Nothing Beats a Day at the Lake!
Scott and I are the co-owners of a ski/fish boat that we share with my two brothers, and sometimes I think we forget that fact.  Our very good friend Steve was in town visiting this week, and we thought it would be fun to take the boat out to the lake for the day.  (Something we haven't done at all the past two summers!!!) We forgot how wonderful it is to be on the lake enjoying the water and wakeboarding.  We promised each other that we would not wait so long again to take the boat out...

Ok Scott, you REALLY need to get some sun!

Looking good Scotty!

Like a Pro Steve!

Dragging the boys all over the lake!

Precious Moments with a Precious Family

We are taking every possible opportunity to spend time with Jon, Jess and the boys, as they will be leaving us next month to start new adventures on the East coast.  We stole a few hours last Saturday to pack all seven of us into the car and head to the beach.  It was a beautiful day at North Salmon creek beach with mild temperatures in the afternoon that cooled as the hours grew later.
It was an afternoon full of many of the memories we will hold so dear when this precious family leaves us next month.
Scott and Jess enjoy the homemade bread on the beach... doesn't get any better than homemade bread!

Mmmm.... bread... "I" loves it too and feeds it to Uncle Scott!

J and E enjoying the sand:

Building a tent

Auntie Jen and "I" cuddle time:

Ahh, nothing like Michigan in the summertime! 
If I could spend the entire summer there, I would!
My favorite place to be in the summertime- on the deck overlooking the yard, horses, garden, and blue puffy-clouded sky:

Our Favorite Summertime Activities in Michigan:
Picking Rasberries

 Mowing the lawn:

Playing Cards:

Pool Time:

Relaxing by the pool with a cold beverage:

Free Concerts in the Park

Feeding the Ckickens:

Visting Rudy the Pony and Wilma 2 the goat:

Painting our Toenails:

Getting all Dolled up for Dinner:

Painting:

Cleaning out the Shed:

Seeing Cousins:

Time at the Lake:

And the BEST Part of Summer is Time with the Family!

SURPRISE!!  
We flew out to Michigan to surprise Scott's Mom and Dad for their 40th Anniversary.  Scott's sister and I had been in "kahootz" with the plan weeks before our trip.  Her family planned to spend the weekend with mom and dad and wanted to have a family BBQ with them on Friday night.  She asked them to meet them at the bar down the street from their house beforehand for appetizers and drinks.  When they arrived at the bar they greeted Ann, Vince, and the kids and sat down at the table with them, completely unaware that we were also at the bar on the other side of the room.  We made our way over to the table right next to them, and sat down.  They had no idea it was us (due to our conspicuous costumes).  We sat there for a few minutes and finally Scott turned around and began to speak to his dad who still did not recognize him.  Finally after a double take his dad recognized him, but still did not recognize me.  As we began to remove our disguises, his mom finally recognized us both!   They were overjoyed and VERY surprised to see us.
We looked like biker people with the following garb, and I doubt anyone would have recognized us!

New Guest Bed
We have been using Craigslist a lot in the past month to sell off things that we just do not need or use anymore... don't you just LOVE craigslist!  We finally sold our last (and largest) item which was a bedroom set (the old guest bed).  I was motivated to sell some things when I found the perfect guest bed for our small guest bedroom at Ikea a while back.  It is a day bed that opens up to be a super comfortable King sized bed...
It gives us more room in this small room which has also become my Mary Kay room.  It has great storage space in three drawers underneath, and it makes for a very cozy place to read and rest.   I had a great time covering some throw pillows that I had lying around waiting to be used.  Scott and I worked for nearly 3 hours last night putting this bed together, but it was totally worth it!  It was also worth the wait to sell items before buying a new item... we simply used the money from the old to replace with new!  The best things come to those who wait.... a lesson I am continually learning!

Kite Fun
My parents surprised us this weekend and sent us on an overnight at Bodega Bay.  They had visited Bodega Bay earlier in the week, and since they had so much fun they wanted to bless us with a little get-away of our own!  We were sent off Saturday morning with strict instructions that we were to follow for our adventure.  Our first stop in Bodega was the kite and candy store where we were to speak with a man about a kite.  We did that, and walked out of "Kites and Candy" with a brand new Prism Nexus kite.  Knowing very little about kites and kite flying, we set off for Salmon Creek beach to try our hand at kite flying.  We followed the instructions given to us by my parents, and reiterated by the kite-man, and after a few attempts we had our stunt kite up and flying and even doing tricks.  In just a couple hours our spirits were soaring with the kite and we felt like we were kids again!  My mind was racing with all sorts of kite flying memories from childhood.  I remember going to the store right next to our house to buy a simple little kite.  We had two large fields on our property to fly the kites, but we always managed to get them stuck in the trees.  I remember making my own kites (when the store was out of them).  I would take two sticks and tie them together with string.  Then I would take paper or fabric or something and tape it to the sticks.... those kites never got far off the ground.  Then I remember running circles in the field in a desperate attempt to get the kite to fly on days when there was no wind.  Flying the kite this weekend got us to revert a bit back to our childhood... it was just like we were seven again.  Only this time we were flying a "REAL" kite... a stunt kite with TWO strings instead of one, and built to fly and crash like a champ!
After our kite flying adventure on the beach we headed to Lucas Warf for dinner where we were told that the Halibut and the Sauted Calamari were to die for.  Since my parents hadn't steered us wrong thus far, we took their advice and enjoyed a tasty meal overlooking the bay.  It is amazing how even just 24 hours away can be so relaxing...something we both needed badly!  Thanks Mom and Dad!!
One a side note, Scott woke up earlier than normal this morning wanting to go out and fly the kite at the park near our house (just like a kid).  Since the sky was dark and threatening rain I talked him out of it.  I didn't think it would be a good idea to play Ben Franklin.

Girls Behaving Pinkly

I hosted a huge Mary Kay Pinkly party last week, and it was a great success!  We were having so much fun, I failed to take pictures of the group in attendance.  But I did get one of my awesome director, Tracey, and myself.

And I got one of the pink table.  Check out the Pink Feather tree in the background!  I was a gift from a former Mary Kay consultant, and it is hilarious... appropriate for this party!  We had pink lemonade, pink cupcakes with pink frosting, and pink cookies.  And all the guests came dressed in as much pink as they could wear!

Nothing like a Party to Motivate you!

I have a big Pinkly Party coming up this Friday evening, and it really motivated me to make a couple changes.  I have wanted to do some redecorating in our front room for a while now, but it hasn't exactly been on top of our priority list.  But with the party coming up, I had to do at least a little something.  A new and better lamp was definitely in order, as our lighting in that room stinks.  (Someday that will change with some recessed lights...)  So I went out lamp shopping.  I forgot how fun it is to shop for home decor.  After searching a few stores, I found a great lamp for a great price at Home Goods... got to love that store!  Of course after purchasing the lamp, I decided I really needed new curtains.  New curtain panels and even the fabric to make those panels is super expensive, and I soon realized it wasn't going to happen.  As I was on my way home with my new lamp, I had a brilliant inspiration.  I decided to take my existing curtains, cut them in half, make tabs, and hang them that way...  Long story short...  it was exactly perfect.  Why get new curtains when you can just repurpose the old ones!  The only picture I could find of the old curtains was a picture taken of the Flowers family at thanksgiving time.
OLD Curtains:

New Curtains:

What do you think?

911 Call
We live in a decent and safe neighborhood, but we have one neighbor that has been a huge pain. The mom and her son are continually fighting and screaming.  He has been in rehab many times, and just when we think he is gone forever, he ends up coming back.  Why she ever lets him back in her house is beside me.  He came back a couple of weeks ago, and it has been fairly quiet over there.  He did call the cops on himself (something he does occasionally), but that was not a big deal.  Then Monday I heard screaming (blood curdling screaming) coming from their backyard.  She was yelling at him to get away from her.  I immediately called 911.  A few minutes later the cops were crossing my front lawn, making their way to our neighbors front door with their guns drawn.  I heard some yelling, and a few minutes after that they were escorting him out in handcuffs.  Come to find out (from the local paper), he was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon (his hands).  He had tried strangling her, and continued to strangle her when the cops showed up and had to tazor him to get him subdued.  If the cops hadn't been called, he could have seriously hurt or killed her.  The call may have saved her life! 
I share this story not to freak you out, but to remind us all that no matter what, it is better to be safe than sorry.  You might live in a nice neighborhood where you think nothing crazy could happen.  Unfortunately we live in a very messed up and crazy world where anything is possible, anywhere.  Never hesitate to call 911 when you think someone might be in danger.  Better to be safe than sorry. 
Scott and I are also VERY motivated to get our home alarm working again.  We are also considering having a neighborhood meeting.  And I think I will take a self defense class with another neighbor two doors down.  I hope this kid stays locked up for a good long time, and I pray that his mom won't let him back in the house if he ever gets out.  She probably will becuase victims tend to stay victims..  something I do not totally understand, and get really frustrated about.  These people are messed up.  They need Jesus, plain and simple.  I will admit though, when the danger hits so close to home I find myself wishing they would just go away or get locked up permanently, and I don't really care too much about them or their future.  But I know in my heart that they need Jesus, and I pray that they will discover the saving power of Jesus Christ.

How did SHE get here?
I grew up in the country and I am very well acquainted  with the rural environment.  Both our parents currently live in the country, and we are used to seeing all sorts of wild animals in close proximity to the house.
The neighborhood we live in is quite opposite of the country.  The houses are very close together, and we are far from anything that is even close to "country" living.  So when I came home today, I was quite surprised by what I found in our backyard.

 It was not only out of place, but it was incredibly funny.  This lost Turkey had obviously made a wrong turn somewhere, and lost her flock.  I actually wasn't aware that turkeys could fly high enough to hop our high fence, so I was seriously shocked to see her pecking around the back yard.  Kona hadn't spotted her yet, and I didn't have the heart to scare the poor bird, so I chose not to alert him to the visitor.  I had to capture her on film, which scared her.  She ran to the side of the house, hopped up on the wood shed, and flapped over to the roof. She pecked around the roof a bit, looking a bit lost and not sure how she would get down.  She finally flapped over to the neighbors roof.  I had called our neighbors two doors down to let them know the bird was coming their way...  Turkeys are hilarious... they peck around almost barking little short barks like a dog....  I hope she found her way back home.

Flat Stanley has had a very busy week!
He helped Scott help our friends with house remodeling.  He got to practice holding a hammer, working the saw, doing some electrical work, and fixing the dry wall.  He is very talented!

I learned that Flat Stanley is an amazing cook, and he did a wonderful job helping me make dinner one night.

He also got to visit the Jelly Belly factory with Scott, and our cousins Drew and Justine.  He LOVED the factory tour, and was thrilled to try all the yummy jelly bellys!  He plans to take some jelly belly's home, and provided I don't eat them all, he will do just that!

And yesterday, Flat Stanley joined us on our hike and adventure at Mt Diablo State park.  He loved climbing on the rocks, exploring the little caves, and hiking the trails.  We were pleased to see that he was not afraid of heights.

Flat Stanley will be heading home soon, and I know we will be very sad to see him go.  It has been so much fun to have him here!