Quality not Quantity

This past weekend the Mitchell Family spent Saturday outdoors. Our favorite park is called "Imagination Station". There is an amazing maze of ramps, slides, swings and other various play things for Anni to enjoy and the scenery is breath-taking. We don't seem to get much family time anymore. James and I are always doing school work and if not that, the summer stormy season has kept James working overtime. We try to make the most of the time we do get to spend together by just enjoying the fact that God gave us each other. I think we forget how awesome that is sometimes.

Saturday was an awesome time to just hang out together and remember how blessed we are. I don't like living in this small town but I must admit it is a beautiful place. We are surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges and wildlife. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Our outing started with a great view of the mountains on the walking trail at the park and ended at "hawks bill creek" were we found some new baby ducks and James taught Anni how to cast her Barbie fishing rod. The girl is almost a pro. I think she only sunk a hook into daddy's leg once. Yes she fishes with real hooks and catches real fish. She is quite the angler. Daddy doesn't let her bait her own hook yet but it wont be long. Then we headed home and Anni and Bit Bit (the dog) finished off the last of the corn (bait).

Mother's Day Gift - Worth the Wait!

It finally came! My long-awaited Mother's Day gift. James, with the help of my good friend Michelle Kiefer and my newest friend Sharon Sossaman, ordered this custom designed handbag for me.

Truly this is my favorite picture. My beautiful little Anni offering her sweet "sugars". I look into those sparkling eyes and that happy face and I thank God for her. This is a gift I would never have thought to ask for yet it leaves me breathless; both the purse and the child.

She has made me more than a Mommy. She has made a better person. This story is much longer than I am sure any of you have time to sit and read so I'll try to be brief.

One day I get a phone call from a young woman telling me she wants me and James to adopt her baby. There was an appointment to "terminate the pregnancy" the next day and an answer had to be given immediately. We said yes! We didn't know how we would make it financially, but God was in control and we knew we couldn't let this child be needlessly taken from the world.



It was one of the best decisions we have ever made. We know that Anni was created for us and that we were created for her. She is our Joy in the Lord personified. I am eternally grateful that I have a wonderful husband and two amazing friends who would help preserve a precious moment for me this way. I love my Anni sugars and it only gets better than this when I get them in person.

I love you Anni. Now gimme sum shuga!

The Cream of the Crop

Yesterday the Mitchell family started their Father's Day celebration in the traditional way. Breakfast, gifts for Daddy, and off to church. After church we took the man of honor to Cracker Barrel for fried catfish and a game of checkers with his Anni girl. When we returned home the two of them hit the pool while Mom hit the books, trying to finish an assignment that was due.

It was a nice day.

As the day was coming to an end, I went outside to check on the water bugs. They were out of the pool and Daddy was doing his usual thing; overseeing Anni's bike riding and bubble blowing or anything else Anni decides she wants to do. The connection they have is amazing to watch. She is, without a doubt, Daddy's girl.

Anyway, we have this small cherry tree in our back yard. I love to cook and it drives me crazy to waste free produce. James know this so he asked if I was planning to do anything with the cherries. Persuaded to act, last week I picked a couple of bowls of these little sour rubies and made homemade cherry pie filling. So I decided to pick another bowl before the sun went down and we called it a night. Anni wanted to help, of course, and she said, "Daddy, wanna help momma pick thum chaiweeth?" James said, "sure". When they got over to the tree James noticed that all of the best fruit was at the top. He said, "Man look at all those up there!" I said, "Yeah, but I can't get to them. Guess I'll just leave them for the birds." The next thing I know James pushes his way into the middle of the tree, grabs one of the upper branches, pulls it down and says, "here I'll hold the branch - you pick. You know this is a real find! You should blog about it." I realized he was right. Not about the cherries though.

Oh they are great, but nowhere near as great as the guy holding the branch. I know it didn't really matter to him whether I got the cherries at the top of that tree. He knew it mattered to me. It was Father's Day and he could have spent the day on the couch watching T.V. We would have let him. Instead he spent it doing what he does best; being Anni's Daddy, and being not only the love of my life, but my best friend.

She wants FABULOUS!!

We have been waiting all winter to buy a pool for Anni.

Last week the day finally came. It was a family outing. We piled in the car go to Wally World to make our purchase. We rush home and...............well after setting everything out we realized there was not one level spot in our yard. However, we tried as best we could to make it work. It didn't...... after filling the pool to about 5 or 6 inches (on one side) the whole thing collapsed. Anni was not impressed. I got frustrated and James just walked off and sat with his back to it. (I think he was trying to keep the 4 year old from hearing some major bad words) I went in the house and called my good friend Michelle Kiefer (not that I'm required to give her credit or anything) to vent and she says, "be sure to take pics so you can blog about it. So here I am. Telling the tale.

Anyway, after we settled down, we decided that this little pool would not get the best of us. So we did what anyone would do. We hired professionals to come and level a spot in the yard.

First we had a few days of severe thunder storms to deal with. That held us up. Then two days later the dump truck and tractor arrived. They dump the dirt, they level it and then they leave a load of sand. (for us to spread - we didn't want to pay for anything more...... should have)

The day finally came when we could set the pool up. We started spreading the sand. I thought I would die. I asked James, "can you explain to me again why we didn't want to spend the money to have them do this?" He just grunted and I took that as my cue to shut the trap and keep shoveling. The side of the box boasted, "ready for water in 10 minutes!" Well........ it took us a week and much more money than we planned on spending.

After we managed to get everything set up and filling we thought everything was going to go smooth from there. WRONG! Once the pump was purring like a kitten, the hose sprung a leak and started spitting water everywhere. We were once again off to Wally World praying they had a replacement hose. They did thank the GOOD LORD. Poor James was kneeling in the dirt, in the dark at 10:45 changing out the hose. It all worked but the next morning he realized the lid to the pump was loose and it leaked water all night.

Once we fixed that problem it seems we now have a gloriously working pool for our precious little one. (I'm smiling and gritting my teeth while saying this)

It was a frustrating experience to say the least. But I have to say that when she finally hit that cold water, giggling and squealing in delight, it made it all worth it.

She actually jumped up and down and said, "You da best mommy and daddy in da whole wurd!" I guess we should soak this up before she figures out the truth!

We love you Anni Girl!!!!! Happy Summer

Lost but Now I See!

Okay, so I lost my phone in Walmart on Saturday. We searched for over an hour. We made numerous calls to it, hoping someone would pick up. We sent texts asking whoever found it to return it to the service desk. Then we made the call to disconnect. I was really bummed. All those contacts. All those numbers. All those pictures.......... All lost......or...... stolen!? With that thought I got mad. I couldn't believe someone wouldn't just turn the thing in. What good was it going to do anyone? There was no service. If someone tried to have it activated they would get in trouble because we had reported it lost/stolen. I thought, just turn the phone in already!

Well, after 3 days of checking with the service desk, a miracle happened. Someone at the service desk at Walmart actually knew what was going on. That was the first miracle. (I know, that was mean. I'll save that for another blog) The second: My lost phone was there! In fact, it had been there since Sunday morning. My hope in human kindness and honesty was restored. I'm ashamed to say I was quick to judge those around me. A close friend said, "When I found out about your phone I thought, "is there really no honest person left out there?" That got me thinking. The answer is, "yes". There is a lot of bad in the world but there is a lot of good in "us". I would have turned the phone in. There are many others I know who would have done the same. A lost phone is just that. It can be replaced. The real loss is when we give up on each other.

Taco Slide

Anni is growing up so fast! Her favorite place in town is taco bell. (it's actually a taco bell/pizza hut express together) She used to call it "taco slide" because it is the only fast food establishment in our little town with an indoor slide. Well at least she used to call it that. If we call it that now she corrects us. (It as begun...) The ladies in there love Anni and know her by name. I don't blame them. Who could resist that face? Anni definitely has them wrapped around her little finger. We don't even have to order for her, the ladies behind the counter already know she wants a cheese personal pan pizza, bread sticks, sauce, and one crunchy taco supreme with a little cup of sour cream on the side. It is amazing to see her work the room. The girl is a pro. Taco bell has a new frozen drink and of course Anni saw the picture and wanted one; strawberry. I told her when she was finished eating we would get one if she still wanted it. I didn't want to spend the money on one if she was going to waste it and I said so. When James brought the trays in to the play room there in the middle was a frozen strawberry drink. I asked him where it came from. He said, "the lady said she "accidentally" made it and wanted to know if we wanted it - it's free". Now folks, the Mitchells were the only people in the joint. I suppose someone could have ordered the "accidentally made drink" in the drive through but it was really quiet in there and I'm skeptical. What can I say? These people love her. So do I!