his birthday, part 2: friday night cake

on friday we had our small group meeting

at the in-laws and debbie made an awesome

chocolate cake to celebrate jazz and mark's 

birthdays last week. 

i love our friday nights. 

a welcome mat

here's some more proof of the idyllic existence

we are living for a few more days (well, only one)

with the in-laws. on saturday, we'll be on our

own once more. it's fun to be kids again...

tuesday musings (while at the office)

people who have yards.

when i see how much time it takes to care

for a lawn/house, i begin to doubt the logic of

wanting one. but then, it's so nice—so luxurious!—

to have your own little space of greenery, to see the

little shooting things coming up out of the earth, 

that you've planted, watered, fed, groomed, cared for.

we're also pretty lucky here in the south to still be

seeing so much green in the fall i think.

there are chinese monks who believe that looking at

green things makes your eyesight better. i'm 

pretty convinced it's true. i know it makes my

heart happy.

photos around m&d's yard:

buon compleanno, marvin!

tonight we ate italian food and celebrated 

another year of life for papa grace. 

:)

another housing update

i have that song "home home on the range"

in my head (i hope that's not just a texas thing).

not sure why except that we are camped out with the

in-laws/parents again, but of course they don't live

on a range:). it's just that feeling of peace, of being with

people you love and who love you and are so gracious

to take you in when you discover fleas at the hotel

you were going to stay at...

two years ago we came to "visit" and stayed for four months,

while looking for jobs. it's just like old times, and we are all 

much happier (and safer) here. thank you dear mama and papa grace
for taking us in again!

their house is so wonderfully peaceful and roomy and

full of light and comfy couches and twinkle lights. and

lars is ecstatic to be reunited with his best friend, molly.

mother-in-laws

Debbie. 

today is the birthday of

the best mother-in-law ever...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Debbie!

just a few pics of us at the Dogwood Festival last April...

Lars' best friend

the molly dog.

unfortunately for her, molly, my in-laws' dog, is staying with us this weekend. 

i say unfortunately, because she's a little high-strung, and

she really doesn't like Lars - 

he, on the other hand, thinks they're best friends. 

she is constantly trying to get away from him, and he is constantly following her around, 

trying to get her to play...

they are both clueless. 

i love this picture of her with her little hoodie on: 

she thinks she's a person.