Can you say, PRECIOUS?

Please pause my Christmas music and take a few seconds to listen to this!! You won't regret it. It is the cutest thing you'll ever hear!

Thanksgiving in AZ.....Oh, how I miss it already!

We had way too much fun & food this Thanksgiving go-around. It was so nice to be able to spend time with both families and enjoy nice warm weather. Besides being there for Thanksgiving, we were also able to make it in time to see Jerry open his mission call. Boise, Idaho baby! That's what I'm talking about. Congratulations, Jerry!! You will make a fantastic missionary. We'll miss you lots.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of Jerry's mission, here is a picture of us (my mom, auntie donna, and me) waiting for Jerry to open his call. Since some of you have been requesting a belly picture....here ya go. It's getting huge and I still have 3 months!! Gross.
We were also able to go and visit Braddock's great-great grandma Gertie (Jim's great-grandma). She is sweeter than pie. I love her to pieces. She's totally young at heart too. At Jim's homecoming party, she gave Jim (my 200 lb husband) a ride on her back. Not even joking! You go, Grandma!

Friday after Thanksgiving, my family went and had pictures taken at the temple. We rarely ever do these. I believe last time we had these done, there were only two grandkids. Now there's a whopping seven! Oh, and I promise my husband was meaning to smile. After the pictures, we all went out to eat at our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Rosa's - where I pretty much inhaled my plate. To see pictures of us chowing down (you know you wanna), check out my sister's blogs, Jacey and Jenna's. Later that night, we took all the kiddies to see the Mesa Temple lights. It was soooooooooo nice not having to worry about wearing a snow bib and 3 jackets to stay warm. The lights were beautiful and the crowds were endless!! Friday after Thanksgiving is not the best time to go, but I'm glad we did anyway. Braddock was highly amused. Just look at the picture below. He pretty much did that the entire time and said "What's that, what's that?" So, that was our Thanksgiving in a nutshell!! We hope ya'll had a Happy Thanksgiving too! Now onto Christmas! Whoopee!!

Going from house to home.......SLOWLY, but SURELY

It's now been a little over two years since we have lived in our house and I can't believe it!! Holy cow, time goes by fast!! When we first moved in, we knew we wanted to remodel the entire inside of the house (you'll see why in a sec). I imagined to have my whole house changed to the way I wanted it within a year from our date of purchase. This meant building in a new master bathroom, re-painting, re-carpeting, new doors, new windows, additional plumbing and electrical, and a whole bunch of other things that would take too long to list. Well, that one year from our date of purchase has come and gone and we have a total of 3 rooms done. Woo hoo!! I am learning that remodeling this house is a WAY bigger project than I thought. It takes a lot of time & MULA! If you know me, I am not a very patient person, so this experience has been for my good. This house has been a HUGE project, but I love how rewarding it has felt to slowly, BUT SURELY make this house into a home. Here are some pics of the house........

BEFORE:

This is one nasty room. Jim and I lived in this room while he was working on the master bedroom. We pretty much trashed the room to help make more of a contrast with the "before" and "after" shots.

Lavendar and pink floral wallpaper. anyone??

AFTER:

This is now Braddock's nursery. I absolutely love it! Jim and I worked our butts off on this room!
BEFORE:
Behold, the master suite. So gross. And NO, we do NOT use those mattresses. AFTER:

I love this room too! Jim put in black trim & baseboard which I doubted at first, but it has really started to grow on me. He also enlarged the room, installed all new lighting, re-painted, and put in new carpet.

There is another room connected to this one which will one day be our master bathroom. Can't wait!

BEFORE:

This is a bedroom downstairs that we called the "purple room". Creative name, huh? Lavendar walls, and disco-flowered wallpaper bordered the entire thing. I think I just vommited in my mouth. The navy blue carpet looked amazing in here as well.

After:

Vwa-la!! All new trim, baseboard, paint, and carpet. Thanks to my brother, Jerry and his friend Derrek who came this summer and helped get this thing done! There are still minor things that need to be done, but overall it looks fantastic thanks to my husband and all the extra time and effort he has put into beautifying this place! I know I still need to get window treatments, wall decor, etc., but I'm just not motivated to until my whole house is finished. For now, we'll just keep working our tooshies off and hopefully get this place finished soon!

Loving the Fall Season!!

Can I just say that I love the fall weather here in Utah?! It is so nice to go outside and breathe in the fresh crisp air. I couldn't help but take some pictures of Braddock playing in the leaves. Now that he's walking, he's having a hay-day outside! After an hour of playing in the front yard, we finally came back in, so I could lay my pregnant self down for a bit. Braddock looked at me as if he was saying, "Not again, mom!" I'm sure he is sick of the fact that I am always spending so much time with my new best friend.....the leather couch. However, he managed to find another source of entertainment - the laundry basket. He was lovin it! I had to take pictures of him in it. Isn't my kid cute? I'm not biased.

It's a Miracle!!!!

Just a warning - Some of you are going to be bored with this video, but I'm a Proud Mama and have to show you all what my little boy is doing now!!! You better believe it, he's finally walking!! Should I be scared?????

Oh, and one other thing. Please JUST FOCUS on Braddock and not my ghetto under construction house and the fact that I say "Come get some cookie" like 40 times. That's all :)

A Happy Halloween & One Obnoxious Costume!!!

Well, we hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Here's how ours went...................


So I wasn't going to dress Braddock up for Halloween this year. (Sad, I know.) I just didn't spot any great costumes that I wanted to spend money on and my brain has not been very creative for the last while to come up with anything. Then, my friend called me yesterday morning and told me she had a little giraffe costume for B-Rock to wear. I couldn't resist. It's so ugly, but pretty hilarious at the same time.
I was amused at how it made his face look. His cheeks were pretty much bulging out of it.

Our first stop for the night: Auntie Jenna's house for chile and sugar cookies that were so beautifully frosted by Jenna, Liesel, and Nancy. Great job, guys. I wish I had a picture of them cookies.


Auntie Lyssa loves the camera. I wish Braddock was just as amused. He can only stand about 10 pictures and then he's through!

Next stop: Grandma & Grandpa Partridge's. This is Braddock with his little cousin Brielle who looked freakin adorable in her
skunk costume. B-Rock was all pooed out by this point.