorgeous with temperatures

reaching the high 50s. The nights

were a wee bit cold dipping down to the

mid 20s.

Luke cooked a COWBOY BREAKFAST

for the entire troop in order to fulfill

one of his Second Class requirements.

Mike made a totally ridiculously yummy

peach cobbler in the Dutch oven that

everyone loved. He even took dry ice

for the vanilla ice cream topping.

Of course the boys hiked, ran, jumped,

played, and ate! Mike said that he

could not believe how much the boys

ate. Luke loved the s'mores, of course,

and was itching to make one tonight.

I am so glad to have my little crew back

home, but thankful that they had

so much fun. I am grateful that Mike

takes the time and makes the HUGE
effort to take my little guys camping.

He is on his 15th year camping with

my Boy Scouts. Huge kudos!!

Tucker.

Although he does not say much,

Tucker is my constant study companion.

He does offer quite a bit of moral

support, listens to the constant

sharpening of pencils and turning of

pages, looks at me with compassion

when I am ready to tear my hair out

with lack of understanding on an

assignment or a paper, and is always

ready to play and celebrate my little

accomplishments along the way.

Cozy.

Living in Reno, cozy slippers are a must!

Boy am I lucky to have these babies!!

My UGG slippers and I do not part

EVER, except for my occasional little

run here or little run there. As soon as

I am back in the homestead . . . these

puppies are back on my feet.

Luke tries to stick his big old gams

in them every so often, he knows

that there is a stiff penalty for placing

my slippers out of my range.

Slippers, a girls gotta have 'em.

S'more Anyone?

One of my Luke's very favorite things about

camping is the s'mores! Well, he is going

to get some this weekend!

He and Mike are headed to PIG ROCK

with the Boy Scouts for a weekend fun

of camp, camp, camping.

Luke's assignment is cooking a

cowboy breakfast for 50.

After the breakfast, they will be heading

on a 15 mile hike.

Let's go!

Kiddo's Fave.

After a hard day with the whole fam

studying, there just doesn't seem to

be a better solution than this!

We like to take a little stroll back

to the 50s with this sweet little

hamburger joint.

It is pretty tempting . . . they are just

right down the street . . .

Pretty tempting, huh?

My Chair.

THIS is where is ALL happens!

I spend a bazillion hours each day in

this chair reading, typing, answering

questions, home schooling, attending

to computer work.

Seriously!

I know that it has a little rip in it and

the back is starting to jiggle in a

weird way, but there is absolutely

no way that I will ever part

from my favorite rolling chair.

I hate the fact that we have this

carpet in our rental home.

On wood floors, this baby will

glide . . .

I love my chair and it has

my permanent impressions

on the seat.

Work chair.

Gotta have one!

66 Degrees!

Oh.yeah. What could be better than

a day off from school and 66 degree

weather in Reno, Nevada in the

middle of January?

Not much for my two duffers as they

hit the Somersett links.

The course opened all 18 holes and the

boys were chomping at the bit.

Sam is getting ready for his McQueen

High School debut late February or

early March when the season begins

for the men's golf team.

Somersett happens to be the home

course for McQueen. We are all

excited for the matches to begin!

Fore!

Tweet. Tweet.

Woot! Woot! Today I joined the ranks

of people who tweet . . .

Follow me on twitter go to:

twitter.com/jillygirl

Its.me! Its.really.me!

Luke's Gets His Braces.

Today was the big day . . . Luke got

his braces on after the week of pulling

FIVE teeth.

Getting impressions made are everyone's

favorite part of the orthodontist process.

It will be fun to see these molds when

they take his braces off. The doc

always compares both molds

"before" and "after". It is pretty

amazing to see just how much

the braces improve a person's whole

face: teeth, chin, and cheeks.

Luke picked silver and black

for the colors in his new bands.

Dr. Struby begins to work

her magic on our Luke.

706 days and counting.