A Wedding, A Baby, and Some Escaped Convicts

Seasons come and go, and with them just a little more life is lived. This season in particular is one of great joys and harvests ahead. Just ask my friend "April" who got engaged this past week. After years of dreaming about finding "Mr. Right", he finally showed up, as sure and true as can be. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember that they met on eharmony a while back. After hours and hours of telephone conversations, he made his way up here to meet the woman of his dreams. Together, they hiked into a secluded water fall not far from here. He got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him.......
I got a call a few days later. She asked me to be the "Mistress of Ceremony". I'm not sure exactly what that is, but I happily and somewhat blindly agreed to it. I baked them a cake and added a bride and groom topper i'd recently come upon at a second hand store. The kids and I walked the corny engagement gift over along with a candle and job application for the hospital I work at (he's a CNA). Things are moving along fast and though the wedding is set for October 30th, he's moving up here in the next few weeks! It'd be hard not to like the guy. Every morning he prays and reads the Bible with her. He's just likable. It didn't take me long to decide that they're going to make a good match. Their household is in an excitable uproar of planning, wedding trinkets and joy. April herself is all aglow.
Mist's mom called me around the same time and we're making plans for her baby shower!! The little valley is so full of happy upcoming events :-)
Of course danger lurks around the corner as well (or so the locals are whispering). Escaped Murderous convicts have apparently come this direction and are being sought out by authorities. Since not much exciting goes on around here, its been the buzz word among the locals. The other day when the kids and I floated the river with some friends we were reminded to be careful! Of course all kinds of "River Wild" scenarios unfolded in my mind and I have to admit, I half expect the criminals to come hiking up the driveway at any moment.
I also recently attended a meeting about disaster crisis. It was rather unnerving having to eat lunch with so many important people. Its always a challenge to participate in such conversations. How does one add to the conversation without saying too little or talking too much?! Of course I was nervous as all get out and stuffed myself out of nervous eating....yes Miss Belly Fat indeed, did win that one! After finally surviving the encounter, I made my way over to the post office. I had lost my keys and my husband gave me a key to use. Its extremely hard to keep track of one key in case you've never tried. Add to that, my purse itself could be declared a national disaster if anybody ever glimpsed its chaotic disarrangement. Well anyway, the post person starts asking me why I'm wearing a name tag and so I tell them briefly what I was doing. That was just enough time to distract me from watching the lone key. The last time I'd remembered seeing it was when I threw my stack of letters into the mail slot! Suddenly fear struck me. Would I have to ask the post person to sort through the outgoing mail for my borrowed car key?! What kind of confidence (or lack thereof) would the post person feel about me being a temporary "Facility Incident Commander"? Haha..... Well anyway, I sat down on the steps rummaging through my purse in a mortified manner. My face had turned pale and passers by were beginning to stare. Just as the fate of the world (or maybe my pride) was about to be crushed, I stumbled upon the key....alls well that ends well in this chapter ;-)

We have the above animal all over up here. In fact, my oldest son has fed some kits. Can you tell what it is?