introducing...

So, what do you all think of our new van? 

recent happenings...

Well I have bit more time today because church was cancelled this morning.  Yeah, not only do they cancel school at the drop of a snowflake, but church also.  The only reason why I was excited was because it meant that I didn't have to go through the inevitable frustration and stress of trying to get Gracie, Ellie and myself to church on TIME, which is something that I am still trying to figure out how to accomplish on my own since Jacob is always gone early to meetings.   But in case any of you are starting to get a little jealous, my stalwart husband just suggested that we attend the Fairview Branch this afternoon.  

Gracie and Ellie making the most of their Sunday morning.  Probably the only time in their life when church will be cancelled!

And here you see that we had a visitor!  Katie showed up on our doorstep the day before Valentine's Day.  Next to Jacob proposing to me, this tops of the list of shocking moments in my life.  It was as if distance was suddenly obsolete, and she was just stopping by to say hi.  She came just in time to babysit so that Jacob and I could go to the local ho-down (literally.)  The culture here is so interesting to me, and if you want some good enteretainment, just stop by a local country dancing venue--it's hillarious.  But that's a whole different subject--well not entirely, because that morning we took Katie to Hickman county's very own weekly radio show where there is good music and even better southern accents.  

Pretty much, Katie took over all of the domestic duties.  It was great.  She cooked, cleaned, and baby-sat.   

Of course Gracie and Ellie never wanted to be far from the special visitor.  

It was pretty much the funnest week that I've had in a long time.  There's nothing like a visitor to justify yummy food, special outings, and late-night talks!  If anyone else wants to show up on my doorstep, you're more than welcome!

Now for a few more pictures of Gracie and Ellie's latest tricks and activities...

This is Ellie being a little bird.  Whenever we put something in our mouth, she has this cute little way of opening her mouth and trying to get a taste.  Here she has succeeded in getting a lick of the pretzel. 

Jacob's eagle scout skills came in handy.  He was able to to construct a horse and cart-type scenario, which entertained Gracie and Ellie for a record amount of time before either one of them starting crying.

Sometimes Gracie acts so silly.  I really don't know where she comes up with some of her faces, or her hair for that matter (hmmm, maybe she gets it from Jacob).  She also has a great sense of style, as you can tell from the inside-out shirt.  

Ellie, though, still just smiles sweetly for the camera.

This is our friend Becky who got baptized last week!  She's been investigating the church for about 9 months, and suddenly last Monday we got a call that she had decided to get baptized that night!  It was so exciting, and it always puts things into perspective when somebody gets baptized.

I told you, Gracie has some great poses for the camera.  Especially after she dresses up in Ellie's clothes.  

And finally, who can resist cuddly babies in fuzzy footies?  

a valentines tag...

Danyette, I consider myself tagged! 

Valentines Tag

Answer the questions about your sweetheart…

*What is your husband’s name? Jacob Eason Griffin
*How long have you been married? 3 years, 1 month, 12 days
*How long did you date? This is a difficult question, since Jake and I had different definitions of dating :).  But let's just say that we got married 11 months after we met.  
*How old is he? 25 years young
*Who eats more sweets? Considering the fact that Jacob doesn't really like chocolate, but I love it, it's probably easy to guess.  But Jacob does like his blond brownies.  
*Who said I love you first? I for sure thought it first, but not wanting to scare him off I waited for a long time until he said it.   It was after we had run 5 miles together, and had I known that that would have gotten it out of him, I would have begrudgingly done it sooner :)
*Who is taller? Thank goodness Jacob is.  
*Who can sing best? Jacob can definitely sing louder.  We both sing our respective parts best.

*Who does laundry? Usually I do.                                                                                                                                                        

*Who pays bills? I do.

*Who sleeps on the right side? Jacob
*Who mows the lawn? This is yet to be determined. 
*Who cooks dinner? Usually Jake cooks and I clean up.  Yes, it is a beautiful set-up.
*Who drives? Usually Jacob.  And as long as we have a low-riding buick that's the way I prefer it.  
*Who is first to admit they are wrong?  we never fight.   
*Who kissed who first? Surprisingly, he did.  
*Who asked who out first? Again, this is hard to determine.  But I'll give credit to Jacob for calling me to play tennis every week. 
*Who wears the pants?  If this means that Jacob is the better person and would do anything I ever asked of him, than I guess it means that I could.  But I try not to take advantage of his kindness :) so we are equal.  

I tag whoever reads this!

that's some crazy hair

Okay, I stumbled across these pictures and I just had to post them.  I burst out laughing. This is how hot and humid it is in Tennessee.  This was last summer after Gracie (or should I say little Jacob) woke up from one of her naps.  Now I don't think that's sweat all over her shirt, but it might as well be.  I'm thinking maybe her bottle leaked all over her.  Needless to say, the humidity really brought out the wildness in Gracie's hair.  Happy weekend!  

yizards and more

hmmmm, where to start.  Here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.  The first are from the usual Sunday photo shoot--you know, the cutest day of the week (at least for Ellie. Gracie takes out her hair and changes back into her favorite, too-small polka dot shirt first thing after church.)

 

   

This picture just makes me laugh.

Gracie is currently on a "yizard" kick.  She insists that her yizards be placed in her crib with her each night.  It's great when your child really loves wal-mart dollar specials.

This is significant--Gracie lets me put pigtails in her hair these days!  

Gracie loves to help feed Ellie, and I think Ellie loves it too.  

And watch out Ms. Stewart.  Jake has been cooking a lot lately, and every single meal is my new favorite.  He is so creative--never uses a recipe.  He much prefers to cook and I much prefer to clean up, so it works out just dandy.  

              

And I'm really not kidding, Martha.  Jake just finished building us some floating display shelves.  I know, you probably thought we got these from Pottery Barn, but Jake actually constructed them from a hollow door.  I'm pretty excited because I'm sure the value of our home is now significantly higher :)

And just in case you all were worried that I'm not developing any domestic skills, here is a pillow that took me way too long to make.  Martha has no competition here. 

I wonder what she's thinking when she gets this look on her face.

And finally we have Jacob and Gracie cheering on Ellie  as she attempts to crawl.  That cute little leg just always gets in the way!  

So there you have it.  Oh, school was cancelled again yesterday due to some light snow.  So we made our first official car shopping trip.  It was somewhat humorous to be the recipient of so many sales tactics, and I thoroughly enjoyed not caving in to any of them.   

suddenly I don't mind the cold

I am so excited at the moment.  We just received the good news that....Jake's school is cancelled tomorrow because of some cold weather.  That's right--because it's cold!!!  I guess people around here aren't used to ten degree weather.  Ahh, the joys of living in Tennessee.  So that makes one long 4 day weekend for us because Monday is Martin Luther King's Day.  Not that we have any money to do anything too exciting with all this time--but who needs money when you're livin' on love?  Happy weekend!

 

competition

I used to think that the west offered the best sunsets, but this one might just be the best one yet.  Okay, so my $50 camera doesn't quite capture the breath-taking colors, but you'll just have to trust me.  Oh, and another great thing about this place is that the dusting of snow that you see on the ground caused school to be delayed for two hours the next morning.  I laugh every time I think about it.  

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