Joshua's "Driving Birthday"

Well, from the last post about Joshua's BD, you know that he said this was his "driving BD" because we spent the day driving and moving all of our things from my in-laws house to our new house. My brother Enos and his wife Lindsay helped us move, and Lindsay made Josh a Spongebob cake at 10pm that night so we could still celebrate. THANK YOU GUYS!!!

Josh wanted Spongebob legos like his cousin Max had, so he got 'em.

Josh and his auntie playing with spongebob's eyes.

Jade and Lindsay made a way cool cake for Joshy.

Josh likes money. He likes to count money. Enos and Lindsay gave him $5 dollars in ones, he was SO excited! We felt bad because Bill's mother gave him a $20 bill, and he looked at it and said, "oh cool, a dollar!". It took him a while to figure out that a single 20 bill is more than 5 ones, he is at that stage where he likes to lay each bill out and count it. What 5 yr old doesn't?

"walking in a Paper-Wonderland"

I tried to lighten the mood while I was manic and going through boxes, so I let the kids have some fun with the small mountain of packing paper I had built up one morning. Those of you who have moved with movers, or military moves, know this is but a fraction of the packing paper one unearths as one unpacks. The kids kept singing to the Christmas tune, but changed the words, to "Walking in a Paper-Wonderland". A picture speaks a thousand words. :)

It was a tad emotional to know this is the last time in my kids childhood that they will experience this kind of fun with a move. We do not plan on moving again for as long as we can, at least not until they are in their teens at the earliest.

Semi-put-together home

Welcome to our home...... (Wayne must approve of you first)




I thought I would start out by showing the second worst room in the house. (The first is my art studio, but that might take months to get through!) The Family Room. It's downstairs and this is about 1/3 of it. There is a little reading nook around the corner, a bathroom, TV/entertainment area, a closet for all the games and toys, along with what you see here, the kids library and homework station. I have alot to do still with unpacking and organizing, but the kids love this room, it's all theirs.

This is one of the walls in Bill's office, (I mean his "cave"), and I love this painting he bought in China. We just picked it up from being framed last night, it is pretty big, and he LOVES it. If you google "Chinese art Yue Minjun" or "Chinese smiling man art" it might come up. :)

This is a view of part of our back yard. Our front yard is much larger, but this is where the kids love to practice soccer and play under the deck that wraps around the side of the house. It's hard to see clearly, but we loved how the property is all landscaped already, and other than the lawn, it's pretty self-maintaining.

The next few pictures are of my favorite parts of the house, (for now, until I get my art studio set up). The previous owners took out the wall and opened everything up when they renovated this part of the house. I have fabric laying all over the place and clipped onto the curtains while I try to figure out what I'm going to use as far as fabric and color goes. I am also waiting for a china hutch to surface on ksl.com, hence the use of garage utility shelves for china dishes. :)

One of the many things we love about this house and location, are all the developed trees everywhere. It reminds me of my childhood visits to my grandmother's home in Gilroy, CA, there were SO many trees everywhere. The previous owners also left about 10 hooks on and around the trees outside the major windows for bird feeders, so we get a bunch of birds fluttering around throughout the day. So far it has proved to be a very calming place to live. At the end of the day, Bill and I will just walk around the house in disbelief that this is actually OUR home, and it's permanent, no reassignments in the next year or two, or even 20!

Posts will come!

Well, I'm on a neighbors computer since we are without internet and phone until Aug 2. I am dying, but thankfully we have wonderful neighbors to ease the pain. :) Jade is going nuts, she wants to work on her blog SO badly! She is hooked for sure. I LOVE this place, I love our house, I love the location, I really never thought I would ever like living in Utah, but I love it. I'll post pictures when I am up and running with internet in our own home. ; )

Flashback Friday - Happy Birthday Joshua!

My baby boy is 5 yrs old today! (He is refering to this day as his "driving birthday" because we are spending this afternoon and evening making trips back and forth moving our stuff) He is used to having fun parties, but this year will have to make due with a quick cake, (I still have to bake it!), and sushi with Uncle Enos and Aunt Lindsay. His favorite thing to eat is a california roll. :)

Here he is, about 6 weeks old and yawning. so cute!
Jade is such a sweet sister, (most of the time), and has enjoyed him from day one.

Josh loved to play dress-up in big sister's things, he is wearing the shoes that go with her Sevillana dress.

Halloween 2004, my cute little monster!

Riding bikes with grandpa Ed, Josh was in heaven.

Chillin' with dad watching Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

My pirates, and they still love playing together and dressing up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHY! YOU ARE ONE COOL KID, WE LOVE YOU!!!

Busy, busy, busy!

Wow, it's been busy around here! Yesterday we signed on the house, here is a picture of the front. We absolutely LOVE this house, it's about as much of a dream house as we could hope for in the next 10-15 years. We should get the keys today or tomorrow, and then we are moving in! It's an older home, built in '76, so it's not really old, but they sure built some cool homes in Utah in the 70's, lots of personality. It has been renovated inside, it's pretty nice and open, and my favorite part is the workroom downstairs that we will make into my art studio. Everything has happened so fast, we pretty much closed on the house in less than 3 weeks. The kids can't wait to move in. We finally have room for visitors and our door is always open for friends and family. (We are 8 miles from a ski resort, if that is incentive for a visit)



This is random, but the only picture I have taken in almost a week. A friend of mine gave this to us, and I thought I would try it out since Eddie's neck seems strong enough now. They were having such a good time together, but of course I took too long to realize I needed a picture and by the time I got the camera, Eddie was done with the fun. I think Josh could have "driven" him around the kitchen island forever. :)

Flashback Friday - Happy Birthday Mica!

My one and only sister, Mica, had her birthday last Sunday when we were in CA for our family reunion. So I thought it would be nice for my first official "Flashback Friday" to dedicate this post to her, and include my most favorite pictures of us. Be prepared, this is a long post!

I remember when Mica was born, I was 6 yrs old, had two younger brothers, and I wanted a sister SOOOOO badly! I was standing in the kitchen when my grandmother handed me the phone, and I hear my dad say "Hello Tara, what did you want your mom to have?", (a little sister, I said), "Well, that's what you get!". I can still remember the thrill that went through my little 6 yr old body at the thought of a little sister of my very own. I have 4 sweet/rascal brothers, and one absolutely amazing sister. One is all I need! :) I know I was sometimes a mean older sister, but I loved doing her hair and playing dress-up with her, she was like my own little doll, and I loved having her around, except when she would get into my room as a teenager!

Now she is the one who helps me with my make-up and hair, clothes, fashion sense, etc. ;)

One thing about Mica, she started out as such a shy little thing that used to hide behind our mom's legs. Now she is an extremely talented singer/performer and has no problem getting up in front of people and belting out a few notes. She is classy and stylish, witty and sharp, kind and giving, (I love her hand-me-downs!), and a deeply thoughtful person full of life and spunk.
I love these next pictures, I think they express the relationship Mica has with each of my children. She is a fun and patient Auntie, (sometimes a bit of a tease, but my kids adore her!)

This is the most recent picture of us, taken last week on my visit home for the reunion, on her birthday.

I love you Mica-mix!

long awaited day

So Jade wakes up yesterday morning, all ready for swim team practice, and the first thing out of her mouth is the reminder that "today is OPENING DAY!!!". She has been waiting anxiously since it was announced for the Harry Potter movie. We made a day of it, and invited Jade's new buddy, Alli, to join us. I forgot to take a picture of the girls in front of the movie stand in the theater, but you can tell here that they are excited and having a good time. Yesterday was a fun day, I enjoyed the movie myself!

Back to Blogging

Well, it's been a little while since I posted anything. Thursday I flew to California with the kids for a family reunion. I'm back now, and I have a bunch of stuff to post. First I wanted to put a few random pictures of the kids, and the other two posts are more specific. It was such a fun weekend, being with family we have not seen in many years. I have to say, my girlfriend Jamie, (Fab Five), has such a cute blog, and I love how she does "flashback friday" every week. I do not have a scanner, so while I was home I had my mom scan a bunch of old photos. I am armed for the next 5 or 6 fridays for some "flashback" posts, so keep checking! The only thing that might stop my blogging for a while is moving, Bill said we might be in our new house as early as next week, but it's planned for the 23, we just have to see how fast things go. :)

Our growing little boy, getting ready to scoot all over the place.

Jade and grandma giving little Mia a bath. I know she kind of looks like a rat here, but she is adorable. She is part chihuahua/pekinese. (not sure how to spell that)

Family Reunion Flashback

This is my beautiful grandmother holding her first two grandchildren, my cousin Randy and I. I thought it would be fun to show some old pictures along with the new ones from the family reunion I went to this last weekend in CA. Randy just had his first child, Blake, 2 1/2 months after Edmund was born. I love that we are just about the same age in the old pics as Eddie and Blake are in the new ones. The man holding Eddie and Blake is my Great Uncle Bob, my grandfather's brother and last living relative from that generation, as both my grandparents have passed. It was very special to be together.

My dad and I, and his oldest brother, my Uncle Ric and Randy. My family produces good-looking men, don't they?

And then we needed to have some pictures of just the "cousins". I have always enjoyed the times Randy and I have been able to get together, which is much less often than I would like. At least during this visit, I was able to meet his beautiful wife, Jenny, I just wish we had gotten a picture of her as well! So here is a picture of responsible and loving new parents......

My Aunt Jodi and Mom..... Grandmothers to the rescue!

Jade's Art

Many of you have asked to see some of Jade's work, so here is a glimpse. The horse painting is last year, but it's one of my favorites out of her paintings. She has some really cute comics, but they were too big for my mom to scan. I had not brought her collection of invented fantasy creatures either, so all I have to offer is what my mom was able to scan while we were there. I know I need to just buckle down and buy myself a scanner so I can show more of her cute drawings. The other one that needs a note, is the mother's day card she made for me. Keep in mind, this was shortly after Eddie was born, I had been sleep deprived for months and the kids were used to correcting nearly everything I would say, due to my jumbled sentences. I'm better now, thank you.

Joshua's summer pre-k class

I have not take alot of pictures lately, it has been a crazy weekend. During his lunch breaks over the past two weeks, Bill has been looking at houses closer to where he works. He commutes 2 1/2 hours every day, and he doesn't think he can handle it for the next year. We found a few houses we are really interested in, so we just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, the only thing I have taken pictures of is Joshua's last day of summer pre-school. Josh loved going to school everyday, he learned alot during the last month. They are doing a cute version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The teacher has a caterpillar sock puppet that eats through the fruit the children bring up for each day, and then she tickles them. The kids loved this of course.

By the end of the 1 1/2 hr program, Josh was done, and had no problem physically showing it.

That's my boy!