Just an Update

First, THANK YOU to all you blog commenters who left a note on my last post. I know, I sounded whiny and pathetic, but I do appreciate all your support! Get ready for some surprises in your mail. (And be patient, if it still takes me awhile!)

It has been an up-and-down kind of month. I took a bunch of pictures on my fun iPhone, and I can't figure out how to upload them to the computer. So... no pictures of our fun vacations and outings for the month of July, at least not yet. When I get things uploaded, and I begin back-blogging again (which I DO still plan to do... someday??).. well, then you'll see some pictures.

But for now, here's my list of things I've done since I last wrote:
-- We celebrated Brian's birthday, at the beginning of July. This was a big mile-marker birthday, and I wanted to make it special for him. But he was SUPER busy with work, so I knew the celebration had to somehow fit around his crazy hours. So, we planned a birthday breakfast party with his family. Waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream, along with eggs and bacon and pancakes for good measure. Delish! The kids and I thought up 40 wonderful things that we love about Brian, and wrote them on balloons that we scattered throughout the living room. They ranged from "head rides" and "the dead bug game" to "he speaks in Spanish with the kids," "he tells funny Arabic jokes," "he has a cute dimple when he gets his 'thinking' face on," "he can wrap Camille in a VERY good swaddle," etc. :) His present this year is a basketball hoop for our driveway. When it cools down a bit, and he's less busy, we'll have to spend more time shooting hoops as a family!

-- We went on an big, long trip to the Great Northwest for two weeks in July. The first week was the annual Hone Family Reunion, which we spent this year at a beach house on the Oregon coast. It was a great place and the beach was just down the steps from our back deck. (169 steps, that is!) Lovely views and overcast cool days, with lots to do up and down the coast. It was fun just spending time together -- seeing sites, playing games, and eating fun food together. Sadly, Brian worked and worked and worked during most of the reunion. It was pretty exhausting, but he was such a trooper, trying to make time for some of our outings, even though that just meant he would have to stay up even later each night. He worked so much that he didn't finish up his project until the very end of the week --after we had said goodbye to everyone and checked out of our house. So, then we tacked on some extra days for a little family vacation to Seattle and Victoria, BC. That was super fun, just being together with our kids and finally relaxing and resting. We got to see our beloved Randilicious in Seattle, and we bit the bullet and took the kids up the Space Needle. Of course, the highlight to them was the hotel pool. ha! We also went to Butchart Gardens in Victorian, and met up with my old roommate, Kurri, and got to meet her family as well. Fun times!

-- I celebrated my birthday this month, and had a wonderful day. It was on a Sunday this year. So, Brian and I went on a date on Saturday night, and had dinner at the Olive Garden, such a nice treat since it's been a long time since we've been there. Then on Sunday, lots of people at church wished me a happy birthday, which was fun. And in the evening, we went to Mark and Dalana's for a fun steak bbq with baked potatoes, delicious salads, and all the trimmings. I even got delicious Costco chocolate cake as my birthday cake, along with homemade cupcakes with fancy sprinkles. I truly felt so loved and spoiled by my family -- not to mention the many fun birthday wishes on fb. Too fun! It's a new year, and I'm following Wade's example of setting some new goals for myself, for this new age. (Although, I admit, I've had trouble getting really motivated about keeping them so far, so I might use his birthday -- Aug 5 -- to relaunch my enthusiasm and commitments. :)) My main present for this birthday was a new kitchen sink!! Yay! Brian and the kids picked it out, and it's already installed and working wonderfully well. I've been wanting one for quite some time, so this is a real treat!!

-- We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary the last day of July. Hard to believe it has been ten years already! I have so many fun and wonderful memories of our wedding day and honeymoon time. We have a digital photo frame that circles through lots of our pics from years past, so I get to see pictures of our first year together on a regular basis. I love remembering when it was just the two of us, and how special that time was right after we got married. It has changed a lot, and has gone by so quickly! I have been richly blessed and can honestly say I have enjoyed these past ten years with Brian more than any other decade of my life! And that's sayin' something--- because I have LOVED my other decades too! :) Our celebration this year was mild, due to a busy work schedule and lots going on with kids. But we went out to dinner and went shopping together last night while Brian's parents watched our kids for a few hours. And Brian bought me a GORGEOUS bouquet of 24 red roses that are sitting on our kitchen table. And, we plan to buy a grill as a celebratory present. Er, I guess I plan to buy a grill, since I just realized last night that Brian doesn't really want one. So... we may be rethinking things a bit. And... maybe we'll take a cruise or something this fall, since we've always dreamed of a cruise... maybe.

-- We took a trip to Utah right after our trip to Oregon and Washington. It was a very speedy-fast trip, but we saw some people we hardly ever see, and it was lovely. We spent an afternoon swimming with our dear Fleming friends from New York. Oh, how we miss their sweet family! Wish we lived a little closer!! And, we got to see the Beck family, (who we knew in London) while they were in town from China for the month. They happen to have a little 5lb. newborn precious baby girl, who we got to meet. Such a treat!! We also got to see our dear friends Mauro and Larissa, who we knew in Boston and in England. They also have a new baby girl, so we got to meet her and see their other kids as well. Plus, we stayed with Alicia and Scott, and relived some Boston memories and has some good time to catch up. It was only two nights and one day of a trip, but we packed a lot in and really enjoyed reconnecting with lots of friends.

-- Next week we've got another trip to Utah planned. Brian is going on a backpacking trip with his brothers and nephews. Fun times for him! We are tagging along to play with Bishop family and other friends in the area. I only wish it wasn't such a long, long drive to Utah, ya know?

Well, that's the latest wrap-up for now. I am teaching a Relief Society lesson at church tomorrow about "making right choices." The truth is, the "right choice" right now probably would have been to work on my lesson a little bit more, instead of blogging. :) Ah, I sometimes learn by trial and error, I guess! Off to bed I go!!