Last weekend in review

Last weekend we had lots going on and here are some highlights..

Cari and Alec came to visit for the weekend.
Us girls celebrated by going to Dear Lizzy for a delicious lunch..

Then back home to make some home made bread, pizza, and a scrumptious raspberry braid from scratch! We had so much fun with our cousin Leah here to join in too.(if you look real close you will notice that i found a piece of Grace's play food that fit right in=)


Friday was Cafe Rio and Games, and Sunday was bbq steak and potatoes and more games. We had so much fun with Cari and Alec here, and miss them so much.

And! Grace is getting MORE teeth, here she is munching on some frozen berries to sooth.

Mom

Happy Birthday Mom. Here are some fun memories I have of you.
- Taking me on "Mommy dates" to the grocery store when i was in elementary school, late at night while i should have been in bed
- ALWAYS a "Saturday Jobs" list on the table as we came out to the kitchen on Saturday mornings
-In fact, there was a list for almost everything; what to pack, how to pick a husband, how to get good grades, who got what for Christmas, how much we spent on what for our wedding, "money making" chores list(this was posted on the back of the laundry room door for us to earn a little money whenever we needed), and the list could go on....
-Waking up to the smell of your banana cake on Sunday mornings
- Your cute light blue night gown that you most likely still wear every night
- Your homemade flannel board stories for FHE on monday nights
- Your ability to "whip something up real quick", for example, last Christmas when you make all of us tree skirts and Christmas quilts!

And most of all Mom, your constant positive attitude. Nothing seems to get you down, offended, or even upset. You are such a great example to me and I love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Birthday Girl

Grace is one!

Catching Up

Went to our friend Jeff's wedding in SL. He and Maria are such a beautiful couple! They were so cute and excited to just be together, which brought back some fun memories of Josh and I when we were married in 2006.



I was visiting with my Uncle Brent a while back and he had mentioned that he had my Grandma's old kitchen aid mixer in his garage. He said that it had just been sitting there for about 20 years but if it worked, he wanted me to have it! I was so excited I just about cried!
Here it is in all its vintage glory.... ( I am so excited to pass it down to Grace someday)
(picture to come)

Grace is 20 pounds now and will be turning 1 tomorrow! Grace is so fun right now. Here is what she is up to..


- Says "uh oh" when she throws her binky across the back seat of the car.
- Signs please, more, thank you, all done, and patty cake. (you should see her do "roll it" its so darn cute!
-Gives high fives.
- Says "thank you" whenever asked and especially when given food.
- Says "ba ba" when she is hungry/thirsty
- Just upgraded to a new BIG car seat. I hope car rides will be a little more enjoyable now.
- Carries around her toys and little people in any sort of bowl she can find. Laughs when they fall out.
-Still thinks anything her cousin Dylan does is hilarious.
- When asked where Daddy is she points to his picture and gives it kisses (while Dad is gone)
- Cannot stand anything in her hair. (This battle is not over and I will win)
- Hugs, chews, kisses and cuddles her pink bear and her baby whenever she encounters them throughout the day.
- Is learning to color. She is so fascinated that color appears on paper when she rubs it with a crayon or pen.
- Tries to say "love you" , has some practicing to do
- Mastered the stairs, up and down
- Runs away when we say "I'm gunna get you"
- Jumps, but feet do not leave the ground yet. (she practices in the morning in her crib until we come get her! It is so funny!)
- Still loves to eat toilet paper, bugs, q tips, paper, and especially shiny metal things like Josh computer charger.
- Unplugs my phone from the wall EVERY morning with out fail. She has adopted this as her "chore" for the day.
- Sleeps from 7 or 8 pm till 9:00 am sharp, every night.
- Makes friends with the person behind us in line to check out at EVERY store. She giggles and points at them and makes funny faces.
- Gets rosy red cheeks when she is tired
- Wears a size 4 shoe. And has way too many pairs of them.

All three of us are serving/playing in Nersery now at church, and we have all LOVED it. Grace is just one in the crowd, she sits up to the table, eats her snack (and steals a few from others), and does singing time too.

Baby Luke is here!

We are so so excited that (cousin)Luke arrived safely here on Monday night. Miss looked AMAZING for having him without an epidural! I cannot imagine!

Welcome to the family Luke! We love you so much.

December 25, 2008

This year we spent the holidays with our Collette family that we love. We spent Christmas Eve together and had a delicious dinner at Josh's Mom's. The next morning we woke up (at our house) together as a family at 9:30 and opened presents from each other and from my side of the family. Then back to Craig and Lorna's for presents and another yummy dinner. We love being with our families for these special times to celebrate.

Perfect! Maybe.

Well I have been looking and looking for a coat that will fit Grace this year and next. I have become quite particular but i guess thats what looking for this long does to you.

These are my top two, but still too pricey when you include shipping. Any ideas how i can get these cheaper?

jcrew


and PB Kids
my computer will not let me have the picture, so go see it.

Let me know what you think.

Arlene Deem

My Grandma was and is amazing. I have been thinking about her so much in the last 6 months and it has helped me realized how extremely disciplined and talented she really was. She passed away in 1994 when I was in second grade. I still remember that morning when my Mom woke me up when it was still dark outside and she explained that Grandma had passed away a few hours ago from a heart aneurysm. My Mom sat there and cried and held us. It was a sad day.

Last night for FHE we went through our goals for 2008 and discussed how we did. It was so fun to read that our number one goal for 2008 was that we wanted a healthy baby. We feel so blessed to have Grace Arlene in our little family. She is beautiful and healthy and we know that this is a blessing from our Heavenly father and a consequence of righteous heritage.

Grandma Arlene was passionate about her family and her callings. She was an amazing cook, and especially creative when it came to cake decorating. She managed my Grandpa's family practice, kept all the books, and managed to keep tabs on TEN rental properties they owned. She was insistent on eating leftovers and she made everything from scratch. Ornaments, clothes, quilts, cakes, canning, decorations, etc. she made everything.

I love her so much. I hope that Grace will grow up to be like her Grandma Arlene and her Grandma Grace.

Thanksgiving

Went like this..

WEDNESDAY- Mel and Jason arrive, Cafe Rio and bowling
THURSDAY- Dinner at 2:00 in Provo at John and Jenilyn's, Pie at Grandpa's, more bowling
FRIDAY- Cari and Alec arrive, lunch at PF Changs to celebrate Mabel, Shopping, cousin Chris' Eagle court of Honor
SATURDAY- Mabel's blessing, Dinosaur museum, Savior of the World in Salt Lake
SUNDAY- Family travels home = (

Here are some highlights..

Eight

8 TV shows I love to watch
1. The Office
2. The Bachelor

3. (these spaces will not go away) American Idol

4. Lost

8 Favorite restaurants
1. Cafe Rio
2. PF Changs
3. La Bou (its in Ca)
4. The Mandrin
5. Thats it... I dont eat out often
6.
7.
8.

8 Things that happened today
1. Saved Grace when she slipped in the tub
2. Bought some fabric for a project
3. Ate lunch with my two favorite people (Josh and Grace)at Cafe Rio
4. Hung a fresh garland. It smells SOOO good!
5. Burned the sauce I made for our salmon dinner
6. Ate leftovers instead
7. Had a productive enrichment meeting planning our Christmas activity
8. Caught Grace walking into the room I was in! SHE IS WALKING!!

8 Things I'm looking forward to
1. Taking Family pictures in the snow
2. Living by friends again this summer somewhere new... we will find out soon.
3. Taking piano lessons again
4. Seeing all the pictures from this past week. They are stuck on my camera. My computer is FULL!
5. Date night on Saturday with my man
6. Learning how to be a leader in Nursery
7. Grace's 1st Christmas and 1st birthday
8. Finding just the right wreath for my door. no luck yet

8 Things on my wish list
1. Have someone repaint my entire downstairs
2. Get Grace to nurse till she is 1
3. In bed by 11 every night for 2 weeks in a row
4. New flats for Christmas (shoes)
5. Grace will say Jesus by the time she is 1
6. More time for being creative
7. Organize my basement and garage before we leave again for the summer
8. To be able to figure this whole Mom/ Wife thing and be perfect at it

8 People I'm tagging
1. Any who wants
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

What do you think?

This is me at around the same age Grace is. Just thought i would share, she does look a little like her Mom.

* I think my favorite part of this picture is my sisters hair. Jenilyn and Mel both have the coolest brown curly hair.

Mabel Ann

My niece Mae was born on Sunday November 2nd, weeks early!! She was due on the 15 so we are so excited she came to see us sooner.

Soup and Candy Night

Happy Halloween

Halloween Fun Run

Over the past month and a half Hailey and i have been running in the mornings before our husbands have to go to work so we could leave our kids at home. It has been so fun getting to know Hailey better and realizing how many admirable qualities and traits she possesses. On Saturday night Hailey and i ran a 5k in American Fork and we did GREAT! Next year we will remember our flashlights... running through the cemetery in the dark was a little creepy.

Cute Pumpkins

My friend Lindsay told me about a patch in Herriman that had pumpkins, a little corn maze, tractors, a black cat. Grace loved the wheel barrow rides and eating lots and lots of hay with her cute cousins.

WE ARE HOME!!!

We have been home for about a week and a half now... and it feels good. REAL GOOD!

Fall Photos

Hailey (my step sister and really good friend) and I went went outside for some fresh air and some photos. These are some of my favorites from the day.

Lots of energy lately

Reason: Thinking about and loving all of these things..

- Packing this entire apartment into bins and boxes
- Running at 8:30 MWF with Hailey
- Fall leaves and crisp air
- Grace's costume shoot.
- Chocolate chip cookies
- My freezer is almost empty (this means we are almost done!)
- Early Christmas shopping
- New shoes (thanks Fish)
- A hot husband (I think he has been doing something new.. to his hair or something? He is just so hot to me)
- A healthy 17.5 lb pumpkin, i mean Grace
- My new Mom Agenda
- Using our fireplace
- Wearing sweaters and hoodies
- Starting my new filing system (we need more room BAD)
- Having someone start (and finish) our yard just in time before it gets too cold
- My sister Jenilyn's baby that will be here in 4 weeks
- Thanksgiving with the Mixa's and the Van Wagenen's
- Having my sister Mel and husband Jason and kids come stay with us
- Making pumpkin cookies (or pumpkin anything) in MY oven in MY house
- Going through all of my mail from the past month (i know im wierd, i love this)
- Arranging my picture collage in my front room
- An expensive trip to Sweet Briar Hollow = ) (thanks Fish)
- Grace is still nursing! Yay!
- Reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Quiet Cricket to Grace cuddled up with blankets on the couch at 8 am.
- Costumes for Hailey and I for next Friday
- Hmm.. Fake tree or real??
- Celebrating Lorna's birthday with family
- Seeing Brandon and Hill's new yard and playing on their grass. (we have dirt)
- The Icon banquet
- Sleeping in our cal king bed with our white down comforter
- A trip to Maui this winter

And Ill stop, im getting too carried away. But it was FUN!

Home for Conference

This last weekend we were home for a visit to enjoy a nice weekend with family. Cari and Alec stayed with us along with our friends Dave and Kelly. We enjoyed so many favorites this weekend including... Dinner at Missy and Greg's, watching Grandma Lorna and Grandpa Craig get some giggles and smiles out of Grace, our cal king bed, Cafe Rio with Cari and Alec, Cari and I's 20 minute Costco splurge to start our food storage (in the pouring rain), Conference and more conference, Papa Murphy's pizza with Jenilyn, John and Wes (sad i didnt get a picture with Jenilyn's TINY (due in 5 1/2 weeks) tummy), peeking in and Brandon and Hill's (new) yard and beautiful home( if i could i would copy and paste their style into my home), a late night with my cousins Leah and Sara, time with Josh's mission companions who are both (almost) engaged to beautiful girls, using my washer and dryer that i love because they don't bleach or rip my clothes, a sweet visit by Miss and Jake and Kate, a delicious (salmon, red potatoes, veggies, salad and apple crisp!)dinner at Lorna and Craig's, good talks with Craig and Jared (we missed you Beth and Thomas and cant wait to see you in a few weeks). Sorry this is so long i just want to remember it! Here are some fun pictures. Wish i had taken more.