Live, Love, Laugh... Lewis!

I'm ridiculous. Brian's awesome.

2012-02-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

I like my Craigslist.org deals. I found a beautiful bedroom set for a good price up in Fruita. I find a lot of things in Fruita. Our Jeep was a Fruita craigslist find. Anyway. I talked Brian into looking at it, then buying it. It is gargantuan. We had to rent an open trailer because the set is too large for an enclosed one. The chifferobe is nearly as tall as I.

We got it home and I loathed it. It in and of itself is gorgeous, but it was SO BIG. Of course we had to some serious rearranging and distribution of our other dressers, which we received for free when we got married and have served us well, and will continue to do so in other capacities.

I felt so bad. The set is a lot of money and a lot of physical work for the hubs and Greggers to get in our home. The bed, of course comes apart, and thankfully the armoire does. That chifferobe, however, is one giant, single piece.

Brian was fantastically empathetic at my ridiculous buyers remorse scene, which included loads of apologies to him for hauling and paying for it.

Ha ha. Well we both love the chifferobe and like all the rest. We agreed to let it sit and simmer and see how it wears on me. Brian commented it is nice to have a cohesive bedroom set, so it was nice he's enjoying it. It is growing on me, since I finished rearranging and making it fit. We moved the armoire into Adaiah's room, which helps a great deal. That thing is a beast and we had no good place for it. Gosh, our bedroom sure did look big enough to accomodate it all! It blew me away when we squished it all in and shrunk our room.

Both kids easily fit into the nightstands and could easily fit one more, maybe even two. THE NIGHTSTANDS. Those are our small pieces!

On a side note I got those lamps for a screaming deal, $16 each at Hobby Lobby. They're neutral enough to work with and I really do like the ambient lighting they provide.

I'm considering creating vinyl designs to personalize it a bit, in the spaces on the headboard, the doors on the nightstands, and the chifferobe doors. It would lighten up the feel of the set for me and be removable...

I do have to point out the details I love. I like the posts and the coordinating hand carved medallions on each of the pieces.

I threw on the quilt Brian's mom gave us for our wedding which I love but hate to ruin so never use... Dumb I know but I mean it.

I wanted something light to brighten up the set and the room and am loving having it out.

This is the chifferobe that is taller than my eyes!

The armoire is in Adaiah's room. It is super deep and oh so tall. Denver's expression is funny here.

I have to show off the inset of the quilt. It is the temple Brian and I were sealed/married at. I've always been especially smitten by the Angel Moroni in metallic gold thread.

The MIL is amazing. There are bows and roses quilted around the perimeter.

The current stance is I'm growing comfortable with it and will figure out how to personalize it. It really is nice having furniture in the kids rooms, beyond just their beds and lingerie dressers, a matching set that was given to us by the same person that gave us the oak dressers we had in our room. This house is FULL of oak, as a side note :)

Small Joys

2012-02-14T22:21:00.000-08:00

I bought this great basket/shelf thing from Hobby Lobby, not positive what I was going to do with it. But I really like it.

It's been laying around for awhile and today I was looking at our super overflowing fruit bowl and thought that fruit could use a new home...

Not at all what I had been envisioning for those baskets but up it went and in went the fruit and I love it.

I love the hooks underneath to hang dry my Norwex cloths. Ridiculous but I'm a big fan of them :D

And yes, I like it enough I gave the photo the glamour shot treatment!

Valentines Day

2012-02-14T22:16:00.000-08:00

We made our first ever batch of homemade Valentine's on Friday. I was SUPER proud of being on my game and getting it done in advance. So much so that we made them for all the Lewis and Ballantyne cousins. Then I realized that there was no way the mail would reach them in time. But they were too cute not to send.

I nabbed the idea from good 'ol Pinterest. I had the kiddos do quite a bit of the work. I Exacto knifed all crayon wrappers (we used a box of 48 crayons we got from the dollar store) and the kids stripped them while watching Rumpelstiltskin, which, on a side, note, I later found out was one of Brian's fave films when he was a kid... It was a 3 for $5 deal at Wal-Mart, some fairytales done in the 80's. They are produced by MGM so I figured they'd be decent. It was a bonus to find out Brian was a fan, even though I'd never heard of them.

ANYWAY.

The kids also broke the crayons into bits and filled the Target heart ice tray with them. I baked them at 250F for 20 minutes while the kiddos colored all the Valentines.

I hot glued the crayons on and wrote "You melt my <3" on each of them.

I really like them. So did Adaiah. Denver's pretty indifferent, even passed on coloring the latter Valentines.

I ended up bagging the ones we were mailing and I sure thought they were cute.

Here are the two proud cuties when all was said and done. I was trying to get a picture of them holding basket, which they are, but it ended up behind them in this ridiculous cute pose.

As I say, they are always having fun.

I got Brian a massager and he made the family dinner. It was crazy yum garlic shrimp.

I do have to tease, though. That was all it was. No veggies. No couscous. No nothing. Just like 6 shrimp a piece, ha. Just cute.

I was talking to a friend and she said her hubs makes dinner the same way. Entree only. I threw on some frozen Brussels sprouts which were great with his butter garlic sauce to complement his shrimp.

It was just lovely to have him undertake the charge, though!

One more note, our store did well this year for V-day. Bri said it easily surpassed all three previous years in Delta.

I think it's Greg's shmexiness working ;)

My Fave.

2012-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

My sweets!

I adore them.

Adaiah's been obsessed with family relationships as she loved spending the week with my family.

She keeps reaffirming that when she's a Mama I'll be a Grandma. Then she stated when Denver has kids then Brian will be a Grandpa. I let her know her kids will make him a Grandpa, too. She asked if she's going to have kids and I told her she will if she wants to. "I do! I wonder what their names will be!"

"You get to name them anything you and your husband want."

"I'm going to name them Strawberry Shortcake and Cinnamon! I'm going to have lots of kids!"

Ha, an early apology to my grandkids for the names. ;) I will love you even more for it, though.

At the moment she is running around my room with a wand coloring everything pink and singing about. Often very close to the mirror, checking herself out.

Fantastic girl.

Denver heard me crying earlier (I came across the program from Uncle Mike's funeral and read a sad poem in it) and came in my room and brought me a booger wipe (one of a number of baby washcloths, burp cloths, etc I keep in a basket to encourage them dispose of their boogers appropriately). I was pretty touched, because normally he thinks my ugly crying face is funny and grins cock eyed at me, like I'm making a joke. Well, not to let me down he came near me then launched the booger at me from afar then stood and grinned at me cock eyed like a goof ball. Oh my word.

He's begun to say "I luff you, mom," pretty regularly. That kills me, in a wonderful way.

He reads (repeat after me style) the scriptures with us each night and it's pretty stinking adorable to hear him state these profound lessons, two words at a time.

He's a super lover. He was all over a cute Mexican waitress the other night at El Jimador, a restaurant in town. He hugs around the neck like no one's business, and has the most ridiculous scrunched up cheesy grin face with which he sometimes chases girls.

Definitely my faves.

Not My Fave

2012-01-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

Living with three men sucks. As I exclaimed to Brian, there's a reason polygamist typically take multiple wives, not vice versa. The women can then split up the work (um, a sister-wife is actually sounding kind of appealing atm, that's how low I am!) that it takes running the household. Not so with three working men I didn't choose... And who don't have love for me. One is supposed to but he's kind of ganging up on me. He doesn't get that he should be taking my side, even when I'm wrong. Cuz I'm who he goes to bed with at night. I don't want him to look like a fool. I just don't want to be left out here hanging in the wind, being made to feel like a jerk.

I know of several other people who would handle all this with much more grace than I and I do envy that. I do have to say if my hubs were my hero I myself would handle this with much more grace. But I yam what I yam. I came from super solitude. We just bought a home that needs loads of loving. It's been all through the holidays. And my favorite family member just died. Whom I cannot talk, think, or type about without bawling.

And I was informed last night, as I was asking my husband his opinion on the meal in front of us so I know whether to make it again or not, that "it's just food." Not maliciously, just thoughtlessly.

I spend nine hours in the kitchen one day trying to get ahead of the three men and stay in budget and on time with the "just food." Then I have to figure out each night what to add to plump it up because the meal plan I used was geared toward two adults, plus sides. Even using two portions of the meals I still have to find sides. I usually make a one course meal because between Brian, the kiddos, and me that's enough plus leftovers.

And food is how people say I love you and thanks for working for us today and all that good stuff. It's not "just food."
I do get out of lunches, because even if I do pack lunches Brian will go and get fast food anyway and leave my food to rot, yay.

My husband then sneaked out of the house this morning without saying goodbye. I was in the shower at the time, which he stopped in to say I love you, and about the time it's time for him to leave I went to find him. It felt emptying and rejecting to have him just leave without bidding me adieu. Ha that'd crack me up if he "bid me adieu." ;)
So, because I'm the jerk I am, I had words with him at his store. Because I had to go there to pick up a drill. They became unreasonable crazy lady words because he completely ignored my reasonable hurt wife words. Seriously, he kept punching in whatever he was punching into the computer. And said he could have just grabbed Greg and left the house with out even coming into the bathroom at all. Um... Really? That's what we're going with? He could have been more thoughtless?? Ack. I've got nothing. I have no idea what to do or how to fix this.
I am super glad we have room for people to say, though I certainly imagined it would be people who like me. And the extra bonus is when I'm down I act down which makes them judge me which makes me feel like a trapped alley cat until I lash out. Which makes me feel like just a gigantic failure at life in general. Argh. I just want Brian to have my back. And I want to stop being a butt to him. Wish me luck.

One of the men is leaving us this week. He's the only one who is gracious and thankful for dinners. That's a shame.
P.S. I'm just sharing this junk because I want my kids to know my imperfections and struggles and hopefully I'll make it out on the good end of things one day and it will seem preposterous that I had problems like this. ;)

Cute as Buttons

2012-01-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

Sweet moments of Adaiah and Denver having fun together...

They make everything fun. I'm glad they give me a reason to always have my camera ready <3

I just want him back.

2012-01-13T03:34:00.000-08:00

Crazy talk. But my Uncle Mike was my kindred spirit. We have the same uber-sarcastic, sometimes unnecessarily literal sense of humor. We found each other HIL-AR-IOUS. He got jokes that I'd throw out there with out expectation that anyone would "get it." I know many of my jokes totally miss the mark for most people, and that's unfortunate. He'd warm my heart, though, with some fantastic response that showed his matching wit, surprising me.
I would have wanted to somehow lay claim on him as a second father, but we were meant to be friends, and understand each other in ways that we each rarely find.
Is, was... He just died about an hour and a half ago. My sweet cousin Monica called and let me know. And all it is is unbelievable. Just unbelievable. She called me two days ago saying he had been suddenly hospitalized with severe acute pancreatitis. Just two days ago. Three days ago he was fine. Unbelievable.
I've been trying to weigh whether to make the 14 hour drive with my two kiddos immediately or wait until he was a little better and coherent. It didn't matter, I wouldn't have guessed he'd die so quickly. I didn't have a chance to make it while he was alive. I will forever forever forever lament that.
His diagnosis has a 70% survival rate and I sure didn't count on him being one of the 30. I know my cousins and other family didn't, either. But we've had lots of young deaths, much younger than this, in the family. He's only 47. Right around that. He's the youngest of the five siblings in my Dad's side of the family. He is BY FAR my most favorite extended family member.
That feeling is primarily due to his and Aunt Kim's welcoming me to live with them 10 years ago. I will always be extra grateful that they offered and that I did it because I'm about as close to them as I am to anyone. A result only obtainable for me by taking great advantage of them, and them still loving me.
He had an unfair shake, health-wise. He was sick as a baby. He had to have his hip replaced at like 40 (SO much younger than I even realized at the time, now that I'M nearing there). That is freakishly young, and that was with the doctors and him putting it off as long as they thought possible because it wears out after about 20 years, if you're lucky, and they can only do it twice in your life. Which meant he HOBBLED around in pain and had to deal with it however he could.
This summer he and Aunt Kim got divorced, which was earth moving for most of us, I suspect. They were the most nuclear family in our family. He called me that day. I was dying for him then. He sounded desolate. He stated that he was 40-something, divorced, moved back in with his mom, got demoted at work from a manager to a forklift driver stuck in a warehouse with only one other employee who made it obvious he didn't like Uncle Mike. Argh. And that he absolutely did love my Aunt Kim. It made my heart ache for them.
So, what that leads me to, is that I'm half afraid he gave up. That he didn't desire to fight. Life was pretty dismal. He does have three crazy amazing fun daughters. But they all graduated HS and are less dependent on him...
I just can't believe how suddenly he went.
Every time pain KNIFES through my heart and tears flood my eyes I think I can't even imagine what my cousins are feeling... It must seem UNBEARABLE. I am so grateful that they have each other, and so much other wonderful, loving family, who knows so much better than I how to offer comfort.

A Moment In Time

2012-01-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

I love pictures showing little close ups of life and love that I caught one of our own.

Adaiah and Denver were watching Papa's roofing fire in amazement.

They are sweet friends and I thank God for them everyday.

Roofing Madness and Fire!

2012-01-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

Well the pictures actually tell a pretty thorough story...

We knew the roof needed replacing soon when we purchased the house. It was only leaking in the garage but it was leaking.

A friend, Rick Stevenson, stayed with us for two months and we made good use of his knowledge of finishing work.

He gave Brian and Greg a ton of knowledge and help.

We chose black architectural shingles. We're probably going to go with grey paint/yellow door. And perhaps stone veneer to replace the brick. We'll see what the final plan is.

You can see Denver is fully impressed with the guys on the roof, working hard!

Adaiah and Denver watched from our bedroom windowseat, through which Brian entered and exited.

It ended up snowing pretty hard but it held off until the men were wrapping up anyway.

Brian was dying to bonfire all the shingles... He likes to burn inappropriate things :D

These are nearly 30 years old though so probably pretty straight wood.

He did build that fire so high I worried for our aspen trees. I'm not sure they are alive to begin with...

The flames easily reached more than 10 feet... Someone in the neighborhood ended up calling the authorities... So we had a backyard full of policemen and firemen, making Brian put the fire out. I might have been a little glad... Just sayin'.

We're surrounded by older people and a firefighter down the cul de sac so who knows who called.

The roof looks pretty amazing. The old part still looks like old man curled up gnarly toenails. The new part is sleek and charcoal and orderly.

I absolutely am grateful for Brians, Gregs, and Ricks hard work and think they are amazing for doing it!

The poor guys only have that one level of the roof completed, so about a third. They are understandably waiting until warmer weather to continue the fun.

My Molly

2012-01-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

Dear Molly,

You ruin me. You make me miss sunshine and dirt. Majestic saguaros and happy palm trees.

Your fantastic family-making and friendship. I wish I could have more of your influence in my life. When I come back after my visits with you I feel re-energized. I see the silliness of some of the things I concern myself with. I want to rise above some of the materialism I get myself involve in. Among other wastes of energy.

I know, though, that it will melt away, and I will return to my unenlightened ways and forget I even had higher desires... Such is the cycle. Although, I will have my purple spotted underwear to remind me of you every day!

But thank you for the little bit of light you let into my life by your influence. I will try not to squander it. The things I've brought home from my time with you are having the kiddos repeat the scriptures as your kiddos do and it's darned cute. I also have higher hopes for loosening up and letting them help cook and create with me. Wish us luck.

So, I think you are pretty stinking fantastic, and would ALMOST tolerate 115 degree weather for you. Almost.

I want to tell you how terrific I think Caitlin is. She is so creative and giving and sharing and intelligent. I love watching her in action, thinking, designing, and acting.

I adore sweet Kaden. He is a lot of fun to observe and he's obviously very passionate! I really am glad he has you and your unmatched love to be his mommy.

Canyon's fierce! Don't mess with his toys! Or anyone else's! :D I love his curly head running around defending his siblings and his territory.

I could EAT Jeremiah. He's a dollie! A beautiful, sweet, delicious dollie.

I am so grateful to have the privilege to spend time with you and your family each year. I don't have words for how grateful I am for Jarom for welcoming us each year!

I sure do wish we lived near one another. You should move here!

Love, Mellissa
P.S. This makes me think of you. I'm happy to say I feel like I'm getting some of them more or less right, but have some work to do, and have you as an excellent example of what it is I'm seeking.

http://biblicalhomemaking.blogspot.com/2011/08/super-woman-vs-abiding-woman.html

Jeremiah's FIRST Birthday!

2011-12-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

Big news, ladies and gentleman! This little man turned ONE today!

Molly made a jumbo cupcake cake... And the two year olds got a hold of the base of it.

We made cake balls out of it and decorated the top just for sweet Jeremiah. He enjoyed it, judging by some smug expressions as seen below!

Happy birthday sweet, SWEET boy!

Good Friends

2011-12-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

Here are several good friends from ten years ago. It is super fun getting together with them and seeing all their kiddos, of which there will be 3 more by the middle of next year!

We had a dinner together and could have talked for about forever!

We had a relatively organized moment when we served dinner up!

A long time.

2011-12-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

I just had dinner with two friends from long ago. It was super fun and only mildly awkward! I'm so grateful for them and glad to still have a place in their hearts as they do mine, after 18 or something years! Is that crazy, to pester people from so long ago? Yep, but they are an important link to my spotty past. It helps anchor me and make me feel like I have a little bit of history.
Rosa Quintana and Jeanine Rodriguez... I met them in 3rd or 4th grade and ended up in school with them on and off through 8th grade, which we graduated together. I then moved to Georgia but moved back to Tucson my junior year. I lived in the same school district as they but attended out of district to continue in JROTC. I kind of wish I hadn't, so I could reestablish those connections. They never knew I had moved back and graduated high school in town until tonight.
They seem to be very close and it was fun seeing them. They were so gracious to spend some of their family time with me and mine.

Someone Special!

2011-12-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you know a good thing when you see it. Adaiah and Denver had no problem spotting it in Nana McCaleb. (Molly's going with "Nana" versus Grandma... She hasn't once used Nana without a reminder, yet! Wish us luck!)

Denver snuggle attacked the poor woman! But look at that giant, gorgeous smile on her face!

Someone Special

I'm forever jealous of Molly for having her, and I'm glad my kids get to get in on some of her awesomeness!

Molly's kids adore her but get to see her, of course, often! So they were busy doing other things while we couldn't get my blondies to stop monopolizing her anyway!

Fantastic Fun!

2011-12-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

I hugely envy Molly for her patience and sweetness with baking with the sweets! My kids LOVE it!

Hers do, too, of course. But mine never get these moments with me. I don't like baking and the few times I do I certainly am not calm and collected enough to pass around the crazy messy jobs.

Molly let each kid have a turn with each step.

Again, they LOVED it. Except Canyon... WHERE is he? And Jeremiah was confined to the floor for all the fun! Not for long, little sweet!

There's Canyon! He's challenging the fortitude of Molly's tree, no doubt!

Here's yet ANOTHER episode of baking with Molly. Her style of baking is certainly unique!

Check out Denver eyeballing that cookie dough!

I got her a set of nativity cookie cutters, with the intention of decorating a nativity instead of a gingerbread house. She parties later than I do, though, so we missed the actual decorating part but there was plenty of eating!

I love that girl^!

Just kiddo news

2011-12-02T19:36:00.001-08:00

I just have not felt like keeping up on this thing! I end the day and I just want to zone out on some dumb show or something when I used to be blogging.
Bad move, cuz these kids change constantly still! They are what I think of most when I do consider blogging.
Adaiah is zero baby/toddler and all little girl anymore. She is full of this fabulous array of facial expressions and a strong and great sense of humor. She is always thinking. Today, while I was preparing lunch (cauliflower pancakes, yum!), she says, "Mama." Me, "What?" "When we don't eat we turn into zombies." Ha. She has been into this zombie thing and I have no idea from where it originated. She's got it down, though. She pretends to be a zombie, arms out in front of her making growly noises (big, beautiful, very unzombielike smile, though, yay for me) and then declares whomever she physically encounters is now a zombie and that they will turn others of us into zombies as well. I tried to zombie her back today and she informed she was already a zombie. Well, duh, Mama.
Denver is pure deliciousness, minus these last few days of crazy crankiness. Oh, and he pooped in his closet this morning, while I was showering, ack. He got toilet paper and picked it up, fairly well thank goodness. He brought it in my bedroom and put in the toilet. I was trying to get him to not go anywhere long enough for me to get dressed dressed because Brian's brother Greg and a friend, Brother Stevenson, are both staying with us so got to be fully dressed just in case! Anyway, I finally got it together and there was, unbelievably, minimal cleaning.
Then later in the morning, he took his diaper off, evidently, dumped his poop in my toilet and used the toilet paper to wipe himself, kindly leaving the toilet paper attached to the roll, with his wipings on it. Blech. We'll see if he's up for potty training, I guess.
But he is something else! I don't know if I've ever recorded how when he sits next to me on the couch or bed he likes to tuck his arm behind my back, like I put my arm around him to snuggle him. It's kind of glorious. Or, when we snuggle he'll put his hand on the side of my face to caress or just hold me. He is pretty unreal to me. He is also full of facial expressions.
Oh, and growls! My word. The boy will growl, with this crazy scrunched up face, at any passerby in the grocery store. And goodness forbid he be out of the cart. He has PURSUED several different people down aisles at Wal-Mart GROWLING at them. He gets right up to a couple inches from them, so he's right there, and gives a big RAWR. Um, SO FUNNY. Rude, I know. I love when people play back with him and I feel like I can let him and just enjoy the ridiculous awesomeness. Other than that, of course, I corral him in.
I super enjoy these munchkins :D

The Highs and Lows

2011-10-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

The evening we closed, October 7th, we moved right in.... To deconstruct our new home! It sure seemed like that by the time we had drywall compound everywhere and everything taped and plasticed off. DISASTER. We removed the popcorn texture from the majority of the house (the basement, bathrooms, and kitchen were already popcorn free, yay!) and retextured the ceilings. We were going for an orange peel texture but I'm not sure what it is we ended up with... But whatever, it's an improvement. Someone down the road will say, "WHAT did they do on the ceilings??" and I just don't care so much anymore. I was just glad to get it all cleaned up and move in. The HIGHS nearly killed me. I taped off the skylight among other stuff (about 10 hours worth of taping!) and was just BEAT the next day, from being so tense up on the ladder.

Brian worked his tail off getting it done. It was craziness and made a ridiculous mess but as I sit here in the family room I'm so glad we did it. Popcorn ceilings look ugly, and seem like they must just hold yuck in them! Also, crazy to paint! So, I'm so glad.

The high I'm working on now is the top of the kitchen cabinets, blech! It's that gunky dustiness that rolls off in grossness and takes forever to cut through. Yuck yuck yuck. I've got to get it done, though, so I can put my appliances up there. I fear that might be a taste of tackiness but I would disagree. I'm pretty proud of my little collection of fun kitchen appliances AND it just seems practical to put them up there and grab them as needed. So for now, that's how it shall go.

The lows... It smells under a lot of the cabinets, like the stink is in the oak, ugh. I've got to figure that one out :/

Mostly the ones under sinks, so some evident dampness has been present.

We got a brand spanking new amazing fridge. :D It's pretty great. It has double doors up top for the fridge (SO smart to put it up top!) and double drawers down bottom for the freezer, so they're both shallow and I won't bury stuff. Love it.

And the lighting... I open up that puppy and I can a chorus of angels singing... Just... Beautiful!

I'm hoping the oven goes bust so I can get one of those double ovens next :D But I'm not counting on it!

Moving on...

2011-10-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

In, out, up, what? It took about a week and a half to transition between both homes, old and new, small and big, blue and... big. I think we're in denial about whatever color this one is so don't call it by it's color. Anyway, we finalized said transition today *crowd roars.* So glad, sad, tired, all that stuffs. Brian and I both feel aw at the size of the blue house. It looks even smaller without our things in it. That doesn't even make sense! But whatevs. The real kicker is all our stuff from there is quickly filling up here. We had more storage than we had living space there, I believe. I'm working on getting rid of things. Much of it I haven't seen in years! Oh, including....
MY RING! I FOUND MY ENGAGEMENT RING! I was clearing and cleaning and there it was, in the back of our closet on the floor... I haven't seen it in nearly 2 1/2 years and had long ago given up most hope of seeing it EVER again. I had nightmares that our Dyson had sucked it up (I believe it could!) and I'd trashed it or it had gone with one of the many Salvation Army loads over the years.... Ahhhhh! I still can't get over it! I had been having daydreams of finding it. Cleaning that house out was my last hope. It was everything I thought it would be! :D Brian's pretty pleased I found it, too! It cost a pretty penny but for me, even the thought of replacing it with the exact same design was dissatisfying. I wanted THE ring we sealed the deal with. Brian actually just commissioned the Gelin Abacci line, the designer of my ring, in an effort to work towards a replacement. I can't believe it :D
So back to the moving! I have to reiterate I'm so glad to be able to focus on one house! Oh a bonus feature has been our poor sick Denver. All week this boy has been running a fever. Ok, maybe HALF a week but he's uber demanding and bugging us all night. I adore him but I NEED SLEEP. Ugh, so tired! I have no idea exactly what's up with him. He's fine except for the fever and being cranky. He's only needing ibuprofen about three times a day, if that. I keep thinking it's passed but not so much. Hopefully tomorrow!

Primary Program

2011-10-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Today was Adaiah's first Primary Program (and our last day in Montrose 1st Ward!) I've been waiting for this for four years and it was everything I thought it would be, ha. I also held us over in this ward an extra week so we could stay for it, which happens to mean she'll be in the one in our new ward, too, in a few weeks.
Anyway....
The practice was yesterday and a leader commented afterward that Adaiah and her friend Emmy seemed to think it was a dance recital, judging from their twirling and shimmying for much of the program. I was curious what she would today....
She ended up, with Emmy, sandwiched between our Bishop (Thun) and Stake President (Jensen) so was much more tame. She wouldn't get up and sing until about half way through the program. When it was her turn for her part, "Where did I come from?" she completely froze. Sister Gerlach went to carry Adaiah to the microphone and Adaiah stayed totally curled up in this awkward ball, like she had a muscle disorder or something! And, of course, Sister Gerlach had the honor of speaking Adaiah's part. It was perfect and cute and I loved it, even with her freezing up.
After she thawed out and began standing up for songs she started to get her groove on and sashay as per her usual self.
I love her!
And Denver was completely enthralled with Adaiah being up on the stand, as well as the kids in general. I think he lasted about half the program watching them.
Brian walked Adaiah up to the stand because she immediately resisted but happily went with Brian. When Brian walked away from us Denver loudly cried, "Papa...!!" It was pretty heart wrenching. Tears and everything! Then hardly blinked when Brian came back 15 seconds later. Oh the cuteness!

Good Things...

2011-10-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

My hubs is full of good things since moving. He's worked like a horse today!
He began by bringing sicky Denver home after Sacrament so I could stay for our last Sunday in Montrose 1st Ward.
He put the playhouse together, then hid inside and called the kiddos in, which they loved!
He took them on a walk/bike ride.
He put up our ceiling fan in our bedroom.
He got on that ladder and up to our 18 or 20 foot or whatever ceiling to get some residual tape.
He re-installed four light fixtures.
He put the bench back in our old house (goofy story.)
He drove the about to explode at any time Subaru back.
He is now making brownies WITH the munchkins. No small task...
He did a lot of odds and ends stuff, of which we currently have endless amounts.
AND MORE.
I sure do appreciate him.

Edit: AND installed our brand new super duper uber quiet stainless steel inside and out BUILT IN dishwasher! AWESOMENESS! A nice upgrade from our roll around 15 years old rusting prongs dishwasher, which I have actually LOVED for the past four years. I sure don't like having to do dishes, but the built in part is sure nice now.

Crazy Daisy CLOSING!!

2011-10-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

It's finally done! We closed on our home today and got in there and first things first took a swipe at that popcorn ceiling! Brian's STILL in there (it's 11:20p now!). We came home an hour ago. The kiddos were dolls dealing with being up so late. They MIGHT have begun to bonk each other on the head at the end there...
The ceiling is technically easy but messy and labor intensive. Fortunately all the bathrooms, the basement, and the kitchen are already redone. That's a lot! It still leaves a lot, though! The three upstairs bedrooms, dining room, areas between, and family room plus hallway!
I can't believe how hard Brian is working on it. I hope he comes home soon!
The closing went well. We learned far more was done to the home by the bank than we even realized. Via the listing agent, and neighbors on both sides of us who peeked at the home when it was ABANDONED (seriously! The previous owners literally left the doors wide open when they left it and I guess it sat that way for awhile!) said there were holes in the wall and everything was a super mess. The bank patched all the holes, painted the ENTIRE inside, and recarpeted all the carpeted areas before we ever saw it. They also rebuilt the automated sprinkler system and, according to the neighbors, watered the lawn four days in a row, successfully reviving it. Then they took care of plumbing issues discovered as we inspected it, and I found out at closing they bought light fixtures to put in all the missing ones... Maybe six or so! Such a bonus not to have to worry about that immediately. There is still loads to be done but it's so nice having the all new paint and carpet. It makes it feel clean to move into the bedrooms and closet spaces. I'm working on bleaching and scrubbing everything else. As I do so, though I see clean wipe marks on the microwave, and oven, and whatnot. The bank really did quite a bit, yay!
The neighbors to the west have been there five years and are super friendly. They have a 12yo boy and an 11yo, I think, girl, who's in UT at the moment so I didn't get to meet her. They filled me in on some court gossip. LOVED it! They have two standard poodles, a labradoodle, and a lhaso apso. They always holler at us for about a minute but get over it. There cute son added that our yard was filled with dog poo that, again, the BANK took care of.
The neighbors to the East made it clear they are not fans of kids, ha. I hope our munchkins gain their hearts. They are from Nebraska and have a great Huskers flag in front of their home. They have one dog. He works in pest control. That was nice to learn, as I'd been wondering why the pest guy was there so much, ha.
So far, so good! I'm going to pray for my Brian now, awesome guy!

Love and Love

2011-09-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Adaiah. You are a dolly. You talk CONSTANTLY. I don't have to exaggerate. You can't even stop talking long enough to use the restroom. I've begun to let you know people don't want to be talked to from the toilet, but you can't help yourself, so I suggested singing. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was your immediate go to. I love it! I love you!
This morning you came and told me quietly you don't like boys, referring to Denver. I won't have a lick of that, but no worries. Less than half an hour you were declaring families are together. Very sing songy. Not quite reminiscent of THE "Families Can Be Together Forever," but perhaps inspired by that.
I love your love. I love the way you roll with things. You were supposed to go to the store with Papa today but pitched a fit leaving the store yesterday so lost today's privilege and took it in stride. You are a champ with me.
I just wanted to let you know I love you.

SO I could spend my whole life recording your preciousness :D Like when I peeled an orange for your earlier today and you busted out in a song and dance about it!
Or, like JUST NOW, you came in to show me something in your hand. Something tiny. A poor little bittle black ant who somehow was surviving you picking him up between your fingers. You let him crawl around on your palm and tilted your head sweetly declaring "he likes me," with an endearing smile. You picked him again and put him back on your palm then flipped out shaking him off and looking a little terrified... You can't do this because then you see the very bad mom side of me when I get the hysterical giggles at your discomfort... I did manage to ask, though, if he bit you... You giggled with me and claim he didn't bite you! I asked why you freaked out and you just smiled and reaffirmed he DIDN'T bite you... Ha I have NO idea what just happened, and I love you times 10 for it <3

A house!

2011-09-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Ta da! Not by any means, the big unveil, as this is all Brian and I can talk or post about, but we're on our way to buying a home! A BEHEMOTH of a home! It is smaller than many of our friends/parents but it is so fabulously open it doesn't at all feel that way! And at 2500 sq ft I'm not suggesting it is at ALL small; we just happen to have some close people who have gargantuan homes!
Our offer has been accepted and we are working on scheduling the inspection. That's our last hurdle before we make it ours. I hope it's positive.
The home is a super 80's party pad! It has a hot tub room (no hot tub, but chlorine stink, which we'll fix, right??) with a sky light, a wet bar, 3 car garage and giant vaulted ceilings, for STARTERS. It is 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, with a good size master suite, big master bath and FABULOUS, decked out with a shelving/hanging unit, master closet.
All the carpet is new, and there is newer laminate wood flooring in the kitchen dining area. There is some old tile and linoleum hiding here and there in bathrooms and such. All the interior paint is new, safe white. I saw evidence of some crazier colors underneath, here and there. So thank you bank, for painting it. (It's a foreclosure.)
The cabinets are a not fabulous dark stained oak, but I'll refinish those puppies. We'll need a fridge, stat.
There is a balcony out back off the back, and deck wrapping around two sides of the house. Even a patch of cement for the kiddos to ride bikes.
There is a new auto sprinkler system and we get irrigation water for $50 a year, yay! A plus for Brian, which, of course, I hugely appreciate. Also, it's on the edge of a cul-de-sac, so while not IN it, it will make for less traffic. Of course, all the surrounding homes have irrigation water so I don't expect anyone to be xeriscaping anytime soon, which is nice, meaning a nice, green neighborhood.
I really like our yard! It is calming and has lots of great trees! Including three apple and one peach trees. There are a couple nice pine trees, a couple big shade trees, and a grouping of three aspens, although they don't look alive at the moment. I'll get them checked out.
It will need a new roof soon and exterior paint, which I think is GREAT! It will be like a BRAND NEW home once we do that. Except for the inside, but whatevs.
It is just AWESOME! The kids go crazy in it whenever we go and look at it.
I'm so glad we went to check it out. It is a multi level home, which I didn't think I would like. However, it was a lot of square footage for the price, which is why I wanted to check it out. I REALLY like the floor plan, after all! It's open and sunny and breezy. It's really a find for us. Nothing else we looked at in our price range had the vaulted ceilings or large master bath, like this one. Nothing else in this neighborhood with comparable square footage sells for under 200000 and we're looking at 160k. It is nice to have that leeway to make improvements on it.

Here's to hoping the below photos will someday be "before pictures." Click on them if you'd like to see them bigger.

Blech

2011-09-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

Playgroup today... Argh! We had an RS Activity Committee meeting prior to playgroup and Brian and I are under special stress concerning a HOUSE which needs to be in an immediate post but we'll get there.
Adaiah ran up to me laughing raucously and talking about poop on Denver's shoe with this hilarious lip sneer stating it was "icky." I assumed she meant dog poop.
He was at the top of the stairs of the uber tall slide with yellow RAPIDLY oozing out of the top of his diaper and dripping onto his shoes, lower stairs of the slide, etc. UGH.
Adaiah and her friend Josh were laughing crazy at the bottom of the stairs at the situation. I did talk to Adaiah about not laughing at people. She later apologized and declared she wouldn't do it again, of her own accord, in the car ride home. Sweet heart, that one.
Denver looked nonplussed. He was just standing there. Bless him for not going down the slide. I had to carry him by the armpits and stuck him on a blanket in his car seat. I stripped him in the front yard which was awesomeness. I laid him down to get his pants off and dirt and grass ended up stuck all the way up his bum and back, to the diarrhea, blech!
How's that for an update, Amanda ;*

I bid thee adieu, Ridgway

2011-09-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit summer is drawing to any sort of a close, but alas, it is. It is becoming crisp in the evenings and mornings. It is quite dark on my 6a walks with Kat. The Aspens have flashes of yellow on them here and there in the mountains. The school bus is blocking my driveway three times a day.
And we spent our last day this season at our beach. Our little group of moms and kiddos were the only ones there. And we went out with a bang; Denver got his first bee sting. He seemed to have a reaction via a 100 degree fever that evening and next morning. I was afraid it would affect our Guanella Pass camping trip with Dan and April, but we were good to go. He may have been extra cranky due to the sting, though.
I read there should be no reaction and any reaction indicates and allergy. The reactions may become more severe with each sting. My maternal grandma was deathly allergic, so it's well ingrained in me. She had to wear a medic alert bracelet and keep an epi pen in her purse. I remember being told she would die in 5 minutes after a sting if we didn't get that epi pen stuck in her. Then she had about 15 minutes to get to the hospital. Scared the stuffing out of me. She never was stung when I was around.
We'll keep an eye on him.

Crazy cuteness!

2011-08-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

This girl is too much cuteness for me!

I love you, and your awesome moves, too!

She NEVER stops moving and/or talking!

Her poses were so cute I had to record it. She was too smart to fall for my fake taking pictures but humored my "next!"

Denver's getting in on the silliness!

I love her diva dance move her!

Today In Nashville...

2011-07-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

We did lunch and a show on this fancy schmancy boat. It's on the Cumberland River and that's downtown Nashville behind it.

I stole the pictures from the internet.

Brian and I discussed how much more lovely lunch and a show (country music/comedy) are on a boat tooling around on a river are than sitting in a typical venue. We both preferred the one in Branson, but this was still fun and beautiful.

We walked downtown a bit and decided we are clueless about coolness. We knew we were passing places that are uber cool to loads of people but we have no idea or appreciation for them! Put us back on the river or give us mountains or a ghost town... We in what seems to be THE hot spot for country music (we passed the building CMT is located in) and we just don't "get it" like we know other people would.

P.S. We passed The Old Spaghetti Factory which I'm vaguely familiar with and I mentioned if we get some random downtime we should experience it... Well their menu was posted and in passing I saw their garlic bread appetizer is $25 and some spaghetti dish was listed at $75! WHAT??! Seriously? For pasta?? Why do people eat there? So, not so much for us.

Totally random, but while downtown I realized that I lived here at the time Brian was born :D

We then went and checked in at the Gaylord Opryland. Here are some pictures in no particular order. It's HUGE. There are three giant atriums full of restaurants, waterfalls, gazebos, shops, boat rides, etc. It's beautiful and green and there are nearly 2900 rooms. I was reading an article that said the staff even occasionally get turned around and lost... The hotel was just added on to and added on to without an original master plan so is quite a maze!

The rooms are pretty sterile and boring. We were spoiled by the Broadmoors 18th century luxury. It is all lots of fun, though, so no big loss.

Brian saw previews for Cowboys and Aliens which was released today and immediately wanted to see it so we did. It was a fun movie. I thought it was fitting that they used a dated concept of aliens, kind of reptilian with lots of light up toys, in the movie just because it fits what the people of that time might have conceived, if indeed it crossed their minds at all.

We both are missing Adaiah and Denver. They both are having fun and making cookies at 9a with Grandma! Good times :D

They also got to hang with their brand new cousin Matthew today.

The family is doing well updating us. We got a picture of both A and D from Aunt Sara, while they were relishing their yum cookies, and pictures of each of them holding Matthew.

Denver is the age Adaiah was when he was born so it was crazy to see him holding Matthew and remembering Adaiah was still a baby when Denver showed up. Liz and Melody are the same age difference, too, as our two.

Just cuteness.

So Many Thoughts...

2011-07-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

I can never stay on one long enough to complete it without another jumping in trying for the spotlight!

We left our sweet kiddos with Grandma Lewis today, and are in Nashville for the next few days, ALONE!

The kids couldn't have made it much harder! We got in late to Grandma's last night and all snuggled together in the guest room bed. And Adaiah are Denver are THE BEST snugglers! Adaiah slept in the crook of my arm all night. This morning I woke up and got to admire the sweetness. At one point Denver threw his arm over his Papa's neck from behind. A few minutes later he hitched his little bittle leg over Brian's waist, and Brian rested his arm on Denver's leg. I want to eat them up!

Adaiah was pretty excited for her stay at Grandma's. Denver is finding out the hard way what our plans are. He hollered when we parted at the airport but nothing a little candy didn't immediately distract him from!

Brian didn't book our hotel tonight until we got here! We are staying, via IJO (Interdependent Jeweler's Organization) at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel the rest of the nights.

The hotel he got us tonight has an amazing view, I'll have to upload pictures later :D

So far today we've just gotten in town and we ate at Uncle Bud's Catfish Shack. It was fun, we ordered the platters which included selections of frog legs, alligator, clam, oyster, shrimp and catfish. It was all deep fried so really all tasted the same.

We are working on what to make sure we do, which now includes seeing Cowboys vs. Aliens, which opens tomorrow. Brian's pretty excited so I'm excited. We're having fun with each other.

The rental car is a brand new Altima. It's grandma sporty, I think. It's a nice metallic powder blue... I haven't driven it but judging by Brian's driving, the brakes are much more responsive than in our cars!

The city is green and beautiful. There are mansions, plantations and riverboats here. The Country Music Hall of Fame is here. That's not really our interest, but who knows what we'll decide to do between jewelry conferences.

I lived here for a couple years as a preschooler. All I remember about Nashville are the fireflies, of which I've seen none. I wish I could ask my mom about where we lived, how long, and why here. It sounds like it would be a fun place for young person into country music.

Camping Blue Mesa

2011-07-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

We went camping with a couple cutie families with cutie kiddos.

Jarod found a beautiful camping spot on the Blue Mesa, an open space surrounded by aspens at about 9500 feet elevation.

There were loads of dandelions and pretty purple flowers all around us that all the munchkins had fun collecting and making bouquets and crowns to share.

We went with the Hadlocks and Lindsays.

Adaiah was in heaven, having her friends around.

Adaiah and Denver were in love with the four wheeler.

Denver found loads of dirt, as evidenced by his face.

They were super fun to watch and we're all super tired!

Wow, Too Easy...

2011-05-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Something must be coming my way... Although I whine as much as anyone else I know and could tell I'm FiNaLlY getting a break, etc ;P

The first night of the kiddos in their own beds in their own room went quite fine after they were asleep. Denver woke up once at I don't know what time, crying, and Brian put him back into bed and that was the end of that until SEVEN A.M. Sweet!

Last night, their second night, was even easier. Even with me gone for Book Club (I have an awesome life and an awesome hubs who encourages me to participate in said life which has meant three nights out this week, between Church and social activities). Brian said they went right down.

Denver got up once, around 10p, crying and went right back to bed, no problems.

Brian happens to be working at UPS this morning (thank you for that, loves!) and Denver woke up a little after 6 and said "Mommy!..." so I invited him to come snuggle. He brought in a kaleidescope (thank you spell check!) that he'd snuggled through the night and snuggled with me for awhile rattling it around. It was nice. We got up after awhile.

Then I heard Adaiah get up (I've been waiting!) and squeak down the slide (she's been passing on pajamies lately so was bare legged). She just came to the door and said "I'm going to close the door." Um, ok. Then she came back out not a minute later, ha. Funny girl.

I have to say... Not missing getting whacked in the face by Denver's midnight mostly sleep searches to wrap his fingers in my hair, or bonus, having my hair yanked when he finds his target. I'm sure he's sleeping better without my hair to search for.

I got home around 10 or so last night and went in to peek at them. They looked like others peoples kids to me... That's all I've seen sleeping by themselves so it was an eerie feeling to see my kids in other peoples kids positions, ha. It was a little painful.

I love them and miss them! But heres hoping to improved sleep and happiness for all of us!

Oh The Naughtiness!

2011-05-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

We finally finished everything bed-wise to move the two sweets into their own room and their own beds. It is 10:25p and Denver has been quiet for a few minutes now, hopefully sleeping peacefully, my little love.

Adaiah was pretty excited then freaked out last minute but sucked it up.

Denver immediately was up and following us out of the room. We just kept replacing him in his bed, no talking or loving :( and no scolding.

Adaiah was a hoot... She's on a loft bed with Denver's toddler bed beneath. We could hear her whispering "Go out, Denver, go out!" She's such a little fruitcake! Trying to talk him into causing trouble!

Denver went through various vocalizations of "Mama" and "why?" Yeah, that killed me. I adore them.

Here's to sleeping soundly for all of us. We'll see how that goes tonight, ha.

My Easter Thoughts

2011-04-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Easter is and always has been my favorite holiday. Even through my mom changing our religion, Baptist, Atheist, who cares?... I love the symbolism and the seasonal timing of it. I grew, later, to also associate the awesomeness that is the Savior with it... He would only be another super awesome person if He hadn't risen from the dead... That's truly what marks Him as our savior, right? That certainly is the most exceptional of the things He did to set an example for us... Via His example we know that we can have eternal life, i.e. there is more than what is just on this lovely earth that we are striving for. I need that knowledge, for life on this earth is so fleeting and final and pointless without that purpose.

I love that it is in the Spring, when I can't help but be enlightened, uplifted and awestruck by everything I see outside... Yesterday the Wisteria at the Olive Garden in Junction was in bloom and I just wanted to stop and soak it in... I nabbed the above picture to remind me...

I love everything greening up around me and how after each rain it is noticeably greener. I love the lambs, calves, etc. And we had a SWEET sweet Easter treat... A maybe 6 or 8 week old kitten mewing at our back door! I swept her up and brought her in for a little visit.

It reminded me of when I was a little girl and honest to goodness a bunny was in our bathroom when awoke Easter morning. BEST.EASTER.EVER. I'll have to see if I can scan the picture in. My grandparents were in an apartment complex and evidently the bunny hopped over from the neighbors balcony. SO AWESOME.

Adaiah was a doll and kept trying to find things to give to it to make it happy. She's going to be a wonderful, wonderful homemaker and hostess! Denver is generally obsessed with animals and especially babies. Like the lamb at the wildlife park, he wanted his hand placed firmly on the kitty. Not her favorite! He at one point looked at her so sweetly with his head tilted and gave this sweet soft smile! I love my children! Kitty handled it all with grace. She (he?) even purred for a bit.

I love that Easter is on Sunday, so that we all join together in worship and add the intensity of people gathering for a specific purpose, and the joining of our voices in song to celebrate our Savior and our lives!

Easter is a perfect day! I told a friend it was my favorite and she asked if I had a "big spread" planned... Ha that would NOT make it my fave :D so definitely not. And we just are not people who eat a lot of anything at one setting so that is just not how we celebrate, although I greatly enjoy gatherings centered around food. Don't misunderstand me there. And do invite me there! Ha. A ton of Brian's sweet family did gather in the Salt Lake area and I'm sad we couldn't join them! I'm jealous of this picture!

There are loads of sweet, amazing people in that picture!

This particular Easter did NOT start off with a bang... Apparently (thankfully!) I slept through Brian throwing up throughout the night, so he is out of commission. Also, I did hear Denver struggle with a new, mucusy cough several times through the night.

I put floor sticker bunny feet from the bedroom door to the kitchen table, where I stashed the baskets. That was a little tricky because Adaiah sometimes gets up to use the restroom in the middle of the night but she's pretty much half asleep so I was betting she wouldn't notice it. She didn't get up, though, yay!

Once she noticed the bunny she followed them to the spot! And was very quietly impressed. It was almost a non event, ha.

The Rapunzel wig was the hit basket stuffer, for all of five minutes. Then Adaiah wanted it off, ha. We had to let Denver give it ago, too, of course!

Here's a cute picture of Adaiah twirling with all her hair!

FYI, she's wearing Denver's "pajammies..." (I love that she calls them pajammies!). She's so skinny she snags his when hers are dirty. Pajammies were one of her Easter basket items. Cute purple with green guitar silhouettes. Ha I'm not sure about those colors but I'm sure they'll show up on the blog.

We have Easter eggs to hide and hunt but it's thunderstormy so not so much today. Hopefully we'll get that in tomorrow.

Church was super fabulous. We had Stake Conference (nice to have it on Easter as it's only two hours instead of our regular three!) and I sang in the Stake choir so sat up on the stand, making it easier for me to stay focused and absorb what the speakers were saying. Oh yeah? Did I mention I had no kiddos... They stayed home with Papa. That might have helped me actually focus on the speakers for once.

They announced a new building for our stake, then said it will be done September 2012. Yowza. We've been waiting... We'll keep waiting :D

A friend recently moved (best VT comp EVAH!!) and it was bittersweet to hear her husband's name called as he was released from his stake calling. Ok, well, it was just bitter.

I didn't catch the name of the first sister who spoke, but she spoke sweetly of the Atonement and how there is no reason to get up in the mornings without the gift of the Atonement. She stated that like food and water to nourish our physical bodies, the Atonement is nourishment for our spirit/spiritual bodies. I thought that was a great parallel.

Ha I took notes on my phone and they are missing after that talk... I must not have saved them, silly program. I'm pretty sure it should be a default to save when it closes.

Anyway two of the talks were about serving senior missions, very fun, and one was about sharing our lives and inviting other people into our lives and the activities we participate in. I thought that was excellent counsel. We are encouraged so much to do missionary work that many of begin to shy away from basic invitations to friends, fearing they will think we are trying to "introduce them to the Church," even if that's not at all our intent. We just want their company and we ARE doing loads of fun things.

IF they ask about the Church THEN we can set up and intro with the Elders, IF they want. But I've recently made some friends who practice other faiths and I'm adoring them and invite them to everything. Even with them, though, I feel the need to stress to them that not everyone in our mom's group is LDS, for the reason I stated above, I don't want them think I'm trying to proselytize... What I am doing is sharing my awesome group of mom's that have made and amazing difference in my life with their support and socialization since I've been a stay at home mom. We have book club, girl's nights, movie nights, exercise groups, playgroups, etc and they are all super fun and a super blessing and everyone is always welcome and I want these new friends to have the blessings I do via these other moms.

Also, I remember hearing about people at a community event... From an LDS member's point of view; someone was new in the neighborhood and this member heard another person invite the new family to their Church which was of a different faith. It turned out the new people happened to be LDS so they declined but were grateful for the welcoming invite. The storyteller wondered at herself for being reluctant to invite to her Church, which she loves with all her heart, for fear of rejection or misunderstanding of her intentions...

We are members of an amazing Church that I do think everyone should be given and opportunity to learn about and it's a shame when we're nearly afraid to make friends for fear they will think we only want them to join the Church.

For any members who DO feel that way... That they only want to associate with people who might join the Church, they are super missing out on super awesome people with mind opening viewpoints of life and religion. I love being with people who have differing opinions and understandings than I. I also enjoy the comfort of having a group of like-minded friends. I don't want to miss out on anyones awesomeness!

Alright, this has gotten rather long, so I'm going to wrap it up. Again, I super love Easter for so many reasons! And I will grow to love it more and more as my children grow and I can share more and more with them. Awesome!

The Coolest Mail!

2011-04-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

My kids got their coolest mail ever from their Aunt Rebecca today! She mailed surprises IN EASTER EGGS taped up with our addresses written right on them!

I'm so stealing that! Awhile ago I ran across cute ideas for 13oz or less mail (because that's uber cheap to ship, evidently..) and NEVER did it and now feel lame because how exciting is it to get crazy fun mail like that!

Anyway, back to the eggs... My sweets LOVE their eggs! We did Denvers first because I thought it would help build up Adaiah's anticipation as to what to expect and he was pretty funny. He was kind of serious about it and IMMEDIATELY popped the mini chocolate egg in his mouth... STILL WRAPPED in foil! I had to make him spit it out quick! He enjoyed that and played with the little fishy in the egg. Then he spotted the growing sponge toy in a capsule and immediately POPPED THAT ONE IN HIS MOUTH! I tried to get him to spit it out but he didn't want to waste his chocolate so reached in himself and dug the capsule out of his spit and chocolate, ha.

He might have a sweet tooth.... He really doesn't put random things in his mouth but candy doesn't stand a chance!

Adaiah finally got her turn and watched intently as I sawed at the seal with scissors. I finally got it open and she looked in and her jaw DROPPED and she disappointedly whined "I want candy..." They are their Papa's children! She had lots of lovely hearts and flowers and stars that link together to make a chain that were covering her chocolate egg, hehe. She got her chocolate and was satisfied and proceeded to apply the stickers to herself.

THANK YOU AUNT BECKY! SO FUN!

So Adaiah got our hokey pokey Elmo out while I began typing this and it freaked Denver out so he scaled me and is still watching intently, but safely from here. Cute boy. Elmo sounds like he's not going to make it much longer... All good things must come to an end. I'm not an Elmo fan but loved this one because he Hokey Pokeys and so my (paternal) Grandma got him for Christmas for me 7 or 8 years ago. He's been fun!

Playgroup Egg Hunt

2011-04-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

One of the sisters suggested an egg hunt for last weeks playgroup, which we all thought was brilliant, and each brought 12 eggs for each of our participating kiddos.

This was serious business to Denver. He had this expression the whole time, even coming right out of the gate!

They both wore their cute headbands the whole hunt!

Here are most of the families checking out their finds! I love my playgroup group!

Many Faces of Adaiah

2011-04-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

I took a shot at curling her hair, and while that's not super evident in the photos... She kept making faces so I kept snapping.

Adaiah, you are quite the expressive little dolly! These expressions aren't even a decent portion of your repertoire!

I just noticed the first and last pictures are the same... Oh well, the more the merrier, right!

Sleeping Princess Bride

2011-04-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

My angel...

Adaiah is in an in between stage of naps... If she takes one she's up pretty late at night but when I go to put Denver down I come out to the living room to find her passed out. I love love love her so much.

I was looking at her in the car the other day and, as I VERY often am, I was struck by her beauty! Look at her features! That sweet perfect nose and perfect rosy lips and smooth cheeks... All which accentuate her electric blue eyes!

And her lovely, lovely hair and her long, fantastic fingers... And her perfectly formed body!

I love her skin tag, which she is sure is an earring! I will be sad when the day comes that she wants it off, but that will be up to her!

I then immediately thought that despite incredibly perfect and beautiful she is, some day, some fool in the world is going to convince her she's ugly. That seems impossible to me when I think about her specifically! But the world does it to all of us... So I have to assume she'll have her turn!

I will absolutely do what I can to teach her that there are a BILLION different kinds of beautiful and she is, indeed one of them, as am I, and each of her friends, and each flower, each tree... There are so many amazing different kinds of beautiful that I absolutely could not choose one person or one flower that is the most beautiful above all others!

I often have that thought and am struck by all the different beauties Heavenly Father has created. They truly are innumerable and I haven't even touched on the things that immediately come to my mind, much less all the things I would forget to even mention.

I must remember to keep stating out loud how amazing beautiful she is as she gets older. I remember people used to compliment me loads as a small girl, about my eyes or hair, and eventually all those compliments completely quit coming and I did notice the lack of them. I absolutely did go through a freakishly awkward stage of coke bottle glasses, HORRIBLE hair cuts, outgrowing clothes, etc., in all fairness to the world.

But Adaiah will have a Mama and a Papa who will always think she is breath-takingly gorgeous through all of that and more. And we will tell her so regularly.

And don't get all twisty on me and think I'm being worldly about "appearance." I'm not at all talking about that kind of beauty.

Zumba, Anyone?

2011-04-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

A friend emailed saying there was a free Zumba party at R&R Sports Bar tonight and I agreed to go. I was pretty sure I'd like it and I love exercising without "exercising!" I loved DDR and I have Zumba for Wii but haven't been into it yet.

Anyway, it was an experience! Good business for the bar, having 20 or 30 or women dancing until they sweat, ha. It was awkward, because I'm awkward, but fun, minus the bar people watching, which I just pretended wasn't happening. One of the Zumba girls' hubby was even recording a bit of it on his phone, gah!

Several of the Zumba regulars had tassels on their bums... It really did accentuate their movements, but mostly made me think of flag football... I kind of wanted to snatch them! It was an excellent workout, even though I couldn't keep up with all the moves! I've never had rhythm or been able to dance well but I've always liked to. So just stay out of my way while I figure out what I'm doing!

Ouch! AKA Denver's First Bandaid

2011-04-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

He was standing at lunch and dropped his fork...

Yeah, just right to pierce his little toe, poor sweet!

He sure did wail!

Here he is checking out his band aid... Which did not last long, ha, but he was over it!

P.S... Can't wait for real counter tops someday... These vinyl ones are pretty unfab! :D

Family Vacation Does Not Mean A Mama Vacation!

2011-04-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Brian did/does a lot! Don't misunderstand that... There is just a lot more to do! And evidently it is widely held that the Mom gets the privilege of doing the 'more.' The packing, the unpacking, the shopping, the repacking, the unpacking, the cleaning of two homes in between, then meal planning regular cleaning, loads of laundry, final going back home packing and of course, the grand finale, the at home unpacking.

After some point of doing, everyone else quits doing even if stuff still needs doing. I'm thinking the solution is that I go on vacation "on duty," just as when I nannied, and I get a just a Mama vacation another time.

I would then be in the right frame of mind to clean up after everyone else so they can have their vacation and settle for enjoying the "experience," rather than expecting a vacation from life.

Oh the cuteness!

2011-03-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

Denver was being amazed at the MAGIC of the light switch at the time share condo!

He gave these sweet little gasps as he turned the different lights on and off.

He was perfectly EDIBLE and I could not find my pocket cam to record video so I took lots of perfect pictures of his perfectness!

He DOES have some fantastic blue eyes!

Mesa Verde

2011-03-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

We did make it out to beautiful Mesa Verde!

We went with Paul, Wendy, and their cutie Caleb to meet everyone else up there.

SOMEhow we missed everyone else, ha. We waited at the top of trail for them to show up and then saw them coming BACK up the trail :P. Ha ha.

One super funny moment;

Denver went too far down the trail so we hollered at him to get his bum back up to us. Adaiah growled at him (that's his thing lately :D ) and he turned to people coming back up the trail and put HIS arms out and growled at them. ADORABLE!

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the ruins!

Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park

2011-03-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

All of us made it here, except sleepyheads Paul and Wendy ;)

A variety of non releasable animals are cared for here.

The animals were sweet. The park was a bit bleak, understandably LOTS of fencing between us and the animals.

We had loads of fun feeding the turkeys and bunnies. The Tom was beautiful!

The bunnies were super friendly and Denver couldn't leave them alone.

There was a lamb (her mom had three babies and can only care for two so she ended up here) and Denver was funny with her.

When they brought her out to be be pet, Denver stood near her with one hand on her and just stood still the whole time. It was oddly sweet. Cute boy. I like the picture of Annika with the lamb here.

Pagosa Springs

2011-03-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

We got to spend a week in Pagosa Springs... Fortunately we went to the hot springs the very first day because most of us were done in after that!

We did make it to a wildlife place, more on that later, and out to Mesa Verde.

There were 30 something of us... Nearly ALL of us came down with either the flu or the head cold. I drew the head cold, still recovering, blech!

It was initiated with sweet cousin Caden vomiting on Adaiah, him on Uncle Andew's lap, Adaiah on mine, ha, so I got a bit of it, too. Poor little sweet.

Brian and Adaiah both got the flu, and Denver got the cold.

Awesome :D

Our Montrose Store

2011-03-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

Brian got a slamming deal on rent in what is, in my opinion, the prettiest business in town. It's right on Townsend, catty corner from Wal-Mart. Can't really get a better location. Our store is on the bottom floor on your left hand side in the above picture, taking up about a third of the width.

The shopping center we were in in Delta treated us well but was getting emptier and emptier and now Delta has announced it's bypassing Main street to go West of town. We were East. I don't know if that would have affected us but neither of us thinks that's really a promising move for Delta in general.

We still have some polishing up to do on store design, but it's pretty fabulous.

Brian loves all the light and the view of mountains, since he's stuck in there all day, day after day.

I would bet he misses having friends in nearby storefronts! Hopefully this building will fill up with fun people.

Here's a wider angle view, so you can see the shopping center just to the left. It has a mailing place, I think a hobby place, a hair cut place, and I don't know what else!

Done.

2011-03-01T18:54:00.000-08:00

This took me three months of thinking, planning, buying, then finally doing. Then a bit more time to actually post! When it was finally done it cost more to do it myself, though when I began pondering it it was more to buy... But that was pre-Christmas. Go figure. But this is, of course, fully customizable to whatever whim strikes me, such as an extra one for toothpicks! Birthday candles! Random stuff like that :D

When it is all said and done I really like the end result. I love that I can alphabetize them and see them and not buy duplicates. I like that I can see the colors of the spices. I like that they are square... Some day, in a new to us home, I will create something that will help keep them aligned.

I know above the stove is not fabulous but hey, I'm short on room.

Wrastling

2011-02-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

This is not uncommon... Adaiah complacently accepting Denver's tackles because, as the older sibling, I hate to admit it, she gets chided more than he for if he cries vs. she cries...

But we encourage pay back.

You're welcome for Brian's sexy legs. I had to use it, though, because I love the picture of Denver's laugh!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Adaiah "Where's the lizard?" Me "Wizard." "Lizard?" "WiZaRd." "Ooooh. Where's the bear?" "There are no bears, they just sing about them." "Ah."

Funny girl.

Brian and I had a date tonight. This would be our third without kids since Adaiah was born. We're slacking like that!

We scored on babysitters, and went to Thai Paradise in Ridgway. It was super cute, and the appetizers were super yummy. It had about six tables. Just cute.

I'm stealing an excerpt from an e-mail to Mama Jo because I'm tired and it covers a lot and makes sense because I wrote when I was awake and excited :D.

"I'm braving babysitters. Oh yeah, I scored. I booked twins! They are adorable 13yo girls who come from a sweet family. They are not members which I think is a bonus because whenever there's an activity in the Church all of our Young Women get snatched quick :D.

These two girls and their mom came to look at our chair to buy it (we're getting a sectional) and they were stinking cute and gave my kiddos googly eyes. Their mom mentioned to holler if we'd like them for babysitters so I got right on that! (I'm excited.)

They are super cute, straight A, sports involved, won't be dating too soon so we won't lose them real quick, girlies. And I get both of them just because they like to hang together, which I think is superb. They also have the Red Cross babysitter course and First Aid completed, yay!

AND their mom is going to drop them off and pick them up, bonus bonus. Ha. I'm feeling pretty smug ;).

So I was a good wifey and booked them for Valentine's night. We'll go to a recommended restaurant in Ridgway... I couldn't get reservations at the one I would have liked here. That surprised me, but yay for Montrose.

On yet another note... Brian's likely moving the store here. I think that will do good good things for him. He's torn between communities right now, with his family and ward here and his business and chamber members there.

Here's the store front we're waiting to hear back on... One of the landlords is out of country and they just have to get a hold of him to get his okay on it.

http://www.themilestonebuilding.com/photos/

We'll be on the bottom floor in the space right in the front of the photo, the nearest corner to the camera. It's a beautiful building.

It's right on Townsend, the main road you come into to town on from Delta. It's right on the highway so uber visible and between Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, all the Montrose hot spots.

ALSO he's pumped up because he scored on a 2 carat diamond purchase. He thought it was graded lower than it is... He paid 6k for it, hoping to profit, and sent it off to GIA to be certified and it's wholesale value is 30k, 48k retail likely in Denver. I get to sport it... Until we find another house we want a down payment on :D. It's a good way to keep a chunk of money. Cash it out now and we think we have money to spend, then it's gone :P."

Update on the building, Brian should be signing the lease on Wednesday, yay!

And Randilyn and Chandler were perfect! Chandler tried to flat out refuse payment when we got home because they dropped and broke an 8x8 casserole dish on accident. SO not a big deal (though I was super glad it wasn't the one April etched for us for our wedding) and I told her I want to suck up to them so they'll come back and got her to take the money.

The kids were peaches about it and didn't cry at all. Adaiah asked if she could go with them as they walked out the door, so sweet! And kind of sad! I knew it would be as good for the kids as us to have some one sweet and fresh with them!

I meant to get pictures and am ashamed I didn't! I can't wait to hire them again!

These are the Days of Our Lives

2011-02-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

Oh the winter is killing me. I'm sick of it. It's only really been a month. I'm done. It, however is not. Blah.

I wish wish wish we could live in Tucson for the winter and here the rest of year. That would be my dream come true. But a dream it shall remain.

The high was 9, or something crazy yesterday, my birthday. Miserable.

Brian tried to ease it by coming home early and taking us out to dinner.

That was iffy, but fun.

I'm lame and definitely winter bluesey.

A friend recommended that I find joy in each day. Good advice but not advice I personally need. My family gives me joy and happiness and sweetness every day without fail and I don't have to try to enjoy and appreciate, I do so easily.

I still want the not great parts of my life to be great. They can. It's just a matter of a little bit of effort.

Anyway, far more interesting than my winter blues hum drum blabbing are photos of my joys.

You're welcome ;)

Above is Papa trying to look unhappy that his boy is in a pink princess dress. Ha.

Denver LOVES dressing up with Adaiah. He's such a boy that he just looks like a boy wearing a girl's dress. So funny. When he's not fully dressed up he's clomping around in her little plastic pink dress up heels.

Or wearing her little pink sunglasses with the biggest grin on his face. He's truly funny and knows it. He has this ridiculous forced grunt laugh that he often does. He laughs all the time. He makes me smile without fail when he does his funny little grunt man laugh.

I've been working harder at learning the piano and they have to practice after I do.

I'm not making any progress but I'm trying to be more diligent about getting my fingers on those keys.

Here is Adaiah's sassy outfit she scrounged together when she lost her princess dress privileges (just for not putting them away.)

This is how her hair looks when she puts her head wraps on. Cute :D

Look at the look I'm getting!

Here's Elmo creeping up on Denver...

Denver doesn't mind!

Love that he's got Adaiah's adorable skrinkly faces matched!

My little woodchuck! Rawr!

Adaiah likes to be in all the pictures, and rightfully she should, cute girl!

That scooter behind her is her current prized toy, by the way. It's pretty cute, I like that it's purple and orange instead of pink and yellow. That's a nice change!

Denver tortures me with such activities as throwing all the clean diapers away. Never.turn.your.back. ;)

He actually is adorably helpful throwing actual trash away and cleaning up in general. He loves to help!

Adaiah and Denver will each take a wet wipe and scrub around the house, helping me clean. It actually is quite helpful and I love it! They clean the fridge, shelves, the dining bench, spots on the walls and floor, etc.

And the grand finale!

Denver was getting a kick out of dropping Cheerios on the floor and lying down to eat them in a "look Ma! No hands!" fashion. Adaiah is a hoot, too, and joined in. Just looking at how prostrate he is makes me laugh out loud. You should see him do it. I'll have to record it next time. I'm sure there will be a next time.

2011-02-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

Adaiah "Hey!" (From the toilet, ha)

Mama "What?"

Adaiah "I love you!"

Mama "I love you!" (MAYBE a teeny bit teary. I do love love love her!)

So Adaiah - doll has been throwing up every other night for a week now. She's otherwise perfectly fine. Brian proposed that it might be a milk allergy. We kept dairy from her yesterday, to experiment, and so far so good. We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping it's a weird virus, though... Either way I hope it's temporary.

Adaiah is a total doll about it all. Last night at dinner she asked for a bite of my chile relleno. I told her cheese might not be her friend and it might be what makes her throw up. Her response is "I don't like cheese!" So not true and I totally appreciate her efforts in not wanting to throw up.

I love you, girlie.

Adaiah

2011-01-17T17:36:00.000-08:00

Adaiah: I found these that matched! (dress up shoes)

Papa: Oh, boy!!

Adaiah: I'm not a boy! I'm girl! (frowny brows)

haha Funny kiddos :D

Snow Play Does Not Make My Day

2011-01-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

I am not an honest fan of snow play. It's awkward and cold and stuff. The kids are quick to tire of it. There are all these wet bulky clothes we drag back into our house. Maybe when they're older, we'll enjoy it together. UNTIL then... I'll keep trying to grin and bear it for the sake of their experiences :P meh

I kind of guessed how the outing would go and did a get a few good pictures before the meltdown. Primarily and understandably Denver's, as he has the least mobility. And gloves are just a challenge on hands that small.

I showed Adaiah how to make a snow angel and...

Here's her very first snow angel!

Look at all that pristine snow in our yard BEGGING to be played in!

I took a shot at coloring the snow but didn't put enough coloring in... Except for the yellow. It looked like classic "yellow snow" writing...

No pictures. Who knows.

I already added more coloring and we'll try again.

I think this little sly look on Adaiah's face is cute.

This snow was hopeless snowman-wise. It wouldn't pack at all.

Perfect for throwing though. It's light and won't pack at all...

Denver tolerating one last picture. He was done.

Oh, so funny. Adaiah kept calling Denver basketball head and thought it was funny to put his "basketball head hat" on when we got back inside. Such a funny girl!

Puking Out The Old Year

2010-12-31T10:15:00.001-08:00

We'll call this Adaiah,

And this little guy my Denver Dinosaur...

(Didn't you wonder where rainbows REALLY come from :D)

I like to post pictures so these are what you're getting! You're welcome.

Last night was Denver's first puking illness, which Adaiah eventually picked up on.

I got home from a Wal Mart run at 10p and 2 minutes later I heard Denver doll puking in bed.

I think the night may have been hardest on that bed :(.

Adaiah's been sick a couple times recently, but threw up once and was done...

I assumed this was Denver's case so we put him back in bed. Not much later he puked a lot more all over himself and Papa's armpit where he was snuggling.

Papa's not so hot about puke. I looked it up and it's one of those things they attribute our "primate" selves, we all puke when we see puke so we stay away from the cause of the puke... I don't have that talent, yay. Brian's funny about it.

Denver kept puking every 20 minutes for the next three hours, half the time with his eyes closed, half asleep, sweet boy. I get teary thinking about it.

One time Adaiah was there and got real close, saying she "wanted to see." lol Curious about everything!

Then we switched off, sending Denver into the room with Papa and leaving Adaiah out in the living room with me to make puke runs.

I hated watching those muscles control her sweet little body and making her wretch.

‎*Big, beautiful, blue girl eyes turned toward me, wearing princess dress with wedding veil and flowers* "Mama, can I get in that movie?" - "What?" "Can I get in that movie?" (Anastasia exploring the castle) I sure hate that I can't "put her in the movie!" I told her she could in her imagination... After I teared up and blubbered my love for her. (It was a long night of puking :D)

They're both dancing as I write this. I love them so much!

Jeepin'

2010-11-28T22:12:00.000-08:00

We rented a couple Jeeps to do some light Jeeping in. Moab evidently has a Jeep Safari each year, that is their biggest draw. I can't even imagine because it's packed when we go during the half marathon and free national park weekends.

We Jeeped (yeah, it's a verb, so what?? ;) out to Gemini Bridges, two natural bridges.

Then we Jeeped... Up Onion Creek, I think... It was awesomely wet, as we repeatedly traversed a creek and it became crazy muddy and slickery!

We had to wash all that mud off! Actually Brian and his dad did the dirty work...

It took them forever, there was a TON. I seem to have left out the picture of the three kids passed out in the back of our Jeep... Super cute.

See Denver clapping? We all had lots of fun and saw lots of striking beauty.

Delicate Arch

2010-11-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

You can click to make it larger and see the pictures better... This is just the quickest way to share since we have so many great pictures, and this way I make sure I get it done!

Okay, first things first! I am certain the name of this arch and Landscape Arch got mixed up when officially named because they just seem BACKWARDS!

Next... I LOVE that Brian suggest we do this one! I hiked it about 6 years ago with friends but Brian and I haven't hiked it together due to the munchkins. It's 3 miles round trip with easy walking but little shade. It was nearly too cold and we had lots of help so this was perfect! And well worth it. Sara, David and Savanna assured me it was well worth it. I did prod a little on that but they did.

They were blessings! Sara carried Adaiah a ton (through the whole visit, actually) and they all had fun and helped our kids have fun. Adaiah LOVES having them around. We all had fun.

I can't even tell you all the funny things said and done outside of letting the pictures speak for themselves. I think I have to start taking my computer to blog en route.

Anyway, the arch itself is unbelievable. It sets out on the edge of this mountain by itself in all it's striking glory. Even it's shadow is majestic! It is well worth the hike.

It WAS super cold. Denver had about had it near the end. He looked super pitiful, all red faced from his frustration and from the cold wind.

Papa did tons to make him happy and help him enjoy the excursion. Aunt Sara piggy backed Adaiah and they all laughed hysterically together, making Denver laugh. SO cute!

I loved it!

Heartache is what I feel, having completed this post.

2010-11-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

We had too many fun moments, but what sticks out is the one huge bad moment. What is the deal with that??

Actually, that's not entirely true, at least not for me. That one bad moment certainly tainted the experience, but all the fun still sticks out to me.

We hiked, swam, played, jeeped, slept, drove, ate, slept, hiked, designed shirts, ate... With a big two hour or something fight.

During which the entire family, as in those not present, participated. And the police. Thank you Moab P.D.

I honestly didn't keep up with all that was said and done, although I was the catalyst. But the whole event took on a life of it's own. I do know a lot of unkind words and thoughts were shared and that sucked and I wish they hadn't. I know feelings were hurt.

I got bits and pieces of goings ons... But somehow even though I seemed to have ignited it I wasn't involved after that. Blech.

I'm sorry, Brian's family. It makes me sad.

Perhaps things like this are the way with families? A friend shared some similar goings ons (am I making that phrase up? I hope it's not driving anyone nuts!) in her own family, whom I know and love.

A lot of people in my own family are not fans of me. That makes me sad but it's a matter of making different choices and maybe I've asserted myself too strongly and unintentionally insulted them. If I have I'm sorry but it's just been something that's been necessary to find my own way in life. I have to establish and define my choices strongly and clearly so *I* know them and can attain my goals.

Maybe I've picked up undesirably traits along the way. I'm sad to think there may be legitimate reasons to generally dislike me, but two families have multiple members who reassert this sentiment.

I have no idea. I genuinely love them. I have many friends whom I adore and seem to think highly of me, so who am I to others?

Family relationships seem to twist perceptions. I see people raise each other up ignoring detrimental traits OR push each other down completely blind to each other's awesomeness.

I see family members lock into a perception of one another and not let go of that view NO MATTER WHAT else they see. That has always caused me anxiety. I always saw friends, myself also, behave totally different with their family than with friends. Anxiety.

Keeping Busy

2010-11-07T20:53:00.001-08:00

So, to sum it up, I'm going to repost a comment I left on friend's blog because, right now, it hit the right note for me.

"I love that you are doing this, Kara! Oh wait, I just saw that Andrew wrote that exact thing... Well I AM original...

ANYWAY
I had a not mom recently tell me she's glad I'm keeping myself "busy" with my appliqueing... Evidently having a one year old and two year old leaves with untold amounts of free time. (NOT her first reference to her lack of appreciation for my station in life :)
So, here's to YOU keeping busy ;). You will have something AWESOME to show for it, too! Instead of just a happy, loving kid :D
Ha and don't you dare misunderstand my snarkiness :D I really envy (in an I think it's sweet YOU'RE doing it :) you and pray you find the ideas you are looking for and the words to convey them!"

Kara, by the way, is participating in NaNoWriMo. Super cool. I'll let you research that if it interests you.

Anywho, here's how I'm keeping busy...

A little bit of this, thanks to Bri's Mom lending me her embroidery machine with which to experiment, loving it!
A little bit of that...

Neither of these examples are finished but close and CUTE enough!

I REALLY love the turkeys!

I especially love that I could make one for both A and D!
With a pinch of this...

Yeah. He got himself stuck in there.
And a dash of this!
And perhaps a touch too much of this!

As captured by Adaiah.

In my weak defense I find these super cutie ideas doing this, and of course blog,

which is important to me....

But I SURE don't want this to be the image my kids have of me so I need to keep it more to after bedtime!

Trunk Or Treat

2010-10-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

Actually, I think our flyer said "Trucker Treat." There was a misunderstanding there!

SO... I'm not even going to say who we are because I am going to credit myself with doing well enough on the costumes that they speak for themselves!

I made Adaiah's and I did well because SHE loved it! She immediately twirled when we put it on which is the best sign!

I wish I could get these cuties to look at the camera and smile and all that good stuff!

They are crazy cute anyway.

Adaiah enjoys her sweets, so this was certainly her night.

Okay, so cute. I did something extra right... A couple little girls were giving me googly eyes.

I realized I looked like a Disney princess to them. I had the ringlet pony tail and baby blue satin dress, so maybe a cross between Snow White and Cinderella.

They were such cutie girlies, one was caressing my gown and wrapping herself in a little.

She looked up at me and asked "What's your name?" I, of course, told her my characters name.

Sweets. Adaiah, too, commented that I looked like Snow White. I don't of course, but she's the one with the dark hair.

HOW handsome is Denver?? We seem to have immediately lost his hook (big hint!) but who cares. He could easily be my Prince Charming. He was working the room with his cute walk and big dimpled blonde hair blue eyed smile!

Here are our handsome men!

Here are most of the ward kiddos up there getting a prize for being in the costume catwalk.

The ward oohed and ahhed when our kiddos walked out. Thank you!

Here's Papa loving making kids happy! I love him!

Adaiah is working that Trick or Treat magic! She was good at saying that and "thank you!"

Some people even heard her!

She pretends to be shy...

Ha.

There's a sweet striped bundle here!

"That's MY bag!"

She had a perfectly perfect time!

Through Adaiah's Eyes

2010-10-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Adaiah has some fun interpretations of life of which I don't record enough. Here are some I can think of off the top of my head but I can guarantee there are a LOT more!

"I'm Mary!" She says this anytime she puts a blanket over her head, oh wait I actually have a sweet picture of this one! It has since evolved to "I'm married!" Ha. The original reference is to Jesus' mama, sweet. A side note, Brian once had a blanket (or towel or underwear for all I remember) and said "I'm Peter!" I suggested that he meant Joseph, and he acquiesced that that was indeed his intent. They crack me up!

"Look, a Temple!" This refers to anything with a point, in reference to spires. (Funny, I've felt unsure about the Church lately so haven't been as immersed as I used to be, but she picks up these religious references.) I'm trying to think exactly what the object was... oh her grilled cheese sandwich yesterday had been squeezed, by my sweetness, into a point and was, therefore, a Temple. And just now she was drawing on our windows (cold weather makes for awesome condensation on our front porch windows) and made a "Temple," a drawing that happened to have a point at the top. She then wiped it all out and proclaimed that it was a "broken temple." She has an excellent imagination.

Adaiah brought out a dress up leotard which is a classic, fabulous shiny pink, for Papa to dress Denver. He obliged, and didn't take pictures! I walked around the corner and Denver let out an attempt at a girly shriek, at which he failed, as he is very masculine. He looked adorable, though still like a boy, just dressed as a girl, with his beautiful golden hair and shiny pink leotard, and Adaiah proclaimed him to be "Princess Elizabeth." This would be in reference to his cousin, who is two weeks older than he, and with whom we just got to visit over the weekend. Actually, we've gotten lucky and seen her the last two weekends, yay!

This was a switch for Adaiah, as anyone dressed up is typically Princess Tiana, in reference to Disney's movie.

Adaiah has so many more references she uses. I need to make a greater effort to record them because they are really great and creative. I'm loving watching her grow!

Look Who's Feeding Himself!

2010-10-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

CUTE boy!

THIS proud young man can do a MIGHTY fine job of feeding himself, and we. didn't. even. know. it.

L. A. M. E.

We are not keeping up!

Denver's going in for the bite!

(Yummy sweet corn!)

Funny Adaiah!

Yay! IN the mouth! He just can feed himself all of a sudden!

Goodness we've got to keep our eyes open!

He also likes to sit (er, stand) on the bench with us rather than sit in his highchair...

Big boy!

Lewis Family Pictures

2010-10-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

As life does, naming this family is getting complicated! But I'm going with Lewis!

There are Jones', McKowns, and Harpers now!

This first one is pretty spot on!

Here are some sillies!

MY favorite outtake!

LOVELY Great Grandparents!

NOT a chance we're getting all the cuties to look at the camera!

I love the pile of children around Grandma Jo!

The cutie cousins... I cropped out myself running out of the picture after replacing Caden who...

IMMEDIATELY resumed his original position!

(Plus a little Halloween fun with the loves!)

What we do...

2010-10-13T23:51:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday at 10 (or, more accurately, 11) we meet for playgroup.

Today we had it at Laraza Park.

When the weather is no longer BEAUTIFUL (boo!) we'll meet at the Church.

Here are a lot, but by no means all, of our cutie kiddos.

The Joy of A... Phone!

2010-10-12T23:29:00.000-07:00

Look at those beautiful cheeks!

These two crack me up with their antics!

I love that they have fun together!

Papa found an old phone in his Temple bag and passed it on to Adaiah.

She went and put on pants just so she would have a pocket to tuck it in!

She walked around with her "phone" hip jutted forward.

Crazy cute and crazy proud!

She had lots of pretty realistic convos with Grandma Jo and Uncle Mikel.

Her pretend convos were actually more talkative than her real ones, ha.

And this is actually the first time Denver fed himself, snagging a fork and digging into the left overs I hadn't yet popped into the fridge.

We're so behind! I had no idea he could feed himself!

Appreciating his own hard work!

A Sweet Little Gift

2010-10-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

I have a sweet friend who's having a sweet little girl in about a month so I made a sweet little shirt for her.

(I got the idea from an Etsy seller.)

Her nursery is a pink giraffe motif hence my choice of ribbon.

I am nervous about giving people homemade gifts, as I don't want them to feel obligated to like them if they don't.

April was super sweet and complimentary, though.

I blushed at the shower, like the dork I am. Even before she opened because SOMEHOW, and I saw it well in advance, my gift happened to be the very. last. one.

Gah!

I love the little heart I added to sleeve.

Hard at Play

2010-09-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

THIS little boy looks really REALLY tired.

He came up next to me and passed out on the couch.

It's extra cute because he jerks when his knees go slack...

WHY would he be SO tired?

Why, he's been HARD at PLAY!

(His accomplice already passed out, in bed!)

Destroyed Styrofoam peanuts begins our tour.

Moving on, here is the actual playroom... We're just peeking because it's pretty ransacked.

Just take my word for it.

This laundry WAS on the chair waiting to be sorted and folded.

I, obviously, took too long to do so.

Tired tired boy!

LOOK at this place!

This, my friends, happens multiple times a day when we don't get out.

This day we did spend three hours at the park!

Oh winter, how you torture me.

Ah well.

Bring it on, I say.

Bring.

It.

On.

Adaiah's First Official Haircut

2010-09-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Is she ridiculous! I love love love her!

We haven't cut her hair in nearly three years, which amounted to about three distinct layers... But I had a hard time taking any amount of length off.

I knew it would look healthier and more full, and it does!

I got a good shot of her cow licks!

That's attributable to Papa!

I cut more than five inches off!

She said a perky little "thank you!" when I finished, like she does when I brush her hair in the morning.

She. Is. Perfection.

MY WORD she's cute!

Denver's Shoe Fetish

2010-09-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

I CANNOT keep this kid from these flip flops! He hunts for them in our closet and comes clomping out in them. Extra funny... They frustrate the tar out of him because they get wonky on his hands and he starts griping at them!

LOVE!

Happiness is... A swingset!

2010-09-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

I found this beauty on Craigslist for $50! Awesome!

I think it couldn't be more perfect for our backyard.

The kids totally love it. So do I! Every time I step out the back door it's like BAM!

The kids cracked me up here, parked, watching in anticipation (they weren't allowed to touch or get in Papa's way.)

They are stripped down after Church.

The inaugural sliding! Denver climbs up like a monkey!

Adaiah cracks me up here, just manning her post.

Nothing makes Denver insta happy like swinging.

Check out Adaiah's sweet moves!

A return to sleeping sweetness...

2010-09-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

So I post a lot of posts of my babies sleeping...

But can you blame me? LOOK at the sweetness!

The total abandonment.

I. Love. You.

Shaving With Papa

2010-09-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

Look at those eyes...

Papa was shaving and Adaiah wants to be like her awesome Papa!

She likes him to put shaving cream on her belly (see above) and then she applies it to her face.

We gave her a "Z" to shave with!

Adaiah-doll, you are so much fun!

Hide N Seek...

2010-09-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

Double Trouble!

Poke poke poke!

Here's a preview of Adaiah's Tinkerbell dress. The material is lovely, it's going to be hard to chop it off fairy style!

Adaiah cracks me up :D

Her "hiding" needs some work! I can't get her to quit telling Papa where she is!

I love how excited she is "hunting" and when she finds Papa!

What a fun Papa doodle!

Uncle Brett's

2010-08-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

We got to visit Brian's Uncle Brett and Aunt Melanie and eat her YUM food (thanks again!)

Adaiah had a GREAT time with their FIVE munchkins.

See Denver snuggling Aunt Melanie in the upper right hand corner??

So cute! He kept leaning at her from my arms and when I handed him over he burrowed right in!

We got to see the cows get milked... Interesting! I thought one was extra full and asked Brett. He had to explain she was older and, you know, gravity's working on her! Ha.

The other end of the spectrum,

I met a three day old calf... She nursed my wrist which was cute until the mucus stretched from my arm to her mouth shudder
It's AMAZING how inept human babies are compared to nearly every other species! I think our babies couldn't do at all on their own for a few YEARS and here this little girl was alone in a pen standing and interacting at 3 DAYS! Yikes!
I am so glad Heavenly Father has set us up to have so much time to depend on each other and develop the love and bonds that comes with serving our children.

Old Faithful

2010-08-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

Exploring Yellowstone Day 1

2010-08-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

We spent parts of three different days in Yellowstone.

We spend a LOT of time driving around allowing for naptimes, which means we pass lots of beautiful stuff, but have happier kids!

I'm working the collages because they are quick and I'm a little picture crazy.

It is a beautiful, mystical place. Steam rises everywhere. It's like a giant, 2 1/4 million acre hotspring or something.

The water is all so super duper clear. The rivers are surprisingly cold. I thought they might be warmish with run off from the hotsprings everywhere but no such luck.

Check out the boiling mud! Click on the collage to view it larger.

We had fun in them anyway.

We learned to just remove Adaiah's pants near water. She super loves to run around in it and gets SoaKiNg. Partially because Papa says things like "don't sit in it" and so... She sits in it. Ha. Do you think she misunderstands him? Or has he taught her all too well how to tease..? Hmm...

Some Pre Yellowstone Fun

2010-08-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

We make our own fun!

This is my souvenir. It repels insects and stuff. How. Cool. Is. That?

Chasing Grandpa

2010-08-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Papa told Adaiah to get pictures of Grandpa Marcum.

I don't think Grandpa Marcum knew.

So much fun, this girl.

Carriage Rides and Critters

2010-08-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Monday night at the neighbors' house!

Their cutie kids hooked up a beautiful small horse and gave us a ride around their farm.

We got to see lots of animals, some Adaiah was unsure about.

Denver fell fast asleep on the last carriage ride, so sweet!

We love Idaho!

Hanging out in Tetonia

2010-08-23T10:08:00.001-07:00

Where is Tetonia?

If you're asking that you're missing out :D.

We're lucky Brian's Grandparents live here so we can visit.

Bonus, they live on an old converted dairy farm so the house is crazy fun with loads of nooks and crannies!

They've lived here 44 years... I can't even imagine!

Grandpa Marcum has lived up here all his life, and Grandma Marcum transplanted from Moreland, ID, about and hour and a half away.

They have an amazing view of the Teton Mountains from the front of the house... Which I have on the OTHER camera in the room with the sleeping baby so later, tater.

SPEAKING of taters... We ARE in Idaho.

The drive in theater has a giant spud on a flat bed parked out front and serves Spud Buds, a term I hearted >

SWEET!

Denver super loves when Adaiah helps him walk. So cute!

Adaiah was snapping pictures!

Paul, Brian's cousin who's a smart cookie and lives with Grandma and Grandpa took us out to a river. We didn't stay long because it was chilly and drizzling.

Denver's loving Paul!

We had Paul take some pictures because we don't get many of the four of us. Adaiah's gnawing on a cattail, a habit she picked up at the Ward campout. Very Idaho of her, I think.

Denver's tearing up a magazine, nothing more fun!

Adaiah's in love with Grandma. She loved both Grandma and Grandpa right off the bat. I'm so glad, since we don't get enough time with them. I don't want to waste any of it being "shy." Yay Adaiah! I can't get her off of Grandma, though!

The Little Things

2010-08-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

$3.50 at Wal-Mart.

I knew Adaiah would love it, and she does.

It's velcro and cloth and gives her the fun and satisfaction of catching the ball!

So fun!

Denver's Hair Fetish

2010-08-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Denver caught a super summer cold and gave up his pacifier... But he has yet to get over his hair "thing." He loves to wrap his fingers in and pull hair to fall and stay asleep. I think Adaiah lets him... They are often in this position when I join them. They all go to bed a bit earlier than I do because Papa gets up around 4a for us, to work at UPS.

Her hair is so tousled here, sweet girl.

Turned Around...

2010-08-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Um, first things first! SOMEONE has a cute kid!

Okay, so Adaiah was PETRIFIED the first time she rode forward facing in the car. I thought I better catch Denver's first expressions... He wasn't petrified so much and we got some crazy cute faces!

I LOVE him!

We cheated and turned him around about a month early. He's a big boy and we were switching seats around anyway.

Black Canyon

2010-08-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

SO close yet we rarely go here... What's up with that?

The beautiful Black Canyon of the Gunnison Valley...

It's 15 minutes away from our home. We've never made it past the visitor center because that's as far as they clear the snow. Brian's sis April and her fam camped somewhere in the park a couple weekends ago which made me wonder why we don't hike and explore it more.

It would be great for a motorcycle outing.

Anyway, here we are, enjoying a short walk in it.

What a great Papa! He's having lots of fun with the munchkins! Love you, Brian!

MORE Sleeping!

2010-08-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Papa!

2010-08-12T20:41:00.001-07:00

The sweets watching Papa leave for our store in the morning...

Bathtime!

2010-08-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

Um, Yeah. They are too cute and I couldn't scale down on my picture choices!

I love you two!

I love how you two make each other smile and laugh!

I love that you both make crazy faces!

I love love love you two!

And, Denver, you always make giggles rise up in me when you snag a sippy lid from the cup basket and try to drink from just the lid! Keep it up, you two!

My Sweet Sick Babies

2010-08-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

We are in Denver and both Adaiah and Denver are runny nosed coughing kiddos. Denver also seems to be teething, judging by the buckets of slobber pouring from his mouth all day!

Adaiah is a thing when her nose is running. I can't keep up with the nose wiping she demands. If she can feel the snot lose or whatever up in her nostrils she wants her nose wiped, which does no thing for her with it up there, so she immediately wants it wiped again! No breaks, drives me nuts. Though I love love love love her! Even being obviously under the weather she's been a giant help with Denver. She gets anything I ask her to get and puts anything I need away. She plays with Denver so sweetly. She is so much fun throughout the day...

She was extra hilarious with her Grandpa tonight! She was super flirty with him, tickling him on his bum as he walked by... Sorry but she's just at that height! Then she kept asking him if he could see her butt, ha. Poor Grandpa. She had fun fun with him tonight, of course the night before we head home! I'm sure she'll warm up quicker in the future!

Denver, my sweet dolly boy. He is intense and physical and adorable. I want to EAT him! I love his little rumbly snores. He also throws in some of that sweet baby voice once in awhile, trying to get a deep breath. I just want to kiss him awake!

We were up pretty late tonight, we didn't head to bed until 930 but he had a fifth wind or something and was so cutie and playful and flirty and smiling up at me... Ugh you have my heart little man!

I love you two so so much! Thank you for everything you and I will try try try harder to be the mom I want to be for you.

Ren Fest Virgins NO MAS!

2010-07-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

I've attended, and loved, Renaissance Festivals several times but somehow Brian never had. And, understandably, the kids had missed out until now.

My friend Karyn lent me this outfit, flattering to my face but sure made me look like I enjoy those turkey legs a bit too much...

Brian borrowed his dad's shirt, SO cute that he dressed up!

This little girl was a little unimpressed. Or overwhelmed. Either way, this is pretty much her expression in every photo!

(Look at Adaiah... She's loving princesses so she'll enjoy it more next year... hehe can't wait!)

Savanna's in the upper left hand picture above, on the left end of the kiddo line up.

(I think that might, almost, maybe, be a smile...!)

Woot! Pillow fight! Straddling a log...! Just go with it :D

Denver was unimpressed...

Couples therapy!

Denver slept, and ate. Perfect Renaissance man.

Best looking bum there!

Ridgway again.

2010-07-28T00:02:00.001-07:00

Another beautiful day! Denver's getting so adept at everything!

S'mores FHE

2010-07-26T23:45:00.000-07:00

This girl got serious about her S'mores!

We got to have the cutie Sellers family over. Brother Sellers presented the lesson. He spoke about families, incorporating S'mores. The graham crackers are the Mama and Papa. The sweet chocolate is the children. The fiery marshmallow is the glue that holds the family together, i.e. the Holy Spirit. Cute, huh? He came up with that on the fly. Personally, I think he wanted a jump start on the S'mores.

Adaiah initially just ate cold marshmallows off her skewer. As you can see in the first picture, she progressed quickly!

The graham cracker gang on the swing...

This little lady put on a show, wrapping up her prey. A black widow and a daddy long legs.

Adaiah's inside that there semi!

One last long drink before bedtime!

So Sad!

2010-07-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

Oh. My. Gosh.

You haven't seen anything like this!

I can't believe I caught it on camera!

I did so by not letting Denver play with the camera when he went for it.

So, this is his unbelievably sad kissy lips eye rolling sad face.

Prepare yourselves...

Ward Campout Spring Creek Rim

2010-07-25T09:59:00.001-07:00

This a beautiful Aspen filled area 20 miles down Davewood Rd outside of Montrose. We had a super fun time. We went up Thursday night and Charlie Cameron and her two granddaughters, Anni and Kaelin (just the right ages for Adaiah, yay!) were the only other people there. Brian was a super trooper for going up Thursday night since he had to go to UPS and the store Friday morning, leaving the campground around 3a, yikes!

Cutie girly hair! We broke out her pink princess camp chair, you can just see the arm with cupholder behind her... She was in love!

We went for a walk Friday morning with Charlie and granddaughters. We let them take their shoes off and walk through the mud on the way back.

I don't remember what she was saying... She always gets that jelly stripe up both sides of her face when I forget to chop the sandwich up into fourths.

"Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height..."

She kept chewing on these little cattails :D

Happy Denver!

Sunscreen + Dirt + Water + Sleep = Coolio Hair

This dog was on my last nerve but his owner finally leashed him. He was super sweet but 9 months old and all big puppy. He immediately knocked Adaiah and Kaelin down when he first arrived and would chase after them when they got excited and ran to catch up with Papa or whatever. His owner (love her, the dog knocking kids over was just out of hand) thought it was funny or something. I wouldn't think it was cute if someone brought their horse and it got excited and knocked me down, then was let free to continually do so. Yikes.

Denver thought he was a general riot. Denver got his laugh on every time he saw Cruz (the dog).

Cruz was patient with them tugging on his fur and petting him, toddler style. Good doggie.

MORE dirt play. Between streaks of watermelon and all the dirt both kids were out of control DIRTY.

This is momentous because it's the first time I've seen Papa "toss the ol' pigskin around." Thanks Scott Sellers!

Buckethead

2010-07-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

Denver had a blast with this bowl!

Adaiah wanted to stand in the pictures.

Putting on her own show!

Ok this picture is CLASSIC. Denver loves to carry his sippies around in his teeth. He will even be crying and crawling to me with this silly cup hanging from his mouth! It's a little hard to take you seriously when you do that, cute boy!

The grand finale, at which Adaiah is cracking as I type this. I love my blue-eyed beauties!

Ridgway

2010-07-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

The Mo-Town ladies go to the reservoir at Ridgway State Park every Tuesday during the summer. Some also go every Thursday! They are all too much fun. It's a super time, especially with that canopy I bought last year that is making it peachy to hang out on the beach.

The ladies are hardcore. It's a half hour drive and only $6 if you don't have a state parks pass. They stay like 5 hours!

She was off in La La Land doing this repeatedly so I had to capture it...

The majority of the kids, sans babies. Adaiah's unsure of all that ruckus!

Denver sat there forever playing in the sand. He loves it.

Cutie kids commandeered a friend's float!

Perfect ending... Classic Adaiah!

Lake Powell 2010 - Life on the Boat

2010-07-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here we all are! Fresh faced and moving to find the perfect spot.

Ben and Mikel keeping an eye on our entourage.

The kids slept well when the Canyon Spirit was on the move.

The kids liked hanging out front while the boat moved.

Denver just wanted out the whole time!

Sleepy sleepy girlie!

Happy eater!

Uncle Mikel showing off his studliness.

Porter's exciting catch.

Hanging out in the lower beds.

So cute!

Dancing 'Daiah!

Denver loved when Fawn helped him walk!

More sleeping.

This is funniness. Last night Adaiah did this to herself while laying in Papa's arms. He was wide awake and somehow had no idea. I'm sure she was very quiet.

Big boy!

More sleeping!

Adaiah climbed up there by herself! It's a skinny little ledge.

I guess Ben and Mikel built some of that wall...

Escape is so close!

Is that Aiden or Trey?

Hanging out with one of the boys.

Our last night there, getting a last swim in at Bullfrog Marina.

Jet ski outing #2

2010-07-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

These are Adaiah's cute sand drawings.

This picture was so sweet because she came unbidden and hugged me from behind for it... Love love love.

Get her Papa!

A fishy bit Papa. You should have seen him jump! And, as a result, I evacuated the water with a quickness. It was a little bitty thing. He's trying to coax it out of hiding with his tasty finger in this picture.

A Little 3rd of July Action

2010-07-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness a family in the ward held an Independence Day celebration on the 3rd... We had to travel and board the boat at Lake Powell on the 4th. Around us the fireworks were held until Sunday night, but of course Lake Powell did them Saturday night so we left town too soon for ours and got there too late for theirs!

Sunday Fun

2010-06-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

Adaiah was working this adorable dress!

So hard, but fun, trying to get a picture of the two of them looking AT the camera with smiles!

Sleeping Sweetly

2010-06-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Just a sweet summer evening with our way too cute kids!

2010-06-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

Spinning in circles... You're lucky I didn't put up all the pictures I took! So cute!

Dream Sweet

2010-06-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

The Bike

2010-06-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

So. Where did I go? Kansas or somewhere for a couple weeks... Maybe Denver, I don't think I was pregnant in Kansas. Anyway... This was my surprise when I got home! Did I mention I was pregnant?? As in 7 MONTHS? Ha. So this puppy's been sitting for nearly a year, as I was too prego to take a motorcycle class, then I had a baby, then it was winter.... Then it was still winter. Winter is not so much the shortest season here. Then we lost the keys. I finally gave up and told Brian to sell it because when was I ever going to get on that puppy? A shame because I've been trying off and on for more than a decade to make this happen and this was the closest.

Then Denver was older. Spring was in the air. I drove amazingly beautiful drives. Drives that would rock on a motorcycle!

Enter: change of heart.

I went to the the DMV to find out how to get licensed, they gave website with info for classes and I signed up for one in Durango the very next day. I asked Brian a million times because it meant leaving him with two sick kids for the weekend but he kept saying it was fine.

So I RAN!! Just kidding, but I was giddy! I love Durango. I love camping by myself. I love motorcycles. Yikes! Seems like I'm not aloud to have that much fun! Thanks Brian!

I ended up super sick, which was bearable and spent the second night in a hotel because it was raining off and on the whole weekend and I was exhausted that day in class, dropping the clutch by the end of five hours of clamping that thing down. I enjoyed a solitary room, though. I needed it, and slept 11 hours solid that night. I did much better in class and, YAY!! passed, even! I lost 8 points for this and that but you can lose 20, and I didn't have to repeat anything.

Brian, Greg, and the munchkins had come to visit that second day in beautiful Durango. It's SO very perfect there, but maybe a touch too busy for me. Maybe not.

Now I'm waiting for my certificate to arrive in the mail so I can take it down and get a new license with an "M" on it. Other than, you know, Mellissa. ALSO, dun da da da!!! I get a new picture. The one they took after I FLUSHED my license at Olive Garden (complete with debit card, thank you) was ter ri ble. Gah!

Exciting!

P.S. She's a 2006 Honda Rebel, a whopping 250cc's. Perfect for learning (there were three Rebels in class!) but a touch short so I'll keep her for awhile. I got to ride a Yamaha XT dualsport in class because I was one of the taller women. It was fun but also not 'my' bike. There's a 2009 BMW G650GS on Craigslist in Durango I'm dreaming about. I'll keep dreaming and it's a nice dream.

Adaiah saw I was taking a picture and wanted in... Funny girlie!