Monday, June 29, 2009

Summertime Fun

I was just putting some pictures from my camera onto my computer and thought I would share some.
 We went to a birthday party that was amazing. It was in Newport, and it was a party like none other! For me, it was the party that started summer. 




Thursday, June 25, 2009

Adah, and her Papa

 A picture of Adah and my Dad on Fathers day. 

Photo by Trever Hoehne.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Monday Ramblings

Well, a lot has been going on in our house. We are going through the process of re-doing our bathroom, and getting new carpet! We have been wanting to do this since we moved in, and now we are going full force.
 We are getting new carpet in the two of the three bedrooms (the office has hardwood floors), and the hallway. Then the same company had a vintage hexagon bathroom tile that we have been looking for, so they are going to do the bathroom too! 
 I am so excited because our house is so old, and just about everything, except the bathroom is very vintage. So we are keeping the vintage feel with the tile. We are also re-finishing the cast iron tub, replacing the toilette, vanity, and of coarse painting. I am so excited to see the end result. All of this will take place next week! 
 Something else that's new with the family is my grandpa moved into my Mom and Dads house. My grandpa fell and broke his hip in January, and has not had the best health since then. IT is the first time since then that he has been in an actual home, so he seems to be responding to having the family around nicely. He even went to church yesterday, and got to hear me sing!
 Jenni, and I through a baby shower for a friend on Saturday, and it was really nice, and as an added bonus, I now have a very clean house. The weather was great to have it outside, and the food Jenni made was really good.
Well, that's all I can ramble about today.

Happy First Monday of Summer!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Apples to Apples

 When we first looked at our house one of the huge buying points for me was the huge (and landscaped) backyard. After we bought it, it was like an adventure trying to find out what types of plants, and trees were in the yard and how to care for them. 
 Shortly after moving into the house we discovered that the smallest tree in the yard was an apple tree. It even had small apples growing in. But that's as far as it got. The apples never got any bigger, and eventually fell off. I didn't really care, I was still so excited that we even had an apple tree, and knew there was always next year.
 With the pregnancy, and winter being so cold, I forgot about the apple tree, in the seance of losing the excitement of the anticipated apples that would soon grow in. I honestly forgot about most of our fruit plants in the backyard this spring, and missed allot of good lemons. But, a few weeks ago, I looked out our window and saw the apple tree with much bigger apples than had grown in last year.

And this is what I found. Much larger apples scattered all over the tree. There are so many more then there were last year.

 Them today I, again looked out the bedroom window and saw that they were starting to turn red. This whole time I thought they were Granny Smith apples. I still haven't done any research about the apples, or how to care for them. I am just watering them faithfully.
 The apple on the right is being pecked by the birds, so I'm going to have to figure out how to stop that. Going up the 5 freeway, I noticed on the produced trees that they tie metallic string to the branches. Maybe I'll try that.
 And there is another type of apples here. I like to call it, The Apple of My Eye. I know, really cheesy, but they are really cute! 

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Me + The Sun = No Bueno

As I look at the pictures over the last 10 years I am seeing how I have changed. I am noticing that I am getting older. I can no longer eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I am feeling aches and pains in places I have never felt them before. I am also not as adventures as I once was. But I think the most startling thing that I have noticed in these pictures is how much my skin has changed.
I have always had very fair skin and easily burned in the sun, but not easily tanned. I always wanted a deep dark tan in the summer that alot of my friends could get so easily within minutes of being at the beach. I would say for a good 5 summers, plus the time before my wedding all I wanted was a really nice tan. I would prep myself for summer by going to the tanning salon and working my way up to the longest I could stay in the bed. I honestly could never see a huge difference, other than the fact that my skin was so leathery feeling and looking. But none the less I kept tanning. The darkest I ever got was before my wedding. I went to the tanning bed every day for 2 months. That was the only time I was in my mind "dark."
Like I said before, now my skin is not nearly as healthy looking as it was when I was 17. I know that naturally our skin is going to look older, but I can't help but think of how it might ave looked had I not spent so much excessive time in the tanning beds, or in the sun unprotected.
So my goal this summer is to be real with the fact that I am never going to have that golden tan that I want and to really be careful while being in the sun. So here are some facts I found on Mayo clinic while researching the topic.

  • If you spend time outdoors during daylight hours, you need to use sunscreen even if you have darker skin pigment, tan easily and can tolerate longer periods of sun exposure without burning. Regardless of skin type, the sun's energy penetrates deeply into the skin and damages DNA of skin cells. This damage may ultimately lead to skin cancer.
  • SPF is not an indication of how much time you can spend in the sun. For example, if you use a sunscreen with an SPF 30 rather than one with an SPF 15, it doesn't mean you can stay in the sun twice as long. In reality, an SPF of 15 filters out about 93 percent of the UVB rays; SPF 30 filters about 97 percent of UVB rays. The beneficial effects of sunscreen decreases over time, so after a few hours the difference between the two may be even less.
  • Most people use sunscreen too sparingly. A liberal application is 1 ounce (29 milliliters) — the amount in a shot glass — to cover all exposed parts of the body. If you have a 4-ounce (118-milliliter) bottle, you'll be using about one-fourth of it for one application. Be sure to rub the sunscreen in well.
  • Use sunscreen frequently and liberally. Apply sunscreen liberally 30 minutes before going outdoors and reapply about every two hours. Use it even on cloudy or hazy days. UV rays can penetrate cloud cover.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

She's a Big Girl

 Adah had her 2 month old pediatrician visit this morning, and despite the shots it went great! The last time she was there I was nervous about her weight, but this was totally different. It is so apparent that she is growing properly, that I was actually looking forward to this appointment. 
 She is now 9.2 lbs, and 21 1/2" long! The doctor was really impressed with how much weight she has gained. I thought she was going to be in the 8 lb zone, so I was delighted when I saw 9 on the scale! We had a morning appointment and that is when Adah is most awake and talkative, and today was no different. The doctor at first asked if she was smiling (which she is) and laughing, and cooing, then (once she got familiar with him) she really started taking, and he took note of it. Like my Mom said, she is from the Eaton girls!
 I left the office very pleased and although she did have to get shots, she was a trooper and only cried while she was getting them, and as soon as I picked her up, she was fine. She fell asleep on the way home. She has been a bit fussy but its nothing a little TLC and baby Tylenol won't cure.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Memories....

 Since I am now honored to have the privilege of being a stay at home mom, I am obviously at home a lot. With an infant who can (sometimes) sleep allot, I have a quiet home. Most of the time I have the TV on just for back round noise, or I turn on an iPod while cleaning. But sometimes I like to just sit in the quiet (like I said, sometimes) and listen to the Lord speak to me, like He did the other day. On this particular day he gave me a fond memory of our dating lives. Upon reminiscing on our 8 year relationship (4 1/2 dating, almost 4 married) I remembered a particular date in which Jon and Dirk planned for Alicia and I. 
 Jon and Dirk liked to plan out dates for us girls, it was something they would put a lot of thought in. If we had a day they would pick a place and plan the day around this place, like they did the first time we went to the beach together, and I had tar in the bottoms of my feet. That is another story worth a blog post in itself.
 When Jon and Dirk started college it was hard for both Alicia and I for different reasons. I was still in high school and didn't want Jon to get in the college crowd and forget about me, and Alicia because Dirk was going to Van Guard, and Dirk was farther away from her, and she really missed him. So the boys decided to plan a "special" date for us and take us to a "special" place. They really hyped it up to us as a surprise, and wouldn't even give us hints as to where we were going. Honestly, I have surprises, and the whole thing was just giving me anxiety, like surprises always do. 
 The night of the date all I remember before was Jon saying just to dress casual. So I did. Dirk drove his mom's car and we piled into the Honda Civic, and off we went. We started off in the 91 going toward the beach, so I thought we were going to the beach area, then he started merging to get off on McKinley, so I thought we were going to Claim Jumper, but he got off going South not North. At that point I had no idea. They pulled into a parking lot and I couldn't believe it. They had taken us to non other than Chuck-e-Cheese. Yup! I can honestly say I was NOT expecting that.
 When we pulled into that parking lot, like I said I would not have imagined that we would go there, but honestly, out of all the dates they planned, I remember that one most vividly. It must have looked so weird to see four teen-agers on a date with million of little kids. But we really did have a great time. 
 As I look at where the Lord has taken us since then I love that he has shown himself so faithful to us as young dating couples. We were all young, but we made a commitment not to just "date" but to take our relationships seriously. Not to jump in and out of relationships, but to look at the one we were with and say this really means something, and I plan on marrying that person, and above all else to keep that relationship pure, physically, and spiritually. I honestly believe that the Lord has richly blessed both of our relationships because of that.