Hey, Soul Sister

Today is my sister's birthday.

I have been so blessed to have a big older sister like her.

She has been a great example to me my whole life. 

And, like so many other little sisters, I wanted to be just like her.  

(Thanks to a hairstylist/seamstress mom, I was often extremely close.)

We were lucky to live close by as we started our families,

and so very lucky to have children close in age. 

These cousins have always loved getting together, thanks to diligent parental efforts, including frequent long-distance visits over the years.

Happy Birthday, Jill!

You have truly been the best big sister ever.  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Much love,

Always a Party

We like to have a good time around here.

I switched out my ugly wreath to the glamorous party wreath.

I purchased this beauty years back on a 90% clearance at JoAnns.  It's really a Halloween wreath, which was apparently a decorative "miss" that year, because I recall that there were three or four in the way-after-holiday-clearance section.  In my mad effort last week to change out the generic summer wreath I had grown so, so tired of, it was all I could find, since I definitely felt it was too early for the Fall wreath (which I'm not enamored with either).  

Just call us party animals.

Mar attended a late-night-on-the-Billat's-tramp party.

Then we had a Pillow-Pets-washing party, since she was certain hers had collected the bottom-of-the-feet filth that any well-used tramp surely has.

Taylor had a pizza-delivering party nearly every day of the week.

We have ordered pizza during one of Taylor's shifts on many occasions (hoping our tip money would be put to the best use possible), and have never been lucky enough to have HIM deliver it.  Saturday night Shilo yelled down from her bedroom (with a clear view across the street), "Hey! Taylor's delivering pizza to the Billats!"  Being the partying mom that I am, I had to run out and snap a pic or two, yell an encouraging word, and wave like crazy.

Lex had a par-tay getting her senior pictures taken.

She was thrilled to be the focus of a camera for well over an hour.  Not.  She smiled so much her cheeks hurt.  Those crazy positions requested by the photographer (a previous neighbor who also did Britt's senior pics, some family pics, and Tay's missionary pictures) were painful for Lex due to a vigorous first week of workouts in her Power Weights class.  I was at the party, too, carrying my purse loaded with water bottles, a mirror, 3 bottles of bug spray, and a checkbook.  Lex has another session scheduled for this weekend.  I am excited to see the end results.

You're welcome to join our mad door-painting party.  

Ooops, you missed it.

We borrowed a paint sprayer from our neighbor, and I could tell that Bill was a little excited to try it out.  Talk about a mess.  All that crap junk stuff stored in the other half of the garage now has a fine layer of semi-gloss-ultra-pure-white dust on it.  Don't worry, we'll have a wipe-down-every-random-item-stored-in-the-garage-AND-crawlspace (a total disaster from construction dust) party as soon as we are done with the messy jobs.  You are welcome to come.  Things I've Learned:  even though brush painting may take longer (or not -- Bill is Mr. Perfection, so ANY method is time-consuming and tedious), at least you won't have an eternal clean-up following.  And now Bill wants to paint the garage floor.  

A party for another year, I think.

And finally, this morning we had an early early-morning-seminary party.  I had to get up at 5am.  The girls, however, managed to wake themselves up at 4:30, giving their usual alarm clock (aka Dad) a rest.  Let's keep that party going.

We've Got It Handled

Literally.

It took half the day yesterday... Bill did the drilling, I put the screws in.  Of course, there was some "discussion."  Conversation surrounding placement, mostly.  A guy was there (measuring for carpet... our SECOND measure... a lengthy story for another day) for some of the "discussion."
I think he found our husband/wife banter somewhat amusing.

(I can't wait to get that sink in.)

 (I'm anxious to get the microwave up too.)

Yes, the handles and knobs are nearly identical except for the finish.  And yes, they are very similar to the handles and knobs that are currently in my kitchen:

although we put the handles on the cabinets and the knobs on the drawers in the kitchen (over 9 years ago).

Just mixing it up to keep things interesting.

What can I say... I like what I like.

The good news is that the handles and knobs are ON.
(Note:  The basement drawers have an auto-close feature that makes them buggers to open, especially without handles.  I'm thrilled that I can now open them easily to admire their potential.)
I'm ready to start loading them up.  Today.

Patience, patience, patience, patience, patience, patience, patience.

Side-by-Side

I have a minute.  Just a minute.  Lately that hasn't happened much, and around here, if you need the computer, you better nab it when it's open.  It just so happens to be open NOW, and since I happen to have a minute, I thought I would post something.  Anything. 

I've been feeling nostalgic lately (you know, time going by so fast and all), so I spent a few minutes (when I had a few minutes) quickly glancing through some pictures of last year.  

Here is a side-by-side comparison for your enjoyment:

Favorite summer treat last year:  Shaved Ice

 Bill got this little baby for Father's Day a few years back, and we have thoroughly enjoyed it's icy cool treats.

Especially with some awesome designer flavor combinations.  My favorites are Blood Orange with a splash of Vanilla, and Huckleberry with a splash of Vanilla (everything's better with Vanilla, I think).  This year, however, we have not had a functioning ice maker (since discovering it had been slowly leaking in the back of the fridge and warping our wood floor), and have survived the summer with mere refrigerated water.

 Good thing we had these to help us get by:

Favorite summer treat this year:  Homemade Ice Cream.

I just made another double batch today because Taylor's girlfriend Lynnea will be stopping by this evening.  She may eat a lot, you know.

Last year at Washington Park:

No, I didn't make it back to Wash Park this year, but I suggested that Taylor take his date there today.  He packed a picnic, and headed out a few hours ago.  I think he was impressed with my surrey pics, and couldn't wait to try one out.  I hope it was a good suggestion :-)

Our gardening skills produced this last year:

This year, we planted nary a seed.  A few random marigolds came up through the weeds, but the garden spot has pretty much been nothing more than an eyesore and a backache.  I'm tempted to plant a large shade tree in it's place... or maybe add an extension to the patio with a fire pit area.  Both options, however, require funding, which is limited at the moment.

Last year's first day of school:

This year's first day of school here and here.

Important things to note:  

Lex hated the pictures I took of her yesterday (which is why I chose to link rather than re-post).  I think it's interesting that she's almost wearing an identical outfit.  I think I could shop for her, if she would let me.  Jeans, Vans, tees.  Easy peasy.

I hated the wreath in the pictures I took yesterday (another reason not to re-post them).  After the girls left for school, I scoured the chaotic disarray of our crawl space to find a replacement, and quickly changed it out.  I found it quite amusing that I had the very same wreath up last year.

Ward Campout last year: 

Ward Campout this year here. 

Priest/Laurel paint war last year:

Priest/Laurel paint war this year:

Meteor shower viewing last year:

We'll miss the meteor shower viewing this year (Saturday night/Sunday morning), because we'll be in bed.  Shi has her Patriarchal Blessing appointment early Sunday morning, then Monday we'll all be heading to the early early-morning-seminary class.  Parents are invited to attend the first day.  Wahoo.  It starts at 5:45 AM.  Too bad those meteors couldn't wait for a more convenient time.

So this year and last year were pretty much a ditto in a lot of ways, with slight variations here or there.  For some reason I am quite fascinated with the parallels from one year to the next.  I must be getting old and set in my ways.

My minute has long passed.  Back to work.