July Thirteenth.

Knowing that families can be together forever brings me such peace.

More about temples & forever families here.

{photo credit: here}

July Twelfth.

Deck stained.
Knees sore.
Hands a lovely shade of brown.

The end.

July Eleventh.

It's 10:20pm and folks, it's hot as blazes in our house right now. I love it.

I made chicken chimichangas for dinner and we've played with the puppies all evening long.

Morgan has been in bed two different times now and hasn't quite made it to sleep just yet. Right now, he's playing in the hallway with his Caterpiller dump truck that he got for his birthday last year. The hallway lights are off which makes for special fun because the dump truck twinkles when you push the buttons on the side.

My child is a boy. Through and through. He would live outside with the puppies if he could - if it weren't for his mother who insists that he come inside in the evenings to be bathed and lotioned, to go to bed smelling like heaven. Because sometimes, after he's fast asleep, that mother of his lifts his heavy little toddler body and brings him to lay between her and her other darling where they both kiss his little face and softly tickle his tummy, and secretly wish he would never ever change.

My heart seems to be brimming tonight. I have so much to be thankful for. Life is full of sweetness and beauty. And there is so much comfort and strength that can come from recognizing the perfection in Heavenly Father's eternal plan for His children. He loves us. We are his. I understand a little more about that now that I have my own little one. And that's sort of what it's all about.

July Tenth.

Spent the day chasing our child,
and having lots of fun doing it.
And eating yummy food with the best of company.
And taking lots of pictures. Eighty-six to be exact.

I love my family. And that is all for tonight.

Xoxo,
Hollie Rae

July Ninth (on the tenth).

Highlight of the day: Making (and eating) Nie Nie's homemade oreos.

Other highlights:
Sending our ward's missionaries off for the evening with full bellies.
Morg splitting his lip trying to get more cookies from the table.
Staying up until 1:00am watching NCIS reruns.


Xoxo.

July Eighth

11:08pm: peanut butter and honey sandwiches in our pajamas....care to join?

Xoxo,
Hollie Rae

July Seventh.

Today, I felt like wearing the new apron my momma sewed for me last week, so I did. All day. It was quite feminine and lovely.

We ate bananas and nectarines for breakfast and cheese rollups for lunch.

This afternoon, a lady dropped by and took the very first puppy. I cried as I kissed the little guy goodbye. Not in sobs or anything; just a few tears. As the lady said goodbye, I just waved. She looked up at me and smiled. I think she understood. Those puppies are my grandchildren, after all. And I spent the rest of the day wondering if Bella would feel a little empty. Or if she'd even realize he was gone. Or if she'd say to herself: One down. Nine to go.

Jared golfed until evening, while I sorted through Meg's wedding things. Then it was off to grocery shop.  Driving home, I looked back at Morgan from the passenger mirror. He had one shoe on and one shoe off and was munching on a box of crackers we had to open up halfway through the store because he was threatening a meltdown of sorts. There in the car he was so cute to me. He really is my sweetest, most  best friend. Even when he's grumpy.

Later on, I told Jared I never wanted him to grow up. (I meant it.)

As if on cue,  he said, "Don't worry, he won't."

I think that's what I'll choose to believe.

July Sixth.

Morg and I went around town thrifting - treasure hunting, really, for goodies for Aunt Megan's wedding. I bribed Morgan with suckers and a new toy car that jingles when you shake it. He was a fairly good sport, but was ready to come home by the end of the day!

The male gender + shopping = no bueno. I have learned this time and again.

This evening, we played in the yard and watched the puppies while they were nestled up together, sound asleep.

Do you know how cute they are? So cute. I mean so, so cute. And they are so clumsy. And so sleepy. All the time. Kind of like me. Sleepy - right now. So, on that note, I believe I'll be signing off.

Xoxo.

The fifth (on the sixth).

Yesterday was filled with:

Yard work.
Yard work.
Yard work.

And cleaning up after the young lady pictured above -- filling in holes that she dug, patching the garden up, throwing away chew toys, etc.

She can make quite a mess, as you may already know.

Check out The Bella Rae Chapters for past mischief.

July Fourth.

This morning I slept in until 9:00am or so, courtesy of the superb husband figure in my life. We spent the morning playing in the backyard and I surveyed the damage done to my garden plants that occurred when Bella decided to roll around on top of them while I was gone. We dressed patriotically for church and I wore my new (old) vintage necklace I scored at D.I. in Boise. I spent the afternoon decorating my entry in red and feeling extra sentimental about how perfect life is here in this beautiful country of ours. We are all so blessed. I know exactly where our blessings come from and I know that the safety and beauty that surround us here don't come without a price or without sacrifice. To those with such willing hearts, I am grateful.

Now if you'll excuse me, homemade cheesecake is waiting and we have an elaborate fireworks show to watch. I love my country! Goodnight.

July Third.

I came home at 11:15pm tonight, to fresh flowers on the kitchen counter and $5.25 worth of fireworks in a crinkled paper bag from my husband, which is a gesture of love, and I totally get it. He loves me! And although he's not that into 'burning' money (as he calls it), my patriotism and traditional side gets the better of me each year and we compromise on a small and modest sparkling show.  

I love the 4th of July! I love my husband!  I love my home!

And somehow, that $5.25 is so romantic to me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some snuggling to do.

Xoxo.
Hollie Rae

July Second.

I stayed in my pajamas until three o'clock this afternoon while my mother sewed me an apron out of blue and pink paisley flowers and my brother entertained Morg. He followed him around the house and walked around the block with him while I ate chips and butter toffee caramel corn and laid on the floor listening to the hum of my mother's sewing machine.

Tonight after Eclipse, and dinner, and shopping, and picking my Morgan up from the best sort of babysitters around (The Keller grandparent kind), we drove home in the dark, and in the rain, and passed a little frog hopping in front of the headlights. He was the cutest little thing and I thought we should've turned around so I could catch him and bring him home-home to my sweetheart. Because that's the first thing that comes to my mind when I see something cute, or something sweet, or something neat. I want to bring it home to my husband. Like the cute flower ring I bought at Forever 21 tonight, or the vintage wire crate at Wild Ivy, or the cute brown lab puppy I passed at Cabela's -- except not really that since we already have ten of those at home. Anyway, while I've been enjoying being here, reading, and breathing deeply, I've been missing my other half, because, well, he's my other half. And what I'd like to say is that no matter how beautiful Jacob Black may be, or how much I love to shop, it's nothing compared to pizza and pajamas and Dateline on the couch with my husband, (our beloved Friday night routine). Nothing is better than that. Nope, nothing.

Over and out, and a little homesick,
Hollie Rae

PS - Most awesome moment of the day: When dad stopped at a green light in a busy intersection for a good minute or so, thinking he was in the turning lane. It was so funny.

Also, my folks may be getting old.

The First of July.

This month my goal is to journal once a day, and since this here blog is my sort-of journal, and has seemingly been neglected and void of some good quality journaling as of late, we'll begin a month of daily posts.  So, here we go.

Today, we packed in carseats side by side, filled them with one year-old little monkeys and went to the real zoo. Zoo-goers included: Morg and me, Mom, Dude, Landen, Aunt Terrie, Aiden, Aunt Jackie, Jace, Max, Breah and Baby Raegen. I wore jeans and wished that I hadn't. It's so hot now. I love it. I mean I really love it. It changes entirely the way I feel. I've even vowed not to complain once about the heat for the entire season. I've asked Jared to kindly remind me of this later on. We paid a dollar and Morgan rode a plastic elephant on the marry-go-round which he sat on for all of about  twenty seconds then attempted escaping for the next five minutes. I was zoned in on all the DSLR camera owners that walked by and tried counting all the Nikon owners versus the Canon folk. I am loving my Canon. Downtown Boise is so beautiful. And the river smells delicious. We got quite the tour when mom had to circle around the entire downtown region three different times because she kept missing the right turn. As if we haven't lived here for over twenty-five years. Ahh, well. It was funny for the first two times. Mostly.

Mom kept pouring water over Morgan's head until he was soaking wet, which he loved. Then we ate Sonic ice the entire way home.

PS - Summer here is divine. I've missed it so. And the fields of mint in the evening time. Oh, the fields of mint.