. . . hellllllllp!!!!!! . . .

. . . we've had a crazy few days now

of trying to wrap our heads 

around this new challenge . . . 

. . . the exact thing 

we were hoping it wasn't . . .

{it's also a hiatal hernia and pylori [ulcer causing] bacteria}

. . . seriously . . .

. . . i'm considering 

a legal name change 

for my husband . . .

. . . william job romney . . .

. . . it has a nice ring to it, no? . . .

. . . our sweet daughter 

has been trying to cushion the blow 

with the perfect book {for me}, 

barro's gluten free pizza, 

gluten free brownies from aj's 

and a gluten free 

red velvet sprinkles cupcake {for bill} . . . 

{favorite quote from this book, so far ~ 

"Left untreated or insufficiently treated, 

celiac disease can lead to damage to other organs. 

If properly treated, celiac disease typically leads to . . . nothing!"}

. . . hoping el charro 

can figure out how to make 

a gluten free bean burro enchilada style

 and a gluten free cheese crisp . . . 

. . . but, i'm not holding my breath . . . 

i feel very lucky to have a sister-in-law who has been extra diligent 

about feeding her high school aged daughter 

{diagnosed with celiac as a baby} a gluten free diet. 

she will be a valuable resource. 

also, thanks to amanda's good friend, nikki, 

who has been keeping her two-year-old gluten free for six months now. 

i'm open to any and all ideas, tips, and/or suggestions. 

it will be so wonderful to get my husband's digestive tract 

back to healthy again. 

it won't be easy, but we can do it.

. . . hook 'em . . .

. . . "university of texas fabric" 

wasn't something 

i ever thought i'd google . . . 

. . . and yet, i did . . .

. . . and i found it 

and i bought it . . . 

. . . sheesh . . . 

. . . the things i do 

for a son-in-law's 

home teaching family . . . 

. . . longhorns now join seahawks,

suns, mhs, and the air force 

in the special order department . . .

. . . i am nothing 

if not accommodating . . . 

. . . dingy . . .

. . . you know these shirts . . . 

. . . everyone wears them, 

it seems . . . 

. . . well ~ there comes a time . . . 

. . . a time 

when they aren't white 

any more . . . 

. . . the word dingy comes to mind . . .

. . . dingy ~ meaning grey

or no longer bright . . . 

. . . my favorite brand is modbod . . . 

. . . i like their fabric 

and the neckline finish . . . 

. . . so i ordered a new batch . . . 

. . . and when they arrived, 

two looked like this . . . 

. . . and two looked like this . . . 

. . . which is exactly 

what i requested . . . 

. . . best invention ever . . . 

 . . . because this is arizona, 

dontcha know . . . 

. . . it's hot here . . .

. . . the fewer layers, the better . . . 

. . . it's especially nice 

when, say, 

you're wearing a dress . . . 

. . . and it isn't really 

socially acceptable 

{when your undershirt is creeping up} 

to reach up and pull it down . . . 

. . . if you know what i mean . . . 

. . . and if you're 

a reality tv junkie . . . 

. . . i think you'll recognize this model

 from the modbod website . . . 

. . . pretty sure it's 

20-year-old utah resident

 model/student, angie . . . 

. . . third person voted off 

survivor: philippines . . . 

. . . partly, perhaps, for her answer 

to jeff probst's question, 

"what would make things better 

for the tribe?" . . . 

. . . her response: "cookies" . . . 

. . . again ~ the word dingy 

comes to mind . . .

. . . the other kind of dingy . . . 
. . . which also means 
not too bright . . . 

. . . blessing day ~ the final chapter . . .

. . . can't help but share 

a few more photos . . . 

. . . it doesn't happen very often, 

but our entire family 

was together on sunday . . . 

. . . eighteen of us plus my mom . . . 

. . . loved having her there . . . 

. . . gramma romney came, too . . . 

. . . but she made 

a speedy getaway . . . 

. . . so no pix of her . . . 

{we thought we were pretty cool having four generations represented, 

but on both sides of jess' family - there are five generations. amazing!} 

. . . so happy for this little family . . . 

. . . drew and jessalyn 

are awesome parents . . . 

. . . i don't know if i've ever seen 

a mom and dad 

more obsessed with their baby . . . 

. . . just as they should be . . . 

. . . it's wonderful 

and so fun to watch . . . 

. . . hayden is a lucky little girl . . . 

. . . she also had 

the most darling footwear . . . 

. . . perfect for that 

freakishly hot day . . .

. . . since returning home, 

it's been discovered 

that this tiny girl 

has acid reflux . . . 

. . . she's most comfy 

sitting in her carseat . . .

. . . look at that little angel face . . . 

. . . and just for fun . . . 

. . . hayden's daddy 

in his blessing outfit . . . 

. . . we're pretty sure 

they both have romney eyes . . . 

. . . mother nature's farm . . .

. . . elliott was verrrrrrrrrrry excited

to go to the pumpkin eyepatch . . . 

. . . with the cousins? . . . 

. . . even better . . . 

. . . addi {10} 

with the cutest fairytale pumpkins . . . 

 . . . halleigh {9} . . . 

. . . tate {6}. . .  

. . . tagg {4} . . .  

. . . elliott {almost 4} . . .  

. . . cameron {17 months} . . . 

. . . a short baby truly lost in a maze 

is pretty funny . . .  

. . . bigger kids not lost in a maze 

had a ball, too . . . 

. . . driving a tractor? . . . 

. . . you betcha . . . 

. . . how many cousins 

can drive at once? . . . 

. . . colby {13 months} . . . 

. . . group shots 

are next to impossible . . . 

. . . good thing they're all adorable . . . 

. . . consider yourselves warned,
my pretty daughters . . . 

. . . i can't believe amanda

is actually touching the sign! . . . 

. . . to sum up:

•the kids had fun

•animals stink

•filthy feet

•hay and dust

•asthma

•love my family

{thanks, manders ~ she took all the good photos}

. . . "g"s and babies . . .

. . . here is a photo 

from thirteen years ago . . . 

{l-r: brad(10), geoff(11), and drew(10)}

. . . they were known as 

b-rad, g-baby, and drewski . . . 

. . . fast forward to yesterday . . . 

. . . g-baby blessed his baby 

and drew blessed my g-baby 

on the same day . . .

{l-r: hayden and drew romney, mila and geoff garner}

{photo credit: shellene}

. . . baby mila must be thinking, 

"hey, hayden! 

what's all the fuss about?" . . .

. . . and guess who else 

was in attendance? . . . 

{l-r: drew, jessalyn and hayden romney, danielle and brad sherwood}

. . . kind of makes me want to sing

 "friends we are 

and friends we'll ever be" . . . 

. . . what a fun day! . . . 

. . . what hayden wore . . .

. . . i love to check in now and then  

on a couple of style blogs . . . 

. . . here're two favorites . . . 

. . . what would 

emma pillsbury wear? . . .

and 

. . . what kate wore . . . 

. . . so in true style blogger fashion ~

here's what hayden will wear today . . . 

. . . from the inside out . . . 

. . . she'll start out with 

a fresh pampers swaddler 

with wetness indicator ~ 

size one . . . 

. . . then ~ since her grammy 

has a thing 

about baby girl diapers 

being covered at all times ~ 

she'll sport these 

ruffle bum chonies . . . 

{chonies. drew's word. not mine.}

. . . hayden's grammy 

has a thing about slips, too . . . 

. . . proper young ladies wear slips . . . 

. . . proper older ladies do, too . . . 

. . . it's better that way . . . 

. . . hayden's grammy 

also thinks 

you can never have 

too many ruffles . . . 

. . . or lace . . . 

. . . or flowers . . . 

. . . hayden's grammy 

can't wait to get some photos 

of hayden in this ensemble . . . 

. . . her footwear, 

headband, 

and jewelry 

are off the chart . . . 

. . . a new niece is nice . . .

. . . hayden met her aunties today . . . 

. . . they might have been  

a little more excited about it 

than she was . . . 

{aunties amber, amelia, and amanda. drew = photo bomb}

. . . addi and halleigh 

were pumped to meet 

their first 

romney girl cousin, too . . . 

. . . we were blessed to have 

seventeen out of eighteen 

immediate family members 

here this morning . . .

{we missed chris}

. . . if you make waffles, 

they will come . . . 

. . . feelings of guilt . . .

. . . sometimes, after weeks 

of throwing them away, 

i feel guilty . . . 

 . . . because maybe overripe bananas 

have feelings, too . . . 

. . . and there are starving children . . . 

{in camden, according to a dateline segment years ago 

that my children still quote}

. . . so i buy pecan pieces 

at $10.32 per pound . . . 

. . . and bake bread 

so i don't have to waste 

80¢ worth of bananas . . . 

. . . and then i feel so much better . . . 

. . . except for the guilt 

that comes from eating it . . . 

. . . this recipe is really awesome . . .

. . . it's all about the topping . . .

. . . and the cream cheese 

in the batter . . . 

. . . teneleventwelve . . .

. . . that's the day baby hayden 

took her first plane ride . . . 

. . . traveling is sooooo exhausting . . . 

. . . she could hardly 

keep her eyes open 

when she got here . . . 

. . . so ~ we're hoping 

for a good nights' sleep . . . 

. . . because this weekend's festivities

 are all about her . . .