Six Months of Bear Lovin...

Mister Barek Gabriel has graced us with his presence for six months now. He enjoys kicking wildly during bath time, looking at his handsome self in the mirror, eating perfectly warmed cereal and getting smother loved by me (until he can say different he loves it) and gently loved by Kev. His bed time is 8:00 and he nestles right in and loves to sleep on his belly. Kev and I get really excited to wake him up because he is just so sweet and smiles lazily at us. He wakes up around 10:00 and you all know I have been in a bad habit of sleep endulging. Barek is crazy about Kevin and starts kicking when he sees him. I am so happy to have this little boy to take care of and over love. I dreamed my whole life of what my children would be like. It is a wonderful relief to have him in my arms and full of excitement for all his new discoveries. We love you Bear. Happy Half Birthday.

Letting Go of the Love Machine...

The new family machine... A volvo because it is both cute and safe (oh and fully loaded).

With over 200,000 miles on her the 1995 Acura has been a good car. This is the car Kev picked me up in for our first date, drove me to my 7:30 classes and kept us up to speed in Dental school. So the leather seats are a bit worn and it has been in two fender benders (one of which was a hit a run and i ran after the other driver yelling "jerk!", i showed him) but alas, it still out performed my new Jetta at the time. Goodbye old girl.

The Man Trip...Mergs and KP

I was really happy to have my men back safe and sound. Kev saw a bear and was a bit excited but Mergs burst his bubble by saying lets get it to run. Mountain Man Mergs. Nothing like some male bonding in the great outdoors- and over lots of red meat. Glad you are in our Family Mergsie...

The Sister Visit...

Of course there was gifts and celebrations...

A risky diapering job by Koseli

Wedding talk and secrets...

A who baby with lots of breathy giggles...

Lake Tahoe....

And sweet treats and lots of food. Thank you so much for the wonderful visit. I love you both so much and am so thankful to have you as sisters. I just hope the next time we can have our long legged sister Joslynn come-

My Song Obsession....

Hair Bear...

An Ode to Barek Gabriel...from Joslynn Dollie

Friday, July 25, 2008

Oh my, what a beautiful man!
I fell in love with him instantenously.
The first time I saw him he was surrounded by beautiful women on a little white couch. They touseled his hair and kissed him unceasingly. I do admit, I wished to do the same-- what girl couldn't when so unexpectedly confronted with such a handsome man? He bore this all with good grace, with the lazy beauty of one used to being admired. My eyes locked onto his face, into his ocean-deep hazel eyes, the gentle curve of his cheek and nose, his soft brown hair undulating in gradual waves over his head. For one second-- for one tiny fateful moment, he looked away from his devotees and glanced in my direction. He had the casual confdence of one completely at his ease. I could not hesitate. I reached out my fingers and with trembling hands took him into my arms and held him in a tight embrace. In return he kicked off his booties and commenced to suck on my shoulder.
I had come face to face with an angel.
His name is Barek Gabriel. He is four months old, and he is the third grandchild to be born into my family.
Barek is perhaps the best behaved baby I have ever met. I do not speak completely from bias. I have spent much of my middle school career tending impish and ratty children. Truly, young Barek is neither an imp nor a rat. He is a handsome prince in a most un-froglike form (unless you dress him in too much green) and only utters cries at the hungry hour. His birth and name come with stories fit for a fairy book. His life, considering from where he has come, is sure to be blessed.
Dearest baby Bear,
I am a fan. Welcome.
Love sincerely,
Aunt Jos

Martha Moth Makes Socks...

It’s Martha Moth’s birthday, and her friends are coming over for dinner. She makes a quick trip to the store, where she picks up:
1 polka-dot scarf, 2 itchy socks, 1 shrunken sweater, and 2 kinds of scrumptious yarn
Now Martha’s ready to get cooking! She’s just going to taste everything first to make sure it’s as good as it looks . . .

Written and illustrated by Cambria Evans (Christensen) my sister in love...
Available now at www.amazon.com

Bone Soup Anyone....

"Known across the land for his infamous appetite, Finnigin is never seen without his eating stool, his eating spoon, and his gigantic eating mouth.When Finnigin finds himself in a new town on Halloween, he hopes to join a great feast with the creatures who live there. But not a body or soul will share any of their food with the ever-famished Finnigin. So what's a hungry skeleton to do? Armed only with his wits and a special ingredient, will Finnigin be able to stir up a cauldron's worth of Halloween magic?

i am so excited for this book! written and illustrated by my gorgeously talented sister in law Cambria Evans.... you can preorder your copy at http://www.amazon.com/ .

Our little Bear blessing.

Barek received his baby blessing in Utah on Fathers Day. Because he decided to make it even more exciting by exploding our his diaper we have no pictures of him that day in his blessing outfit. Oh, but we do have 60 from a later date... It was a wonderful experence hearing the blessing that Kevin gave. I ordered an OSU onsie for Barek and matching Kev OSU shirt for the boys to wear during football season. I love my little family of three.

Fourth of July

For the holiday we went swimming (we joined a country club- fun i know), ate a barbecued feast and watched the fireworks from a romantic setting above the valley. A great day! I love my little friends- never get sick of spending time with you three queen bees.

I am so into funky and fabulous nail polish... So many perks to having a conversation starting mani & pedi. Just imagine feeling gloomy and then just looking down and wham... sunshine toes. Oh, it is marvelous being girly.

Kev and Bear Cub

Just a few more days to go and Bear will be one year old....

Elf-sa

A gorgeous collaboration Gav and Linds.

Grand Papakins.

All who know me well, have heard me ramble about my fiery love for my parents. They are full of sugar and spice... love the sugar, sometimes wish they would hold the spice. Wonderful examples of being each others best supporter. My Dadikins life have been filled with accomplishment, travel, bravery and sacrifice (he had seven kids after all). He is a man. A pipe leaks he reads a book and replaces it, children need nice sturdy bunk beds and he builds them; any reason to give jewelry to his woman and he is purchasing it, oh and he can save lives too. My dad worked three jobs to make sure his family was comfortable and that college was paid for. He is a fountain of knowledge. Any question you ask, he has an answer and 98.9% of the time he is correct. I don't know of a state or country my dad hasn't traveled to. Growing up with him as my dad gave me peace of mind and great confidence in him. I trust, respect and adore him. Thank you Dadikins for treating my mom with so much kindness and love. Congrats on your one job retirement Dad! Two more to go....

From The Vault

Girls Gone Wild

Okay not that wild...

MY SONSHINE...

Having a little prince charming has been wonderful and strangely fitting for this girly girl. He is sweet, smell delicious, squishy and oh so much fun to kiss. Two boys in the house is not bad, just more room for my clothes, beauty products, shoes and handbags (couldn't just pick one). And i should add he is a delight to dress...

QUEEN BEE BOOK CLUB

This is the first time Kev has mowed in 7 1/2 years... good form. Barek slept on the porch because he could not resist the mowers purr. Kev and I pulled weeds in our lava rock backyard for an hour and I feel it was not much of an improvement as all that was left was rocks and a few trees. blah. I took it upon myself to surprise Kev by fertilizing the lawn- apparently using the whole bag on a wee lawn is not better... so far the front yard is surviving my over zealous fertilizing frenzy.