Home Safe and Sound

Well, we made it back from a wonderful trip down to San Antonio, TX and Tularosa, NM. We both managed to get sick on the trip (stupid recycled airplane air), but still had a really great time. Here are some pictures of our trip.

The River Walk in San Antonio is so beautiful.

The 9 1/2 hour drive from San Antonio into New Mexico was, well, calming. (That's code for: there is NOTHING in western Texas!!)

As we were coming through the mountains in New Mexico (in Cloudcroft, NM I believe), the sun was setting and it was absolutely stunning.

We had such a great time seeing Will's parents in New Mexico. As usual, their horses kept me fully entertained...

Here, he looks like a racing machine....strong, powerful, full of energy...

Here, he looks like our dogs have been teaching him the "my back itches" trick...

Not sure if you're aware, but Will is a dentist in his spare time. He diagnosed that this horse needs to brush his teeth.

Either Ed and Mary are REALLY strong or that jockey (David) doesn't weigh much...

This horse here took a liking to me. I won't lie...I kind of liked her too, she's sweet.

Ed doing his thing -- he actually looks like he knows what he's doing, doesn't he?! :-)

And then there's me doing my thing...

Okay, so maybe I don't so much know what I'm doing! I wasn't so confident that my one riding experience when I was maybe 13 was enough to make me a pro, so Will led me and the horse around. Hehehe.

Thanks for everything Ed and Mary -- we really had a great time!!

Vacation leads to a litte deep thinking

The freedom that comes from getting on one of these...

...and NOT turning the power on to one of these...

...is a beautiful thing!! I LOVE VACATION!!!

So we've been on vacation now for 4 days and I've been thinking a lot about something. I have a great job and I'm very grateful for it. But here's the question...does the job create stress in my life or do I allow it to take control of me...to consume me? I don't know that I have a good answer. I do believe that certain jobs naturally are more stressful and harder on the employees. But I also believe that no matter what my job is, I should do it as unto God -- do the job like I'm doing it for Him. So that means giving it 100%. Apparently my problem is that I have a hard time giving 100% without also allowing it to stress me out. I need to work on this -- I need to be better at finding outlets (like working out) to relieve the stress in my life instead of waiting for a vacation to relax me. It's just not healthy. What about you? Do you have any good advice for lessening the stress in your life?

On a lighter note, vacation has been wonderful and very relaxing. (As you may have noticed from the above paragraph, I needed this!!) The great state of Texas has been great to us so far!! (It's 75 degrees -- in March -- while it's 30 degrees back home -- need I say more??) :-)

More pictures of our trip at a later time. A special thank you to our wonderful and generous friends who are staying at our house, protecting our homestead and the 2 furry munchkins, while we're away. We appreciate you!!

Baby Shower

The question for today is...

and the answer is...we do!!

Today we had a baby shower for Jodi and the new baby boy that will soon become part of their beautiful family. Here are a few pictures from the day...

One of the coolest and most useful gifts I've ever seen...a cake made of diapers! Nice job, Leslie, you're creativeness is amazing!!

Lots of new clothes for the little guy...

Jonathan, is this true? "Daddy and I agree Mommy's the boss!"

Adorable outfit from Jodi's mom...

The baby's first Build-a-Bear from Grandma and Grandpa Lindley...

I had to put this picture up just because it's pretty. The lemonade. Ooooo. Aaaah.

Jodi, you are one of the most beautiful pregnant ladies I have ever seen! You looked amazing today and I hope that you left feeling amazing and loved by your friends. You deserve it. That little guy is one lucky fella to have you and Jonathan as his mom and dad!!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Little girls who are blessed with a great father are among the luckiest people alive -- I am, without a doubt, one of the luckiest. My dad is such a hard-working man, who has taught us the value of a strong work ethic and the satisfaction that comes with seeing the fruits of your labor. He is also a compassionate man who loves his family dearly. Never has a day passed that I didn't know my dad loves me and is proud of me - the confidence a girl gains from having such knowledge is indescribable. My dad also has a great sense of humor!! His one-liners that you aren't expecting are hilarious! :-)

Dad, wishing you a wonderful day today on your birthday!! I hope you have a great trip and your team wins one in honor of you!! ;-) I love you with all my heart. Happy Birthday!!

The Day of Lu-u-uv!!

Happy Valentine's Day from us...

To all the special couples in our life...

Ryan and Katie

Ed and Mary

Chad and Tasha

Mom and Dad

Sheryl and Steve, Mike and Linda, Russ and Kelly -- Happy Valentine's Day to you as well!! I hate that I don't have pictures of you to post. You're in my heart, though!! :-)

Recipe for Perfection

Saturday. Sunny. Warm. Hiking. Will. Bailey and Kelsee. What more could a girl ask for? It's the recipe for a perfect day. Some quotes from our day... :-)

Bailey and Kelsee to Will: "Why does Mom always make us stop for dumb pictures?"

Will, Stacey, Bailey & Kelsee: "Really? Snow? In 65 degree weather? Weird. But beautiful."

Bailey to Will: "That feels good...oh, up a little...no, down and to the right..."
Kelsee to Stacey: "Are you kidding me? We had to stop our hike for this??"

Kelsee to Bailey: "Look sister, I can even do tricks and we're still faster than Mom!!"

Bailey to Will: "Dad, it's easy...you cross the river like this..."

Kelsee to Bailey: "Sister, get out of my way, it's my turn!"
Stacey to anyone who would listen: "Noooooooooooo!!!!"
(Bailey took quite the tumble, but jumped up like nothing had happened. Whew!)

Kelsee thinks to herself: "Maybe she's faster because her tail is shorter??"

Bailey and Kelsee to the tune from Dukes of Hazzard: "YEE HAW!!"

Stacey: "I LOVE SPRING!!!"

Bailey: "My mom's a weirdo...I don't know her right now."

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! Find reasons to be happy...you'll be glad you did!

It's A Hard Knock Life

Do you ever have a day when you've just worked so hard, you know, playing hide and seek and stuff like that...


...that when your day is done, you're just so exhausted that you can't even muster to continue chewing your bone...and you just fall asleep???


Ya, me too. Life is rough.

(Please forgive my numerous posts of nothing but the dogs...we really lead an exhilarating life, huh!!)