Ahhhh, the Gardens

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We love the St. Lois Botantical Gardens, we just don't get there that often, but hope that changes now that we are living a little closer. We went this past week with some friends and had a great time. It's hard to get a good clear picture of Caden these days as he is always on the move and Maia had a great time rock climbing, playing in the fountains, and running all over the children's garden.

Loving our Neighborhood!

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These days, you can often. . .very often. . .find Maia, Caden and I walking around our neighborhood and town. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, being able to walk to coffee shops, the post-office, grocery stores, playgrounds, church and friends' homes. We love that we live far enough from the train tracks that the we don't notice the trains at night and they don't rattle our windows, but close enough that on our walks we often find ourselves sitting along the road waving to the conductors and watching for the caboose to come along. We love walking along and looking at and talking about all the different flowers people have growing in their gardens and stopping to study the bumblebees. We love that the people on our street have been so friendly and welcoming and we look forward to hearing some of their life stories.

Men At Work

Since Matt has been using his drill so much around our new home as we get somewhat settled, he thought it was time to introduce Caden to some power tools. You can see by the second picture that Caden is quite enjoying the demonstration.

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Speaking of our new home. . .we moved into this 107 year old home in Maplewood, Missouri on June 27th. It is a great home with lots of potential, it just needs some cosmetic work done to make it feel more like home. We hope to have the kitchen remodeled in September and Matt is going to try to refinish some of the wood floors during that time as well (I'll be visiting family in PA and MD during that time so it will be a good time for all the noisy and dusty work to take place). This home has a great fenced in back yard and I look forward to doing lots of gardening next spring, for now I'm trying to read up on perenial gardens and come up with somewhat of a plan of what I want to plant and where. Anyway, we are so grateful for the provision of this home and pray it will be a home of warmth, love, and retreat for many.

A New Way to Stay Cool

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To say it has been hot in St. Louis is an understatement. It has just been too hot to play outside for more than about 30 minutes, even for this outside loving family. Plus our house is not real conducive to extended play times as it is filled with boxes for our move this Saturday. So earlier this week, we decided to take our snacks and head to Home Depot to drive the car carts around while staying cool. I did have to get some oven cleaner, so I wasn't completely using the store for entertainment purposes but I hope the employees didn't mind the extra 45 minutes or so that the kids drove around.

Transportation Date

Matt and I try to take turns planning a date for us once a month. So his last "transportation themed" date is going to be hard to beat. The surprises started as soon as I stepped into our van and realized he had completely cleaned it. . .inside and out, including all those hard to get grooves where nasty food remenants like to hang out. Now I love having a clean car, especially on the inside, but cleaning it is way on the bottom of my priority list so clean is not a word that I usually associate with our van. Then we head to one of my favorite restaurants. . .India Palace. . .a great Indian restaurant on the top floor of a hotel by the airport. So while enjoying great Indian food (one of my favorites!) and conversation we watch the planes take off and land from the airport. . .and for those of you who don't know this. . .I could watch airplanes all day long and never get bored. Then, when it is time to head home, Matt suggests I wait in the hotel lobby while he gets the car. After a few minutes I hear all kinds of racket from the parking lot and up drives Matt in our van, with tin cans tied to the back and messages written in shoe polish all over the windows and a van filled with balloons! Little did I know that our friend Corey had followed us to the restaurant and helped to pull off this part of the surprise. From there we headed home and the transportation theme continued as we watched Apollo 13. . .a favorite for both of us. Matt, I hope the next date I plan is at least half as fun as this was! Thanks for all your thoughtfulness! I love you!

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More random pictures from this past year