some Christmas pictures

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season. We have been blessed with lots of time spent with family!! Greg even invited my parents down and they came!!

my dear husband is basically Italian :)
here he is singing Christmas carols in my aunt's kitchen with my uncle (left) and my dad (center).


mom and me at the Christmas Eve family gathering

making stuffed calamari at my dad's cousin's house on Christmas Eve

Greg, me, and two of our cousins at their house - kickin' back before the Christmas Eve festivities started

Merry Christmas

Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to His people on Earth!

May the love of Christ be with you and your families this Christmas!

Blessings!

let it snow let it snow let it snow

... chains are required just over 10 miles from our house !!!

BABY

feeling our baby move in my belly is the neatest thing!!! I have felt it for several weeks now, but with the baby getting much bigger now, the elbow jabs and kicks have changed into some serious movements!! I just love seeing the baby move in my belly - since now the baby is big enough so that sometimes we can see when its moving around! (just sharing the joy!)

visitors

so - my dear husband and I both work full-time outside of the home. but, we were thrilled to hear that we were going to have out-of-town friends visit this week!! Our friends from Oregon called on Monday to say they were driving through California to Arizona. We said that – of course – they should come stay at our house!! Luckily - being the prepared homemaker that I am – I had homemade spaghetti sauce, homemade bread, pasta, veggies, and ice cream on hand!! A quick run to the store on the way home - for milk (our friends have little kids) and some salad and napkins (again – little kids) and we were ready for company!! I even already had apple taffy muffins and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins ready for an easy on-the-go breakfast in the morning!! (Greg and I both had to be at work around 8ish!) I am just so glad that the house was relatively clean because I am preparing for our neighborhood Christmas cookie exchange party (also to be hosted at our house this weekend!) Seriously, when did I become a homemaker??!! I love it!!
Needless to say, it is sooo much fun to have friends over – we don’t really have friends nearby (don’t feel sad for us, we like our life!) but it is a treat to have two other couples our age come over for dinner and lively conversation. My friend and her husband have an 18-month old daughter who is just precious and they are expecting number two (due about three weeks after us!! We are already planning an arranged-marriage situation if we have kids of the opposite sex). Their brother and his wife have a nearly-two-year-old and a nine-month-old – adorable little boys. (just in case you were counting –that means we had four extra adults and three kids under two at our house last night) We normally have very quiet weekday evenings, but last night was a treat – oh I forgot to mention that I whipped up a mix-in-the-pan chocolate cake and some homemade whipped cream to go with our chocolate ice cream for dessert J I love making treats for guests!! My dear husband and I definitely got a taste of what it will be like to have a house full of little ones J we even got to bring out some of our old toys!! Anyway, this post is getting pretty long, but I just wanted to blog about our visitors – I’m so glad they came, and hopefully we’ll get to see them again on their way back through California!

Thanksgiving Pictures!

The happy couple - and baby :)

My dear husband likes to hold my belly :)

This is my nephew Jason.

December excitement

so... apparently December started and the whole world started speeding up!! Here is a brief list of exciting things that have been going on with us recently ... i will post pictures and more blog posts soon!

- we saw snow this weekend!! lots of it, about a half-hour from our house in the national park
- i decorated our house for Christmas this weekend - its my first Christmas with a husband and a house!!!
- we are in week 28 with the baby!! only 12 weeks til due date!! the baby moves around a lot and i LOVE it
- we've been blessed with opportunities to spend time with family recently and we get to spend time with friends this week
- i am definitely ready to be a full-time stay at home wife and mother!! but until the time comes it is nice that i am able to bless my dear husband with my paycheck from work!
- we are still teaching Catechism at Church - its challenging and wonderful at the same time
- its getting REALLY cold, but its still gorgeous and clear most days
- Christmas cookie baking season has begun and so far we've done pumpkin chocolate chip and molasses cookies, with a HUGE batch of sugar cookies planned for this week

ok -- more to come soon!

James 5:7 - "Be patient, therefore brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain."

more from Disneyland...

There are a few people who I don't mind touching my belly (after they ask)... One is my dear friend Amanda ~ part of the family 20th anniversary tour!


Here we are with my brother and sister-in-law at Goofy's Kitchen - lots of great food!

Goofy and Goofier - haha - Goofy and Dad

My dear husband and I ... He's got a mint julep in his hand (one of his favorite treats from Disneyland) and I am holding a little sign that you can see better in the next picture...


Here's us in front of the Peter Pan ride holding our little sign - DAY 5 - it was our fifth day in a row at Disneyland! So much fun!

last creature post for the fall (probably)

ok, so I know that some of my blog readers do not particularly like my "creature" posts... but I have a couple pictures that I haven't put up yet, and since It's almost winter and the creature sighting are getting fewer and farther between (Praise God!!)... I wanted to get it over with! :) I promise that the next pictures will be from Thanksgiving or Disneyland or the baby or something else more fun!


So, here's a blue-bellied lizard. Yes, its in our house... why? because it thought the laundry room closet would be a nice place to play. (This is my dear husband's hand holding the lizard - I don't think I will ever get to that level.)


Here's a snake. Yep, its pretty big. In this picture its in a black rubbermaid tub. Wanna know where my dear husband found this snake - yep - in our garage. Yeah, that's right, the garage that is ATTACHED to our house! ... I'm so glad he caught it.

Here's my dear husband - in our garage (pardon the mess) - he's got his snake boots on because he was catching the above-pictured snake and was not quite sure if it was a rattlesnake or a gopher snake or what, so he wanted to be safe. In this picture he is keeping an eye on the snake in the tub, while surfing the internet to find out what kind of snake it is. - He determined it was a gopher snake and released it farther down on our property.

Nope, this isn't the same snake - its ANOTHER gopher snake found on our driveway at some point... thank God it wasn't a rattler.
(thanks for sticking with me through the creature posts)

Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. It is vain for you to rise before light, rise ye after you have sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow. When he shall give sleep to his beloved, Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb. As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken. Blessed is the man that hath filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate.

Psalms 126:1-5 Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible

"There are not 100 people who hate the Catholic Church; But there are millions who hate what they believe the Catholic Church to be." - Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Thankful

Things I am thankful for, in order:
1) God & the Church
2) my dear husband
3) our baby growing inside me
4) our families
5) our friends
6) all the blessings the Lord has bestowed on us

"All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030


One of the things I love doing most is cooking/baking for my dear husband... well last night I was able to make two dishes for him to take to his office Thanksgiving potluck. I made a sweet potato casserole and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
Here is the recipe for the cookies - we think they turned out pretty well!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups white sugar
1 cup shortening
15 ounces pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
about 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream the sugar, shortening, pumpkin and vanilla together. Mix until light and well combined.
3. Mix the flour, baking soda and ground cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes or until set. Let cookies cool on a rack.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

The Family Reunion - Our 20 Year Anniversary

So... for nearly twenty years now my family (mom, dad, me, brother) have been friends with another family (mom, dad, brother, sister, younger brother)... most of us have lived in different states for all but four years of our friendship, but we still love each other, still miss each other, and still have a BLAST when we are all together!!! - here's the clan (plus the spouses and kids) at our last day together in Disneyland last week.



What do you get when you mix a pregnant Sarina with her two mothers... lots of hands on the belly!!

where have we been for the last week???

HERE:

my Halloween (All Saints' Eve) present

My dear husband picked me up from work on October 31st with these in his hand.

He loves me :) and I definitely love him!!

video

check out the video below ... My dear husband and I watched it together right now and he was cringing at some points because it looks fairly uncomfortable, but when it got to critical moments, my good coach-in-training started saying "push, push" :) this is definitely going to be an exciting experience!!!

Childbirth!!

3D Medical Animation of Normal Vaginal Birth

flour & sugar

Just in case you were wondering... this is what I keep my flour in. Here my flour is, nice and happy, sitting on our island in the kitchen. I also have one for my sugar. Why? several reasons, the main ones being:

1. I bake and cook a lot - our bread/cookies/cake/everything is from scratch.

2. As discussed many times before - we live a looong way away from any grocery store, so I need to be stocked up all the time.

3. You never know when your dear husband might NEED some chocolate chip cookies.

4. Its cheaper to buy in bulk most of the time.

5. The big, clear containers make it so I always know how much I have left and they are completely sealed to keep out any creatures that may want to find their way into bags of flour or sugar.

** My dear husband did the research on the best containers and these were the winners!! I really appreciate his diligence! :)

Just yesterday my supplies were being used up making brownies, lemon bars, and pumpkin cookies for our office pot luck today.

ALSO: if you are new to reading our little blog - make sure to scroll to the bottom and on the right side, click Older Posts to see more of our adventures!

Lamentations 3:21-25 Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible
These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope. The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.

(emphasis mine)

All Souls' Day

John 11:25-26
Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"


Today is All Souls' Day - The commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on November 2nd. The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds, and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass. We pray for the souls in purgatory.
From the beginning, Christians have prayed for the dead and have undertaken works of penance on their behalf. There is scriptural basis for this intercessory prayer for the sins of others and for the dead in the Old Testament. Job's sacrifices purified his sons (Job 1:5); and Judas Maccabeus "made atonement for the dead that they be delivered from their sin" (II Macc 12:46).
The tradition in the Church of having Masses said for the dead began in the earliest times. The pre-Christian Roman religion, which held that some form of life continued after death, gave votive offerings to the gods for the dead at three specified times: the third, seventh and thirtieth day after death. This practice of praying for the departed on these same days was adopted ("inculturated") by the early Christians -- and continued in the Church for nearly 2000 years: the Church offered Masses for the deceased person on the third, seventh and thirtieth day after death.
Beginning in the year 998, All souls -- the "faithful departed" -- were officially remembered in the Church's prayers on the evening of November 1st, and with Requiem Masses, Masses for the dead, on November 2. All Souls Day is now a feast of the universal Church.
We pray for the faithful departed, those who have been baptized, but who need to be completely purified of all stain of sin before they come into full union with God in Heaven. In other words, most of us. The Church's teaching about Purgatory, the place of purification, is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (§1030-1032).

Requiem Æternam
Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,et lux perpétua lúceat eis.Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

All Saints' Day

On Thursday, November 1, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints. Instituted to honor all the saints, known and unknown, this celebration is an opportunity for the faithful to give thanks for the holy example of the saints in our lives today. Originating in the 4th c. Eastern Feast of All Martyrs, and attested to by St. Efrem (+373), Pope Gregory IV established this commemoration for all the Roman Church in 835. Originally celebrated on Easter Friday, it came to be held in Rome on May 13th; later, in the 9th century, it was transferred to November 1st, the date of its celebration in Ireland where it countered the Celtic pagan feast of the Druids.

The Feast of All Saints is one of the greatest of all the feasts because it celebrates what could have been impossible. The cross is a tree that bears fruit. This is the feast of its harvest. The celebrations of the mysteries in the life of Our Lord are glorious and there is no detracting from them. But He was God on earth. Aside from all the lofty things to be said about the saints and to the saints on this day, we want our children to understand in the marrow of their bones what the principal idea is: "We are so glad for you. Now pray, so we'll be there too!" And they must add to this and to every feast an endless: "Thank you, Lord Jesus, for making it possible."

Kyrie, eleison. Christe, eleison. Kyrie, eleison. Christe, audi nos. Christe, exaudi nos.
Pater de coelis Deus, .. miserere nobis.

Fili Redemptor mundi Deus, Spiritus sancte Deus, Sancta Trinitas unus Deus,
Sancta Maria, .. ora pro nobis.

Sancta Dei Genetrix, Sancta Virgo virginum, Sancte Michael, Sancte Gabriel, Sancte Raphaël, Omnes sancti Angeli, et Archangeli, Omnes sancti beatorum Spirituum ordines, Sancte Ioannes Baptista, Sancte Ioseph, Omnes sancti Patriarchae, et Prophetae, Sancte Petre, Sancte Paule, Sancte Andrea, Sancte Iacobe, Sancte Ioannes, Sancte Thoma, Sancte Iacobe, Sancte Philippe, Sancte Bartholomaee, Sancte Matthaee, Sancte Simon, Sancte Thaddaee, Sancte Mathia, Sancte Barnaba, Sancte Luca, Sancte Marce, Omnes sancti Apostoli, et Evangelistae, …. orate pro nobis.

Omnes sancti Discipuli Domini, Omnes sancti Innocentes, Sancte Stephane, .. ora pro nobis. Sancte Laurenti, Sancte Vincenti, Sancti Fabiane et Sebastiane, .. orate pro nobis.

Sancti Ioannes et Paule, Sancti Cosma et Damiane, Sancti Gervasi et Protasi, Omnes sancti Martyres, Sancte Silvester, .. ora pro nobis.

Sancte Gregori, Sancte Ambrosi, Sancte Augustine, Sancte Hieronyme, Sancte Martine, Sancte Nicolae, Omnes sancti Pontifices et Confessores, … orate pro nobis.

Omnes sancti Doctores, Sancte Antoni, .. ora pro nobis.

Sancte Benedicte, Sancte Bernarde, Sancte Dominice, Sancte Francisce, Omnes sancti Sacerdotes et Levitae, .. orate pro nobis.

Omnes sancti Monachi, et Eremitae, Sancta Maria Magdalena, .. ora pro nobis.

Sancta Agatha, Sancta Lucia, Sancta Agnes, Sancta Caecilia, Sancta Catharina, Sancta Anastasia, Omnes sanctae Virgines et Viduae, … orate pro nobis.

Omnes Sancti et Sanctae Dei, intercedite pro nobis.

Here are some pictures from this weekend :)

This one is my mom & me. Isn't she cute :) I think my mom has the best smile. This picture was taken behind the library in our little town. - It was a little hazy on Saturday (we got some of the bad air from the fires all over California) - but it was still beautiful!! (I'm looking pretty pregnant in this one!)


My dear husband and I outside the library as well, with a lovely tree that's getting ready for fall.

This picture was taken VERY EARLY in the morning... I had definitely not quite woken up yet -but we were dressed and ready for work because we had to take mom to the airport on the way. Again, VERY early

my thoughts

so, today I sat down to post something and then I decided that I didn't really have anything to post about... but then I realized -- I HAVE A BABY KICKING INSIDE ME - OUR BABY!!
That is definitely something to post about!! So, as I type I have been feeling baby flutters and kicks... the baby likes my bladder (apparently its directly under the uterus?) anyway, I LOVE feeling the baby move. This weekend Greg felt it move for the first time. I told him the baby was moving and had him put his hand on my belly. After a little bit his face lit up and I said, did you feel that? He definitely had! It was faint, but definitely a baby moving. What a proud daddy!

Also - mom came down to visit this weekend (YIPPEE!!!) we had a great time and we took a few pictures - some on our camera and some on hers... so we will post them when we get a chance.

So, I guess I did have a little bit to post about :)

this is awesome

i can't wait!!! i hope i can be a mom like this :)

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/223/popup/index.php?cl=4274384

early pregnancy pictures

Well, we didn't upload the ultrasound pictures from yesterday yet, but let me just say, it was an awesome experience!!!!

Here are some pictures from much earlier in the pregnancy ...

the test!!!!

And me, with the test ... notice how awake I look ... it was very early!

This is in the lovely Kaiser parking lot, after our first visit - the VERY happy couple!

"There are not 100 people who hate the Catholic Church; But there are millions who hate what they believe the Catholic Church to be." -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Hebrews - 11:1
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.

baby pictures!!

so... this post is a bit of a teaser... we have an ultrasound appointment for this afternoon, but since I am starting 21 weeks - the baby is going to be pretty big, and I realized that I hadn't put up our first two pictures yet... so, here are the first two, and I will post the pictures from today's ultrasound whenever we get them... by the way, the baby has been very very active lately - I can fell him/her kicking or elbowing or sumersaulting or lap swimming or something lots of times during the day!!! I LOVE IT!!!

You can see by the numbers at the bottom of this first picture that it was when the baby was about 8 weeks and 2 days ... Kaiser set my due date as March 4th based on its size then. For those of you who need help with ultrasound pictures - the baby is facing to the left, with its back on the right - the head is about the same size as the rest of the body - it was so cool, we could already see little arms and legs in this one.



This picture was about 4 weeks later - around 12 weeks - sorry for the wrinkled picture, but it was handled by several nieces and nephews before being scanned... The baby is on the far left of the picture with its head up top and back on the left side - its legs and arms facing toward the right - the doctor said we have a very active baby because he/she was moving all around during this one! - we could see the baby kicking and it looked like it was sucking its thumb!

Picture to accompany "Chilly Camping" post

http://gregandsarina.blogspot.com/2007/09/chilly-camping.html

So, the story from our camping trip about a month ago was in my previous post "Chilly Camping" -- Here are the pictures!!

Here's our camp site - we drove in to the Tuolumne Meadows campground - that's Yosemite National Park high country for those of you unfamiliar with the area ... we really like Tuolumne Meadows, especially in the late Summer/early Fall, its just beautiful! - So the tent is behind our Jeep on the left and then on the right is the brown metal bear box, where we store anything with a scent - food, tissues, sunblock - and then back behind that is our fire pit (where the smoke is coming from) and the picnic table. We really liked this spot.

This was at the very beginning of our hike - we saw a lovely deer just hanging out by the water :) You can see it was such a bright and clear day!

After the first part of the hike, the trail really opened up to this part of the Tuolumne River. There were brown trout swimming in the water and Greg identified it as a great place to stop to eat our lunch on the way back.

Here's one of us at the same spot, on the bridge over the river - keep in mind that I am camping and hiking and happy at 16 weeks pregnant at this point!

Later on in the hike, this was our view, as the trail got a little more dense and foresty :)

Another one of us and the gorgeous views.

I don't remember where/what this is - its somewhere in the Yosemite high country... I will ask my dear husband (aka the photographer)!! :)

adorable first cousin once removed in-law

Here's my newest first cousin once removed in-law!! Isn't he cute!! He was born 5 weeks ago today. I just love his little hand curled up by his face, and his pouty lips!! I just can't wait to meet him, and then get to introduce him to our little baby too - they should only be about six months apart!!

Anyway, this post prompted some interesting research on what to call this little guy - as he is the child of one of my dear husband's cousins. According to Wikipedia: My first cousin's child and I are first cousins once removed (one generation difference between us). So that would mean that this little guy is Greg's first cousin once removed and makes me a first cousin once removed in-law (or by marriage). He's cute, and if you know anything about my family, we pretty much call anyone who is near our age a cousin and anyone who is near our parents age an aunt/uncle - everybody is family!

Here's the very informative and very thorough link to Wikipedia's explanation of "cousin":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin

pizza recipe - for Emily and anyone else :)

I think that this is where I got my pizza recipe:
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/tammys_easy_pizza

I highly recommend that site!!
Enjoy!
And send any recipes you want to share my way :)
Blessings,
Sarina & baby

Trust God! Really, truly, and totally, Trust in Our Heavenly Father!

Please go here:
http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/2007/10/trusting-author-of-life.html

There you will find this:

Becky writes beautifully of their journey to family un-planning (not for younger readers).I loved her closing sentiments:
We have really learned that He is the author of life - a phrase that is batted around so much in pro-life circles but that seems to be little understood. He is the only one who can create life, and He has a perfect plan for each child He brings into the world, regardless of the circumstances of that baby's conception.In an age where everyone is seeking to plan and time and space their family size according to what they can afford or what works best in their schedule, we've truly lost sight of Who is the original Author and Creator of life.Though some think it incredulous, my husband and I have found it so freeing to entrust this aspect of our lives over to the Lord. Instead of worrying over when or how or what-if, leaving our family size in God's hands relieves us to focus on training and raising the precious children God sees fit to give us. His timing is perfect and we can rest in that!
Related: You must read this excellent post by Doug Phillips, In Memory of the Woman Who Chose Life. http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/2007/10/3028.aspxAlthough I think we need to be speaking out strongly and loudly on the ills and evils of abortion and abortive birth control, sometimes the most compelling case we can make is to hold up a beautiful picture of the blessings of life.

pizza!

We now have no reason for delivery pizza... well we didn't have any way to get delivery pizza anyway... living where we live, there are no delivery drivers for anything - other than mail and probably heavy equipment rental :)

Recently I decided that since lots of people seem to make their own pizzas, and I am 50% Italian, and I am frugal, and I like good food, and I am always looking for interesting things to make for our meatless Friday meals... I went searching for good pizza dough recipes and good pizza sauce recipes - since I am pretty much convinced that making things from scratch is waayyyy cheaper and waayyyy more tasty in pretty much every instance... plus I love cooking, and I love my big kitchen, and I love that my dear husband truly enjoys the food I cook ...

Here was our first pizza making adventure:


I recommend not baking them on air-bake pans -- they are great for cookies but not great for pizza crust... baking the pizzas in the regular metal pans created a very good crust and we also took a little of our gift card money and got a pizza stone!


Here is me, with a bit of the house in the background, with the three pizzas from our first experiment. I baked all three right away. We ate the round one and I froze the square ones. I defrosted them about a week - two weeks later and baked them -- we think they turned out even better than the first one!

(bonus points for anyone who can spot the ladder in the background...yes my dear husband does double as an electrician in re-wiring our brand-new house! He did a wonderful job!)

i know you've all been waiting for this...

alrighty - here are a couple baby bump pictures :)
I am wearing the same outfit, I just took my sweater off for the second one :) (and emphasized the belly a bit)




You also get a pretty nice shot of my dear husband's giant tv and one of our huge walls :)

adventures in nature :)

These pictures are from mid-August. We went to Hume Lake with our friend Angie. It was a gorgeous day!!

Sarina and Angie by the lake:

We also went up to the "big trees" - the giant Sequoias - in Kings Canyon National park.
Here's us with a giant Sequoia's roots (I can't figure out how to turn this picture!!)

The trail and another big tree (as well as some smaller trees!) :) We actually stumbled into a group that was getting a ranger tour - it was a great treat!! Greg and I both enjoy ranger tours :) We are thinking that we might encourage our boys to be rangers! (You can see the very beginning of my baby bump in the picture. - More bump pictures will hopefully be posted soon.)

something besides creatures

so, I thought I should put up a post of something besides creatures :) and maybe another picture!

Luckily, I get to go on business trips with my dear husband sometimes!! Recently we have been to Northern California a few times. This picture is from a couple months ago of us up in Sacramento at the State Capital building. :) It was obviously a beautiful California day!

another suprise in a drawer...

well, we got home last night and I went to open a drawer in the dining room (we have a built-in desk area with a couple drawers) ... guess what I was greeted with -- a scorpion ... and he was definitely alive and definitely feisty! I decided that I should call my dear husband to take care of the situation - but Greg was all the way on the other side of the house in the bathroom. Hmm, I can't yell to him that far away and there was no way I was going to walk away from the drawer - possibly letting the scorpion out of sight... so I stood there until Greg came out of the bathroom and found me on "creature watch." My dear husband took care of the creature - he's such a blessing and wonderful protector!!

a different kind of visiters...

well... I have posted about "creatures" before... This week I want to make it a little more visual for you! On Friday my dear husband was outside and wasn't responding to my walkie-talkie calls so I was a bit concerned... I found him in the garage searching for a snake - which was apparently - IN OUR GARAGE! I was on the telephone with my mom when Greg was snake-hunting and during that time I found two scorpions in the kitchen and dining room... To make a long story short - Greg found the snake, and it was a gopher snake not a rattler, so he released it, and then he came inside and took care of the scorpions. Needlesstosay... we have quite the adventures with creatures around here :) We took some pictures of the snake in the garage, so I will post those soon.
Here are some pictures of previous creatures we have found on our property:

rattlesnake a few feet from the house which my dear husband chopped up in pieces and buried -



Tarantula cuddling up with the side of our house:

This thing is now FULL of piled up yellow jackets... its hung on a tree near our driveway -

come visit soon, ok? :)