What's Up?

So I haven't blogged anything in quite awhile...not even our numerous, wonderful vacation pictures.

Here's the story: After getting feedback from others who were using the updated version of Picasa (the picture program I use/blog from), I decided to download the new version. After it downloads, it's supposed to pull all the pictures from your computer and organize them into files. After I opened it up, I realized it didn't pull most of my pictures from the last year. So, I tried to go back to my old version of Picasa so that I could export all the pictures from there onto the new version...though I wasn't sure why it hadn't done it itself.

Problem: my old version of Picasa was gone. Along with every picture I've taken since September of 2007.

Solution: Haven't found one yet. When I think about it too much, it makes me sick to my stomach. Yes, there were tears and gnashing of teeth.

I still am not sure if they can be found somewhere on my computer or not. Heaven knows I've spent hours trying, along with sessions on the phone with my dad or Tricia or Kindra, suggesting ways to search. But we've still come up empty.

I try to keep things in perspective: I haven't lost my children, just pictures of my children. In the scope of everything that goes on in the world, it doesn't even register as a "horrible event."

The good news in all this is that I didn't yet unload my camera from vacation. So those 900-some pics are all safe and sound. And, I have blogged "the best, the most important" stuff over the past year, so it's not a total loss.

But, pun intended, I'm feeling a little camera-shy. I need to download Picasa again (I had uninstalled it, hoping my old version with a year's worth of memories would show up again), and I don't feel like going there until I have exhausted every avenue of finding my pictures. My last avenues being 1. Beg Eric for help.
2. Bribe Dustin and Christy with coming over for pizza and let Dustin at my computer. And quite frankly, we've been too busy to do anything about it since we got home from vacation, with getting school up and running, showing the house, etc, etc, etc.

So, I haven't done anything. I suppose by this weekend I'll have recovered sleep enough from this past weekend's worship conference I was at to try my other avenues (that's a fair warning, Eric and Dustin, to feel free to come up with an excuse not to answer phone calls or emails from me. I understand, and won't take it personally-I promise). And when I don't have any hope of finding my pictures, I'll get on with my picture-life. And it's not like I don't have other stuff to blog about that requires no pictures whatsoever...like why our house if for sale, what our plans are, how Jacob is doing health-wise, etc. But I'm just sort of mentally stuck without a way to manage my pictures yet. But, hang in there with me, and we'll try to get over this before too long! Thanks!

Farmin' Kids

Andrew's Great Accomplishment!

He has been working on this all summer, and was quite proud of himself!

End-of-Summer Stuff

A rainy day hike...the boys were trying to catch rain drops in their mouths!















Lots of time in the sandbox...























Baby tool time! Anna helping daddy fix Andrew's bike...






















And a new kitchen for Anna! Finally, some "girl" toys around here. (Don't criticize my "genderizing..." Anna usually plays with trucks, and Jacob and Andrew enjoy the kitchen, too)! The beauty of this is that this kitchen set was free at the dump! All it needed was a bit of cleaning up, and it's in perfect shape.
(Well, except for the fact that everytime he went outside, Jacob would fill the sink up with sand. With a little encouragement from me, he got over the fascination rather quickly).

State Fair!

This year we went to the fair with Chad, Kindra, Dakota, and Jordan...and had a blast! The kids all adore Dakota and Jordan, so they were thrilled to hang out with them for the day! We were actually waiting in line to get in about 15 minutes before the fair opened...and we ended up putting in a good 9 hours of fun!










Jordan and Andrew both love the rides, and went on many together! I'm thrilled that Andrew enjoys them, so I have someone to ride with, too!

Jacob was able to go on more rides this year, and some of his expressions were priceless! From pensive cowboy to enthusiastic helicopter pilot!

















Anna was a trooper as usual!