Friday, June 30, 2006

Super Baby...

Another fine sample of Meagan's photography skills! And isn't he the cutest little flying baby ever?!? Posted by Picasa

Drool...

never looked so cute! lol Meagan's turning into a great photographer, don't you think?!? Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Storyboard...



I don't know much about photoshop (though I really want to learn...hoping to be able to take a class or find a good easy-to-understand book soon). I only have PSE though...maybe I need to invest in the "real thing?" Anyway...I found this FUN template this morning and played with it for a few minutes. I found it here - the gal who designed it does amazing things with photos and layouts! :o) This was so quick and easy and I thought it turned out cute. Meagan took two of these three photos of Zach last week at Josh's baseball game. Even she loves my new camera! Have a happy day!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Proof...



...that a tired toddler can, indeed, fall asleep anywhere!

Seth had a hard day today - he was extra tired but managed to fight off sleep for most of the day. As a result, he was super whiney and needy and he wanted his daddy all day long. So, when daddy went out to mow Grandpa & Grandma's lawn, Seth had to sit on his lap. That lawnmower is fun for a two-year old to ride on, but it's really loud...so loud that he had to plug both of his ears with his fingers. I guess the sound and vibration lulled him to sleep, but we all thought it was so funny that his fingers remained IN his little ears even after he fell asleep!

In other news...
*I got a new camera yesterday! I am so excited to finally have a digital SLR, now I just need to find time to play with it and learn how to take better pictures!

*We drive past our new house every day -- it looks like right now they are just gutting the garage and getting rid of everything that burned. The closing dates all got pushed back by several weeks, so we'll be staying here for a little longer than we were anticipating. The kids are thrilled, they LOVE having Grandpa and Grandma right here all the time! We're grateful we have a nice place to stay until our home is ready. :)

*We went to see the new Joseph Smith movie in SLC last night for my sisters b-day. GREAT movie...go see it if you can! Then we went to eat at Crown Burger -- oh my gosh, they have the BEST fry sauce ever!

*Planning a day at Lagoon tomorrow...with Tony and Daxen too...should be lots of fun! We'll see how we survive with two babies in tow. Brad offered to take the two big kids and let me stay home with the two little ones, but what can I say...I love a challenge! lol

*I'm so excited about some new *work* opportunities that have been offered to me recently! I'll share more when I can, but I'm excited about some things coming up in the next few months and the next year! Also, I'm back to work with lots of assignments and opportunities right now. I'm grateful for the work, but it's a challenge to work while my scrapbooking things are mostly packed up!

*The kids went to the dentist this week...Meagan and Josh were both cavity-free! Yahoo!! (Unfortunately Seth didn't fare as well...we'll be seeing a few shiny silver teeth in his cute smile soon.)



Monday, June 19, 2006

FIRE!!!

So, we decided to head to Draper last Saturday afternoon, after Meagan's birthday party, to buy a new ski for Brad for Father's Day. We were almost there when my cell phone rang. Since I was driving, Brad answered it, and since I could only hear his end of the conversation, this is what I hear:
"Hello?"
"What?"
"The what?"
"Where?"
"Are you SERIOUS?"
and the conversation continued this way for about ten minutes. I finally pulled over (since I didn't know where I was going anyway...and since I was concerned because I had no idea who he was talking to and the tone of his voice let me know there was something WRONG.)

After he got off the phone, he filled me in on the news. The call was from our realtor...and basically, the house we are under contract to buy caught on fire Saturday morning!! OH my gosh - can you even believe that?!? Apparently a surge protector/power strip the owner had out in the garage started the fire. We quickly finished our shopping (which included the obvious need for a Target run) and headed to the house to meet with the realtors and the homeowner.

When we got there we could see the smoke damage on the outside of the house, and the garage door was half smashed in. Luckily, though, as we walked through the front door of the home, it was apparent that most of the fire damage was contained in the garage and the rest of the home only suffered smoke damage. Since the owner was home, he noticed the fire soon after it started and was fighting it with his kitchen fire extinguisher and a garden hose when the five, yes FIVE, fire trucks full of firemen got there. The firemen did a significant amount of damage to home while running through with their big dirty boots and their big hoses - but they got the power and gas turned off before there were any major explosions!

The homeowner's insurance adjuster will be there today, along with a team of people who will be cleaning (and packing his stuff - bonus for him), and cleaning the house. Then they will decide what will be repaired/replaced inside the home.

We are still planning on buying the home, but it will be quite a bit longer until we can move in now. But the upside is that the home will have a brand new garage, and will be either sparkling clean (or new) inside and out! We are grateful the damage wasn't worse, and that the owner was unhurt. He lost tools and "toys" (ie motorcycles) that were in the garage, but all in all, it was a miracle it wasn't worse. Apparently, he was on vacation last week in Florida, and got sick, so he came home early -- otherwise the house would have been empty and there definitely would have been more damage - and it could have been a total loss. Coincidence? I don't think so. We are being watched over, I am sure! :)

I guess we'll be hearing more today after the insurance adjuster visits the home. What a day. I guess we'll always remember Meag's ninth's birthday as the day the house almost burned down!!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

NINE years ago...


...this little girl was born! I know it's cliche, but in so many ways it truly seems like just yesterday. She's a smarty-pants in every way -- she gets awesome grades in school, she loves to read and write stories and draw AND she's also a bit sarcastic at times! We love her so much! :)

All she wanted for her birthday was the Jess doll from The American Girl Collections, so she was shocked this morning when she opened up not only Jess, but Kit and lots of other AG goodies! She requested cheesecake and a bbq for the family party so we have lots of fun ahead of us today.

Happy Ninth Birthday Maggie! ;)

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Relaxing...

The last few weeks have been so crazy - it was nice to have a day where we could just relax. We went to church this morning, then came home and pretty much did nothing. Ate whatever was easy, made orange smoothies, watched a movie, visited mom and dad, recharged. :)

We did get the house we made an offer on last week - we'll be remodeling the kitchen completely though, so we'll wait until that is finished to move in. I'm excited to stay with my parents for a few months this summer.

And here are a couple of pictures of the kids from yesterday. Grandma always has a sweet treat available! Lucky kids! (And me!!)

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Found a house...

We made an offer on a house last night. It's a nice house - 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, lots of big closets, an office/den, fully finished basement, completely landscaped, rv pad, fully fenced back yard, the kids will go to the same school, only a few years old (only one owner), and it's on a quiet street with lots of kids and young families. The only thing I don't like about it is the kitchen...it's really small. So, if our offer is accepted (we should know within 24 hours), we'll be working on ideas for a kitchen remodel before we move in. Wish us luck!! :O)