Our one and only camping trip of 2009

We went camping and had a great time! It was so nice to get away for a little bit and enjoy each other. Emily LOVED everything to do with camping...the creek, the fire, the tin foil dinners, the s'mores, and mostly...the tent. She thought sleeping in a tent was the best thing ever and wants to do it every night now. (Which is tempting because she hasn't slept that great in weeks!)

Days off are the best!!

Things Geoff gets to do when he has a Saturday off...

Sleeps past 4:30 am

Enjoys some scrumptious dutch oven cooking

Watches basketball...even though the Cavs lost

Sits on his rear-end for most of the day

Oh...and he has a blast at the park....

Can't you just feel the glee gushing out of him?? Days off are the best!!

Memorial Day weekend

Our holiday weekend began with a quick drive up to Rexburg for the baptism of Benny, our sweet sister-in-law's little brother. Benny has been through some tough things and is now permanently living with Russ and Amber. How proud we are of Benny for making such an important decision to be baptized! I love baptisms! The spirit is so strong and I always come away from them wanting to be a better person.

On Monday we had a great time spending it with family. The Meredith family has a tradition of visiting Jeanie's grave and then heading over to Tastee-Treat for some yummy ice cream. I love this tradition!
Afterwards, we enjoyed a BBQ with the entire family....except Rex & Jeigh :(. Emily had so much fun playing with her cousins!!

Emily, Anna, and Mason

Carter, Rylie, Emily, and Anna having fun on the tramp.

Anna, Emily, Rylie, Livvy, Carson, Carli, and Carter...so dang cute!!

Emily's new "eyes"

These are Emily's new eyes. She absolutely loves them! And I love that she calls them "eyes"!

A Closed Chapter

Well I guess this chapter of my life closed about 2 years ago...but, it officially closed on Monday when Inkley's shut their doors for good. This may sound strange, but my heart broke just a little when I found out my store was closing. Dumb, I know...but I loved the time I spent there. My job wasn't the most exciting and it didn't pay very good, but I truly loved working in the Photo Lab. I have so many great memories and have made life-long friends. So, goodbye Inkley's #655, I will miss you....but we always have our memories.

Smack dab in the middle of Happy Town!

For that last few weeks I have really been trying to come up with something cool to write about…sadly, I still haven’t come up with anything. For this little branch on the Meredith Family Tree, life is just fine…nothing exciting happening…just getting through each day and trying really hard to end it with a smile. The strange part is that this has really been bothering me and I don’t know why. I guess I’ve just been feeling a little dull…. like I’m not improving myself or moving forward in any way. But, I’m starting to realize that it’s okay to be dull….it’s actually quite refreshing….no life altering problems (just a few annoying ones), no contention, no heartache, just...life, I guess. And I'm happy with that!

Mary Ellen Edmunds said: "Enough of negativism! There has been too much recounting of trials and highlighting of personal martyrdom. On with remembering that life is about gladness, too. Yes! Find the joy!"

So, I guess I wanted to share with you where I find my joy (in no particular order). You know that feeling of pure joy. I just get goose-bumps when I think about what brings me the most joy.

1. My sweet red-headed husband

2. My sweet red-headed daughter

3. The gospel and a loving Heavenly Father

4. Going for walks on cool, crisp evenings with my family

5. A really good lightening and thunderstorm

6. My little apartment (especially the a/c!)

7. Picnics with our families

8. The sound of Geoff and Emily's belly laughs

9. The smells of camping in the mountains

10. Listening to good, uplifting music

This is just a small handful of things that I love.

So, what brings you joy????

A day of mourning....

Well, today is a sad day. After much thought and heartache, I'm announcing that it's time to be done with my daily guilty pleasure. Oh friend, how I'm going to miss you. I've decided to start making some changes in my life and you, my friend, are the first to go. What a sad, sad day.