Let's get together and feel all right

So here is an assortment of pictures--that's how we do things around here. It's a grab-bag with something for everyone ;)

We had a goal to definitely make it to the temple this month. We were going to go last month, but then the weekend we had planned to go we ended up taking our impromptu trip to the Bronx. So we finally made it to the DC Temple a couple weeks ago and it was just what the doctor ordered. I felt a lot of peace and I knew that everything is going to work out.

Did I mention that the DC Temple is huge? I had no idea how big it was until we stood outside it. Pictures don't really do it justice. It's a beautiful place.

The one room that might get completed before September is through! This is our little dining room. Eric has done almost all the work in here and I've been very impressed with my husband's skills :)

This is an entertainment center we bought for dirt cheap at a yard sale. The only problem with it was that the front of the bottom drawer had come off its hinges (it swings down). It took Eric less than an hour to fix and it's practically like new. The surprise of this piece of furniture? We bought it to disguise our microwave. Our tiny kitchen has no counter space to waste, so we improvised!

Just another view of the dining room. We were very excited to be able to hang something on a wall (since most of our house is still in the process of being painted...).

Things are going well. Our goal for this weekend is to really get into the process of decorating our living room. It's just so big, so the task is kind of overwhelming. We have collaborated on some good ideas, though, so I'm really excited to see how it turns out. It's been a lot of fun having a house to decorate--rather than a tiny, one-bedroom, cinderblock-walled apartment :)

The new blog decor

I've never been one to get excited for Halloween.

But for some reason, I am seriously excited this year. Maybe it's because pregnancy has suddenly had me plagued with cravings for refined sugars...

26 weeks

I had Eric take a picture with my phone today when we were at the beach; I think the swimsuit displays my baby belly pretty well. Little Noah's doing just fine; I had a doctor's appointment a week ago and everything checked out. We're getting so excited!

Random

So the last couple days Eric has walked around the house singing "I Saw Mommy Kissin' Santa Claus."

I'm not really sure.

Maymont Park among other things...

So, today we decided to go to Maymont Park and we had a really good time. Maymont Park is like Thanksgiving Point only almost everything is free :-) Here are some quality pictures from the day.

This tree is huge and I thought that it was pretty unique, so Cindy posed with it.

This is me posing with the same roses that I planted back at home in D-town with my Nana. They climb.

This is a panorama of one of the many great views in the park. I should mention that it the weather was sunny and in the high 70s...which is almost perfect for me.

On the trail.

Limestone stepping stones that I stood on awkwardly.

The water was full of huge carp. Here are 2 of the 25 or so that we saw.

A lily :-) Cindy likes them.

Cindy almost catching the water that drips from this cave. I don't know if it was man-made or not...I'm guessing it wasn't.

A frog. Another thing that Cindy likes.

Some photographers were practicing and asked if we wanted to have our pictures taken.

This is Cindy posing in front of a hawk. There was a whole section of the park that had a black bear and lots of falcons/hawks/owls.

Well, that's how the park was. We had a really good time and I hope that you liked looking at the pictures and reading my commentary.

August...

So Eric and I are really bad at remembering to take pictures. At least we aren't vain? Anyways, here are some pics from the last month, including me being pregnant, my trip to Albany for my niece Emily's baptism, and our trip to the Bronx last weekend.

I think this was probably around 20 or 21 weeks. This was the Sunday Eric and I spoke in church about faith. Good times.

Two weekends ago I headed up to Albany, NY, for a whirlwind trip so I could be there for my niece Emily's baptism; she'd turned eight the week before. This is the only picture I took the whole time...My Grandpa Lemon with my niece Julia. I sang the musical number. The baptism went really well and I especially appreciated the opportunity to reflect on my own baptism. I really enjoyed being able to see my mom and dad as well as my Grandpa and Grandma, who all came out to NY for the event. It was great to see my brother Alan and his wife Jessica, too, since I haven't seen them since Eric and I got married.

This past weekend Eric and I randomly decided at about 3 p.m. Friday that we should drive up to the Bronx to visit David and Jana. We got there a little after midnight I think, and then we all stayed up talking until 3 a.m.! We had a great visit and will surely do it again soon--it was definitely worth the traffic and the toll roads! In this picture we made sure to get a shot of the two pregnant women together. Jana's due date is any day now!

Badger men where they belong: barefoot in the kitchen!

Breyton was a riot. Eric kind of riles him up...

Yay for reaching the 24 week mark! After having some scares during my first trimester, it's nice to know that everything is going well now and Noah is growing healthy and strong. Maybe too strong...he's keeping mom from being able to take naps during the day because of his hefty kicks and punches!