5 Years

It's amazing how time can go by so incredibly fast and things can change in the blink of an eye.  Five years ago, on Saturday, I became Mrs. Forristall in Kevin's parent's backyard.  Little did we know that we would be living in the house in front of that backyard five years later.  It wasn't even a thought then and it's hard to believe it's reality now.  It makes me think about all the 'plans' Kevin and I have made over the years and how most of those 'plans' have been changed, modified, adjusted, and deleted.  I am thankful for those changes because we wouldn't be where we are today...it's a great reminder for me how God is always in control and He has 'plans' all His own.

the backyard before the wedding

our backyard today

These are some of my favorite moments from our big day five years ago...

Memorial Day

Hope you all had a memorable Memorial Day weekend!  We spent the weekend with family: eating, relaxing, chatting, and enjoying the freedom we are allowed because of so many brave women and men.

Thank you to all the heros out there that have paid the price for our freedom!

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.  
~Joseph Campbell

Outdoorsy?

Life on the Trail has been quite eventful these past few months.  Since spring is here (horray!), there is a never ending list of things to be done outside.  Let's just say I do not excel at things done outside.  I never have been an outdoorsy person when it comes to working outside.  I remember begging and pleading with my Mom to let me do dishes, so I didn't have to rake the leaves with Dad.  I know, pathetic.  I don't think either of my parents ever understood why I would rather be inside, elbows deep in dirty water, when I could be outside in the sun enjoying the nice day while raking up piles of leaves.  I guess I am more of a 'sit outside with a glass of white wine while admiring the pretty flowers or people or anything' type of outdoorsy person.  Although, the wine will be exchanged for water the next 5 months...
Since moving out to Pioneer Trail, I have changed my way of thinking from childhood and am now a full-fledged outdoorsy person, kind of.  I wanted to share a few of my firsts, now that I am working outside on the Trail.

1. I can operate and gas the riding lawnmower...and it's fun!
2. I saw Abel catch a bird and did not freak out as Kevin chased him down and pried it from his mouth.
3. I can identify multiple kinds of weeds on Pioneer Trail, yes I said multiple kinds.  Kevin is a great teacher.
4. I can also identify multiple kinds of flowers on Pioneer Trail.  And, get ready for this, I can tell the difference between a weed and a flower (mostly).  Diane is a great teacher.
5. I have heard coyotes on many occasions.  Abel is not allowed outside after dark, I think they would enjoy him way too much.
6. And I saved the best for last.  Today, all by myself, I saw a snake.  A real, slithering, black snake that was not in a case or cage or anything, but in one of our gardens.  I did not scream, nor cry.  I didn't even run away.  I stood there, in shock, and watched as it's black body quickly slithered away (my mom is cringing right now).  If it weren't for the weeds staring me in the face ready to be plucked, I would probably still be standing there right now.

This concludes my outdoorsy firsts for now.  I know there will be plenty more to come as school comes to a close and I spend more time outside on the Trail.  I just hope that #6 isn't repeated anytime soon.

the pretty poppies in front of our house

one of Diane's unique birdhouses

Abel 'helping out' as I work

Joy sticks

Going down the aisle to pick up a pregnancy test can warrant lots of different emotions from different people.  When Kevin and I were trying to get pregnant, walking down that aisle commanded both anxiety and hope.  Anxiety that the test would show a minus sign and hope that Kevin and I would be blessed to start our own little family with a bright, bold plus sign.
On the morning that Kevin and I found out about our little miracle, we had so much hope and joy.  I wanted to relive that joy again and again and again.  Over the course of the next week, I took 5 more pregnancy tests just to make sure the miracle was true.  Kevin laughed at me at first and then after the third one, thought I was just a teensy bit ridiculous.  Ridiculous or not (okay ridiculous), each one of those 'joy sticks' reminded me that God is capable of absolutely anything.

We're having a BABY!!!

Those of you that know me really well, know that I absolutely LOVE babies.  I love their fat little arms and legs, the rolls under their chins, and the amazing little sounds they make that are nothing less than sweet little sounds from heaven.  Kevin and I are having one of these sweet little humans and words cannot explain our excitement.  They just can't, because we are overly ecstatic.

Our little peanut will be arriving at the beginning of November.  Our official due date is November 2.  What we are really excited about right now is our ultrasound coming up in just 3 short weeks.  We will then know (hopefully!!) if our peanut will be wearing pink or blue.  I always thought I didn't want to find out the sex, but now that we're pregnant, I want to know...like yesterday!  Kevin definitely helped to talk me into this type of thinking.  Right now, at 15 weeks and 5 days peanut is about 4-5 inches long and is as heavy as an apple.  

Here is a pic of when we announced it to our parents.  Kevin's handy work...

  

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there!  I am blessed to know so many great ones, especially my amazing mother and mother-in-law!  This weekend we headed home to celebrate Mother's Day, along with my nephew, Xavier's, fifth birthday.  I took some family photos in between celebrations and wanted to get them up for my Mom.  I love you Mom!

Bare no more!

There has been something missing in our new space for the past three months.  We have beautiful, sand colored wood floors.  They are beautiful, but slightly bare.  We needed a little warmth in the space,  so Kevin and I headed out to look for something to make our floors a little less bare.
One of the many things I love about Kevin is he is decisive.  He knows what he likes and what he doesn't like and it doesn't take him long to figure this out.  Kevin was a huge help picking out rugs for the floors, in fact, he picked out one rug all on his own and made me feel sure about the other two rugs we chose to warm up our room.  Here are some pics (for you Mom) of our floors bare no more!

Dining room

Living room

The one Kevin picked out...Abel loves this one.

Bonfire

Last weekend we had some of our friends out for a bonfire.  Kevin was more than excited to get everything ready...let's just say he likes to burn stuff.  He spent the morning gathering bunches and bunches of logs, branches, twigs, pretty much anything that will burn.  That evening we had a great time making s'mores by the fire and Abel enjoyed getting spoiled rotten by everyone who cuddled with him.  We (Kevin mostly) can't wait until our next little bonfire!

Kevin putting together the stuff that will burn.

Bonfire fixings

My boys!