Here

It's funny...in kind of a crazy sort of way...that when I was here----

and Aaron was here----

We never would have imagined getting here---

Our first family photo with Noah! 

Or here----

Or here----

Mr. Abram when he was a baby.

And I am so glad we made it here---

Photo by Cassie.

Happy Anniversary Aaron...nine years and counting!  I love you!

My Rabbit

We have a rabbit of different sorts roaming around our house.  I noticed pea pod shells littered throughout our yard.  I could tell this rabbit suffered some disappointment after pulling out some of my carrots, seeing how little the orange root is, and then throwing them back into the garden.  He apparently does not eat the greens. 

Then, my eyes caught sight of tiny green apples---maybe picked from one of our apple trees--- leaving a trail on our front porch... like Hansel and Gretel trying to find their way home.  Some of these little green apples had nibbles marks on them.  Hmmmm....  I must have a rabbit.


Not just any old Peter Cotton Tail kind of a rabbit.  Not the kind of rabbit that a fellow blogger has been having some troubles with. A rabbit who has noticeable chocolate brown eyes, brown hair, and weighs around 35 pounds.  He bounds through the yard picking at the plants, nibbling on the vegetables and the strawberries as he goes.  Sometimes if I quietly watch him from afar... so he does not notice...he sings little made-up songs to himself about the fruits and vegetables that he sees.

It turns out that my little rabbit is really Abram.  And I am going to have a heck of a time keeping him out of the garden.

After

After so many busy days...one after another after another...I find myself already getting slightly burned out by summer.  But only slightly.  To many activities, packed into to few days, stuffed between rotating day shifts and night shifts at the hospital.  Already, I am running out of fun summer food to eat.  Granted, Aaron and I could eat a fresh lettuce salad with caramelized, slivered almonds and strawberries that came from a stroll in the backyard every meal... but that does not substantiate full tummies for my two growing boys.  But, at least the Long Boy Cheeseburgers that I made for supper were a winner.

Cousin Seth with us at the pool.  He had a blast!

It is sad that the summer, in reality, is already half over. Noah is well into swimming lessons, Vacation Bible School is sneaking up on us, and back to school sale ads have graced our mail box.  Abram will soon be starting a summer kindergarten program which will hopefully acclimate him to school so he does not spend the first months crying.

Our canning season also snuck up on us.  Aaron and I have stayed up late at night canning strawberry jam and freezing lugs of peaches. 

16 jars of strawberry jam and counting!  Next up, freezing strawberries (and this is our first year with this strawberry patch---how exciting!)

Although, this year was different.  Standing side-by-side in front of the sink in our kitchen skinning, slicing, and pureeing fruit for hours upon hours put more grimaces than smiles on Aaron's face.  Standing on hard tile, hunched over the sink was not as much fun as it has been in years past.  Every so often, Aaron would move in stiffness and pain---silently grimacing to himself.  But, he did not give up.  Even after me telling him countless times, "You can go lay down.  I can do this..."  He insisted on helping (which I will be eternally grateful for.)

Sometimes I still forget that Aaron broke his back.  I know it sounds silly...but it is true.  It has been months since his surgery and even though it takes about two years for his spine to fully fuse and heal...I think that right now we are at the "best as we can get" part of recovery.  It is hard to accept that he is going to be painful for the rest of his life----especially since he is not even thirty years old yet.  But we (and I do mean we) deal with it and keep on moving. 

Aaron has been back to work, working long hours like a mad man for months now.  He is in the best physical shape that he has ever been in.  Lifting weights everyday and walking on the elliptical and riding bike has kept his body and mind healthy.  He has lost twenty pounds since January and has managed to keep the weight off in a healthy way (which is more than I can say for myself.) 

Today, Aaron called for my attention.

"Amanda."  He said.

"What?"  I said, busying myself with dishes.

"Turn around and look," he commanded.   I could not believe my eyes.

He was holding Abram.  The first time since last January.  Amazing.  I did not think he would ever be able to carry him again. Honestly my first reaction was panic.  I said something like, "You should not be lifting Abram!"  Although he weighs all of thirty five pounds soaking wet.  I think that the look on both of their faces was worth it.

Cousins, Friends, and Family

We have had a busy long weekend with family and friends.  Cousins spending the night, two trips to our favorite pool, riding on miles and miles of bike trails, and just keeping up in everyday life.

There were strawberries that needed pickin'...

Pickin' berries turned out to be something that our nieces Alivia and Lily loved taking part in.

Abram ate as many as he picked.  They were delicious!

We took a trip to the pool with the blonde and brunette.  Even though we were stormed out, we still had a blast.

My family is always rolling their eyes at me taking photos.  I take my camera everywhere, fearful that I am going to miss capturing a life defining moment.  But, I am glad that the blonde and brunette are just as obsessed...if not even more obsessed...as I am.

Alivia and Lily absolutely loved the pool.  So, when I suggested that we go to our local "splash park"---I was out voted by the kids.  We ended up going to the pool two days in a row---which doesn't usually happen because it is kind of expensive and a half hour away. 

I am insanely jealous of Carsen's eye lashes!  Move over Aaron---I have another boy in my life---I absolutely love Carsen!

Letting Noah swim in the big/deep pool, by himself, with out me watching him like a hawk, waiting to pull him out of the water at any little motion of distress, was a big task for me.  It helped ease my mind that the other brunette swam with him and told me he did fine.  It is just so hard to let the nervousness go and give him freedom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of our weekend was spent doing Aaron's favorite hobby...biking.

Sunday we I completely overslept and missed our 0900 church service.  There was no way we would have made it.  So our morning was busy with our weekly outdoor chores---mowing the lawn...weeding the garden...weeding the sweet corn...picking more strawberries...and so on.

Sunday afternoon we ventured to a neighboring city to ride on their beautiful bike trails.  And who, of all of the people on this planet do we meet on the trails?  Take a guess...  We saw our pastor and his family...right after skipping church. 

I felt so shameful for missing church and then to be found by our pastor gallivanting around on the bike trails... Oh the guilt!  I think that the Man Upstairs was trying to tell us something.  But, our pastor is a kind and gentle person and did not even mention our absence in church----which almost made me feel more guilt and shame.  I wish he would have chided me or publicly humiliated me or thru rocks at me.  Nope, he made peaceful small talk between his family and ours.  Between Aaron and the pastor----a future bike trip is in the making.

Abram did not want to go on the bike ride.  I can't say that I blame him... riding for miles upon miles in 90 degree weather...doesn't sound like much fun to me either!

And if riding for many miles on the trails was not enough, when we got home guess what we did... we went for another bike ride.  It was a beautiful evening so the boys wanted to take advantage of it.

On the way back, I was determined to leave the boys in the dust.  I was not going to get beat...again...by a bunch of boys.  So, I burned rubber and left them in the dust---or so I thought (I also wanted to quickly get my camera and take their photo riding on the road.) 

I raced home, parked my bike in the gravel and ran with jelly legs up the steps and in the house.  I whipped out my camera, ran down the stairs and outside (still with jelly legs) and up our driveway to take their photo. 

In the photo below, you can see what I saw.  They are the speck on the road.  Noah's chain fell off his bike.  So, my one and only win was not even fair.

Noah evading another photo op.

Oh, well.  It was still an awesome day!