My new favorite place...

I have always had a passion for decorations/home decor. Whether its decorating our home, shopping at home decor stores, looking through model homes at the decor, etc... I LOVE IT!! As of one month ago, Coeur d' Alene got the most amazing home decor store. The name... REAL DEALS. It is a franchise so you may have heard of it, but if not... you need to find the one nearest to you! All "Real Deal" stores may look a little different, but they all are quaint, inspiring, inexpensive, and only open two days a week. :) Go to www.realdeals.net to check it out!

Fall Family Photos

A puppy at his best...

If any of you don't know... my husband is the ultimate "project man". Every month when his dad comes to town, they come up with creative projects to make or fun "fix-its" to find around the house. Aaron and the garage have become very good friends over the past year. Last weekend we thought it would be nice to make Cooper a luxury dog bed. After one try and a destroyed bed we moved to a more solid material (canvas). Once again, 8 hours passed and bed # 2 was destroyed and in shreds. After two tries of the same bed, we decided to take his bed from inside and put it in his kennel outside. Cooper only needed one afternoon to tear his third bed into shreds and chunks. I think we have finally learned our lesson... Cooper will be getting NO bed outside in his kennel! Oh the joys of having a 7 month old puppy!

A puppy in trouble and bed # 1 destroyed!

Just moments before bed # 2 was destroyed!

* Bed # 3 not pictured!! :)

A wedding weekend in California!

In September we had the honor of attending Aaron's high school best friend's wedding in California. Aaron and Nate have been and continue to be best friends since high school. Aaron was honored to be the only groomsmen that was not a family member. Although it was a quick trip, it was a joy to see Nate and Rachel get married!

Aaron & Nate

The Drake & Torres Family

Cooper is 6 months!

Thought it might be nice to have an updated/recent picture of Cooper. He is getting so big, becoming so much smarter, getting much more energy, and growing very fast!

Gardening at its best!

On August 25th, we celebrated a year since Aaron's mom had passed away from Lymphoma. The past year has been extremely hard not having her around, but we have been able to celebrate her in a variety of different ways. One of Jane's favorite hobbies was gardening! Aaron has taken it upon himself to carry on her love and joy for gardening! By looking at our yard, I think he has done an incredible job of carrying on her legacy. We thank God for Jane each and every day and our yard is an incredible reminder of the joy she brought to our lives as well as so many others.

Re-cap of the summer in one blog post!

We have had one BUSY summer, therefore I have not had time to post any of our summer happenings. Without making this too long of a post, I will try and re-cap our summer in one post. The beginning of summer was much slower paced than the end of our summer. We were able to enjoy two wonderful weeks at the family cabin on Hayden, hang out with friends, be a part of a close friend's wedding, celebrate our 2nd anniversary, and make a quick weekend trip to Seattle. Then the end of July came and our schedule was packed. We had the opportunity to go to North and South Carolina with my parents, our dear friends Brice, Julie, Will, Jan, and Carroll. We got to experience "their side" of the United States. We were able to see many historical places, spend time at the "warm" beach, take a helicopter ride over Myrtle Beach, and spend a few days at a gorgeous mountain cabin. After coming back from 1.5 weeks there, we had one day at home before we drove 20 hours south to Visalia (Aaron's hometown). Not only did we drive the whole way, but we had Cooper in the back seat. He gets the award for the best traveler. He slept the whole time and never made a peep. Who knows if we will make that drive again, but we enjoyed it much more than we would have thought going into the drive. :) All together its been a great summer, but we hope to take a few more weeks next summer to relax! :)

The "Carolina" travelers!

Wine tasting at the Biltmore Estates in N.Carolina

A nice visit to Idaho from the Drake side + Tamara & Brett

Celebrating two wonderful years with my amazing husband!

A great week at the cabin with my family

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Carter!