June 2008 Update

Well, where has the time gone? It seems like life has been a blur this past month. Here are the latest & greatest happenings in our family.

Yeehaw! We FINALLY have a 2nd car for Rhett to drive to work. What a relief for me! We were able to get a good deal on a 2000 Toyota Camry. It is a 4-cylinder (so great gas mileage), has leather, sun roof, power everything…so it turned out to be a great buy. I don’t know which of us is enjoying it more. I’ve only driven it once, but it has made my life so much easier!

More exciting news…after almost 3 years of having dial-up internet we finally broke down and signed up for a bundle deal through AT&T. So now we get our phone, Dish Network and high speed internet for a great deal. What a difference it makes! We can actually use our phone and the internet at the same time…who would have thought? This means however that we now have different email addresses:
Rhett – rhett.zimmerman@att.net
Maren – maren.zimmerman@att.net

We finally got our living room, dining room and hallway work done. A friend removed the popcorn ceiling, patched up some cracks, textured the ceilings, then painted all the walls, doors, trim, etc. It looks great and it’s so nice to finally have it done after talking about it for about a year. We had most of the furniture out for about a week though, so then it made me think that I don’t want all that stuff back in. We made a few minor changes and left out a couple of large items. It feels so much more roomy and open in there. Check out the before & after pictures below!

I spent my 34th Birthday this year (June 7th) celebrating with our niece Jane who was baptized. We spent the weekend up in Austin, TX at Rhett’s sister Melissa’s house. Mom & Dad Zimmerman were there as well as Rhett’s brother Robert and his wife Heather and new baby Riley, who was also blessed that weekend. We enjoyed spending time with them! It’s so nice to have them close by. We've had some bad news in the Zimmerman Family this past week however, and I'm asking for all of your prayers. Our niece Grace Cluff (Melissa & Rod's daughter) was just diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma Cancer. She's only 5 and we are hoping and praying for the best. Please direct some of your prayers her way. Thank You!!!

Austin finished up school on June 4th and was promoted to the 3rd grade. He truly enjoys school and still tries to play it often at home. Austin is swimming with the Stoneridge Shockwaves swim team for the 2nd year and is LOVING IT! He has improved greatly since just learning how to swim last year. He has had 3 swim meets already and has been involved in some relays. He has learned the Butterfly and Breaststroke in the last few weeks and is already doing great at it. He is also a pro at diving off the starting blocks.

Logan has been enjoying playing at the pool every morning while we’re there for Austin’s practice. He isn’t afraid of the water at all and his favorite is to do running cannonballs off the side. I’m going to try to get him in swim lessons sometime. While playing at a friend’s house one day, Logan’s friend threw something that happened to catch him right between the eyes. He had a pretty good gash there, but with the help of some super glue in the beginning it is starting to heal nicely.

Carson celebrated his 2nd Birthday this month on June 2nd. We had a quiet little family party involving cake and presents of course. Carson has started talking so well lately and it almost surprises me daily at what he can now understand and communicate to us. I love it when they get to that stage!

We are looking forward to our big family trip this summer. It’s coming more quickly than I realized… we’ll be leaving next Friday!!! We’ll be spending the week of July 4th in Denver, CO with Rhett’s family at a reunion, then we’ll drive to Salt Lake City to see some friends for a couple of days, Rhett will fly home to work and I will continue up to Rexburg, ID to spend a week with my mom. He will then fly back on July 18th (one day AFTER our 10-year Anniversary) to spend a day or so with my family at a reunion, then it’s a LONG HAUL back to San Antonio. My mom has agreed to let us take her piano back with us, so we’ll be literally HAULING a trailer back filled with all those things I still have back in the house I grew up in (dolls, dollhouse, books, etc.). I just hope we have a girl someday to share them with…

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. I have a new recipe to share this month. These are the best tasting oatmeal cookies I’ve ever had!!! Enjoy.

Love – Rhett, Maren, Austin, Logan & Carson


Best Ever Oatmeal Cookies
1 c. butter Crisco
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
2 ½ cups oatmeal
2 c. flour (loosely measured)

Roll into balls – press with palm. Bake at 350 for 14 min.