House!

    We got the house! We close on the 14th. I can't believe it's really happening! Finally! The house is vacant, and we have access to it, so we've been in a few times to look things over thoroughly. It's in good running shape. Just dirty. The previous owners did not take care of it! The yard and the house both need some good elbow grease to get back in shape. But I'm up for it! As a few members of my family know, once I get started on something, I don't quit until it's done or I'm physically dragged away. So! I'm in the middle of choosing paint colors for every room in the house! Also for the kitchen cabinets which are pretty ragged. We picked out carpet on Wednesday already. It's in stock, so we won't have any delays in getting it to the house. Thank goodness! I'm very excited to have our own home again! And to have a water softener again! Oh how I've missed soft water.
   As you can tell by my previous post, yesterday was a bit of a rough day. The boys were W.I.L.D. Not only did they redecorate Max's room with baby powder, (have you ever tried to clean up baby powder from every crevice of a room???) but they tore my peace lily to shreds! It was one of the plants from my Grandpa's funeral. :( By the time the boys went to bed I needed to decompress. So, I ran! I had taken up running in the beginning of this year, but by the time June came around I got so busy and that fell to the back-burner. I had forgotten how good it felt! And now I'm making a resolution to keep it up. I need to be a little healthier, body and mind! And it would be nice to finally lose some baby-fat that I've desperately clung to for a few years. ;)
   We got our first real snow today. It rained last night, and was a slippery drive home for Rob this morning. It's supposed to do the same tonight. Ah, winter. You lovely beast, you.
   Don't forget time change tonight!!
                     A few recent pictures:
 

"Helping" me bake a blueberry breakfast cake.

Silly grin

Giddyup, Horsey!!

Adoption

   There are two small children in need of loving parents. They are brothers and should be kept together. If you are looking for absolute adorableness - you've got it in these two!! They're smart (as in sneaky), funny (as in HILARIOUS stories 15 years from now but NOT now), and very handsome (when you can manage to clean their faces). Any takers? Please??

Bread, Bumps, and Bruises

     We've been a busy bunch! I have started baking bread for a few of my parents and Rob's co-workers. The first week we had 50 loaves ordered! We have been steady at about 20 each time I deliver, and I'm happy with that. 50 is a lot, when you can only make 6 loaves at a time! It makes me wish for double ovens someday! The bread is a hit, and I hope I always have customers. It's nice to have a little extra cash on hand now and then!

                                                                                                                                                                        

We put an offer in on a house last weekend! Another couple had put an offer in too, but it turns out we got there first. And it's sounding like we got it! We're just waiting to hear from the lender. It's a 5 bedroom, 3 bath home on the hill overlooking the valley! It needs a little cosmetic work - new carpet, paint, etc. But otherwise it's a great house! We're very excited.

I posted a video on facebook of Connor running into the tree... I was hoping that would be the worst of the injuries for the year! Nope. Yesterday instead of napping like he was supposed to, he climbed up his dresser... and pulled it down on him. His face was covered in blood and he had a HUGE goose egg on his forehead that was quickly turning blue! We ran him to urgent care thinking he would need stitches in his lip, or had a broken nose. But he was fine! Phew! Now he looks awful, but thankfully he's acting normal and there's no damage done. Now we're hoping that THIS is the worst of any future owies!

Rob found a little bike for Connor at the local thrift store. Today we got him on it. He liked it for a second, then decided he'd rather eat a peach. :) Max had been itching to ride it too, so Daddy popped him on the seat and let him enjoy it for a few minutes. I can't believe they are big enough for that already!!

And now for some cuteness overload:

Portland: Our future city of residence. (I hope)

 So I know I said we were going to San Francisco, but we didn't. Due to cost of hotels and fun stuff, not to mention the inability to agree on what we wanted to do, we decided to go back to plan A. Portland, Oregon! And I'm SO glad we did! I have a new passion in my life. The Pacific Northwest! And I don't care what city we end up in, I'm already working on Rob to move out there. It's not hard, since neither one of us have been altogether impressed with Salt Lake. But moving won't happen for a few years, if at all! Still - a girl can dream.
   I took a lot of pictures! There's no way I can post them all here. But I'll post a link to view them on snapfish at the end of this. For now, here's a teaser...

Yep. That, my friends, is my dream vacation come true. I've wanted to see this in person for so long! I can't believe it really happened!
  The trip went so smoothly. I'd been worried that the boys would have a hard time with all the driving. But they were wonderful. (with only a few unhappy moments) They entertained themselves and each other in the car. They slept great in the hotel rooms. We did a LOT of swimming to wear them out in the evenings. We drove the Historic Columbia River Hwy on the way into Portland. We stopped at two waterfalls (shown in the photo album later) and they were IMPRESSIVE! The next day we drove what the locals call the Fruit Loop. It's a loop through the hills around Hood River with fruit farms galore!! We bought fresh picked blueberries (The BEST I've ever tasted! Thanks for the suggestion Melanie!) and Bing cherries, along with some delicious cinnamon sugar dried apple slices. We picked up some lavender products at a beautiful farm. It's my favorite scent, and I've always wanted to visit a lavender farm! Did you know you can eat/drink lavender?! I bought some tea. I'm anxious to try it tonight!
   We spent a little time in downtown Portland. I wish we'd had more time to do some shopping! There are some fun stores to explore. The next day was Cannon Beach! We've decided we're going back there again. But we'll stay right on the coast instead of Portland. It's so picturesque! We spent so much time on the beach and in the town of CB, that we didn't get to go to the state park nearby to check out the tide pools. But we'll be back. :)
    I still feel like this was all a dream! This was our first family vacation and it was so successful, I can't wait for another one!
     Here's the link for the photos - Enjoy!http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4086114028/a=4703186028_4703186028/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

        Summer has been great so far! We had a wonderful convention a week and a half ago. The boys were angels, but I've never been so worn out in my life!!!
        A couple of months ago the boys and I went to the Farm with Grandma and Grandpa for some fun! We rode four wheelers out to the farmsite and around the canyon. While Grandpa worked, Grandma, the boys, and I went Moki hunting. Moki's were the Indians that lived on the land years ago. We don't actually hunt the Indians, of course, but we hunt for the pottery and arrowheads that have been left behind. It's exciting to turn over a piece of dirt and reveal a piece of history!

   
     We spent an evening at the Simpson's for my cousin Andi's graduation. The boys had a blast!

Other than that we've just been having a nice, warm, peaceful summer! There's the usual - Taking walks with the new wagon Rob made.

 Discovering the giant snails in our yard.

 And of course, lots of pool time!

    We are planning a family trip to San Fransisco in a month. I'm excited! I haven't been to the West Coast since I was 5 yrs old! Lots of pictures to come after that!
   

On second thought.

     We have decided to back out of buying a house for another year. We removed our offer on the house we liked after learning someone else had gotten there ahead of us. We can't seem to find anything else we're happy with, so we put some thought into it and decided it would be best to wait and build up a bigger down payment. Then we can raise our price range and hopefully have better luck next time around. So cheers to another year in a rental house! At least we'll have a huge backyard for another year! If only we could plant a garden! Oh well, the last year went by so fast, I'm sure this one will speed by too.
    I decided to post a video of Max walking. He's a pro at this point, but I gotta show him off. :)

 Rob called with the good news that he has Sunday off! I'm excited to have a few days with him finally. He worked 12 days straight with overtime, and I miss my husband! Tonight we'll dye Easter eggs. I don't think Max will have any interest, but Connor will have fun with it! I'll be sure to post some pictures. We always had corned beef for Easter dinner - that used to be the only time mom could find it. I think I'll keep up with tradition. It's one of my favorite meals!

All in a month's work.

What an eventful last three weeks! It was kicked off with my sister's wedding, which was beautiful and perfect! We had a fun time in Las Vegas with family. We explored a little of the strip and saw the Hoover Dam before the whirlwind of wedding preparations began.

 Connor was so happy to see Alaina! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the two of them together!

We drove my brother and his girlfriend back to Salt Lake with us so they could catch a flight home. I wish they could have stayed another night or two!

  

After we'd been home for a day we had our first appointment with our realtor. He is very French! And when I say very, I mean he's exactly what I would have pictured a French chef from a Disney movie to be in real life. (He actually used to be a chef in his own French restaurant in CA) He's got black wavy hair, a booming deep voice with a thick accent, and a presence that fills every room. To top it off, he revealed to us that when he WAS a chef in CA, he sported a great mustache that he curled at the ends, and always wore the big poofy chef hat in his restaurant. When we are driving around with him, I feel like I'm in a live version of Ratatouille! But he's been a very good realtor who doesn't push us into anything we don't like. We've been extremely disappointed in the houses here. There was a housing boom a few years ago, of course, and homes we put up FAST without care of layout. Which means there are tiny kitchens, no dining rooms, and itty bitty living rooms. Not exactly ideal. But we did find one house that fit our criteria, and we've put in an offer. It's a short sale, so we won't know if our offer has been accepted for a few months. Which is alright. We aren't in any hurry. And we'll continue looking in the meantime.

 Another big event... Max's first birthday!! I can't believe he's not a baby anymore! We didn't have a party, I don't see much point of that when they won't remember it anyway. But I made a cake and we had some presents.

Being shy as we sang "Happy Birthday"

 Two days ago, I decided to give in to Rob's suggestion - To give Max a haircut! That was a hard one for me. I love the sweet baby hair that curls up at the ends and tickles my cheeks when he's snuggling on my shoulder. But I do like having a clean cut little boy too. So... it was done. Now I DEFINITELY don't have any babies in my house! Here's a before picture:

And here's after:

  He did so great! He wasn't scared of the clippers (like Connor STILL is!). Instead they tickled his head and I had to fight him to hold still as he giggled and clapped.

 Now we are finally having a couple of lazy days (well deserved) and fighting colds. (NOT deserved!) Today is a beautiful day. The weather changes so fast here in the spring! One day is COLD and snowing. The next is 70 degrees! I've learned to thoroughly enjoy the sunny spring days! Now if I could just find another box of kleenex's......

Robins! Tulips! Sunshine! Oh my!

   Utah is jumping headlong into spring! I'm so excited to see green grass and the trees budding out! It's the perfect time of year for a wedding. We are leaving for Las Vegas in the morning for my sister's wedding. I'm looking forward to 70 degree days and some quality (albeit brief) time with family!
   Short update on our family - Max is a walker! He's been taking a few steps here and there. Once he realizes what he's doing, he plops back down on his butt in surprise! He turns one in less than 2 weeks! I need to start preparing myself for the fact that I won't have a baby anymore!! Connor is too smart for his own good! He's gotten very good at being sneaky - finding anything he can use as a step-stool to turn his bedroom light on in the middle of the night and play. Managing to climb up into the pantry (not an easy task!) for a snack. But he's also my little love-bug, so I think I let him get away with a few extra things - just cuz.
   We have been pre-approved for a home loan. Now we're trying to decide if we want to buy a house right now, or wait until we're a little more comfortable. But we're talking to a realtor anyway, just to see what's out there.
   Hopefully I can get a lot of pictures this weekend so I have some good stuff to post! I love weddings!

Winter?

  I think this is only the 3rd or 4th time in my life that I've ever said these words: "I love winter!!" And all three or four of these momentous occasions have been in the last few months alone! When we lived in Minnesota, the only comments I had about winter usually included the words despise, hate, & loath. But I sometimes wonder if I can fairly call the season here in Utah Winter. We've gotten snow, yes. Quite a bit at times. But within a couple of days it's almost completely gone, replaced with green grass! Ever since November, the sound of drips from melting snow off the roof has made me wonder if we should have a state-wide vote to change the name from Winter to Spring. It's definitely more fitting! At least for the kind of springs that I'm used to. It's been so refreshing to spend most of 'winter' outside without a coat!!
    But all of this doesn't mean I'm not ready for some 80 degree weather and hot sunshine!!
  

What a way to start the new year!

January 1st. It's supposed to be a happy, fresh, inspired beginning to a new year, right? Not this time!! Rob and I started our new year with the flu. The worst kind of flu! The kind where you're fighting each other for face-time with the toilet! We battled it out the entire night. On the upside - we both lost about 5 pounds each in the course of 10 hrs!! Lucky us. So if I had made a NY resolution to lose weight, at least I nailed that one right off the bat!
   After we watched the flu spread through our family, and finally disappear, things started to look up. We only have colds to deal with now! :)  (Still better than throwing up!) We ventured out for a day trip to the Idaho border. We traveled up Logan canyon to Bear Lake. So beautiful with all the snow!! We vowed to return in the summer for a camping weekend. I can't wait!
   Hopefully the rest of the year is a breeze. I'm thinking we are done with the worst - got it over with. And now we can look forward to 11 months of fun! We're debating whether or not to make a trip to CA before the winter is through. In the spring we want to go to OR. We'll be in Vegas in March for my sisters wedding! Max will turn 1 in April. Lots of good stuff coming up!
   One New Year's resolution: Read more books! I just got a new Droid and I've been unable to put it down! Luckily for me, it comes with Kindle, so I can download a book anytime and cozy up for a good read - if the boys allow. I'm going to gift myself with a little more Me Time this year!
   Happy (belated) New Year!