Whirlwind Weekend

This is the face I wanted to make at all I had to get done this past week! It was a fun and very busy end of the week! 

I was able to pull off a women's Relief Society meeting the night before we left with my Acrivities Committees help. We worked a bunch of Humanitarian Aid projects to help in our community. 

We enjoyed a caramel apple bar and each others company as we served. I am so grateful for the women I get to rub shoulders with! There is great strength in a group of faithful ladies.

Then we headed for a weekend of filming for James and his buddies. He had created a short film a few years back with them that won a few recognizable awards at festivals, and they had geared up to do another. It's so much fun to see James get so excited about a project. He's so talented in so many ways.

I was lucky because there were two events where my extended family were gathered...so I got the pleasure of joining those events. My awesome cousin James got married to the fabulous Sierra in a magazine wedding setting. It was beautiful! And then my talented cousin Claire put on a musical fireside as a mission homecoming! It was very special to be there for both!

We make the long jaunt again this weekend! Jane is SUCH a good little buddy and has done so fabulous with all the traveling! Way to go little lady!!

We love our Paige

Today my dear sister in law celebrates another birthday on this earth. How lucky our family is that she's in it! This young woman has got pizazz and is among the sweetest ranked women to live. She knows how to put the camo on and how to dress elegant for a wedding...she's awesome! I wanted to list a few things I love about you, dear Paige...

1. You chose to be a part of the Cahoon Clan

2. Your giggle is adorable

3. Your beautiful eyes

4. Your desire to do good

5. The talent you share in cutting hair

6. Your strong testimony

7. How you live your faith

8. You self teach yourself

9. How you love Matt

10. and Chevy boy

11. Your no fear attitude

12. You can whip out amazing DIY's

13. You are beautiful

14...inside and out

15. Your love for parties

16. The skill you have to design

17. You're a hard worker

18. Being with family is important to you

19. You love our little Jane!

20. You enjoy a good chicflic or old movie

21. You participate in ward choir

22. You appreciate the beauty of the earth

23. You have unconditional love

24. You have the most amazing smile

25. You know how to have a good time

26...and make sure others are taken care of and are having fun to

27. You love kids

28. You serve so faithfully in your church callings (lucky YW!)

29. Your my sister in law!!! (Lucky me!)

30. You are YOU!

We love you Paige and think you're pretty awesome! Happiest of birthdays to you!!!!

Love,

Carolyn and the Spencer Crew

Janes wearing her happy birthday bunny ears for you! She loves you so much!!

Lunch Date

I was itching to get out of the house today! Do you ever get that way? Today I've been feeling the "my days are all the same boring blah" attitude and so I hitched up Janes bike carriage and away we went! I decided to use the money I earned from selling a few things we didn't need anymore and take James out to lunch. Lucky man!

We had Spanish food which is ALWAYS good. And Jane ate banana...I mean gnawing on a WHOLE banana. She loves them sooooo much! It was hilarious watching her shove the whole thing into her mouth. I finally got to go see James' new office and meet a few co-workers, and then Jane and I were off again! 

She loves chewing on her shoes right now and really anything. Teething stage is quite the ordeal. It's messed up Janes good sleeping habits, caused a lot more little meltdowns in her normally pretty happy eats, and is getting kinda old for mom. Well, two teeth down, how many more to go.....

Plum Crazy

Plum plum plum. We were incredibly blessed with a very prosperous plum tree this year. I've gifted baskets of them away, we've made syrup, tarts, eating loads of them fresh and now we've made  our very first jam ever!!!! It was a little wild without all the proper canning gear. But no one got too burnt and the kitchen still works :)!

I think I've pitted enough plums for the year....wheew. I watched Conference and enjoyed the words of our great Prophet and other wonderful disciples. It made me truly grateful for the many many blessings and bounteous goodness we have. There is so much to be thankful for and so many comforts that I take for granted. When I think of the lives that do many others live on this earth my life is so "cushy." We are blessed with so much!

We also baked a plum corn cake that was so heavenly. So many delicious things you can make with plums that I never knew. Oh the joyful sound of popping lids after canning!! And baking with fresh fruit. As James attended a Priesthood meeting Jane and I listened to all 6 of our newly canned plum jams become sealed!!! Hurray, they all worked!!! Count your many blessings, name them one by one!

A delightful Sunday treat! Don't mind if I do ;).

Remembering 9/11

9/11 a day we should never forget! There are 100's of images capturing the memories and aftermath of that day. What I love most about this photo is the LIGHT! There is much darkness when thinking about the horrific day of 9/11. The billows of soot, dark and ominous flames, the two stark towers silloiheted against the sky, the black shadow of a plane, the intense sadness when thinking of the 100's who died, lost loved ones and were affected by this one day, the hate that caused it, the fear of those on the planes...much darkness. But light dispels darkness! When I think of the 100's of volunteers who helped, the memorials, candle lightings, the way it helped us remember the importance of freedom and to protect it, the courage of those on the flights, the concern and love  that came out of Americans. There needs to be more of this today! Do we remember what we felt like that day our great nation was attacked!? Do we cherish and defend the freedoms fought for for so long? Are we grateful?

I remember the day this happened, as we were all sitting in our early morning seminary seats. The radio had sent out the news....I sadly had no idea what those towers were...but hearing the words "terrorist attack" sent a sadness to my heart and concern for what had happened. We watched part of it on the television at school. The Seattle Times Newspaper was plastered with images and headlines for a whole week. I am grateful that I saved those papers!! Jane wore my "Build a Bear" American hat in honor of this day! Pretty cute it fit her little head (don't mind we poor dribbley nose: teething)! How grateful I am for America and for what it stands for! God bless the USA!!

Jane: 8 Months

How is this little lady 8 months today!!!! To celebrate we went on a mommy daughter date and picked raspberries! It was a beautiful day and the little farm was so fun!!!

They were a great price and I could've picked for hours but Jane needed her beauty rest so we only picked one pint. Needless to say we'll be going back for more! Berry picking is truly such a fun pastime! The stained fingers, the competition to pick the most, buckets on rope, baskets, buzzing bees, blue skies... there are so many things I love about berry picking. Jane has now gone Huckleberry and Raspberry picking! Quite the berry picking baby!

I love this sweet baby girl so much! She fills our home with so much joy! She is a gabber; saying Dadadadada is her favorite, she has the sweetest laugh, is ticklish on her neck, smiles lots, observes like crazy, eats lots and loves using those hands to enjoy fresh plums, peaches, bananas and tomatoes, she has a tooth and one more peaking through, enjoys turning the pages at story time, is starting to learn the technique of crawling, goes on bikerides with us, has gone camping, is a great traveler, loves doggies (especially her Chevy), and is a true joy! We love our little Jane and are so proud of her!

Breakfast Anyone?

S'more Breakast! Naughty me, I know. Last night we had a few wonderful families over for Family Home Evening. We were over treat, and so we broke out the firepit and roasted away. I love the sound of a crackling fire, the way flames dance and the glow of hot embers.

I only made one last night...so it's ok I made one for breakfast today, right?

Chevy Kisses

We went and had dinner with the Cahoons on Sunday up in Ashton! We love visiting Matt, Paige & Chevy! They're a fun bunch! James and I made homemade focaccia and plum pastries (they were gobbled before I took a photo!). The Cahoons made salmon and potatoes!! Mmmm. It was a blast hearing all the crazy funny stories of these two, they're a riot!

Jane loves her Chevy dog cousin! She sat right with him and even let him lick her face while I changed her diaper on the couch. For not having any pets at our home she sure does great with them! It's fun to see her feel Chevys fur and observe him play.

Score!! We got to take home a few antlers from Uncle Matt! Jane loved holding onto them with her little hands. She's going to be a hand holder I think :) cause she sure loves wrapping those fingers around things! Thanks Matt and Paige for a fun Sunday dinner!

A New Job

It is a really wonderful adventure to begin a new job. I concluded my time with Simply Mac September 2nd of 2014. It was a great company to work for and is what allowed us to move and secure our little home. Being able to use my skill set as an Apple Service professional was a real blessing when we first moved to Idaho Falls. The weekend before I started my new job we celebrated on the north side of the snake river at the Wolf Flats camp site. It was a beautiful location. I made a torch out of one (of my many) Simply Mac shirts to recognize the good time I'd had with them and moving to a new and exciting position!

A Company named Manwaring Web Solutions emailed me expressing interest in interviewing for a web developer position. It seemed too good to be true, and it has been too good ever since! I had a couple interviews with Manwaring Web and was extended a job offer a few hours after the second interview. I started work on Sept 3rd and have had a lot of growing to do over my first few days. They are located in the old downtown area of Idaho Falls and it's a small and wonderful team I get to work with! I am super excited to be with Manwaring Web and look forward to working for them for a long time!

Garden Explosion

I have another reason now why Fall is my favorite season! Gardens Explode! We have so much produce coming from our yard it's so fun! Zucchini has been coming all summer but they are still blossoming and growing, our tomato plants finally ripened and are giving us tons, we got to harvest some mini red bell peppers and our plums are going crazy! I had a garden growing up but having our own as a little family of my own has been really special and fun! And I've always dreamt of having fruit trees! Thank you wonderful Cottage of Idaho Falls, I love you!

We took a wack at homemade plum syrup...we have yet to try it on something but it looks and smells yum yum. And it passed the finger lick test. It has vanilla bean and cinnamon in it to. Mmm! We are freezing some plums for the holidays as well which should be fun! Oh fresh garden food I am in heaven!