+ edmond...

once upon a time... katie nicole & i got a pet fish for our goodman apartment in thatcher [he matched our decor of reds and blacks haha]... we named him edmond [after edmond dantes... the count of monte cristo, because lets be honest... he is one hunky dude]. edmond survived the wrath of angela [who poked a hole in his fin and often aggravated him with pencil erasers], many other random people who would try to get him riled up [he sure was a spunky little dude... and he was ready to fight you in a second. he would puff up his gills and charge your finger behind the glass], a couple trips and then a move to tucson, a move to utah [where he got a window seat of all the snow and utah scenery], and another 12 hour drive back to arizona. so... ive been taking care of edmond for 2 and a half years. ive grown rather attached to him. and i got a little teary eyed last night because i just knew he wouldnt make it through the night. there has been a couple times that i really thought he was going to fishy heaven, but then he would pull through. but since utah he kinda just laid on the bottom of his bowl most of the time. he was an old fella in the end... he was allowed to be lazy [despite what austin may say]. anyway... this is the end of my tribute to edmond. he will be sorely missed, indeed.

i sure loved this little fish.

silver beaver...

"the silver beaver award is an award given by the national council, boy scouts of america, upon recommendation by the local council, to persons who have given outstanding service to youth over an extended period of time. the local council may make a limited number of recommendations each year, according to the number of registered units. this award is bestowed only upon those persons who have given continued, unselfish and effective service through programs of the boy scouts of america. only those persons who have been nominated by their scouting peers are considered."

my dad got nominated for this rather prestigious award not too long ago and tonight was the awards banquet. he was one of 9 nominees for the silver beaver award this year... and we are so proud of him! grandma & grandpa farr also came to town to support their son [and they bought him a wicked sweet pistol]. it was really cool program and im so happy that we got to be there to support him! we love you dad! youre amazing! :)

we tried to have kelsey here with us in this picture [and instead adrians finger is a little oddly placed. hahah...] we did miss you kels! :)

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this was the news clip from kgun9... jennifer waddell was there as a master of ceremony... all types of pregnant and all types of cute. haha... anyway.... she had to leave early to get ready for the ten o'clock news! lol!

snow...?

we have had some crazy weather the last week or so... wicked good storms that gave us a lot of rain. apparently its the 8th wettest january in recorded history for southern arizona. woot woot! i think they said we've gotten more rain because of these storms than during all of monsoons. yay for the el ninos! :) anyway... it ended up dropping quite a bit of snow up on mount lemon. sorry for the picture quality... it was on my phone... haha... this is the view from our front yard.

 

84 grand years...

saturday was grandpa neilson's 84th birthday... and we loved that he was here celebrating with us! we went to lunch at ihops... dinner at risky business [a local favorite restaurant] and then dinner again a few days later at outback [when nancy and mom got back from portland]. happy birthday grandpa! we love you!! :)

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also... it was hayley's 1st birthday was the 18th! click here for adrians post on the birthday. kelsey skyped with us the whole time... it was awesome having her "there" too!! :) happy birthday to my favorite hayley bug!!

a new project...

"one who plants a garden, plants happiness."

so my dad came home last night and i was showing him pictures from that last post... and apparently he has been picking up seeds from all over southern arizona with intentions to plant them. as y'all know... he is a mighty busy man, so i offered to do it for him! he brought me some acorns, bird of paradise seeds, yucca & jojoba seeds. so i went to lowe's today and got one of those jiffy greenhouse and peat pellet kits. im trying a few different methods with the acorns [best i can tell, they are arizona white oak] because i would love LOVE for those to actually germinate. how pooping cool would that be in 50 years when im about to kick the bucket to look out the window and see this giant oak tree that i planted? im pretty sure that would just be amazing. anyway. from my research it will be a month or more until any growth is actually visible. oh... i also planted some flower seeds... mexican hat [of the red variety] and blue lupine, i believe. anyway. i suppose now we wait to see what happens...

:)

+ delightful...

"delightful" is a truly wonderful word. people should use it more often, i think. anyway... today is day 18 of the herb garden experiment... and it really has been absolutely delightful! my cilantro has exploded... its growing so fast! and my sweet basil is already smelling like sweet basil... and it smells wonderful! i wish you could smell it! i cant wait till its grown... i think im going to have to make pesto! :)

 

 

"in all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."  - aristotle

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ps. i love spider mums... and daisies....

what the yoke?!

so... adrian dustin & hayley came over this morning to hang out after hayley's 12 month check-up. she and adrian both took naps while the boys played mario karts... it was a random- but very welcome- visit! anyway... so i was making hayley an egg for lunch and i crack one open... lo and behold 2 egg yokes popped out of one shell! needless to say, i laughed. how often does this happen?! for serious! today is going to be a good day! haha....

:)

again...

i really am in love with this little herb garden.... sorry if it seems a little obsessive. but its just so fun to watch little seeds grow... it makes me happy! there's something magical about growing plants... wathching seeds sprout, or new leaves uncurl... i love new leaves- like when they are still waxy and light green. seriously... how can you not smile when you see new little plants growing? anyway. im done... :)

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day 7

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day 9 [today]

+ sweet basil...

lol... so i really am loving this little herb garden! my sweet basil is sprouting beautifully! cilantro is just beginning to sprout... its not as impressive yet, so i'll wait on those pics for a bit. but anyway... here is my sweet, sweet basil! :)

the happiest time of the year...

sorry this is a little late, but here are some fun pictures from christmas eve and christmas morning. dustin had to work, so adrian and hayley came up here... we opened presents with them and then sent them back to their house [so they could have christmas as a new little family]... we were bummed dustin couldnt be there... but it was oh so fun with adrian and hayley! nicole had to work christmas eve night, she came for dinner then went straight to work and then came back after work to do christmas morning with us.... we sure love having her around! it was a great christmas with our friends and family near!

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grandpa bought the family a new microwave for christmas. our 26 year old microwave was down to the last straw. it served us well for my entire life [the parents got it as a wedding gift... its older than all of us kids! impressive, eh?] i will never forget "power level, 1, time, insert time here, start." haha.... anyway... thanks to grandpa for a new, beautiful, easy to use microwave! :)