Our Finished Rocking Chair!!!

As most of you know, we have been searching for THE Rocking Chair for the baby room for months! And we finally found it at Lam Brothers in Madison, VA, (thanks to a tip from a friend)! We got a great deal on it too! The only catch was that it needed to be stained and polyurethaned! However, when we got home we decided that it matched the furniture pretty well already so the only thing we needed to do was do a coat of polyurethane! Easy, right? Nope!

As Micah was reading the directions for the polyurethane he found out that it was going to need between 2-3 coats and that each coat would need to dry for approximately 4 hours before being sanded for the next coat! So our hopes of finishing it all in one morning were dashed!

However, with Micah's diligence and detail-orientation he was able to finish it in about 3 or 4 actual days of working on it! He just put the last coat of polyurethane on last night and the chair looks amazing now! It is currently sitting in Emily's room drying/airing out! We have the fan going almost all the time with the window open to keep the air circulating and hopefully to get the chair "scent free" by the time of Emily's arrival!

Speaking of Emily's arrival, we just had another doctor's appointment today. we also decided to go ahead and have my glucose test done (which consisted of not eating anything after midnight last night....talk about hard for a pregnant woman to get up and not have breakfast....not even a middle of the night snack, just a sip or two of water). For all who might be wondering the Glucose Test wasn't really that bad, the drink tasted like orange soda and they served it to me really cold! I think the nurse said I downed the drink in like 45 seconds! I was hungry and I knew the faster I drank the drink the quicker my hour would start and the sooner I could get some FOOD!

After that we went to our doctor's appointment. It had been 6 weeks since my last one because he wanted to allow me to be able to do the blood work and the appointment at the same time. He measured my belly for the first time today and says that everything measures normally. Emily seems to be healthy and we got to hear her heartbeat again. That is my favorite part of the appointments ~ it even makes up for having to hop on the scales in the beginning! Her little heartbeat sounds so perfect, it definitely is enough to warm her mommy and daddy's heart!

We are just waiting to hear back from the doctor's office anytime for the "official date" of our C-section! Exciting times!

Here is the chair with just the top half having a coat of polyurethane.
My handsome husband putting the finishing coat on the rocking chair last night!!!

Here he is with the chair in Emily's Room after it was completed! Doesn't it look so shiny??

Storing Food

I know you are probably thinking didn't they just post an entry yesterday afternoon?? And the answer is, "Yes, we did." But I felt impressed to record another entry today for a specific reason ~ the importance of having Food Storage.

Last night Micah and I were privileged to be able to go with Mommers and Dooders down to our dear friends, Bob and Vonda's home, to see their food storage warehouse that they have set up. We were so impressed ~ they have a ton of food storage items ~ everything from flour to dehydrated peanut butter to baking powder to beans and much much more! We were so amazed!! If you want you can take a look at their website, East Coast Food Storage.


Food Storage is always something that Micah and I have known that we need to plan and prepare to have, but it wasn't until just after this last General Conference that he started to think more about it. With the current situation of our economy and with it being a big presidential election year, it can be a little scary to contemplate at times. With these thoughts on the forefront of his mind (and preparing to welcome our first child into this world) he suggested that we start getting a little more serious about our food storage. And we thought yesterday would be the perfect opportunity ~ so we called up mom and Keith and shared our thoughts with them and they were willing and ready to make the trip down with us for a Family Home Evening Activity!! And we are so grateful that they did! We were talking about it on the way home and we both agreed that we probably have 6-12 months of food storage in our crawl space now, so that is a very reassuring reality. We may never need it for emergency purposes, but then again we just might!

There is one more website that is a great resource for any part of the food storage process that you may be on: providentliving.org. There are talks and quotes about food and financial storage that are very beneficial and helpful for everyone, no matter what step of the process we may be at in our own families.

I have a testimony of the importance of food storage. I know that allowing for it in our monthly budget is a principle that if we heed will bless us in more ways than we can count.

Comment from Micah: If you live in Charlottesville, I highly recommend East Coast Food Storage. Getting food storage has never been so easy.

A Beautiful Day for a Festival!!

Saturday Micah and I decided to take a short drive North to the little town of Syria, VA to attend the Graves Mountain Apple Harvest Festival! I have been several times, but I have never gotten to go with my Micah! (Last year he was in Alaska on his work trip).

The weather was absolutely perfect and we definitely got a lot of walking in. There were tons of vendors there selling all kinds of neat crafts. We ended up buying some soap, and some natural skin cream! And of course we couldn't get away with out a jar of fresh Apple Butter!! Man I love that stuff!!

We also were surprised to meet up with Jessie, Avery, Jeannie and Nanny! It was definitely a fun surprise, we ended up in the same vendor's area at the same time ~ what are the chances of that....with hundreds of people around? It was nice to get to visit with them a little bit, we decided to all head over to the Pavilion together and eat lunch! That was nice. Little Avery is getting so big! She is a beautiful girl....looks just like her mommy!

To finish off our day at the festival, Micah and I walked to the Orchard, which at that point in the afternoon seemed to be a million miles away (our legs were so tired), and picked some apples! It turned out to be a fun walk, and as all walks usually go ~ it seemed shorter walking back!!

We picked a bag of an assortment of apples, which we used yesterday to make an apple pie. It was really yummy ~ not too many things better than an apple pie made with fresh picked apples! I haven't made a homemade apple pie in quite some time, I am glad that we got to pick apples on Saturday to give me a reason to do it!!

After we left the festival on Saturday we headed back home, and after having some water and a snack we headed outside to do some work and enjoy the rest of the day in the beautiful sunshine! Micah is continuing the process of applying polyurethane to our rocking chair, and I decided to rake leaves while he was doing that so that I could keep myself busy! I raked up 7 bags!! But since we have a half an acre with a good amount of trees, I am sure that is barely the the "tip of the leaf pile!" But it was still good exercise, and at least we were able enjoy a practically leaf free front yard for a few good moments on Saturday!!


Here are a few pictures from the Graves Mountain Festival.....If you have any free time to go, they are there for one more weekend!!!

Us by the Apple Harvest Hay Bale Scarecrow at the entrance of the Festival!
Cheesin' for a photo with my beautiful Sister, Jessie, and sweet niece, Avery!
Love these Cute Pumpkin Hay Bales!!
Micah reaching way high for the Perfect Apple ~ Check out those beautiful red leaves that were going right up the center of the tree trunk!
In the Shade with our "Bag o' Apples"
Here I am in front of one of the shortest apple trees that we saw in the Orchard ~ We were both so surprised at how loaded down it was with apples!!
Our last photo of the day ~ my idea, I thought it would be cute to take a picture in the middle of another cute and small tree!! (Do you see how Micah's head is almost to the top branch?)

27 Weeks and Counting!

I can't believe how quickly time is flying. It seems like just yesterday that we were starting the adoption process. Then, even though we were in the midst of all that, it seemed like an eternity between January and May (when we found out we were expecting our first baby, I was pregnant!!). Now here we are less than 3 months away from the birth of our first daughter! My, how time changes things. I remember when I was younger I was so excited about being a mom, and I would put a ball under my shirt sometimes (of course, when I was in my room with the door closed) to see how I would look pregnant. And let me just say the only problem with those balls (which is the same problem that the baby bellies have in Motherhood Maternity for you to try on under your clothes) is that they don't take into account your all-around growth, just belly growth!

So even though I don't look as small or as cute as I had percieved as I was playing around in my earlier days, I am still so happy to be pregnant with our little Emily!! She has already been such an amazing blessing to Micah and I, and she's not even here yet! We have waited and prayed so long for this miracle and she is almost here! We are excited for the next couple of months to unfold and to be able to join the world of parenthood! We know it is going to be really tough at times, but we also know that it is going to be really worth it! And we are so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends to support us along the way!

Here I am, 27 weeks and growing!

Gotta have the crib shot in there!! (Don't know what was going on with my hair this morning!)
Here we are together, I figure Micah was working so hard behind the camera to take the pictures that he needed to be in one with me too! He's so handsome!

Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention, as it is notable; this morning was the first time that Micah actually felt Emily move without me telling him first! I was laying there after the alarm went off and she was really moving, but I thought I would just keep it quiet. Micah had his hand on my belly already and then a few minutes later, she kicked pretty hard, and then Micah said, "Wow! I just felt her move!". I said, "you sure did honey!". So even though that was a small moment, it was still a very exciting one for us!!

Today is the One Year Mark...

One year ago today, October 7, 2007, Micah left from the Charlottesville Airport to complete a 5-week work assignment in Anchorage Alaska on the Elmendorf AFB. This was undoubtedly one of the hardest things I have had to do in our marriage up to this point. We had never spent a night away from eachother in the almost 22 months that we had been married and we were going to be apart for over a month. At first it seemed like almost more than I could bear, but thanks to a loving Heavenly Father and a truly amazing husband we pulled through it!


As a matter of fact that early Sunday morning that I put Micah on his plane, as I was standing outside the fence by my car bawling my eyes out, all of a sudden I noticed someone coming towards me, and after a brief second of panic I noticed it was my dad! When I looked over I saw that my parents had come out to meet me, because they knew me and knew that I would need some support! And I did!


From that moment on there were definitely ups and downs, but with the help and love and support of so many people, Micah and I both survived! And at one point in his trip he thought he would be coming home early and the very next day almost found out that he would most likely be staying the full time set forth in the beginning. That was heart breaking for me, as I am sure it was for him as he had to break that news to my heart that he knew was already breaking inside!


That one event, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it forced us to think, and we devised a plan (rational....probably not too much, but fun and exciting definitely!) for me to fly out for his last few days to be with him! As it turned out he got off early the day I came in (thanks to his hard work and a soft heart of his team leader) and he only had to work for half a day the next day to clean and pack things up! So we ended up getting to spend 3 days together in Alaska and got to explore, took lots of pictures and made memories that will last a lifetime!


So as I look back on this trip in hindsight, I am grateful to be where I am today and for the experiences that our Heavenly Father gave us during those 5 weeks last October. We are definitely stronger and more unified because of those times! I am also grateful that we can spend this October together and have fun in Ruckersville enjoying this beautiful fall weather!!


Here are a few pictures from our trip.....Hope you enjoy them!!

One of the 4 pictures Micah took with the camera over the 4 and a half weeks he was in Alaska alone!! What a cutie, unwrapping a fun package!

Here we are in Parkas as we were posing on an Itidarod Bob Sled~ Our 1st day of fun!!
The Second Day we decided to take a trip to Seward, Alaska to go on a Sea Life Cruise. We hit a pretty good snow storm on the way!

Here we are on the SS Chugach, as we embarked on our Sea Life Cruise!! We definitely saw some beautiful sights of Alaska on this cruise!!

Here I am touching a Star Fish in a Museum in Seward after our cruise ~ I was amazed that Star Fish don't actually feel soft!
Here's Micah enthralled with the Star Fish too! What a fun husband I have!!
Us on Sunday after church, the snow continued, so we wanted to get out and have some fun in it (and of course snap some photos!)

Micah's comments: I would like to add that today is the beginning of Holly's third trimester. We are both excited about the changes that will occur in our lives in less than 3 months.

Time for Another Family Dinner!!

Friday night we started up our monthly family dinners again! Mommers and Dooders have been trying to find a day for a long time, and finally they found Friday!! So, now we are going to have 1st Friday dinners each month, and this month Jacob and Tiffany volunteered to have a cookout at their house!

It was really nice to go, even though it was quite the drive from our house. I haven't been to their place in over a year and Micah has never been ~ so it was great to go and get the tour of their gorgeous house and see all kinds of fun pictures in photo albums that Jacob and Tiffany made together.

I rarely get to see my brothers and sisters because we don't live too close together, so I am very grateful to have these family dinners back in action. It was also good to get to see my sister, Jessie, she is pregnant too and is due about 10 weeks after me. It was fun to compare our "baby bellies" in person! Then it got really fun when Dooders and my two brothers, Jacob and Mark, decided to all line up for a picture to see who has the biggest belly! I have my guess, but I will let you be the judge!!

The rest of our weekend was spent enjoying the sessions of General Conference. Although Saturday before the first session and in between sessions Micah was busy putting polyurethane on our rocking chair! That's right, we Finally bought a rocking chair last weekend and lucky for us the wood color matches Emily's other furniture, so Micah just had to put a few coats of polyurethane on to increase its durability!!! (He has to put the last coat on next Saturday, so we will post a picture when it is all done, so stay "posted" for that!!). Conference was so wonderful, I love being able to watch each of the sessions and hearing the words of the prophets, apostles and leaders!! I was really touched by all of the speakers, but especially President Monson's talk this morning and his closing remarks this evening. It is so true that nothing in this world is so constant as change. That reality is really starting to sink in more and more the closer we are getting to little Emily's arrival. I know having her here is going to be one of the biggest blessings ever, but I am a little scared at the same time. Hopefully I will be able to do okay as her mom and teach her all that she needs to know in order for her to live her life to the fullest. I noticed a lot of speakers in conference this time spoke of the profound influences of their mothers and I started to get pretty overwhelmed. But I am sure with Heavenly Father there to help guide us, and Micah by my side as the best dad in the world for our little Emily we will make it!! I am still focusing on finding Joy in the Journey now....each minute of each day! Life is beautiful!! I am looking forward to recieving our November Ensign and getting the opportunity to read and re-read these conference talks, because that is how I learn best!!!

For now, here are some pictures of our Family Dinner on Friday Night at Jacob and Tiffany's...

Jacob and Tiffany ~ The Host and The Hostess

Me and Jacob, stopping for Micah to snap a picture!!
~Dooders and Jessie visiting on the couch~
The Pregnant Sisters~Me at 26 weeks and Jessie at 17 weeks!!
Showing off our "Pregnant Bellies" from left to right: Dooders, Jacob, Mark, Jessie and Me!

Gratitude for Autumn Weather!!

As I was driving to work this morning I was looking out at the beautiful autumn morning and I was just overwhelmed with gratitude for the many blessings that we have been given. I absolutely LOVE this time of year. It is so refreshing and happy! I feel so blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful part of our Heavenly Father's world. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of a Father in Heaven who loves us so much that He would be willing to send his Only Begotten Son down to live, suffer and die for us. I am also grateful for my elder brother, Jesus Christ, who was willing to come to Earth and live, suffer, die and be resurrected again for us, His brothers and sisters, so that one day we too could be ressurrected and return back to our Heavenly Home again.

General Conference is coming up this weekend as well. We are so blessed to have the Lord's prophets and apostles speak to us. And to be able to hear them from Salt Lake City twice a year during General Conference. I always learn so much and feel the spirit so strongly during General Conference.

I am also grateful to have a wonderful husband who is so loving and supportive of me....no matter how cranky or crazy I can be at times.....he loves me with all of his heart and bends over backwards to do the things I ask him to do. He is so amazing and I am so fortunate to be his wife and have him as my husband. We are both so excited to be getting closer to the day that we get to welcome our first little daughter into our family. We are so excited to meet our little Emily. We have definitely been praying to have her come for a long time, and sometimes it is hard to believe that she will be here in less than 3 short months!

So, whatever you may be doing today, take some time to go outside and just look around. You may be suprised at how a few minutes outside in our beautiful world can make you feel! Know that you are loved and we would love to hear from you sometime during this beautiful time of year!


Here are a few pictures that we took a few months ago at Carter's Mountain. These are two of my favorites!!!

Ahhhh, isn't that what Apple Picking is all about!!

I love my "monkey", as he stops to smile for a photo amidst the trees!