Spud: [spuhd]: a potato

These are some of our "spuds" from our garden. We grew a pretty big garden this year, but halfway through we decided it was too massive for us. These are the red potatoes, Jesse's favorite kind. My favorite part of the garden is the raspberries. I even learned how to can jams! Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, Judy! This year I learned to can green beans, beets, pickles, apricot/pineapple jam, raspberry jam, carrots, spaghetti sauce, salsa, strawberry jam, and strawberry lemonade concentrate. One thing we have learned about gardening this year is to never plant 2 massive rows of tomatoes again! We had way too many tomatoes, but hey at least our garden will have great fertilizer this next year. oops :)

Joon is now a year and 1 month old (a.k.a. 13 months). She is starting to walk, but she gets so excited when she does that she ends up falling down quickly. She never stops smiling, unless she has to go to bed. The words she can say now: "Goose", "Doggie", "Daddy", "Mom", "Kitty", "Cat", "Oh Wow", "Wowwie", "What's that", "Look", "Ouch", "All done", "More", and her newest word: "Num Num" (yum yum).

P.S. Joon has 12 teeth now. and 2 more thinking about popping through.

mama [məˈmɑː] Old-fashioned an informal word for mother

So an amazing thing happened this past couple of weeks. Joon said, "MAMA". I was pretty excited. Jesse was a little sad that she hasn't said "DADA" yet, but I am trying to get her to. I will admit, I do have the bragging rights now that she said "MAMA" first. Another interesting thing that we have been dealing with is mice. Our food storage room as ransacked by mice getting into our rice, hot chocolate, and spagetti. Strangely enough, they didn't get into our flour, sugar, or any boxed things in our storage room. I was very sad about the hot chocolate... it was a beautiful big box. *sniff*

That wasn't our only encounter with a mouse. A few days later, we were sitting in the kitchen just enjoying the day. When Squirt, our black cat, dashed across the room in one leap. I thought she was just having one of her crazy moments where she chases nothing around the house. Or maybe she just ran into the wall, but it wasn't that. She popped out from behind the piano with a mouse in her mouth. It was really funny.

But, if you know what a cat is like, then you know that wasn't everything that happened. She put the mouse down to play with it. Squirt would catch it, then let it go, then catch it, then let it go... and so on. She played with it for about 30 minutes, or so and then Who, our calico cat, came in to see what was going on. Eventually she wanted in on the action so she stole the mouse and walked off with it. Squirt didn't know this, she just kept looking frantically for it in the spot she dropped it.

This picture of Squirt holding the mouse in her mouth was the second time this had happened in our kitchen. And sadly, for Squirt, Who ended up stealing her prize. I also found out that I am not scared of mice, unless they are running in my direction, or if they jump out of my cupboards... Which happened last week.

These pictures of Juniper are recent. I just love the way she smiles, so I thought I would share her smile to brighten everyone else's day, like it brightens mine.

Family: Two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another

My family update:

Jesse: ~He is the love of my life; I adore him. No one else could ever take his place.~

Jesse is 23 years old. He is working at the Flint Greenhouses (aka Mountain States Plants) as a manager. He loves his job; The manual work and the ability to use his hands. The great thing is that his work is right outside our house. He can come in for his breaks and lunch, and I get to see him!!

After work, Jesse loves to just relax and watch TV or play some video games. Right now he's playing some shooting one; I should probably figure out what it's called. He just finished Castlevania. That is Jesse this year, so far!

Meagan: ~The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.~

I am 20 years old. I'm a new mother, if you can't tell by the quote above. I absolutely love it; although it's very tough. I have a hard time being a happy person when I wake up super early. My motivation is still trying to come back, it's lost somewhere in the abyss of time. The only problem with that is, I have to try to find it sometime, and that's hard to do.

I am starting school on the 18th of January; it's going to be quite the adventure. I'm excited to learn again; I love school. I'm going to take Art history1, Drawing 2, Painting 2, Photography Dark Room, and English 2.

My goals for this year are: (1) Keeping my house clean (pretty much coming up with a strategy to keep it clean). (2) Creating Juniper's Nursery! I am going to paint her walls and transform it into a fairy forest.

Juniper:~She is the sunshine in my life. Her smile just makes my knees go weak. When I look at her I see the wonders that God does.~

This is my little angel. I love her so much. Juniper is 3 1/2 months old; and she's getting so big. She is so strong. Joon lifts herself up onto her feet when she's holding onto my hands. She loves it when I stick my tongue out at her, and when I babble and make funny sounds. She loves the sound of her daddy's voice; she'll just stare at him when he walks in, like she's waiting for him to notice her and smile at her. I love it when she wakes up in the morning smiling, that just means that day is a super special one. This month, Joon gets to start eating baby cereal. I am so excited for this to happen, it will be so cute.

Inspiration: the quality or state of being inspired

I was inspired to start this family blog because my friend, Mariah, started one herself. I liked the idea so much that I just had to use it. I decided on the title The Flint's in "SPUD"-ville, because that's where we're at.
We love it here in "SPUD"-ville; the river, the ponds, the animals, the people, the very frequent movie nights, and even the 40 minute drive to civilization. Ok, so maybe I exaggerated the drive to civilization just a little; it's actually 15 minutes to 'civilization' in the town of Buhl, Idaho... but it's about 40 minutes to where we buy everything in Twin Falls.
This is pretty much where our family began... well except for the 3 months that Jesse and I went to scout camp after we got married; and excluding the fact that we were married in Utah. Other than those very significant facts, this is where we began and will continue to exist for a number of years.
No one really knows how long they will stay in one place, so we might as well live as though this is where we will be forever. Meaning, love every moment, appreciate the beauty and the laughter, meet your neighbors, and make the most out of where you are. Go "SPUD"-ville!!!