8 months

I'm in the home stretch, baby! If all goes like my other deliveries I should be having this little girl some time in early July. But you know what they say about "the best laid plans." I'm grateful that the weather has stayed so mild. I know it is a blessing for women in my state, yet I do have one little complaint - all my maternity clothes are light weight summer things. I've had the hardest time dressing with all this cold weather and only one pair of maternity jeans!

Memorial Day

This year I took the boys and went grave decorating with my Mom. We started out in the south end of Cache Valley where my Grandpa Shipley's people settled, and worked our way north to Preston. We stopped in Paradise for a visit to the DUP museum. The boys clanged the bell and had a good time looking at all the pioneer stuff. Ma bought some calenders as a charitable contribution to the museum only to discover a few hours later that they were calenders from 1999! Typical Paradise. Luckily, this year happens to follow the same date/day of the week pattern so we can still use them. In Preston we had luch at Big J's with Uncle Bob and Aunt Patsy. It was really nice to see them. We all had a good time reconnecting with family old and young.

Popcorn popping

I have a soft spot for beautiful flowering trees - I posted our weeping cherry last month, and here i sthe newest addition to the yard - the prarie fire crab apple. I'm not crazy about the look of the tree in gerneral, it's rather scraggly, but the two week period of hot pink blossoms makes it well worth the while. Oh, and the kids are pretty worthwhile too.

Master suite .... almost.

New master bedroom - complete with 4-year-old super model, Andrew.

Guest bedroom all set up and ready for you all to come visit!

Mike and I moved into our official master bedroom a couple days ago. It still needs some finishing touches - there is no closet rod or doors, and the bathroom is still a big project. But it is really nice to have some room freed up. We made a guest bedroom out of the room we were in, and in a few months it will become the baby's room.

I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself. In just a few short months I've managed (with alot of help of course) to make a very restful and spacious place for Mike and myself. New furniture is definitely not in the budget, but I'm very grateful just to have the space available before the "big day".

Ananzi and the Moss Covered Rock

Joshua's class put on a little musical for the end of the school year. They worked so hard and it turned out really well. Joshua was one of the bush deer who foil Ananzi the spider in her plot to steal all the animal's fruits while making them fall asleep at the magifc moss-covered rock.

Laura turns 30!

My boys (all three of them) made sure I had a wonderful birthday. They each got me very thoughtful gifts and made a beautiful cake with all 30 candles. I'm thinking 30 won't be so bad if I have such great men around me!

Thankyou to some great gals

To Karma, Carrie, Heather, Betsy, Andrea, Victoria, and Emily -

Thankyou for caring about my funny little life. It's so nice to know that I can blow off steam now and then and get on with the work at hand. Thankyou for listening to my anxieties and fears, and not trying to fix them. Thankyou for listening to the promptings of the spirit. Thankyou for being just what I imagine the ideal Relief Society sister aught to be - compassionate, serviceful, selfless, and attentive. Your actions make a big difference. I love you!