The Giving Tree

Has anyone read this book? It is one of my favorites. I love it because it is about a tree that is always there for a boy regardless of what stage of life this boy is in. The tree loves the boy and wants it to be happy. The tree is required to perform many tasks and take on many shapes to show the boy how much he is loved. My friendship with the A's is like my very own Giving Tree.

This weekend will be one of my visits back to the Giving Tree. My Giving Tree has weathered many storms with me and has only grown stronger because of it. It's roots are very deep. I hope to give more to it than I take this weekend. I can not wait to go and rest in the shade that the Giving Tree will provide this weekend.

What did you do this weekend?

Well, let me tell you! It is not often that my weekend is jam packed with activities, but this weekend was the exception. My girlfriend Corey from Bible study invited me to join her team for the Susan G. Komen 5k here in Fort Worth. Her family owns a car dealership (Frank Kent), and they sponsor a team every year-hence the fk on the t-shirt below. Corey designed the shirts herself...aren't they fabulous?!?

I woke up early, got E out of bed, and got out the door to attend the event that thousands of other people would also be taking part in! I was nervous because E has never been in his stroller for an extended period of time, but he did great. They had live music which he danced to for a good 20 minutes before the race started. He actually drew a crowd, and then he realized that he was being watched so he quickly stopped and hid his face in my legs. My camera died, and I wanted to as well because I did not capture that moment.

It was cool being apart of something that thousands of people believe in and want to support as well.

Once we finished fighting the race traffic we raced home for a nap, and ran off to a birthday party for one of E's class mates. It's funny going to birthday parties for 2 year olds. They still don't really play with each other yet. Regardless, it was great meeting other parents in E's class. I found out one family literally lives around the corner from us. We are supposed to meet at the playground sometime in the next week. :)

Now for the fun stuff, the fence! The fence has been the thorn in our side since we bought this house. We knew it was a ticking time bomb, but it finally lost it's battle with the crazy wind we had here in the last storm this last week. One of the reason's we bought this house is because of the backyard. It is huge, but with a huge backyard comes a large fence that needs fixing regularly. Fortunately, my dad used to own a fence company when he was in seminary 30+ years ago and still knows how to make a solid fence!

Here is a shot of little E helping the boys. You can't see it, but he has a drill in his hands. You can also see the dilapidated fence coming down in the background.

Yes that is right...I have a lovely collection of ridiculous hats to hide my face from the sun.

Out with the old...in with the new...

Here is a shot of my dad putting it all together. Thank God he knew what he was doing, because there is a lot more to putting together a strong fence than we ever realized!

Here is a shot of the two guys and the completed project. One of our neighbors pulled up while they were working asking for a quote thinking they were professionals. It made Rob both laugh and feel proud. They both were really sun burned and sore, but the finished fence looks awesome! It was a good thing they got it done because we has another CRAZY thunder/lightning storm last night with wind gusts of 80MPH! It was actually pretty scary, but the fence held up. Unfortunately most of our neighbors fences are down now. Yeah for a completed home project!

Our First Home

While Rob & I were reminiscing the other night we revisited our time in Las Vegas. Vegas was a really funny place to live, and it was the place we purchased our first home. Despite what happened to the housing market there-I still look back affectionately at that home and all the fun projects we actually completed while living there. I now marvel at how much time we had to start and complete home projects. It seems that I can only start projects these days. So bear with me while I celebrate a project that we completed in our first home. Please walk with me down memory lane...

Here is our lovely little courtyard that we actually spent a ton of time in. Here is our before picture...

I ate breakfast every morning on that swing with Sophie sitting next to me. It was my happy peaceful place before I ran off for surgery with my nutty doctors!
Here is the shot of the furniture we bought without measuring it first. We now ALWAYS measure the space we are buying for. Our table and chairs fit only when they were completely tucked under the table. Oh well! They fit the space we are in now.
I planted gardenia bushes in LV. What was I thinking? I have now successfully planted and sequentially killed gardenia bush's in every place we have lived. (San Diego, LV, and DFW-my most recent victim was lost in the big ice storm that hit us in February and is still sitting out on my patio.) I love the flowers but can not grow them. I have a relatively green thumb except when it comes to gardenia's. I will eventually succeed at them.

Here was my favorite thing in that whole project. I desperately wanted the sound of running water, so what did Rob do? He went out and bought a pot and built me a fountain. Happy times!

Happy Birthday Rob!

Rob's birthday was yesterday, and I have to say that it was a great one. He turned the big 30. My parents took E for the evening, and we had the night to ourselves. We originally planned on going out for a dinner and a movie, but ultimately we stayed in and grilled. It was amazing how hard we both slept with out having to listen for a little one. It was pure bliss!

Rob loves to cook. He is particularly great a grilling. (Lucky me!) He has been cooking on the same grill for far to long. We should have retired it two seasons ago, but we made it last. Well I was able to surprise Rob with a new grill which he was sooooo excited about. Which is why we decided to stay in and cook. He was actually nervous as he fired it up-it made me smile seeing how much fun he was having on his new toy. The new grill did not disappoint!

After dinner we sat out on our swing, and I asked Rob to rehash his last 30 years for me. He is so good at humoring me and my little games I like to play. I asked him to highlight the "good seasons" of his life. It was fun listening to what he fondly remembers over the years. Between the 2 of us it is no surprise that I am the talker, and Rob is the one who internalizes what is going on. I learned of a few highlights I was completely unaware of! It was nice to have that time to just sit and talk. Not the "how was your day" kind of questions, but the "what is going on inside of you" kind of questions.

Rob brings humor, sensitivity, loyalty, friendship, and unconditional love to our marriage, and I am lucky to have him. So cheers to 30 years of Rob and to many-many more years with him!