Greetings from the Tundra

Ethan's 3rd Birthday!

2011-03-03T16:51:00.000-08:00

Hopefully I can find some more pictures when I get my hard drive hooked up again!

Dreaming of warmer temps in the Tundra, Sarah

Big Shoes to fill!

2011-03-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

Entertaining ourselves however we can, in the Tundra,

Sarah

Reading Time

2011-03-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

Is Daddy reading to Gabe?

Or maybe Gabe is reading to Daddy?

You tell me!

Find the answer here:

Growing our vocabulary, in the Tundra,

Sarah

Gabe's 1st Birthday

2011-03-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

Going all the way back, did I ever post a picture of Gabe's 1st birthday?

We ended up having a pumpkin fest with some friends... Here's Gabe chowing down on his pumpkin cupcake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese icing!

We're going CrrrrAAAzzzYYYY!!!

2011-03-03T16:22:00.001-08:00

One day, I was running late and had a dr.s appt. So I jumped in the shower to get ready and Sam was going to come back from his appt. to take care of Gabe. So after I got out of the shower and realized that things were strangely quiet, I snuck downstairs to see what the little Gabe man was up to. I saw two little white hands putting stuff on the step and I walked around the corner to see this little face looking up at me!I took my chances on taking a picture of him before I threw him into the tub to scrub him down with 5 minutes to spare!

I probably shouldn't have taken the time to take a picture of him, because he sat on my bench and put a gigantic white spot on it therefore ruining my fabric. Need to recover that still.... Oh well. But with a face like this, how could you be mad for long!!! Especially daddy, whose painting had deep finger gauges in it! Oops! :)

Trying to stay on top of the mischief in the Tundra,

Sarah

Hibernation....

2011-03-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

Some of us are handling the winter better than others....

Ready for spring!!!!

Surviving, barely, in the Tundra,

Sarah

More photos....

2010-12-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

We've had a couple of families willing to brave the freezing temperatures, and I hope they feel like it was worth it, I sure do!

This family took these pictures in about 5 degree weather! I'd sure say they did a great job!

These guys had a little more warmer weather - 20 degrees or so! But they are brave souls and it's great that everyone could get together to get some great family pictures!!!

Other than that, we are swamped with Christmas festivities and having a great time with it. I took a little video this morning of the snow. Even though it's been so cold, it sure has been pretty with all the snow...

Over and out, gotta go warm up in the Tundra,

Sarah

Lookin' for some help here!

2010-11-30T09:42:00.000-08:00

Greetings my wonderful friends! I am getting ready to do an Open House next week and need some great fingerfood ideas/recipes.

Help a sista out!

Doing some cookin' in the Tundra,

Sarah

2010-11-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten to upload one last family's photos. This was such a great family to photograph! We really took advantage of the beautiful fall and got these photos in this family's backyard!!! Beautiful, aren't they?!

I am working on a new set of photos and should be up and running pretty soon! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, sharing time with your very favorite people and realizing just how thankful you are for them!

Enjoying the heatwave (29 degrees) in the Tundra,

Sarah

Welcome to the Tundra

2010-11-24T10:34:00.001-08:00

Here's my little pengiun trying to stay warm in the Tundra,

Sarah

P.S. Last report 10 degrees and snow flyin'!

Baby, it's cold outside....

2010-11-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

Winter has arrived! In full force! No warning baby! I think it's making up for lost time. Two weeks ago, it was 70, now, I'm so excited that it's all the way up to 4 above that it scares me! Reminds me of the day I saw this in Jamestown, ND and made Sam stop on the side of the Interstate to get a picture:

Yep, you read that right, -196 degrees. Well, it may not have been quite that cold, but pretty darn close! :) Hence, the Frozen Tundra. (Acutally, I started calling this place the Tundra long before I saw that sign!) I mean, seriously, have you ever been here in the winter? I think you should come. Just to say you've done it! How else can you wear those super cute hats, scarves, gloves, coats, long johns, wool socks, sweaters, long sleeves, etc. ALL DAY LONG - looking super cute and stylish?!

But seriously. I will post some pictures later. The trees are so beautiful. You can't beat it when the frost freezes to the trees. This place turns into a magical winter wonderland! We are braving the frigid temps to head out for some family pictures today. I hope it goes well. I think it should be fun! Stay tuned for some sneak peaks!

Well, I don't have much going on these days, well, actually I have a lot going on, that's why I can't keep up with things. I hate to even count how many loads of laundry I finally got around to folding yesterday, but pretty much my life has become dull. I have no more funny stories.

Next up, pies for Thanksgiving....

O happy day in the Tundra,

Sarah

PS. There are A LOT of giveaways and great deals on the Silhouette Machine out there. Just sayin'.

Chicken Little

2010-11-12T15:23:00.000-08:00

Here is our little Halloween Chicken! I would have liked to have gotten some better pictures of Gabe with his dad, the farmer! But it got dark before we got our act together!

Getting caught up with life in the Tundra,

Sarah

You wouldn't believe it if I told you.

2010-11-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

Lemon Tree Creations

I think I just peed my pants in the Tundra,

Sarah

The time has come...

2010-11-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

I'm turning over a new leaf! Sam told me not to enter too many giveaways as I was rushing out the door this morning on my way to work. And I've got to be honest with you. I think giveaways were always my outlet of ultimate optimism. But I've been jaded. I entered a giveaway - there were 10 entries and 4 chances to win, seriously, those are pretty darn good odds.

Guess what? I didn't win.

Therefore, there goes my optimism - out the window, along with the Fall Season - Hello winter. Hello jaded view of giveaways. I'm sorry, you may taunt me with your shiny new products, your steamy warm latte's, your ideas and inspiration, but alas I will not surrender again.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. Maybe I should do a giveaway on my own blog. When receiving doesn't work, maybe I should start giving! :)

Looking for something to give away in the Tundra,

Sarah

Gabe at 12 months...

2010-11-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the little man's 12 month picture....

Trying to get things caught up around here. I know I promised a recipe for Bread Pudding, let me go ahead and post that too. First, let me see if I have any pictures of it - although it doesn't do it justice. I don't even like Bread Pudding, but this....

Like I said, this picture does not do justice, just trust me on this one!

Mix: 2 eggs and 1 cup sugar

Then add: 5 crumbled biscuits

2 and 1/2 cups whole milk

cinnamon to taste

Pour into greased 9X12 pan. Sprinkle nutmeg on top.

Bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees.

*optional: may add coconut, craisins, raisins, nuts

It's the best bread pudding out there!

Well, I'm canning some apple butter and making the most of the Fall in the Tundra,

Sarah

More giveaways....

2010-11-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

Sam just laughs at me, actually, it's not really that funny. He just shakes his head and ignores the pity that bubbles up inside for me.... I can't help it. I even sign up for giveaways I don't even care about. How pitiful is that? I think I have a problem.

Hello. My name is Sarah. I'm a giveaway joining addict.

But seriously, it's Silhouette Stuff. Ok, I don't even HAVE a silhouette, but still, what's a girl to do? ;)

Trying to win something in the Tundra,

Sarah

More Photography

2010-10-22T21:06:00.001-07:00

Here is another Senior we had the privilege of photographing. This was a fun quick session and I think her pictures turned out great!

Hope she likes them.

Well, one more family session left to edit and then I'm all caught up! The next one is going to be hard, because there were SOOOO MANY good ones! Thanks a lot Shirley family, for being so photogenic!!!

Knee deep in photos, in the Tundra,

Sarah

My husbands going to kill me....

2010-10-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

I just entered another giveaway.

#1 - just because it is for a CAMERA

#2 - just because it's my anniversary and I deserve something nice from the Pioneer Woman. I mean, after all, I'm probably her biggest fan, what with our love/hate relationship and all!

#3 - and heck, just because I wanted to!

Trying to win something in the Tundra,

Sarah

At it again!

2010-10-21T11:19:00.001-07:00

First of all, I wanted you to see what we had to work with!

And look at the amazing job we did!

HA! Actually, I crack myself up! I only did this, because these are some good family friends of ours and we can! We have such a good time with them, and I'm glad we had a chance to give them some really good family shots, especailly with 4 boys, ages 19-11 or so...

Anyway, I just finished up a couple of Seniors and just working on two more and then I'll be all caught up and can start working on the Gabe man's pictures! We did finally get to celebrate his birthday with a "Pumpkin Fest" the other night and we have a little video, so I'll get that posted for you as soon as I rescue my other camera out of Sam's car. He's always taking it to get duck hunting pictures - *GAG* ! Anyway, just wanted to send out a little post and let you know we are still enjoying the Fall!

Getting ready to go out and celebrate our 5th year anniversary a day early since Sam has an overnighter tomorrow night!

Makin' the most of Life in the Tundra,

Sarah

2010-10-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we've been at it again! S2 Photography is getting out and enjoying the Fall to the maximum! Here is another great family we had the priviledge of photographing! I hope they love their family pictures as much as we loved taking them!

On another, more kitchen-y note. I haven't forgotten about the bread pudding recipe that I need to post. I promise, I will still do that. In fact, it keeps getting moved to my most recent "to-do" list. But I have been baking like a mad woman! And I have more yet to do! So hang in there with me.

Also, still editing photos! There will be many more to come!

So thanks for your patience. By the way, the Gabe man is walking, walking, walking, more and more every day! We need more videos of him crawling because I think he'll give that up and we'll never see it again! Alright. Check in lata!

Livin' it up in the Tundra,

Sarah

Recipes Galore!

2010-10-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

or maybe just one for starters.... Since I am relatively new to this blogging thing, and neither do I have the time nor the patience to take step by step photos, you just get this nice finished product.

Squash Bread

(sounds real appetizing, right?)

Dissolve 1 pkg. yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

Add 2 Tbls. Molasses

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup mashed buttercup squash

2 cups flour

Mix well.

Add 1 more cup flour

(if using a kitchen aid, switch to dough hook now.)

"Knead" for approx. 5 min. adding additional flour 1/4 cup at a time until no longer sticky.

Place dough in greased bowl and rise for approx. 1 hour until doubled.

Then punch down and shape into loaf, place in greased loaf pan and let rise for another hour.

Then bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes!

(makes 1 loaf)

I love this recipe because it's so fall-ish. You can see that the bread turns out kind of orange and it's great with just butter or add pumpkin butter. You can use it for toast, sandwhiches or just sliced right off the loaf. I can't keep this around the house. We have a cut loaf in the fridge and Sam made two more today and he already cut one of the new ones! Go figure!

It's really easy to make. I hope you enjoy it! If you try it!!!

Bakin' it up in the Tundra,

Sarah

Date Night

2010-10-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

Some really good friends of ours have been telling us over and over that they want to watch Gabe so the we can have a date night and it never really worked out till this past Tuesday! And what a fun date night it was! We were going to go to the opening of an art show in town, but didn't make it because, suprise! we were running late!

So we picked up our Johnny Carino's to-go and headed back home to load on the canoe! It was the perfect fall evening. All day it had been around 80 degrees and what a wonderful way to end up the evening. Didn't get too many pictures, but I am going to invite you along on our date, via video!

It was such a beautiful evening!

And Sam suprised me with a delicious dessert!

This is how it looked when we finished up!

Thanks for the awesome date, Love of my life. Thanks for watching the Gabe man, Mike and Jen.

Eating up every minute of this gorgeous fall in the Tundra,

Sarah

Here we go....

2010-10-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Today, I was on the phone to my mom and thought Gabe was being especially good for the length of our conversation and the rate at which he should have been hungry and tired. So I hung up with her and walked around the corner, this is what I saw.

Of course, Gabe was in the middle of it!

FILTHY!

Sorry about the finger, was trying to snap the picture before he tracked dirt EVERYWHERE and caught up to me!

What can I say about that face? Nevermind that I had to spend the next 20 minutes cleaning him and his mess up!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Toddlerhood!

Trying to stay on top of things in the Tundra,

Sarah

S2 Photography at it again!

2010-10-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here is another family's pictures we squeezed in before Fall left us for good. Well, I might be a little dramatic there, it hasn't left us FOR GOOD, per say.... One good wind and most of the leaves are gone, but we had a great time out with these guys and I hope they like their pictues.

Squeezing in a couple more sessions before the Tundra has us holed up for the winter! So keep on the look out for more viewing pleasure....

I hear the little man up and awake from his nap, so I'd better go check on him!

Working hard in the Tundra,

Sarah

Fall Fun

2010-10-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Not too much I can say here!

Livin' it up in the Tundra,

Sarah

Much needed updated videos!

2010-10-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

For your viewing pleasure....

Bundling up in the Tundra,

Sarah

2010-09-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, I made "The Bread" last night. And to tell you the truth, it didn't seem quite so ungodly as I was making it, but then I realized I'd only used half the stick of butter. I worked very hard to find a space for all the butter!!! And somehow I managed to get the whole stick on there! I was a little intimidated by using two sticks of butter last night, so I only made half "The Bread." But I will admit it was GOOD!!!

We got out the other day to get a few more pictures of Erinn. It turned out to be a beautiful day!

I thought I would post a couple of pictures of the family we took photos of a couple weeks ago. These were some of my favorites, not necessarily Sam's. But here you go....

The first set is a combination action shot we took of them on the slide, it was so much fun getting together with these guys to do pictures. Hopefully they loved it as much as we did!

We've got our schedule filling up for more family photos and a couple more seniors. Everyone is trying to squeeze it in before winter - imagine that? I can't imagine why? We are feeling the rush because last Friday, the 17th of SEPTEMBER, yep, it snowed. For like 3 hours straight. I was in complete denial because it just drove me nuts! Sam was out in the Badlands hunting and while it was really cold out there, he got some beautiful pictures....

I can appreciate the picture without remembering that it's still September!!! Anyway, will try to get a good picture of the pond before it freezes over, just for you Aunt Gayle!

And we are coming up on the little man's #1 birthday - so we will try to get some good photos and share his special day with you!

Other than that, stay warm in the rest of the country, enjoy the Fall and we'll keep you posted on what's going on in the Tundra,

Sarah

Quiet Musings...

2010-09-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

On your part, that is.

I know you read this and you think - now, what the heck is the deal with Sarah's OBSESSION with the Pioneer Woman?

Well, aside from the AHHHH-MAZING giveaways, which I WON'T link you to, because seriously, why would I shoot myself in the foot like that?

She's got INCREDIBLE recipes. Now I'm talking all out - she gives "homestyle" cooking a new definition. Here' s an example. My good friend, Aleycia, and I both have her recipe book and we are always experiementing out of it! When we get together and have a recipe by her, the first thing we ask is "How much butter is in that?"

Well, this blog entry in dedicated to Aleycia. Because she's at work right now and I can't immediately call her and tell her - "OH MY GOSH - just look at what the Pioneer Woman came up with this time!" and I know she'll come home from work and see my post!!!

Here goes:

Heck, I couldn't paraphrase and I couldn't even link to it just in case you were bored and didn't have the energy, so I just cut and paste - now read all of it!

Sep 17 2010
The Bread

Posted by Ree in All PW Recipes, Breads, Tasty Kitchen Featured

TPW_3070
Whenever I have a friend or family member over for dinner, they will ask the following question:
“Are you making The Bread?”

And I always smile and say:
“Yes. I am making The Bread.”

I smile because it’s a foregone conclusion that I will be making The Bread.

I smile because The Bread is so darn delicious and no one who tastes it can believe it contains only two ingredients.

I smile because it’s probably the easiest, simplest, effortless thing I make.

I smile. Because butter is involved.

TPW_3045
Split a loaf of French bread in half, then spread one stick of room-temperature butter all over the surface.
That’s one stick per half loaf.

Yes, you read that right.

TPW_3049
The idea here is that every speck of the surface of the bread needs to be coated.

TPW_3052
Next, you put the bread into a 350-degree oven for ten minutes, long enough for the butter to melt and the bread to warm. When the butter has melted into the bread, this stage is done.

Now crank on the broiler.

TPW_3056
This is a couple of minutes under the broiler, and this is not brown enough. The goal here is to broil the bread to the point that the butter becomes very dark brown and, in just a few areas, begins to burn.

When that happens, the flavor shows up.

If you don’t take it to the next level, it will just be buttered, warm bread.

Which is fine, and all…but it’s not The Bread.

TPW_3061
That’s more like it. Oh, yes.

TPW_3070
This is where the flavor is. And it’s not even a butter flavor—it tastes seasoned. It tastes indescribable.

Oh, baby.

TPW_3071
When I serve this, I slice it on a cutting board into relatively thin (because it’s so rich) strips.

I serve it with tenderloin. Pasta dishes. Soup. Chili. Chicken Spaghetti. Stew. Salads.

It’s the perfect crispy, crunchy, flavorful complement to so many things.

Try it this weekend!

Love,
P-Dub

Well, folks, there you have it!

Aleycia - what's for dinner tonight?

Trying to stay healthy in the Tundra,

Sarah

We might have a slight problem...

2010-09-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

First off -

***DISCLAIMER***

Bad quality photo's. Couldn't find Sam's camera which has the right lens...

Ok. Here's my problem. I heard VERY loud banging noises on the floor and so I checked to see what exactly Gabe must have been playing with and what did I find?

Now, where might two D batteries come from? I asked myself the same question. I back tracked through the sun room where Gabe has boat loads of toys laying around and didn't see anything till I walked up the stairs to his room and this is what I found!

Now, if you look closely, you'll see how the battery cover goes on with screws. So. Answer me this? What have we gotten ourselves into? And how did we get such a braniac miracle child who unscrews the backs of toys before the age of 1?!?!

Ahhhh!!!!!!

Trying to stay on top of things in the Tundra,

Sarah

Que the music...

2010-09-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

CHORUS
You're the meaning in my life
you're the inspiration.
You bring feeling to my life
you're the inspiration.
Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin':
No one needs you more than I need you.

You know this song??? From Chicago? Well, anyway, the people have spoken. My inspiration is renewed, maybe I WILL keep on blogging!

Although, I did decide that if I am going to keep on blogging, I am going to change some things.

#1 - the font definitely needs to change!!! I hardly liked looking at it myself. I think this is much more pleasant, don't you?

#2 - I will keep my paragraphs smaller.

#3 - I will try to get myself organized enough to put more pictures in. (Stay tuned for "mound of laundry!" - Just kidding. I like y'all better than that!)

#4 - I will try to stop making lists.

#5 - I was just kidding on that last one. It helps me stay organized. This way you MIGHT and I mean MIGHT be able to follow my train of thought!

#6 - I already forgot. See what I mean about making lists.

#7 - Enough about all that - let's get on with some pictures!

Ok, here you go, eat your heart out Pioneer Woman! I might not be able to win your giveaways, but I sure can make your Cinnamon Rolls! Sam says they taste like Cold Stone Creamery - hot. I guess you wouldn't understand if you haven't ever been to Cold Stone Creamery. All I can say is....yummmmmmm!!!!

And of course, for some updated photos of the little Gabe man!

This is Gabe at 10 months. He and I went down to visit Grandpa and Grandma in Virginia while Sam was in the Boundary Waters. So this is Gabe's first "taste" of the salt water! He loved it!

And finally,

This is his 11 month picture, we were at Phelps Mill in Minnesota over Labor Day weekend and I just LOVED the way this picture turned out.

Ok, I have to run, but thanks for hanging in there with me!

Rushing around like crazy in the Tundra,

Sarah

Top 10 lessons learned

2010-09-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

I check in with THE Pioneer Woman on a fairly regular basis. For the most part, looking to win a giveaway - I threw that in for my husband! It's not really true, ok, maybe a little! Anyway, she just posted today on the top ten things she's learned about blogging. It inspired me to write about the top 10 things I've learned about blogging.

#1 - Seems a lot easier than it really is.

I mean, seriously.

#2 - It's hard to get readers.

I mean, seriously.

#3 - Who really wants to read your ramblings?

I mean, seriously.

#4 - Technology does NOT cooperate with you.

I mean, seriously.

#5 - It's fun!

Seriously!!!!

#6 - Even if no one reads your blog, but yourself, when you pretend to read back over your entry to "check for grammatical errors," all the while really cracking yourself up!!!

#7 - I'm bad about blogging frequently, but I'm trying to organize my photos to get them uploaded along with my post, because seriously, who wants to read without seeing pictures?

I mean, seriously?!

#8 - I've decided I haven't blogged half enough to learn 10 things!

Speaking from the heart, seriously, in the Tundra,

Sarah

Busy like a bee.......

2010-09-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again... What time? you might ask? Time for Sarah to start blogging again? Yeah right! HA! I had such good intentions of creating this amazing blog that people from all over the world were just waiting on pins and needles for the next edition.... But it turns out, I don't exactly think I'm blogging material. First off, you have to do it a little more often. Second, you kinda have to have a purpose. And thirdly, you have to edit your photos BEFORE you post them on your blog for people to actually see stuff. I have been working on lots of projects... for instance: Gabe's nursery. It's finally finished...kind of. But when do I blog - during his nap when I think about going in there to take pictures... Doesn't really work that way. Otherwise, my project include writing a big long list and marking them all off - plus I don't think you want pictures of my mound of laundry - before and after. Or maybe the "before", 15,000 ears of corn that Sam buys because they are on sale and then the "after", it's all chopped off the cob and safely stored away in two cup amounts in the freezer just waiting for Mexicali corn to come into fruition.

One thing I do have a picture of that I've been working on - S2 Photography has been at it again...

Here is a collage of Ali.... Isn't she beautiful?

And here is Erinn!!! She's quite a beauty too! It's not hard to take great pictures of such beautiful girls!

So I'm in the midst of doing some editing for a family and I'll get those up. These two girls are Seniors this year and it's been tons of fun to get pictures done for them. We get to meet with both of them for a few more shots in the coming weeks, which will be great! It's awesome that we have so many people taking chances on us and our emerging photography skills!

One of the great things is that I finally got my Digital Rebel! So I'm very excited to come alongside Sam and really learn from him. With every person or family, we are learning so much more!

On another note, the little Gabe man turned 11 months a couple of days ago - can you believe that???? I can't! I'll have to upload some new pictures of him, the summer has been busy and we've been all over the world between the three of us... So hopefully things will settle into more of a routine... One of my problems is that we are still on the one computer, so whenever Sam is home, he's usually using it for painting and he's got a show coming up pretty soon. He's been painting like a maniac. The other night, he started painting at 10pm and finally finished up around 6am. I know right, crazy!! But that's the time with the least amount of distractions for him. Maybe y'all can pray for us. He still needs some sleep! Thanks.

Well, from my research, this entry is already about 100,000 too many words and waaaaay too little photos. So I'm going to be working on that. Hopefully learning a little more about blogging and getting a little more user friendly sight or at least to LOOK a little nicer! Let me know what kinds of information you'd like me to include and I'll see if I can make it happen!!

Trying to keep up in the Tundra,

Sarah

A long sabatical....

2010-08-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

Good morning, I mean afternoon, friends.

Got some pictures for you. I will let you know what we've been up to lately....

Sam spent a couple weeks in Guatemala with 28 other Sr. Highers, College students and other adults....

to be continued.....

A little bit of updates!

2010-07-11T06:30:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a while, I know. But the summer is like that around here. But my folks have been here while Sam is away in Guatemala and let me tell you, they are some serious inspiration for getting projects done! I can in no way even pretend to compete with Amy and her deployment projects!!! By the way, if you have a little bit of time, (more than you think) you'll want to check out Amy's blog!!! She's absolutely amazing. Her husband is deployed, she's a homeschool mom and just take a look at her amazing work!!!! Anyway, she's been counting her deployment projects and she's over 100+ projects!!! Like I said, she's amazing! Anyway, in our humble home, we have built one entry way bench, fixed another bench, painted two frames, fixed the refrigerator, defrosted the freezer, been to Walmart about 100+ times! :) Getting ready to plant some planters, enjoy the pool with the little man, played some Settlers of Catan, squeezed in a bit of sleep and tried to keep up with the Love of my Life on facebook!!! Also getting ready to repaint the coffee table! Of course, do I have pictures of all of this - no, not really. Not right now. Besides, how many of you really want to see pictures of the inside of my refrigerator NOT LEAKING?!

Anyway, I'm pretty confident that Sam doesn't check this site and I didn't want to give it all away. I'd like to take him on a tour when he gets home! But I did have a couple of pictures to share - and these are actually pictures that you will want to see!!!

8 months a little late....

And a 9 month picture to boot! He's growing like a weed - just can't even believe it!

Well, keep on tuning in and don't forget to check out Amy's blog at Design Interventions!!!! Seriously, if I had an ounce of her drive and creativity - I'd be an unstoppable force!!!

Enjoying Summer in the Tundra,

Sarah

Trying again....

2010-06-29T08:33:00.001-07:00

Not sure exactly why I am doing this, but I am blogging about a great deal. Sam is always laughing at me with the giveaways that I enter. I never win, don't really expect to, but this I thought I'd take every opportunity to enter. Not that I exactly NEEEEED this item, but how much fun would it be to WIIIIN this item?!?!?! So I'm posting a link. Not to encourage you to enter, because that would make more competition for me! ;) But hey, I'll do what I can! So check it out and see the new toy that I could be the proud new owner of! :)

Silhouette Spectacular

Desperate to win something in the Tundra,

Sarah

One day late....

2010-06-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

too busy celebrating.....

...the best dad to my little man!!!!

Thankful for my family in the Tundra,

Sarah

8 months and counting....

2010-06-18T20:51:00.001-07:00

Tried to fix up this picture, but really couldn't - how can you mess with perfection? :)

Been having a great time with Wes and Cindy. I can't believe how long I was looking forward to their visit and now, it's been here and gone. Up bright and early tomorrow morning to take them back to the airport and then off to some new adventures.

Heading to bed in the Tundra,

Sarah

Delayed Update...

2010-06-15T20:31:00.001-07:00

I have a lot more things to update, but Wes and Cindy are here visiting and Cindy has shown me a whole bigger world on my photo editing software, so I'm getting excited. Here is a little taste of what I can do now!

Livin' it up in the Tundra,

Sarah

Some updates...

2010-05-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

I've been so bad about getting pictures on here, but we were on a week long vacation and I'll get some pictures of that up soon, but I thought I'd get caught up on 6 and 7 month pictures since Gabe is coming on his 8th month b-day here pretty soon!!!

Sam has a thing about taking pictures of Gabe in flowers, what can I say? :)

This is my favorite outfit, well, technically, he grew out of the one I loved the most, but here is a close second!

And Sam has a thing for taking pictures of Gabe in the bath too! But when he is that cute, how can you not?!

Enjoying the Spring in the Tundra and trying to keep up with the crawling boy!

Sarah

Retro'n it up!

2010-04-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

First, I spotted THIS coming out of Hobby Lobby!

Upon closer inspection, I realized...it was MY HUSBAND!!!

Then I remembered, it's Retro Night at WOW! Our last Wednesday night service of the school year and we were suppose to dress like this - (although some might take it to the extreme, SAM!)

So here we are!

Not to go to bed without trying on Daddy's wig!

And I got to try my hand at tie-dying yet again this year - I think this is my masterpiece!!! There you go, A-rick!!!! This one is for you - (the picture, not the shirt! See, patience pays off!)

Stayin' alive, in the Tundra,

Sarah

Updates....

2010-04-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

I thought this video was so cute, I especially like watching Sam's face as he's feeding the baby! I find myself doing this several times myself! But Gabe is growing like a weed. He's already grown out of the Bumbo and is now firmly seated in his Booster chair! He loves eating!

Here is a picture of cousins watching their dads play walleyball!

It's getting nicer outside so we can actually get out and enjoy it bit more!

>

And here we have the little Gabe man trying to crawl! I think I've got a couple of videos!

Hope you enjoy! Living it up in the Tundra,

Sarah

One picture down and more to go!

2010-04-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

Haven't had a chance to blog much, but here's a 6 month picture!!!

Otherwise, Mom has been here for the last week and a half and Gabe has had a couple of ear infections and now Mom's got a head cold! Will definitely update later with more pictures! Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Playing nurse in the Tundra,

Sarah

More to come!

2010-04-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

So sorry for the delay - more to come, soon, just been so swamped...You should see how dirty my house is..... gag!!!

Barely keeping my head above water in the Tundra,

Sarah

Just a quick tip for you!

2010-03-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

Don't, under any circumstances, do about a million lunges in the morning and then squat to pick up something from the floor with your baby on your back in a backpack during the afternoon. Phew.... Got that off my chest. I feel better. Please - don't ask me to explain, just take my word, ok?.

Well, today, finally, the sun came out for about 3.2 seconds - well, maybe a little longer than that, because around 7pm, it was still shining outside! I couldn't believe it! It's been so dang overcast, I never even knew the sun was staying up that long these days. I thought it was still going down at 5pm! Anyway, I bundled up the Gabe man, even though it was nearly 40 degrees - that's still a bit chilly for a kid who has never seen grass! Anyway, I bundled him up and started cleaning up our trashy yard. I wouldn't even take a picture because of the shame....If only you could see it, uh, shutter, I can't even think about it. I spent a good chunk of the time taking down the Christmas decorations (and that isn't even the worst part!)

I need to go. Hoping that Sam would make it back sooner, but they were delayed in Livingston and so I'm not expecting him till 1am-ish... And Gabe was so tired, he went down at 7:30 without dinner or a bath. I'm hoping he'll wake up in the next hour or so, so that I can get him ready for bed! :) Ha! I crack myself up!

Here is a little photo from our "before" we went out to work in the yard. Would take a picture of the after, but I'm afraid the flash might wake him up! :)

By the way, Aunt Gayle - this one is for you! :)

Ready for Spring in the Tundra,

Sarah

Some firsts....

2010-03-12T18:54:00.001-08:00

I know it's been awhile. Want to see what we've been up to?

Just playing....

and eating....

Seriously, you'd think that kid had never before eaten...well, I guess he hadn't had cereal before, but he was pretty darn stoked about it - and has been the last couple of days! What can I say, he's a good eater!

And...from just tonight....

Well, the little man is asleep and his mamma better get that way too!! Good night greetings to you.

Full bellies and lots of laughter from the Tundra,

Sarah

Five months and counting...

2010-03-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

I know you have all been counting on all your fingers and toes trying to figure out how old Gabe is and where his new 5 MONTH picture is, well, here it is folks....

Celebrating 5 months of fun in the Tundra,

Sarah

Thursday Musings....

2010-02-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

Is it Thursday anyway? I thought with the internet at home, I would be better at keeping up with my blog, but I have also been exposed to the thousands and millions of blogs out there and how all of the have a purpose. Mine is kind of like a rambling pointless blob of words, with a sprinkling of pictures every now and then. So I'm looking for a purpose. But in the meantime, you get my blobbly words and picture sprinkles!

By the way, I entered two more giveaways at the Pioneer Woman. I don't know why I keep doing it to myself. Sam says not to get my hopes up, but what's the heck reason to enter a giveaway if I don't have my hopes up?! I'm going there now to see if I won. My guess is that I didn't. I'm working on not getting my hopes up! Sam says that you have to look at your odds... I told him yesterday that my odds were like 1 in 3000...(then I realized I was trying to exagerate and that wasn't enough to exagerate, so I threw in there an extra "hundred!") (But in reality, no exageration, my odds were 6 in 30,000!) Pitiful isn't it? Ok, the winners are still not posted, there is still hope for me!!! See what I mean, while most people are blogging about something important or a how-to for something, I can waste an ENTIRE paragraph on the woes of not winning a giveaway on the Pioneer Woman. I need help!

On to bigger and better things...
This was Tuesday after Sam watched Gabe for me in the morning. I guess it was a rough day!

Let's see if I have another one....

What a cutie patootie!

Well, gotta run...

Keeping busy in the Tundra,

Sarah

It's been forever, feels like....

2010-02-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

Who needs a pair of these?

That's right, oh yeah! Can I get an amen? Anyone? Anyone? Oh well.... at least they make me happy just lookin' at 'em. And my boy's got 'em! That's right, feast your eyes folks - the little man is styling it!!! Yesterday, he was sporting his homemade tie-dye onsie, denim overalls and these babies on his feet! My all time favorite outfit - I'll get a full body picture one of these days before he grows out of it, don't you worry!

Here is one more "just for fun" picture that I took yesterday!

Gabe doesn't really look like he knows what's going on, but that's because his old wrinkled up mama was taking a picture from the back of his car seat!

I thought I'd give y'all an encouraging verse that I got via long story... So here it is...

II Samuel 22:20
"He also brought me out into a broad place, he delivered me because He delighted in me." emphasis mine....

Do you ever feel like the Lord DELIGHTS in you? Or do you feel like He's only out to get you and make your life as miserable as possible? Or maybe you just feel like He's there...somewhere. And you are here, right now. And as my great grandmother would say..."never the twain shall meet." Well, I just want to give you a bit of encouragement. The Lord does delight in you. He does. I promise. He not only tolerates you, He not only likes you, but He DELIGHTS in you! What do you delight in? I mean what really makes you feel pure joy? (I'm pretty sure Sam's answer to that would be Starbucks!) But I'm not talking about Starbucks... I'm talking about what makes you feel like all is right with the world - what DELIGHTS you? I am here to tell you that the Lord DELIGHTS in YOU! How awesome is that? So when you are feeling confused, alone, worn out, used up and good for nothing, remember that God has rescued you and delivered you because He DELIGHTS in you!

Whew... that felt good. I feel like I can breathe a little easier. Not to get that off my chest, but just to remind myself that there is so much in this world working against you but Romans promises us that "...If God is for us, who can be against us?" (8:31) You've already won the victory - just remember it and live in the freedom that He offers...

Thank you for that moment on my soapbox. Do you have any verses or experiences lately that really have encouraged you? I think we need to share them with one another since you never know what someone else may be going through... Share your story with me! I'd love to post them to share with others!

Kind of chilly in the Tundra,

Sarah

PS. I was telling my dad this story, but thought it was kind of ironic and thought I'd share it with you. The other day, they were giving the weather report on the radio - "it's 14 right now with a windchill of 4 above... In other news the Polar Patch is going on today, so get on over there and enjoy this weather!" (The Polar Patch is an outdoor winter playland.)

Weekend Adventures...

2010-02-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

Good Monday morning to you all!

Well, we had a great weekend. We went to Fargo to celebrate Ruth and Ethan's birthdays. We started off on Friday night with a Mystery Dinner....

We had such a good time. Then on Saturday, we started off doing a little bit of swimming and then off to this beautiful park for cross country skiing and riding a horse drawn sleigh!!!! It was so magical - except the part where Gabe was so dang tired that he was screaming his head off the whole sleigh ride, but don't you worry, as we were pulling up from our ride, he fell fast asleep! (Isn't that just like kids, no appreciation for any of it!)

Then for our Sunday afternoon adventure... First of all, who can find the horizon line?

Here's a little action on the road....

Ummm.....

Sam, don't you think that is a LITTLE too fast, considering we can't see the road???

Oh well, at least I'm here to tell you that we made it through safely! We got to the Dwyers for the Superbowl party and we're are safe and secure at home now! I hope all of y'all had a great Superbowl Sunday! I'll see if I can drum up some more interesting adventures!

Livin' it up in the Tundra!

Sarah

Some 4 month pictures for you!

2010-02-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

Here's what we've been up to lately!

Living it up in the Tundra,

Sarah

I had a catchy title but Sam couldn't remember it for me! :(

2010-01-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our Saturday adventure!

Well, last night Sam had an overnight with the Jr. Highers and so today, we took it a little easy... We went ice fishing....

****Caution, lots of videos today******

Isn't that lots of interesting information?

Do you want to know if we caught any fish? Let's ask!

>

I'm very disappointed at today's post. I had the best of intentions, but after working on it for a VERY long time, frankly, I'm sick of it taking so long, so here's what you get!

Tired in the Tundra,

Sarah

Sorry....

2010-01-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

I had been uploading one video for approximately 32.16 hours when I decided it was probably futile. So let me try again today! :) (That's what happened to the videos Wes!)

Did it work? Here's another one!

Gabe didn't realize I was video-ing him... Otherwise, I'm sure he would have clammed up! He's good for a no-show when I need him to show off his talents! Anyway, he started getting a little fussy at the end, so I had to stop and rescue him! He likes the swing ok, for about 10 minutes. So you are lucky you got this much! :) Ok, I think the little man if finally falling asleep. I feel bad, he was dragged from hither to yon today and without a decent nap at all. He did get 12 good hours of sleep last night, but that's no excuse, poor little man. Surviving on cat naps alone... Well, I'm being told that there is an error on this page, so we'll see if it posts!!!!

Happy weekend!

Live from the living room, living it up in the Tundra!

Sarah

2010-01-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

Isn't this is great picture? Our good friends JC and Sue ventured out to the Frozen Tundra to do these family photo's for us. We are so happy with the way they turned out. It was soooo beautiful! For those of you who don't have this phenomenon, when it's foggy here, because it's so cold the fog actually freezes to the trees causing all these tiny little ice crystals everywhere! Usually it's gone by mid morning, but this was about 3pm this particular day. The sun never came out to met the crystals off the trees and it stayed cold! You can see how deep our snow is these days... Oh...life in the Tundra! :) Let me see if I can find some updated things to post here since it's been awhile... I am ready for Spring, just thought I'd throw that out there! I'm sick of snow and ice and it's only Jan! At least it's the end of the month though. Only 3.5 more months of winter left! :) (Always trying to look for the silver lining!) Grandma Ruth and Gabe Gabe sitting in Aunt Sadie's excersaucer... He's kind of small for it still but he likes it!!! Here are a couple videos for your watching enjoyment! The youth group girls changing Gabe...And one more video of Gabe in the swing just talking away... He didn't know I was there!

Clean Refrigerators....

2010-01-21T15:01:00.001-08:00

Bet that title caught you a little off guard! I just posted an older post, I had typed it a couple days ago and was having a hard time uploading the videos but I think that's done now. Now I have a couple pictures for you!

Here are my two favorite guys!!!

And for today - this is what I have been up to! For many of you who know anything about me, you'll know how much I LOVE pictures of people! I thrive on them. In fact, we just got a Digital Frame for Christmas and Sam was uploading a bunch of pictures to it, and he says, "How's that, I put half landscapes and half people!" Because he knows how much I love looking at pictures of people. So anyway, every year, I clean off my fridge and restock with the new year's pictures! I love seeing faces up all year round. I pray for you and think about you. And I just love the constant reminder! The only thing is that starting this year, we'll be having little hands reaching up all over the fridge, but not to worry, it turns out we didn't get as many Christmas cards this year so it's all good!

Ewww, yuck!

Ahh, much better....

Keeping it real in the Tundra,

Sarah

Just another Tuesday...

2010-01-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I know it's been a couple days, but just living in the moment...That was Sam's New Years resolution and I thought it was a good one, so I adopted it! I thought I'd throw up a couple more videos of the little Gabe man so you can see how he grows day to day!

And one more...

Other than that, I might be able to find a quick picture on here, let me check! Well, I thought I got them transferred before I deleted them, not the case, that's ok, they weren't that good anyway! I'm off to bed, gotta get some zzzzzz's before the Gabe man wakes up again! (It was a long night last night!)

Good Night from the Tundra!

Sarah

Check it out!

2010-01-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

Gabe's new info to the right!!!!

Getting sleepier and sleepier in the Tundra!

Sarah

Ha!

2010-01-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

I knew it, you are all getting up early on Saturday morning to see what crazy stunts the Colemans have been up to today!!! Caught ya! Yeah, you know I'm talking to you!

Well, he's the short and skinny of it - I worked this morning and then Sam took off for a ski weekend in Red Lodge, MT with the Student Leadership Team and the Gabe man and I hung out with Grandma Ruth! I don't really have too many pictures for you - actually none. I did take a bit of a video of Gabe in the bath, but shouldn't really post that till I figure out how to edit it if you know what I mean! So in the mean time. I'm going to get ready for bed. The Gabe man went down a half hour or so ago - no crying, just laid him down and he just looked around and laid his sweet head down and snooooooooooozing away!!!!

But.....

Sam and I just got around to ordering Gabe's birth announcement cards - better late than never! :) So I get to go and pick them up tomorrow, but I don't know how many I'll be able to get in the mail, so I'm going to give you a sneak peek! I'm pretty cool that way! So here you go - and a very happy weekend to you all!!!!

Livin' it up in the warm and balmy Tundra,

Sarah

Just another day....

2010-01-14T18:30:00.001-08:00

I don't even know how to begin our Thursday adventure... Well, I'll take you on a "normal" day in our life.... First, I made a turkey today - it's my first turkey ever!

Before....

And after....

Not too shabby, huh???

Then this is what I found when I went to get Gabe up from his nap....

How could you not eat that up?!?!

Then Gabe hung out in the Bumbo for a time, thanks to Jason and Brita for lending it to us!

He likes it a lot more when he isn't tired... He hangs out in there just taking in the world and playing with his new keys!

Then Daddy comes home and the real fun begins!

Then the photo shoot with the family begins...

Daddy and Rudy....

Isn't Rudy beautiful???

and finally Mommy (with no makeup) and Gabe....

Then Daddy decides to get some pictures of Rudy before he lets him go....

and lastly, a family picture before we let Rudy go back into the wild...

I especially like that picture since Sam is trying to keep Tonto from eating Rudy and Gabe is just sitting there watching it all go down!!! And so there you have it folks, a day in the life of the Coleman's! In closing, wishing you a happy weekend, from the crazies!

Keeping it real in the Tundra,

Sarah

S2 (S-squared photography)

2010-01-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have been wondering how the photography business is going, especially Wendy, Erik and Tricia - those of you that have been waiting for your pictures.... Sorry.

But we've gotten a few out already, but here are some sneak peeks!

More to come later....

Working hard in the Tundra,

Sarah

Hello!

2010-01-13T14:10:00.001-08:00

Now that I have unlimited access to the internet, you'll probably be sick of me, but here is a picture someone from church just emailed me from this past Sunday - I thought it was cute, so here you are....

Actually getting stuff done in the Tundra,

Sarah

Well, folks, now you have it!

2010-01-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

It's time to catch up on all the photo's and video's I've been saving for such a time as this! That's right, you got it - I am officially ON-LINE!!!! This is my first video for Uncle Wes and Aunt Cindy who sent this toy to Gabe for Christmas - also, great minds think alike - Aunt Gayle and Uncle Jim sent it too!!! But Gabe is liking it more and more every day!!! Thanks!

This is our new pet Rudy.

Isn't it ironic that Sam was out hunting pheasants, all the while, trying to nurse one back to health in our basement? Hmmm....something to ponder. Now some of you astute people will notice that Rudy is under the Christmas tree in this picture, no, we don't keep Rudy in the Christmas tree. What happened is that we kept him in a box and while we were out, he got loose. Turns out he tried roosting in an arrangement on our coffee table (we knew because the bow was smashed) and must have decided that a great big tree looked like a better alternative! So when we came home and saw that he was missing, Sam checked the Christmas tree right away and this is where we found him! He's living in a pack-n-play in the basement right now (not Gabe's, just in case you were wondering...)! So we think that Rudy was hit by a car and cannot fly anymore. So I don't really know what we are going to do with Rudy, but he'll be hanging out in the basement for a little while anyway!

Let's see what else we've been up to.....

Here's Judah, filling out an application to the House of Happiness, IN the House of Happiness, just thought I'd throw that out there! :)

Video - The Gabe man at the House of Happiness!

Video - And the grand finale!!!!

And in closing, here we are sending you well wishes to stay warm!

Staying cozy in the Tundra, Sarah

Updates and such....

2010-01-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

Well, last night I went through and emptied my camera to get it all ready to upload a bunch of videos and pictures! Only, I emptied them onto my computer at home and am just lacking a bit of internet service to get them uploaded. So hang in there! I promise to make a regularly returned schedule!

I've got pictures of our new pet - "Rudy!" Have you ever found yourself wondering how ironic it is that your husband should be out hunting pheasants while trying to nurse one back to health in the basement? Kind of strange, isn't it? Well, hold on for pictures!

Did you ever think it was possible that you would get excited for the temp's to reach 0 (as in ZERO)? Yeah, it is crazy cold today! In fact, I got off of work on Tuesday and had a lunch with Johnny and Siri, then went home and never came out of the house until today (Friday) for work - talk about some serious cabin fever! In my former life, Sam and I would have taken these opportunities to go on a drive since everyone else was holed up in their homes - the whole world was ours! But now, not wanting to expose the little Gabe-meister to the Frozen Tundra he was born in, I have joined the masses, holing up in my home! I am grateful for the roof over my head and the heat in my home! :) (And the ever reminder that one of these days, I'll actually have to take down the Christmas tree and other decorations... note the sarcasm!) But for now, we haven't even breeched the conversation of the Christmas take-down. How could you?, when temps are hovering at - (as in MINUS, or NEGATIVE, or BELOW ZERO)30?!

It's warming up! -18 now!!!

Well, I do have to run some errands after work and so I should get some other stuff done. Hang in there and if any of you have recommendations on which internet service to go with, any and all comments would be appreciated!

Freezing my fingers off in the Tundra,

Sarah

Quick trips and the like....

2009-12-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

No pictures to protect the privacy of others involved! Yesterday we were heading out to Fargo to pick up the parents! My brother called at 5:55am to tell me that they were coming in 45 minutes earlier than I thought. Then I got a call from Dad at 6:30 saying they were delayed and had to get a new plane. Then I got a call at 7 something with mom saying that they've been to three different gates and were hoping to be able to get on the plane soon! Then I got a call at 8:30 saying they were boarded and hoping to take off soon! So we got our poop in a group and headed out around 9am to drive the 2.5 hours to pick them up! On our way out of town, we got a call from Ruth who asked us to take her pick up truck and pick up a desk to bring back. So we stopped to switch everything over, then 1 mile away from her house, there was a hitch hiker on the side of the road, so we picked him up and took him to the next town over and finally, we were on our way! We pulled into Fargo just in time to pick them up! So we got back around 7pm last night and had a tour of Sam's newest art and all our Christmas decorations. I'll have to take some pictures of them for you to see! Anyway, we are just getting in the Christmas mood! Need to get squared away and see what else we have left to do!

I left mom and dad at home this morning watching Baby Gabe and waiting for the snow. It's such a beautiful day today - tons of fog, I would run right out and get a picture, but I left the camera at home in case the Gabe meister started walking or spouting long sentences! Need some footage of that - didn't want to miss out! :)

Otherwise, getting ready for a very festive Christmas in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2009-12-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

On Friday, we had a heat wave, so.....

....it was time to gather our Christmas decorations!!! As you can see, it was a whole family adventure - although Gabe spent his time snuggled up in the car seat sleeping, which was good, since even though we had a heat wave, it was more like 28 degrees! Anyway, getting the house all decked out for visitors on Thursday! :)

Also, I just wanted to let you know that Gabe has already starred in his first drama...

That's right, that little baldy head peaking out is our precious little Gabe playing the most important role of "the little baby Jesus!" He did just perfect, as I knew he would. After all, we've known all along that he's had a dramatic flair - (takes after his dad that way! :)

There was one more thing I was going to share with you.... the heat wave is over.... This morning, I ran out to start the car, in my scarf, coat, boots and robe! It was so cold!!! I came in and told Sam that we had moved beyond scarf weather and striaght to neck warmer weather - it hurts to breathe!!! So he asked me what the temperature was and I told him I didn't want to put myself through that much misery... So I quick, took a picture right before I ran out the door!

Ok, so I realize, it may be a little difficult for you to read that... Took the picture through my window with the sun facing me... So....

Does that make it a little more clear??? Burrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I did have a bunch of fun stories that I was going to share with you, but the cold has knocked it right out of my mind and now you'll have to settle for stories on Gabe and the weather! :)

I just saw on Facebook that Christmas is only 9 days away! Ahhh!!! I'd better start shopping and get things done. My parents come in on Thursday and we have lots of things going on, but Christmas has totally snuck up on me! Hopefully I can get some more pictures to share with you soon! Have a great pre-Christmas festive day!

Seriously, FREEZING in the Tundra,

Sarah

Good Morning...or maybe afternoon? What is today?

2009-11-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

Since that momentus day on Sept 29, 2009, I haven't been able to keep up with the days, to save my life - they all sort of melt into each other. Did you know the other day I found out it was NOVEMBER?!?!! And now someone told me the movie, "New Moon" was coming out today and I was like, Oh no, that doesn't come out till the 20th! Note to self: Never seemed so assured of yourself unless you have a clue! November 20th???? That means Thanksgiving is like 1-2-3-4-like next week! Which, by the way, I'm very excited about because I GET TO GO HOME TO VIRGINIA!!! That means Gabe gets to meet his whole other side of the family! Granted, at this point, Gabe is kind of take it or leave it, but I am very excited and his other grandparents are very excited!

I had some new pictures for you but here's my deal. This is what I've been up to a lot lately.....

...and this is what Sam has been doing a lot lately....

So there you have it folks. All that to say, besides the fact that my life is a perfect tragedy, Sam is out hunting again today and took the camera with the new pictures on it, with him!*

Congratulations to my mom! She has finished her rounds of radiation with flying colors! Now she is busy preparing her house for all the Thanksgiving festivities. My aunt and uncle are coming up from Florida tonight or tomorrow and they are off to parties and festivities. Then on Tuesday, Sam and I fly in with the Gabe-meister. We land in DC and stay there with extended family till Thursday, when my brother and sister-in-law arrive from FL! Can't wait to see everyone and I'm so glad that mom has finished her radiation and had a little time to rest up in preparation for everything!

Gabe-man: He's doing great, besides the fact that he just spent the last 30 minutes crying himself to sleep. I put him down sleeping like a baby and 10 minutes later, he woke up crying, it was a tired cry and I was fighting myself for going in there to check on him or pick him up and snuggle that adorable little man, but everytime I couldn't take it any longer, I'd head in that direction, he would stop crying and act as if he was sleeping.... Then I'd come back and get settled in - all over again, for 30 minutes!! But I haven't heard him for the last 15 minutes, so I think he's finally sleeping! He's starting to smile more! That sure is fun! Whenever I have things to do and people to see, he doesn't seem to make that too easy! I think he likes getting uninterrupted sleep! Imagine that! Anyway, among my new pictures to post are some smiley ones of him, so keep in touch - they will be arriving shortly - as soon as Sam gets home from earlier mentioned hunting! :)

And me: I'm getting stronger and stronger by the minute. In fact, Sam and I went on a walk yesterday and I climbed a huge hill with the little Gabe man attached to me via Moby wrap. It was really quite nice! Speaking of our walk yesterday, well, maybe I'll wait for my camera for that story.

I was complaining to Sam the other day that I've lost all my funny-ness. I'm pretty sure that my stories revolved around the crazy things he does and now I spend a lot more of my time feeding the baby, changing diapers, laundry, dishes and straightening the house.... There really is nothing funny in that. And although our walk yesterday didn't turn out too funny - still, another crazy adventure!!! Tune in next time...

Well, folks, the little guy just woke up again... I'll have to check on him and get him calmed down - actually he stopped again... But I should go - it's getting close to tax time, so I need to get my paperwork in order! Until next time,

Concentrating on my blessings in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

*My life may not be accurately pictured here. Some facts may have been exaggerated to illustrate a point. Some pictures could have been brought in from archives, but alas, some are current! I still have the best husband ever even if he has been gone the last 15 weekends in a row for whatever reason! ;)

Ok.

2009-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

Turns out my mind is mush. I thought I downloaded my frozen pond pictures before I deleted them. Evidently, I didn't. So disregard my previous note on banner picture. Until I get a good family picture, you'll have to endure pictures of the cutest little guy in the world! :)

It's about time...

2009-11-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

I'm posting some pictures that may not be appropriate for the faint of heart, but they were so cool, I couldn't pass it up!

First of all - the little guy, Gabe, just reached his 6 week mark on Tuesday! I heard someone once say that it DOES get easier and frankly, I had my doubts. But it's true, well, I don't know about easier, but better, definitely better! The last few days he's been such a joy, waking up happy and smiley and then eating perfectly and then going back down for a nap. We definitely have had our days, but overall, it's so much more enjoyable.

I wanted to share this pictures - for my Aussie cousins - here's little Gabe, the Kangaroo!

Here are some we took at about a month....

Here are some from way back when - 6 weeks ago!

Ok, well, this is what we have right now. Now that Gabriel is getting some personality, and not just sleeping, eating, etc., we'll get tons more photo's and video!!! He is going to be visiting his Grandma and Grandpa in VA and tons of aunts and uncles and cousins in about a week and a half - so that will be tons of fun!!! Stay tuned...

Oh and one more thing - the new picture on my blog banner - I just had to show you - that was in October sometime. I haven't started keeping track of dates yet, but I wanted to show you how we really do live in the Tundra - even if yesterday was 60 degrees!

Keeping it real in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

Giveaway Winners!

2009-11-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to you - all of you - my faithful followers! I feel like I have been hiding under a rock - Erik, thank you for pointing that out!

Today I figured out who was going to win Sam's print by guessing Gabe's birthday... It's between two people - Wes and Aleycia and the winner is..... Aleycia!!!!! Thanks to a helpful patron of Boneshaker Coffee - Aleycia, you are the winner. I will get in touch with you to let you know what prints we have available!

Well, the little man, Gabriel is nearly 6 weeks old - they told me it would get better and it has. I never thought the time would come when I wouldn't mind going out in public just in case he woke up! But right now, I'm sitting in a coffee shop typing along with the little man sleeping at my side! Sam is off deer hunting and won't be back till tomorrow. That has certainly been an adjustment. I used to get to spend so much time with my best friend, Sam... Now I get to hang out at home with Sam's little man - Gabe! And that is fun, but an adjustment. Gabe has started smiling a lot today, especially and that certainly makes life more fun! :) But I continue to ask for your prayers - for all the adjustments!

We head home to VA in a couple weeks - pretty excited about that. Even though I've been home all this time, I need a vacation! Can't wait to introduce the addition to the rest of the family - especially his grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles!!!!

Trying to think of what else has been going on lately - mostly just making the bed and doing dishes and laundry on a more regular basis - and that's not too funny... I did take a load of junk to Salvation Army yesterday and opened the hatch of the van only to have all of it come pouring out on my toe and end up breaking most everything in there!!! So luckily there was a dumpster right by the door. Mission accomplished either way - so that's not that funny of a story - I guess you had to be there! I find that most of my funny stories revolve around Sam and I haven't been able to hang out with him much lately, so I'm fresh out. We haven't even had a Sabbath in weeks, it feels like. I hope we get to take some time off this Sunday since nice weather has touched down in the Tundra - seriously - it's 68 degrees right now, maybe even 70!!!

I was going to post some pictures, but I'm getting ready to go on a walk and don't have time. But for any of you that are on Facebook, I did post some there. For those of you NOT on facebook, I will try to get them posted here soon!!! I hope I haven't lost all of you! We will be getting internet soon and I'll be back in business.

So, to you, all my family and friends - thanks for hanging in there with me! I will be back soon, I promise, with video and pictures of Gabriel's "Early Days!" I didn't even post those on Facebook!

Well, gotta run and enjoy the last minute warm weather in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

The Big Debut!

2009-10-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

Well, not that big, because I don't have any pictures right now! I need internet at home and basically to get my poop in a group! Turns out the library won't let you upload photo's to their computers! :P Go figure!!!

SO..... GABRIEL NEALE COLEMAN!!!!!!!!!!! Weighing in at 8 lbs. 2 oz. 21 inches long of pure adorable sweetness! Seriously, he's the sweetest, cutest, most adorable, most delicious, most perfect baby in the whole entire world - everyone tells me, so I must not be prejudice! :) (At least, they'd better tell me that if they know what's good for them! HA)

We went in to be induced last Tuesday morning at 2am. I was 0 dilated, will try not to go into all the gory details, but anyway, here goes.... I was given the prolactyn(?) gel and the contractions started a little more than I had already been experiencing. The whole while, I'd planned on going naturally, then during that time of NO SLEEP, I was figuring out how to get pain medicine REALLY fast! In fact the nurse came up to me to ask me what my pain plan was and I told her I didn't have one, but I was figuring one out really fast! :) So by 8am, the Dr. came in to break my water, I was about a 1 dilation - holy cow - 9 more to go?!?!? Kill me now! So then by noon, I was about at a 3 and begging for an epidural! We had an amazing labor and delivery nurse - seriously, I couldn't have asked for someone better, she basically camped out in my room! She got an anesthesiologist in there for the epidural with contractions coming about every 5 minutes at like a pain level 0-10? well, I'd say about a 55! The epidural was a rough go. You have to be so still and he couldn't get it. I guess Sam said I get poked about 10 times. He even nearly passed out! Finally it took around 1:15 and I fell asleep immediately - this is after about 2 days of not sleeping! At 1:45, I was awakened to put an internal contraction monitor in and the nurse decided to check and I was immediately at a 10!!! Holy Cow! All it took was a half an hour rest! Go figure, having babies wasn't quite as hard as I thought! ....Or so I thought! So it's time to push - Sam, got your camera??? The time is here!!! I was ready - couldn't feel a thing - amazing!!! So I started pushing at 2. and pushing....and pushing... and pushing.... and pushing... At 3:30, the Dr. came in and said that the baby's head was stuck and turned in the wrong direction and they couldn't even get in there far enough to get him turned around. She suggested a C-section. I was devastated. This was NOT turning out AT ALL how I'd planned. But I'm flexible. I told her I'd like to keep pushing for another half an hour... She agreed and let me go. I went for another 45 minutes and the little guy didn't even budge! So now, it was off to prepare for a C-section... The little guy - Gabe - was born at 5:05pm and he was just beautiful! Sam followed him right away to get cleaned up and got to spend the first good hour with his son, holding him and loving him...It was so special for him!! I was recovering... and having a hard go of it! Turns out, to make a long story short, I'd lost a lot of blood and continued to do so all during recovery. My hemoglobin plummeted down to a 6.7 and is only now starting to climb. It's a long road, I've noticed. Sure that was only a week ago - but seriously!!! It's so hard to "take it easy!" But when I look at little Gabe and see his precious bright eyes looking around and stopping to focus on my face as I feed him, or his dad's voice as he loves on him and talks to him - it's all worth it!

So all that to say - please continue to pray for us! We brought Gabe home on Friday and have been learning all about him since! He's already changing so much, getting bigger, more alert (don't know how that's possible!) and he's just beautiful! I can't wait to introduce him to my mom and dad, his namesake - Neale, in November! I've been feeling extremely tired and like I said, having a hard time taking it easy - I feel like I should be able to do all the things from before! I've been way more emotional than I like. In fact, it's a good thing I'm sharing this via internet, or else you'd have to pick through the sobbing tears to figure out what I'm trying to say - and I'm at the library!!! Sad, isn't it?!

On a side note, which should be more fore front than side note, my husband is seriously perhaps the most amazing man in the world. Now I realize that I've made some pretty big calls all during this post, but it's my blog, I'm allowed to! But seriously, I can't even explain to you how well he takes care of me and little Gabriel and our home and everything! He's still got his art show coming up in a few weeks, which is a BIG deal and he's got a lot of things to do for that, but he's just so amazing! There is no way I could do it without him! So just a plug for most amazing husbands in the world - if you've got one, stop right now and run to him and give him a big kiss and tell him he's the most amazing man in the world! 2nd only to Sam Coleman! I plan on doing this as soon as I see my man!

Well, we've been home for three nights so far and we've had two "off" nights and one "on" night. I'm praying that tonight is an "on" night! We've been spending our days figuring out what we did wrong yesterday and changing our actions so that it doesn't happen tomorrow! I have a feeling I'm going to be spending the rest of my life in this particular state! I have learned that nuks are evil - even if you only use them for 1 hour. I've figured out that just because babies are super cute when they sleep - don't let them do it for as long as they want! I've learned that even though newborns don't have teeth - they can still bite! Ouch!!! I've learned that you want to keep the hospital id bracelet's on for a couple days after coming home, just to make sure that your precious gift wasn't switched at the door for an alien child! I've learned that having a lactation consultant for a good friend is indespensible! Three cheers for St. Aleycia Gerlach! There are a lot more things that I've learned, but it turns out the library is about to close and I need to go now. I was just informed there is an hour time limit per day on the machine and I'm getting an evil look!!! Will check in later!

Feeling overwhelmed in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

Alright - time is up!

2009-09-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

I cannot continue the Giveaway contest, because #1 - we are heading in to the hospital tonight/tom. morning. And the Dr. said tomorrow is the big day! So once we actually see the whites of little Coleman's eyes, I will check the entries and see who picked the correct day and do a drawing with those particular people and I'll be contacting you with the choice of your prize!!! I'm still praying that there is a possibility of those of you who chose today - contractions started last night. I don't know if they are the "real" ones or the Braxton Hicks kind, but either way - I hope that when I go in tonight, things will have progressed far beyond what they expect and we'll have baby out sooner than ever! Keep praying!!! I did have some pictures I was going to post for you today, but Sam took my camera out duck hunting this morning and so I don't have it with me. So stay tuned for lots of posts!!! I still haven't finished the nursery, so I didn't want to post those pictures yet, but hopefully we'll be able to get that done pretty soon. I wanted our chalk board to up to welcome the new guy, but alas, not done. Too busy. But we will get it up, one of these days, I promise! :)

Other than that, my mom started her radiation. Please keep her in your prayers. I think it's going well so far, today is her third day into it!

And on another note! Sam has decided to postpone school until next semester! So we are very excited about that and Sam has a few weeks to focus on his paintings and get those ready to go for his big show. A load was really taken off when he made that decision and so yay!!!

Other than that, I guess we are all as ready as we can get for Baby Coleman to arrive. Will be posting stories, pictures and news asap - make sure to tune in!!!!

Getting ready for a new little man in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

Thursday Morning!

2009-09-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Folks,

Just wanted to stop by and say so far, no baby. Things are progressing, but slowly at this point. Everyone has been giving me pointers on how to make the baby come sooner, but frankly, I think he got wind of life OUTSIDE with the womb with Mom and Dad and he's decided he might like to stay INSIDE for a bit longer! :)

I did want to show you a couple senior pictures - now, just remember, these are straight out of the camera, but they were just too good not to share... I'll be working on editing them here pretty soon, so keep in touch for more!!!

Before.....ahhhh, what a cutie patootie!

and after..........hahahahahahahahahahahaha

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! He totally fell in by accident! I love it!!!

Hope that brought a smile to your face like it did mine!

Waiting for a baby in the Tundra,

Sarah

Good morning and greetings, Fans!

2009-09-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

Ha, I crack myself up! Well, we've had quite a busy last few days! Hopefully I can show you a little of what we've been up to! And on a side note - I'm sorry to those of you who have picked dates for little Jr. to arrive up to this point - he's still comfy and cozy tucked away inside! It's getting closer, I CAN assure you of that fact! :)

Let me think if I can remember what we did over the weekend. Oh, Saturday was just a regular busy, uneventful day, but Sunday, we knew we were going to have a busy day, so... we took our Sunday drive on Saturday and I can't explain to you the situation we were in, so I hope to illustrate it.

Just to start my pictorial example, it all started with this. We were just driving. No one said anything. Then Sam pipes up - "Don't ask me where we're going, because I don't know."

(PS. It's a video, so click the arrow to PLAY)

Ummm..... I told Sam that I didn't really figure he knew where he was going, but secretly, I was just thankful that we weren't in my van! :) By the way, yes, that's Tonto running on ahead - his only trick is staying ahead of Sam but he never wants to get left behind, so every once in a while, he slows down to make sure we're still there - "Better keep going, T!"

Anyway, we got to a little pickle and Sam had to decide if we could even continue, so this is his verdict....

Uhhh, guess that was a - NO!

So here's one more video on getting out of where we never knew we were going in the first place!

So now you have it folks! A little taste of our Sunday drives and maybe you understand a little better why folks are always wondering about the status of our vehicles! But hey, it's fun! And quite the adventure!!!

Sunday..... we had a busy day - we had church in the morning, and then a meeting, and after that, the most amazing wonderful ladies put on a baby shower for me! And then we finished up the evening with a Crossfire Bonfire! (Crossfire is our Jr. High Ministry!) So besides a little 20 minute opportunity to run home and lay down for a couple minutes, we were out and about all day! And just so you know, Sam didn't come to the Baby Shower. He used his time off to head up to Center, ND for Prairie Days. Thought there would be a link for it, but I guess not. Anyway, if you want to hear all about that adventure, well, you'll just have to ask Sam, but he never submits on this blog, so he misses out on telling his story, or version, or defend himself, or whatever. But that's his problem - not mine! :) So back to me! The baby shower was so nice - the Youth decorated downstairs at church - it looked so nice - I've got pictures, don't you worry! We had yummy goodies, one of my Sr. High girls made the cake - amazing! She's the same one who made my birthday cake, if you remember that. Bridget Hineman - remember that name! She'll be the next famous chef/baker on one of these reality shows - or in a famous restaurant - maybe not in a restaurant because she wants to go into Dermatology and I don't know about you, but something tells me that cooking and skin diseases just don't go together. So I don't know how she's going to work all that out, but believe me - she's amazing, she'll figure it out! Ok, I digress! Where was I.... oh yeah, the baby shower - there were 40+ of the most precious ladies in the world all gathered together in one room just to celebrate this new life in me! Talk about overwhelmed!!! Those ladies had me opening presents for an hour straight while they got to visit with each other - I didn't even get to visit with all of them, but I can't tell you how much I appreciated their presence (presents)! Such sweet, sweet people! Let me stop rambling and show you some pictures!

Yep, that's the famous "Bridget!"

This is Kari Knudson sharing a devotional while Sam was still there. She is one of the wonderful gals that put this shin dig on - I can't even begin to tell you what a treasure she is... Be on the look out - this picture is just a tame version of her - you'll see her wild side come out in a few pictures!

Lots of wonderful food!!!!

Just some of the wonderful people there!

Here's the thing - I caught Kari acting very suspicious. She told me she found the camera I'd put away and I warned her that whatever pictures she took WILL be showing up on the Internet. So I consider that a fair warning, don't you? So feast your eyes on the REAL Kari!!! This is what I found on my camera!!!

There you have it folks! I wish I had pictures from the other showers that my precious friends gave me, but alas, that was BEFORE I had a camera, so we all miss out! But Katie, Sadie and Ruth gave me a family/relative and close family friends shower back in May, which was really nice. And then I had another one when I went home in July, with my precious peeps from back in VA - that was a hootin' hollerin' good time! It always is with those ladies!!!

Do you think this post has gone on long enough? Are you sick of my life yet? I haven't even started on what we've done this week so far! HA!

On a more serious note, I don't know if you know that Sam is going back to school for his Master's in Pastoral Counseling. He started his class on Monday and I think he's feeling quite a bit overwhelmed, if you can please pray for him, I'd sure appreciate it. He's got a lot on his plate right now with the start up of Fall Activities with church and his one man Art Show in October, his new class and oh yeah, a baby on the way! Please pray that I have the discernment to know how to help bear his burdens. Thank you.

We've also been busy taking Senior photo's! It's just starting to turn Fall around here, so what few leaves we have are beginning to change and make for really nice photos. We've got two more Sr.'s photos to do this week and then we are off to get them all edited and distributed...

I have my last dr. appt today, so I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow - if I'm still around here tomorrow! I know there are a lot of guesses for tomorrow - so we'll see who is right!

Well, goodbye for now folks! Hope you enjoyed my weekend as much as I did! :)

Until the next time, enjoying the Fall in the Tundra,

Sarah

Seriously...

2009-09-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

I was going to do a nice long post of the weekend, but I didn't feel too well yesterday - didn't sleep much and so I didn't have access to the computer. Today, well, I'm swamped and don't have time to download and upload and all that good stuff, so watch out - it's coming - hold on to your hats!!!!

Coming up for a breath in the Tundra,

Sarah

End of another week....

2009-09-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know that I promised pictures of the nursery at this point, but I just remembered I have a baby shower on Sunday and maybe I'll be getting some treasures, so why not make you wait a little longer! It's not going anywhere, and besides, I have maternity clothes flung all over the place in there and nothing on the walls yet. So I am going to make you wait a bit! I still have to find a place for some things and I want to give you the grand tour!

On another note, for those of you participating in my Giveaway and are anxious to find out how I'm feeling - still good. I know that I've passed at least one of your dates, so I'm sorry for your loss in the Giveaway, but don't give up on me - there will be more! :)

It's still summer here. As in, summer came last week and it's still here - miracle above miracles!!! I was telling some friends of mine last night that I think I got jipped. I honestly thought we'd get weather like this when I wasn't quite so pregnant. I was counting on some serious fall weather by now! How can I even decorate my house with corn stalks when it's stinkin' 80 degrees outside? There is something VERY wrong with that!!! Oh well, I think next week, it's suppose to cool down a little. I really have nothing to complain about except for the fact that I can't walk out of the house without pouring sweat and that's just plain disgusting!

On the home front - Sam, the main man, has been painting! Oh man, you should see some of his work. Last night, he got home from guys Bible Study about 9pm and started a painting, while we were watching Hannah Montana, the movie (I know - side note later) and he ended up staying up till, well, frankly I don't know - 3am maybe? Anyway, I looked downstairs this morning and he had completed this whole huge painting and it's just BEAUTIFUL!!! I know that I'm a bit biased, but seriously, this is a keeper. There are some of the ones he does that don't really tinkle my bell, but this is a beautiful one out in the badlands with some yellow flowers in the fore ground - amazing and so real to life!!! So how about that - I really think the Lord is blessing his diligence. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he is feeling the crunch time to get these paintings done for his one man show in October. I know he can do it though! So, yeah, the Hannah Montana movie... well, remember #1 that we deal with youth on a regular basis and it's good to keep up with Youth Culture! And for #2 - Sam loves Hannah Montana - HA! I think that's so funny! He thinks she's the funniest thing. So here we are watching this movie last night and laughing away! It was so lame in a lot of parts that we couldn't even help rolling our eyes and laughing! But let me tell you - Hannah Montana knows how to put some good music in her movies! :) I did keep me awake all the way till midnight and that is more than I can say for about 99% of the movies we rent. That might be pretty sad, but it's a fact!

Well, I guess I'll close for the weekend.... The street fair is this weekend, maybe I'll get out a do a little walking! Should be a good time! I'll be checking in Monday, so have a great weekend!!!!

Waiting for Fall to hit in the Tundra,

Sarah

Follow up from the weekend....

2009-09-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

I was actually really busy at work yesterday and didn't even have the time to download my pictures, much less even blog about my treasures. (Not that there is too much to say.) I think we are getting a little too picky for Yard Sales. *Gasp*, did I say that out loud. I don't really think I meant it. It's just that sometimes when your house becomes so full of real junk, it's hard to see the treasure-ness in items you might find on the yard sale route! I think this change of heart is really telling me that I need to do some purging of the junk in my house, so that I can make room for more! I think one problem is that Sam is a little bit of a pack-rat and coupled with the fact that I can tend toward the pack-rat side (after all, my mom's theory on life is "Why buy one, two is better!"!), brings on much stuff! But it's so dang much fun!!!

Maybe you ask where do we even find these yard sales? Well, here's a good spot to start!

Seriously, why advertise in the paper when you have this opportunity?!

Now, here's a look at the good ole' days. The only problem here is that I didn't want these parents to think I was stalking their children, but come on - you are going to let your kids do this? Be ready for some pictures, they were so enthusiastic that we didn't even look at the rummage sale, we only stopped for....

That's right - you guessed it - LEMONADE!!!! .25 cents a cup, baby! I was trying to get a picture of Sam actually at the stand, but especially my bending-over-to-get-the-camera reflexes are a little slow these days!

Now here is a classic example of a drive-by!

But in light of the situation, (this is Sam's mom, moving her stuff from one rummage sale location to another) we stopped to load up her, ummmm..... treasures. Right, treasures.

We found many more drive-by's this year than ever before. Like I said, we are getting a little more selective about our time and treasures. Plus, getting in and out of the car that many times might just have put me into labor! We did find a couple things. A small stroller and two little bean bag chairs - one is a lady bug and the other is a bumble bee!!! Craziness, since that's exactly what our nursery is decorated like! Speaking of, I will promise to take some pictures today of the nursery because at this point, you never know when I may have to take a leave of absence from my blog and leave you high and dry! :) It's ok, we'll go through the detoxing together! :)

Should I, or should I not??? I'm pretty excited about a couple of senior photo's that I've been tinkering around with for Erik! I think I will post one of my favorite's so far to give you a taste of what's to come - let me know what you think Erik?!!!

Well, that should more than make up for some of my posts with no pictures! Don't forget to vote on my Giveaway post... You have a great chance of winning since I don't have many entries right now. And seriously, people, I don't want Sam to get a complex thinking that no one wants his art - he's very excited about this giveaway!

Alrighty then, trying to figure out how to get ready for a baby in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

Giveaway!

2009-09-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

For all of you out there holding your breath with me for winning a Pioneer Woman's giveaway - exhale, didn't happen again!!!! But... I think I'll do my own give away!

So for those of you that voted on my baby's due date, write me a comment for the date that you guessed and for those of you that pick the right date, I'll do a drawing and get you a Sam Coleman print! How's that for celebrating a new life!!!!

Plus, I think that Sam will be more than happy to oblige! Anyone can join - the contest will start right now and go till Sept. 28th. You can only enter once!

Just comment on this post for the contest!

Waiting to find out if I won some amazing boots....

2009-09-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ever the optimist. Trying to win something on Pioneer Woman! One day, I will succeed and I'm afraid it might just be one of the biggest highlights in my life!!! Is that sad? Wait. Don't answer that. Guess what? It's POW WOW weekend - do you realize what this means? Only the biggest yard sale weekend of the YEAR!!!! Nevermind that we haven't gone to a yard sale the rest of the summer. We decided we have too much junk in our house as it is and we don't need anymore. I did a little the beginning of the summer looking for some baby treasures and that's what I plan on doing this weekend! I'm not exactly sure what I need, but don't you worry, when I find it, I'LL KNOW! My one brother in law, Judah, thinks it's all junk, but my other brother in law - the kindred spirit, Charlie, he sees it all for what it really is - a treasure!!!! Sorry Judah, but I'm sure you'll come around one of these days! :)

Well, we are on countdown for a lot of things. #1 - Rally Sunday, that's this Sunday and that means Sunday School starts back up again. So after being gone from church for too many Sundays to count, we'll be back, full fledged! #2 - Rally Wednesday is this coming Wednesday night (16th) which is the start of Confirmation! We are switching things up quite a bit and so Sam's got a lot on his plate right now. But it'll be nice when that is over. The first one - you just never know how it's gonna go, but we have a lot of people that have put a lot of time into this service and I'm pretty sure it's going to knock everyone's socks off. The only dilemma I have is that my Women's Bible Study is at the exact same time. So I just don't know - I'm so torn. I need the fellowship, but I might have to skip the first one just to gain the momentum of the back to school spirit!!! We'll see. I'll keep you posted. #3 - Thursday night (17th) starts Sam's league Men's Volleyball. Yes, he signed up for a weekly league to play V-ball with the boys and have a Bible study afterwards. Good for them. That goes till December or something. #4 - Friday night (18th) is our back to school kick off for Jr. High Crossfire. #5 - Sam is starting back to school with Liberty Theological Seminary. I don't know when his class starts exactly. #6 - It's time for the annual Papa's Pumpkin Patch family fun day! Which crazy enough, Sam is in charge of! But he says that he's pretty much handed those responsibilities over to someone else, but we'll see. #7 - Sam's got a big commission art piece that he has finally started on and I pray he feels like he's got a good start, because I think it looks great! Don't know exactly when that's due. #8 - Sam's also got a one man art show the last week of October! Hmmm.... I should be working on some invites for that. At least getting some labels ready for that. Thanks for the reminder. He just has to get 30 originals ready to put up... No big deal, right? #9 - We have 2 senior and 1 family photo session to edit and 2 more seniors to take during the Fall. #10 - Oh, I almost forgot - we have to squeeze the birth of our first born son in there somewhere between #6 and #7. So you can see, we've got a lot going on. Any prayers you've got to spare, we'd sure appreciate it!!! And winning the oh so cool cowgirl boots on Pioneer Woman sure would help! But I'm not going to hold my breath! (Pretty much winning anything on Pioneer Woman would help!)

I know I need to add a few more pictures, I will. I actually got the nursery straighten up yesterday. It looks pretty close to being ready to welcome a new person! I've got laundry washed, books ready to read, diapers ready to put on, and who knows what else? I don't really have a clue what I need for a new little baby, but we'll figure it all right? I've decided that you can really get inundated by all the "things" to do to prepare for a little person. You've got people telling you that "life is never going to be the same" "you'd better sleep now - you'll never sleep again" "you've got to change everything that you ever knew" "you'll never have fun again" "this little tiny person is going to take over your life" "your whole entire world will be turned upside down" "Sam will finally have to grow up" "you'll never have peace and quiet for the rest of your life" "you won't even know what hit you" "you better do whatever you want to now, ie, travel, etc. because you won't be able to do it again for the next 18+ years" "you'd better get out of your system everything you ever wanted or hoped to do it because now you have to do whatever your kid wants to do" - but.... "it'll all be worth it." Yeah right. No wonder parents are super heroes. It's been about 9+ months to get all of this hysteria out of my system and actually look forward to meeting this little guy. I have to remember all the advice is coming from other people with other lives and they aren't me. Sure, I'm sure some of it is legitimate, but I think we'll figure out how to adjust to our new little addition. There might be bumps along the way, but I have an amazing husband, who is surprisingly a lot more grown up than a lot of people give him credit for. And most of all, we have a God that loves us more than anything and has already filled our life with lots of loving people that have already offered to come along and help us. He's given us this little blessing for a short while to raise in the nurture and admonition in the Lord, and we will do our darndest to make sure that happens, even though I know we'll screw up - we always do! But God is bigger than us! So that's about where I stand these last few weeks as we look forward to meeting our new little guy! (PS. I know you think I'm kidding about all that advice, but it's true, I heard every bit of it and more at least once in the last nine months!)

On another note - please continue to pray for my mom. Her radiation starts on 09-22-09. And she'll have it for 5 days a week for at least 6 weeks. So if you work out the math there, it means, we're hoping she'll finish up before Thanksgiving and that also means, no time to come out when the baby is born. We will be heading back to VA for T-giving as we have a lot of family coming from all over to meet our little fella and fellowship. So there is no sense in Mom and Dad coming out. That also means our projects get put on hold for another year probably. It's quite disappointing, but I want mom to get better and healed up! So please pray for her during this time as well. Thank you!!!!

Sorry for all the writing and not so many pictures... Pictures will definitely be coming! Thanks for your patience!

Fall is on it's way in the Tundra,

Sarah

Updates on.....Life......

2009-09-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well, here's how the story goes. I don't know when was the last time I updated you on life. But I just had another ultra sound yesterday and the tech just gave me a picture, not a cd, so I was trying to scan it in so that you could see my 37 week old baby! But the scan did not turn out too good, so you are going to have to trust me on this one - he is the cutest baby that you've ever seen in the whole entire world! He's up to 6lbs. 12oz. give or take half a lb. or so. That means in the next three weeks, he may gain up to a half a lb. each week coming into the world at a whopping 8 and a half lbs. Of course, that's all speculation. Nothing in this world is for sure! Well, maybe a couple things, but I'm not really going to wax philosophical on you right now. That just wouldn't be right on this absolutely perfect ND day! What can I say - it might take a while for summer to get to the Tundra, but when it does - watch out!!! My computer registers 78 degrees right now and I'm wilting away inside.

I started MOPS this morning. I know a few of you may think I'm being a little too premature, but a girl has got to prepare herself, you know? Anyway, speaking of all this baby-ness - I'm assuming I can make this big announcement since she did on Facebook - and we all know that when the announcement goes on Facebook - it's official!!! Sam's sister Katie is expecting a little guy/gal!!! That's right - the beginning of April will be welcoming another little peanut into the Coleman Clan. How exciting is that???? She's 10 weeks now and ready for the morning sickness to subside, but otherwise perfectly excited and happy about the new little life growing in her! So congrats to Katie and Mike Montplaisir in the upcoming birth of #1!!!

Well, I just got a call from the Love of my life - by the way, he's got a lot on his plate right now - if you could say a little prayer for him, I'd really appreciate it! Anyway, he's on his way to pick me up - so I'll check in again later!!! Have a great day - hope yours is as beautiful as mine!

Soaking up the Sun in the Tundra,

Sarah

Well....

2009-09-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

for those of you who voted on my baby's due date past Sept - I don't think you are going to be right... The dr. just told me yesterday she wasn't going to let me go much past my due date! So if you can be praying - I need little Baby Coleman to come sometime between 9/17 and 9/29! Thanks! It might sound crazy, but I don't really want to be induced and I want the little guy to be as healthy as possible!!! There is the latest on my account! :) Getting ready - we picked up the crib last night. So today I'll be working on laundry and trying to get the rest of the nursery set up! Pictures yet to come!

Getting ready in the Tundra,

Sarah

Are you a smeller?

2009-08-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

If you have to ask me, what the heck is a smeller? - you OBVIOUSLY aren't a smeller! I LOVE smells - good smells that is. I go crazy with fresh laundry. And right now, on my desk, sitting beside me is the most delicious smelling peach I think I've ever smelled in my whole entire life! I'm thinking I need to wait till snack time for it. When is snack time anyway? Ok, I can't stand it - the smell is getting to me - snack time is NOW! One bite and....oh, so disappointed...... You know how they say, don't judge a book by it's cover? Well, certainly don't judge a peach by it's smell.... Another bite - it gets a little better, but frankly, I've lost all the excitement with that first impressionable bite. My life is not as happy as it was before. Some of you may be thinking right now - what the heck is this girl writing about and why the heck am I reading it? Well, that's a question that only you can answer. And frankly, I think it might be a bit of a personal problem! :) Now, getting back to my peach, if I were more of a blogger and less of a smeller, I might have even documented the whole process with pictures. But seriously, the smell was just getting to me! So there you have it! I have a pretty intense sniffer. Most of my memories are linked to smells. Is that weird? Never mind, don't answer that. Every time I smell diesel - it reminds me of being 11 years old and standing in the Garden Tomb right outside of Jerusalem, Israel. Did you know that they've created a bus station right under Golgatha? Seriously. It was a pretty intense moment in my life and so as I stood there taking it all in, the diesel really marked that memory on my brain - funny how things like that work... Whenever I smell celery - I ALWAYS think of Thanksgiving. It could be the middle of summertime and as soon as I smell celery, it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling like the cozy, comforting Fall is right around the corner. I remember waking up to the smell of Turkey in the oven every Thanksgiving. My mom had already chopped celery and onion to fill the inside of it with all of her other seasonings... Ummmm..... I'm definitely not ready for the Fall, but the thought of Thanksgiving...

Well, to get us back on track for the summer, let me show you a couple of pictures with just did with one of our amazing pastor's families... This is raw footage, mind you - Sam's got the good pictures on his camera, but they are so stinking cute, I couldn't resist posting a couple just to give you a sneak preview to what is to come. Eventually, meaning sooner than later, we are going to get a S2 (S-Squared) Photography website up and running to see all of our photos, but for now - with the lack of equipment that we need right now.... we'll just have to settle for this!

Just a reminder - these are not the final product - Sam's got the good photo's, this is just a taste, but they are such a cute family!!! I just had to share! Well, I guess my aimless ramblings have filled up enough of your time. So I'll let you go - I need to make a to-do list for the day! So have a terrific day! It's gone from 56 degrees to 70 degrees - so I hope you are enjoying your day as much as I plan on enjoying mine! :)

Life is good in the Tundra,

Sarah

Just to let you know...

2009-08-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

I'm still here. Trying to think of something great to say. Just not coming. Oh well.

Stumped in the Tundra,

Sarah

PS. We are going to be doing some family pictures this afternoon - pray that the sun comes out a bit more!!! Stand by for some new pictures of peeps!

Post 100?

2009-08-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

Whoever knew that I would have enough to say to fill up 100 posts on a blog. Some of you may beg to differ that really, I never did have enough to say to fill up that many posts, but I did it anyway. And really, you can't stop me! Even if everyone decided to stop reading my blog, I'd probably write anyway. It's fun. So there. Besides, how else would all my college students go away to school and feel so homesick that they just need a little bit of home and so they tune in to the good ole' blog that stays with them through thick and thin and realize that they aren't alone? They don't have to feel crazy for being homesick - there are craziers out there - and they go by the names of Sam and Sarah Coleman!!! I'm here to make other people's life more bearable - that's what I've decided. A long time ago, I told Sam I was here to teach him patience, but it turns out that didn't really work. And I'm not going to be patient enough to teach him patience. So I've decided to move on with my purpose in life. Now I'm going to make other people's life more bearable!

Now, what was I saying? Ha. I guess nothing really. HA - and you wonder how I can fill up 100 posts! Hey, you don't have to read them, you know.... Well, we are on countdown for the big meeting of Baby Coleman - 5 weeks left, I hope no more than that. Ahhhhh - 5 weeks????? Ahhhhhh!!!!! I don't think I'm ready for this!!!!!!!!! I guess it's too late to turn back now! What was I thinking???? Breathe, ok breathe, ok, I'm sure I'll be fine..... Sorry about that.

Well, I'm busy uploading videos on facebook of our tubing adventures! Unfortunately, I missed the best parts because of hitting a bump in the water and nearly flying out of the boat - the tubers - mainly Sam - flew straight up in the air - we are talking VERTICAL while still holding on and then came soundly down on Tiffany - the 4'6" tiniest girl! I think there was a permanent indention of her body on the tube. I felt really bad for her - she'll probably never bounce back. Anyway, all the boys have been complaining about how sore their muscles are since their tubing/wake boarding adventures - let's see if I can upload some for you!!!

This is Sam's first time wake boarding - pretty impressive, if I do say so myself!

Now let's see if I can get a video on here...

Well, that took quite a while, let me see if I can post this for your viewing pleasure!

Livin' it up in the Tundra,

Sarah

I'm trying...

2009-08-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, it's so frustrating not to have the time to do the things you WANT to do, do you know what I mean? And then when frustrating things like your computer is super slow.... Oh well... I need to get some photos uploaded!

Anyway, this is what I was busy doing last night while Sam was out hunting clay pigeons. And from what I heard, he only found half of them! But good for him, he had a great time and is getting in practice for hunting season, although I think Tonto needs more practice than Sam!!! I don't know much about hunting for clay pigeons, but something tells me, it'd be pretty hard to sniff them out and nearly impossible for T to retrieve them anyway, so I guess it's all good! :) So here's the nursery. It's coming along. I would have taken more pictures, but this is the only section I've gotten done so far.

I think the red is super cute and I'm so glad that Sam encouraged us to go with the brighter colors.

I have a bunch more pictures and video footage from the weekend at the Hinemans, let me see if I have a couple minutes to get them on here. Actually, since my computer has been acting up, I don't. So you'll have to tune in tomorrow and hopefully things will be cooperating better!

Tune in later!

Summer has finally arrived in the Tundra! (or maybe it's Indian Summer - a little early, don't you think?)

Love, Sarah

Updates....

2009-08-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Well, just so you know, there was no one at my house painting our steps in the rain. Sam ran the "Homeless" fella's situation by everyone at church and they told him he'd be crazy to bring him home and give him a job and that not a one of them were coming to the morgue to identify his body and I guess that made Sam second guess his decision. So there you have it - me waxing philosophical on my husband's sensitive heart and the church shooting him down. Oh well. I still take you back to the heart motivation....

I was running late this morning and wanted to get pictures of the rocking chair I covered and the valence that I made yesterday. Our nursery is coming along nicely. We finally picked up a dresser. Just need to get the crib now and things will start to be underway!!! It's definitely coming together and it's already so bright and cheery. I suppose soon, I'll have to start washing clothes and get ready for the little guys big debut! When I think about the whole new adventure getting ready to come and all that goes along with it, it's very intimidating, but when I focus on the little guy and just getting to meet him and know that he is half of me and half of the love of my life - our very own, lent to us for a short while by a great God who trusts us enough to send him, well, I just get so stinking excited!

My mom just called and she has a meeting with the Radiation Dr. in a couple of weeks to start her radiation...Please pray that all that works out. I feel very confident in her decision and the Lord has brought confirmation after confirmation to her regarding her own decision and so I'm very thankful for that! So most likely her radiation treatments are going to overlap Baby Coleman being born - well, maybe, we'll see.... So please continue to pray for this situation! Thanks a tons!!!!

Well, I'm off to the Lake this weekend. Looks like things are going to warm up in the Tundra - we're looking at 80's on Saturday and 90's on Sunday. We'll be back in time for church on Sunday, because our church is getting together with a bunch of other churches, where it's called "The Gathering." All of our churches get together at an outside amphitheater and worship together. It's quite cool! Well, that's about all going on in the Tundra this weekend!

Looking forward to sharing some new pictures on Monday!

Have a great weekend!

Livin' it up in the Tundra!

Sarah

Entertaining Angels?

2009-08-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Last night was our last Garden Tour of the Summer. The summer is winding down here, that's for sure. I guess it was 100 degrees for a couple days while we were away, but it's been chilly since we've been home. I guess yesterday it did get up to 80, but mostly staying in the 70's. Everyone says it's going to be another early, cold winter. I don't know if I'm really ready for that! In fact, I know I'm not ready for that - I'll tell you what I AM ready for - all this Global Warming that everyone and their mother keeps talking about! Bring it on baby!!!

Well, anyway, it was a perfect evening for touring people's yards. I have no idea how they make their yards just so perfect. I have an idea that they don't plant things 2 inches away from each other so that at the end of the first season, the plant bed looks like it's been there for 30 years. That's just ONE idea. Sam says he's probably going to have to dig up every plant and space them a little better - I don't guess now would be the most appropriate time to say - "I told you so." So I'll just let it rest at that.

On a whole other note - did you know that my husband has a soft spot for hitch hikers? It's true, he picked up countless numbers of them during his college years and hauled them between Bismarck and Minneapolis. He's had some interesting adventures in talking to a lot of them. Most of them were aching to get out of the car once it slowed down to a mere 30 mph. It was also usually by the time Sam got to the salvation message. I'm not sure if it had to do with the way the conversation was going or if it was just his driving. The jury is still out on that one! :) So last night, on our way to a Garden, we saw a fella holding up a street corner with the following sign - "More then Willing To Work - Renovation by trade but will even clean toilets" He was a clean cut individual, looking to be in his 50's? 60's? Sometimes you can never tell. What's their story anyway? What brings them to standing on the corner of the biggest road in Bismarck with a sign like that? Bad choices? Bad luck? Unfortunate circumstances? You just never know. It's a wonder he didn't think we were stalking him. We drove past about 15 times and then went and parked in a parking lot across from him. Sam's heart went out to this fella. He wanted to talk to him. I'm a lot more selfish. I was sitting there figuring, how in the heck are we going to pay this fella to do jobs around our house that we could do ourselves? Where are we going to let him sleep? I don't especially want to bring a stranger home tonight. I'm tired. Why do I have to deal with this? Meanwhile, my soft hearted husband is sitting beside me thinking - we just got paid some unexpected money from some art that sold. We have those steps that need to be painted. He could sleep downstairs. I wonder what his story is. Why does he have a cane? Who can I connect him with to get him a job? I just want to talk to him. How do I get over there to talk to him? So you can see a little glimpse into the life of a Saint and Sinner. The whole time, scriptures are running through my head - taking care of the least of these my brethren... entertaining angels unaware... don't worry about tomorrow... look how I take care of the lilies of the field. I could go on. But you already have enough of a glimpse of my utter selfishness. So then Sam said outloud - How are you suppose to talk to him, just pull over on the ramp of the interstate - I just want to talk to him. And from somewhere else inside of me came - You could pull into that parking lot and walk over and talk to him.... Hello - where did that come from? So Sam immediately goes and parks and as soon as he did, this fella picks up all his stuff and starts walking toward us. I start praying - God, protect us. May your will be done and not mine. Sam jumped out and talked to him. He was sleeping right there in some bushes by an old abandoned building. He was clean cut. He was from Butte, MT. He was desperately looking for work. While Sam was talking to him, a little Native American girl came running over to give him some money. He graciously and embarrassingly took it. I'm more convicted. But I'm getting more excited about helping this fella and I'm especially thankful for such a wonderful, sensitive husband. He had a cell phone. They exchanged numbers. Sam told him we had a little work, but not much - he said, he didn't care. He'd do anything - except work for crazy people, he'd done that. He said he'd be ready first thing in the morning - give him a call. This morning I woke up and reminded Sam to not forget about his friend, LR. I don't know what happened today. It rained. He can't paint outside in the rain. Sam had staff meeting this morning. I don't know what's happened with LR or if he's even still around. Heck, he could be at my house painting treacherous steps down to the road. But let me tell you - I had a lesson in trusting the Lord last night. It was a hard one. Maybe we ended up helping LR, maybe not - but God certainly used him last night to teach me to trust Him and not when it's convenient and fun. But there are people who have needs for whatever reason all the time. To be on the look out for them - just like Sam is. Every morning, Sam and I pray for opportunities to serve others - here was a perfect example - and I think the lesson comes like this - whether you actually serve or help someone is besides the point, the point is to just be WILLING to. Be sensitive to the Lord's leading. Whew. Wow, that was hard. Thanks for letting me share my lesson with you. I hope you have a fantastic day finding lots of ways to see the Lord working around you!

Also, I wanted to update you on the status of my mom. She goes into to visit with her Oncologist tomorrow. I think she's decided to just do the radiation and hormone therapy, not the chemo. So I would like to continue asking for prayers for her healing and that she would be confident in her decision. That she would not be anxious through radiation (5 days/week for 5-6 weeks) that she's not going to make it to Bismarck in time for Baby Coleman to arrive. (Please don't pray that he's late either. Thanks!) Pray that the Lord's promised healing hand would be on her and give her the peace that passes all human understanding - just as He promises! Isn't it wonderful that we serve such an amazing God???

Humbled in the Tundra,

Sarah

Warning

2009-08-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

I just finished posting about my previous 10 days, so scroll down for previous post before reading this one - unless of course, you are one of THOSE people, who like to read the last chapter of the book before you even start the book - but don't EVEN get me started on THOSE KINDS OF PEOPLE! Just do me a favor, ok? Scroll down and read the other post first... Geesh, why do you have to be so difficult? - some people's children.....

So HI! I'm back! It's been a full 10 minutes since I last posted, but I have a lot more pictures from Colorado. We were home for a little over 24 hours, just enough time to do a little laundry and re-figure some packing, remove our forks, go to the Dr. for a check up, rent a few audio books for the long drive, go through Sam's goods from Guatemala, tell our dog hi, and have a little bit of sleep before we got up at 4:30am on Saturday morning to begin our 17-20 hour drive to CO! We did make it the first day to Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes, CO - with 7 people in the Suburban and Sadie and Nathan in their van. When we got to Cheyenne, WY, we got to spread out a bit... Anyway, here's a couple pictures from our evening hike up to a waterfall that night.

What a hunka hunka burning love, aye?

The next day, we headed out again, all through the park, it was really pretty, except it was called "Alpine Tundra" instead of my fond name for ND - the "Arctic Tundra." But you'll have to understand the definitions of the two so that you understand that I'm not exaggerating when I call this place the Arctic Tundra! The "Alpine Tundra" has to do with elevation, while the "Arctic Tundra" has to do with the temperature... ND does not have elevation, so I've been right on all this time - and for you all you crazies out there that think I'm being SO DRAMATIC - whatever. If you drive to the highest paved road in the United States - in Rocky Mountain National Park and stop at the visitor center at the top - like 12,000 ungodly feet, you can read the sign for yourself! So there!!!! Enough of that.

It was really COLD here too though...

We picked up Katie and Mike in Buena Vista, CO. It's great to see them again! And then we headed off to Family Camp. Seriously, after 3,000 (maybe slight exaggeration) hours in the car, I thought I was going to loose it in the windy, twisty road down to the Camp. We ended up just outside of Lake City, CO - ever heard of it? Yeah, me neither. But it's beautiful. I mean REALLY BEAUTIFUL! And guess what, there were houses for sale EVERYWHERE - so guess who decided that's the new place we are moving too - yep, you guessed it - Sambo says we're moving. But then again - he always says that, so don't get your panties in a wad, ok, Most likely, we're not going anywhere! You can take the guy out of the Tundra, but you can never take the Tundra out of the guy!

Well, here is a plug for Camp Red Cloud. What an amazing experience! We were there for a Creation Mountain Adventure with Alpha and Omega Institute. And it was a great week! 0 as in ZERO cell phone reception, no tv's...basically no contact with the outside world... Here are some fun things we did....

Self portrait - pretty talented, ain't I? these were "family communication building" games... Needless to say, the staff at Red Cloud were NOT sure what to do with the Coleman Clan.

A hike to a waterfall....

High Ropes Course....

Biking for the girls minus me (you should have seen how tiny those seats were - shiver....) and fishing for the boys plus me (you should have seen how tiny those seats were - shiver....oh sorry, did I already say that?!)

I guess this is the only picture I have from fishing - here's the thing - I got a one on one tutorial on fishing with my main man finding me a grasshopper and getting me all rigged up - he even casted for me and showed me how to do it and everything. I sat there and sat there. Then he left and I reeled in and casted myself and within seconds, maybe even milliseconds, I caught my own fish. THAT picture must be on his camera - so trust me on this one - Sambo was NOT the only one in the family catching fish. There, I've said my piece!

On Wednesday, we had an all day event - Rock climbing....

Let's see, what else.... Repelling! I didn't repel - OBVIOUSLY... But here's a great shot after the Outlaws came down!

Some people went on an early morning horse back ride to Breakfast - again, NOT ME! :) So don't you worry your pretty little heads out there in blogger land! I'm taking care of myself, I promise!

And finally, for the pies de resistance - the POWER POLE!

This picture is a little dark and hard to see, but what the heck is a Power Pole, you might ask? I'm glad you did. It's where crazy people climb up a 23 foot telephone pole and stand on the very tippy top of it and then if that's not bad enough, they jump off of it to a trapeze thing and then they let you down with a rope. Yeah. Sounds insane to me - and you didn't even see it happen. Let's just say, I'm pretty glad that I had an excuse not to go on a lot of these things because frankly, I'm sure I would have ended up shortening my life. Can you believe people do this kind of stuff for fun?! :)

Anyway, after all this, we headed back to the Tundra on Friday and stopped in Colorado Springs on Friday night, finished our trip on Saturday and got back at 3am on Sunday morning and do you what to know what my normally extremely active husband had to say about all this?

'Nough said!

We're happy to be home in the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

Where in the world do I begin?

2009-08-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, I spent 10 days in VA and don't have any pictures to show for it because #1. I had Sam's camera and he forgot to get all his barn pictures off his camera before I left and I didn't want to delete any. And #2, well, I just didn't have much time to take pictures. I did take some of Mom's yard to show Sam, but they've since been swallowed up in the abyss of Sam's art pictures, so there you have it.

But what a great visit home. I thought I could go and help Mom and Dad, but it always switches on me - and they did an amazing job of taking care of me!!! I suppose you never stop being a parent.... They are great though. Just got back from their cruise to Alaska and had a ball! Wish I could have been there. Mom is visiting the Dr. today with her choice on what she is doing for treatments... Her options: well, she can do chemo, radiation, and hormone therapy OR she can skip chemo and just do radiation and hormone therapy. She's just waiting to hear from one more genetic Dr. But she's doing great, she looks great and I know that she make just the right decision for her. Isn't it great that we serve such a great God and that He cares about us so much and He loves us so much??? He's really been teaching me a lot about that lately!

Well, my precious, precious friends from home threw me a baby shower when I was home and it was such a special time. Just all the special ladies in my life were there. I even got a huge surprise! Brenda Huggins (who was helping throw the shower) said that she saw an old friend in town today and told her to stop by if she got a chance and do you want to know who walked in???? My AUNT GAYLE!!!!! I haven't seen her in forever - she flew up just for the shower and it's so happened that we had a family reunion the next day - but how special is that??? So seriously, the Lord worked it out so that so many special people could be there. Another dear friend, Noreen, changed her family visit and drove all the way down from DC just to be there too - I could go on and on... Got to visit with my three best friends from high school - they came all the way from Texas, Lynchburg and Fredericksburg!!!! Let me tell you what - I am one special gal!

The next day we had our family reunion, where I got to see a bunch of family from the DC/FL area and also my cousins from AUSTRALIA! Look at me, people are coming from all over the world just to see me! (Well, maybe not exactly! But still....)

It was definitely hard not being able to see or even talk to Sam for those 10 days while he was in Guatemala, but it turns out that he had the best mission trip ever! He's got tons and tons of pictures to share - I'm not sure if you'll be able to see his pictures posted here because they are on his facebook, but if you can, Have a look at a little of the trip to Guatemala with Charity Youth! I can't wait to go myself sometime!!! To tell you the truth - I'm a little jealous - but everyone tells me that once the little guy Coleman arrives, all my sacrifices of the summer will have been worth it - I'm sure that's the case!But did you see these pictures?

Anyway, getting up to the pictorial journal of my life - Sam and I were reunited on August 5th - and made the big drive back from Minneapolis on the 6th only to find this....

And that's kind of weird, because we DON'T park our car like that in the driveway. We thought, what the heck was Johnny doing with our car? So then we got out of the van and walked AROUND the car to find this....

And guess what? We knew exactly who'd been to visit us! Let me tell you - it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see Erik, Bridget, Tiffany, and Brittany's hands all over this little project.... Please follow me as I take you on a little tour of the rest of our yard...

Oh, and I couldn't resist - how could you not love THIS waiting for you??? After 12 days, I think he thought we were just a dream that he wouldn't let himself believe...

Anyway, continuing on...

Even some new visitors made their way to our yard....

And finally, 340 plastic forks later....

Needless to say, we felt very cherished! How special are we?? Anyway, we have such a great group of kids and it was great to come home to see this - Shhh....I think we may turn it into a fundraiser - anyone out there willing to pay to have someone else's yard forked???? If so, let me know!

Well, I still have our next week left to blog about, but I'm not going to include it in this post for fear it will get too long! So I'll save this and start another one! Hope you enjoyed!!!!

Feeling loved in the Tundra,

Sarah

Tune in tomorrow!!!

2009-08-17T11:05:00.001-07:00

Back in the Tundra!

Love, Sarah

Hello!

2009-08-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

I know - surprise, surprise! I was going to keep you posted on what's going on in the HOT East! Turns out, Mom and Dad's computer is not so very reliable and decides to shut down on it's own terms and at it's own convenience! So I'll be quick about this in case I loose it all!

I've had a great visit! I still haven't heard from the Sam-meister! That's kind of hard. Actually, who am I kidding - it's REALLY hard! But it's been so much fun connecting with former (not old - that would make ME old!) friends!!!! Having family reunions, baby showers, a lot of visits with dr.s concerning my gestational diabetes, trying to treat that with some alternative methods of diet control. IE - getting rid of all white refined sugar and gluten. Needless to say, I have not been having amazing meals as some may do on vacation. I'm learning the meaning of eating to live and that's about all! :( A girl can only take so many veggies!!! Oh well, I'm learning very good habits and will have to see how they translate into Sam's lifestyle! ;) It will be a good thing for all of us. But still... I haven't had dessert since my birthday! Or anything else to drink besides water since then either! Ugh! Oh the woes!!! (inserted for dramatic effect - just in case you were wondering!)

Well, let me wrap it up before I loose all this wit! As soon as we get back home on Thursday night, I'm sure I'll be doing laundry like crazy and then heading off to CO on friday after my dr. appt. So another week out and about! But hang in there! I'll be back (imagine the Terminator voice!)

Melting outside the Tundra,

Love, Sarah

Finally found it!

2009-07-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I think I would loose my head if it weren't attached! So I finally found the cord to the camera after putting it in a "safe place" and not being able to find it for the life of me!!! So enjoy some of these adventures....

Here's a picture of only the most amazing man in the world!!!

Some crazy shananigans!

If you look real close, you can start to see the "Third Eye" making it's appearance!!!

They didn't last too long with this craziness going on!!!

What a happy boy!

Well, gotta figure out a better way to upload videos...

Having a crazy day in the Tundra!

Love, Sarah

PS. Tune in next time, live and unplugged from the East Coast!!!

Tubing Adventure

2009-07-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Darn - Since my camera is back from the Jr. High Minneapolis Mission Trip, I got some great photo's of our tubing adventure yesterday and thought I had my cord here, but I don't - so tune in tomorrow for some pictures...

Dolly Parton rocks the house!!!

2009-07-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Imagination Library is this awesome program that Dolly Parton set up for preschoolers to encourage literacy. I won't go into it, because she explains it so much better than I do - but if you have tots, ages newborn to 5 - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE check this out and see if it is available in your area!!! Let me just say FREE - FREE - FREE BOOKS! And who doesn't love something FREE! And books, at that - children's books! I have no idea why I haven't posted about this so far because the email has just been sitting in my inbox waiting for my little guy to be born and get a name and birthdate before he gets signed up! But I know there are a few out there with preschoolers, so CHECK IT OUT!

Other than that, my man is home again and all is better with the world. It's been a rough weekend to be sure. I've had a lot more heart-aching things going on this summer than funny ones! (Much to my dismay!) The most recent - I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was devastated. I just found out on Monday... I've met with a Dietitian and hopefully we can get everything worked out. I was told that it wasn't necessarily anything I could have done, some people are just more prone and it could run in the family and just not know it, etc. There are so many different reasons. I think a lot of it comes from our hectic schedule that really doesn't allow me to eat at regular intervals. It's been an opportunity to trust the Lord in ways I've never had to before. I was so completely discouraged, but the doctor assures me they treat this quite a bit more aggressively than a lot of other dr.s so that no harm comes to my baby. I find comfort in that. I also find comfort in knowing that God is in control and that He knows what's going on and He loves me so much. This is an email I just wrote to my brother this morning actually regarding it - and it just sums up what the Lord has been showing me these last couple of days.

Hey - thanks for your call yesterday - I was just about to go into the Dr.'s office when you called and then I never had a chance to give you a call back. Plus, it's all very emotional to me - even still! :P (which is EXTREMELY annoying to me! especially when I'm work and can't get the waterworks to stop.) I have been getting some pretty amazing emails from folks who don't even have a clue and they are so encouraging to me... But today God is telling me VERY CLEARLY that He is in control and the He loves me no matter what and that nothing is going on without Him knowing about it and holding me through the very midst of it. So while it's all very discouraging and disheartening - I'm remembering that God is bigger than my problems and He's got to be my Lord even through the dark times, reminding me to maintain my positive and cheerful attitude. No lie, that sentence just came through my daily devotional with David Wilkerson, the email I read right before I looked at yours. So see, God is taking care of me. And talking to me so plainly, He might as well be using neon signs!

So you can see - God uses these awful things to draw us unto Himself. And even though this is an "adventure" that I don't want to experience - just like my mom's cancer is an "adventure" that none of us want to experience - if God uses it to bring me closer to Him, so be it. It's really very difficult for me to come to that conclusion - it's not one that I settle on lightly, but I don't want to fight. I just want to be closer to my Jesus. I've learned in my short life that it's so much better to walk with Jesus and not away from Him. There are a lot of kids especially out there who think they need to experience things for themselves and make their own mistakes (I know, because I work with a bunch of them!), and I'll give them that, but honestly - I hope beyond hope that they learn sooner than later that it's so much better to choose Jesus than our own way. We are so much happier and more content and isn't that what we're looking for? Isn't that what everyone wants out of life - the American Dream - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? It's in Jesus. All of it is in Jesus.

Well, I've probably waxed pretty serious at this point, hopefully you don't walk away feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. The day is beautiful here. We are heading out to Lake Nelson - I should rename it "Third eyeball Lake" because there is a nuclear power plant right there that keeps the water nice and toasty and I always tease the boys that if they spend too much time in it, they WILL grow a third eyeball - probably right in their forehead (But secretly, I think they like that idea! Boys....sheesh...) Anyway, tubing for them, boat rides for me. And enjoying the man of my dreams for a few more days before we are separated for 10 days while he's in Guatemala and I'm in VA! :*( (Boo hoo) I'm so excited to see my family - I'm excited that he gets to go to Guatemala - but I wish he could come with me to see my family and I could go with him to Guatemala!!! I hate being apart! And there has been too much of it this summer! Hope you have a fantastic day!

3 years, nine months and the honeymoon isn't over yet in the Tundra,

Sarah

Correction....

2009-07-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

My dad's rolling stop ticket was actually $91 and not $70. So put that in your pipe! Can you believe that? Oh the injustices of this world?

I had a good weekend. I'm afraid the plants are dying - just the ones I haven't planted yet. But what is a girl to do? We're running out of space to plant. Seriously. It's starting to thunder now. It's kind of matching my whatever kind of mood! I feel like there are tons of things to do, but I just don't know where to start. I reckon I should make a list.

Trying to get motivated in the Tundra,

Sarah

New Adventures!

2009-07-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well, for the first time ever, Sam went out Spear fishing last night - "Where in the world can you go spear fishing in the Tundra?" you ask? (I know that's what you were thinking because #1 - sounds crazy to me and #2 - that's what my mom asked when she found out!!! Wherein my dad promptly answered - in his pond! HA!) Anyway, Lake Sakakawea. Get this the spell check came up saying that I spelled that wrong, and maybe I did, but that's seriously how they pronounce it here - and I reckon she was actually from here, so that's her name now, not Sacajawea. That must be the southern version. But for a quick history lesson - her name is properly pronounced Sakakawea. Man, I digress... Anyway, yes, Sam and a friend headed up to the murky lake to do some spear fishing and Sam was very proud that on his first shot, he got a big ole' carp! Now we've just got to get him in the ocean to do some REAL spear fishing!!! :) If you have a bit of time, you should click the link to the Lake, it's really very interesting! You'll be surprised to find such a large body of water in the Tundra! And yes, it does freeze over in the winter and tons of people haul their little shacks up there to ice fish. I know, it's a whole new concept for most of you - but people really do have to get outside in the winter around here - or else they'd be a heck of a lot crazier than they are now! :)

Well, this has been about the most beautiful summer ever! In fact, we are still planting annual pots. I don't exactly know why when Fall is right around the corner. Shhhh, don't tell anyone I said that. I'd probably get tarred and feathered! But all the flower stands went out of business before the 4th and we had a bunch of plants that we'd gotten for a really good deal and they are just sitting around. I'll have to get some pictures of our yard - it's insane how beautiful it is right now. In fact, our neighbor girl came over the other day and asked Sam if he thought he had too many flowers in his yard! HA! Now I ask you - how can anyone have TOO many flowers?? Just because it looks like a rainbow exploded in our yard, I don't really know what she's talking about! Do you remember back in the day when the theologians would have these huge long arguments about how many angels could fit on the head of pin? Well, now they can argue about how many plants the Coleman's can fit into their postage stamp size yard! HA! What can I say, we like variety, and color, and excessiveness....

The painting of our nursery is coming right along. I can't really reach the top, but it's just about done. Now we just need to go around and start collecting furniture. I also have some sewing to do. I just got some material to cover our rocking chair and make a valence for the window - so it's coming together.

Oh, I just remembered, I was going to tell you about Curly and Moe. Well, due to the time lapse, my mushy brain that can't remember details anymore and some other extenuating circumstances, I'm not actually going to go into the details like before - but I did want to make a big announcement - Sam's little brother, Curly - or was it Moe, anyway, we just call him Johnny - asked the love of his life to marry him! That's right - our whittle tiny Johnny is gwowing up! Can you believe that??? I still can't! Haven't even seen him since the big question got popped. I guess they are too busy planning their next July wedding. Let me see if I can rustle up a picture....

Aren't they about the cutest things? Anyway - that gigantic sand castle behind them, that's what Johnny built and Sam helped with in the popping of the big question - isn't that a gigantic sand castle? So we're very excited for them!

In the famous last words....Well, I suppose..... (that means it's time to go.)

Living the dream in the Tundra,

Sarah

Guess what?!

2009-07-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

That's right folks - That's a picture of me - taking a picture....with my brand spankin' new birthday present!!! True, it's not an SLR - but here's the deal... Sambo got me a digital Canon Rebel for my birthday - tangibly held it in my hands and everything. But when I took it all out of the box, turns out they changed the look of the battery. So before we go and start buying all new accessories - we decided to take it back and do a bit more research. We already have two canon batteries, why do we want a totally different one? We are all about being able to inter-change. So after thinking about it long and hard, this is what we decided to do. Take it back. That's right, after all this time, I wanted to take back my beautiful birthday present! But in the meantime - isn't it nice to have a point and shoot. Especially for your purse, especially for "gotta-capture-this-moment-right-now,-not-look-for-my-bulky-camera-and-switch-the-lense-and-get-the-settings-right", especially for UNDERWATER - yeah, ya heard me!, especially for your husband who goes through cameras like most people go through underwear, especially one that's crushproof for up to 220 lbs., yeah, especially one that's shockproof for up to 6.6 feet - that's right - you can drop this baby - sit on it - leave it in your pocket while you are swimming (only to 30 feet though!) - it's practically indestructible! When I saw it - I thought - this is the camera for us! Especially with Sam getting ready for a trip to Guatemala - gasp, he couldn't go without a camera, we are way to limited in our finances to have him use film - can't afford to develop all that film! and there is no way in you know where I would let him take his good camera! So this is the perfect solution to our dilemma!

Anyway, yesterday turned out to be about one of the best birthdays ever! I came home after work to the most beautiful roses EVER!

And that's when I got to check out my new Rebel, even if for a short time! Then we headed off to Paradiso's, where you get a free meal on your birthday! So after that, we ran a few errands and took back Camera #1 for Camera #2!!! Then Sam says we had to get home pretty quick because some very important friends of ours were coming to see us! I asked him who and he said it was a surprise!

Well, we roll into our driveway and surprise, oh surprise - who's car was there - you might have seen it before.....

That's right - Erik!!!! So we went in and couldn't find those kids anywhere - they were hiding all the way in our basement (never mind that my house is a total mess!) Luckily kids don't care! We found them, Erik, Bridget, Brittany and Tiffany!!! How sweet is that???? They spend their morning making me a cake! (Bridget is quite the chef/baker extraordinaire!) And then they came over and surprised me for my birthday! How special am I that a bunch of Sr. High kids would give up their afternoon for me???!!! The only problem is that I don't have a picture of them, because we had to charge up the new little camera, but lucky for you - I have a picture of the cake!!!!

(For those of you who missed the earlier postings on the pictures of Sam's pond, here it is - forever imbued on my birthday cake!) That's right folks, there is the Love Pond, right there - in living icing!!! Isn't that amazing??? Can you believe these guys decorated this so perfectly for me??? How cute is that - there are even some fish in the pond! (Shhh....don't tell Sam, but they are probably bigger than any fish Sam will ever have in the pond! HA!) I crack myself up!

Then, we sat down and played some serious hands of Ultimate Solitaire! Erik was confident that the score keeper always won, just because I keep the score and I always win... But I proved him wrong - he took score this time, but I still won. I know, it's a hard life, but someone's got to live it! So maybe we aren't all pro's at blongo ball - but we've all got skills, right, Erik?

Anyway, then we had to had off to Childbirth Preparation Classes, or whatever the heck you want to call them! (Much to Sam's dismay.) But it went a lot faster than last week and I thought it was pretty fun - I mean, seriously, how often to get that much of Sam's complete attention completely uninterrupted? Ok, a lot, but that's besides the point. We got to practice relaxation - so I got lots of hand massages and back massages, that was fun!!! Ok, one more night, one more night, you can do it Sammy!!! We actually got out a little early and there were some pretty epic clouds, so we took off - storm chasing! Luckily Sam had his camera and so we took a little drive. It was really beautiful! Then to end the night - Ruth, Sam's aunts Barb and Jane all came over for some yummy ice cream cake from DQ and to visit - so you can see - how does a birthday get much better than that, I ask you? (I have yet to cut Bridget's cake because I wanted to take a picture of it and was planning on doing that last night before an ice cream cake came - unfortunately I have a glucose test today at the Dr. so hopefully I don't throw them over the edge with all my celebrating!) But I'm definitely looking forward to tasting a bit of the pond - Bridget's version, of course!!!

Ok, for Rhonda and the rest of you, just going to post a couple more pictures and then I'll be done for today, ok? This is taking way longer than I thought!!!

My hottie husband, as if I had to tell you - pshaw!

Yes, a very pregnant me....

And this is the crib set that my good friend, Lori gave us.... And the yellow fabric is another fabric I found to do some accents around the nursery - It's not the best picture, but I was anxious to show you!

Ok, well, that's all for now folks! But tune in next time...for some better pictures, once I figure out what I'm doing! :)

Loving the day after my birthday in the Tundra,

Sarah

Birthday musings....

2009-07-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Do you just love your birthday? I used to. I don't know what the turning tide was. When I was little, it was like the best holiday of the year, seriously! My mom did up birthdays big! I always woke up with a bouquet of fresh flowers from the garden on my bedside table - special breakfast, special dinner - usually swimming all day with some friends... Those were the simple days. Then you grow up. You realize, you never did anything really special - being born - it's more something you are subject to rather than accomplishing, don't ya think? Sam decided that birthdays were so depressing, we would start giving presents to other people instead of focusing on ourselves... I'm not too prepared this year. I guess it snuck (turns out that's not a word, but work with me!) up on me! Birthdays have always been depressing for him because his birthday is in January and he's never wanted to get older. I never really even thought about the older part - I just knew it was one of those things that was all about me! But birthdays, I have decided are what you make them out to be!!!! So even though I don't have presents for all my loved ones around me, I want to say to all those dear, precious friends and family who do so much to make me feel so special and loved and accepted despite my many faults, thank you. Thank you for investing in my life and blessing me beyond my wildest imagination! Thank you for keeping up with me even though I live in a land far, far away and you send me such beautiful emails, comments and facebook messages. I couldn't go on without you! And to my Lord and Savior - for without You, I wouldn't have the breath to carry on each moment. My heart overflows.

Soon, I hope to have some funny stories to pass along to you. For now, you'll just have to imagine a 7 foot sand castle - and digging out the 1 foot moat with an oar!!! (More adventures of Curly and Moe!) Until next time...

Celebrating a birthday in the Tundra,

Sarah

If I could be so faithful as this in attending the YMCA!

2009-07-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Anyway, that's a side note.... Guess what? I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but.... My dad is a fugitive of the law! Ok, not really, but he did tell me about getting stopped by a cop for the 3rd time in his 67 years of living - did ya hear me??? Is that impressive or what?! I don't really think my mom has actually gotten stopped all that many times either but that's because she's faster than the radars that the cops use! ;) And for the record, my dad didn't get stopped for speeding - it's what you might hear tell of - a California stop; a rolling stop... Yeah, isn't that insane, so he's waiting to call to see how much the ticket it, but overall, he thinks it's going to be no less than $70. Can you believe that??? Sam says it's one more reason not to move to VA! It's true, we'd probably go bankrupt - although Sambo has definitely gotten better with his driving skills. Lots of people may argue with me on that point, but trust me!

In other news, my mom is doing well! She continues to thank the Lord and others for praying for her. She's healing well and trusting the Lord to take care of her. She got word that she is eligible for some testing that will tell whether chemo will even help her, so she's hoping that will come back saying no. I'm getting excited to go and visit and I know that they are getting excited for their trip to Alaska! Wish I could go as well!

We had a few days of McVBS last week - which means, VBS down on the Reservation at McLaughlin. That was really good. I actually took a day off of work to head down there and help, it was a really fun time actually! Then this weekend, Sam had a car wash and a Family Fun Night fundraiser for kids going to Guatemala and it was a blast.

I'm interrupting this newsy post for some thunder! Don't you just love days like this? They make you want to stay in bed a little longer, true, but it's only 57 degrees and rainy. It makes you not feel bad for staying inside and working on some much needed projects, like painting the nursery, because ready or not, your baby is going to come. And it would be helpful to at least have the room painted if nothing else! :)

This week, we are taking it a little easier. Have a meeting tonight - birth class #2, much to Samuel's dismay, tomorrow night and then he heads out on Friday for Minneapolis. I'm not sure whether I am going to go yet. Too much to do here. But it should be a good time. I'm really thankful for this time of rest though. It's much needed!

Well, I should wrap things up!

Enjoying the rain in the Tundra,

Sarah

Updates and such!

2009-07-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send an update! My mom talked with her Dr. yesterday and Praise the Lord, they only found cancer in ONE of her lymph nodes! She still has to wait and see what's to happen next as she has an appt. with an oncologist in two weeks. He will discuss with her all the different options for treatment, but also another big praise - she can go to ALASKA on their much needed and already planned birthday cruise! I'm just so excited about that for them! God is good and even though this hasn't really worked out according to OUR plan - Praise Him that we can see HIS HAND in the midst of it walking us through just like He promises in His Word - God is good! Please continue to pray for her and my dad as they continue to have to make decisions throughout this whole process! Thank you!!

Grateful in the Tundra!

Sarah

Almost Friday....

2009-07-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

More to come tomorrow - spent my day in McLaughlin, SD on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation doing VBS! Fun times were had by all!

Enjoying an amazing summer day in the Tundra,

Sarah

Greetings from the Tundra

Ethan's 3rd Birthday!

Big Shoes to fill!

Reading Time

Gabe's 1st Birthday

We're going CrrrrAAAzzzYYYY!!!

Hibernation....

More photos....

Lookin' for some help here!

Welcome to the Tundra

Baby, it's cold outside....

Chicken Little

You wouldn't believe it if I told you.

The time has come...

Gabe at 12 months...

More giveaways....

More Photography

My husbands going to kill me....

At it again!

Recipes Galore!

Date Night

Here we go....

S2 Photography at it again!

Fall Fun

More videos....

Much needed updated videos!

Quiet Musings...

We might have a slight problem...

Que the music...

Top 10 lessons learned

Busy like a bee.......

A long sabatical....

A little bit of updates!

Trying again....

One day late....

8 months and counting....

Delayed Update...

Some updates...

Retro'n it up!

Updates....

One picture down and more to go!

More to come!

Just a quick tip for you!

Some firsts....

Five months and counting...

Thursday Musings....

It's been forever, feels like....

Weekend Adventures...

Some 4 month pictures for you!

I had a catchy title but Sam couldn't remember it for me! :(

Sorry....

Clean Refrigerators....

Just another Tuesday...

Check it out!

Ha!

Just another day....

S2 (S-squared photography)

Hello!

Well, folks, now you have it!

Updates and such....

Quick trips and the like....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Good Morning...or maybe afternoon? What is today?

Ok.

It's about time...

Giveaway Winners!

The Big Debut!

Alright - time is up!

Thursday Morning!

Good morning and greetings, Fans!

Seriously...

End of another week....

Follow up from the weekend....

Giveaway!

Waiting to find out if I won some amazing boots....

Updates on.....Life......

Well....

Are you a smeller?

Just to let you know...

Post 100?

Warning