2012

Hello all! I have been terrible about blogging....as if you couldn't tell from my 5 month absence.....We have a lot to catch up on!
Here are FINALLY the pics of our home. We are LOVING our home! It suits us perfectly and we are having so much fun making it our own. I have been VERY nervous about all of the landscaping. It was one of the reasons we bought the home, but our neighbors tell us that the lady who built the home was constantly out in the yard...and well, I just don't want to do that. Justin has been the rescuer! From the moment it started to look like spring (which hasn't been all too often this year) he has been hard at work. He has trimmed all the bushes and cut down all the plants so they can grow. He has big plans for the yard and I just smile and tell him to have fun and not spend too much. I hope we can keep the landscaping looking just as beautiful if not more beautiful than the previous owner.
Front of the house:

Backyard when we moved in:

Backyard in the fall:

Another shot of the back yard:

View from car port:

Our Garage before:

Garage after we painted the walls:

Front room w/Brannick collage:

Living room/Dining room/Kitchen:

Our bedroom:

Guest Bathroom upstairs:

Spare room #1:

Spare room #2:



In December we found out that my little sister Cami and her hubby Lloyd were 6 weeks pregnant!!! They have been trying for a few years and have done several procedures and after nothing working, they were able to get pregnant all on their own! (we are so proud!) I am beyond excited for them! They are going to be amazing parents!!! Then about 2 weeks later, I decided to take a test b/c I just had been terribly moody and just had been feeling sick. It was positive! We have been so ready for another baby in our family and feel so blessed! I immediately called my OB and scheduled an appt to make sure everything was going well. We found out we were 6 weeks along and Cami was 8 weeks! Just 2 weeks apart!!! AMAZING!!! We have been enjoying this journey and can't wait for the summer. Cami is due July 26 (with a girl) and I am due August 7. Since I will be having a C-section (b/c that is how we delivered Brannick) we will plan on August 1 for our delivery. So far our appointments have been perfect and our little BOY is growing just as he should be. I'll post Ultrasound pics later....
My OB (Julia Johannson - amazing!) wanted me to have my targeted ultrasound at the high-risk Dr's just to be sure that things look great. Well, that was today and it brought along a lot of nervousness. While we were waiting my mom and I were remembering the last time we were in this office and being told that Brannick was going to be joining our family 3 months earlier than planned. Well, today's appt went great! They measured everything they could see and so far he is perfect. He is 1 lb 2 oz and as busy as ever. Everything about this pregnancy has been so different than my first. This little boy never stops moving. I felt him starting around week 17 and I think there is a party in my uterus b/c he just wiggles all the day long. It has been so fun to be able to feel him so much and to know that he is doing well. I felt Brannick a little bit, but he was so small and b/c he wasn't getting much blood or oxygen he used most of his energy just to live and didn't move too much. Our little baby is now 22 weeks and is FOR SURE a boy. He made that perfectly clear in his ultrasounds. We are so grateful that we can have another boy since we already have all of the stuff from Brannick. He was laying across my stomach and face down so it was impossible to get a good pic of his face and heart today so the Dr. wants me to come back in 4 weeks to get a better look at his heart & face. We had so much fun today and Justin was just like a little kid. He is SUPER excited to have a baby around (although he'd never say it out loud).

In February we decided to take a little valentines get away since I had a few days off work and Justin had some vacation time to use at work. We chose to go to Moab b/c we have a goal to visit a temple with every trip if possible and also to go to every temple in Utah. The Monticello temple is 1 hour south of Moab and we knew we'd probably never have another time to go there so this was our deciding factor. We were going to spend most of the time in Moab and the Grand Canyon/4 corners area, but we decided that we needed to go see our friends the Morgans in St. George. So we left Wednesday and spent from Wed to Friday in St.George having a blast w/our wonderful friends! Justin and Scott went golfing and loved every minute. Then we drove over to Moab and spent Fri night -Sunday there at a darling B&B. Justin had never been to Arches so Saturday we hiked everywhere. I have never been a very adventurous person and Justin is like a monkey so he was very patient with me as I had nervous breakdowns on the very hard & scary (for me) hikes in Devils Garden. We had a blast and want to explore more of the national parks soon!
The Monticello temple:







See the crazy people hiking up that rock?

Now we are on the very scary hike:

WE DID IT! At the top looking down:


March 9 was Justin's 32nd birthday. It was a very casual day. I let Justin do just what he wanted to all day and he chose to play Madden on his PS3 for about 12 hours. Then I reminded him that we had to eat and so he chose to got the Idle Isle cafe (a darling little cafe in Brigham City). He had opened presents from the family the Sunday before and got some games for the Wii (which he bought "me" for Valentines day) and some clothes & money. I got him his very own docking station for his Ipod for his "man-cave" downstairs and a few shirts. It was a wonderful birthday!
Justin's birthday:



March 17 was Brannick's "angel birthday." It is hard to believe that he has been home in Heaven for a year now. The whole family met at the grave (where there is still no headstone...but that is another story for later...). It was RIDICULOUSLY WINDY that day and totally ruined our plans! But through the wind we wrote on balloons and released them together and then spent some time laughing about our fun memories with him. I was nervous that it would be a hard day for me, but I just felt overwhelmed with love and in awe that we have a little boy in Heaven helping us through the challenges of daily life. I love our little Brannick more than words can say. We all then went to lunch at Jeremiahs in Ogden. In the pics is Jana (Tylers Fiance). I'll cover that whole story later on also...
A very windy day:

The fam at the graveside:

Balloons fling up to see Brannick:



Now that I am obsessed with Pinterest, I have had a bug about painting the house. I really wanted to do stripes in the nursery with a tree painted by the crib and the branches holding letters to the babies name. Well, I decided after some research that I would still do stripes but in the same shade of green with w/different finishes so it's not so stark and overwhelming. I decided on the color Prairie grass. I remembered after I started the process that we have vaulted celings throughout our upper level and I had not taken that into account. Well, that made the project WAY harder! I am very short and getting up on a ladder is not my favorite thing, but I conqured my fears and went up & down the ladder about 400 times. Needless to say it took a long time and my back and legs were SO sore. But I am SO THRILLED with the results:
Here is the painting process:

Room Before:

Painting the nursery semigloss everywhere (thanks to the hired help!! - I made them dinner and brownies):

Part 1 of the taping process:

Part 2 of the taping process:

More taping:

Finished!!