The latest around here :)

Well... where should I start? We have all had the lovely flu :) ( on and off for the past three weeks). I am anxiously looking forward to seeing all our dear friends we have stayed away from! Hudson want's to go to Baby Gym ( a class at church, with a bunch of his buddies)... every morning while getting dressed he asks "Go Baby Gym?

 Since Chad and I have been around the house much more than normal, we have taken on some of the projects that we couldn't ignore:

Outside, we built a compost! ( a fabulous housewarming gift my thoughtful husband got me.. I had been wanting to do one for so long! We planted a "container garden", using a bunch of large old pots (18 of them!) we planted a little herb garden, some veggies, olive trees, and a bunch of great succulents. I will put some pictures up soon. It turned out great and was so much fun to do together. ( It would have never been accomplished without the hard work of my Martha Stewart mom :) She was such a help and gave us some great ideas!) We also got great ideas from  Sunset - How To Live In The West It's a cool website, so simple and had answers to all my gardening questions.

Inside, we hung some new light fixtures we had ordered to replace the really funky 1960's ones our house came with.

 We finished a new dinning room table.. we kind of just beat it up, to be really honest. We sanded out the scratches and left it unfinished and raw, It turned out great, and it was only $40.00! It was my Salvation Army find of the month!

Here is the fun new table :)

Our measuring man :)

new light @ kitchen table, cool Home Depot find!

One of the weekends we were feeling well, we went to Orange County to visit our friends Mat and Jenny. We went to a pumpkin and veggie farm, antique shopped @ Orange Circle, had the yummiest dinner @ The Crab Cooker of Tustin and Newport Beach: Seafood Restaurant - Serving Orange County Since 1951 ( we went to the one in Newport :) It was a really fun and tasty place, we would totally recommend and love to go to again. I had the halibut, it was delicious!

We are excited to be feeling better! It was a bummer to be sick, but had such a sweet time enjoying being together. It's been such a blessing to have Chad work @home! What a treat to enjoy random time together :)

On another note here are two links of families that go to our church. I have been praying for them these past few weeks. If you have a second, read their stories. Their lives are reminders that so many things that I think are mine (Chad, Hudson, Ford...) are not mine! They are sweet and generous gifts from the Lord! I have learned so much from their testimonies and am so convicted, challenged and encouraged by their trust and faith in the Lord. Pray for them and their families as they are in these trials and times of sorrow, yet hope. May we have faith like them and  may we long for heaven as they do!

Nichole Greene

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/malachismith's Blog

CJ