Poor Aunt Debbie...

...My silly little sweeties...



...So, this....



...this...



...and this...



...turned out to be this...


...And the final product

This weekend was .... emotional to say the least. I am crying at the drop of a hat for some odd reason. I am freakin' HOT ALL THE TIME... and I don't know why. The weather is getting cooler and I'm getting hotter. What gives? Josh was freezing last night and took a hot shower just to warm up and I'm sitting on the couch with my back sweating !!

I spoke to Lisa (Brennon's mom) on Friday and she told me they were moving to Boise. Yes, I knew that... but what I didn't know was that it would happen THIS FRIDAY!! I got off the phone bawling !! Josh came in and saw me crying and gave me a big hug and asked if I wanted to go see a counselor (It has recently dawned on me that I'm not doing so well with losing Gracie) but I told him I wasn't crying about that (for once) and that the kids were leaving next week. Even though it's only to Boise and it's a mere 6 hour drive, it's just not the same. I won't be able to call Lis and say "Can I have the boys for the night" and go get them after work. We have family in Boise, so we'll see the kids when we go up there and stop by on our way to WA, so I know I'll see them, but it's just different. I don't' want to lose the bond I have with them. I don't want them to forget who we are. I know they are old enough to not forget, but you know what I mean. I am very good at keeping in touch with people (most of the time ) so I will write them letters and send them cute little care packages and pictures from Aunt Deb and Uncle "Joshy" (that's what Brennon calls Josh), so hopefully they will still run up and jump in my arms when they see me. It's hard to explain what kind of relationship I have with Brennon. Since he was a baby, we have just had this unspoken connection. And I know without a doubt that we were friends long before we came to this earth. So... yesterday Josh and I went over to their house to give Lisa her baby shower present (I was not feeling well and couldn't make it: But we got her a darling little pink and brown flowered dress with pink leggings ) and we spent some time with the kids. Bren and I had a good talk in his room.. just the two of us. I told him to not forget how much I love him and if he's having a sad or bad day or he's feeling scared about anything... to just remember that aunt Debbie and Uncle Josh are thinking about him and love him. He said "I promise I will Debbie". It was not an easy good-bye and I should not have put mascara on that day to say the least !! But we are going to see them the first week in December on our way home from the Oregon Coast, so that will be a good day !!

So what do I do when I'm upset about something? I COOK !! When we got home I looked at the kitchen FILLED with tomatoes and said "Well, I might as well make some marinara sauce so we don't waste all these tomatoes (the garden froze last night. It was a good summer and our garden went above and beyond our expectations). So I spent several hours making sauce. Unfortunately, 16 cups of chopped tomatoes only got me 6 quarts. But, that's better then nothing. The house smelled heavenly with all the herbs and onions and garlic and peppers I put in it. I used a ton of peppers from the garden as well. And our kitchen it still full. Josh is making and freezing homemade salsa trying to use up the veggies. We seriously need an extra freezer. We're stocked !! The pasta sauce was soooo easy. I put everything in ONE pot... and cooked it. ( then put in the water bath of course, but I only dirtied my chopper and one pot ! I love it !! )

While the marinara sauce was simmering for two hours, I went upstairs and put all of our honeymoon pictures on a disk to start choosing for our photo album. By the end of the year, I will have that project done as well. Looking back on it made me realized how fun it was and how much I love my husband. Our anniversary is coming up soon... September 30th !!