We spent our 18th anniversary at the cabin. We took the new 4-wheeler and loaded it up for the day.  It is such a nice ride! The weather was great...sun out all day, slight breeze and nice and warm!

We saw tons of deer, many with their babies. To sit in the middle of the forest, watching a mommy deer, with the two baby fawns bounding after her, is beyond precious!!!! We had two bear cross in front of us on one of the trails. Yes, we had our guns, no we didn't shoot a thing...well, except our pop cans for target practice back at the cabin! : )

We spent about 8 hours on the trails. No one else was up there. We beat the 4th of July rush. We stopped all along the trails to take pictures, to eat, to explore and yes, to do other things!  I mean , come on, who doesn't go in the woods and want a "piece" of nature?! ; ) The day was absolutely brilliant! We ended it by going to the lake and rinsing off for a bit. Then headed for home.

We had the whole day to ourselves and loved every second of it!  It was so nice to come home and read all of your incredibly sweet comments you left on my blog about our anniversary! I hear so much talk about how awful some peoples marriages are or how they think marriage sucks. I am here to tell you, it f@ckin rocks!!!!!! : ) The key...find someone you are crazy about and who is your best friend. Someone you can laugh with, be silly with, be serious with, and are madly in love with! When you have the right person, marriage is worth celebrating, not just on your anniversary, but every single day!!!!!

Happy 18th Anniversary +1 day to 'Licious and I !!!! : )

'Licious and I are all packed and ready to head to the cabin in the morning. Just a day trip. A very special one though...our 18th anniversary!!!!!  : )  We are leaving here bright and early (6am), heading out to breakfast, then driving to the cabin. We love doing road trips together. Blaring the music, sun roof open, windows down, me drumming on the dashboard and taking silly pictures of it all!

We look back over the 18 years and think of all we've been through. It feels so great to know that I get to live my dream life every day. We are each others best friend. We have so much fun together. Every day with him is a brilliant gift! How cool is it, that I get to be deliriously happy every day? I wake up smiling, smile all day, go to bed smiling....life truly is perfection being married to him! I just told him today that I hope we can be married for a million more years because it is so much fun! : ) 

So tomorrow as we ride along through the woods, go on the Gandy Dancer trail, see deer, fox, coyotes, bear...find a spot in the woods to picnic, take pictures, share laughs, etc... we will be thinking of how awesome it is to be together, how blessed we are and how in love we feel! I can't think of a better way to spend the day with the man of my dreams!!!! I love you 'Licious!!!!!!

I love when school gets out and the kids are home. They are much happier. They get to sleep in as late as they want every day. No homework to be done, no getting up early or having to have a bedtime.

Derek has a friend, Tommy, that moved from here to Illinois about 4 or 5 years ago. The whole group of boys that were all friends in school here, have stayed in touch with Tommmy. Each year they take turns getting together. Either Tommy comes up here for a week and bounces between all the friends homes or all the boys (about 6 of them) go to Illinois and stay at Tommy's house for a week. This year Tommy is up here. They all just spent two nights at another boys home. Derek only came home a few minutes ago to take a shower and change clothes and now they are all walking downtown (Stillwater) to have lunch and hang out by the river. Nicole left here awhile ago to go meet up with friends at the Starbucks downtown.

It is nice and quiet here. 'Licious and I love summers too! No kids to chase after, no playdates to plan. They make their own plans now, we just sometimes need to give them a ride to and from. He and I both had massages yesterday. 1 1/2 hours of total relaxation and peacefulness. His was scheduled awhile ago, mine was a last minute massage since the massage guy (Sean) had an opening and so I jumped at the chance. Today I went and had another massage but this time tried the "Shiatsu" one. I loved it!!!! Very invigorating. I will go back for a Shiatsu massage anytime!

We are going to go to Lowe's now and look at new bathtubs (we want a really deep one) and new tile for the bath/shower walls and a new vanity. Thank god he knows how to install it all!

I hope everyone else is loving summer vacation! The extra daylight, grilling, gardening, naps on the porch, picnics in the park, etc.... Stay safe but have tons of fun!!!!!!!

We bought a new washer and dryer yesterday!! You all know how much I love laundry so this is beyond exciting for me!! I had to work yesterday so Ronalicious went and picked them out for me. After calling me, we decided on the Platinum color. White was too boring. He picked them up and we got them unloaded into the house last night. Today while I was at work, he hooked up the plumbing, installed the new piping, the new vents, etc... They are fabulous! They are the new ones that are computer programmed....we get to choose which language we want it to talk to us in, French, Spanish or English. We went the boring route and chose English. : ) I got home from work today and tried them out for the very first time! Ohmyf@ckinggod they are spectacular!!!! I was sad to have to leave tonight and go babysitting. So here I sit babysitting and he gets to be home with the new appliances. I told him to leave all the laundry to me and not touch a thing. After all the work he did to get them all set up and working right, he needs to put his feet up and relax. I can hardly wait to get home tonight and do more laundry. The washer has the "Steam" feature so I can steam the clothes that need extra attention. When I leave my babysitting job here tonight, I am going to run out and play in the mud so I can use the "steam" feature to get out the mud stains! Hahaha... Thank you to Ronalicious for all your hard work!!!! You make my life a dream!!!!! I love you!

To our darling, beautiful daughter....

                                                Happy Birthday sweetheart!!! We love you more than words can say! We just looked at your myspace page and saw that you wrote, "My mom and dad are my idols. I want a relationship almost exactly like theirs!" Do you realize how happy that makes us??? We want you to grow up knowing you are loved and cherished by us. We want you to meet a man or a woman who can make you as happy as can be! You bring such joy to our lives. If you can find someone who makes you as happy as daddy makes me, you will be set for life! Keep smiling, keep loving life, keep making the most of every day and most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!!!!! You are the best daughter ever!

Love Forever, Mom and Dad