A visit to Aunt Jill

My hubby's grandma asked me to take her to some cemeteries Thursday evening so she could visit gravesites of family members and put flowers out for them. Since it had rained early that morning and there was no way I was going to be able to work in the garden, I decided that was a great plan. First we went for supper and then made our roadtrip to the cemeteries. 

Since we were in the area of hubby's Aunt Jill, I thought it would be a great idea to stop, this lady has a special place in my heart! :) 

Aunt Jill lives on a small acreage about 30 minutes away so it's never too far of a drive. I always love seeing her gardens in the spring and summer, she spends lots of time out there! They also have quite the critter collection! Horses, goats, chickens, ducks, and a sheep! Obviously there are a couple dogs and cats also! And fish in the pond! 

About the pond.... They are building a garden room AROUND their small fish pond outside! How cool is that??? 

Anyways, before we left for the evening I captured some pictures of Parker and his cousin Abbii feeding the goats and sheep and a couple of the garden! 

Love, 

Dakota 

Lately

Lately... I have been in "nesting" mode. I can't seem to get enough time to clean, rearrange, and organize our entire house/life! I also get bored with one project fast, so I have about a million and one different projects going on right now. I am still working on finishing touches to redo Parker's room to make room for our baby coming at the end of summer.
I have rearranged the living room furniture and am working on tidying up and moving odd things around in there.
The dining area has been the catch-all during the past couple weeks so now I am trying to get everything back to its proper place and off the table. Also- I rearranged that area a little too!
Lots of organizing going on in the kitchen- have to make room for the bibs to come back out and eventually baby dishes and such. I also added a side bar to the kitchen for more cupboard space and a coffee bar area.
Our bedroom has pretty much stayed the same, except the switching of a side table.

Also, I have been working on getting our paperwork and daily lives organized a bit... differently. I am trying a different method of menu planning. Since we accumulate lots of papers, I have been trying to implement a new organization method using three-ring binders.

Parker has lots of art and craft supplies that I have been working on finding the right places for. I want him to be able to use some things freely - but other things not so freely - like finger paints, I would really like him to not be able to get into those by himself :)

Love,
Dakota

Getting our Garden in-- Finally!!

So... We  FINALLY got started on our garden! I don't actually feel too bad about this since our temps got below freezing just a couple nights ago! 

Hubby worked this afternoon to get everything tilled up while I sat and watched with my working gloves on the ground :) 

Tomorrow I will be putting in my tomato plants and getting some seeds in the ground... It might just be a late harvest! 

Mothers Day 2014

As we approach Mothers Day this year, I can't help but be reminded of how thankful I am to be blessed with an amazing little man and another little one on the way.

Ever since I can remember I have played house and when I grew up I wanted to be a mom, or a teacher. I lost the desire to be a teacher while I was in high school but have never lost the desire or NEED to be a mother. Being the oldest child, I have always been the "nurturer" type. I always took care of my younger siblings and still do sometimes! (18 year old sisters who are scared to go alone to get their hair done for prom... yeah... she still needs me.... and I am okay with that)

I tend to be an "old-soul" or "traditional" type of person. I hang on to the thought of a traditional marriage... one that you work on everyday and don't give up on. I feel my Heavenly Fathers urge towards traditional mothering... staying home with my littles and raising them to be strong Christians. I am always trying to keep the traditional ways in our holiday celebrations and not be blinded by the fancy things and "more is more" hype that seems to be going on in life today. All of these "worldly" things can distract us, and lead our hearts astray and empty. We always need to remember the important of what we should be doing and what we want to be doing. They don't always go hand - in - hand.

Our family, is always a work in progress and even though sometimes I get upset because of something Parker does, (or says for that matter) I know that God sent that little boy to us for a reason. I am so, beyond blessed, to be his mama... nobody else could do it... that is why he is mine. Nobody else could ever shape that boy the way God has planned for him, if they could, he wouldn't be mine. I am reminded each and every day of the grace that the Lord offers to us, and for that, I am so thankful.

Be thankful mamas - they NEED you.

Blessings, Dakota

Baby shower for Baby R

My sisters and my wonderful friend Dakota put together a Beautiful baby shower for me! It couldn't have been any better! The theme was Camo/hunting. 

Here was my beautiful diaper cake my sister Shanon made! 

She also put pictures in mason jars with oil in them for decoration. You can see one of my husband Weston and I in the picture above and below she put a cute saying, And the story begins. The story of our family :) 

I am so grateful for all my friends and family who came and helped me celebrate! My sister Shanon was unable to be there because her daughter Sophia was sick, but luckily my friend Dakota was nice enough to run the show even though she wasn't planning on it! Love you!! 

Well I will just let the pictures do the rest of the talking! ;)

One last thing my friend Katie made this cake! She is fabulous at decorating and it tasted amazing!!! 

32 weeks and 2 days!!! :)

Playing the price is right baby item game 

Katie and I (the cake maker) 

My sister Kendra and I

My mom and I

Dakota and I!!

My sister Ryanne and I

My sand volleyball team minus a few girls 

Weston and I are getting soo excited waiting the arrival of our son!!! We feel really blessed! :)

Love, 

❤️ Taylor