good times. good times.

wow. let's give a round of applause for Aaron and his beautiful post.

let's take a time out in honor of his goodness.

***

this is us, taking a time out.

***

thanks, dude. xoxoxo.

now, I know. you keep checking, and you find nothing new. But, friends, there have been SO many things going on. It's CaaaRRAAAzZzY.

first off, thanks for all the well wishes on and around my birthday. It was a good one, and I am one lucky duck. There is a song by Elizabeth Mitchell (who is practically my favorite ALL around singer) that is entitled, "So Glad I'm Here." (just click on "Sunshine" and then click "Listen" -- it is the top song on the list. That's how you can hear the song in it's entirety).

That pretty much sums up my life at this moment in time.

I discovered this singer during my last year at BYU and did a few pieces of art with this theme "so glad I'm here." Maybe I'll post some of them one day. But, not today. Because there is so many other things to post. But, the sentiment rings true.

My friends, life is good.

Here are some images to prove it. Little Lizzy came down to Tejas for a little stay. So, that is why there are lots of photos with her too.

yes, lizzy is silly for tillie and tillie happens to be dizzy for lizzy.

baby shower goodness. here are some pictures to get excited for more babies in life!

these are from Erin Smith and Kajsa Nielson's shower. They are both having girls!

tags made by me. ribbon found by mandee. filled with delicious taffies and assembled by lizzy.

good work team.

incredible cake made by krista. you go girl. it was delicious too!

two diaper cakes for two deserving little mommas. one for kajsa. the other for erin. both made by mandee.

the cake balls I made were a disaster. nice that we spent about a GAZILLION hours on them too. love that. but, kristen made such WONDERFUL "savory" --- and plus we had this amazing cake and other goodies, so it was okay. Let's talk about what a great twist on the typical "shower food" when you add an Asian kick to it. Way to be, Kristen.

now onto the next event. we have been to Sea World a bunch this last little bit. Here are some pictures from a few of our trips.

lizzy wanted to get some action shots. after a few failed attempts, she handed the camera to the pro (Yes, that's me). Thanks, Shamu, for making me look like the pro photographer that I really am.

But, I had to hurry while taking it, because in the next shot, you'll see why...

yes, team. that is ME! I love to ride Shamu, especially when my friends and family come into town. The next shots show Tillie's reaction when she learned her mother's secret life as a "marine biologist" that gets to ride around in a Shamu-esque wetsuit all day.

She had no idea. How could she? She's just a baby. Duh.

the initial shock.

the terror! "Is the whale going to swallow my mom? or will she conquer him by climbing a top his beak thing?"

(i know whales don't have beaks,

but it kind of looks like they do. do you call it their nose? their mouth? it's combined!).

and finally, the relief! "Yes! she CAN do it all! and I CAN too!" she exclaims. what an inspiration.

(no killer whales were harmed in this fictional story.)

more photos of the darling child. all captured by lizzy.

this was at the beginning of an afternoon. Don't we look fresh and ready to rock? and let's talk about sweet Tillie's excitement shining through.

"Another kodak moment? I'll humor you people." That's what she said. Seriously.

This is after discovering the fact that her mom had a secret life. That's a lot for a little baby to handle.

She's a trooper. And, Aaron loves having his shirt off. :) All brawn, and all mine.

Pretty cute stuff. Let's move onto the next subject of darling babies. Yes, Matilda, of course, is included in that list. But here's another little darling, Easton. You can meet him more on his family's blog. He is two months younger than Tillie, but they are looking more similar in size by the minute! We had to lay them down to compare! Sorry about the flash, little ones. Luckily, they won't remember the damage done by my camera!

and last, but certainly not least, meet my husband, the exterminator. Yes, this is how I found him as he went to be a real manly man to kill the hornets that had been making a home near our garbage cans on the side of the house.

Little known fact? Yes, he is allergic to hornets. They make him puff up real big... he compared himself to "Violet!! you're turning violet!" on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (you know, the one who eats the candy that tastes like a full meal and starts turning purple/blue and starts filling up with berry juice, and has to be rolled to the juicer? Yeah, that's the one.)

Well, Aaron compares that gal with him being stung. Wow. No wonder he wasn't in his swimming trunks with no shirt for this event, eh? Get a load of my little superman.

the end. for now.