The Noehren's

That magical day of the year where our sneaky leprechaun visits us has arrived.  Top of the Mornin' to Ya!  Leprechaun juice. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we took advantage of the warm spring weather and headed out for a hike that has been on our list for a while - Anglin Falls, near Berea. The kids were soooo excited and literally trail ran the whole mile to the falls.  I see cross country track in their future!  It sure beats year's past where they would throw fits or need to be carried.  The falls did not disappoint.  They were beautiful! We were even able to all hike behind the falls, which was way cool.  I love how excited Haley gets about stuff.  While she was exploring around the falls she said "This is the best thing I've EVER done.  Nature is my best friend...plus mom, dad and Grant."  Hahaha.  Make that a tree-hugging cross country track star.  The kids ran the whole way back to the car too.  In the rain.  Stream crossing was involved.  It was heaven.   

Recently I ran into someone I haven’t seen in probably 10 years – myself!   Over the last week or so I have been full of energy , happiness, and full of promise of what the future holds – something I haven’t felt to this degree in a long, long, very long time.   Don’t get me wrong – I haven’t been sitting around boo hooing for 10 years.   I’ve done quite well and had tons of enjoyable times.   But for the last 6 years or so I’ve struggled with my thyroid and anemia and the intense amount of fatigue both diseases can bring.   It creeps up on you like a slowly boiling pot of water. You think you’re fine and gradually get accustomed to feeling tired and lightheaded every day.   Then daily naps become the norm, even though you’re not the napping type.   Caffeinated beverages don’t even take the edge off anymore and you notice you’re a little overly emotional in not such a good way.   You’re so faint that you wouldn’t be surprised if you pass...

Thanks to my sister Cara's efforts to organize family photos, I was inspired to take out my mess of photos and try to get them in order.  Since we are old and have lots of pre-digital pictures I selected a random few to scan that warmed my heart or made me laugh to share: This is one my mom took for our engagment photos at the park in Mansfield, Connecticut.  Such a happy time!  Circa Spring 2000, age 24. I love this one because it is from our first house in Lexington, Virginia and it completely captures the rolly polly, rosy cheeky, stone-facey cuteness of our 3 month old Haley.  Circa 2003, age 27. I sooo love this one of Brian after the Marine Mud Run in Roanoke, Virginia.  It was so fun to watch this race and even more fun to watch everyone wash off by being blasted by fire truck hoses.  Circa 2004, age 28.  Here is one from our Moab, Utah trip for Michelle's wedding with Haley's broken leg.  She sure was a ch...