happy halloween

Happy Halloween!!

I know. I know. I'm about a week late, but lately, a week late is progress for me! I was going to wait and announce my pregnancy through my halloween costume, but this girl got uber sick and needed some help.

So, happy halloween from a family of skeletons!

bucket list

Do you remember this picture on my Instagram account?

This is our community's water park that is open during the summer. It has a lap pool, slides, a kiddie pool, and this little water park, complete with this little beauty:

 THE BIG RED BUCKET!

Corban saw this water park and instantly wanted to go in. Joe and I made a deal with him that when he was potty trained we would go to the water park. Right when he got potty trained the park closed and he had to wait until the beginning of summer of this year! So sad, but kind of funny. 

I digress ... I saw this bucket and honestly was a little scared. It is a HUGE bucket that takes 3 minutes to fill. It literally knocks people over! And I HAD TO DO IT! Especially before the water park closed again on Labor Day.

I told Joe my goal of getting under the big bucket so he would make me before we left the park on Labor Day. I asked Corban to be my buddy and he agreed. 

The amount of water that came out of the bucket really surprised me! In fact, I was so surprised, I pushed Corban out of my way which made him stub all of his toes and fall in the water -- I'm a great mom, what can I say! I can still see my face in my mind's eye and the expression that I had. There was people around the rim of the pool watching and they laughed at me! 

Joe was going to get video of my excursion. He didn't get it the first time--the water came faster than we all expected--so I had to do it again. Corban had sworn off the water bucket, so I took Jovi to be my buddy. 

She hates hates HATES getting her face wet and totally gave me the stink eye after the water cleared.

Labor Day was a great day full of volleyball, water, and a BBQ! We were all pooped by the end of the day and fell asleep pretty fast and deep. Man, I love holidays!

double trouble

I love Pinterest! Love. Love. Love. However, I do not like have my boards brimming full and me never doing any of the projects, so I am constantly deleting and updating my Pinterest boards. 

Here is a project I recently finished for Halloween (I know. I know. Summer isn't all the way over yet.)

You can check out my inspiration website here.

• I painted all the blocks their base colors and then painted on most of their accessories like Frankenstein's scar, the pumpkin's mouth, and the witches black bottom. 
• I used large google eyes for all of them for uniformity (trust me, the pumpkin looked weird and out of place with triangle eyes). 
• My hubby drilled holes and screwed in bolts. 
• I used jute for the witch's hair, glued a ribbon around her middle, and used a button for her buckle. 
• The mummy is wrapped in tule. I wanted to use gauze, but ever the pragmatic one, my hubby thought that was an expensive choice. My tule was ultra thin and about 4 inches thin. I twisted the tule to double up the thickness and wrapped it kind of tight. So now you can see that it is, in fact, a mummy with its texture and my cleverness. 

What holiday(s) do you like to decorate for?

pioneer day

In Utah, and in the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) culture, we celebrate July 24 as Pioneer Day. This the day back in 1847 that the first LDS Pioneers traveled across the United States, searching for a place where they could practice their religion without persecution, and made it into the Salt Lake Valley. 

The stories of strength, courage, and faith from most of the companies are... amazingly inspirational. This is one of my favorite art pieces: When Angles Come. The handcart companies started later in the season than they should have and were caught in Wyoming with early snow storms. The conditions were awful and a lot of people died. 

I love this painting because I know God loves us enough to send us help when we need it. He will not leave us alone. He will send us aid. 

Lorenzo Snow, a modern-day prophet, said, "The sacrifices that are required of us are of that nature that no man or woman could make them, unless aided by a supernatural power; and the Lord, in proposing these conditions, never intended that his people should ever be required to comply with them unless by supernatural aid, and of that kind that is not professed by any other class of religious people. He has promised this aid."

A book I am currently reading is "Remembering Wholeness". In it, Carol Tuttle talks about all the energy around us and how it affects us and how we affect it. She also talks about our angels. She claims that angels are at the disposal of God, their purpose is to serve humanity, and we can ask for their support! We need to decide what we want, ASK, get out of the way of it happening by not creating resistance, and then say thank you when what you wanted happens.

Angels our supernatural aid!! And they are all around us, wanting to help us.

independence day 2013

I love super heroes; especially Superman. I recently watched "The Avengers" and LOVE IT (I've watched it 4 times now that it's on Netflix)! And this is my absolute favorite scene:

Super heroes are brave, they protect, seem invincible, are strong, and above all, they fight for the little guy. To me, the real super heroes are those men and women in the armed forces.

God bless them and their families. And God bless America.

summer vacation 2013 -- in pictures

Our first stop was family in Mapleton and Logan. Jovi got to try on cousin Andrew's gear from Mardi Gras (don't worry, he's serving a mission. He didn't get them that way) and Corban got to help his cousins sell lemonade and cookies. He even made a buck!

Joe and I actually got to go through the temple together! That hasn't happened in a long time. We also go to see Joe's niece, Madison, get married.

We then went to the wedding luncheon. Corban was cold, Jovi took a bit to warm up to her Aunt Sarah, and most of the sisters and sister-in-laws got our picture taken.

Jovi had a minor accident during the reception. I was trying to dance with her--proof right here that I should never, never, never dance again--and took her wrist out of joint. 

After the wedding stuff was finished and the Beck family said our good-byes, we drove back to Salt Lake to spend the day with my family. We had a little time to kill, so we went to Temple Square where we saw the Salt Lake Temple, the Christ statue, and Jovi rode her very first escalators! Corban had just as much fun and asked to ride the stairs one more time before we left.

We finally had to pack up our car and say goodbye to family and the mountains.

Corban and Jovi finally fell asleep on the car ride home. 

This trip was a whirl wind. But it was great!

april fool's?

UPDATE:** I had a scheduled appointment to hear the baby's heart beat on April 4. Joe and I went to the appointment and the doctor couldn't find it. We go back in 2 weeks to see what we can see.

will you be my valentine?

You're jealous aren't you?

Joe and his pharmacy classmates blister packed treats for their valentines. He hid it from me for a good 4 days before he left it out on a shelf by a bright yellow flower that he was planning on giving me the next day for Valentine's Day!

Of course, I saw it.

I tried to ignore it and pretend I didn't see it, but I finally asked him about it. Because, come on, I'm not good at keeping surprises and if I know you have a present for me, it almost kills me to wait until the specified day to open it. So, I took my blister packed treats and watched a show.

How was your Valentine's Day?

happy heart day

Having a house is sure good to my crafting obsession. Now I have places to store said crafts and places to hang said crafts. 

I have never been a HUGE fan of Valentine's Day. It could be because I've always been a tad socially awkward and never had a boyfriend to celebrate the holiday with, but I'm also not big into flowers, or chocolates, or stuffed animals.

What do you do for Valentine's day?

christmas

Christmas has come and gone. All that is left are the few extra pounds I gained and the memories. 

 We had a ward party where they offered to take family photos. Obviously, next time Joe should kneel, or sit, or do anything to get closer to us. :)

 We had a ward dinner, activities, and a show. Corban was more interested in eating the candy then he was in decorating our ginger bread house.

 Joe took over and really did a great job with our gingerbread house. Or, I guess it looks more like a church than anything else.

Me and Jovi. She had been having serious diaper rash since July. It really flared up that night and we had to go home early.

The kids in our ward put on the live version of Jesus Christ's birth. It was so sweet and tender and, yes, I cried a little.

merry christmas

Jovi wasn't completely wowed by Christmas this year, but Corban sure was! He loved the blocks his uncle and aunt gave him and was absolutely giddy about his Spiderman jammies matching his new Spiderman sheets! Giddy until they were put on his bed and he had to sleep in them. 

Merry Christmas!

merry christmas

apple days

We went to River Height's Apple Days. We were right next to the parade. There was no cushion like at parades in Logan and no police to enforce that the kids stay back. They didn't need to. Anyhoo .. the fire truck was a little too close and a little too loud. Corban ran into our friend's house and didn't come back until the truck and it's siren was gone.

mother's day

I don't have any photos of Mother's Day because I'm pregnant and still sick. That's my excuse and sticking to it. Corban/Joe bought me work out clothes (because I asked them to) and the CUTEST card. It was one of those recordable cards where Corban did all the talking. So now I have Corban at age 2 saying my name, where we live, his name, and a sweet message. This card is definitely a keeper!

easter

I'm 7 months pregnant and starting to feel sick again! I've kind of been awful at all the holidays that have passed so far, so I decided that Easter was gonna be different even if I threw up every where we went.

We went to the North Logan Easter Egg Hunt. Corban didn't particularly love the Easter Bunny. Funny thing though, right after we snapped some photos, he couldn't keep his eyes off the bunny and thought he was SO funny.

Yes, I made the piñata. Nothing says Easter like a piñata and hot dogs. Some friends and family went to my parent's house where we roasted hot dogs and broke a piñata. I only put one layer of paper mache on the egg so only two kids got to hit it. Oops! Next year it'll be better.

My only Easter decorations, but at least I decorated right? The garland is made out of old plastic eggs that I strung on a piece of twine and then tied pastel fabrics in between each egg. The hardest part was hammer holes into the top and bottom of the eggs.

We also went to the Wildlife Animal Easter Egg Hunt at USU. They advertised animals would be present. I guess they didn't lie because they did have a fish in an aquarium there. Note to self for next year: do not show up on time for this egg hunt if at all. They spread the eggs out an hour before they had the hunt. Corban kept running out to get some eggs and cried and cried when we had to haul him back to the sidewalk. We eventually just let him have three eggs and we left.

We tried to keep telling Corban that Easter is about our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. Hopefully he understood a little. It was a fun Easter and he got a lot of candy that I thought we'd give away but I'm doing a pretty good job of eating.

happy valentine's day

In honor of Valentine's Day, here are 14 of the things I love right now.

1. My Man.

(He wasn't cooperating so he gets this picture of himself posted for always and eternity!)

2. Harry Potter.

(Part 2 of the Deathly Hallows comes out right about the time I'm supposed to give birth. I told Joe that no matter what I'm seeing this movie when it comes out, even if I go into labor in the theater!)

3. Crafts

4. Fruit ... this picture makes me hungry just looking at it!

5. Jesus Christ

6. Family

7. Bedtime

8. Homemade Oreos

(I had a plan to make these delicious babies with pink frosting for V-day but I don't have any shortening or apple sauce! Oh, the pain. Now I have to go down town.)

9. Netflix

10. flip flops

11. ice water

12. Zofran

13. Sunshine

14. Corban

(He's excited--can't you tell--because he climbed the rope ladder by himself. )