Summer Stuff

Summer is in full force and I couldn't be happier about it. Stella and I spent a few days at Grandmas recently, as Rhett was in New York for a shoot.  Our days were full of Watermelon, sprinklers, and reading under the crabapple tree on the front lawn. 

It was hot while we were there.  Reeeeeealllly hot.  I kept thinking of this passage in To Kill A Mockingbird: 

"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square...

Somehow it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summers day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning.

Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum."

Ahhhhh. Harper Lee says everything best.

Our favorite way to beat the heat is to head up the canyon, which is about a 5 minute walk from my parents house.  We spent an afternoon hiking and playing in the river, which felt so amazing.

Don't be tired of Stella photos yet. There's more. 

Sometimes I don't know how we would survive without Wes. Stella sure loves her.  Missed you Shelb and Nick!!

One afternoon Stella and Wesli got out the dress ups and played cheerleader. They were enamored when I told them that their Grandma was at one point a real, live, actual cheerleader. Megan and I weren't surprised to see she's still got the moves, but the kids were definitely surprised. They became her willing students and we all had cheers stuck in our head all day.  She is the best Mom.

The last night we were there the sunset was so beautiful. And this picture is horrible.  But it's all I've got.

Whenever Rhett is on a trip he sends me and Stella photos of things he thinks we will like.  I love it because it means he is thinking of us, even though he has a lot going on.

He sent us a picture of this dog thinking we would like it, but instead it made us sad. That dog looks sad right?!? Stella and I looked at this pic a lot and made lots of "awwwwww!" sounds.

Selfies, my favorite kind of picture to get. For obvious reasons. (He's a good lookin man!!)

Also, my sister Megan is an amazing sister and Mom and photographer.  All the photos from Logan in this post that look remotely pretty are her doing.

A few days ago stella noticed some weeds/flowers growing near our house. She was ecstatic about it, and claimed them as her own since they weren't in anybody else's garden. She has been watering them every day.

Yesterday she came inside and said: 

"Mom? You wanna know something about me? I like to help things live. I pretty much just love to love things."

And that was one of those random parenting moments that made me teary eyed.

She teaches me about love every day, and there are so many ways I wish I was more like her.

Man I love her and the handsome man reflected in those aviators.  I'm a lucky girl. 

Introducing Cookie Crumbs!

We got a dog.  Or what I mean to say is that Santa got us a dog.

What was he thinking?

Santa had to bring the puppy a day early, because thats how it works when he is bringing a live animal that can't be hidden on the top shelf of your closet.

A thump at the door.

A big box.

Puppy wrapping paper.

Big red bow.

Santa's magic dust. (glitter.)

I thought Stella would open the door and jump for joy.  I was expecting the best reaction of our lives. Maybe even tears. After all, she has been begging for a puppy for TWO YEARS.

Instead she opened the box, looked at him, and said:

"Weird. Is that thing real?"

I took this as my cue to be the excited one and I did the appropriate amount of freaking out that Santa brought her a puppy.  It took about 30 seconds to sink in and then came all the excitement we were expecting.  Over the course of the next few days we heard things like

"I don't think I ever knew I could love something so much."

"I think we will be in love forever, because he's mine and I'm his owner, and we're best friends."

"He is seriously as cute as a real human!!"

And as time went on I started hearing things like:

"If he eats one more piece of my Christmas candy I'm going to trap him in the bathroom and never let him out."

"Mooooom! This dog is bugging me so bad! He's eating the crayons!"

"Can someone else have the dog and we can just borrow him sometimes?"

I must admit there were a few expletives from me when he shredded the back of the couch and ate a baseboard.

But overall we love him.  His puppy-ness is wearing off, which means he is a little more calm and a lot more obedient.  Before we got him I had big plans to be a strict dog owner - which included no dog on the couch or beds.  However as you can see in 90% of these pictures he is on the couch or beds.

How can I kick him off the bed when he looks sooooo cute?!


We decided to let Stella name him, although it was hard for me and Rhett to give up control on that one.  But we wanted it to be her dog, and we felt like her picking the name would reinforce that. After lots of deliberation the final names were Jon, Michael, and Cookie Crumbs. My vote was Jon, but Cookie Crumbs won out.

First trip to the pet store. She was so proud. 

I have loved seeing Stella be patient and loving, and it has been so good for her to pay attention to what Cookie needs and meet those needs.  She feeds him, walks him, plays with him, and yells at him like a professional.

Nobody loves this dog like Rhett does.  This pic is at my Mom's house after Christmas,  he slept with these two like this for several nights in a row.

On his last trip he called and said he missed the dog as much as he misses me.  Not sure if that was a compliment or not... but I decided to take it as one.  He is such a softie.

Welcome to the fam Cookie Crumbs!

Church today was particularly up-lifting.  I love those kinds of Sundays.  Rhett is out of town, so after church Stella and I snuggled up with a bowl of popcorn and watched Brave.  

Mid way through the movie I started discreetly browsing Pinterest (one can only watch Brave so many times) and I saw lots of quotes that I loved. 

 These last two I feel particularly apply to us and adoption right now. 

Still waiting for that "yes." But I do believe it will be worth the wait! 

Europe

Megan has deemed me the worlds worst blogger. Not many people can say they are the worst in the world at something. What up now,  people who thought I would do nothing with my life!

I was going to write about the puppy, but when I started looking at pics I came across the Europe pics, and they sucked me in.  We have been home 3 months and it feels like we were there ages ago. I already want to go back.  I'm tempted to share every single photo with you, because I think they are that cool, but I'll refrain.

First stop: Paris.

Through this walkway was a little town square and Victor Hugo's house.  This neighborhood (Bastille) was also our favorite neighborhood for food.

I was constantly making Rhett look at things that I thought were cool but weren't so cool to him.

Rhett! Look how pretty this sidewalk is!

Look at this soda can!

What?! The trash cans here are so amazing.

He got good at pretending like everything was amazing, and these clementines blew him out of the water.


Next stop: Rome





The Vatican was my favorite place we went, which I wasn't expecting at all.  It was actually really spiritual and beautiful for me, and the Pieta was my favorite thing that I saw the whole trip.

Rhett invented a game where at the last minute he would move the camera and crop me out of the selfies.  He obviously got a kick out of it.

At about this point I started missing Stella so much I got teary eyed every time I thought about her. We are so blessed that we have Grandmas that love her, and not only that but they consider themselves lucky to take her for a us!! We never could have gone on this trip without them.

My Aunt and Uncle were spending a month in Rome for their anniversary, and we got to spend an evening with them! It was lots of fun to have them show us around the city our first night there. Unfortunately the only pic we got together was this one of our backs... lame.

Rome and Venice were really rainy, which turned into an adventure and we loved it. We refused to buy an umbrella and we ran through the streets in one of the most crazy rainstorms I have ever seen. Only downside is that it ruined our Gelato.

 This is when I finally gave in and started eating the olive oil plain.  Don't judge.  Sooooo good!

And last, Venice.


One night it rained so much that the streets flooded. Apparently this happens a few times a year, and all the street salesmen jumped at the chance to sell tourists overpriced rain boots. We gave in, and stayed out until 3 AM walking the streets. The moon was full and the air smelled like the ocean... I don't think I'll ever forget it.  (There are some benefits to jet lag I guess.)

We had an amazing trip and saw some beautiful things.  I tend to get a little bit of cabin fever, I like to get away and do something new.  But there is nothing like being away from home to make you realize how much you love home. Being with people you love in a place you call home is satisfying in a way traveling never could be.

The eiffel tower and the colosseum are beautiful.

And playing barbies in my jammies with a messy haired sleepy eyed girl is beautiful too.

Home.