What A Blessing He Is

I know I am VERY late with these pictures. We have been very busy with baseball and we are doing a lot of outside work to our home. Logan graduated 8th grade! My how time flies. One thing I would like to say to those women who are having trouble getting pregnant. Don't give up. What we thought was going to take 9 months took us 8 1/2 YEARS!! Lots of tears and heartache but well worth it. This child has brought so much happiness into our lives. 

This is Fran's son John. He just graduated High School this year. They look and sound so much alike it is eerie. They say genetically that when identical twins have children they can not determine who is the mother.

Umm... I wonder who the REAL mother is!! HA!

A little paint and elbow grease!!

I bought these planters a couple summers ago from Home Goods and really like them but they didn't hold up well outside.

My hubby and I had to do a lot of sanding because they were a bit rusty.

They look pink in the picture but they are a deep burgundy red. It took a few coats of paint to cover.

There are 3 planters in each wrought iron hanger. We kept the wrought iron part black.

We have three of them that go in front of  our deck off the kitchen. Not only do the planters look pretty but once the flowers grow it also provides a bit of privacy. One of my favorite things about summer is flowers. I love planting and watching them grow. There's nothing better than the beauty of nature.

Having A Give Away

  We had asked a couple of weeks ago for bloggers who wanted to host a give away for us. We were surprised at how many sweet bloggers replied. Our first host is Southern Inspiration.

Check out the Pantech Ease

If you're in the market for a new cell phone and your provider is AT&T, I recommend you check out the Pantech Ease. Our contract had been up since December but we waited so my girls could get the new IPhone. Lexi had saved enough on her own to purchase this phone just before she went to Japan. My oldest daughter got one also so when we were visiting her last week we were able to talk to Lexi in Japan because they both have WIFI. While I don't know about all the new technology, with WIFI it didn't cost anything to talk to her.

I never used texting before because I didn't have a full keyboard on my old phone and by the time I spelled out one word I could have had a 15 minute conversation, so I never bothered with it. After talking to the salesman about what I was looking for in a phone, he recommended the Pantech Ease and let me tell you, I LOVE it. It is so easy to use with a touch screen and a large keyboard with the T9 option.

 I looked on Google for customer reviews because it's a new phone and found out there are a lot of extra features. Voice Mode lets you say a persons name and it will dial their number. I read it also works similar for texting but I haven't tried it yet. It even has a pedometer. Internet on my phone is just $10.00 a month. I'm going to see how much I use it as I can cancel at any time. The phone did cost me $80.00 after a rebate, but it is worth every penny. I think I was more excited about my phone than the girls were with theirs. I couldn't quit saying "I just love my phone." So if you're looking for a phone with all the latest features that is user friendly, check out the Pantech Ease. I just love my phone...

Climbing Mt. Fuji

Lexi just wrote to let me know she made it all the way to the top of Mt. Fuji. I am so proud of her. I hope she dressed warm enough because the average temperature at the top for July is 40 degrees. A little chilly. I also read that the oxygen levels go down and it's harder to climb as you get closer to the top. She did good!!

She said a lot of Japanese are stopping and asking to take her picture. I think she loves feeling like a celebrity. They went to a party before the climb and dressed in kimonos. She'll be home next Friday and I'll post some pics.

My girl's going to Japan

  

My girl leaves for Japan in the morning! It all started back in 5th grade when she met Emme. Emme is part of a set of triplets. Their mom, Erin is originally from our town and when they came to visit their grandparents, Erin decided to let them attend school here for a few months so they could experience an american school. 

   

My daughter, being the social butterfly that she is met Emme on the playground and asked if she could spend the night at our house. Imagine our surprise when we opened the door and found out there were 3 of them! Emme, Hanna, and Rae. They were the most polite kids we had ever met and we fell in love with them. Lexi kept in touch and everytime they were in town they got together. Then their mom decided they could live with their grandparents and attend our local high school. (their dad is a doctor in Japan)

     

The girls are flying to Japan to spend time with their family and asked Lexi and her other friend Leah if they wanted to go also. Lexi has wanted to since she first met them and we decided she is finally old enough to really appreciate the experience. They will be busy climbing Mt. Fuji to raise money for HOPE, going to Disney in Tokyo, spending time in Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagoya, etc. Erin is packing full their two weeks there. 

I have no idea what my picky girl will eat other than rice. She will either learn to try new foods or come back starving. HA! Who knew her very first airplane ride would be for 13 hours! I think she will have the time of her life!

    http://www.hopeglobalchallenge.com/participants.asp?pageno=1&id=79