Ike

Today was the first day I have been to Galveston since the hurricane. I have been very curious about what it looks like now. Mark had an install and we got to go to work with him. The city is slowly recovering. I was really surprised to see random abandoned boats out by ditches and out in fields. A lot of shops and restaurants were still closed. I am sure a lot of homeowners and store owners just had to walk away and leave it all behind. It made me sad.

A Little Gem

I have found something I love. At the request of my sister, I am sharing it with all of you.
These are the new socks from Children's Place for infants.

They are fabulous because they stay up and never fall off.

The key is in the elastic cuff.


They are up to size 12 month and I am planning on getting as much use as possible out of them.

Duh!

So Avery's class has been reading stories at school and drawing pictures about what they read. They get to bring the books home and show their pictures for discussion. Anyway, I immediately fell in love with this picture Avery drew because it is the first time she's drawn our whole family together. So here's the conversation...
I ask, "Avery, Who are these people?"
Avery says, "Dad, me, Spencer, you and Sarah."
I say, "Everyone is smiling except you and daddy. Why?"
Avery says, "Cause our heads are stuck together."
DUH!

Kneadful things

I had a fantastic opportunity to go to a bread class this morning with some of the others sister in my ward and surrounding wards. We made bread and learned a lot about food storage and food storage rotation. My mom had buckets and buckets of grain that just sat and eventually went bad. Karen showed us how to actually use the wheat that we have to make something really good. I don't know about you guys but my attempts at making whole wheat bread often result in something inedible. Today, I learned how to make REALLY, REALLY great whole wheat bread. I won't lie to you--it's not easy but once the technique is mastered, the end product is well worth it. Here is a link to Karen's website www.kneadfulthingsnow.com. She has lots of great recipes and tips. She is really blunt and inspirational about food storage. Working on my own storage has been in the back of my mind but has not been much of a priority for me until now.


This bread passes the peanut butter test too. It makes great sandwich bread!

I LOVE YOU!!!

I am hijacking my wife's blog for the purpose of telling her, and I suppose all of our friends and any family who may see this just how special she is to me and how much I love her. I think that this song sums it up pretty well. I love you Lake.

CUTIE!

Yummy!

 

Spencer tried cereal for the first time last week. I really got a kick out of his reaction.

My Busy Week!

Last week was pretty hectic for the Rhodes's household. Avery had her special day at school. It was the day they celebrated her birthday since she has a summer birthday. She got to wear a crown and do everything first. She worked hard with me to make mini cupcakes for all her classmates. We were all invited. Sarah and Spencer had a great time.

 

We had Grandma and Grandad fly down to stay with us for a day. We love seeing them as often as we can. This was the first time Mark's dad got to see Spencer.

 

We took the opportunity to get Spencer blessed while they were here and all Mark's siblings were in town. So, Spencer was finally blessed at 4 months old and it was really a beautiful blessing.

 

That along with Valentine's day and Valentine parties made for a very full and fun week.

My look-a-like kids

 

It is amazing to me how alike these two look. Look at those noses and blue eyes. Where the heck did they come from?

Blah. Blah. Blah

So I haven't really had anything to post about lately. I do have some pictures though. These are Spencer showing off his new outfits from my sister. How cute is he?



Mark's brother lent us his son's ride on train. The girls have been having a blast riding it around in circles. Excuse the lack of pants in the pictures.


Finally this weekend, I got around to painting the pink room blue. It turned out really cute. Now all I have to do is put up the chair rail, shelves, and decorate. Wonder how long that will take me?