Dining Room makeover...

These past couple weeks I've been busy during "nap time" painting our dining room and making this cool faux capiz shell chandelier.  I got the idea from this DIY blog.  To sum it up, I cut out hundreds of circles from ironed together sheets of wax paper, sewed them together, and strung them over an upside down hanging planter basket.  Then I attached it to the existing fixture.  I wish I could say it was a quick and easy fix, but it took me a REALLY long time.  So long that I'm a little embarrased i got so wrapped up in a craft project. :)  Probably wont be the last time.

Planking

Rex is so close to crawling, its so cute watching him try.  The best part is when he ends up in a plank position and just holds it for a second!  Getting a head start on those 6-pack abs!

The last 3 months in pictures...

My little brother (not so little- the tallest in the picture!), Alan, got home from his 2 year mission in Mendoza, Argentina!

After a long hike on my parents beautiful property in Colorado.

Getting lots of love from Granna!

Rex beside a picture of Aleks at his Grandma and Granpa Layne's home in Nashville

First tooth when he was 5 months, 1.5 weeks old (2nd came in a week later)

 The Pantheon at Nashville with the Laynes!

Trunk-or-Treat with his Church buddies!

I just have to brag about my husband for a second...
This man is a stud.  He spends most of his waking hours preping for and then piloting the MC-12 in 6-7 hr, intense night missions that help save so many lives of troops on the ground and save an unknown number of people from known terrorist insurgents.  Everytime I talk to him and hear about his recent missions I am in awe of the impact he has everyday on so many lives.  He is a modern day superhero.  This job could stand alone in proving my point.

But on top of that he wakes up early to work on two online courses for his MBA, which takes him twice as long as it should because the internet connection is slow.  He often brings his textbooks with him on the plane to read during the flight out and back from the mission location.

Plus, he somehow finds time to stick to his "Body for Wife" program and gets over to the gym nearly everyday.  So in summary, he fights bad guys, is really smart, and looks good doing it!

And when his day is done and his body is probably just screaming at him to go to sleep, he pulls out his laptop, calls me on Skype, and listens to my day with Rex with a big smile on his face.

Who could ask for a better man?  Rex has an amazing father and I have an amazing husband.  I hope we will both always appreciate what he does for us and for our country.

We ARE Christians!!!

“We ought to be able to say a Christian in office is better than a non-Christian in office."
Robert Jeffress, speaking of Perry vs Romney

Really?!!  Did you REALLY just say that?!?

With Mitt Romney running for president for 2012, I find myself once again frustrated with how our faith is portrayed.  Like Mitt Romney, I am a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints (mormon).  Did everyone catch that?  "JESUS CHRIST".  Besides the fact that is part of our church's official name, how can anyone say we are not Christian?  If you know anything about our faith, it is that Christ  is the cornerstone of our faith and through the study of his life, the model for how we ought to live our lives.  Just go to one of our Sunday services and tell me we do not worship and follow Christ!  I would like to give people like this Robert Jeffress the benefit of the doubt but there really is just no excuse for ignorance in this case.  What started all this was him calling the church a cult.  What?  Again, I just really have no idea how people arrive at these contrived and completely false statements.   And while I usually love FoxNews, I am equally appalled that there is no rebuttal to Jeffress' statement reported in the article.
 
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/08/romneys-mormon-faith-is-thrust-into-campaign-spotlight/#content

Best food EVER!

One of my best friend's parents are in town vacationing and they are good friends of the head chef and owner of this AMAZING restaurant, Fat Hen.  I met them there for dinner last night and it was possibly the best food i have ever had!  This chef is a genius- its a unique combination of French cooking with a Southern twist using only local produce around Charleston.  I've been trying to plan a really nice date for when Aleks gets home, and this will definitely be part of the plan! 

http://www.thefathen.com/

A few of Rex's favorite things...