The Highs

****I started writing this post on 7/7 and am determined to finish it tonight. I apologize for the ridiculous delay!

After working out in the garden (a new pumpkin patch plot I'm digging up) and getting sweaty and dirty and nasty, I would much rather sit back and look at a magazine or watch TV while the boys are still sleeping. HOWEVER, if I don't come back around and write my "highs" from our Texas roadtrip, I just may never do it. So here are some pics to complement my words.

First off, the road trip was fantastic. Really, it was. The boys were amazing---didn't flinch at being in the car that long. We stopped in Memphis for the night which is 7.5 hours from Bloomington. It was perfect timing as it was midnight TN time. Then the next day, we headed the final 6 hours to TX. Because all of the suggestions my amazing friends gave me on Facebook, I came prepared with so many things for the boys to do. However, they didn't even get into a lot of it because they were content to just be. They didn't even watch much TV which shocked me cuz I got a bunch of new stuff from the library.
This cross was HUGE!!


Next we got to my parents house and it was such a wonderful welcome. Unfortunately, I took no pics of the boys in the garden, or playing with Mee-ma and Papa which was such a bummer. I just can't believe I forgot. But here are the boys playing in Mee-ma's bath after a super sweaty Texas day.
On our way out of Tyler, we stopped at this awesome park/museum that is owned by Brookshires---a large grocery store chain there. Once again, I should have taken pics of this museum. It had real stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes from practically every continent. The boys were amazed. Then we went outside to the park where they have an old train and firetruck that you can climb on.




Then we went on to my sister Kasey's place which is in big D. We had a great time visiting with her and the boys of course savored their time with cousins, Connor and Payton.






We spent the next couple days visiting with our good friend's the Chapman's and the Ashlocks. The Ashlock's have been mentors to Brian and me in many ways and we miss them dearly. We had a blast being with them as they prepared to send their first daughter Amber off in marriage. Pics of that in a minute. Here are some pics of Noah, Taylor, Bubba (lil' David) and Wesley. They are the best of buds and we enjoyed thoroughly hangin' with Kristen and Dave just relaxin. Too bad I took pictures of no grownups!

The Woodwards are some of our best friends who we've traveled with on mission trips in the past. We had a nice splurge of a dinner at Morton's one night and then we visited later in the week again. Pitifully, the ONLY pic I took was this one of Amber reading to Carter and Wesley.
We spent a few days at my oldest sister, Kim's house. Noah and Wesley were in heaven having unlimited time with their cousins. I of course, loved watching them play and relaxing with my sisters. We also got to spend Father's Day all together with my dad and that was incredibly special. We don't know when the last time that happened---maybe 15 years or more!




We left my sisters and headed for a quick visit at the LST office. I loved seeing some of my old co-workers and catching up on all their happenings. It is almost impossible for me to believe it's been a year and a half since I've worked. Amazing how time has flown. But I am completely sure that God has me doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing----teaching, loving and caring for these 2 little rascals I call Noah and Wesley. :) We spent 2 nights with my good friend Stephanie and her 2 boys (her hubbie was out of town). It was so nice to catch up with her as I had not been very good at keeping in touch. The boys had a blast with her 2 little boys Jake and Cole. They spoiled us with all their neat toys as you will see below.




We closed our trip with the wedding of Amber Ashlock and Trevor Cates. It was a beautiful night and the wedding was perfect. We saw many familiar faces and the boys had so much fun. Noah kept saying, "I can't believe I'm at a wedding!" It was so cute. Here are couple pics of the wedding. Unfortunately I could never get a good pic of the boys. They looked so cute in these outfits Aunt Kasey bought them.

So there is FINALLY the summary of our trip. It has been 3 weeks since we got back and July is flying by. We loved our time in TX and even the road trip parts of it. It was nice to spend time together as a family even if it did feel weird being a "visitor" in TX. :) Thank you again to everyone who hosted us!! We love and miss all of our family in TX so much!

Highs & Lows

At mealtime, the four of us have "highs and lows" as a part of our dinner conversation. I heard a friend of ours say they did that and thought it was something we should start as well. Sometimes we get laughs out of what is said, other times we really learn what Noah appreciates about his day, etc. Well, I thought it appropriate to make a highs and lows list of my time here in TX. It'll be a little generic because I can't possibly list all the people that I had fun with and don't want to insult anyone I didn't have fun with. :) (wink wink)

I'm actually going to start with the low. You read right, THE low, singular. My former youth minister and friend died today from acute respiratory distress syndrome that was brought on by the swine flu. Yes, someone actually got it and died from it that isn't foreign, or infantile, or elderly. 26 days ago Ron Stowe was a healthy guy. Today he died and went to spend eternity next to Jesus. Simply mind boggling. I'm heartbroken. I haven't spoke to Ron for years. I didn't even know that he and his family live here in TX now. I knew him in Southern Cal when I was real young, and then he was my youth minister in Albuquerque my junior and senior year. It was ironic that I got the news he was sick while we were here. They live in Pflugerville, TX which is near San Antonio, I believe. He and Lauren were going to celebrate their 25th anniversary this August. They have four children ages 11 to 21. I used to babysit their first 2 in highschool. I was a jacked up high school student who thought I was a lot cooler than I was. I did things I shouldn't do and was not really involved at all in the youth group. But I babysat===and that is where Ron and I formed our friendship. He and Lauren were 2 of maybe 5 adults that I could actually talk to and felt like myself around. I thought they were so cool and they made me feel like one of their own. We would stay up late talking after they returned from their dates. It made me feel special. The quality Ron possessed that I loved the most was his humor. That guy was funny. Dang funny. He was so sarcastic and HILARIOUS. He could make me laugh with a mere look. I wanted to be around him all the time---which says a lot for a teenager. I just want to cry really really hard about this but haven't been in the right spot to do so. There are about 540 people just on FB that have been praying for Ron and most of them had a relationship with him. IT's been fun to reconnect and even find people that i know now that I had no idea knew Ron. (did that make sense?)  

Ultimately, I'm confused. And that might not be the best word. I've said before that I don't cope well with anything I can't understand or that doesn't have a logical explanation. I guess today is like the exclamation point on this quality/struggle. Honestly? I really thought God was going to heal him (on earth). I really did. I mean, when over 500 people just on Facebook unite to pray for this man at just the right time, and God's glory can be shown in a uniquely powerful way after he's been on life support for 13 days, WHY WOULDN'T HE???? I just don't get it. I'm at a loss. I feel defeated. And I shouldn't. Because ultimately Ron got his reward tonight. But I feel defeated because I just don't understand why God didn't heal him. Of course lots of wonderful things will be said about him and people will go to the ends of the earth to take care of his precious family. But at this very moment, I really do feel like we needed him more here on earth. That's my raw honesty. And so it is times like this that I feel like an awkward daughter not knowing what to say to my Dad. Knowing ultimately He knows best, but not liking his decision and feeling really really sad. 

Please lift up the Stowe family in prayer, today and every day that you can remember. As we can all see the length of this blog post is getting ridiculous and therefore I'm going to hold off on the highs till tomorrow or Monday. And maybe it is simply appropriate to mourn today and celebrate another day anyway. 

A quick one.......

So I'm blogging from my parents house and I just wanted to say a few things I'm thankful for on this Sunday:

--simple, old toys. My mom has never revamped her toy collection here. She has no new fangled gadgets. She has one thing of legos, a set of toy dishes, a small box of cars, many books--the newest of which is about 11 years old, and a jar of little beanie baby type animals. The kids have so much fun and I'm just amazed that they can stay occupied with these few simple things. Actually, she did buy one of those $5 plastic golf club sets awhile back from Walmart and the boys have had a blast with that.

--Ironically, the hot weather. Texas is hot. Real hot. But funny enough, Noah wants to be outside more than he even does at home, which is a lot. He has been sweaty for probably 15 out of the 24 hours we've been here. I went for a jog/walk and even though I felt like I was running inside of a broiler, there was something so gratifying about it===call me crazy.

--Gardens. My dad has a huge garden. Probably much bigger than he really likes or can handle. But he works his old behind off taking care of it. Noah and Wesley are thoroughly enjoying picking loads of black berries, onions, and zucchini. I can only imagine what the Garden of Eden looked like, but I think God put in us a natural awe and respect for gardens.

--Church. Being at my parents church today made me love, respect and admire things that maybe at one point in my life I felt a little "above". It's hard to put my thoughts into words here but I just appreciate a faithful group of believers so much. My parents go to the oldest Church of Christ in Tyler (really old) but it is big, and thriving and has a Spanish speaking congregation as well. It's definitely traditional, but I don't mean that in a bad way. I loved the people that taught my boys this morning. There is such a respect for the older generation. And even with a congregation of great size (I'm guessing 700 or more) they take so much time to pray for the hurting, sick, and aging....something God tells us to do but I admit I don't nearly enough and neither does my church family back home (atleast publically in Sunday morning worship). They truly treat everyone like family and they are more about the people that make up this family than sticking to schedules, programs or a perception from guests. However, I think when a guest realizes how much love is in this church, they immediately want to be part of a body of Christ that truly loves and takes care of one another.

--My parents. I love them. I'm so happy to be with them. I'm so happy to be on vacation at their house. And I'm so happy for the time my kids get to spend with them. Family is one of the most simple pleasures in life. I'm so grateful for a good one.

It's a Girl!!!

Me, that is. Ha, I'm sure some of you thought that I might have tricked you and been pregnant for months without telling because you would have NO IDEA since you live in TX or CA (most of you readers) and announcing the actual sex here would have been brilliant yet cruel all at the same time...............BREATHE.............but no, I'm not. And I wouldn't couldn't do that anyway. So no worries.

However! The topic begs for some elaboration because it simply is on. my. mind. all. the. time. Not really having a girl, or a baby, or nursing, or burping, or giving medicine to, or pacing around with, or changing one's diaper. But simply the idea of what phase of life am I in, really anyway??? This post could be completely serious or completely comical and I'm not sure which direction to go in.........so I take a little of dis and a little of dat and here I go.

I have a split personality. I do. One minute I can be found pouring over blogs that discuss details of cloth diapers, slings, nursing, and organic everything. The next minute I am fantasizing about the next vacation we'll take and how the boys will do awesome and the world of opportunities that is quickly opening up to our family of 4 everyday as the boys (and us) gain more independence. Schoolwork, organized sports, volunteering here and there, even a possible part time job serving somewhere all sound so appealing. Ideas of road trips long and short, train rides, water parks, mission trips etc etc flash all around the tips of my brain.

Then I see a woman with 4, 5, 6, 7+ children and I'm envious. I want that. I want to be that mom (only if her kids are angels). I want to be so organized that I could totally do that. I want to be so well rounded that I can be nursing and hosting parties, team mom and toilet training, traveling and spoon feeding, all at the same time. But what I want to be and what I am (or think I am) are quickly running in opposite directions. And then there is the whole ethical side of my dilemma. I'm in no way making a universal statement here, but something I (April Beth Spicer) struggle with is if there is a moral obligation to have more kids because I can, I was created to do so, and we've been given all the worldly means to further grow our family in faith and love.

Why can't I be one of the billion people out there that just "knows" when they are done? Why do I have to think about everything sooooooooooo deeply and consider all the possibilities to the ends of the earth? Why? I can honestly say there isn't a friend around me that is in this predicament (unless you've been holding out on me). They either want more children, or are happy to be done (or are done because of medical reasons). They are not a pathetic wishy washy person such as I.

I pray. I do. I pray. I want God to either remove desire for another little baby (which there are days when I think He is doing so) or remove all my fears that exist about having another one.

You might wonder where Brian is in this whole cloud of uncertainty. Well, he can be found pretty much where I am. There are days when he says, "I just don't know how we'd do another one." and then there are plenty of moments where I knooooooooooooooow he would love another one---especially if he could have a girl. Yikes.

So I'm just throwing this all out there into Blogland. Truly, it's the #1 thing on my mind and heart, and I kinda wish it weren't so. Pray for us. As we try to discern the Lord's will in our lives and not confuse it with our own.

And whatever you do, don't come around and tell me one way or the other how fabulous your life is because you stopped at 2, 3, 4 or so on. I'll only get envious and picture my life as yours and wish that somehow, I would have gotten pregnant with a 3rd awhile ago unplanned so that I wasn't in this situation right now thinking about it. I have a love hate relationship with planning and right now, it's kinda making me hate it. :) I know some of God's greatest blessings come in the form of a surprise and so maybe I wish all this would play out in a surprise. But if you know me at all, you know I'd find some way to prevent that from happening. Because my life is always on a need-to-know basis. I'm nosy that way.

Gotta go tend to my 2 "planned" blessings. Enjoy your day---whatever phase of life you happen to be in, whether mind or body...today.

Monday mentionables........

This is so funny.......... I was looking for a word that started with "m" for this Monday post. I typed in "adjectives that start with m" on Wikianswers and there is a hilarious list. It was hard to not pick something like mannish, mexican, mummish, or morbid. I think I chose a suitable word. :)

I am so thankful for this morning. I just have a lot on my mind and heart that I feel grateful for and I need to write it down. I hope and pray as you celebrate this Memorial Day that you have many moments today where you look around and take in all that we have to be thankful for.

-Hearing the laughs and giggles downstairs as my boys play with their Daddy on his day off.

-Eating breakfast on the porch while it poured rain. We all marveled at the thunder (and there was no one crying from fear of it!).

-The fact that our goal today is to do nothing but just be lazy and have fun together. We have no plans to go anywhere unless we ALL feel like it.

-Inhalers. Noah has a nasty case of croup and for the first few years of his life we had to use this dumb nebulizer machine that he hated. Now we have inhalers and he is so great with them. I just pray that his body heals and he is better really soon.

-Food. We love food around the Spicer household and the joy we get out of yummy homemade goodness is so wonderful. But simple things like large slices of watermelon have brought many smiles this weekend.
-Music. I think Wesley lives his life to an internal soundtrack. He is constantly singing or humming something and I think he mimmics the spirit in the rest of us Spicers. I am always marveled at how music makes everything better and causes us to find emotions inside we didn't know were there or we need to lift our spirits.

-Freedom. We watched "taken" last night and it was just another reminder even in beautiful countries that we consider vacation spots, there is still so much corruption, evil, and injustice. I realize our country has it's own share of that, but not in comparison to others. I'm thankful that I don't live every day with fear as a normal emotion. I'm thankful we have so many choices and that most of all, we can worship the Creator of the universe without fear of death.

-Warnings. I got a "warning" yesterday from a cop as opposed to a ticket. I say I'm thankful for this but maybe I'm just looking to vent about it. :) It was a young male cop who I knew with everything in me was going to pull me over after he had been following me for a little bit. And sure enough, those lights went on. I wanted to scream out the window "Bring it!" but of course, I patiently waited for him to come to the window and tell me what on earth he pulled me over for. You know what he said?????? I didn't signal that I was getting on the freeway. And you know what else? I was in a turn only lane to get on the freeway. Are you kidding me??? Ya, so whatever. I was hacked. He spoiled my delightful mood which I will explain on the next item and I just felt bitter that he wasn't out attending to the real criminals or law breakers out there. However, I will of course say that I overall, I'm thankful he gave me a warning because we all know that if he gave me a ticket, I'd have to bring out the dark side. And no one wants that.

-So, I spent roughly 3 hours (including cop incident) on my own at TJMaxx yesterday. I NEVER go to that store because it is about 25 minutes away and it's one of those stores I want to browse uninterrupted which is never possible with two angelic children in tow. But my inlaws got me a nice sized gift card there for my b-day and I finally went to cash in yesterday. It was pure bliss just looking at everything and accumulating items in my basket. I love that store. It has so much variety! I bought everything from designer jeans to all natural spray cleaner to stretchy workout bands. So fun.

-Love. I'm in a current phase of absolute adoration of Noah and Wesley. I cannot stop kissing them, hugging them, nuzzling them, snuggling with them, staring at them, listening to them, feeling their hair, rubbing their soft skin, putting my cheek to their cheek, and watching their eyes dance as they talk, ask questions, or sing. Sometimes I wonder if I'm supposed to be doing all these things with boys but you know, there will be a day (Brian informs me) that I will have stinky boys that I will not want to do this stuff with anymore. That is so completely hard for me to imagine but whatever, he says it's true. So until that day comes, I will soak up the fact that they love to cuddle and Noah actually asks me daily to just snuggle in bed with him and he'll lay there silent for a long time. I can't help it. God gave me these boys and he gave me deep feelings of love for them, and there is no reason not to show them every second I get how much I care for them.

Okay, time to wrap this up and go pay attention to my family. Oh! One more item I'm thankful for is my garden. I'll post pictures soon but it is doing really well and I found GREEN BEANS yesterday actually sprouting!!!! I'm soooooooooo excited. I thought the day would never come but it has and I cannot wait to pick them in the coming weeks. Happy Memorial Day everyone. I would love to hear what you are thankful for too. And Diana, I'll get around to doing the tag post ok? :)

Catch-up #2

Okay, so next up in my catch-up was my birthday. Brian got me new pots and pans which are AWESOME (Emeril--All Clad). I was so very happy and they make cooking even more fun. I went out with 9 girlfriends to a local Mexican restaurant and then we went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past at the movie theater. The movie was definitely average (pretty raunchy at times) but it was so fun to be sitting next to friends hearing eachother laugh throughout the movie. It's been so long since I did that!


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Next is Wesley's 2nd birthday. I can't believe my precious baby boy is now 2. He definitely looks 2, but I feel like we JUST celebrated his 1st birthday which was right before we moved here. It seems like we JUST moved here!! And we'll actually be in TX for our 1 year IN anniversary which is kind of ironic. Anyway, here was the baby boy on his special day. We did lots of fun things and went to a local park that has a beautiful old barn on the property. Wesley is slightly obsessed with barns, so he was in heaven.









We went back to that same park today that has a beautiful creek running through the park. Here are some pictures of the boys.

We are loving spending time outdoors and enjoying the slightly warm weather. We eat out on the patio almost every night which is a little slice of heaven. Brian hasn't had to travel much since May started and so that is of course icing on the cake. We have a couple more weeks of school and then a couple weeks of summer and then we head off to TX for awhile. This will be our first big road trip but I'm not sweating it at all because I know what fun we'll have once we get there. Oh, here's a video of Wesley on his birthday. I guess I'll end the post with his cuteness. :) Nevermind---it won't upload. I'll try again.

Catch-up

I have been severely slacking with the blog posts. I'm so sorry. I think about it all the time, but I never want to do real quick ones so I end up holding off until I feel terrible and end up with a thousand pictures/stories to post. So I'll post a ton of pictures and write where possible. :) First off, Menu Plan Monday:

#1-Beef enchiladas, black beans and salad
#2-BBQ chicken, fries, broccoli
#3-Homemade pizza (sausage and pepperoni variety)
#4-Salmon, corn, rolls
#5-Shredded beef burritos, pinto beans, chips/salsa
#6-leftovers
#7-eat out

Dessert of the week: Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. Okay, I know they don't sound like they could be good, but they really are! They look and taste almost identical to regular white-flour c. cookies. They have quite a bit of butter in them but it made me 3.5 dozen so that goes a long way. Kids and hubby like them too, which is obviously the most important. :) I got them from a new blog I've stumbled upon that I really like. She cooks really healthy and from scratch but none of it ever sounds nasty or tasteless. SUPER easy and exactly as the recipe states....down to the minute (although I used semi-sweet chocolate chips cuz that is all I ever have). So there is no ruining this recipe. Plus, I love that it calls for melted butter instead of softened butter because seriously, I always decide on a whim I want some cookies and never have butter just sitting out getting soft. :)

Okay, next up, our vacation to Cincinnati. We had a blast staying at Great Wolf Lodge. The water park is amazing and we decided when our kids are 6 and up, it'll be much better. Wesley became a scaredy cat and hated the water. I believe it was because it was indoors and kind of loud. But Brian and I took turns going on all the huge slides and it was a ton of fun. We loved our room---the boys had their own little room with bunk beds (which Wesley ended up in the packin play after 20 times getting out of bed). They had their own video games and TV, it was just awesome.







The Newport Aquarium was amazing and we're so glad we went. Here are a few pics from that:






Then we also hit Ikea and Abuelos one night which were TONS of fun. We miss really good Mexican food here in Bloomington and while Abuelos isn't the top, it is very good and makes us think of home. As we exited the aquarium there were all these neat shops and restaurants. Johnny Rockets was there and we haven't been to one of those since we lived in CA. What a great way to end our time in Cinci.

Okay, I'll post another update with more pics. This post is getting too long.........

Random Bullet List

I'm copying UK so here you go. I have too much to talk about and not enough time.

• Some of my favorite things on my birthday (yesterday) were orange tulips, Dean and Deluca coffee, Emeril pots and pans, lunch with my fam, b-day cards/gifts in the mail, and a Cinco extravaganza of sorts with 9 girlfriends.
• I got my Bzz kit yesterday (I'm a Bzz agent-ask me later) for the new John Freida hair care line. I'm LOVING it and they gave me huge ole bottles and tons of samples and coupons to give away. The key ingredient is eucalyptus which makes your scalp feel all tingly and nice.
• I passed my Indiana license exam. So excited. I finally have that stressor off my back!
• I remembered the other night that I hadn't listened to my Frank Sinatra CDs in seriously forever and brought them out today. It was the best morning ever and the kids loved the music too!
  
• Me and the kids ate lunch out on our screened in porch while it was raining and it was just so nice and peaceful. Man I love that porch.
  
• Wesley learned to say chihuahua and it's hilarious.
• I'm going to try out a new chicken piccata recipe in my new pots and pans tonight. Yummy.
  
• I normally don't like Wednesday night tv but Brian and I get to watch our DVR'd Biggest Loser and AI episodes. Yes!
• Snuggling with Noah and Wesley and reading them books on a rainy day is chicken soup for the soul. I read Noah the Giving Tree. You might remember what happened a year ago when I read him that book. It went better today. :)
  
• Brian and I confirmed our plans for Costa Rica this summer. We cannot wait!
• We had a brilliant vacation in Cincinnati last weekend. I will post a ton of pics soon but here are 5 that will show you MY favorite parts of the trip. :)
  

Extra! Extra! Read all about it........

Now I've made you think I have some big exciting news to share....well, I don't. I just thought that instead of posting a "Top 10" of something (which btw, is about the easiest blog post idea ever), I would actually type out an update of the Spicer clan. But because I'm getting lazier and lazier by the minute ---especially as I've been called downstairs 4 times since trying to start this--I'll do it in bullet point fashion.

--Last weekend was Noah's first baseball practice and it was definitely one of the highlights of my life. Since I have the best childhood memories ever of playing softball for 11 years, I have been waiting for this moment since Noah was born. Oh, and yes, Noah loved it too. :) He was so hard core and smiled for an hour straight. There were kids crying and running all over the place, off the field, to their parents, etc etc. Not my Noah. He was made for this. If you've known him since he was a baby, you'll know he was hitting off the tee well at 18 months old. At 3 years old he was done with the tee and only wanted us throwing it to him. Yes, I'm bragging. j/k :) So as you can imagine, this was the culmination of years of anticipation and excitement. Unfortunately, he has to miss tomorrow's practice (and pictures!!) because we'll be on a little family vacation. Which leads to my next point....

--We are taking our second ever family vacation. Trips to California don't count, in case you were wondering. We tried a vacation in October of '07 to San Antonio. Wesley was 5 months old and Noah was 3. It was supposed to be filled with things like SeaWorld and the Riverwalk. Instead it was filled with hours of throw-up and a vow to never eat at Cracker Barrel again. It has taken me years to mentally heal from this trip.
So! We embark once again on an adventure to the state of Ohio. This will involve Great Wolf Lodge and the Newport Aquarium. I'm praying that we have the best time ever and make incredible memories to replace the nightmarish ones from yore. Note to self: do NOT share any details with Noah leading up to any future vacation. He will only torture you, and torture himself with all the suspense.

--Brian has travelled a lot this year so far. His journeys have included the Canary Islands, Scotland, Phoenix, San Diego, and Malibu. Not bad places to visit right? Well, it has left the rest of us on a journey to further perfect (ha!) the art of staying at home. I think Noah has gotten so much better about Brian leaving and Wesley is still at the naive stage that involves no tantrums when Daddy leaves. I, on the other hand, try to busy myself with friends and activities to make the time pass more quickly. Sometimes it is a success, other times, not so much. But I pray God will always help me balance being a mom and being a wife and realizing the special ways only Brian can serve in this family.

--As we near the 1 year mark of our move to Bloomington, our friends and family from Texas have only grown more dear to me. The clear realization lately that no one is watching my kids grow up with me has been a hard one to swallow. With time, I know these boys will be precious in the hearts of some people here. And you know what I mean---not merely thought of us "cute" but really treasured and loved. I feel this way especially regarding Wesley. I find myself constantly wanting to share his little victories and growths with anyone around me because I used to be watching them happen with countless friends and family next to me. I was talking to a close friend Karen yesterday who was like a second mom to Noah and wishing she could be here for Wesley. God blessed us with so many people in TX to love and nurture our children (and us!) and for that I am so thankful. So my prayer is that He will bring special people once again into our lives that will find some room in their hearts to love and nurture our little ones.

--My garden. I promised pictures, and here they are. It has had some ebbs and flows of growth and these pics are from the day I planted it. I can't wait to show you some more recent pics of things really taking off!



--We bought our first pet, Bustee the beta fish a week and a half ago and it almost died. We took it back and got a new beta fish, Goldie Bustee Spicer, and it died 3 days later. It was a very disappointing week for Noah and me and I have no answers on what the cause was. We did everything right according to Beta "rules" and therefore I'm left thinking we just were not meant to have a fish right now. Kinda makes me sick talking about it.

--Summer will be filled with lots of fun for the Spicers. A road trip to Texas, friends visiting from Texas, family visiting from Texas, and a 10th anniversary trip to Costa Rica (hopefully) are all on the docket. And don't think we don't have room for more visitors. Please come see us!

That's about it for this update on the Spicers. Have a great weekend!