Three

My nephew Spencer asked me to make him a quilt for his birthday. This is my third quilt this year for nephews and a niece. He asked me for soccer balls on the quilt but I couldn't find any material I liked so I went with the basketball and tiger print instead. I think it totally fits his personality and I think this is my favorite one so far! The next one doesn't have to me made until November so I have a little bit of time at least!

Lake Powell 2009

The trip on the houseboat with the Forsberg family was full of lots of stuff:

*lots of digging in the sand

*lots of skiing and wakeboarding every morning at 6am

*lots of fishing

*lots of nonstop playing with cousins

*lots of relaxing

*lots of reading (studied Sunday School lesson and read 2 other books during the week!)

*lots of good grub

*lots of good tube rides

*lots of swimming and running up the mountains

*lots of A/C and 2 working bathrooms after the first night of sleeping under the stars and roughing it outside!

*lots of fireworks each night

*lots of missing Sean on the trip! And Spencer and Marlee

*LOTS OF FUN!!

Onsie Tutorial

Alright, so here are some step by step directions for the onsies I made for my SIL Marlee.
1. The supplies: onsie, material, pattern (I bought a wooden bird from Joanne's for 99 cents) 2. Trace/cut out the pattern

3. Use double sided pellon and iron it onto the pattern.

4. Cut out the extra pellon around the pattern and place the pattern on the onsie

5. Iron on the pattern to the onsie

6. You're ready to sew the pattern onto the onsie. I did a straight stitch around the bird with light blue thread.

7. You're finished!

**I'm going to a baby shower tomorrow and made some more onsies and some matching burp cloths. I hope she likes them!

The finished product

While my sister Wendy was away at Girls' Camp my BIL Steve and I painted their bedroom to surprise her. With new bedding and curtains this room is complete!

My buddy...

Carter LOVES Jack, his hamster! He spends a lot of time (when we are actually at home) in his tent with his other animals and Jack. Things I have overheard Carter saying while Jack was in his tent with him:


*I love you Jack
*Jack, this is an elephant, this is tiger, this is lion, this is zebra...
*Oh dang it, Jack just went poop in my tent!
*I'm going to get you Jack, you better run fast!

The Final Countdown...

Do you see how many days are left?!?!

The Baby Shower

The invitation:

The decorations, gifts, and party:

1. the gift table

2. the cute mom to be

3. advice for the mama bird

4. the DELISH grub

5. the decorations

6. the onsies i made for marlee

7. more decorations (the bird cages were the centerpieces from my junior prom! i was on student council and planned the prom-we had it at the phoenix zoo ballroom. my mom found the bird cages back then and good thing she kept them so we could use them today!)

8. the yummy thank you gifts (white almond chocolate covered popcorn!)

i had so much fun planning/decorating for marlee's baby shower. thanks to all who helped and showed up!!

Caitlyn's Room

 

 

 

 

Here are some pictures of my niece Caitlyn's room that my sister and I rececently redid. You can also see on the bed how her quilt turned out that I just gave her for her birthday. I love how it all turned out!

Our Fourth of July fun

 

We went to see Spencer and Marlee in Sierra Vista for the 4th with my entire fam (minus Sean, Steve, and Cameron). Still that's a lot of people in one house! But it was lots of fun. The fun included: another Marlee led water aerobics class, going to The Cove (indoor swim park), playing volleyball, baseball, and red-neck horseshoes, shopping at Wal-mart, seeing the AWESOME fireworks show, decorating cookies, and making crafts with the kids.

After the fireworks Carter asked if we could come back next year. I said sure and then he asked, "can Daddy come too?" Sad.

Thanks again Spence and Marlee--can't wait til next year!

The call (5)

We last left off here

Later that week one of my friends called me to see if I wanted to meet him and a group of people at the movies. I thought it would be fun but asked who was going. He listed off the names and one of them was Sean. No thanks, I'm out. Why my friend, asked? I don't like Sean. Before I even finished my sentence, Sean was on the phone asking me to meet them at the movies. I had plans with Nick I told him. He asked me to cancel them. I said I couldn't. He went to the movie and I stayed home and watched 90210. (my "Nick" excuse had worked again!)

The next week I was over at a friend's house and "we" decided to call Sean. I called him.

Sean: hello
me: um, hi, do you know who this is?
Sean: ya, are you at Nick's house?
me: no, not right now
Sean: oh, too bad
me: ya, you're still pretty stuck on yourself (another good comeback, i'm full of 'em!)
Sean: you too. we should go out on friday
me: i can't. i have plans
Sean: with Nick?
me: no actually, with this (basketball) guy i'm dating
Sean: ok, then saturday?
me: ok

i can't wait for saturday...

Introducing...

Curious George, no Cailou, no Hamster. Actually his name is Jack! We made a deal with Carter that once he was fully potty trained he could pick out a hamster. Yesterday was the day. He was so excited to pick him out and the cage. Hopefully, his full potty training lasts as long as his excitement! (and longer even)

Home Cookin'

Tonight I cooked dinner, like really cooked a meal, for the first time in 6 months. I tried a new recipe in the crock pot. The grub was good and so was the company. (Sean is working in Phoenix this week so we get to see him each night!)

Machaca Burritos

1 chuck roast

1 can diced green chilies

3 Tbsp garlic (I didn't have any so I left it out)

1 1/2 tsp onion powder  (I only had onion flakes so I used those instead)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbs water

Put the roast and the green chilies in the crock pot on high for 3 hours. Combine the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 7-9 hours. Serve with tortillas, cheese, sour cream, and homemade salsa that you canned a few weeks ago (Delish!), and whatever else you want. 

The fun details

 

Here are some more pictures from my trip to see Emily. She already posted about my trip on her blog, and I've gotta say, I feel the same way! We both said at the end of the week that we had been a little nervous at the beginning of the week that we might run out of things to talk about. But we never did. It really was like old times living in the dorms or our crappy apartments! I miss that girl already! The best part was that our kids played SO WELL together! I loved it! On our last day, Carter asked if Noah and Isaac could come home with us. 

1. Emily and her kids, the Becars with Cannon (such a cute kid!), and Carter and I

2. Carter, Isaac, Em, and Noah walking to the Gateway Museum

3. Carter loving the train park

4. Isaac, Noah, and Carter playing on Isaac's bed that Carter asked if we could bring home. 

5. Our visit with Grandma Grace who just moved to South Jordan. Much closer than Seattle!

6. The boys knocked out after a hard day of playing in Draper

7. Carter filling up the truck at the museum

8. Carter loved the water feature at the museum

9. The girls! Em, me, and Ellen reunited again!!!

10. Isaac and Carter playing board games

Thanks for the fun trip Emily and letting us take over your house!! You definitely have to come to Phoenix next! 

Happy Father's Day!

"Daddy said I could get a hamster!" 

what my child was crying this morning as I was explaining that we couldn't get a hamster today. Thanks, Daddy...we sure do LOVE you. YOU are the best! 

Sense of...

Excitement!! We went to Utah this last week to visit my best friend from BYU, Emily. It had been almost 5 years since we had seen each other! Carter was so excited to ride the airplane and be "up in the sky like Daddy." His sense of wonder throughout the flight was very cute. I brought all kinds of "secret weapons" for the flight and didn't even need them because this is what he did most of the time (see below). 
Lots more fun details to follow...

Happy Birthday Kid!

A few months ago I was teaching my niece Carley how to sew a quilt for personal progress in Young Womens. While doing this, my nephew Cameron (aka Kid), asked me to make him a quilt for his birthday. He wanted to redo his room in ASU colors so this is how I did the quilt. In order to repaint his room we had to first organize it. While organizing his room we found lots of ticket stubs from different sporting events. I borrowed them from him and framed some of them for his "new" room. I gave the quilt and the frame to him on Sunday and he loved them. They look great in his room. We are almost finished decorating it--pictures to come soon!

Stuck (4)

*for a refresher on where we last left off read here.

So I was pretty mad that Sean was apparently back on with this other girl. I went to FHE the following week and was a few minutes late. We were playing softball. I walked up to the field and walked right past Sean (remember, play on playa, right). As I walk past him, he calls out to me and says, "you're late."
me: had to make my grand appearance i guess
him: you're so stuck up
me: and you're so stuck on yourself so i guess we're even (good one, i know)

i walk away. i play 3rd base one inning and catch a line drive that was hit super hard. i'll be honest, people were impressed. especially, sean. i hope. he didn't talk to me the rest of the game. i was still mad at him. i left thinking, he really is stuck up. why wouldn't he talk to a superstar like me, right?

The results

Here are the new curtains for my office. I LOVE them. What do you think?This clock was on the wall and I can't paint it since our name is burned in it on the top so I moved it to the other side of the room with my typewriter. It's a little blurry, but I love how it looks together. 
I decided not to reupholster the chair that was in the room and moved it out instead. I have been wanting to make the office an office/playroom so I painted the toy shelf my sister Wendy gave me after organizing/painting her daughter's room last week. Now I am wondering if I should replace the non-red buckets with red buckets to better match the curtains? Or does it not matter? Carter told me last night that he loves his new playroom. His toys were stuffed in 3 baskets in his closet prior to this and it was a hassle to get them out/put them away. Now he can see them and put them away much easier. 
Since Sean graduated I have been looking for frames to hang our diplomas in. I found these at Wal-mart and am loving how they look! 
Now onto the next project...

Potty training experiences...

We went to the store yesterday to pick out his own potty. Today he's: had 1 accident, went on his own and was then cleaning it out with his toothbrush (so helpful!), brought the bowl out to me to show me he went potty. I was excited! Hopefully, the people who were standing in my family room with me looking at my house were just as excited and didn't mind while I excused myself to give Carter a sticker for his chart and his treat. And last but not least, I just asked him to go potty and when he walked in the bathroom, he shut the door and asked me not to come in. Oh great. But he came out showing me that he went to the bathroom. That's good news.

My Dad's song

My Dad was recently released from being the Stake President and a reception was held for him this last week. Interestingly enough, my brother Keith replaced my Dad as the new Stake President. So to surprise my Dad, my brother asked a member of the stake to write a song about my dad.

(thanks for posting it Katie!)