JONATHAN THOMAS

I think we may have figured out the name: Jonathan Thomas. Sounds good. Now I just can't wait to see him.

Campfire Marshmallows

Is there anything that smells better than a campfire at night? I love the nights here. Even in summer, there is a cool wind that blows through and can necessitate a sweatshirt. Perfect weather for a family campfire. Nothing beats roasting a marshmallow, catching it on fire, blowing it out and eating the blackened shell of the marshmallow. (However, as my friends know, I do tend to like things burnt; such as ham, and I do love to microwave my ice-cream so it is nice and soft---I do have lots of eating quirks.) Anyway, here are some pictures of our family outside at our new fire pit.

Dreaming

Well, I had a most incredible dream the other night. I felt it held special meaning for my life. In my dream, I went to the hospital to give birth to my new baby boy (the one we are going to adopt). In my dream, I didn't have to go through labor and he swam out of me. (How dreamy, why can't labor really be like that.) In this case, however, he had an extra super long umbilical cord, so he was able to immediately be brought up to lay on my chest before they even had to cut the cord. He immediately looked up at me, and he was so precious. We instantly held a special bond. There was an instantaneous love and connection with him. He was so beautiful and I was just so in love with him. They then cut the umbilical cord. In my dream his name was John Thomas. I felt this dream held spiritual meaning for me. I have felt like the right thing to do is adopt this baby. I have felt it would be important for Benjamin and Madison to have their sibling in the family, and I have felt that God wants us to adopt this baby. However, I have known that we would have never had a baby on our own accord at this time, etc. In this dream I felt very strongly that this baby is DEFINATELY supposed to be in our family, he is as much a part of our family as the others, and one way or another this child was going to be in our family, and if I could've given birth to him, I would've. I now have a different feeling about this baby coming to our home. Rather than an add-on, or random happenstance, he is a special spirit being sent to our home and family. I can hardly wait to see this special little boy. I could almost cry; my dream definately brought greater meaning to this experience for me. I know Heavenly Father wants this child in our home and family. It is interesting as I rarely have dreams that I remember, and rarely feel such a strong spiritual feeling during and after a dream. I also really like the name; Brandon doesn't like John, so perhaps his name will be Jonathan Thomas Woodruff. Has a nice ring to it, huh. Got to love a good dream.

What hope do we have?

I can't believe it. It's true. Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston are splitting up. A dysfunctional relationship with lots of loyalty. My world is being rocked. Now, I don't know what to think or where to turn. My world is falling apart. Also, can you believe what happened to Anna Nicole's son Daniel? Dying in her hospital room just 3 days after Anna had a baby girl? Wow. I don't know what is more disturbing; her having a baby girl, or the mysterious death of her son. Can you believe Brittney Spears just had her 2nd boy? Unbelievable. Oops, she did it again. Anyway, it has been an amazing week in celeb gossip; so I can't wait to see the headline on next week's People magazine. Wow. After reading all these headlines, life isn't so bad, we can all make it through. Thank goodness for our normal, boring lives. ( I cannot be responsible for the flow of my thoughts at 2am.)

The B Connection

Makin' smoke!




I am surprised at the friendship and love between my sons Brandon and Benjamin. They get along so well and love to play. Ethan, in the middle of them is more solitary in his play. ( He probably just gets sick of being in the middle of these two rambunctious boys. I was taking random pictures, and I realized how many of them were of the two B's. So I will call it their B connection.

My Pride and Joy

Benjamin climbing on the rocks.
Brandon and Maddie in our backyard.
Ethan with his precious smile.
Benjamin playing in the dirt.
Brandon climbing on the rocks

Here are some sweet pictures of my pride and joy!!!!

Hectic Weekends

What is the deal? Why are weekends always so hectic? Such a mystery. We need to slow down time a little and enjoy them a little more. Anyway, I did have some great fun today; doing one of my favorite activities. Planting bulbs. I LOVE TULIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were able to complete one small bed of tulips and grape hyacinths. I can hardly wait till Spring. That's always the fun; seeing how your creative project turned out back in September. Talk about delayed gratification. We also are really enjoying our new fence; and who knew how exciting a concrete path could be. I am truly old; you always know you are old when you are excited about concrete and vinyl. The flowers are an understandable joy in life. Concrete shouldn't be that exciting. The fence; yes, as it contains my children who like to run in the street. I also planted some rose bushes. I am starting a presidential theme with some Lincolns and the white John F. Kennedy roses. I love those Kennedy roses; they are so fragrant and I like to plant them around the bay window so you can see the beautiful roses throughout the summer. It is exciting to move closer to my goals and dreams for the exterior of the house. They also finally put our shutters up. I called to complain to the builder about our lack of shutters which were supposed to be there. They had to get back with me. They then responded, yes, you are right, we did forget your shutters. Of course you did. Do you think I was making it up for the fun of it? I also had fun transplanting some of our sod from one area to another. What fun. I do enjoy yard work; especially when it involves roses and bulbs.

Outdid once again

Brandon is such a romantical, Southern gentleman. I was once again outdone. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since a Far Side desk calendar, flowers, and treats for future lunches are not a very impressive gift for a ten year anniversary. When Brandon got home from work, he brought me two dozen gorgeous red roses. Then, a little later presented me with a beautiful Citizen gold watch. (I LOVE IT). He has such amazing taste; I have always been impressed by his impeccable taste. Most guys suck in this department. Not my Brandon. Then he told me if I was really good, he may have another surprise for me. (he had to go to little Brandon's football; meet the coach night and salvage our cat from underneath someone's porch.) So, when he returned, he asked me if I had been a good girl. Of course I assured him I hadn't been my normal, naughty self. He then later surprised me with a beautiful, diamond ring. It is GORGEOUS. I reminded him we couldn't afford it and that he shouldn't have. He then preceded to ask me how many 10 year anniversaries we would have. He is just so full of love, care, and giving, and he is so sentimental. Regarding my lameness, that I couldn't help but comment on, he reassured me that anniversaries are for the ladies. He is the bomb. He knows how to make a special occasion. Very romantic. He is a keeper and a half. I adore him. Oh, he also bought me a FRANCE travel book. Sometimes we visualize and discuss a fake date when we are not able to go out (due to the kids). So, I guess our next fantasy date will be to France. I'll let you know how it goes. There's nothing more fun than touring France without the actual tour.

Anniversary--10 YEARS!

I can't believe we have been married ten years. Wow!!! Time sure flies when you are having fun. I had fun bringing treats to Brandon at his work; and of course some flowers. Don't guys deserve flowers once in a while? They were a gorgeous sunflower mix with bright yellows and reds. We had a really romantic lunch with three kids at Carl's Jr. What can I say; sometimes you just gotta' make do. This weekend we are going to celebrate it right and go out alone, but unfortunately, mid-week it is impossible to find a sitter. Anyway, I just adore my Brandon and am so grateful to have him as my partner through this incredible journey of life. He is my best friend. He is always there for us and is a really hands-on Dad who helps with every aspect of our family. Marrying him was and is the single best decision I have ever made. I hope he knows how much I love and respect him. I will definately try to let him know today!!!!

Baby Names Continued

OK, our birth Mom is getting close to having this baby. I am getting freaked out as the baby is due November 13th and she will probably be induced on November 6th. Exactly one day after Maddie's first birthday. HELP!!!!! She is also carrying the baby low (no wonder after 3 pregnancies in 2 years) so I believe the baby may be born early (also due to some risky behavior on her part). We had to help her get her car out of the impound yard last week. Just a subtle reminder for anyone who likes to drive around with a revoked drivers license, without the SR insurance, and with revoked car registration. It does eventually catch up with you. (But that's another whole story and you REALLY don't want to get me started.) Actually, we are getting out of the crisis stage and starting to get a bit excited. This will be a little boy, and we are still really struggling with names, after already having three boys. I have been contemplating names, and they go as follows:

Forrest (Everyone gets a huge chuckle out of this and I don't know why. I think Forrest is a fabulous name, but clearly everyone is not in agreement. My Mom suggested this as we were sitting under a lot of evergreens at Aspen Grove, and I instantly loved it; perhaps the setting of the camp helped me like this name. Brandon is opposed.)

Ryan (We are both liking this pretty well)

Bradley James Woodruff (may be the winner; it is a little close to Brandon, but we both really like this name.)

Thomas (Brandon suggested Tommy, but I like Thomas better, and we could call him Tommy)

Jonathan

James (we both like this also)

So, feel free to make comments and suggestions or have a good laugh.

Aspen Grove Family Camp Activities

As you can see by the many pictures below; there is a wide variety of activities which we participated in at the camp; pottery, horseshoes, badmitton, swimming, eating, horseshoes, etc.

Not exactly "Ghost"

The pottery class rocked the house. We had so much fun, it was the best $2 ever spent; not that we really created any works of art. Very fun and relaxing. Again, I was thinking we might have some really incredible "Ghost" type pottery experience, but since Brandon and I were not alone we could not reinact certain parts of the Ghost movie. Here are some pictures of our experience.
Pottery: the new manly activity. Shows you are comfortable in your manliness. By the way, the vase Brandon made is most fabulous.

Horseshoe Champs

Well, my parents were the winners of our horseshoe competition; my Dad even got a "leaner". Brandon and I were put to shame.

Family Dance

At Aspen Grove they had a family dance that I thought would be really lame; but the kids just LOVED it. Madison sure enjoyed dancing with her Grandpa and Dad.

Daddy's Boy

Benjamin sure is a Daddy's boy. He was like velcro to his Daddy during this mini-week at Aspen Grove; at least when he wasn't in his class.

Our little Stomper

Ethan was part of the "Stomper" group and really loved it!!!!

Making friends

Brandon was very sad about leaving his new friend Nathaniel.

Baby Mess

SOOOOOO glad this didn't happen in my house; although it does normally on a daily basis. With two babies, we are CONSTANTLY going through outfits and cleaning up baby messes. Come to our house if you want a lesson in birth control. We are pretty convincing.

Toothpaste brownie, anyone?

While at Aspen Grove, Brandon was puzzled by the brownie with green toothpaste in the middle. I guess we need to expose him more to the world of mint brownies. Clearly, we are not really fans!!!!

Eating Cafeteria Style

The best part of eating cafeteria style; not having to prepare or clean up.

Fishing

2 Brandons Fishing

Rapelling

So many activites at Aspen Grove; let me introduce my Dad; the brave rapeller.

Grandparents; aren't they the best?

Brothers

Memories

Well, this week we were able to participate once again in Aspen Grove Family Camp (by Sundance). I have so many happy childhood memories of Aspen Grove; we would go there and meet with all our cousins and play; we got to go to our camp every day, go swimming, fishing and do crafts. What more can a child want. Well, it was also fabulous to return as an adult. The best part being, once again, the camps for the children. Every morning the children (all four; even the babies) went to their classes/camp till noon, then we would pick them up, eat lunch, then return them to their afternoon classes till 4:30. How dreamy. Free time without the babies. Don't get me wrong; I love my babies, but it sure is nice to have some husband/wife time without the babies. My parents hosted us to go there with them, and we had some fun experiences. We got to do horseshoes, pottery (not exactly the "Ghost" experience I had been anticipating) which was fabulous, and even tried some fishing with the kids. Unfortunately, by the end of the season, the only fish left in the fish pond are the smart ones . You can directly see into the water and can place your fishing pole and bait right in front of the fish and they would swim away. Not a good sign. We even played some badminton. It was relaxing and fun. We did the mini-week. I would definately suggest it; although we would suggest upgrading the housing from the cabins to the lodge. The cabins do not have a bathroom. So, you get to use a good 'ol outhouse, which is not always the easiest with small children. For example, little Brandon and Ethan were sleeping in my parents cabin. Brandon had to use the bathroom, but did not want to wake up his grandparents. He also didn't want to go out in the cold, dark night alone. So, what did he do? He used his fabulous problem-solving skills. What do you do when you are in trouble? You grab your little brother's greatest attachment; his blanket, and pee on it; hoping that the blanket will soak up all the pee. Well, the experiment was not entirely successful, and some "liquid" seeped onto the floor. When asked why he didn't pee on his own blanket, he looked at us like we were idiots. He wasn't about to pee on his own blanket. Anyway, it was great fun and I would suggest this to any parents needing a break on a vacation. The only thing I missed was Uncle Marty throwing all of us into the pool as he did when we were little kids. I sure loved that. Anyway, I will post some pictures and maybe you can rekindle your fond memories of Aspen Grove Family Camp. Feel free to post your memories.