Our New House & More

Here are pictures of our new house. I was at girl's camp when we got the call, so Jeff surprised me with the good news. We looked at so many homes I forgot which one it was. It was a foreclosed home, but is very nice inside. I just can't wait to paint it! I'll take some inside pictures once it's ours...Aug 14th. We already have renters lined up for our small home, so things seem to be working out! (phew) It's just about 3 miles West of where we are now, but it does put us in another ward. :-( Don't be hatin, BUT we'll owe less on it than our current 1251 sq foot home that we puchased when this area was 1st dirt cheap.

I am short on time these days, but here are some quick updates.

1. Girl's Camp was totally awesome. If there are any incriminating photos of me dancing on tables please destroy them. It was so fun to see the people I know & love go totally wild. I only love them more. I am completely addicted & hope I get invited back.
2. My cousin got married in San Diego. After Camp I was home for 1 hour, then started the drive to San Diego. The wedding was so nice, my cousin looked absolutely beautiful. While we were there, we went to the SD Zoo, (Audra-those dung beetles are awesome :-) The new Elephant exhibit was way cool. We also enjoyed the beach. Jeff & my dad swam with hundreds of leopard-sharks. I had a blast on the boogie board (it's been years!). Ty loved the sand & jumping in the waves. While the men were away shark watching I was sitting with Ty. I told him I was going to grab the sand toy just a few steps up shore. I went toward the toys, turned around...Ty was gone! Totally gone! I looked up the beach, down, everywhere. It was a good 3 min when I was in full panic & was headed to the near lifeguard tower. Just then my dad & Jeff saw my panic & I screamed "he's gone." We split 3 directions & in a matter of seconds he was found walking too close to the board walk. I think with the rising tide, he got disoriented. My few steps to our stuff had previously been a long distance from the water. He said the sand was burning his feet & he couldn't find me anywhere. So Sad! Poor Guy. I think I should rename this blog The Tales of a Bad Mom. Luckily my mom was willing to keep Sydney home for a nap. It was so nice to enjoy the beach without little miss destructo....and 1 less kid to lose. Thanks Mom!

I came home to a billion orders. We are leaving for another trip this weekend, then off to FL to meet my new baby nephew right after that. It's certainly been a summer of working hard & playing even harder. Anybody want to come pack my house for me???

Happy 4th of July!

The last few years we've spent July 4th in flight (to CT), in a storm (here- weather cancelled the celebration), in traffic (D.C.- best fireworks ever, but with the dang trees everywhere we couldn't see a thing.)

This is her firecracker hair-do.

This year was really the 1st that we've been able to be together to enjoy the day & night with our children.

I feel the need to explain Sydney's outfit...this was one of my favorite outfits my niece wore, back in the 90's. Where we went...lets just say the folks around there are a little outdated. She got so many compliments. One family even said to call them when we have a yard sale. Ahhh, too funny!

The kids loved the jumpers. It was $5 for the unlimited jumps wrist band. Ty refuses to take his wrist band off, or get it wet. He said he's even willing to give-up swim lessons & hand washing in order to keep the wrist band looking like new.

They both loved the fireworks, but Ty had his hands over his ears the entire time.

Hope you all had a great celebration as well.

Sedona & More

Jeff's parents were recently visiting. We headed up to cooler country in Sedona. We stayed at a beautiful resort right in with the shops. We swam, went to the trout place to feed fish, hiked, visited ruins, shopped, it was a good time!

Feeding the trout:

The ruins @ Montezuma's Well

On Saturday morning we walked to the river that ran through the bottom of the resort. There were ducks & large shady trees, very pretty. Ty was walking along the edge and I was just steps behind him. Jeff told Ty to be careful & Ty said he was being careful. Next thing you know Ty gets close to the edge, the ground breaks away & down he goes, on leg in. I was right there & grabbed him out, slipping & cutting myself, but no big deal. New clothes, new shoes, we were good.

Next we went hiking. Ty was wearing his new hiking boots & seemed to have trouble walking. I should have brought a pack of band aids, because he was crashing every few feet.

Next we went over to Slide Rock. For those of you that don't know the place, it has a rough uncomfortable slide made up of a river running through moss covered rocks. Very slippery, very cold. Ty wanted in the water as soon as we got there. But we had to find a place to "park", clothes to change, shoes to take off, sunscreen to apply. He kept wanting in & we'd say "wait, wait, wait."

Finally, we walked over to where in was ankle deep. Jeff was ahead with Sydney. Ty was heading to the 3 inches of water & I let him finally go in. Seconds later, he slips on the mossy ground & slides down to the next lower level. The next level was very deep. His head was above water, but his eyes were big & he was panicking. I raced around Jeff (who was holding Sydney, not knowing what was going on), to the lower level & tried to give Ty a hand to get out. Where I was standing was so slick & I immediately fell in next to Ty. I was then holding Ty up by his arm, unable to get any footing because it was too mossy. I then realize that I am holding my purse with cell phones, both wallets, my last checkbook, key-less remote entry, everything. I am then holding Ty up, my purse up & trying to keep my head up too. A man comes over to rescue us & he falls down, joining us in the water. He takes Ty & hands him to a lady. Another lady came & grabbed my purse, another man came over & helped me out. I think that was the 1st time ever that 50 degree water didn't feel cold. Ty was fine, but the adventures stopped there.

Other than that...we've been dealing with sick children, working, lots of school and trying to get a second home. We are learning about the foreclosure game. We have a bid in, but as it goes, so do many others. We'll let you know if we get anything. Thankfully our current mortgage (being so small) would allow us to rent our home until the market improves.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the falls. That is exactly why you should always have a video camera ready. I'm sure AFHV would have a big payday waiting for that event.

McCormick-Stillman Railroad

One of my friends was headed to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad, so I joined in on their fun. It was quite the drive to get there, but was well worth it.

They had the most amazing playground, a fun carousel, of course the train. I think there were 26 kids in our group & they all had a blast! Ty & his buddy Clay seem to have picked up little gang symbols...I don't know where that came from.

I Made the Cover!

Could she be my twin or what? I even have that exact same shirt!

To top it off, the magazine also has info inside on a girl Jeff dated.

I think Rexburg is calling us home.

The Cool Kids Club

When I was a Senior in High School I was President of the Cool Kids Club. For those who have not heard of this club, that is because we made it up. There were 4 of us, that each held an office. We'd meet at Reb Robin wearing the most nerdy clothes that we could find, to discuss our official club visit. I am surprised we were never thrown out, because we were just that obnoxious.

This seems to be a re-occurring theme that keeps coming back to me these past few weeks...dispelling the Cool Kids Club. Through Young Womens lessons, talking with the girls, leaders, friends, its just been so loudly on my mind, haunting me. How can I be open & inviting and do things without others feeling left out? How can I have a party inviting as many as I can handle without someone wondering why they weren't invited? A part of me feels like I can't talk about or blog about the things I do, because there is always people that weren't there.
I think that is the reason I love to share crafts. In fact, that is absolutely where it comes from. Wanting to make others feel important, cared about, part of the group & cool enough to have what others do. I might be a little obnoxious about it, but it's so much more important to me to have an excuse to get together with old friends & new friends than to have cuter things than everyone else.
I guess it will continue to be on my mind. If you mention wanting to learn how to make bows & I jump at the chance to invite you over, don't be surprised. And if I don't hear you...just invite yourself for me. I'd love to hear your thoughts, really. It would be nice to get better without being more obnoxious.

Palm Springs

The past couple days we got to vacation in style. This Marriot resort was absolutely amazing! Pools, splash pads, playgrounds, arcades, activities...they had it all! They had deep pools, lap pools, 1 ft kiddie pools, beach-style pools & Ty's favorite, the waterslide pool.

(Ty)

Ty's friend Derrick moved to a new house recently, so "new house"/"old house" entered his vocabulary. This was his new house with stairs & elevators. He did not want to go back to the old house.


Sydney did have 1 morning that made me wish this were a kid-free vacation. Jeff was at a confrence (the real reason for going). I was just trying to get us out the door & get the room clean enough for a maid to walk into. Sydney was busy unrolling the whole roll of toilet paper, bending my sunglasses, emptying the garbages, repeatidly turning on the disposal, dumping milk & water into the recycling bin. Thinking it couldn't get worse I sent them both to the balcony. I glanced out there to see them both throwing handfuls of Dorritos over the side coating the 2 levels below us. When we got to the activity center the 1st thing I did was check to see if they have childcare. I was done! ...luckily it got better!

Our friends who live out there joined us for swimming & Red Robin. Jeff & Brigham have been friends since they were young. I don't think Jeff & I would have met, had it not been for Brigham. They are moving our direction soon & we are thrilled about it!
Now it's back to work, school & the old house. We had a great time. I of course look like a lobster now, but there is only so much spf 70 can do with this skin.