Weekend of June 22nd.

Well, I don't really know where to start with this blog entry. This past week was a pretty normal routine. On Friday night, my friends, Melissa and Trish, and I headed to the hospital to see our friend Jennifer R.'s new little baby Molly. Let me tell you that she is just adorable. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces and was a little over 18 inches. She had quite a head of dark hair too! Her father Mike has really blond hair so we were all quite surprised. Jennifer seems to be doing well after having to undergo a C-Section. Then, of course, Melissa, Trish and I took advantage of the fact that our husband were watching our kids and headed to Books a Million which was fun. I did purchase two diet/health books - Body for Life for Women and The 5 Factor Diet. I have already read part of the Body for Life book from when I checked it out at the Library but I have a hard time getting books read before it's time to return them so I bit the bullet and bought it. I heard about the 5 Factor Diet book from watching my prime source of news, Entertainment Tonight, and heard that Jessica Simpson lost 20 pounds (like she needed to) by using this diet so I figured if I did it I would look just like her so I bought it! Now I just have to read them and implement it which is the hard part.

I guess if you've read Leigh Ann's blog you've seen the pictures and know that we celebrated Melissa's 30th birthday with a surprise birthday party on Saturday night at Emily's house. This was a lot of fun. Just think, I had two nights out without the little ones, unbelievable! I generally think Melissa was surprised and she got some great cards from the gig as well. It's great to know what wonderful Christian friends I have to count on in times of need and great fellowship. I was quite surprised to learn from the party that a lot more people read my blog than just 3. I honestly thought that just my mother and possibly my sister read it. Apparently our church friends have developed this intertwined web of blogs that leads from one blog to another and we often read blogs of people we don't even know. I also installed a "hit counter" at the bottom of the screen (I stole idea from Emily W.) which has been pretty neat to watch as well. So, I know the pressure is on to keep this puppy updated and halfway interesting.



Speaking of interesting, Trish e-mailed this picture of her little boy Jedidiah and husband Roger (I'll let you guess which ones they are) along with Darren McFadden and Marcus Monk. (Yes, Trish this is Marcus Monk after Holly and I compared his picture to others on the web. Yes, Michael I give you credit for noticing this first.) Anyway, if you are not from Arkansas you probably don't know that Darren was the first runner-up to the Heisman Trophy this year and they both are part of the Razorback football team. I also thought that by including this picture along with the famous players name that I would get a lot more hits on my blog and it's really all about the counter now, isn't it?! Yes, TU friends I am still a Golden Hurricane fan at heart and would always root for the Golden Hurricane over the Razorbacks any day but I do cheer for the Razorbacks second.

Okay, now I'm going to talk about my job. As most of you already know, I'm resigning from my Asset Forfeiture position in the Marshals Service as of the week of July 10th. I must say that I really loved this job and loved what it entailed. Basically, when a government agency such as the FBI or DEA seize a vehicle due to a drug bust, etc. I'm in charge of selling it once a judge has filed a "Forfeiture Order". For some reason I have always been fascinated with law enforcement so this lets me participate in a non-dangerous way. I also find it exciting to know that I assist an agency that "tracks fugitives" and also heads up the "Witness Security Program." Anyway, if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, the job is for 3 days a week (MWF) from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or Holly.

That's it for this week kids!

Love,
Jennifer

Hot Springs/Magic Springs/Father's Day Weekend

We had a pretty exciting weekend. On Wednesday night Michael asked me what I thought about us heading over and staying at his Uncle Alan's condo on Lake Ouchita and going to Magic Springs over the weekend. I thought it sounded like a great idea so away we went on Friday around lunchtime. First of all, we are so grateful to Alan and Jan for letting us stay at their beautiful condo with a beautiful view of the woods.

When we arrived on Friday afternoon I didn't feel too great due to a cold virus and Michael watched the girls while I took a long nap hoping I would recover enough to survive the amusement/water park the next day. Friday night we (Michael) grilled steaks and had a nice evening. On Saturday morning we headed out to Magic Springs which is about 45 minutes from the condo. The girls rode a few of the kiddie rides and in the meantime I'm sweating buckets due to the 99% humidity. I talked Alli (my risk taker) into riding the log ride with me which was fun. I was afraid she would chicken out as we got closer to the front of the line but she was ready and willing. Meredith wouldn't even get in line for the ride because a loud noise made by a splasher contraption by the ride scared her before she even made it to the line (she's not my risk taker). Anyway, Alli even enjoyed the big hill that we went down on the ride and the big splash. I was even kind of surprised she wasn't a little bit scared. We next made our way to the big waterpark which is attached to the amusement park. This was definitely the girls favorite part of the park. They had a couple of pools for little ones with water slides on each and they thought this was pretty neat. They also enjoyed riding on the rafts with us on the lazy river. Anyway, after we went back to the condo we drove around the lake and got to see 3 young deer which was neat for all of us. We headed back home on Sunday morning.

That evening for Father's Day we headed to Michael's parents house and enjoyed a nice BBQ dinner with his family and Becky, Patrick, Will and Zach. I am so grateful for having a husband who is such an excellent father as well as a wonderful father and father-in-law!

Talk to you soon!

Jennifer

06/13/07

Hello again friends and family (at least probably to the three of you that actually read this)!

I must say that I had a pretty great week. Meredith and Alli have both started gymnastics and enjoyed every bit of it. Meredith is taking on Tuesdays evenings with her friends Allison and Addy from her dance class and church and they are loving it. I am taking Alli to a "Mommy and Me" class on Thursday mornings which she is having fun with as well. I did this with Meredith when she was Alli's age and I think it will be nice to have some fun time with just Alli as she is the second child and doesn't get as much of it as Meredith did, obviously.

I have cut my work down to two days a week (Monday and Wednesday) until my resignation around July 10th. At that time I will be staying home with the kids full time again. I am sad to leave my job, which I love, and the people, which I love, but I am also looking forward to spending more time with the girls and being able to take and pick-up Meredith everyday from kindergarten this Fall (can you believe that?!)

My sister and I also made the trip to Branson on Friday and we returned on Sunday afternoon. I met Staci and my parents and grandma at the AQ Chicken House (yum!) in Springdale on Friday. Let's see, can you say "shopping"? Yes, we shopped and shopped which, of course, I always find delightful. On Saturday morning we started to Silver Dollar City but we went the way that everyone else in the world goes instead of the back way and we gave up and turned around. We then went shopping yet again at Branson Landing and went on the Showboat Branson Belle that evening. I think Staci really enjoyed it even though it's usually an "older" crowd on the boat. We did see the most bizarre thing from the boat on Table Rock Lake. There was a volkswagen bug that had been converted to this strange boat contraption with a motor on the back. Staci is supposed to be e-mailing me the picture she took and as soon as she does, I will post it (hint, hint Staci). That night we played miniature golf and we tied! I guess the Lord was trying to keep us from fighting.

I even think Michael and the girls had a good time while I was gone. He took them to Chuck E. Cheese's on Saturday and stayed 2 1/2 hours. He said that even Alli was asking to go home. I found that pretty amazing.

Well, I guess I'll go now. Alli fell asleep about 7:30 p.m. on the way home from "Grammy & Papa's" house and I'm really hoping she sleeps all night. Knowing my luck she'll wake up about 11 p.m. ready to go like she just had a great nap. Update: She just woke up, at least it's only 9 p.m.

I wish you all well!
-Jennifer

This Past Week

Well, here I go again at my second attempt to "blog." This week was pretty routine. Meredith had her friend from church, Katie, come over to play on Tuesday morning and they had a great time and that afternoon cousin Will made his way over to play. It's amazing that no matter how much Meredith, Alli, and Will play together they're always ready to see each other again.

On Friday, we were able to go visit Aunt Becky, Will and baby Zachary at their house. Baby Zach is just a little cutie pie. It's amazing how quickly I forgot how little newborns are and how it so nice to cuddle with them. However, it then occurs to me how much they wake up at night and what hard work they are and I snap out of it! Zachary Lee was born on 5-24 and he weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was a little over 20 inches long. The doctors took him two weeks early, can you believe that?! I know Becky is relieved. Becky, Patrick, Will and Zach all seem to be doing well and I know Will is going to be a super big brother who will be very informative as to his baby brother's every move. We are so proud!

On Saturday night Michael and our friend, Roger, went to see Spider Man 3. Michael said it was "okay" and that it was hard to beat the first one. That night the girls and I headed to the park to play at the playground. We then got dessert at Sonic and cruised through the park again to see if we could spot deer and we did! The girls were so excited and the doe actually stopped and looked at us awhile to give the girls time to spot her. I'm sure if my friend Leisa from work is reading this she thinks were crazy to be so excited about seeing a deer but as I told her earlier in the week, "we are city girls!"

This next week should be lots of fun. Our friend Caitlin from church is going to start watching the girls on Mondays while I work and I know they will have a great time. On Friday, my sister Staci and I are heading to Branson! I gave her the choice of cash or going on a trip to Branson with me and she actually chose the trip! I think we will have a super time, especially shopping, and I'm really looking forward to it. Michael is going to be a trooper and watch the girls for me and Staci and I will head back Sunday.

Talk to you soon!