a collection of memories that are near and dear to us.

Monday, July 28, 2008

like i said...

it's the little things!
as i was bored to death in houston today
wishing i were anywhere else but here
this came across my bb and made my day!
a little love from home. just what the dr. ordered.

his legacy will live on!

i feel a great deal of sadness for the loss of this man i've never met. his words have inspired me and have made me want to be a better person, a more patient mother, a more supportive and compassionate wife.

thank you randy. i will remember you and will do my best to honor your legacy by living my best life!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

houston here i come...


wish i could tell you i was more excited about this trip but what can i say. i shouldn't complain as i only really have to travel once a year for work. pete will be home with the kiddos with grandma and grandpa swenson by his side for support. i'll will encourage him to blog while i am away so i can see what they are up to but i am not holding my breath.

melanie sent me her pictures from our tennessee vacation so i will leave with this funny until i return...

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

it's the little things...

as a mother i sure have come to appreciate the little things. all those little moments you hope you'll never forget. this evening trey graced me with another one of those moments.
as i put him to bed tonight and i lay beside him saying our prayers he grabbed my arm and pulled it up and over him. then he pushed it away. and once again he pulled it up and over him. he was fidgety and i couldn't tell exactly what he was trying to do. finally he put my hand to rest right over his heart and he said "that's good momma, that's where i like it." two seconds later he was asleep. that is a moment i hope i never forget.
i love knowing that tonight my son feel asleep with my hand over his heart. sleep well sweet boy!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

a treyism...

the kids and i had to run a few errands this afternoon and as we were on our way home we called my mom as we often do. with a birthday fast approaching trey has been talking a lot about what he wants to do when he grows up.
i set him up with the question; "trey, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
i then held the phone up for trey to yell into and said listen to this mom...
"i want to be a phone talker"
i nearly dropped the phone.
for weeks its been a mountain climber but today he declared he wanted to be a phone talker and then he followed it up with "like daddy."
honey, i think we need to talk...

Get a groove on!

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gluttens for punishement!


because we've vowed to try and keep these get togethers annual we decided we wanted a group photo that we can look back on in years to come. not sure why we waited until the very last minute, literally. our vacation had come to end, the cars were packed, the cabin clean, the kids were getting ancy and the men were ready to go. BUT wait! we needed yet one more photo... and it's a good one if i do say so myself. ha!

poker anyone?



after a few nights of board games the men asked for a reprieve and dared us to give poker a try. having never played we were a bit reluctant but certainly up for the challenge. i probably couldn't tell you all of the hands we learned to play but i can tell i mastered the bluff, peter master the fluff and melanie mastered the pringles duck lips (a favorite party trick of mine i shared with her). and who would have thought after 2 solids hours, a can of pringles and a bag of ruffles i ended up winning. good game girls. way to show 'em we can hold our own.

we'll see you soon meme!

we are getting very excited around here. over the next couple of weeks all of the grandparents will be visiting at one point or another. grandma and grandpa swenson are due to arrive sometime next week to help out pete while i am in houston. mika will then fly down to spend a week with the kids while pete and i sneak off to california for a couple of days and the day after mika leaves meme and grandpa roe will arrive and will be here to help celebrate trey's 3rd. we can hardly wait -- we have so much to look forward to. grandparents are great!!!

Monday, July 21, 2008

a photo frenzy from our dollywood weekend~








so we never actually ventured out to dollywood but if we had i can only imagine what it would have been like. there is a good reason they refer to pigeon forge as the myrtle beach of the mountains. i found it to be an overwhelming mass of commercialism and tourist attractions. that being said once we found our quaint little cabin we were perfectly content to stay put and soak up our friends. there was a lot of swinging on the front porch, walking of trails, playing of games, blowing of bubbles, drinking of libations, reminiscing about old times spent together in mooresville and plenty of laughter.
kate amazed both pete and i with her care taking abilities and her nuturing nature. she didn't want to be anywhere that the babies were not. as we fixed dinner she bopped back and forth between andrew and camryn keeping them both enthralled. she told those babies over and over how much she loved them and was more then willing to stay home with the men "to help with the children" when the moms hit the pavement. trey wasn't quite sure what to think of the two little ones. he is going through one of those many stages in life and prefers the comfort of peter, kate and i to most anyone else. i know, who could blame him right? anyway, it was sweet to watch him warm up to the babies over the week. first just watching from afar. then getting a little closer to check out the new toys on the scene and then before we knew it he was playing peek-a-boo with camryn and wanting desperately to hold them both.
kate had a coming of age moment as she was able to share an afternoon of shopping with the adult women. she was in all her glory. several times i looked back and found her hand in hand with melissa and/or melissa. an incredibly reaffirming moment to see a such special bond being passed on and shared.
as we left i felt a great sigh of relief. not to be leaving these two families that we've grown to love dearly over the years but because my children genuinely love them and feel like that are at home with them. that is such an incredibly gift that will be fostered for years and years to come.
needless to say with all the cuteness surrounding us the camera got a good work out. if you can bare it there will be more.

finished another fun little gift...

happy quarter of a century!

we woke up thinking about you here in asheville...
enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

dollywood here we come!




ok, so i am just kidding but we are heading to tennessee this afternoon and will be spending the rest of the week with friends in sevierville. frankly the location means very little to me. it is the laughs i know i will be sharing that has me so excited to get there. miss pam will be taking care of the pets. will post pictures when we get back on saturday. until then~

Monday, July 14, 2008

we're having a flower power party. want to come?

in celebration of kate's 6th which is just a couple of weeks away.
found this on www.familyfun.com tonight.
i will plan to try something like this as well.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

while i am on a roll...


have i mentioned how much we are loving these this summer? my dear friend introduced peter and i to "the bucket" earlier this summer and really all i can say is OH MY! the buckets can be purchased at Target or Sam's Club for a whopping $5.99. simply open the bucket and remove the enclosed bag of margarita mix. poor the contents of the bag into the bucket and add a bottle of your favorite tequila. freeze for at least 24 hours and enjoy. the 24 hour thing is critical however. if you don't allow it to freeze completely you will end up with a very syrupy drink that will thaw within minutes of being scooped out.

thank you mother nature ~


we all know that i don't bake so i won't even try and take credit for this scrumptious concoction. the credit rightfully goes to miss jenni, kate, trey and of course mother nature. upon our return from ny we were very excited to find a very lush patch of wild blackberries on our property. this past week we had a rainy afternoon so miss jenni and the kids got busy in the kitchen. have i mentioned lately what great sitters we have? for the record we have great sitters!

what did YOU do today?

kate and trey turned the playroom into tent-land. i totally remember doing the same sort of thing as a kid and loved it. they were having such a ball they requested i serve them thier lunch there.

and have i mentioned how much i love HER?


ah! there are no words to describe it. she is without a doubt one of the most amazing things i've done in my first 35 years of life. i snapped these when we were outside this afternoon. can't belive she'll be heading off to first grande in another month.

have i mentioned lately how much i love paniculatas?



a.k.a. hygrangea. without a doubt one of my favorites. the more you cut the more they seem to bloom. endless summer has been a great variety for us as the name really does say it all. this year we added 3 oak leaf (or as kate says OAKLEY) hydrangea and 3 peegee "grandiflora." i also used several potted hydrangea inside in march and april to brighten things up and planted them outside as soon as the chance of frost was no longer a threat. i can't wait to see what next year brings for all of our newbies.
this afternoon we took a bunch of cuttings and after soaking them in cold water we brought them inside. i am hoping that they will dry and we can enjoy their splendor for many months to come.
so for the record... i love hydrangea.

just a quick update

our new little garden under the tree has filled in nicely. but apparently the double dwarf rubeckia were mis-marked. they are towering over all of the other plantings. i will have to remember to scoot them to the back this fall. the zinnia are gorgeous. i wish you could see them better. bright orange. they make me happy every time i see them. wonder if they'll reseed themselves?

welcome home mother hen~

this is just one of the many treasures that made it's way back from northern new york with us. earlier this week kate and i found an appropriate place for her to hopefully share many of her chicks with us. holly said just plop her down and she'll do the rest. so that's what we did. i checked on her this morning and she has already taken root. welcome home mother hen!

35 isn't so bad afterall...


to all of you -- you know who you are THANK YOU for thinking of me on my 35th

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

something very exciting arrived today~

it may be addressed to pete but i have a feeling it isn't actually for him...
actually because he was leaving for a trip he said a little something may be headed by way. what a great treat. my all time favorite java all the way from maine. now i will no longer have to covet the coffee of the nason clan as i will have my very own. with a fresh bag being delivered right to my door once a month for the next year. thanks pete!
and don't worry mom, i'll keep the folgers in the pantry for you.

silly girls!


we ventured out to tennessee yesterday and took the kids to wetlands waterpark. generally i have to admit i am not a huge fan of waterparks because i have always viewed them as dangerous and extremely overstimulating. but i must admit they've got the right idea at wetlands. the place is laid out so that a parent can spot thier child from almost anywhere. it is not that large and it is completely self contained. there were 2 large slides for the older kids and adults that wanted to partake but the rest of the park was devated to the 6-7 year olds and under. we got there as the gates opened at 10 and left around 23o as the kids started to crash. an easy trip and a whole lot of fun.
HOWEVER i forgot my camera so instead i am posting more pics from our trip to new york. above kate and aunt ally are having a little sun beside the campfire.