May flowers :)

I can't believe it is May already and all my tulips are blooming! I have had my eye on those since they sprouted back in February and they are beautiful. Derek and I have been working on a few Spring projects. Last weekend, we sanded and restained our deck (the stuff they used before was all peely and yucky looking). Now we are even more ready to have people come visit us - especially now that it is getting warmer. Derek has taken on the project of building a waterfall/pond in the backyard - you can see the retaining wall and the big hole in the picture. Hopefully it will be done in a couple of weeks. We've purchased a couple of rocks (nice flat shiny ones) that will make up the make part of the waterfall and then Derek will scavenge some other rocks from the farm in Twin Falls (thanks Dad!). I felt very strange paying for rocks though - they are surprisingly expensive.

Now that tax season is over, I feel like we are slowly starting to catch up on cleaning, projects, etc. but I am still busy with studying for the CPA exam. Only 3 more weeks until the first test and I have been CRAMMING with my friend Emily who is also taking the test then. I am still liking my job a whole lot. Some days were are really busy and other days there is not a lot to do. The next few weeks should be somewhat consistent though which makes the time pass by more quickly.

Derek is still liking working for State Farm but he is anxious for an agency to open up. He is traveling quite a bit - two days a week in Fruitland, ID (about an hour away) and three days in Twin Falls (2.25 hours away). He commutes to Fruitland and then stays with mom and dad when he is in Twin. This looks like it will continue for another 2 months. Luckily he gets paid mileage so the gas money is not coming from our pockets, but it is quite a bit of wear and tear on the vehicles... Hopefully something will come available soon! We know that God has something good in store for us :)

A couple of weekends ago, we went to MariJo Southfield's wedding at the Grove Hotel - it was a very fun wedding and so beautiful. Everything was in perfect order and looked amazing (especially one bridesmaid in particular!)

This past weekend, Derek and I volunteered with some people from my work at FUNDSY which is a big fundraising event in Boise (it was $250 a person for dinner and then there was a silent auction and live auction too). It was for the rich of the rich!! CEOs of companies such as Simplot, Boise Cascade, and other big companies were in attendance. One of the prizes was 4 box seat tickets to the Boise Broncos vs. OSU - it included a limo ride to get to the private jet and then a limo ride to the game and then back the same way. That was the big ticket item - it sold for 12,000!!! There were other vacations to Fiji and other exoctic resorts but the Broncos sure are something special here! Some people spent a lot of money!! Our job was to retrieve the prizes that were won so I got to meet some big people in Boise (kind of...)

For those of you who do not know, we got a new baby!! His name is Sake (short for Socrates) and we love him. Dutch and Sake are best friends and are inseparable. He is soo very cute. Sunday we were working outside and then I went in to study. After I was studying for a while, I got a phone call from the neighbor. Sake had run off down the street and made some friends with our neighbors :) Luckily we got him back safe and sound and even met some more of our neighbors so it was blessing in disguise.

So that is what is going on with us :) Thanks for all the posters - sorry this one has been so long in the coming!

Love you all!!