Big Trip: Phase 2 Tennessee

We're finally in Tennessee! After a long year of being away from the Howells, we're here! Zach, Keaton, and Peyton have grown tremendously and LOVE their baby cousin!! They are going to be the best big brothers! If they can figure out a system about who is feeding her a bottle when, who is going to sit by her in the car, etc... They love helping with her!

It is so nice here. They live in such a nice area and Jen's home is so beautiful! And they sell for 1/2 as much as they would back home. We spent a fun day just relaxing around the house, then we took the boys to soccer practice. Then Jen and I stole away with Annika to Target and Sonic! Two of my favorites!!!! We now have the t-shirts for Cousin Camp that will start later this week when my family arrives. Two more nights to be exact. I miss then so much. It has been a nice break from real life, but I miss my family!!! 9 days is a bit much.





Bacon Bit Knits in the sun???? Say it isn't so! Our summer was less than ideal for knitting outside as I had envisioned all last summer, but it felt so good sitting outside on this 80+ degree day to knit for a bit while baby was napping. My Casper-ish self caught a few rays. I'm trying to pace myself so I don't get burnt! It is so fun to be here with Kris, Jen, and the boys. And I'm sure it's good for them to have 6 distractions while they're waiting for news of Molly's homecoming! Stay tuned!

Big Trip: Phase 1 MOPS Convention!

I arrived in Tennessee last night from another great weekend at the MOPS Convention in Dallas! We had such a great week together, most of us arrived on Wednesday and spent our down time shopping. (I had to pay extra because my suitcase was overweight... oops) But, I got some really great deals on some really cute things! So it was worth the extra $39 for an overweight suitcase, right? That's what I'm trying to tell myself. :) I'm now retired from MOPS leadership but this great group of friends let Anne-Renee and I tagalong anyways. Thanks guys! I had a bit of an overwhelming moment as soon as the very last general session was over... my being done with leading MOPS didn't feel final until then. Because I knew it was the last thing I'd do that would resemble what my life has been full of these past 4 years. I just sat in my seat and sobbed. I could barely catch my breath. I think I'd been holding that in all summer. But I felt such relief after all of that was released! Thanks guys for your hugs! I'm So So So excited about life and the future for our family, ministry, and our dreams! MOPS still keeps me sane in my life as a mommy, so I don't see myself stopping attending any time soon.

We stayed at the beautiful Gaylord Texan Resort. This picture was taken in the atrium that connects to the lobby. That's the inside of the hotel, and those are all hotel rooms... It has a glass roof. It's such an amazing place. I feel like I should be a celebrity staying in a place that gorgeous. We are very spoiled at these conventions.

The 9 of us that went were: Tasha, Milly, Rachel, Amber, Hannah, Sarah, Jen, Anne-Renee, and I.

My Mom, Rachel, baby Savannah, baby Annika and I all shared a room. It went SO well! Rachel and I discussed for months beforehand how it might go... and I think we were both pleasantly suprised by our little cuties. They slept so well and I got more sleep this time than I think I did in the 3 previous years combined! 2 years ago we got 16 hours in 4 days! But it's SO much fun. Like a slumber party every night. I had to be a bit more responsible this time.

There were so many highlights like hearing Erwin McManus speak (I'll blog more about that later), the great concerts by Avalon, Plumb, Jaci Valasquez and her hubby Nick Gonzalez (lead singer of Salvador), and of course Go Fish. The huge general sessions with all 5,000 women are amazing. MOPS Int'l did a great job as always... And then my seminars (the ones I chose) were so perfect for where I am right now. They were titled Shrink Wrapped Spirituality (coping with our fast paced culture), Living Wide Awake (living the life you were created to live without excuses), 5 Keys to a Healthy Family (by Gary Chapman, author of The 5 Love Languages), and Grace-Based Parenting (of course, parenting with grace!) They all seemed tailor-made for me this year. It's funny because I couldn't even remember what I'd signed up for because it had been so many months.

Avalon belting out that beautiful harmony.

My Mom flew to Dallas to meet me from Oregon to watch Annika during the sessions! They had a great ol' time together. Mom hadn't seen her since she was 3 weeks old. Annika was so good for her and Mom was so good with her! Thank you, sweet Mommy for loving us like you do and for doing anything for us as you have my whole life. I love you.

3 generations of look-a-likes.

Annika and Savannah in the tub!

A funny thing happens when the Gaylord is over run by 5,000 ladies: the men's bathrooms in the convention center are turned into women's! They have done this every year, and every year it cracks me up! This time, they went the extra mile and put plants in the urinals!!!!!

4 year old sweetie

Morgan is four! We celebrated last weekend with a princess birthday party for her. Her little pals came dressed up in princess attire, with a few exceptions... a Firewoman and Woody from Toy Story were also in attendance. Right when we got home from church, Morgan promptly changed into her princess gown, plastic heels, necklace, up-do, crown, and purse. And waited... and waited... and waited... for four hours for the festivities to begin. Then, halfway through the party, she decided she'd change into her unicorn costume. The girl loves to dress-up!

One of many secrets that will be shared between Megan and Morgan.

We thank God for our sweet, kind, funny, beautiful, and loving daughter and look forward to many more happy occasions to celebrate her birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MORGAN!

Giving Charlotte a thank you squeeze!

Here are some pics of Annika modeling a Neapolitan Sundae hat. (My most popular hat!) I still don't have my Bacon Bit Knits blog up and running, but soon... very soon! That's one of the reasons why she's modeling the hat. I'm gathering pics of all my hats to display on the blog and possibly open up an Etsy store online! See my pal Shannon's store here. Annika and I are modeling some of her beautifully hand knit items!

Annika and Shannon during our photo shoot Saturday.

a facelift

I think I finally got this blog lookin' the way I like it! But don't count on it to stay this way forever. I love changing things around, just like I love to rearrange my furniture. Check out http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ for super cute blogger backgrounds. I found it just after I changed mine a few weeks back, but was too lazy to change it again. Ahhh.. what a difference.

And the pic at the top? Well, I fiddled around with some of our photos on my computer and made a little banner, it came out just the right size. Hooray. And I put Jeremy's look-a-likes on his side and my clones on mine. :)

so, so sore

I've been working out at a local fitness club here in town and it is kicking my tail!!!! This finishes my 5th week, and phew! I'm constantly feeling my muscles being worked more than ever before! I've always loved exercising and have my entire life... but since having kids, I've lost the baby weight at home doing videos. But I'm SO tired of exercising by myself!!! And after 8 years of videos? I was so ready to join a group! Plus the videos haven't pushed me near as hard as these classes. I would have laid on the couch long before it got this hard if I was alone at home!



I attend four crazy, good classes each week... this week? It was Zumba, Hard Core, Cycling, and Cardio Sculpt. After the Hard Core class last night (all abs for 45 min.) I hurt in my ribs, sides, and every single muscle in my core. Ouchie! But it feels SO good... I feel more and more like my old self each day. I don't know about you, but I love working out. It makes me appreciate how God created my body and I feel like a machine when I'm working it and making it stronger.

This is what Cardio Sculpt looks like.

Cycling (some gyms call it Spinning) is an amazing workout. I sweat like you wouldn't believe, and my legs feel so strong now! That was this morning...

I'm one pound away from my pre-preggo weight with Annika. But my body is far from looking like it! Things are just different, ya know???? So I'm going for another 10-15lbs. Or even if I don't lose another pound, I know I'm doing incredible good for my body. OH, and a huge bonus? Free childcare. I rarely use it now that school has started, I go in the evenings or when Jeremy is home on Fri and Sat... but it's so great. And the classes are all women. Love that. So here's to sore muscles and disappearing fat. :)






A Zumba class!

Swap a DVD!

Last week, we signed up at www.swapadvd.com and think it's so cool! You join (it's free) and list all of the DVD's you own that you no longer want... then you make a list of all the DVD's that you'd like to own... and they do all the work for you. You get an email saying that someone wants your movie and you accept or not, then print the wrapper right there, take it to the post office (it costs less than $2 to send) and you get one credit for a movie to be sent to you!

So you pay the postage to send your movies out and someone else returns the favor! We got our first movie this weekend and another is on the way! I've sent 5 out so far.

Thanks, Elizabeth H. for telling us about it!!!

If you'd like to join and know Elizabeth, use her as a referral on the sign up application and she'll get a free movie credit. Her nickname on swapadvd.com is "mamatoblessings" Or if you don't know Elizabeth, you can use us as your referral, our nickname is "lovethosebaconbits" Thanks, and enjoy!!! It's the coolest service!

Girdwood getaway

Last Saturday and Sunday we took a trip to Girdwood with our good friends, the Novaks! Each year we're trying to plan a fun trip to kick the school year off right... the Novaks called just when we were wondering what in the world we would do this year with an invite for a trip to Girdwood! We stayed the night at the Alyeska Resort hotel and swam that night before bed in the pool (Gavin could have drown, but that's another story!) And we went on an amazingly beautiful (and kid-friendly) hike on the Winner Creek Trail on Sunday, then we drove up the road a bit to the Crow Creek Mine where the kids got to pan for gold! They got to take some little flakes home from the "practice" run. It was a FUN 24 hours with our good friends!

Miss Morgan sacked out in the morning when we woke up! She ended up on Abby's pillow.

We did 2.5 miles round trip, walked to the hand tram that went over the river, the came back. It took us about 2 hours with 6 kiddos and was SO fun. We haven't hiked much as a family, but loved this trail and plan to do it again. After our hike, once we got up to the mine, they told us there was a black bear at the hand tram after we left! It's exciting living here! But I'm so glad we missed it.

The Novaks on their way to the platform!

Morgan enjoying the ride!

Annika loved being in the backpack for the first time. She was a happy little camper the whole way, even with out a nap! She just sang and made her cute little Annika sounds the whole way. There are more pictures to come.... I forgot my camera at the pool and my battery died half way through the hike, so I missed gold panning too! (I was in the car anyways while a plum-tuckered Annika snoozed.) So I'll post more pics from our weekend when I get some from Sarah. :)

Family fun at the fair!

The state fair is always a highlight of our year as a family! As soon as we entered the gates, Jeremy and I stood in line for our favorite "Golden Cheese Nuggets"! They are yummy, greasy, little balls of deep-fried cheese curds. Then you can pick your sauce. My favorites are honey mustard or marinara. Good thing it's a once-a-year treat!

We took in a few shows... let the kids go on a couple rides... and ate of course. Next year, we have plans to enter some of our veggies, my knitting projects, and some kiddo projects into the fair for judging. Oh, and we got the new Alaska state quarter. It was released that day into circulation.

And the highlight of our day was Morgan winning the "hare chair" at the Lumberjack show! We've been attending the lumberjack show for years and have seen countless little ones come away with a fun little chair!!! But she doesn't want it in her room until it's painted pink!!! She's not so much lumberjack after all. But she did give a big "Yo Ho!" into the microphone when she won! She was adorable. No fear and shyness whatsoever. (I was a much different little girl... I would have died to have to go out there in front of all those people!)

Wowsers

We've been really excited and stunned about Sarah Palin this week! I've been completely in the dark about it all except for checking the internet news pages everyday. But tonight I actually turned on the TV and saw her speech at the RNC. I'm not a political gal whatsoever. I do vote and am proud to do so, but I'm just not so into it. Until now! I love Sarah and what she has done for Alaska. I love that she's a Christian of course, as well.

She's been at church whenever she's been in town this whole summer. Always sitting with Todd and holding Trig. A couple Sundays ago in August, she was there again with the whole family. I told Drew that our Governor was here at church and the kids and I decided we'd go introduce ourselves. She was as sweet and kind as you'd imagine, and baby Trig was adorable. So then... when she was nominated last week, it was so fun to ask the kids, "Wasn't that so cool that you just met her at church?"

I got teary eyed watching her speak about her family and parents tonight. The Heaths are such great people. Sally always greets me by name and has always been so friendly to me and my family. And Mr. Heath was my hands-down favorite substitute teacher growing up. We did cool things like dissect ptarmigan gizzards and etch glass. I'm proud to be affiliated with Sarah being from Alaska!!!

funny, funny kids

Okay... I've been saving these couple for a few days....

Morgan
Yesterday she was playing with two Polly Pocket dolls and one was talking to the other... "Hi, who are you?" The other answered in a fierce Polly Pocket voice, "I'm your worstest nightmare!" Shocked, I asked her where she heard that????? "From Mulan!" During our Olympics watching marathon, we rented Mulan for the first time because it was set in China!

Drew
Tonight as Drew was getting ready for bed, he took a huge drink of water. I said, "Drew, you shouldn't drink so much right before bed!" Puzzled, he asked, "Why? Will it make me drunk?"
I gasped and said, "Where have you heard that word????" (in an elevated tone) "The Bible. Remember when that man drank too much wine?" Point taken.

"But son, we don't say that word."
"What does it mean, then?"
"Well, remember when we were behind that woman this summer that was driving crazy and crashed her car? Well, she was drunk. She drank too much of that yucky drink."
"Well, when I'm president? I'm gonna outlaw that yucky drink. And then I'm gonna have a LONG talk with those people that make that stuff. Mom, do they do it just for the money?"
(Man, this kid is perceptive.)
"Yes, they do."
"That is just wrong. They are killing people and hurting people and do it anyways!"

Oh, and did I mention (I may have before) that he wants his name to be Richard Johnson when he's president? I think his own name will be just fine. And I think he's a politically minded fellow. He definitely doesn't get that from us!!!

And here's one more funny quote from our eldest:

On our first day of school this week we were learning the Pledge of Allegiance and what the words mean in it. And I asked the kids what they thought the word "allegiance" meant.

Drew said, "Isn't that a book in the Bible?"
Ha ha ahahaha... "No! That's Ephesians!"
With a laugh, "OH!"

Allegiance.. isn't that a book in the Bible?

girlfriends day at the fair

Well, it wasn't really called Girlfriends Day at the state fair. But that's what it was to Morgan and I! I took Annika and Morgan to the fair yesterday to meet up with Sarah and Allison and their adorable kids! We had such a great day and stayed much later than we imagined we'd be up for! The kids and babies were so good, and the weather was great! A perfect overcast non-rainy fair day! Plus, it was $2 Tuesday... can't beat that! I took a bunch of "too cute to not post" pictures, enjoy!!!

The girls patiently waiting for their turn at the face painting booth!

Morgan was as still as I've ever seen her! This lady was amazing, she whipped out a beautiful butterfly in no time flat!

The beautiful results! Sorry, Liam... your puppy was adorable too.

baby chicks!

The ending of a fantastic day.