27.9.08




he loves, teaches, protects and torments her. she adores and annoys him. they are pure joy, the both of them!



you can't tell, auntie rosalyn, but i am wearing the little eTa onesie you bought me.



a game of sorry before bed. ryker wins again. it will be just us girls next week. ryan is on his way to georgia tomorrow and ryker to tennessee shortly thereafter. i am looking forward to spending the week alone with emers and dreading spending the week alone with emers. she will miss her big brother and playmate terribly. ryker can't wait to see jaden micheal jones! we are NOT talking about the haircut, btw. except to say that both he and i cried a little as we looked at the blond locks in the tub and i made a vow to NEVER, EVER attempt hair cutting again!

22.9.08

Yea! A win...finally! A sweet wave of nostalgia hits every time we venture to Pullman. It starts, for me, as we crest a hill just before Washtucna and are greeted with views of rolling hills and dry-land wheat strips. We had a good laugh with Brady. He described feeling particularly nostalgic as he paid the cashier at the same concession booth where, ten years before, he had met Shannon. He also felt compelled to share this nostalgia with the student handling his money, as we all know Brady would. :-) She gave that slightly-annoyed-but-mostly-don't-give-a-darn-stare perfected by hours of manning concessions and shouted, "Next!" Which is hilarious because, according to Shannon, there was no one else in line. She'll feel you one day, Brady! So glad Brady and Shannon invited us to join them! Thanks, Amanda and Drew, for stopping in for lunch. Ryan and I enjoyed fellowship at Ken and Tanya Carper's home on Sunday! It was our first time back to that little meeting and the "Carper's...Welcome!" tile hanging by the front door made me a little teary!

Eric, Braeden, Brenda and Cody Wilkerson, us, Shannon, Logan and Brady Dickhaus






The band comes to play for the RVers. Not sure what they were wearing but it's all good. Been there...not really done that exactly. You gotta love college! Brady was running for the duck tape but it was unclear as to whether he was going to add to these outfits or wear it so we held him back. :-)




I can now picture Cousin Amy in what has to be the classiest dorm room on campus. We may have taken up too much of Aim's time but that girl needed a break from torturing cute little white lab rats anyway. :-)



18.9.08

So I have had some time now, to contemplate Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and have gone so far as to Excell our monthly budget, debt snowball and step plan. I have opposed any form of serious budgeting. I suppose because I previously thought that budgeting meant you didn't have money and WE have money. Oh wait...there it went. I've learned that the ONLY people who have money are those who budget. That said, I'm wondering how to accomplish a Partial Money Makeover. Just kidding, Honey! :-)I am slightly surprised by my level of motivation right now. The idea of paying off our mortgage in 10 years sounds great, though challenging, and 10 years of extreme sacrifice isn't too many, hey? Thank goodness for Grandmas and their "closet" contributions! Why does the thought of cutting up our credit card leave me unsettled? I have long prided myself on being the last one on the wagon. In fact, I am strangely annoyed by band-wagoners. I like to think that I give every new "thing" that comes along the careful consideration it deserves. And yet my husband has had to pry me, one finger at a time, from the debt-is-a-useful-tool wagon. I didn't give that one a second thought -OBVIOUSLY! I suppose I am posting today in an effort to record my current frame of mind in the indelible ink that is the world-wide-web as I may need to refer to it at a later date. SO we'll keep you posted...or maybe not. I doubt this is sounding much like the "gazelle intensity" Dave refers to. Especially considering our upcoming weekend of fun in the Palouse! I'm off to finish packing the camper. I suppose this obligates us to watch Saturday's game...GO COUGS! :-)