Happenings around here

We started off last weekend with a get together with our Sunday School class. We had about 5 families come and had a great time. Later in the afternoon, Matt and Josiah got together to cut down some limbs. Most of our trees are really tall and so Matt is pretty high up in both of these pictures. He came out unscathed, however, we did have a mishap with a smaller limb he cut down over the playset. It landed on the beam that holds the swings. Thankfully, the swingset is very sturdy and the only thing it did was dent the wood a little bit and take off some stain. So, he sanded and restained it. It also took out one small panel of the little fence, which he will be fixing soon too.

A high point in Rachel's week was getting to ride a horse. Matt took her to Bob's house on Tuesday while I was at school and she got to ride a horse, pet some chickens, and a South American raccoon. The chickens, especially the rooster are very nice, and she loves chickens. It looks like she found some eggs too. The tortoise was burrowed underground so she didn't get to see that. Looks like they had a great time!

Our Latest Adventure!

Matt and I found out a few weeks ago that we are expecting our second child! I got an early ultrasound to confirm that everything was where it was supposed to be and it put me a week behind, which is slightly discouraging. However, my due date is November 3. Rachel thinks it is a girl and always says it is a sister. A lot of people think it is a boy. All of us are going to have to wait until the baby is born to find out who is right. I am feeling bad in the morning: not wanting to eat, but knowing I would feel better if I did. At least I am not throwing up, so I am counting my blessings! I feel better as the day goes on, but my appetite is already really weird and pretty much anything that looks healthy, looks terrible to me, except fruit. Today, I am 7 weeks and 2 days.

Matt's Adventure

Matt finally got to do something fun. I feel like most of the stuff I post is all about Rachel and I because we usually get to do the more blog-worthy things. Well, Matt gets his turn now. His friend Bob, who used to own an exotic pet store, has 2 horses and has been offering Matt a chance to go horseback riding. It just never worked out because Matt would have to teach Sunday school or something was going on. This past Sunday, he got to go and really had a good time. The horses were well trained and actually listened. He said the ride was very smooth and nothing like the one or two other times he had been. They drove out early to the Alafia River area (I think) and saw some pretty big gators and a deer. When Matt was helping put the horses away, his horse stuck his leg straight out sideways and tripped Matt. I guess she didn't want to go back in the barn. Bob was also boarding a tortoise (like the huge ones) and had some great chicken coop. Matt wants to take Rachel over there to see the animals. He even brought home some eggs for us.

Disney Passes - Used Up

We used up our last day on our Disney passes this past Wednesday. We went with Matt's Mom and her cousin Nancy. When we coordinated the date to go, we didn't think about spring break, so yes, it was pretty crowded, but we still had fun. We had done so many rides the past times we went that we were not at all concerned about riding a ton of rides. We actually only did one if you count the train. We got to meet Mickey and Minnie and we had a lot of fun at the parade. Rachel got to dance with some people and we all know how much she loves to do that. She just wanted to get closer. We ate at Tony's Italian restaurant again for lunch. Rachel actually took a nap from about 4-5, which was great, so she really didn't crabby like last time. The fast pass lines for the rides were still really long, but Toby's ticket got messed up, so she got a priority pass for one ride. Her and Nancy wanted to go on a real ride, so they went on splash mountain. Rachel was a half inch too short to ride so we stayed off. I got a nice sunburn by the end of the day, but the weather was beautiful and not too hot. We ate at Grandpa Johnson's BBQ for dinner and made it home around 8:30, just in time for all of us to fall into bed and go to sleep. Rachel got some new Tinkerbell sunglasses that she needs to grow into a little bit. She does like not having the sun in her eyes though. I am on spring break for the next week! So, not having to go to class even two nights is so nice to think about. After that, there is only about 5 weeks and we are done with school. Lauren and I will be planning a road trip to St. Louis maybe the second week in May, so that is something fun that Rachel and I are looking forward to. Matt is trying to work a little bit of overtime, but soon he will be painting our house a nice light tan (not blue) color and hopefully putting on a new roof in time for the rainy season.

Snoring Away

We have all been a little under the weather this past week. I thought it was just a cold, but none of use seem to be getting any better without the aid of medicine, so we might be all making trips to the doctor soon. Matt and I are one week into our new way of eating and it is going pretty good so far. Matt is having a little more trouble adjusting than I am, but I am proud of the changes he is making. However, I cannot say that he would continue this if I didn't make all of his food for him. We haven't been exercising as much though because of our colds, but hopefully soon we can get back into the swing of things. Rachel has been waking up early, like 5:30 or 6:30. Ugh. Sometimes she will go back to sleep, other times I make her read books in her bed. That is too early. Therefore she is ready for a nap earlier too. Yesterday, she fell asleep in her bean bag chair all snuggled up. I think she looked really comfortable and I could have fallen asleep too. Matt carried her to her bed to finish out her nap and we laid out in the sun together. She was even snoring a little.