ODE TO (ALMOST) OCTOBER

Ugh! I hate to say it people, but it looks like it's the beginning of the end....of summer. Yesterday it was a balmy 86 degrees.....today, a freezing cold 46 degrees. Yep, it dropped 40 degrees and we got snow in the mountains. Time to pull out the snuggly winter clothes and crank up that heat. I HATE snow! Too bad we can't just skip over the winter months (although I am exited for Halloween! I'm also excited to be able to upload pics again!)

FUN WITH THE NEPHEWS

The bubs brother and his wife made the trek out to Utah a couple of weeks ago for her little sisters wedding. Bree was making the cake for the wedding, so we were able to play with the boys and try to keep them entertained....


I know it's a little early, but I thought it would be fun to do some Halloween crafts with Preston. He was kind enough to model his new Halloween shirt he helped me make and then later was showing how to be a scary monster.


J has got to be the cutest little boy and he was sooo good. On Thursday night (the first night Bree stayed with us) we watched the boys because Bree's little sister was taking out her endowments. Although J had no clue who we were, he didn't even cry when mom left. He was happily content playing with the trains or watching big brother bounce around like crazy. Bubs had a ton of fun "wrestling" with the boys and they liked jumping on top of him. It was so cute!

I thought this one was pretty funny.....Prest decided he wanted to read the Sunday newspaper like the grownups. So, he grabbed the Toys R' Us add and looked at it upside down. He then grabbed the newspaper and started "reading" it upside down. He's getting to be so big!

Thanks Kenton and Bree for staying with us.....we had a blast seeing you guys again, catching up and playing with the boys. Although next time we hope your trip can be a little longer Kenton!

SATURDAY FUN

Ahh.....Saturdays. Running around like crazy trying to catch up on everything you didn't take care of during the week. I also spend a lot of time (probably too much) at the D.I. or consignment shops looking for treasures. A little sneak peak of what I've been up to lately!

DatE NItE

What's better than getting an hour long massage? Getting an hour long massage with your honey! A couple of days a week we are lucky enough to have a masseuse come in to work and give a free half hour massage to the employees (for employee appreciation). HEAVEN! She will also give deep discounts to employees, so I thought I would take advantage of it and treat bubs to a couples massage. I think it will be a fun, sorta cheap date night and let's face it, anytime you can get a massage, why the heck not? Also, it will be bub's first massage, so it will be interesting to see what he thinks. I think next time maybe a facial or manicure...ahhhh! Oh, bubs also promised to get me a new upload thingy for my camera this weekend, so I'll be able to post pics. Yeah!

TRIPS TO AUSTRALIA.......

I know, I know, I've been a huge slacker when it comes to blogging. It just seems like there's so much to do and never enough time. But, I had to post this because I thought it was pretty hilarious! The other day I got a call from one of my best friends.....I was at work and away from my desk (she called my cell) so she left a voicemail. When I noticed I had the voicemail, I started listening to it and got completely confused. My friend was telling me about how she and her husband were taking a trip to Australia the first part of April and her husband was in charge of the travel plans. I was really excited for her.....she loves to travel and I know I would LOVE to go to Australia, but still confused about the message. So, I called her back (getting HER voicemail) and told her how excited I was for them to be getting away for a while without the kids and how much fun they were going to have. I also told her bubs and I were thinking about going to Brazil next year with my little brother and some friends, so we would be both be going on a pretty cool trip. She called me back the next day (I don't think she had listened to her voicemail yet, just saw that I had called) and during the conversation it came up that she was pregnant again. It kind of surprised me because their youngest just turned one in July. She started laughing and told me she had left me a message telling me about her being pregnant. Turns out she had been reading my blog and read my post about fertility and taking trips to Australia (a couple of posts down). When she called to tell me about them "going" to Australia and how she had put her husband in charge of "travel" plans, she thought I would understand because of the post. I was laughing so hard because here I'm thinking she's really taking a trip and I'm telling her about our trip. I'm such an idiot! What's even funnier is that bubs works with her husband and was asking him about them going to Australia. Since he hasn't read my blog and hadn't talked to his wife yet, he had no clue what bubs was talking about and looked at him like he was crazy. Ahhh....miscommunication, it's the best! So, congrats to my friend.....I know a lot of people right now who will be taking future trips to Australia, so you'll be in good company. Apparently we're taking a slight detour though and headed to Brazil first!

I LOVA MY MAN!

Why do I love my husband so much? Because he spends hours (literally) putting together new treasures for me (although he DID say tonight's treasure hasn't been as bad as some in the past). Not to mention the fact that he will spend his whole Saturday going from DI to DI (I think we hit about six in one day) and consignment shop to consignment shop (about four, the same day) to find treasures (yes, treasures!) with me. Everything to me is a treasure right now.....if it's old and can be spray painted or crafted in some way, I'll happily play with it! I'll post pics soon of what I'm talking about (and yes, I'll post some pics of the house, I promise!) but I LOVA my man! Thanks bubs for putting up with me and my crazy ideas! AND for not questioning me too much on why one old side table won't work as well as another, I know, I'm crazy!

DIFFERENT TRIPS TO THE SAME PLACE

By Diane Armitage printed in the April 21, 1995 "Dear Abby" column.

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place; you've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.

So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait--and wait--and wait.

Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, "Relax. You'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!"

After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry; we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat."

"By BOAT!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat.

It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip.

Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with others who also traveled by sea rather than by air.

People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are about to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, "Oh, be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy."

You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself.

THANK YOU Cristel....like I said in my last post, I have some of the bestest friends. I &hearts you guys!

LIFE

On my Friday night commute I passed a pretty bad accident which for some reason gave me chills as I drove by. I told Alan when I got home there was no way the driver got out alive. I was right....the next day on the news they covered the accident and the driver did die. When I got to work this morning one of the girls I work with (who I also happened to go to high school with) told me the driver of the car was a kid I actually grew up with. I haven't seen or talked to him since high school, but when someone you grew up with dies (and who is your same age), it truly makes you think. I got on facebook tonight to look at his profile and it turns out it's NOT the kid I went to high school with. They just happen to have the same name, are the same age and live not too far from one another. While I'm glad to know the kid I grew up with is okay, my heart goes out to the other family. They had two little girls, one of which was in the car during the accident. According to the newspaper she's fine, but it still gives me chills. I was talking to Alan the other day and told him that we REALLY need to get life insurance, just in case. This accident sort of hit home.....life is so precious and you never know when it might be your (or a loved ones) time to go. You can never take anything for granted and although times can be tough and life can seem so discouraging, there is so much we (and by that I mean me) are blessed with. For all my friends and loved ones out there, I love you. I should say it more often, but I have some of the bestest family and friends in the world. I also have (being a little biased here) the bestest husband in the world. Live life to the fullest and enjoy every minute of it. Time is a VERY precious thing. Love you all!

HOME SWEET HOME

Wow, it seems like forever since I last blogged. Since we just barely got our Internet up and going at home and can't find the thingy to upload the pics, you'll have to be content with a post, sorry! We are officially in! Not completely unpacked, but hey, that will come with time, right? In fact, although it's not due until September 1st, we just received our first mortgage payment statement. Hmmm.....I liked the house part, not the mortgage part! I LOVE being in a home finally. So much more room....we're not so on top of each other, kinda nice. Steven likes having his "bachelor pad" downstairs (but I think he secretly likes being able to still come upstairs and get something to eat or just talk). The best of both worlds! Plus, I GET A CRAFT ROOM! Can you tell I'm excited? I haven't even started working in it yet, but that will come with time. It will also be where the office is going, but it's a pretty big room. I think I'm in heaven! Now I'll actually have a place to PUT all my craft crap. While we were boxing up our old place we've found so much stuff we don't use anymore that I think we'll probably have a garage sale. Now that we're kinda settled, I need to start going through everything and putting the sale together. Anyone want to join us? I think a multi-family one would be great! Just let me know...maybe the end of August? Anyway, hopefully we'll be able to put some pics up soon. I'll have to take one of Alan mowing the lawn...he loves doing it because it's "our" lawn. Wonder how long that will last?

We also just found out (well, not just, I guess) that we're going to have another niece and/or nephew on my side. I love babies! Annisten (my newest niece) is doing great. They just found out she does have some heart problems and in fact is headed down to Primary Children's in SL today to see if surgery is needed. Fingers crossed and prayers being said things will go better than anticipated. She's such a cutie and so sweet. So, while life is hectic, it's also good, we just need to remember that in the hard times and good. Oh! Update in regards to the adoption plans....they are still on, but we probably won't start until January. After buying the house we are kinda wiped out savings wise, so we're going to work on that end and then start the paperwork in January. Yeah! It will be nice to be able to kind of settle in more before starting another exiting chapter in our lives. Plus, we have to have the nursery completely set up (which is going to be kinda weird) so we need to empty out the room first. So again, if you can think of any fundraisers, please let me know. Hope everyone enjoys their weekends!

HaPPinEs IS........

Walking through your home for the first time and realizing it's completely yours, along with the mortgage payments! We were able to get the key's to the house tonight....yep, it's officially ours! We move on Saturday! Alan is even more excited than I am.....he's rented a 26 ft. U-Haul. Men!

Also, congratulations to Keri & Bryon who welcomed an adorable little girl on Wednesday. Happiness is also holding a new little one.....ahhh!