May

May has been a fun month. Anna and Matt both had b-days. Anna had her bridal shower which turned out great. She also had her bridal pictures taken, which was so much fun to watch. She is going to be a beautiful bride! Ryan and I finally planted our garden and it's looking really good! Everything has been blooming like crazy with all this rain and it is looking awesome! But please sun, will you come out soon?

Thanks to Sister Wallace who brought her camera, we have some great shots from Anna's shower. There was such a fantastic turnout! Most of the laddies that came are all good friends of my mom's. All of these wonderful women have done so much for us this last year and we are so grateful for all of them!

So since we spent a pretty penny on this cage for Recon, it hasn't been used cause he just howls and howls when we put him in it. But we have found a new use for it. Instead of keeping Recon out of our yard, it will now serve the reverse purpose of keeping him out of our garden. Whatever works right.

I have attempted to plant some herbs in my pots again this year, braving the mouth of the yard beast. So far, they have lasted over a week and I even have cooked with them twice already! Keeping my fingers crossed that they will last.

And we now have a new protector of the yard, that has yet to be named, but perhaps he is the reason my herbs have not been shredded yet.

Ryan had a genius idea of planting these cute trees as a wall behind the basketball hoop. I'm excited to watch them grow. 

 I'm not the best landscaper, but I'm happy with how our yard is blooming so far this year.

 Our peaches survived the freeze a few weeks back! I can't wait for these juicy, mouth-watering treats!

Our new maple tree is really growing fast! I love it.

 Recon has been having fun just being a dog. If only my life consisted of the every day simplicity of gnawing on bones and playing tug-a-war.

Busy Busy

We've all been pretty busy the last few weeks. Here's a little update.

I had to work Easter day, but Ryan and I spent the night before at the Taylor's house. All the kids in their family were supposed to come over to paint eggs, but they all got sick and couldn't come so all us adults had to fill in for them. We had lots of fun acting like children ourselves. We had a lot of good laughs.

Pearl, me and Melissa

James was the only little tike there and of course cute as always

Ryan had the "painting easter eggs is stupid" attitude on the way to the Taylor's, but he ended up being the one who was the most into it and probably had the most fun! This is his "this is lame" look because he didn't want it documented that he was having fun, but secretly he was bursting inside with excitement from all the possibilities of color and design!

Ryan continues to let Recon push him around... Literally. I was on the computer last week and I look over and Recon is climbing up on the couch and sits right on Ryan's face. Of course Recon is never allowed on the couch, but by the way he always tries to climb on next to Ryan all the time, I get the feeling that the rules are not followed when I'm gone.

This had me laughing

Then Ryan started laughing

 Then Recon got what he wanted

 And then it got a little weird. Is this what goes on when I'm not here!?!

When we went to the Mayo Clinic, we stayed with my mom's cousin DeAnn. She would make us really tasty home cooked meals every night and she would always make fresh baked artisan bread too. It was so delicious. I told her how much I liked it and next thing I know when I get home she sent me the cook book and her secret tips! So I started making it last week and it is so surprisingly easy and delicious! There are so many recipes, I tried the basic artisan recipe first and it turned out so good! I made Ryan one of his favorite meals for his last day of his semester, chicken fried steak and my bread went right along with it. Then that weekend Ryan and I got adventuresome and made carmel pecan cinnamon rolls! We followed the recipe as best we could, but once they started baking in the oven, they started growing out of control! They were giant, but they tasted amazing! Next time we'll have to use half the dough. 

I was so excited to cut into my first loaf that I totally forgot to take a picture of it, but I copied this offline and it looked just like this! (http://www.yummydishes.com/2008/12/homemade-bread/)

Yesterday my cousin Maddie got married and we went to her fancy dinner reception. Her dress was beautiful, it was made by the same designer as mine, Pronovias. It makes me want to put my dress on and wear it around the house for old time sakes, but I don't think that I would fit into it. Hopefully that will change soon. Ryan and I are going to try and get in shape for our trip to Hawaii in August. 

So I have to post some pics of my dress because I loved it so much and I need to give myself some motivation to get back in shape.

 Today turned out to be awesome. My brother Phil and and his wife Nicole came for the wedding and stayed with us. It was fun to have them over. I was supposed to work today and I got up and ready and went in to work at 6, and by some miracle they had skipped over my name on the schedule and I didn't get assigned any patients so I got to come home and spend time with my family! We all made a fantastic crepe breakfast for my mom and gave her some presents. We had dinner up at the cabin and had more fun times reminiscing and being with my mom. It was truly a blessing being able to spend this day with my mom. She has been such an inspiration to me and has taught me so many important life lessons, especially learning to focus on what's most important. I love my mom.

Anna and Mike are getting super close to their wedding! In fact, they gave us their wedding invitation tonight! So adorable!

Eamon has started making lots of noise. He makes this kinda purring sound and it's so funny. I love it.

Analyn and Eamon, he looks just like a little Andrew