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!!

Our New House!!!

Well it has happened! We are homeowners! We closed on September 30 and moved in that day. We are LOVING it! We have so much room and have quickly found out that we don't have enough to fill the house. But that is just fine for now because I know that it is so easy to aquire too much stuff so we will just enjoy the spaciousness and echoing for now. We are living in Perry (just south of Brigham City). It has added approx 12 minutes to Justin's drive to work and has taken off 5 minutes from mine (for the N. Ogden office). We have a beautifully landscaped yard (all of which we can thank the previous owner/builder for) and a beautiful home that is apart from others and gives us lots of privacy. It is SO fun! I'll take some pictures soon and post them.
We are both doing fine, just trying to unpack and move in. Our jobs are wonderful and our family is wonderful. I am having to adjust to life without Cami next door and mom 5 minutes away. It has been ok so far, but I know it is going to be hard as time goes on. After all, it's only been a week, a very very busy week.
We are really excited to be in our new ward. They were there to help us unpack the truck and many members have been stopping by to bring jam and bread and other goodies. We will sincerely miss our old ward as we weren't planning on leaving them and had only been there 1 year. But this is where the Lord wants us to be at this time.
Well, that is all for tonight, we just got the internet hooked up today and I have much to do. Peace to all!

September.....

Looking back on things September has been a busy month for me historically and lately.

Thurs September 1 I had surgery at Ogden Regional Medical Center. I have been getting infected and swollen sweat glands in my right armpit (gross I know...I swear I shower daily!!!) and b/c they had been happening more frequently the dr decided that he needed to go in and try to stop any further infections by removing the affected sweat glands. I was a mess that day as just being in that building caused me a lot of emotions. I hadn't been back since Brannick was lifeflighed from there to PCMC. It was bittersweet to be back, but I was thankful it was for a diffent reason this time. Anyway, the surgery went fine. I now have to nickel sized holes in my armpit that hurt like heck that I have to change to dressing on 2 times a day. Its not glamorous to be me, but someone has to do it. The Dr said they should be healed up in a month or so.

Sept 6: One year ago today I received my endowments in the Ogden Temple before my mission. What an amazing day that was! It seems like yesterday I was being escorted through the beautiful halls by the sweetest old lady ever. That was one of the most special days of my life.



September 9 has a few special things behind it: My little sister Cami & her hubby Lloyd were endowed in the Bountiful temple in preparation for their marriage on Sept 14. The 9th was also the day I was told that I'd be meeting our Sweet Brannick 3 months sooner than planned. I was admitted into the hospital that day and anxiously waited to be a mother of the most wonderful son anyone could ever ask for.

September 11 is a memorable day for our country but also was the day we got to meet sweet Brannick. What a birthday to have! (he is so dramatic). We have designed a headstone and are planning to have it installed on either the day before or the day after his birthday as his Bday is on a Sunday this year. We are excited to have some cake to celebrate his first birthday and wish he were still here for us to spoil.




September 14 Cami and Lloyd got married! Happy 5 year anniversary!!


Sept 18 is my dear friend Shalyce's birthday!!! YAHOO!!




Hopefully on Sept 29 we will be HOMEOWNERS!!!

Summer updates

Well, again I have lacked on the blogging. We have a whole summer to catch up on so lets get
started. July was awesome as it was my BIRTHDAY!!! July 2 (aka the best day of the year) brought some wonderful times. Mom, Cami & I went shopping while the boys went golfing. Then we all went to my favorite Mexican resturant Bella's. Then it was presents and cake and ice cream at our home. I got some cute shirts and Ratitoullie from Cami, $ from Tyler & Grams Vi & Christensen, and just lots of other things I can't think of right now....
July also brought Mom's 55th Birthday! We love celebrating birthday's in our family so any excuse to get together and party is our time!!
The Kitties are getting so big! They are very naughty but are just a bundle of fun! They are just now starting to shed a little, which we have THOROUGHLY enjoyed not having cat hair everywhere...but we knew that day had to end. This is a picture of Lamar after he had tipped over the bag of catfood and climbed inside for a little snacky. He is so naughty.

Chloe in the sink, her fav spot in the morning:

Posing for a picture:


We went to Vegas on our way to San Diego for Heathers Wedding (Justin's little sister).
Justin & I at the Venetian in Las Vegas:

They were married on July 21 in the San Diego Temple. It was such a beautiful sealing and day. It was so relaxed and just absoultely amazing! She looked so beautiful and she and Steve were so happy! There reception was beautiful at his parents clubhouse.
The cute new married couple:

Getting some cake:

Grabbing a bite to eat of the delish Mexican catered food:


While we were in Cali we went golfing to an amazing course! I am a recent golfer and although I am terrible we sure do have fun together.
Golfing in Cali:

We really enjoyed every minute in Cali with Justin's family and with my grandparents and uncle. Mom flew down for the weekend so we could spend time together w/grams. It was awesome!!
Harbor Cruise in San Diego:



We have also gone camping a few times this summer in my parents new tent trailer. It is so nice to camp in a trailer instead of a tent!
Camping:





And now for the big news: We are buying a HOUSE!! We decided to start looking w/the potential of moving in January or February. We found this house that we loved and the owner had just dropped the price under the bracket we were looking in. She has had her home on the market for 6 months and had dropped the price by $50,000! So we decided that if we wanted a chance at the house we needed to put in an offer. So we did and she countered and we accepted!! So if our financing goes through, we will close on Sept 29 and be homeowners!!!! The home is in Perry. It's a 6 bedroom, 3 bath. I know what you are thinking. 6 bedrooms? Why would we need all of that room? Well, upstairs is 3 bedroom, 2 bath and downstairs is 3 bedroom, 1 bath. The downstairs has it's own entrance and full kitchen. It's on 1/3rd of an acre w/ full terraced landscaping. It is amazing! The owner we think is an elderly lady whose hubby just died and so she needs to move to a smaller home. She is also giving us all of the furniture in the basement. We are SO EXCITED!! I wish we had picture to post, but she already took the listing off of realestate.com. WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!! And just a quick shout-out to our AMAZING Realtor! His name is Tim Burton, he is the hubby of one of my long time friends Keri. He has been so wonderful and helped this process be fun!

Some Random Pics & 2 new additions....

Hi all!
I was looking at some pics we've taken over the last few months and I thought I'd post some. But first, We are now a family of 5!!!!!
Yes, we have twins! A boy and a girl. They are 5 weeks old. Here they are:




We think we will call them Chloe and Lamar. But we're not sold on it just yet..... Chloe is the dainty one with more white and Lamar (?) is the one with more black and stripes all over. They are SO CUTE!!!
So here is the story. I've wanted a kitty for a long time. Justin does too, but he won't admit it b/c he wants a dog (which I really really don't want and we can borrow our neighbors dog anytime). Well, after looking on KSL for a few weeks, Tyler and I went to a lady's house to look at the 2 kitties she had left. Well, after walking down to the musty basement and seeing the terrible conditions that they were living in, I had to have them both! And how could I have let them be split up and leave on in that terrible house?! Nope, they had to come together! We have had SO much fun watching them play. They are such good kitties! They sleep all night long and have taken to litter box training with no mistakes! We are loving them!!!

Lets see, what has gone on the past few months...
Mothers day!!! Mothers day was hard for me, I thought it wouldn't be too bad, but I was kind of a mess the whole day. But it was nice!! Justin got me an Anti-Gravity chair! It is AWESOME! And my mom got me a necklace w/brannick's name and birthdate on it and a willow tree of a baby boy. Here is mom opening some of her gifts:






We also celebrated Dad and Cami's birthday's this month. Dad's was on May 25 & Cami's was on May 27. For some reason, I don't have any pics of dad.....I must have taken them w/someone else's camera. Oops... But here is Cami:



We were able to enjoy Memorial day in the rain vising Brannick and our friend Heather's little girl Hadlee.

Me & Justin w/Brannick


The Fam:


Me & Shalyce w/Brannick:


Little Hadlee's Grave: