Kelsey's Baby Shower

 My bff Kelsey is having a baby and I couldn't be happier for her!  We have been friends for 6 years now, since our oldest kids were babies.  We taught water aerobics at the gym together, attended lots of BodyPump classes together, were room mom's at school, have kids the same age, were partners at Girl's Camp this year, and have shared so many very good times together.  I love her dearly and am so happy she's bringing boy #3 into their family!

 The cute cupcakes Christine made.

 I, of course, made her a wipes case, nursing cover, and matching burp cloths.  Love the colors!

 She's decorating the nursery in brown and blue and got a lot of it!

 Love these ladies!  We've had so much fun over the years, doing dinner, playdates, scrapbook weekends, girl's camp, hanging at the gym, and so much more.

 Right before we all collapsed into a laughing fit!  Poor John the photographer

I love Kelsey and know we'll remain friends even though we've moved!

I brought Mikayla with me and she had a soccer game that morning, played at Trick's Gymnastics center for 2 hours with Erik, had a playdate with Maren, and another playdate with Erik.  On the drive home from Sacramento she fell sound asleep!  I have no idea how she got into this position or how it was even comfortable--not safe either, I know--but she sure slept soundly!

30 Years and Counting!

My parents achieved 30 years of marriage back in May.  4 kids, 6 grandkiddos, and a whole lotta memories later, they're still going strong and looking good doing it too!  My dad decided a few months ago to start eating better and exercising.  Lo and behold, he's down 50 lbs., doesn't have to use a sleep apnea machine anymore and feels and looks great too!  He's got willpower like I've never seen.  If I bake cookies I will undoubtedly eat the dough, the hot cookies, and several more cooled off cookies.  He now sees said batch of cookies and says, "I'll just have one."  And he does!  What the?!?!  It's pretty amazing and he's quite inspiring to me.  I've enjoyed working out at the gym with him a few times recently and seeing him kick my butt in inverted pushups on a ball.  Very impressive.  My mom has also lost weight in cooking and eating healthier for my dad and they are quite the awesome barely 50 yr olds.

As impressive as weight loss is, 30 years of marriage is every bit as impressive and awe-inspiring. They do it well and are a great example of a loving couple, caring parents, and fabulous grandparents. 

Kylin's Surprise

Back in May, Trent took a trip to Michigan to visit his 2 best friends from high school, Kylin and Jessie.  I sent him with a camera for 4 days and said, "You haven't seen your friends in, like, 6 years.  Take LOTS of pictures!"  They went to the Ford Auto Factory, golfing, a movie, had a bbq, and all other kinds of activities-- and these are the only 5 pictures he took.  Oh the difference between guys and girls!  Here he is with one of Kylin's girls, Alyssum.

Trent and Jessie, who flew up from Las Vegas.

Trent and Kylin, the 30 yr old birthday boy.  Kylin had NO idea they were coming and when Laurie left to "go to a primary presidency meeting" he didn't think anything of it and just got the kids ready for bed.  When she returned from the "meeting" he was pretty surprised to see she had picked up his 2 best friends and brought them back to the house!  Speechless and just laughing, was how Trent described it!

Jessie and Laurie, Kylin's wife, making dinner.

Laurie very sweetly planned this birthday surprise for her husband and coordinated with the guys schedules, got Kylin off of work while they were there, bought plane tickets, and planned a fun weekend for the guys--all while being 7 months pregnant.  He sure enjoyed his trip and his time with his buds.  I think it's funny that all 3 guys grew up in Canada together, ended up serving US missions, and then married girls from the States, and now all live in the States too! 

At this age...

Megan is 4, 38 lbs., 43 inches tall, and as sweet as ever.  She has the most fabulous curly hair that is fun to do, but she hates having it brushed out!  So, she gets out of the bath, we comb it with a wide-tooth comb and spritz a little spray gel and then don't touch it again until the next bath.  She has long legs and wears size 5 everything and a size 10 shoe.  She has moved up to a bigger bike and is loving going faster with her sister.  She can name all the letters of the alphabet, belts out "I'm Proud To Be An American," loves to be read to, loves to play dress-up, and all things girly.  She loves lotion, lip gloss, mascara, nail polish, necklaces, sparkly shoes, and purses.  Definitely my girly girl.

Kendra is 22 months old and LOVES Elmo.  I can flip on an Elmo's World episode and cook dinner in peace now--love it.  She is energetic, busy, quite a climber, busy, loves baby dolls, busy, likes her hair done so it's out of her face, busy, and generally a happy, loving little girl.  Oh yeah, and she's super busy.  :)  She's always on the go and I think that's while we're holding strong at 23 lbs!

She's super cute and giggly and totally girly.  She's a mama's girl and has become quite the little sidekick with the girls gone at school.  She would rather eat snacks all day(fruit snacks, crackers, Nutter Butters, fruit cups, etc.) then actually eat a meal.  We are in the process of potty training and though she loves to sit there often during the day, she usually only goes in the potty once a day or so.  But boy, does she ever love the praise!

She's learning more and more words every day and wenever I have the camera out lately she asks, "Cheese?" and then I take her pic and she says, "I see!  I see!"  and then she sees herself and says, "Aww, baby!"  She is seriously so dand cute--and knows it!  She uses it to her advantage and knows that it doesn't take much more than a kiss and a "Hi Mama, hi Mama!" as she holds both sides of my face to get herself out of trouble.

Mikayla is 7 and is almost 48 inches tall and 58 lbs.  She is a soccer player and did swim team this year.  She's a great reader and loves the Magic Tree House series.  She goes on almost-daily bike rides and prefers to have me straighten her hair, unlike Megan who wants it curly.  She has decided it's time to grow out her bangs and we're using a Mederma scar cream every night on her forehead scar so that she won't be so self-conscious of the scar when she's sans bangs.  It's a bummer that dang scar's right in the middle of her forehead!  Grrr!

 She is a sweet girl and is kind to her sisters.  She prefers blue and orange lately and seems to be eating me out of house and home.  She's a great helper in the kitchen, is learning to play the piano, and has made lots of new friends here in Gridley.

I'm Proud of You

A few weeks ago, my dad told me he was proud of me. This is something he does often. Something that always makes my day. My dad told me he was proud of the choices I'm making, of the kids I'm raising, of how I'm trying my hardest at all that I do.

One night while on the treadmill at the gym, I started thinking about this. I started thinking about how it makes me feel and about how the choices I made growing up helped me to be where I am now. As a teenager, I avoided a lot of pitfalls and temptations by simply knowing that I wanted to do the things that would make my parents proud of me.

I knew then as I do now, that the same things that make my parents proud of me, are also the things that are in line with what our Father in Heaven would have us do. I thought about the choices I made as a youth and how I acted, not out of fear of what my parents would do to me after a wrong decision, but out of respect for them and how I wanted their love and for them to be proud of me. It's the same with our Heavenly Father. He's given us choices and we should obey His rules not out of fear of what the consequences may be, but out of love and respect for Him and a desire to do what is right to make Him happy.

Sure, I didn't have a rebellious streak and maybe missed out on a lot of so-called teenage fun, but I also do not pay the price now for addiction or disease that may have come as a result of the "fun."

Well, at that point, the eyes were getting misty and I welcomed the opportunity to slow the treadmill down to a walk and realized it was the most interesting situation to have a spiritual experience, but it was mine nonetheless.

I am thankful for parents who have taught me well. I am thankful for parents that tell me that I am doing a good job and that they are proud of me. I am thankful to know that as I live His commandments, one day I will hear the words, "Well done, welcome home."

Reading Loft and Craft Room

Took the big open space and turned it into our reading loft.  I made curtains, couch pillows and floor pillows, and a cushion for the rocking chair.  Now it's a bright, whimsical cozy reading loft where we read our bedtime stories every night.

Love the flowery pattern!  Click on the pic to enlarge and you can see the gathered twill tape trim I kinda made up as I went.  It stayed with the whimsical theme and I love how it turned out kind of ruffly.

I fell in love with the zebra and giraffe fabric and bought it not quite knowing what I would do with it.  I taught myself to sew pillows with cording that I made too.  Fun and not too hard!

One of my favorite rooms is the craft/scrapbooking/sewing/guest room.  I keep my sewing machine out all the time, my crafty stuff is easily accessible, and I love having a place for it all.  Still a work in progress, but loving it so far!

Family Room and Kitchen

We have a second fireplace in the family with a large pic of the girls just above it. Funny, I totally made nice, lined drapes in here and they're pulled back out of the picture, oh well.

Love this pic of the girls!

Opposite wall.

We set up the hutch in the dining area in the kitchen. 

Got the plates from Pier One, love that they are the SAME colors as my kitchen!

I made two long 100" curtains for the sliding glass door that goes outside and a valance and curtains for the window by the sink in the kitchen.

Before and After: Kitchen.  We have a breakfast bar and that's where the girls eat every morning.  It is so convenient and I like making food and serving it up right next to them.

The view from the dining room into the kitchen.  Never had an island before--love it!

The view from the laundry room.  You walk through the garage, through the laundry room, to the kitchen.  Wish I'd gotten a pic of the wall with the sliding glass door before in all its hunter green glory.  It was awesome paired next to the peachy walls which flanked it.

Window in the kitchen.

I could not find a paint color to go with my fabric that I got for $5/yd at Home Fabrics--awesome store!  But, I took the fabric into Home Depot, they color matched it with their scanner machine and I love what it looks like on the wall!  It is just what I was wanting.

My mom happened to have this material on hand that perfectly matches the blue and the taupe in my kitchen curtains!  I used it to make drapes for the family room since the family room and kitchen are connected and all the curtains are on the same wall.  Now the kitchen and family room flow with the same blues, tans, and browns.  It's coming together nicely and I've loving it.  So fun to decorate a new house!