Who are You?

I love having a blog and sharing a glimpse of our lives--especially now that we live so far away. I also love checking out other friends' and family members' blogs. It is so fun to see what people are doing and thinking.

When we lived in Logan, I had my blog private. I was teaching at the time and didn't want anyone to be offended by what I was saying or doing. Well, that sounds like I was doing something crazy, but what I mean is that I didn't want to mention something that had happened at school and have a student or parent come across my blog and be mad about what I shared. When we moved to Colorado Springs, I made our blog open, and it has stayed that way since. I don't want to make it private again because it is easier for my family to check out what we are doing. AND I want them to know what we are doing. It is the easiest way to explain what is going on in our lives.

I notice that some days I have many visitors, and I recognize several of you. I also don't know who many of you are. So my long-winded post is leading to this request.......please leave a comment on this post and let me know who you are and if you have a blog let me know about that too. This is simply for my peace of mind. I won't even publish the comment if you don't want me to!

I love sharing our lives with you!

Pumpkin Garland

Fall is definitely not in the air in Okinawa! So I have decided to try to bring it inside. Because we are still waiting for our belongings to show up here, I have none of my fall decorations. I had to do something! I saw this pumpkin garland idea on the blog A Glimpse Inside (You can find the link on Some of My Favorites). I thought it was adorable and decided to make it. It wasn't difficult at all. And believe it or not, the pumpkins are made of toilet paper rolls!

Sorry....

I guess I have been messing with my font and making it hard to read some of my posts! Sorry. One day I will become a genius with computers, fonts, graphics, and all of the cool things that technology offers us. Until then, please be patient with me!

Brynnlee's New Bed

We recently changed Brynnlee's crib into a toddler bed because she did NOT want to sleep in the crib. Well, it turns out that she didn't want to sleep in her toddler bed either. She kept asking to sleep in the twin bed we had borrowed from the Air Force. Kevin and I decided to make the BIG move. We bought Brynnlee her first twin bed and matching dresser. She loves it! She now goes to bed easily and sleeps past 5 am. The best part? She can't get out of it on her own. There is no pitter-patter of little feet coming toward my room in the middle of the night.

My New Camera

I wanted to buy a new camera. I didn't really have a good reason to do so. That is why I put it off. The camera was expensive, and I didn't want to spend the money. Kevin saw me looking at it and picking it up every time we went to the store. He said I was "lusting" after it. So...he bought it for me for our anniversary. I hate that he spent so much money. I was about to take it back. BUT I have to admit, I LOVE it. I have had fun taking some great pictures. I am excited to share them with you.

Cute Picture

I am having a lot of fun taking pictures with my new camera. Thank you Kevin! I thought this one was pretty cute, and I wanted to share.....

Waking Up

We wake up BRIGHT and EARLY thanks to Brynnlee. But we are blessed to see beauty each morning. This is the view from our bedroom.

Nine Years and Counting....

Kevin and I have done a lot of great things together. Here are nine of our favorites...

1. Getting Married for Time and all Eternity in the Logan Temple.
2. Welcoming Brynnlee into our Family.
3. Graduating from Utah State University.
4. Going to Braves' games.
5. Moving to Japan.
6. Surviving the Iraq war.
7. Listening to our baby's heartbeat.
8. Being BUSTED by police at First Dam while making out.
9. Spending the day at Catalina Island.

We have had some great times! Here's to an eternity's worth more....

Sierra Marie Ball

I want to introduce the newest member of the Ball family...our cute little niece Sierra Marie. She was born September 6, 2010. Isn't she a doll? Her proud parents are Nick and Sher. What a great looking family. Congratulations!

Brynnlee's Second Birthday

Brynnlee's 2nd birthday was September 5th. We didn't do much but have a little family party. She loves her gifts and still has fun serving tea.

My How Time Flies

Miss Brynnlee's Style

I bought a pair of rain boots for Brynnlee in anticipation of moving to a place where it rained a lot. She doesn't really get to wear them out all that much because it often rains suddenly and for small periods of time. But she loves to wear them around the house. Because she can put them on by herself, they are now her favorite accessory.

Okinawa tour

We were able to take a small tour of Okinawa and see a glimpse of what the island had to offer. There are some amazing things to see and do here. You should come and visit!

Ikei Beach

It was time. We had been living on an island for weeks and had not spent a significant amount of time on a beach. Yes, we had been to a few and dipped our feet into the water. We let Brynnlee throw rocks into the waves. But we had not spent a day at any beach lying in the sun and swimming in the water. And quite frankly, I had had enough of it. I did some research and found a beautiful beach for us to visit and told Kevin that he was taking us the the beach on Saturday. What else could he do but agree. We bought the essentials-a cooler, lunch foods, ice, and sand toys, and on a Saturday morning, we packed up and headed out. I am certainly glad we did. We found our way to Ikei Beach located on Ikei Island. We rented a beach umbrella and a couple of chairs and then ran out into the water. Boy was I surprised when I stepped in to the warm ocean! It felt so good to be in the water. Brynnlee loved playing in the waves and shoveling sand into her new wheelbarrow. What a great time!