smelling

So I can smell again. It is an absolute miracle, and I'm so SO grateful.

At first I was weeping because I could smell Addy's shampoo again, I could taste again, yada yada yada. It was so exciting. But do you know what stinks now? 75% of my life stinks to me now. It smells so strong. Our house, our kitchen, my clothes. You name it, I probably hate the smell of it.

As my dad said to me last night, I'd complain if I were hung with a new rope.

Since some of you asked... why can I now smell? I truly don't know. I believe it's either some of these or a combination of all of them:
- The dry weather in Colorado finally clearing up my sinuses
- My top allergens taking a rest here in Virginia
- Straight Mucinex for over a week (but now I only take it once every few days, if that)
- Dropping some other medicines that may have been affecting my sense of smell
- A heck of a lot of prayer
- Priesthood blessings from both Doug and my dad


The first time I noticed it was about halfway through our trip in Colorado. I got up early one morning to take care of Addy, and with her sitting on my lap I realized I could smell her shampoo for the first time in months. I may have started crying my eyes out. Since then I've been able to smell more often than not, and it's seriously life-changing. Although everything reeks to me, I have to say I'll never take smell for granted again.

home is whenever i'm with you

Every good family reunion deserves a photo slideshow, so Doug and I took it upon ourselves to make one for each of our families celebrating the best of 2010. I loved the one I saw our friend Brittany had, so I stole the same song and everything. Yeah, I did it.

Oh, and we ran out of time so the Dunlops and the Shafers have nearly identical layouts. Tacky, but what's done is done.

vacation part 3: denver

The last leg of our trip was in Denver, Colorado. My sister Jessica lives there, so the whole family gathered at her house, christening their new house with 28 people. So crazy, but so fun!

Cue the highlights:

Boating





Cousin time




Sweating it out at the trampoline center


Grandma and the little girls (she made their matching outfits)


More Just Dance


The brothers-in-law went out to an all-you-can-eat sushi place. Apparently they ate so much they almost died (yet it would have been a happy death).


The grown-ups spent a night out in downtown Denver (dining at a Brazilian grill? divine)


The local park had a sweet waterpark


Playing outside (slip n slide, adults on tiny dirt bikes, and more catching snakes)

vacation part 2: bend, or

The second week we drove down to beautiful Bend, Oregon and met up with the rest of the Shafer clan. Here are the highlights:

We stayed at the Eagle Crest Resort. We enjoyed their pools, tennis courts, raquetball courts, bikes, and wildlife (this deer kept coming up to our back porch and begging for... lettuce?).

One of the biggest highlights was meeting our sweet baby niece, Pepper. She's Ben and Whitney's first girl, and it's so fun to have a girl cousin for Addy to smother with love. Pepper is a teensy, easy-going baby, and we couldn't get enough of her!


We loved having all the cousins together


We played a lot of Just Dance on the Wii


We played at the Deschutes River



We toured a cute little chocolate factory in Bend (with delicious free samples)

We saw (and loved) HP

We checked out the gorgeous Metolius River


We saw acres and acres of burned trees on our drive. Crazy.

It was such a beautiful place (minus the fire-ravaged areas). We had a great time!

vacation part 1: washington

We used every second of Doug's 3-week vacation to visit our families.

We first headed to Warshington. We hadn't spent quality time with Doug's parents since last summer, so there was a lot of catching up to do!

Finding snakes, something I'll never understand

Striking a pose with grandpa (she started it... what a cute weirdo)

Eating cookies (a definite perk of grandma's house vs. our house)

Enjoying the life of luxury

Mowing the lawn

...and finding pickled caterpillars

18 months and proud of it

Addy is now an 18-month-old, which means she is sassier, funnier, naughtier, yet easier at church (today was her first day in our nursery... hooray!).



We love that girl to pieces.

da cubs

I'm back in town, and ready to have a blog again.

Doug was born a Cubs fan (thanks to his dad). So on his birthday, he went up to DC with Andrew to see the Cubs play the Nationals.

The weather was perfect and apparently it was a great night.

I'm proud of them for taking pictures, and I'm proud of Doug for loving his Cubbies even though they lost. Again.