So not ready for winter...

I usually love the fall. I love all the colors, I love the cooler weather, I love the decorations, I love the food, I usually love everything about it. However, this year it is just seeming to make me depressed.

I'm not ready for the cold, freezing temperatures! I'm not ready to have my car freezing in the mornings and have to scrape the windows. I'm not ready to wear pants all the time. I'm not ready to quite going for bike rides with my husband. I'm not ready for bad roads (which means bad drivers). I'm not ready for the trees to be dead and the grass look so ugly. I'm not ready to spend a fortune on Christmas. I'm not ready to count the days until spring again.

I'm just not ready...

Can I rest next week?

• We have been to Idaho Falls four weekends out of five.
• We are headed to Ketchum to camp with my family this weekend.
• We had a blast spending time with my brother, Chris, and his wife Carly. But even more fun snuggling with their baby girl, Nicole. I love being an aunt!
• I am so behind in editing pictures. I have a wedding to do, a senior portrait session, our family session, and a few pictures of my niece. I'm waiting because all I have at home is Photoshop Elements and I'm upgrading to Photoshop CS2. I've been searching on Ebay none stop trying to find a good deal but haven't found a good enough deal yet.
• Work has been insane getting ready for the Missions Conference as well as lots of meetings with the Pastoral Team.
• We haven't had a free night to ourselves in I don't know how long. It's been filled with family, babysitting, Awana, Home Teams and what nots. I'm so ready for some veg time with my hubby.
• Went to the doctor this week. I may have something wrong with my thyroid. I'm not worried. Just want to know either way.
• I'm so ready to be a mom. When is it ever going to happen for me?
• I have had so much drama with friends lately that I think I'm going to puke. The sad thing is that over half of the problems have been from unfaithful partners. Wow, how it reminds me how we live in such a sin cursed world and how ugly we are without the Lord.
• If I pop another tire (I've had three out of the four pop within a month of each other) or something else goes wrong with our vehicles I'm going to drive them off a cliff.
• Threw a pirate birthday party for my sister last week. It was a blast! I love the dollar store!
• My neighbor Sue is due with their second any day now. They are having a girl and I'm so excited! I love their boy Bryce and I can't wait to meet Ella.

I promise I'll post pictures soon. Hopefully next week. After I breath...

Tristyn and her Dirty Hands

I watched Tristyn, Aleana's baby girl, one evening while Mom and Grandma cleaned the church and enjoyed dinner with friends.

Aleana put her in the cutest outfit ever, so how could I resist snapping a few shots? She absolutely loved Steven's boat which is parked in the backyard and she thought it was so funny to get her hands all dirty. She is a total cutie!

Busy as a Bee

I apologize for not keeping up with my blog. It has been an absolute ZOO around work and home. And tonight we are headed to Idaho Falls for me to photograph a wedding and then the following weekend I'm the maid of honor in a wedding AND my brother, his wife and baby are coming down for a week to visit before he deploys as an Army Ranger so I'll be with them for the following two weekends. So as you can see its not slowing down any time soon.
And at work its just crazy. I have a million items on my 'To Do' list and I swear everyday it keeps growing. But that's okay. I would rather be busy than not. It makes the time go by soooo much faster.

I'll post pictures and chat as soon as I can! Thanks for being patient!

2008 Staff Retreat

Our staff always looks forward to our time in August when we all head up to McCall for three days of relaxing.

This was the first year Steven and I got to stay the entire time and this year was my favorite. With all the 'crap' that has been going on in our lives lately it was so nice to spend a few days with friends and not worry about the expenses.

Our days consisted of sleeping in, swimming in the lake, jet skiing, wake boarding (okay, I couldn't ever get up, but I tried!), knee boarding, and reading. Our nights were filled with yummy food (thanks Sharon!), watching the Olympics, chatting, playing Mario Cart on the Wii and a trip to 'IceCream Alley.'

Thank you to Eric & Cindi for opening up your beautiful cabins for us once again. It was just what Steven and I needed.

Beverly Family Reunion 2008

We were so happy that we got to go to Redfish (Stanley, ID) for the family reunion this year. And we got to stay for a whole weekend! Even more exciting!

It was colder than usual up there. It rained and hailed on Friday and Saturday but Sunday was a perfect day. We had lots of wonderful food (thanks Aunt Jeanie) and even took a dip in the glacier lake (can you say FREEZING). It was great to catch up with all of Steven's family and even better to relax. We really needed it with all the stress in our life lately.

So here are some pictures from the weekend.

Beautiful Redfish Lake & McCall, Idaho

After work today we head up to Redfish Lake. It's Steven's annual family reunion. We didn't think we were going to get to go this year but Steven's dad is helping us out so we do get to go. Yeah!

Its always nice to see his family and relax. His aunt is an amazing cook so we both eat way too much! But its half not our fault. She keeps bringing you more and more food even if you tell her no. So finally you have to practically get mad at her so she'll stop. Oh, I love it!

And then we'll leave Redfish on Sunday afternoon and drive up to McCall for my annual staff retreat. And once again, more good food! Sharon is cooking for us this year. I was telling Steven how excited I was to eat Sharon's cooking for three days. I love it! And of course we are renting jet skis and the boys are going golfing. It's going to be awesome!

(Old pictures of our staff retreat two years ago)

So that's where the Beverly's will be until next Wednesday afternoon. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!