Heaven is Here

I just read this book and it is AMAZING. I'm sure many of you have heard of this woman, Stephanie Nielson, the Mormon woman whose body was 80% burned from a plane crash. She is the author of nieniedialogues.com and has become like a Mormon celebrity. I've kept up with her blog here and there and was excited to read the book. I believe that every woman should read this book. If you think your life is hard, this book will put things in perspective. She inspires me to be more faithful and to be a better wife & mother. Her story teaches me to cherish every moment of life - to love and appreciate every detail of my children; and to bask in their love & innocence. I want to hold my children longer and memorize every inch of their faces. She is a strong woman and an inspiration. 

(And I like her even more now because I just learned that she loves Alison Krauss!)

BUY THIS BOOK & READ IT....NOW.

VIRGINIA

OMG - Where do I begin?!! The kids and I went to Virginia for almost 4 weeks this summer while Jason was traveling for work and it was HEAVEN!! My parents live on 65 acres in the beautiful green Virginia mountains - 15 miles from the closest grocery store. It's the perfect escape from the cares of life. We hardly had a day of rest because we played so hard every day. My kids practically fell into bed every night because they were so tired from the fun all day.

Here is a SHORT list of the things we did along with just a few photos.

A visit from my dear college friend, Jessica and her 3 kids. She also has a set of twins so between the two of us, we have 6 kids, 3 years & younger. 

We went to the Floyd Country Store for some good bluegrass music!

The 3 babies

 We took a few days to chill at my parents' timeshare near Charlottesville. The place is called Shenandoah Crossing and we stayed in cabins and played from sun-up to sun-down. Cousins always have the BEST time together! Some of the things we did there....
 

Mini-golf

Horse back riding

Pontoon Ride

Another pic on the pontoon ride

Courtney Doolittle & I

We went swimming every day!

Golf Carting all over the place!

Other things we did while visiting my parents' house...

Sandbox-ing

Body painting with watercolors

Visiting Uncle Joel's sugar cane field

 

and feeding Uncle Joel's goats (potato chips!!)

Fishing at Kenny & Dixie's house. The boys and I also took a wild inner-tube ride on the lake, 60MPH, SO FUN!

We visited several family cemeteries and were able to clean some very important tombstones

Baby Miles with the tombstone of his Civil War Soldier ancestor (the Confederacy, of course!)

Playing in the creek at Camp Alta Mons

LOTS & LOTS of go-karting, all day, every day...

and more go-karting...

We went the Floyd Country Store again for more bluegrass

A visit to Krispy Kreme after a big day at the waterpark

Miles was along for the ride the whole time....next year he will be running wild with the rest of the cousins

Tractor rides

 More activities we did that were not documented with photos...
A visit from Cherish Davis & her 2 adorable children
Riding bikes with cousins in the basement & back porch
Playing in the toy room for hours
Swimming at the pool & the waterpark
Birthday party for cousin Addie
Hot dog & smores roasting over an open fire
Picnics
Milkshakes at McDonalds
Shopping with the women
Ice Cream cones EVERY night before bed
Popcorn parties
Zumba classes with my sister