By God's amazing plan, she was able to plan her road trip from Idaho to Tennessee around the family reunion, and I was able to join her on the last leg of the trip. (Matt flew home from Kansas City to work.) Carrie drove the first leg by herself from Idaho to the parents house in Grand Junction--then mom and dad helped her drive from GJunx to Kansas--then she and I drove the final stretch to her new Music City home. We of course had a really good time being together, but driving the big u-haul (actually, it was a Penske) is really tough! Her car was on a trailor behind the truck, and there is an enormous blind spot that makes it very difficult to change lanes. Getting gas and pulling in and out of resteraunts is also a feat in and of itself. As you can see we managed to find some awesome trucker hats along the way to make us feel the part.
When we got to Nashville, we had some life-saving help at 10:00 p.m. (from Jonathon, Jessica and another RD Rebecca) moving her furniture and STUFF into her little apartment, and with in the next 3 days, somehow transformed the white little rooms into a "Jungle" of color and fun. It's kind of like Rainforest Cafe meets Asian Pacific...It looks even cooler now with all her art work up on the walls, but this is the most recent picture I took. 
I really have to give Carrie amazing props for making such a big move virtually by herself. I am so excited for the experiences she will have the next year or two at TNU, and of course, she's so much closer to us now!! We're already planning the trips...
Brad then took us downtown KC to what's known as the "Plaza" for a great dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and a nice evening stroll through the fancy shopping district. It was a very fun evening, beautiful weather, and we even ran into 6 or 7 Nazarenes that we know from way back when times(of course). It was very nice to see Brad's apartment, the seminary, and places were he lives and drives every day. We are so glad we worked our schedules out to enjoy the few hours together.
more beautiful than I remembered. The last picture is most of the crew that were able to come to the reunion--not everyone made it out to the farm that day, but most of us. We may not get to go to many more reunions, but it so good to get to see everyone again.
Happy Easter, everyone! Here's a cute photo of Matt and I from Easter morning--they set up a little photo spot in the breakfast room at church. I guess so everyone could take family pictures in their Sunday best. I'm not sure if I agree with the emphasis on showing off your new clothes, but anyways...the church folk seemed to love it! (Look at my handsome husband and his fuzzy little beard. He always lets his face grow grizzly for the Easter play, and I love it!)
is my kitty cat, Moseley, (4 yrs.) who until now has been terribly neglected in this blog. Yes, we still have him. I don't think this shot shows him in all of his fat-self glory, but it was already on the camera. Moseley is still adjusting to having the little pup around. He loves to sit up high where the dogs can't reach him, and whenever Jackson bothers him, he bops him on the head with his paw 4 or 5 times, real fast. It keeps me entertained.
s during the year. I LOVE her little apartment and really enjoyed getting to see where she works and hang out with some of her friends. She had lots of cute stuff planned to do, like this afternoon spent at Ceramica in Boise, (see photos!) a Bunko party with a bunch of ladies from church--funny story--, OMC, working out at the Rec, etc. We also did the typical sister things, like shopping, getting our hair cut, (isn't her's cute!) eating out at our favorite restaurants--I tried Baja Fresh for the first time--thank you, Carrie, new fave. We especially had tons of 
fun at Ceramica--surprisingly, too, because I am NOT artistic when it comes to painting! We made stuff for each other though, and that made it a little easier because now I don't have to look at the piece of junk I made for her! I also made this nifty cereal/icecream bowl for Matthew, and I must say, I a
m pretty proud of how it turned out, as you can tell--here, in its pre-firing stage! Matt definitely appreciated it more than any other souvenier I could have brought him back from Idaho! Anyway, with us each painting 2 pieces, I think we were there nearly 5 hours! It was much fun, I am already looking forward to my next visit--to Ceramica, and also to Nampa. I miss the old stomping grounds more than I wish I did. Thanks for such a special trip, Care Bear!
cy during my weekend to Idaho as well as my sis. Denise and I joined the Allen family for a dinner out before Em left for the weekend to Canada. I knew I would catch Em for a few hours before she left, but it was a surprise blessing to see Kevin and Colby, since they were supposed to be gone for the weekend in the opposite direction as Emily--California. Yes, I got to see them at Christmas, too, but you can never have enough friend time, especially when they have cute kids! Colby is an energetic little man now, he's walking and talking and cruising all around. And dancing of course. Any child of Emily and Kevin would have to be a dancer. Emily misses me terribly and always asks when I am moving back to Idaho. 
Day 2 of our vacation to San Francisco: Enjoying the view from Alamo Square (I didn't know what Alamo Sq. was either, but recognize the houses in the background? Here's a hint: Everywhere you look (echo) there's a face, somebody who needs you...) riding the old fashion cable cars in the rain, and then a trip out to Alcatraz Island--also in the rain. We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday to walk around the town, but today turned into a typical, rainy and foggy day on the coast of Cali. It really didn't damper our plans too much, just made it a little more classic San Fran. The rain definitely set the mood for our trip out to the infamous prison. The audio tour was surprisingly interesting but we were very glad to get out of there and back into warm clothes on the mainland. Dinner and a movie wrapped up a great day 2 of vacation.
echnology is amazing. I am writing this post from our hotel room in San Francisco. Matthew and I are here in California on vacation. We have just spent the day driving and walking around this beautiful city, and are now taking a short break before heading out to dinner in China Town. So while Matt's in the shower, I'm using this little wireless computer card to share our day with the world. I don't have a clue how it works, but it's cool! And crazy!
lunch at a cafe in this little town over the water called Saulsalito. We walked the piers, laughed at the seals, and drove the crooked street. In fact our hotel is just up the road, on Lombard St. I forgot how INCREDIBLY steep the roads are here! We love it. Here's a shot of us on the bridge this afternoon and one down on the waterfront at sunset. More photos and thoughts to come.
We love being pet people! Here we are with our two favorite dogs, Jackson (L, male) and Peyton (R, female). Moseley (fat cat) won't come near us when we have Jackson, so he didn't make this photo shoot. I'll get him posted one of these days soon.
Look at that mug--I'm in love! I have been able to get out of school rather early each day this week, and with our beautiful Florida weather, I have had no choice but to come home and let the dogs play outside in the yard for an hour or so before dinner. It is so much fun just to eat a bowl of icecream on our porchswing and watch the dogs play as the sun sets slowly. Jackson and Peyton are so cute together, they love chasing each other around and fighting over squeaky toys. Every so often Peyton gets extra feisty and tackles Jackson into the dirt. Today I found out that Jackson likes to eat dirt--yes, actually eat it, he had it all over his tongue. The best part of it all is having a husband who comes home, notices how dirty the dogs are (for some reason), and gives them both a bath. Life is good. mjh
If this isn't the cutest puppy you've ever seen...
