Anniversary Love

Michael sent me these for our anniversary on August 14th.  They were a beautiful reminder that he loves me...not that i need to be reminded.  that is something i will always know.  i miss him SO much! but i'm so grateful for the life we have made together...even if we can be together at this moment.

Temple Square Trip

kim, sarah, julie and i took all of the kids to temple square before school started.  mom kept jackson for me, as he is not one to sit in the stroller or not run off.  emma stegeman and taylor jackson went with ellen. and dad walked over from work to have a picnic with us.

Swimming Fun

 elle, jackson, and cousin josie

julie with luke and josie---the goggles were squishing his eyes real good!

gigi's backward dive

 ellen's crazy water skill

abby's dive

120-year-old house

my parents bought a house in the spring of this year that is 120 years old.  they have been renovating since then.  i took these pictures in september.  it has been so much work for them.  but they absolutely love it.  ethan described their work ethic as 'relentless'.   (-:

living room and front door 

study

study

kitchen 

the bathroom

the bedroom (only 1)

the backyard

my brother richard was visiting

from the street

Mississippi Memories

before michael left mississippi for afghanistan, i went to spend 5 days with him.  we stayed at my uncle thomas' "apartment" which was built inside his barn.  it was so quiet and peaceful there.

my brother, russell's gravestone in bayou la croix

we visited my aunt kay in columbia

sunset from the barn

some photos of our new apartment.  things still weren't completely moved it.

starting over...again

so, i've been struggling with feeling like i can't possibly do all the things i need to do and feeling overwhelmed by all of the parenting the kids need.  but mostly missing michael so much that it physically hurts.  then this morning when i woke up, it came to me that need to do something for me...something creative that i enjoy.  then i remembered this poor little lost blog i tried to start and remembered that i do love taking pictures.  and thought this is a good way to also record feelings and memories (though some of my feelings lately i really don't want to remember).  i do think that writing things down sometimes gives better perspective, especially when one is feeling sorry for oneself.  so i am attempting to start over and do better at recording all the things that are happening in our family.  i will go back and put some things in from the past few months to catch up a little.