Christmas in our neighborhood

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!! It's been an eternity since I have posted, but it's only because a katrillion things have been taking place this last month!! Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas and always get a little sad when December 26th comes, but this year I think I was more relieved than I was sad.

Here is just a few pictures that I took. Seriously, all I took was a FEW pictures this year. So sad. I hardly had time to pick up my camera. Shame, shame, I know.

Here's the little ham on Christmas morning. He was thrilled with the red wagon that Santa brought him!

He's so special. :)

Oh, and onto one of the many reasons why I think my husband is a complete stud.

See this hideous fireplace?? Don't look at all the crap around it. This was when we just moved in, so you have to cut me some slack. Well..........................................

My husband turned it into this!! Merry Christmas to me. He also put in a brand new front door, put in all new trim, re-textured, installed new lighting, and painted everything in our livingroom. There is still a lot of work to do like install baseboard and recarpet, but I AM SO HAPPY with how it turned out! Now I just have to decorate!! Oh, and the pictures on the fireplace are not in the right place. They're just sitting there until I figure out how the heck I'm going to arrange everything! Anyone have any good ideas for what to put above the mantle???

So you can see now why this last month was crazy! I didn't have a livingroom and everything that was in my livingroom had to be moved into the dining room until this room got done. Let me just say that when I imagine what Hell is like, I think of what my house looked like the first few weeks of December 2007. So glad it's finished!!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

Lovebird Tagged!!!

Where did you meet your husband???

Jim and I have been in the same ward since I was twelve years old. I first met him at one of our ward friend's birthday parties. He asked me to swing dance with him and he pretty much danced with me the whole night. I thought he was the best thing that ever happened to me and I think he just wanted a dancing partner. He didn't seek interest in me til about 4 years later. Probably a good thing :)

What was the first thing you said to your husband?

Oh dear, I can't remember and it's probably a good thing that I don't. Being that I was twelve, it was probably something really stupid and immature.

Where was your first date?

We went with a bunch of people tubing down the Salt River in the Arizona June heat. It was a lot of fun! I remember hitting some rough water and then running my raft into a large branch. I got scared and pretty much jumped on top of Jim. I think I almost killed him, but I think he liked it :). Heck, I know I did!

Where was your first kiss?

On my front doorstep. I didn't think it was ever going to happen, but lo and behold!

Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?

Jim and I dated for 8 months and then he left on his mission. Yes, I waited for him the whole two years and am so glad I did!! He came home in January '05 and we were married April 9th of that same year. Total lovebirds + Mormon = Short Engagement

Where did you get engaged?

Jim took me back to the Salt River (where we had our first date) on a picnic. I remember getting out of the car and saying to him, "Don't forget the camera". So we walk about half a mile through thorns and rocks to get to the river. I was in flip-flops, so walking that far did not appeal to me at the time. We finally get to the river and Jim says, "Crap, I forgot the camera. Could you go back to the car and get it?" I was mad, but I did it anyways. When I was walking back to the river, I could hear Jim yelling to me to hurry back because he had caught a fish and wanted me to reel it in. So I ran over to him, reeled it in and Jim took a picture. This was a very proud moment for me because I had never caught a fish before. Woo hoo!! What I didn't know was that there was more than a fish on the line. My engagement ring was on there too! It only took me 5 minutes to figure it out and then Jim got on one knee and proposed while I cried my eyes out.

Where did you get married?

The Mesa Temple

How did the reception go?

What I can remember of it, was great! We had it at the Rowley's home in their backyard. My photographer took pictures of us the entire 2 hours, so we didn't even get a chance to have a line. I was glad about that though because the whole night was pretty casual.

The Honeymoon?

Do you really wanna know? Just kidding. We went to California - spent the first two nights in Palm Springs and then headed to Anaheim for Disneyland!! I think it's the happiest place on earth. Jim begs to differ.

Whose turn is it next?

Jami, Amber, and Michelle! Get going, guys.

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 :)