Heres To Our Forefathers

Last night I finished 1776, a book written by David McCullough (one of our favorite authors). Was it good? Incredibly good! The book covers the revolutionary war as it happened in 1776.


When I read the last pages of the book, I had chills and I was grateful and was filled with a desire to be way better than I am.

The conditions that the American army lived through in that first year were extreme. If someone had detailed those same conditions to me I would have thought that a person couldn't physically survive, let alone have the energy to fight. Alot of them didn't survive.

When people say, "It was nothing short of the grace of God" that allowed the Americans to survive the massive English army that first year, I believe it. And I think it was also the American's belief that their cause was just that gave them the strength to win. The odds seriously were stacked against the American army from the beginning and so the fact that they won the war makes it that much more inspiring.

This book was just about the first year of the war, but the revolution lasted over 7 years and cost over 25,000 American lives (that was news to me).

It was absolutely humbling to read this book, and makes me wonder if have cultivated the same conviction for freedom and if I am doing what I can to keep us free. I am grateful for the sacrifice of those that came before us.

So, If you want to feel patriotic, read this book. It is a good one.

This Little Girl...

...doesn't want her mama to help her eat her food. She turns her head away until you let her do it herself.

She rides around the living room on her bike.


She climbs onto the couch by herself...

...and is sure that being on the couch is way better than being on the boring old floor.

She holds her dolls and hugs them like they are her own baby.

She hangs out at the pool with mom.

Today I asked her where her belly button was and she lifted up her shirt.

She is learning more words, mimics Spencer and I more and more, and Jabbers away all day long.

I swear that she turned into a toddler overnight. It all happened so fast. I look at her and see a little girl who is aware of what is going on around her and has an opinion about what she wants.

I can interact with her more and more each day. She is my little pal and it is so fun to see her grow.

So Good To Be Home

Last night we pulled into our driveway after our Stephenson family trip to Island Park. Coming home felt good to say the least. After almost four days of a fussy, sleep deprived little child I was glad to be home not only to my bed, but to Madelyn's bed where I knew she would sleep soundly (and yes, last night she slept soundly).


The below pictures pretty much sum up Madelyn on this trip. She would be so happy and fun one minute, but watch out because really she was just barely holding in together and could lose it at any second. I don't blame her. She has spent most of her one year of life in the comfort of her own bed, and she has never had to suffer through such long car rides that took her to a new place where she was supposed to sleep.

We were trying to entertain her during dinner so I found her little sun hat in her diaper bag and put it on her. She loved the attention that it brought.
What? You don't want your picture taken?
Even though our little angel had such a hard time, there were a lot of fun things about being in Island Park.

Mostly, it was just great to be there with Spencer and our family. It was great spending four full days with Spencer (even if a good chunk was spent helping Madelyn to be happy during the day and in the middle of the night).



Madelyn got to know her grandparents, cousins and Aunts and Uncles a little better. She played with Nathan and Jackson (her only two cousins on the Stephenson side), and was entertained by Uncle Ryan on the car ride home. She loved it.


We were excited to hang out with Mary's soon to be fiance Beau Shaw. We had met him a couple of times, but it was fun for us to get to spend the weekend with him. We are excited for the October 6th wedding.

Mary receiving a kiss from the love of her life

We stayed in a beautiful cabin thanks to the 'rents (thanks you guys!!!). The scenery was beautiful. Island park is beautiful. We went to Yellowstone and got to see a few things I hadn't seen before.Like I said, It was just so great to be with our family. It was a good time and now I am glad to be home.