So . . .

I know it's been a little while, but really, we haven't been doing much.  We've turned into hermits since the summer heat has been so unbearable.  But now that we've had some decent rain, I'm feeling a little more motivated to do stuff again.  Time to get off that awesome couch we got two months ago and start blogging again!

Brooklyn started school last month.  It's still weird to me that I have a second grader.  Just days before she started, she learned how to tie her shoes.  I guess I put it off long enough that she got it the first time I explained it to her.  It still takes her some time, but she'll get used to it and I'm so proud of her.

Brooklyn also has been losing teeth!  She's lost two so far and we have an appointment with the dentist tomorrow.  Cross our fingers he'll get two more out.  

Funny story about her second tooth she lost, but I'm sure this picture will explain it all.  I know I've done this too.

Thanks to our friends Sam and Sarah Rogers, we mowed our very first lawn!  This is our first cut in our own yard as a married couple.

We were having so much fun, Mike mowed a "mow" hawk in the yard.  

"I PITY THE FOOL!"

 The swing set is shown incomplete but I promise you that it is now fully operational!  It only took us 8 1/2 months to assemble.  Thanks Mark and Barb!

I also completed Brooklyn's room makeover over Labor Day weekend.  I posted the experience on my new blog Mom vs. Design School

I read in a recent magazine article while I was waiting in the doctor's office about things people learned from their dad's.  One woman said that her dad taught her to 

ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO.

So what do we have to look forward to?  Next week, Mike and I will be done with yet another quarter of school.  The week after that we'll be heading of to our 8th Anniversary vacation (also the only vacation we're taking this year.)  We scored a nice deal from Living Social to Long Beach, CA for a two night stay in a nice hotel with a dinner included.  Can't wait can't wait can't wait!

Can't Wait!

For the first time since Mike and I got married, we purchased a new, out-of-the-package, sectional couch! I can't wait for it to be delivered this weekend (cross our fingers). We've been looking at couches for about 6 months while suffering on our 7-foot, craigslist sofa, the only couch in our new house. Finally we bought one! We felt like we'd seen every couch in the valley via internet and showrooms. We were able to lay out our criteria in a very specific way and actually found what we wanted! It meets both of our needs while filling up a great empty space in our front room.

We've undergone a lot of changes in our house in the last couple of months. Other than the couch, I've spend a good week and a half sewing curtains for our house. Six and a half sets later, I'm done for a while. There are still 5 uncovered windows, but with school starting up again next week, there is no way I'm going to get that done. Nor do I have the fabric decisions made. I've taken some pictures, but we're also in the process of creating our own offices, aka, my stuff gets moved upstairs. Between my school stuff and Mike's, his guitar stuff, my craft/home management stuff, the little 12'x12' office wasn't cutting it anymore. So I took over the greater part of our upstairs loft, moved this kids toys to the smaller area (was my sewing area) and made my own office space. Both spaces are undergoing transformations at the moment (aka there are paint samples splashed on the walls, and the design juices are flowing :)

Here are some inspirations:

Can you tell I'm thinking along the lines of something blue or blue/green?

I've also recently come to a realization that I've been holding back. Maybe it was mostly me and our pocket book holding us back, but after some good heart to hearts with Mike these last couple of weeks, I feel inspired like I've never been before. I don't think of design so much as what is expected of me, but more of what excites me and what I see as beautiful. I've found a new confidence and vigor that motivates me from day to day.

I'm glad I'm taking the opportunity to go back to school right now. I feel educated to make better design decisions and I actually have real reasons to back up why I do what I do. Sure I've got 2 more years, but it's 2 more years of character building and taking on challenges to make me better as a designer and a person. Thanks again {HUSBAND} for providing and supporting me on this journey. I love making a beautiful home with you and I'm glad you get excited about it too :)

Soccer and Bugz!

It's been an eventful May for us. Mostly just jumping from here and there between activities. One weekend, our neighborhood hosted a free soccer clinic for kids so we thought we'd let Brooklyn give it a try. She's always talked about doing it, so we thought we'd give her the chance.

I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did, but the clinic was 2 hours long and she got through 45 minutes without complaint. Then came the lesson of "finish what you start".

We kept sending her back until she really did look like she was exhausted. Needless to say, that was the end of her soccer career. Maybe she'll try a sport with less running next time.

Then last week, her school had the 1st grade concert titled "Bugz!" Brooklyn wanted to dress up with the rest of the kids so she came up with this little number on her own. We indulged her with a pair of headband antenna we purchased at Party City for $2.

Well, only a week and a half of carpooling and babysitter switch off's until Brooklyn's summer vacation. Then another two more weeks until I get my summer vacation! I need a break . . .

My Grandpa, My hero. I'll miss you

Thursday night, the 21st, my Grandpa passed away. He lived to be 95 years old. He would have turned 96 on June 17th. We can't believe he lived this long. He's cheated death at least half a dozen times in his life, hunting in Alaska, during WWII as a pilot, and numerous health problems that have plagued him over the last decade. His story is a great one and my sister is writing a book about it. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Well, here's what I love and remember about my Grandpa. The story that has stuck with me my whole life is when he was born. His mother, Lily, was diagnosed with breast cancer while she was pregnant with him. Many doctors told her she should abort the baby, but she would not. Finally she found a doctor that would work with her and she carried that baby to full term. Story has it that the same day he was born, a colt on the farm was also delivered, so they used the milk from the mare to nourish baby Paul. Lily lived only 10 months after Paul was born. She literally gave her life so that he could live. Grandpa never forgot his mother and always lived in memory of her.

My own memories of Grandpa are when I was young. He's the first one who took me fishing when I was only about 5 years old. He and Grandma had built a cabin in Pine Valley, Utah. We went there almost every summer of my youth. It had a nice lake and streams nearby so he took me and a couple of my brothers with him to fish in the stream. We built our own poles and Grandpa supplied the hooks. I actually caught one! It was a tiny little 5 inch trout and I was sad to throw it back in the stream. I wanted to keep it for a pet. Also when we were in Pine Valley, Grandpa would take us horseback riding. I always loved horses and knew that if I asked him at the right time, he would take us for sure.

I remember visiting Grandma and Grandpa in their condo by the temple. It had to be nice to walk out your front door and have a beautiful view of our temple everyday. I got to spend the night there once. It was over New Year's. My cousin Lindsay and I got to stay with them and sleep on the pull out sofa bed. I remember seeing the fireworks on the TV and then falling asleep.

In 1997, my Grandma and Grandpa Vance moved into the apartment on the side of my parent's house after my dad's parents had passed away. This is when I really got to know Grandpa's "free spirit" as Grandma would call it. Grandpa was very good at giving massages. Whether it was for your feet, your head, or a full body, he could do it all and everyone appreciated it. He would go for a walk in the afternoon and not come back until after supper sometimes because he had been giving a neighbor a massage. Grandma didn't like it, but that's just the way Grandpa was. He lived his life in such a way that it seemed easy to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

I loved the night that my husband came home with his own memorable experience with Grandpa. They had just finished a night watching the Priesthood session together and had gone out to eat after. Mike told me the conversation was about how wives will put a folded blanket at the end of the bed and don't want it moved. They could figure out why we do that. That's when Grandpa called them all quote "Pantywaists", and basically told them to suck it up. It's just another example to me that he never got angry when he would reprimand anyone and he had a great sense of humor when he wanted to. In fact, I've never saw him angry.

He's always had the most beautiful smile and the best full head of white hair I've ever seen. I love my Grandpa and I will miss him. He couldn't have picked a better time to pass away than Easter. When I think of the Savior this season and how grateful I am for His sacrifice for us so that we can be resurrected and live with Him again someday, thoughts of my Grandpa won't be far behind. I couldn't help but think of the wonderful reunion my Grandpa had Thursday night with his angel mother. He had to wait 95 years to see her again. I love you Grandpa and I can't wait to see you again too. What a day that would be.

Slacker!

Yes I know I'm a slacker. Since school has begun so many things have either been eliminated from my routine or just severely pushed down the priority list. I've had to re-evaluate my time and make some major and some painful adjustments. For example, from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night, I only get to see Brooklyn for 2-3 hours; Mike even less. Taylor keeps me busy every morning no matter what day it is. But with a new quarter approaching, even that is going to change, but at least I'll get my evenings with the family back.

So, since it's been a while, let me give you and update on the fam.

Taylor is now nearly 2 1/2 years old! She is very good at entertaining herself and understands, listens and obeys more than I would expect an average 2 year old to do. It doesn't stop her from throwing a tantrum here and there, but that's what they do. Second time around in the terrible two's is so much easier than the first. Taylor also has quite the vocabulary. Her favorite phrases are : "Oh boy!" "All better" "Kiss it" "I love you" (or "I lue" in her language) "Go shopping" "Hi daddy!" and "Daddy's home!" She's learned to count to 10 with a little assistance and she's familiar with her colors, but still doesn't get it right 100% of the time yet. Here are a list of words we still need to translate for her. (Highlight the space after for the translation)

Huffy - movie

frijalater - refrigerator

toilet guckies - it's what she calls sitting on the potty. There are duckies on her toilet seat

yucky arms - Lucky Charms

porty sick - we still don't know what this means, but she says it all the time

Brooklyn is nearing her 7th birthday. I can't believe how old she's getting. We went to the dentist this week and still to date, she hasn't had a single cavity and she still has all her teeth. She's one of the smartest students in her first grade class. She's learning a lot about the value of relationships and is beginning to develop some talents. She's learning to play the piano and loves counting the money she earns from folding socks. She won't practice subtraction unless it's done with money. I'm glad she's jumping to real life applications :) I can still hear Coach Gourde from MHS saying, "In the real world . . ."

So nothing really exciting has been going on here. Just school, school, and more school. However, yesterday being St. Patrick's Day and this week being Spring Break (only for Brooklyn) I decided at the last minute to pack up the girls and some snacks and head to Fountain Hills to see the fountain shoot out green! It was a lot of fun to just take the girls somewhere on a whim like that and we had a lot of fun playing on the playgrounds and enjoying the nice weather. For breakfast we had green pancakes and green milk (Taylor only had one bite). For lunch we had green smoothies (strawberry and banana flavor). We had a full day yesterday and I didn't have the time I wanted for myself, but my girls got time with their mom which all of us needed.

I hope everyone is having an awesome Spring Break. I'll get mine after next week's finals. This year is going by so fast! As soon as I get to it, I'll post some of the art work I had for assignments this last quarter. Art school is very different, but I like it!

Out and About with Kristi

I had my day off for MKL Jr. day a day later than everybody else so on Tuesday morning Kristi and I went out. First we went to Al's which is basically a huge lot of wood, doors, and various other things. We were looking for crown molding and they had a ton and it was super cheap (Thanks for the heads up, Kristyn!). Then we went to a couple antique malls to look for cool thing. Many were found but none were bought. Then we were hungry so I saw a giant yellow and orange barrel that was advertising carne asada. I, never having eaten food that came from a barrel, was convinced this is what we needed to eat and Kristi was totally game. The carne asada was awesome (better than Filiberto's even). Then on the way home after eating we made another stop at the old Buckhorn Baths on Main/Apache Trail because I wanted to take pics with our new camera. I'm still learning how to use it well but I have fun doing it. I processed some of them in Photoshop and left most of them raw. What do you think? Enjoy!

Other holiday pics

Taylor got this baby from Aunt Debbie and played with it immediately and for about a half hour before she realized other people were around her. She loves her babies!

Is it a blanket? Is it a sweater? No, it's Superman the Snuggie!

I made these pillows for Aunt Valrie and like a dork I didn't take a picture of them ahead of time, but she seemed to like them!

Taylor got this way cute jacket from Aunt Holly and we promised cute pictures with her in it.

Aunt Holly also gave her a puppy tent that she loves immensely!

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas tree survived the year of another 2 year old . . . barely. We had a great Christmas filled with lots of visits with family and friends. Mike and I were blessed with a lot of market research studies to help pay for Christmas. Mike did one on chocolate and another on pizza. I did one about steak and got two huge steaks to cook and review. Brooklyn and Taylor both got emails from Santa that really helped over the break with any behavior issues that might have come up. I'm dreading the day Brooklyn finds out about our "friend" from the north.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. I'm starting school again next week so who knows when my next post will be. Until next time . . .

Girls in Leaves

Aunt Holly had a wonderful idea to take photos of the girls in the leaves so we had a fun little session and get very dirty :) I love my new camera! Click to see a larger image.