The House of Bethel- Renovations & Additions

Snow!

You can expect my next few posts to be retrospective. Here is a look back at the "big snow" we had in January. This post is mainly for my friends who aren't on Facebook (you know who you are) because if you are on FB you have seen everyone in the world's snow pictures and they all begin to look the same. 

Bob was out of town and my friend Lisa stayed with the girls and me. We got a kick out of the "meteorologists" (read: were annoyed) when they covered different areas and would say "here is snow on a car." "Here is snow on a tree." "Here is snow on a dog." etc etc.  So, in the same spirit, here is snow on our house, yard, mailbox and pagoda:

And here is a Leola in the snow (she was having a great time!):

And here is a Myles in the snow: (in our front circle. Amazing that you can't even see where the yard ends and the driveway begins!)

This one is my favorite. Definitely a strong contender for this year's Christmas card!

It was so beautiful but we weren't sad to see it go. It has snowed several times since but I think I can speak for most of us when I say that we are so glad the groundhog did not see his shadow!

Birthday... last year's that is!

Okay, so I'm more than a little behind but I couldn't write about anything else or post any extremely adorable pictures of Ella until I told you all about how special my birthday was... almost 3 months ago.  Since it was #38 (ahem) I'd rather look back than forward anyway and at least I'm only 1/4 of the way to the next one. 

I turned 33 (just making sure you're paying attention) just a few days after Ella was born and I was still walking around the house in pajamas. My parents were still here (thank goodness or I'd have gone insane). Bob had already planned to take the day off and even though he was still sleep deprived he made a wonderful gourmet breakfast AND dinner for me. I don't have time to go into too much detail (obviously I don't have much time to blog seeing as how my last post was in November!) but here are some pictures...

Breakfast:

Yes, that is a mimosa and it was delicious! I would say that Ella slept very soundly after that but she slept all the time those first few weeks so I couldn't really see a difference. The french toast was amazing and the strawberries were coated with nutela... yum!!

Dinner:

Isn't the presentation beautiful? The mahi mahi is infused with a mango bbq sauce that he made from scratch. Actually, I don't know what "infused" means but all the good chefs use the term and if it means "yummy to my tummy," which is currently Leola's favorite phrase, then it totally applies.

It was definitely my favorite birthday so far. A new sweet little daughter, Leola's "happy dirtday mommy," my parents here to celebrate with us, and a great husband who loves me even on my worst days. Even with all the craziness, stress, and sleep depravity that having a newborn brings and then having to deal with the antics of a "terrible (but also terrific!) two" I am so thankful. I spent many a birthday in my 20s and almost half of my 30s wanting this life so badly that it hurt and I wouldn't trade it for anything. God is so good and has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.