Harward Family

Happy 10th Anniversary!

2012-02-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

Aaron and I were married 10 years ago February 13th.

It's been an amazing 10 years...

We decided to be a little more frugal this year so,

I got a beautiful bouquet of roses and daisies (my favorite kind) and a love note from Aaron. Which is exactly what I asked for! lol

I made these really cute gumball machine candy holders from terracotta pots and fish bowls from the dollar store! And put some kisses in them. We also got ourselves a new bedding set for our bed. (Hadn't gotten a set since our wedding!)

My gift to Aaron was putting together this movie/pictures of the last 10 years.

We were so much in love and so young 10 years ago... I am so very blessed this to say our love is even stronger than it was then. We've been through a lot and it's made us better, sillier, bigger, and more devoted. I Love you Aaron. You are my Everything forever. :)

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

We had a Very Merry Christmas this year. This is our Family newsletter:

I neglected to take any really good pictures of all our activities. Here are a few of the times I picked it up...
This is the gingerbread house the kids and I made from scratch! Yummy recipe. We're still picking at it. :)

I always take a picture of the tree before we go to bed on Christmas Eve. I love setting up the gifts to make it look like there is more than there is. Did pretty good this year. :)

Our tree stand was melted last year, you can't tell that it's being propped up on one side by a cd case. *giggles*.

I was blessed to be able to pay for all of our Christmas this year from my Etsy Business account selling patterns. Heavenly Father always provides a way.

We decided early on in our Christmas Preparations that we would start a new tradition limiting the gifts. The kids would get pjs the night before, one santa gift, filled stockings, and then 3 gifts from Mom and Dad representing the gifts given to Christ from the wise men.

Gold: Something Joyful (fun what they've been wanting)

Frankincense: Something Mindful (a game, book etc)

Merr: Something Meaningful (homemade, especially for them)

It worked out perfect. The kids were so happy with their gifts this year!

Evelyn and her stocking. She got Princess PJS and a pink robe to sleep in on Christmas Eve.

Egan and his stocking. You can't see his PJS, but he got Perry the Platypus fleece pjs. Love the antlers.

Lego Building set.

Easy Bake Oven from Santa.

Princess Barbies! And a pretty girl with her eyes closed...

Trip to Utah Continued...

2011-12-27T11:47:00.000-08:00

Coming from Logan to Salt lake we stopped to ride the "City Train" another one of Egan's must dos while in Utah. Here is a picture of the kids and Aaron waiting for the train.

Egan SOOO happy to riding on the train. This kid just loves trains.

Of course Temple Square was or destination.

Egan in front of the Salt Lake Temple.

Evelyn. So gorgeous with the Salt Lake Temple

(Got a picture with her eyes open!)

Aaron took this one of me and the kids. LOVE IT!

Me and the Hubby! I love Temple Square. They were in the process of getting all the lights ready. Fun Fun. :)

Evelyn Lost her Teeth!

2011-12-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

Evelyn lost her two bottom teeth! We're having a hard time getting her to keep her eyes open for pictures... this is the best I could do. LOL. She's still the most beautiful little girl in the world.

Evelyn struck it rich with the tooth fairy... the fairy's gonna go broke!

We sang quite a bit this Christmas "all I want for Christmas is my too front teeth." :)

Grandpa's Grape Juice

2011-12-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

I grew up with homemade grape juice from Grandpa's (My Mother's Dad) little vineyard in Oregon. This year Grandpa Burt let us come and pick a BUNCH of Grapes. About 100lbs actually. He let us take home his steamer and gave me the recipe on how he's always done it.

Pictured in the collage are the grapes. There were green and purple!

There is no comparison from these Yummy homegrown organic gapes and the grocery store ones.

The kids helping us pick each individual grape off the vine.

The steamer draining the gorgeous juice into the jars.

I then added some fructose.

Put on the lids and steam canned the lids closed.

We made 48 quarts of concentrated Juice!

We gave some of the quarts away as Christmas gifts this year. Perfect!

I am so grateful to have learned this tradition to pass on to future generations. Grandpa has also taught me the art of whole wheat bread making, and the love of genealogy.

THANK YOU GRANDPA!

Thanks Giving SNOW

2011-12-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we took a trip to Utah to visit family. Our first stop was Logan to see Angie and Clint. Egan had been begging to see snow and boy did he get it! They built a sled hill with the snow off their back porch! Boy was it fun!

Snow Angels!

Super Cold!

Thank You Angie and Clint for the AMAZING fun Time!

Good Days

2011-11-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

When uploading the most recent pictures I found some really good ones that I didn't know where on there! Evelyn took this picture of Aaron and Egan! I think we found another talent of hers!

Aren't my boys cute?

Aaron took this one on a Saturday morning I think. Silly Kiddos.

Egan had Crazy hair day at school the other day.. I'm pretty sure Aaron took this one that morning so he could capture his work on Egan's hair. That boy was so happy to go to school with a Mohawk!

Happy Halloween 2011!

2011-11-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

The crisp air and beautiful colors in the trees really gets me excited for the holidays!

Its sad the year you no longer have a say in what your kids will wear for Halloween. This year Both kids insisted on what they wanted to be.

Egan wanted to be a cop complete with handcuffs and gun. I made him his shirt and pants with some fabric I found on sale, I already had the buttons and gold ribbon.The dollar store had a gun and badge, and wal-mart had a pair of handcuffs, I used a cereal box, electrical tape and foil for the his hat. Total for costume: $8 and a few hours of time.

Evelyn insisted on being a Fairy Princess Ballerina in Pink! So, thank you dollar store for the wings, crown, and wand. I used an old pink shirt she had and painted it up. The tutu was a costume already in her dress up box. I sewed together ballerina slippers that fit over her tennis shoes. With scraps and some ribbon on sale!

Total cost for Evelyn's Costume: $7 , 1 hr time.

We carved our pumpkins for family night. The kids had to clean them out themselves, draw on the face and mommy and daddy carved it out for them. This picture of Egan is just so precious!

Isn't funny how sometimes we look like the pumpkins we carve :)

My Darling Kids

They got to Trick or Treat twice this year once with our ward activity and once with Grandpa and Grandma Hill.

Now, on to November!

New Job......

2011-08-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

So Aaron put his Resume Out there for a part time job to help us in saving for our long term future goals and he got a call from a company he couldn't not interview with. The wait was a long one but well worth it. Aaron now works for the portland office of:

That's right....

He works in the finance department of the office off the warehouse.

Its Funny, when we've told family about his new part time work the first thing they ask is.. "does he get samples?"

We are happy to say..YES! Guess who's gained 5 pounds this month? The kids now ask Aaron when he gets home? "Where's the icecream?" I prefer a man who brings home the icecream vrs. bacon! :)

Beach!

2011-08-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

We had had very busy week this last week with work, kids and ... and you know, everything. So we decided friday night that we would take an impromptu trip to seaside the next day to spend the day there just us. It was fabulous! I came away thinking "why don't we do this more often?" We are only a few hours drive away.

I took a few pictures of the kids, Aaron took a few of me, but I have graciously not posted those bloated white pasty pictures. The kids had such a fun time! We played on the beach for 5 hours.

Evelyn with her little bucket, we made a sand castle. Do you see Egan in the background running full speed into the ocean? The temperature was perfect, a warm sun, cold ocean and cool breeze.

For some reason the kids wanted to help the ocean bring the water up to the beach, here they are taking bucket fulls of water up to the beach and dumping it out... Silly kids.

We packed a picnic of yummy sandwiches, chips apples and cookies. Of course sand was everywhere, but we did our best. Here is Evelyn enjoying her Doritos.

Egan knew this was his opportunity to get real good and dirty, and boy did he take advantage of it. Every time we turned around he was literally rolling in it. He took a nice long bath when we got home. Here's hoping we don't find any more sand in his ears. :) We plan on taking this trip much more often. We had a blast. A much needed short vacation.

First Lost Tooth!

2011-08-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

Egan came to us the other day with a suprisingly very loose tooth. Upon inspection, we noticed a big tooth growing behind the loose one. It took another 2 days to loosen enough to have it pulled out. Aaron, Egan and I were all too chicken to pull it out, so we tied a string around it thinking we could yank it out, again no one wanted to do the pulling. With the string around the tooth Egan just stood there looking like "now what?" Inpatient and irritated with the whole scene, Evelyn walked by in her sneaky way, rolled her eyes and grabbed it hard, the tooth came right out! We laughed so hard, Evelyn was one to finally do it. Egan didn't think it was funny at first, but then when he realized it was over and he could finally put it under his pillow he was happy.

That night the tooth fairy left a dollar under his pillow. We promptly went to the dollar store and he chose to buy a package of ring pops which he graciously shared with his devious sister. :)

These kids keep getting older and reaching new milestones. I can't keep up! This fall they will both be in full day school!

Egan's Tron Birthday!

2011-07-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

Our Little Egan boy turned 6!
Its hard to imagine that its been that long since he was a swaddled teeny thing in my arms. Hes such a good boy and lets me still snuggle with him and carry him around. :) I'm so blessed to be his mommy in this life and on into the eternities. Egan is the light and the fire in our family and we wouldn't be whole without him.

Here is Egan, and everyone singing Happy Birthday! (mute blog music before playing)

This year was one of the years where we through a huge fiends birthday party for the kids with a theme etc. Egan chose TRON! (If you haven't seen it.. do!) Its one of his favorite shows, so we went with it.

He picked everything. He wanted cheese, meat and crackers, fruit and Cheetos. We had blue cool aid, fudge cupcakes and mint chip ice cream. I decorated the cupcakes with chocolate covered oreos lined with blue icing to look like discs with some printed out paper figures stuck in and blue sprinkles.

Aaron did a great job decorating the whole house with blue, orange and black streamers and balloons. I made party favors for the kids to play with, black Frisbee discs with glow in the dark paint on them (thanks to my awesome sister Harmony for her help!) I cut up swimming tubes and put black electrical tape on them to make a light cycle stick for each of the kids. They also went home with a goodie bag with glow in the dark bracelets, toys and candy from the light cycle piniata! I took apart a yellow winco motorcycle piniata recovered it in black streamers and painted it. Lots of fun. Egan was thrilled, we only got a picture of him hitting it! I also make a pin the guy on the light cycle poster game, but it ended up being decoration because the kids were having so much fun with other things. :)

Whack! So much fun!

Egan got exactly what he asked for! Thanks to everyone who brought such wonderful gifts! He got a Sam Flynn action figure, a real Tron light up disc, a light cycle stick that shoots out a toy cycle, a star wars gun, action hero figures, cars, balloons, candy and more! The grand finale of gifts that Aaron and I gave him was the Scooter! The neighbor kids all have a scooter and he'd been asking for one for a long time. He's already a pro on it... of course!

He's outside helping daddy put up streamers on the porch before the party.

Here is the most wonderful little boy a mommy could ask for. Darling, wild, spirited, talented, affectionate, passionate, smart, compact, adorable bundle of boy!

Fathers Day!

2011-06-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

I think Aaron had a good fathers day. The kids and I spent some time on a few projects to show him how much we love him.

The kids and I went to the store and picked out a bunch of candy bars and then taped them onto this poster that says: " Daddy ("harward" written by Egan)

You are the best dady in the whole Milky Way

Mommy thinks your a Big Hunk

To us your like a super Starburst

Nerds aren't as smart as you

Your worth 100 times more than 100Grand

Thanks for being so Mr GoodBar to us

We Love You!

From your Twix Kids

Egan and Evelyn"

The kids did all the art and taping, I just told them where abouts to put them. I think it turned out cute :)

I designed two t-shirts that I thought would be fun. One of my Dad's businesses does sublimation so we were able to print them ourselves!
The picture below Aaron is wearing his property of shirt. Love it.

The kids were so excited to give him his final gift. Egan actually came up with the idea one day and we went with it. With a little cardboard, paint, paper and foil the kids made a Trophy!

This trophy is awarded to the "Best Daddy Ever!"

Aaron is truley the best daddy a kid could ask for. He is an example to me of a wonderful parent. I am always in awe at how much patience and love he shows our kids.

Thank you Sweetheart for all you do!

Happy Birthday! Evelyn's 5!

2011-05-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little girl turned 5 This weekend! Every other year we do a big party for the kids with friends and family. We had her birthday on saturday, with her cousins Anica and Linnea, aunt Olivia, Uncle Machi, and her friends from School Molina and Marcus. Plus grown ups like Aunts, Uncles, and Grandmas :)

I made a castle cake for her. Picture really didn't capture her excitement. Lots of things happened that day.

Little wrapped hot dogs, her favorite chips and juice. Neapolitan Ice Cream, cake, Streamers balloons.

Hats and Friends.

Pin the tale on the pony. Evelyn and I colored this a few nights before the party, we hung it up and when ever she passes it, she pets the pony softly with her hand and says "pretty pony" sweet silly girl!

She'd been asking for a barbie on a bike for what felt like forever, and on a date a few weeks before her birthday Aaron and I spotted one on clearance at Target! Love a good buy. And she loves her barbie bike too! She got a lot of ponies and fun toys from her friends and family. That head band she's wearing that she proudly put on her head herself, was made for her by her Aunt Lacey :)

Our Evelyn is such a silly fun girl. Her beautiful smile brightens the room. Her sweetness and kindness melts our hearts. I can't believe she's already 5! We are so blessed to have this wonderful girl apart of our forever family! Happy Birthday sweet Evelyn!

Evelyn's Birthday Cake

2011-05-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

I took on a huge challenge. Evelyn has been asking for a Castle Birthday Cake for a few years now and I decided that I'd use a coupon I had for the wilton castle cake set and do my best to make up her castle cake.
I did my research and asked a lot of questions but it was about a week long process from start to finish.

I started by setting up the pieces and labeling them were I wanted them. I made fondant with a recipe I found online with marshmallows and powdered sugar, let it cool and harden in the fridge over night. The following night I shapped flowers and vines for the turretts. Fondant is like an editable play dough.I let the flowers and vines sit and harden more over night. The next day I added pedal dust to all the fondant so it would sparkle. I melted candy to attach the dowels to the turrets so they would stay upright on the cake. Made the "sprinkle" cake itself from a mix (wasn't going to do more work than necessary :) Once they cooled I made butter cream frosting and put the cakes together with a crumb coat. The cake was then put in the the refrigerator over night to solidify the crumb coat. The morning of the party I put on another coat of frosting, added vines, and put on all the turrets and extra flowers. Evelyn was very pleased. Within a few hours I was pulling it apart and slicing it up. So much build up.. but it was worth it to see Evelyn's happy pleased face. And it tasted good too!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day 2011 Was Stressful and Wonderful all at once.

Aaron and I were asked just a few days before Sunday if we could give talks in Sacrament meeting for Mother's day. The chapel was full of people, I heard the clerk in the hall say it was 385! I had prepared about a 20 minute talk not knowing what to expect.. and only having about 5 minutes of time, I went over... way over. oops. Aaron was left with negative 5 minutes... poor guy. His talk was amazing. I am so lucky to be married to such a great man. but we'll get back to that.

My talk was centered around a poem that my Grandma Rose wrote. Titled:

Crown of Motherhood

What kind of Mother will I be?

Will I be the kind that Mother’s been to me?

Will I teach and Mold each precious one

As Heavenly Father wishes it done?

Will I love and cherish each as I should

As I wear my Crown of Motherhood?

Precious gems this crown must bear-

Loyalty, Trust and Patience so rare.

Understanding and tolerance shimmer with light

Radiant jewels of Laughter sparkle bright.

Pearls of Wisdom , Lord I request,

But let gems of Love outshine the rest.

This weighty diadem – thou bestowest upon me

Untarnished, polished by love and empathy

Not my burden alone, for thou art near

To hear my pleas and calm my fear

I’ll cherish this trust, most precious and good,

This honored crown of Motherhood.

I was also able to quote my Wonderful Mommy, my Gramamom, and My Grandma Hill along with quotes from Jeffrey R Holland's Talk "Because she is a Mother. I am so honored to be a mother and so happy that I've had such wonderful examples of motherhood in my life.

Aaron Couldn't find tape.. except the electrical kind... Here is my mother's day present and card :)

Good Job Bob. Love You!

I got a really soft sleeping mask with ear plugs... Which is so perfect! Here I am on Mother's day taking my 2 hour nap.. sneaky man took my picture! Woop! I also got a gift card to get myself some Shoes! Oh yeah!

Egan's pillow pet is so soft! LOL...

Random Greatness

2011-05-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Egan Playing with the Camera.. nice...

My big sister Harmony was sealed to her husband and baby on May 3rd. It was a beautiful day. Baby Luminous was so happy to see everyone in the sealing room. She smiled at all and said "Hi" to everyone! Wonderful Day! So after the ceremony everyone went into the Portland Temple Solarium to take pictures. My camera died after taking one picture! This is what I got. Lulu on the lap of her Grandmother. Beautiful Girl.

Chuckie Cheese Birthday Fun

2011-05-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

Egan and Evelyn were both invited to their Cousin's Jeremiah's Birthday party at Chuckie Cheese's. Boy did they have fun. Now they both want their birthday party's there.. oh boy!

Evelyn Loved all the rides!

Egan was actually really good at this one.. Got a ton of tickets!

Basketball....

Pretty Pink Princess....

Haven't planned their party's yet this year... guess I should get on that :)

Oregon Zoo May 2011

2011-05-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

We got some free tickets again for the Zoo this year. It was a little rainy and wet, but still a very fun day!

Here are the kids waiting in line, so happy to get to ride on the train...

Daddy and Evelyn on the Train

Silly Girl. We didn't see any animals on the 35 minute ride.. not quite worth the $5 a person ticket.. except for the fact that the kids loved it. :)

Best picture taken of the day in my opinion... can't really see the penguin in the background.. but the kid is so dang cute!

Elephants...

They're looking at lions.

Ok, so I'd never seen these before, or perhaps never noticed.. but I thought they were awesome! African Wild dogs. Neat!

Hippos....

Evelyn's Favorite... ZEBRA!

My Favorite... GIRAFFE!

Aaron's Favorite...... GOAT! ? ... you'll have to ask him. :)

And Egan's favorite... TRAIN! Obviously.

Easter!

2011-05-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

For Easer the Kids Got Pillow Pets in their Easter Baskets! They'd been begging me for them, so I let the easter bunny know what they wanted. :) Big Success!

Both of the kids sleep with their pillow pets and have named them Frogger and Tiwana.

We were playing around one day....

Aaron figured out how to wrap the pillow pet around the kid's head...

So funny! We couldn't help but take pictures! LOL

Giggles all around!

Even Evelyn with her hair could get hers on her head!

Smushy Face. :)

Makes ya smile doesn't it? :)

Early Easter Clothes

2011-04-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

Before we moved from our old ward, Evelyn wanted to show off her new Easter Dress. So I made it for her early, and we took pictures before church the Sunday before conference. I made Egan a new tie and vest. Aren't they cute?!

4 Layers Pink Tool over white soft polyester. Ribbons and silk flowers. She calls it her princess pink dress. :)

Gotta love the cuteness. Best buds.

Family Pic. One of these days we'll have a professional one done again.

Life Changes

2011-04-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

In a matter of 2 months our life has changed huge... again! We got a notice from our landlord that our rent would be going up... way up... we thought... "perhaps we could find something better for the same price" with a little of searching and praying we stumbled on a great place extra bedroom, vaulted ceilings , backyard, and a garage for less than we would be spending. On top of that there would be savings in utilities plus free cable... we actually would end up saving money.. so we did what anyone would do... we moved.. again. So we will be starting a new ward this week, and the kids will start a new school in the fall. Super excited about our new life changes, and the extra space! Unfortunately it this upgrade came at a price... our new place does not allow pets... so, Quigly went to live with my Mom. I cried for a few days, but I know he is likely happier in a bigger place with his best bud Nuggets, (Mom's Dog).

Happy 9th Anniversary!

2011-02-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Its hard to believe we've been married 9 years, and yet it seems like forever ago that we were sealed in the Temple. I can't imagine my life without this man, my best friend. Happy Anniversary.

Here are some pictures in tribute of our day way back February 13th 2002.

And some more pictures of our nine years together.

Its been an amazing 9 years. Here's to another.
Love You Aaron, Airbob, Gravy, Honey, Sweetheart, Bob, Hubby, My Man.....

I Just Have to Say.....

2011-02-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

I Love my dog! Even now Quigly is warming my feet. 'nuf said.

Us the Dorks

2011-01-31T17:17:00.000-08:00

I got my haircut today... long over due.. and I was taking quick pictures of it in the bathroom to show friends. While I was in there Aaron came in and was teasing me, so we took a silly picture together. He decided he wanted to grow his hair out like Mr. Darcy the last time we watched Pride and Prejudice together... that's right my man watches the chic flicks. Love this man.

And here we are... Dork 1: Me and Dork 2: Aaron.

Holiday Memories #1

2011-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

This Holiday Season has been a blast, we are just getting back into the swing of things... I thought I post a few pictures of our Christmas/New year happenings.

Our Christmas tree Christmas morning complete with the "Polar Express Train" as Egan calls it. Katie, Aaron and I stayed up real late wrapping and setting up the presents, you know how you prop them up to make it look like there's more. :)

Egan and Katie opening stockings from Santa, This year I had to remake all our stockings because we lost most of our Christmas decorations last year in the fire. I had fun sewing a train on Egan's, Tree with presents on Evelyn's, candy canes on Aaron's and a snow flake on mine. I also made made matching pjs bottoms for the four of us out of holiday flannel. Didn't get a picture of all of us.. but you can see similarities though the pics.

Evelyn Got this tutu from Grandma Hill and Would not take it off for days! She is such a pretty princess! This is a picture of her just so happy to pretty.

We have a family tradition for Christmas every year, First we read from the scriptures the story of Christ's birth and talk about how we are celebrating his birthday. Then we open our stockings and then we have warm cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then finally tear into the presents. I LOVE traditions and ours are so much fun. Egan, Evelyn and Daddy having their "Cinnabon" cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven. (Gotta love pre-made dough)

This year I wanted to do something a bit different for family gifts. About a month before Christmas my mom brought me a bucket of material scraps that belonged to my wonderful Gramamom. She passed a year and a half ago and the material still held her scent. There was enough of each scrap to make something little. I decided to make aprons with matching oven mitts for all the dear women in my life. Here is Katie sporting her apron made from the material Gramamom used to make Grampa a shirt. I hope I will be able to gather pictures of all the other aprons as they are worn.

Egan Got a new Leapster game... Star Wars!

24 pack PlayDough!

Holiday Memories #2

2011-01-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

...... Doctor Kit!

.....Princess cell phone, watch and necklace! and..........

BIKES! I got a GREAT deal on black friday I couldn't pass up. Evelyn of course got a pink bike and Egan a red. We didn't get the best of pictures... we were just too excited.

A few days after Christmas we headed down to Utah to spend new years with Aaron's family.The visit with family was amazing! Aaron spent hours upon hours converting old family videos into digital format on DVDs and gave each family member their own copy complete with a compilation to music, interactive menus and outtakes. We stayed up late, ate good food and enjoyed great company.

The roads on the other hand.... were a bit crazy!

I don't think it got above 20 degrees the entire time we were there. Gotta Love Utah winters. We had a blast in the snow! Sledding, snow angels....

Brrrrrrr...... :)

Holiday Memories #3

2011-01-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Egan Loved the snow!!! He kept eating it... lol

And I tried something I'd never tried before... On new years Aaron's sister Angie and Husband Clint took us....

Ice Skating! After about an hour I didn't need to hold on to anyone..

It was a blast. Thank You Angie and Clint!

We stayed up way too late that night and when we climbed in the car at 5am it was -5 degrees outside!

And then we had to drive home....

Egan played his leapster...

And Evelyn... sleeping. ... ahhhh

All in all we had an amazing holiday season and are so grateful for all our many blessings! We hope you all had a wonderful season as well.

Happy 32nd Birthday to Aaron

2010-12-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

We took some great pictures of Aaron's big day today, but in respect to his wishes, I'm not posting any of his cute mug. Here is the cake I made. His favorite: Boston Creme Pie. He got a few things he was hoping for. Love you sweetie!

In honor of your special day, I'm posting one of your favorite recent pics: Quigly... gotta love that crazy dog!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

The kids loved Santa this year. Happy Holidays to all!

One Year Ago Today .....

2010-11-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

A few days before thanksgiving I would like to post publicly how Thankful I am for all the things I am blessed with. Happy healthy kids, A handsome smart affectionate hubby, an adorable dog, my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, my family and friends, and on my mind a lot today, I am thankful for my warm safe home. Last year on this day Egan started a fire in his room early in the morning and within minutes we were homeless.

Special Thanks:

Thank You to the smoke detector for working so well and saving our lives.

Thank You to to my hero hubby we were all safe and prepared.

Thank You for our ward family who helped us with our immediate need and future needs as well with furniture clothing and food!

Thank You Heavenly Father for the lessons we've learned, and the perspective we gained.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Character Comparison

2010-11-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

My kids can be so animated especially when I take pictures, that they often remind me of characters in children's shows.

Evelyn often reminds me of Red from Fraggle rock, those big eyes and wild puffy hair. Gotta love it.

Ever since Egan was a baby he's made me think of Curious George.. Sweet and sensitive with that round face button nose and beautiful brown eyes.

This was just for fun... he he he

Primary Program

2010-11-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

Life has been so busy, and it keeps getting busier. Time has just flown by... So here I am doing catch-up on the blog.

The kids were involved in our Sunday primary program and both said their parts and sang well. Egan especially loved the song "Follow The Prophet" He was the most exuberant singing that one. Everyone laughed and enjoyed the show. I promised myself months ago that I would make Evelyn a new dress and Egan a new tie for the occasion.. and just like me I waited and procrastinated until the last minute... literally. I was busy sewing the Saturday night before the program. Evelyn LOVES her new red dress with white lining and lace. Egan's tie has road signs on it and he has worn it every Sunday since. Thanks to Aunt Dawn for the material for both the dress and the tie!

Evelyn in her Red Dress

Egan's Road Trip Tie. (If you like this I'm selling a bunch of them in 3 sizes on Etsy!)

Silly Girl Evelyn Just LOVES being Pretty.

Daddy and Egan: crazy boys.

Us that morning.... :P

Evelyn and Mommy...

Halloween Costumes

2010-10-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

Got the costumes for the kids done... finally.

Ok, So Egan has been set on being a storm trooper for Halloween since July or so, there was no talking him out of it. I always make the costumes, and I was a bit worried about this one. Storm troopers wear helmets that cover their faces and I'm not a big fan of masks at Halloween so I rocked my brain until I saw a camo plastic helmet at the dollar store. I painted it white with 3 layers of acrylic paint, and then painted the eyes and details with black. Now his face isn't covered! I also found the little black gun at the dollar store. I found a black long sleeve shirt and pants at walmart and took 11 white felt squares from the craft department and cut out armor and sewed them on to look like a storm trooper. And then made shoe covers with the felt and elastic for white boots. I used this picture as a guide. Total Spent: $16.00

After asking Egan to try on his costume and take pictures, with a few minutes to play, I asked him to take it off. He wouldn't have it, I had to chase him down and fight him out of it. LOL. Glad he likes it that much. :)

Evelyn has been asking to be sleeping beauty since her birthday in May. Of course its because the princess wears a pretty PINK gown and with long blonde curls and a crown! Luckily when Evelyn was about a year old I was given a pattern with the Disney Copyright Costumes of both Sleeping Beauty and Snow White for sizes 4 to 8. I've been saving it for 3 years and was soooo happy to use it. Upon opening and starting the process I found out the the bodice pieces were missing, so I had to make up the pieces based on the little pictures I could see on the pattern instructions. Evelyn sat by the sewing machine the whole day while I made it. She giggled and laughed while I tried each piece on her for fitting. I have rarely seen her so happy as she is in her sleeping beauty costume. I used 3 different scratch pink pieces left over from other projects and white flannel and felt (from Egan's left over felt). Total Spent: $0.50 (Because of scraps I already had)

I also used the felt for the crown and necklace, cut them out and painted them with gold glitter acrylic paint. Evelyn has snuck the crown out of my closet a few times to wear it around the house. Silly Girl. So glad she likes it!

I doubt Aaron and I will dress up this year, but if we were, I think Aaron would be Obi Wan, and I'd be Maleficent. Oh Yeah Baby... :)

Here are a few of the other pictures collaged of the kids costumes.

Happy Halloween!

Evelyn The Princess

2010-10-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Our Evelyn has many extremes and we laugh and love her beautiful personality. She is now in preschool going 4 days a week for a few hours each day and is loving it. Here are a few of the pictures taken of her recently....

First: This is Evelyn after her curly fro is combed through... big right? She HATES her hair big like this.. can you tell? Her auntie Olivia recently tried to use the straightener on her hair.. didn't work! Oh well, Evelyn, guess you have to live with beautiful ringlets, the envy of all girls far and near.. poor thing... :)

Second: Here she is being at her regular wild self with perhaps a little sugar. She's got her favorite pink sunglasses on, (that way everything is pink!) but under her nose... just to be silly. She's also sporting her pink berets and a favorite shirt.. "I Love you More".. She's got a My little pony swinging around by its tail... the camera caught it perfect. Silly Girl.

Last but definitely not least: This one makes my heart melt. Evelyn gets herself comfortable to sleep by keeping her special things close. I made this flannel "bug blanket" for her when she was just 1, and she didn't seem to like it until these last few months, and she has adopted this as her new favorite blanket to sleep with. Isn't she darling how she wraps it around her head? What is it about your sleeping baby's?"

Evelyn Jean, she's my girl and we love her to pieces.

What They've Learned in School....

2010-09-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so everyday when Egan gets home from school we ask him, "So what did you learn in school today?" And he says what I'm sure most kids say, (I know I did) "Nothing"

Well, now I know better..

This morning after dropping off Evelyn at Preschoool, Egan started singing this song in the car on the way to his school. I've never heard before and it is just about the cutest thing on the planet. I begged him tonight to sing it for me again on camera so I can watch him sing it whenever I want. I figured I would share it with all of you too.

Thank you to Egan's teachers for teaching him this adorable song!

(hint: push pause on the blog's tunes, bottom left, before play on the video)

Evelyn of course wanted to be the star as well, so we had her sing her favorite song.... so cute that she puts the two songs together.

First Day of School

2010-09-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today Egan started Kindergarten

I admit I shed some tears this morning.. but his excitement permeated the house. at 6:30 he knocked on our door. "Is it time to go to school yet?"

I found some deals at Old Navy and Ross last weekend, he's dressed so cute and slick.

He is so Big!

I got his Leather Jacket on a steal. He loves it, and I have to say, I do too! His shoes have his favorite thing on them right now... "Stwoom Twoopows fwom Staw Wahs" (Storm Troopers from Star Wars)

He's got his Spider man backpack, and inside is his lunch. I completely forgot about getting him a lunch pail and lunch supplies for school, so this morning I scrambled to make him pb and j, (luckily his favorite) some cut up large carrots, and fruit snacks (used normally for bribes). I put it all in a big red lunch sack that the red cross gave us with their logo on it one time... poor kid. Luckily he's still too young to be embarrassed.. I think. I ran to the store after dropping him off today.... tomorrow his lunch will be a bit cooler. :)

We live close enough to the school that we will walk everyday..

Egan and Evelyn all ready for our walk to school

Evelyn Loves her new coat too. Thanks Aunti Olivia for picking this slick number out.

Gotta love cute kids!

Burt Family Reunion.. babies babies babies!

2010-09-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

August has completely flown by and I have neglected our poor blog. Oops :)

Every other year my mother's family meets together and we have a grand old time with all our cousins and aunts and uncles. This year we met up in Sequim WA, way way way north.. as close as you can get to Canada, on the other side of the water. Here are just a few pictures of the event.

Egan Loved the water and fishing with Grandpa!

My Brother "Uncle Cameron" to the Kids and cousin Solomon... Too Cool to hold still for a clear picture. Guess this one will have to do. :)

There were babies galore at the reunion.... Sister Harmony, Cousins Janina and Milly with their little ones.

Harmony's Baby Luminous... that's right, Luminous.. its growing on me and fits her well. We call her LuLu for short. She sang the entire reunion. Takes after her mama. Cuteness.

Janina's Baby Marshall fell in love with Lulu.. they played and laughed at each other every time they were close.

Marshall just about the sweetest natured baby was such a doll! Cuddly and sweet. Here is one of my favorite pics. Janina calls Marshall her Marshmallow... fits perfectly!

Me and My baby... Evelyn. She wore these pink sunglasses the entire time... this way everything is pink!

We visited with much more wonderful family than the pictures I took... I neglected my camera... but you get the gist. Love reunions. :)

Egan's Insight

2010-07-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

Egan came up to me with a broken toy and I said it would take a miracle to fix it.. he asked what a miracle was and I said it was when something magical happens with Heavenly Father's help. He said "We always need Heavenly Father's help, Mommy, 'cus we get lots of miracles" Love that kid. I know he's teaching me and not the other way around. :)

Here is one of my favorite Pictures taken recently. He's handing me "flowers".

A tribute for Egan on his 5th Birthday!

2010-07-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

5 years ago today Aaron and I sat on a porch and saw two beautiful full rainbows. Looking back on it we think they were a sign of things to come. July 24th, Pioneer day, 2005 Egan was born. Just two weeks later he was placed into my arms, and at 5 pounds he was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. Here is a picture of that day.

Such a sweet baby. So precious.

We didn't have much clothes that fit him as a preemie.. I found some baby clothes at the local thrift store. After putting them on I noticed a hole in the bottoms... I look at the tag and they were "Build a Bear" clothes for teddy bears! Here he is wearing them.

Today he turned 5! The other night I shed a few tears in mourning for his babyhood... but he is so smart and so ready to start on the next faze of his life in school. I'm excited for his future!
Here are a few of the pictures of the day... he wanted a hot wheels theme. He got a Leapster 2!

Egan Loves making cake! Luckily so does mommy!

My favorite picture of the day! He is so big! I can't believe he's 5!

It has been an amazing 5 years.

Us singing Happy Birthday! Notice he makes his wish like he says his prayers. His wish was "I wish mommy and daddy to be happy" So sweet. And we are! He's not so nice to the dog though. :)

Egan opening up his Leapster. I love his reaction!

A funny sleeping habit

2010-07-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Evelyn has acquired her stuffed carebear collection back and has gotten back into the habit with sleeping with them. Unfortunately in her mind, they take priority of her pillow and bed space. This is a picture of her after she fell asleep the other night. Such a funny girl.

My New Glasses

2010-07-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've been fighting it long enough... its time to fess up to my age and genetics and get glasses already. I went to America's best and got two pair for their special deal... I got a pair I like and a pair Aaron likes. Call me a nerd, but the thick black rims I think are totally cool especially with the rhinestones! Its so nice to be able to see and not see two of things. An astigmatism really does make a difference when your driving, reading etc.. can't believe I was living like that.

Here are a few pics of my new look.

A visit from Aunti Angie and Uncle Clint

2010-07-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Aaron's Sister Angie and her husband Clint came to visit us and we had a ton of fun showing them the sites of the Northwest. They flew in on Friday night and we headed out the next morning to Seaside.. we got so burnt... and forgot our camera. The kids had a blast in the water and sand (they were making sand angels at one point.)

The next day we took a drive through the old highway to the vista house and saw beautiful views of the gorge.

Family pic taken by Angie... Evelyn was of course throwing a fit...

Then of course we visited Multnomah Falls! Beautiful day for pics.

The kids Love Auntie Angie! We loved having them! Come back anytime!

Couch Bound

2010-07-08T15:32:00.001-07:00

Today we had our carpets cleaned and as it happens it's the hottest day of the year in the Northwest. We adventured out for a few hours hoping the carpets would be dry when we got home, but unfortunately they were not. Not wanting to take off again in the extreme heat the kids and I spent 3 hours watching tv, reading books and taking pictures of ourselves on the couch. Here are a few of the pictures of our silliness.

Evelyn gets more and more beautiful every day.

Quigly also joined us on the couch... he was a hot tired doggie.
Silly Kids. My kids are yin and yang: complete opposites in every way, but amazingly they complete each other and can't live without one another. I often get when I go places: "what beautiful twins" at heart I think they are, somehow they were meant to be siblings and Heavenly Father brought them together in our home.

Egan and I snapped this one before the dog got away...

The three of us... "Cheese"

Its funny how the best pictures and memories result from the strangest things.

Ocean Shores

2010-06-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Ocean shores to help my family move from Taholah down a few miles to Ocean Shores. My parents now live just minutes away from the beach and all the fun of beach activities. We went and spent a few chilling minutes on the beach with the dog and kids to feed the insane amount of seagulls and I took a few good pictures.

"Uncle Machy" came with us. My little brother who is only months older than Egan.

No one looked at me, they were all too busy enjoying themselves. I don't blame them... but it made for interesting pics.

A boy has got to have a dog...

2010-06-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

They love each other so much... Here's to Puppy Love.

Evelyn Jean our "Precious Gift" is 4!

2010-06-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

On May 30th 2010 Our little Evelyn Turned 4! I can't believe my baby is that old. We asked her a month ago what kind of Birthday she wanted and all she said was "PINK!" So, that's what we gave her. We have a tradition to do a big family/friends party every other year, this year was an off year, so it was just the four of us celebrating.

Here is my Princess in Pink Waiting for us to start the Party.

A collage of pictures I couldn't leave out of this massive post.
Beautiful Girlie.

Pink Balloons, Pink Streamers, Pink plates, Pink Cups, Pink table cloth, Pink princess game.....

Pink Cake! The kids love to help make Cake.

Mmmmmm Licking the beaters!

I made an easy cake this year. Strawberry Pink cake with pink frosting, pink candles and princess figurines from the dollar store. Although it's more than a tad ugly... she loved it. I'll not get away with that for much longer. :)

She asked for Hot Dogs and Chips for her Party. Yum....

Here are her gifts before she dug into them.

Yum pink cake, and pink cherry chip ice cream!

Her main gift was a princess kit with princess Aurora, pink carriage, pink horse, changeable outfits and of course prince Phillip.

Egan Sporting Evelyn's Care Bear umbrella. (unfortunately this gift lasted only one day, Good thing I found it at a thrift store. :)

Evelyn Playing with her horse and Carriage... gotta love the tongue. :)

We had so much fun with Pink!

Here is the singing of Happy Birthday.

Cheese!

2010-05-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Mommy Daughter Birthday Date!

2010-05-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

Evelyn and I dropped off Egan at school this morning and then went on a Mommy Daughter Birthday date. Just her and me. Tons of fun! We went to the mall and went wherever she wanted to go. First stop: See's Candies.

We got Yummy Chocolate Fudge Samples and we each got a Chocolate Sucker! Yum!

Evelyn is never happier than when she has chocolate.. (she gets it from me)

Next stop: Claire's

We looked at all the pretty jewelry and picked out a best friends matching necklace shaped like converse tennis shoes in pink and purple... of course.
We then went to lunch in the food court... Evelyn likes the "white chicken" at the Tai food restaurant there. (very similar to Panda Express) This "chicken" is actually sweet coconut shrimp. Yum!

While waiting to check out at Claire's Evelyn found a pair of pink glasses and posed for me while I took a picture. Absolutely Classic Evelyn. Anything pink, Anything silly goes.

Gotta Love this little girlie. Thanks for the fun date Evelyn!

Girls and Video Games.

2010-05-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

The last few months the video game system has been in storage, on Saturday Aaron got it out to play with Egan. I've never taken to video games, perhaps its because I'm no good, but I think they just don't grab my attention and keep me interested. Evelyn has my opinion I think. We think video games are... b o r i n g. :)

Totally Cute! and Funny.
Thanks for the back up Evelyn.

Favorites

2010-05-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

When you have the most beautiful kids on the planet you've got to show them off. These are a few of my most favorite pictures I've taken recently.

Evelyn Making a wish.

Egan Happily on the Zoo Train.
I love to embelish and edit pictures digitaly, I'll do some for you too. ;)

Oregon Zoo!

2010-05-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

We got free tickets to the Oregon Zoo from Egan's school, so the day before we were suppossed to move.. we took off to have some real fun at the zoo! Can you blame us? Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Yes, those are leashes you see on my kids... what can I say? They are already begging to go back. It was a long day but exactly what we needed.

My Blessings

2010-04-28T14:49:00.001-07:00

After venting to the computer last night I felt much better and then realized I didn't do a very good job portraying how my life is actually extremely fantastic right now. I have decided to list my blessings recent and long term in no particular order. Here is goes.

Aaron got a phone call from his previous employer offering him a corporate position as a cost analyst with a raise and closer to home. He wasn't even looking for a new job and in this economy, this can only be counted as a miracle from heaven. (this is as of last week)

My Husband. Even though he leaves his phone off, or forgets to bring in his lunch tupperware from the car, he is a perfect fit for me. We are both flawed in just the right ways to match. He is the smartest person I know, and also the best looking. :)

I have two beautiful Children who are amazing. Today talking to a stranger about an apartment I had them with me and she said, "They really are amazing kids." I said I knew, Plain and simple. They have special spirits that are so strong and an example to me.

I have a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. I have a Savior who died for me and lives again so I might live. I did the odds once and to be born in this time period, with the gospel is a one in 6 thousand... How I deserve this heaven only knows.

I have a puppy love: Quigly. He keeps me sane when nothing else does. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't sent to me by my Gramamom in Heaven who instilled in me the love of puppies.

I found a great apartment today in a great neighborhood closer to my dad.

Not too big.. but not too small. :)

I have a love of sewing, computer/web, baking, that I get to indulge almost everyday.

I am healthy and strong. My body is the size I like it, my hair is the color I like it.

I could list all the material things we have that don't fit in our little house like our collection of over 500 movies or buckets and buckets of toys, but needless to say we have so much.

I appologize for my previous attitude. In gratitude for the things I do have I thank my Heavenly father for my abundant blessings.

Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

2010-04-27T21:45:00.001-07:00

Ever have one of those days? A day where everything goes wrong, and despite that inner voice, for some reason things still go wrong?
My day started with a clogged toilet... no one could use it because the night before some one I'm not naming names, but the one with curls put something in the toilet that prevented anything from going down it. I called the plumber who charged us almost $200 at 7:30 in the morning to unstop the potty seat. Because he couldn't come until 10, (we all needed to go.. kids jumping up and down and crying) we packed up to go to my sister's house up the road. While climbing in the van I noticed everything from our glove compartment and under seats had been pulled out and muffled through. Yeah, our van was broken into.... I guess they jimmied the locks and was looking for something... luckily nothing is missing, we don't keep anything important in there, but I feel completely violated. We have been begging our landlord to fix the bent fence that protects us from the KFC parking lot and the nearby skate park. We have had people jump the fence, and loiter around our home... very scary. Needless to say I called my landlord on my way to my sister's and told her what happened. She said that I can give our 20 day notice.... so I did. Now we are looking for a new place to live and have until May 17th to find it.
The day goes on Egan goes to school, and Evelyn and I hang at Lacey's (my sisters) until I get enough guts to go home. While searching the Internet for a new home I find nothing... my hopes are lower in finding just the right place. I get an email from etsy (this is good news) I have an order for 20 crayon roll ups! I don't have enough material, I mentally plan my trip to the store when Aaron gets home. Pick up Egan. Play with kids..,
I burn the bacon for dinner.
For some reason I have a blister on my little toe.
Aaron comes home. (more good news)
Feed the kids, and put them to bed.
It is now time to go to Joannes.. my favorite place. I can only stay a little while, in and out... or I'll spend more than necessary. I'm only in there for 20 min... on my way home the van runs out of gas on highway 500. Look in my purse... no cell phone. How I forgot it I don't know. Luckily I was close to an exit and walk about a mile to the nearest pay phone on fourth plain. Aaron isn't answering. His phone is turned off. I then walk another half mile to the nearest gas station. Its getting dark, and this area is not the best of places to be. While walking drunk man yells to his other drunk friend "Hey man, there's you next ex wife!" Terrified... I walk faster with my $10 gallon of gas (didn't have a container) that is leaking for some reason all over the place. I walk up the next block thinking there will be a connecting street to get me back to 500.. I end up on a dead end street where a few dealers are on the street looking at me funny. I smile and walk back the way I came. My good very pregnant friend Rebbecca from our previous ward now lives in a complex near by. I had checked to see if her car was there on my way up the first time with no luck. I decided to hang out at her apartment until she came home. She was home when I got there and took me to my car. When we get there the container has leaked everywhere and isn't working. After a few minutes of wiggling we get it to work. You can imagine two women on the side of a highway one very pregnant the other dense trying to poor a little gas into a van. We get it in there... but the battery has drained from the blinking hazard lights that I had left on to go get gas. Its been two and 1/2 hours since I left home... I called Aaron from Rebbecca's cell. She's the smart one and remembered hers. We drive back to the gas station call another friend to borrow cables and get more gas. Pick up cables. Rebbecca's husband has her stop home again for mace... just in case. Nice. :) We get back and fill up the tank more, and Rebbecca four wheels it in the ditch beside the freeway to connect the cables. After a few minutes the van is started and we head home. I'm laughing now, but at the time I'm praying "please keep me safe!"
So this was my terrible horrible no good very bad day... I think I'll move to Australia. Some days are like that.....
Good news of the day:... all that walking and stressing earned me just enough weight watchers points for a brownie. Aw the silver lining.

The Bag

2010-04-24T19:32:00.001-07:00

Ok, So I'm at Old Navy today, and I see this really really cute large denim Bag, but its nearly $20, and I think to my self "I can make that for less... right?" So my nice hubby drops me off at JoAnnes. (A real treat!) And low and behold denim is 50% off! I get everything I need for under $5! So excited to start my bag I rush home and come up with a pattern and whip it out in about an hour. This is a picture of the bag at old navy I took, and this is my finished product. (pockets inside too!)

Beaming and extatic about my accomplishment, I show my family who is getting ready for bed. "Hey guys, Look!"
Egan's reaction: "Wow Mom, a big ugly bag!"

Are you laughing, I hope so, telling the story feels so much better than living it. Happy Saturday. :)

Wishing on Weeds!

2010-04-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Rememer making a wish on the dandilions before you blow all the white seeds off? I taught this concept to Egan and Evelyn recently and they love it. At the "Doggie Pawk" there are tons and tons of these "bluming" all over. We went yesterday and the wishes I heard were:

"I wish for a big train engine with a new track."

"I wish to be a princess!"

Can you say "CHEESY!" ?

"I wish for a pink bear.""I wish for a ball."

Can you tell I'm loving my camera?

I made a few wishes of my own: "I wish for happy kids. Not to do dishes. And have a shopping spree at the dollar store." Guess what? I got it! :)

Can you tell?

2010-04-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

I love my dog. Here's to Puppy Love.

A Day at the Park

2010-04-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

I'm having way too much fun with my camera, so I'm gonna share a few more pics I took of my kids and their cousins. (My sister's Girls)

I decided to put my Art Works Logo on the pics, because I read somewhere that its important to protect your pictures on your blog... weird I know, but there ya go.

Egan on the chain rope.

Anica
Egan Up Close and Personal. We were eating pb&j at the picnic table there.... his hand is covering the large spot of pb on his cheek... thanks Egan.

Linnea

My crazy kids before they race down the slide.

Forgot to do Evelyn's hair before we left.... can you tell? :)

There's Something about Slumber...

2010-04-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

What is it about children sleeping that make you love them more?........

As apposed to this? .......
I love my little girly Evelyn more than all the pink on the planet. Here's to little girls!

Harry Potter Song

2010-04-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Egan came downstairs this morning singing Harry Potter. He recently decided again that its his favorite, though he says its "scary". I love showing off the talents of my fantastic kids. Enjoy!

New Camera. Crazy Kids.

2010-04-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today the kids and I had a lot of fun with my new camera. Our old one gave up the ghost, so I got a replacement. Lovin the pics. Most of them turned out silly and blurry, (due to the fact that my children can't hold still) but I got a few that turned out pretty cute.

I bribed them with candy for this one. :)

This captures my kids perfectly. So funny. Laughter even now echos upstairs in their room. (they are supposed to be sleeping)

"Cheese" that's right.... cheesy!

Pretty Girly on her Dora Bike.

Egan building blocks.

Best friends.

I did some photo shop on this one. Took this on our backyard fence. Lovin the bright colors.

My favorite. I call it Curiosity.

I can't give the camera all the credit.... my kids are the cutest kids on the earth. :)

My Favorite things

2010-04-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Took a picture while sitting on the couch with the "kids" the other day. Gotta love Toes and Puppy Dogs. A few of my favorite things.

And while I'm saying a few, I'll list a few more.

In no particular order:

Lucky Charms

Chubby Bums

Blue Eyes

Jesus Christ

Soft Fur

Clean House

Welcome Signs

Full Tummy

Anything Jane Austen

College Football

Giggles

The sound of Rain

Mint Ice cream

The smell of Fresh Bread

Card Games

The Ocean

Holidays/Birthdays

Rich Dark Colors

Clearance Sales

Full Moons

Butterfly Kisses

Bath and Body works Lotions

Golf

The Internet

Orange Roses with Red Tips

Slippers

Date Nights

A happy Hubby

Inspirational quotes

Love notes

Onion Rings

Joanne's fabric store

Green Green Trees

A Goal Accomplished

Bed Time

(I invite all to make a list this spring, it would be nice to get to know all my fellow bloggers a bit better!)

Evelyn's View of Edward.

2010-03-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

My wonderful Hubby got me this poster for Christmas. (He knows me so well.) I appropriately hung it in my closet. (it would be kindof freaky to walk in on Edward staring at you whenever you walked into the room)

A few days ago my closet door was open and Edward was visable. I was getting Evelyn dressed on my bed and she looked over and said:

"Who is that mommy?"

"Thats Edward Cullen, Evelyn! Isn't he cute?" Of course I smiled and giggled.. hopeing she would agree with me.

"He's Mad, Mommy!"

"And cute?"

"Um... no."

Unfortunately my little one doesn't have my same tastes.. perhaps she's a Jacob fan. =)

Quigly's Getting Big!

2010-03-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Extremely cuddly, fiercely loyal, and crazy wild. Our Quigly is getting big. A few weekends ago we took him to get altered (poor boy) and he weighed in at 22lbs. He's almost full grown! He insists on sleeping in our room with us by my side of the bed. Sweet dog. He protects me on my runs in our not so safe neighborhood. (His bark is scary and hurts the ears when he barks, luckily not too frequently.) And he herds the kids so they don't go too far all the time. I can say, "Go get Egan, and he'll go find him where ever he is.

I have yet to take him to a public place where someone doesn't ask me what kind of dog he is and what beautiful coloring he has. He is a perfect fit for our crazy family and we love him.

My amazing Kids Playing Jenga!

2010-03-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a lazy afternoon after church and decided to make cookies and play a game.

(Ever make No bake cookies and add butterscotch chips to em? We also add cocoa puffs for extra crunch. So good!)

Here is our new family favorite game...

"How do you play such a sensitive game with two wild kids who normally cannot hold still" you ask? My answer... "I haven't the slightest idea how... but my kids 'got skills!

Here is the box recommendation: ages 8 to adult.. for those of you who are wondering my kid's exact ages.. Egan 4 Evelyn 3

Egan a master at finding just the right piece.

Evelyn the queen and placing them back on top.

Pulling it out from behind... Mind you.. we did not help them.. and this tower is made from the four of us playing... guess who lost... Me!

Evelyn shows amazing concentration I had never seen before.

Perfect placement. I guess playing with blocks pays off.

I love to brag about my kids.

Karate! "DAIA"

2010-03-15T11:48:00.001-07:00

We decided it was time to channel the immense amount of energy coming out of our little boy. Aaron stuck in Karate Kid a few weeks ago and Egan found his new favorite thing. Couldn't stop talking about it, and trying to do the moves. I looked into and apparently Karate teaches self discipline, respect, courtesy, honesty, perseverance, patience, integrity, along with defense and fun. It was a no brainer.... So I found a great school, Egan had his first class one on one with a black belt teacher named Ray. Here are a few pictures!

Bowing..

Ray said Egan is amazing, has great control and focus for someone his size and age. I'm lovin his short little legs in this one.

Hands up! Ray said when he punches/knees/kicks he should yell "DAIA"

We've been hearing that around the house ever since..

Egan has taken to Karate like a duck to water. I'm so excited for him!

Egan starts his group classes the end of March. Fun Fun.

Evelyn will be taking a Dance camp this fall... Stay tuned for pictures of her!

Side splitting conversations

2010-03-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

We were sitting in the car driving this weekend, (the most common place to chat with the kids) Egan and Aaron were talking.. this is how it went:

Egan - "Your so funny daddy!"

Aaron - "I know, what can I say?"

Egan - "Hmm you can say ... Pony!"

Aaron - "Pony? Okay, Pony! Pony Cow!"

Egan - "Not Pony Cow daddy! Its a Horse!

Here is pic of Egan I took with my phone today. Silly Boy!

Get this... Our third child Quigly has decided that the old baby car seat is the place to sit in the van when we go places.. Here is a picture proving my dogs safety skills.

Quote of the Day

2010-03-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

I overheard a conversation my kids were having the other day. This is classic Egan and Evelyn.

Egan: "I'm Batman!"

Evelyn: "I'm Pink Batman!"

Egan: "No Ebewyn, your a Princess!"

I Love my Kids.

On the side Crafting Fun

2010-03-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, I love to make stuff, sometimes my crafts don't come out very good at all, but this time, I think I hit a home run. (according to my supportive doteing husband, thanks Aaron)
I was messing around with an idea I had seen, and I came up with Crayon Roll Ups.
Here is part of the add I put on my Etsy account:

The Crayon roll up is made with machine washable bright flannel (green and blue jungle animals), and will bring hours of precious enjoyment. The design is fun and easy for all ages to roll with the elastic strap and large button. 3X6 when rolled, a perfect size to fit in your purse or diaper bag.

I have several pre-made and ready for shipment, though I can make custom crayon roll ups to fit your spacific needs (colors size etc.). The Crayon Roll up comes with 16 new crayons to fit in the 16 slots, ready to gift!
Perfect for a gift (or easter basket stuffer), or just for fun, your little one will love their Crayon Roll Up! $5.50 Link

Let me know whatcha think!

Egan's Quote of the day.

2010-02-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

So we were having family home evening:

"You are special Egan" said mommy.

"Yep, 'cus I'm Heavenly Father's Kid!" declared Egan.

In Tribute to 8 Years

2010-02-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Its hard to believe I've been married to this wonderful man for 8 years tomorrow. Here is a small tribute to our life together. I love you Aaron, my sweetheart, my everything.

The beginning. Engagement picture taken in the Winter of 2002. (Compare this picture with the one at the end of the post.)

Weren't we hot? My engagement favorite.

The Engagement Picture we used for our announcement. Our theme: A night on the Oregon coast with Lighthouses. We had glass bottles with "teach me to walk in the light" lyrics message in them for center pieces. We had the biggest best devils food chocolate covered strawberries cake. To this day when I smell strawberries it takes me back to our reception and that happy day.

We took pictures outside the temple for 2 hours. It was of course the middle of February in Utah. Totally cold!!!! Every 10 minutes I had to stick my hands in Aaron's jacket to warm them.

Of course we enjoyed ourselves despite the cold. So happy to be married for Eternity in the Mt. Tempanogos Temple.

We were married right smack dab in the middle of the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics. After our reception that night we were leaving for our honey moon and while passing down town, fireworks were going off high in the air from the stadium we saw it as a perfect send off.

A little over 3 years later we were blessed to get a sweet little boy we named Egan Ray (Little Red Fire) that we were able to adopt....

and seal to us for eternity!

Not too long after that... in fact only months we were stunned to be placed with a feisty little girl we named Evelyn Jean (Precious Gift)

and sealed her to us as well for eternity!

We moved to the northwest In October 2007. To be closer to my family. Thank you Aaron, I know that is a sacrifice for you.

We've enjoyed 2 1/2 years in the northwest. Aaron finished his degree. Now has a great job while I am blessed to stay home with the kids. Don't get me wrong, we've had trials, but our blessings are abundant. Our future is bright with big goals to work for.

We enjoy all the fun times.

I will always love you my hubby.....

Beyond the eternities. Here's to eight wonderful years!

Anniversary Gift Pictures!

2010-02-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

Aaron and I decided for our Anniversary we wanted professional pictures taken of the family. We hadn't gotten to even wal-mart for cheap ones since Evelyn was a baby. We were all due for some. I have a good friend Leah, in our old ward who is an amazing photographer. We went to an old school house downtown Vancouver and had a great time on Saturday. Here are the preview pictures she posted on her blog. http://www.leahremilletblog.com/

If you go to her blog and make a comment we get free prints! Take a look and have some pictures done yourself! She really is awesome.

Family

Evelyn Beautiful.

How she does it I don't know, Evelyn has never liked her picture taken, and I rarely if ever get a good one. She is so adorable in this one! Perfectly captures the sweet Evelyn we know and love!

Here are a few of Aaron and I.

Egan Loved posing and doing exactly as she said. Perfect little model boy.

The kids had so much fun. Of course I was standing to the side bribing with fruit snacks.

Quigly had fun too! Here are a few candid pictures of Egan and Quigly.

Thanks so much Leah for an amazing experience!

Quote of the day

2010-01-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know Evelyn know that she doesn't speak much, but when she does talk, she means it. Today Evelyn said a full sentance while playing with Quigly: "Puppy, I told you.. Quit eating my brother!"

Adorable.

Trauma at the Mall

2010-01-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

So yesterday the kids and I were in the mall, mommy was returning library books long overdue, and looking in on a few sales. Next to the food court is Egans biggest fear: a huge bathroom full of scary toilets that go off automatically, with chrome walls. Next to them, is a single "family bathroom" with changing tables etc. After playing in the mall's play area for about 20 minutes Egan announces "I need to go potty mommy, can we go to the little potty upstairs?" He must really need to go I thought to myself, so we went up to try it. We went into the family bathroom and discovered the toilet had been changed for an automatic one. Hoping he wouldn't figure it out, I helped him with his pants and stood him in front of it. Evelyn knew exactly what she was doing, and walked over to the toilet before I could stop her and touched the sensor immediately starting the flushing. This toilet was new and had an extreme amount of noise and pressure pulling the water down. My children both screamed so hard and long the emergency light went on and a lady on the intercom asked if there was an emergency. I ignored her of course trying to calm my children and get Egan's pants back on. We were greeted by the mall security and escorted out of the bathrooms when we emerged from the the little room meant to be helpful for parents. I think this puts Egan back a few years with going potty in public places, getting him to go potty anywhere other than home is always a battle. I also think Evelyn has learned her lesson with keeping her hands to herself, she was nearly as scared as he was.

I told my husband what happened at the dinner table later that night, he laughed so hard he nearly fell off his seat. I guess that's all you can do.... laugh.

Happy New Year! Lovin Family and Happy Times!

2010-01-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

We headed up to the reservation to visit with my family for new years. We had a great time playing games and enjoying the company. The kids especially love "Grammies" house because all their aunts and uncles are there, Uncle Macki, Seth, Jaron, MoJo, Cameron, and of Course Auntie Olivia. Auntie Olivia took these great pictures of them while we were there. I love this one! Here is a funny one. They all liked to make silly faces.. Evelyn has a blue juice mustach. Sooo adorable.
Auntie "Owieaa" with Evelyn.
Aunti "Owibia" with Egan.

So happy to play.

Thank you Olivia for the pics, and for being such a good friend to the kids. We love you!

The newest member of our family!

2010-01-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

So Aaron and I had a deal before everything happened that if he got a job before the end of the year, I would get a puppy. (I helped him with the searching and applying process) I've been begging for a dog for a long while, and the circumstances just hadn't been right. Aaron landed a perfect job and started work on the 28th of December! So, I started up my research again to find just the right dog. I started looking at the humane society, wanting to adopt a puppy in need, but I couldn't find the right fit. I wanted a dog for a running partner, protector, and family friend to cuddle with that wasn't too big, but not too small.

I put an add on craigslist explaining our families needs, and I got an email from a breeder in Oregon city. She had pure breed Australian Blue/Red Heelers. I hadn't heard of the breed really before, and did some research after seeing the adorable puppy pictures she sent. I found out that the Heelers are cattle dogs that herd cows (and people at times). They are extremely loyal, intelligent and adorable. A perfect fit for our family, not to mention an extremely good deal (1/3 of the value, we paid very little.) The mother is blue (a grey/black that looks blue) and the father is a red (orangy blonde). So our dog is red and blue (patriotic right?) And since he's Australian, we decided on the name Quigly after the american cowboy in Australia, Love that movie. It fits our little puppy perfectly.

Quigly is so adorable with his toys. At nine weeks old, he can allready play fetch.

Egan and Quigly are allready close friends, (as long as Egan isn't teasing him.)

Quigly spends a good majority of his time on my lap. I love it!

You can see his adorable white tipped tale with a orange spot at the base. Check out the mix of Blue and red! Heelers don't have their full colors until they are almost full grown. When they are born, they are all white and develop their spots later, like dalmations.

sweet puppy.

There are two little boy heelers left in Oregon city. Give me a call and I'll hook ya up! =)

Christmas Morning!

2010-01-04T14:36:00.001-08:00

We had an abundantly blessed Christmas thanks to all our wonderful friends in the Meadows ward and family. We were given so many toys for the kids that we don't have enough room to store them. Ah.. the blessings of tithing! Here are a few of our Christmas morning pictures.

Evelyn opening her stocking found lots of fun little stuffed toys.

"Chocoyate Monies!"

Egan got a glove and soft baseball.. nothing broken yet as a result.

Pretty Princess get up.

"SpongeBob Skate board!"

Ponies!

Egan had two trainsets donated to him for Christmas... what fun!

Our hearts are full and so thankful for all our blessing this holiday season, especially for our Savior in whom we celebrate. Thank you all for everything.

Christmas Gifts

2010-01-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

We were on a tight budget this year like most people, and I decided to paint a picture for family this year.

This one I kept, saved as an extra incase I forgot someone. =)

These three cardinals went to Grandma Hill

The duck on the water went to My Dad and Lonna. The orange colors match their home.

The little bird on a shovel went to my Mom.

This cardinal went to my mother in-law Diana.

Snow in Utah!

2010-01-04T14:09:00.001-08:00

The kids were so excited to see snow when we got to Utah. They spent a good amount of time playing in grandma and grandpa Harward's back yard.

Happy 31st to Aaron!

2010-01-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

We were able to go down to Utah to visit Aaron's family for the Holidays. Aaron got to spend his birthday with all his family. He had his favorite pizza from papa murphys. (BBQ chicken) His mom even made a a yummy chocolate cake with 31 candles! Lots of fun.

Chistmas Clothes

2009-12-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

To my dismay we lost the Christmas dress and vest were lost. I made these for pictures and a festive Sunday. I had just finished them a few days before the fire. They were covered in the filmy soot, but downstairs. The dry cleaners brought them back to me "unsalvagable" still smelling and discolored. Here are the before pictures. Evelyn would have looked wonderful and Egan so debonair.

You can't tell from the pictures but the lining was black and the ribbon was sparkly silver. Under the dress, there was another puffy layer of tulle. The back buttoned with silver buttons.

I had just washed Evelyn's Easter dress, you can see coming out of the basket. Unfortunately this was obviously lost as well. I have not been able to take Pictures or send out Christmas cards. I am apologizing for my negligence. Maybe we'll send out new year cards. =)

Hero Daddy

2009-12-07T10:34:00.001-08:00

Aaron was burned a bit from grabbing Evelyn off the top bunk, this is the day after.. His hair was singed everywhere, he lost half of his left eyebrow, his face was burned like a sunburn, his upper lip, tip of his nose and the top of his left ear got burns. A few days before I burned my hand on the stove, and my burn is still healing, but Aaron's are now completely gone. Another blessing.

Fire Damage Pics

2009-12-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of the long awaited pictures of our house fire aftermath. Just finally got our computers and Internet back. Enjoy. =)

Our beloved upstairs smoke detector. Thank You.

Smoke and water damage in the upstairs bathroom.
Yuckiness dripping from upstairs.

Debris thrown outside from the kid's bedroom. Evelyn's strawberry shortcake dolly. Below the dolly on the bottom is their tv... crazy melted.

The food storage in the kid's closet survived. Though for safety reasons, they said for us to get rid of everything in the bedroom and bathroom.

The kid's bedroom door, luckily was open at the time of the fire. Their doorknob at the time was broken and when shut was very hard to open.

You can see the outline of where their bed was.

Everything in the house was covered in a filmy residue from the smoke, most everything upstairs was not savable including our washer and dryer (right next to the kid's room). Downstairs, nearly everything is save able, but has to go through a rigorous cleaning process. We are slowly getting our things delivered as they get cleaned. We have been greatly taken care of by our ward family and family in the area, so all our needs are met. We our continually counting our many blessings.

House Fire!

2009-11-24T21:05:00.000-08:00

So, I'll tell the story how it happened, this way I can refer everyone who asks "what happened?" to my blog and get tons of traffic. =) Gruesome pictures of our mess soon to come. (camera issues)
Early Sunday morning we heard Egan get up and go to the bathroom, he was in there about 30 seconds, and went back to bed. (Normal Happening) He left the bathroom light on, and went to turn it off. (has nothing to do with the story besides I was a little awake) About 5 minutes later our smoke alarms go off, and I see light coming from the kid's bedroom. I run in to the room and Egan is standing looking at a huge fire on the bottom bunk of their bed that is rapidly crawling to the blankets on the floor by the door. I scream "There's a fire! Evelyn?!" Evelyn is still asleep on the top bunk. Aaron is right behind me, and jumps in to grab Evelyn (the smoke was so thick that he had to wave his arms over the bed to find her) and we all ran down stairs. My mother had stayed the night the night before due to a storm up in her area, she was in town watching the beloved werewolf movie with me (I'm sure you all know what awesome movie I'm talking about). She grabbed a blanket and her bag and covered the kids up while handing me her cell phone. Aaron grabbed the fire extinguisher and went upstairs, he quickly came back down stairs, "Its too hot!" We were then outside in the rain without shoes or anything. Stupid me, I went and grabbed my coat and purse by the door. We waited what felt like forever, but really only 3 minutes for the firemen to show up with our neighbors who we woke up at 7 in the morning. 2 Fire trucks and an ambulance came, (Egan wasn't as excited to see the firemen this time) They got the fire out quick, and we waited while they aired it out, and pulled up carpet and threw all the burned stuff from the kids' bedroom out the window. We were able to grab just a few things like shoes and purses quickly. The paramedics checked us out and recommended that we head to the emergency room right away. Evelyn had singed hair on her head and up her nose. Aaron has a burned lip and like sunburn over his face. All of his hair on top got singed, half of an eyebrow is gone, but he is fine. Because I was emotional and freaking out a bit they put me on oxygen and monitored my stats for a bit. The kids were in a separate room, but with my mom. Thanks mom! We were there only a short while and were able to make phone calls to our ward and family as well as insurance. Luckily we have invested in renters insurance for the last 8 years of marriage and have a great policy that covers us. Almost instantly we were blessed by the wonderful people in our ward and our great family. We are now staying with my dad about 20 minutes from our house. By the time we were showered and in my dad's pjs our insurance guy had shown up to give us info and support. We were also visited by a fire marshal who is investigating the fire. She was able to talk to Egan about what happened and we found out that he had taken a match from the bathroom.. (I had them there for a candle for you know what purpose) and had stuck the match in the electrical socket immediately starting a fire. If it had not been for the 3 alarms that went off, we would not have gotten up in time. I had fallen back asleep, and had it been 30 seconds later, Evelyn would not have survived. I want to stress now check your smoke alarms.. make sure they are working. So important. The fire marshal told us that she had 3 fires that night, and we were the only ones without a casualty because we had a smoke detector. Egan now has to take an age appropriate class at the fire department so he can understand the importance of fire safety. Fun fun. =)
We have been sorting through our stuff with tons of people in and out of our house going through our things, taking pictures, and asking questions. There are insurance guys, tech cleaners, clothes and linens cleaners, furniture cleaners, construction workers, movers and packers, owners and landlords all over, in our messy house looking at everything. Everything is covered with a sooty black mess that needs to be cleaned. Our insurance provides a service where all your stuff gets packed up and cleaned in a warehouse and then packed and delivered to your new residence. They do it all. They will let us know what can be saved and what can't. We have been there the last two days taking inventory of everything we know is gone, and helping all these people sort through our mess. Fun crazy times.
Our ward family brought us dinner Sunday night, and bags and bags of donations of clothes and bathroom items for our family. We are still receiving wonderful gifts that overwhelm us and warm our hearts and what seems like unlimited free babysitting! We plan to pass this spirit of service along, and never forget the lesson learned of what is most important: Family and Friends, kindness and service, health and safety, the gospel and our Heavenly father. I am truly thankful for all of my many blessings this Thanksgiving Holiday season. Thank you all for your prayers and kindness in our behalf.

Halloween!

2009-11-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

Halloween came and we enjoyed it!

This first picture is the pattern I picked up on sale for the kid's costumes. Egan had the black cape with the hood for his Harry Potter Costume. Evelyn begged and begged for the pink thing in the top left. I wanted to make the bottom right.....

So we compromised. Isn't she cute? When people asked her what she was "I'm a Pink Witch!"

I let Egan play with his costume for a few weeks before Halloween, and his glasses didn't really survive it. I gave them each a chopstick for their wands. I crouched Egan's scarf, and actually made myself a Ravenclaw scarf and hat.

Egan casting his spells "Redicorous!"

Evelyn all ready anticipating a full pumpkin.

The kids Got a TON of candy. We separated and checked out each piece, and then refilled the buckets with a piece of each kind (probably half full) and hid the rest for another day. We gave the kids their buckets and let them have at whatever they wanted. Told them they could eat whatever, or save it for later. "You'll get sick if you eat it all right now"

The common theme we heard that night "one more piece." Needless to say, both kids didn't sleep too well, and had "tummy hakes" in the morning. Here is a picture of Evelyn crashed on the couch after her sugar rush the previous night. I'm hoping next year they will remember their "tummy hakes". Only Egan has asked for more "just one piece" of candy since that night. Evelyn wont have anything to do with it. Funny Kids.

Ignore the mommy on the left. No makeup!

Pumpkins

2009-11-03T10:18:00.001-08:00

We Carved Pumpkins a few days before Halloween and the kids enjoyed it this year. (Last year they didn't want to touch the insides. This year it was a huge mess!)

Pretty Girl with her Happy Face Pumpkin. (She drew on the pumpkin and mommy cut it out)

Egan cleaning out his Pumpkin. He said he wanted it "scawey mad".

All done. Had to take this picture a zillion times... they didn't want to look at me at the same time. Both smiles by that time were a bit forced. =)

All Lit up. Finished!

Kids say the cutest things!

2009-10-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Egan this morning was trying to unbutton his pj shirt and couldn't get one undone. I was watching him and he suddenly said "Goodness sakes, I can't take my shirt off!"
I love when he talks like a little adult. Coming out of the teeny person he is, it's so funny!

News

2009-10-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

Our most recent news that we have decided to keep secret until now is that Aaron's department, well the entire building, is being laid off. Ferguson Enterprises has had their profits cut down by almost half in the last 3 years. So they are transferring all the admin work to their national office in Newport News Virginia. Aaron was offered an opportunity to transfer and work in Virginia. We have prayed about it and it isn't the right thing. It did however open our minds to the possibility of moving for job opportunities. We are currently looking into areas like Salt Lake City, Seattle, and of course Portland/Vancouver. Right now, Oregon and California are tied in third place for highest unemployment in the nation so the competition is fierce where we are. We ask for our friends and family to keep their eyes and ears open to job opportunities where they are, winner gets us as neighbors! Aaron has a double major in Business Finance and Marketing, has excellent working knowledge of Excel, Quickbooks, Office among other things. He has 8 years customer service experience and most recently worked as an A/P Admin Specialist. I can email his resume to anyone who would like it. Thank you for all your support.
Here is a favorite pic of Virginia... I would have loved the lighthouses!

Family Reunion

2009-10-06T09:49:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we were able to stay at a lodge at Mt. Rainier with my Dad, Step mom and most all the kids between them. Most of their kids have kids, so it was wild! so many little ones everywhere. Needless to say my kids had a blast with all their cousins. Here is Evelyn holding hands playing ring around the rosy with her cousin Jazlynn.

Family Picture outside on the porch. My dad and Lonna made us all matching shirts with our names on them for the reunion and for pictures that day. So fun to be matching.

Here is a group picture of the kids on my Dad's side and their kids. Harmony and I with our husbands and kiddos. While waiting for all the cameras to click the kids yelled a continuous "cheeeeeeeeeeesssseee" Its a good thing they weren't video cameras. he he.

"Haweee Pottow"

2009-10-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

There have been so many projects this September. Here are a few that I got pictures of.

My grandpa has plum trees and he gave me a bunch of plums the last time we were down, I was able to successfully can several jars of plums and make a bunch of plum jam just like my Gramamom made. Yummy

For a lesson in my beehive class, we were studying Daniel and the Lions Den, I made lion cupcakes for the girls to tame. Fun Fun.

And my most favorite project of September.... Egan's new favorite thing is Harry Potter. Of course he has only seen the first 2 and doesn't get to see the scary parts, but he is obsessed with watching harry and his wand. He has been pretending he is Harry for a while now, so we plan on having him be Harry for Halloween.. I crocheted a Griffandore scarf, and made glasses out of electrical tape, toilet paper roll and silk flower stems. The wand he has is a twig from our tree out back. I have yet to make his cloak and we've decided that chopsticks are a little safer wands. I promise to post the pictures of our Halloween fun.

There is so much more to post, but so little time or ability to remember and just do it. The kids are getting bigger, and continue to say and do crazy things. I will make a better effort to post in the future!

Camera Batteries Dead

2009-09-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

So sorry to all of you who follow this blog...
My camera has some cute pictures of us taken recently, but the batteries died! I need to get to the store and get some, every time I go somehow I forget. If your patient you'll see pics of my rapidly growing kids, my shrinking self (on a diet) and the ever adorable Aaron. There will also be more on the dress blog I made a new dress, and a bunch of cute little boy ties!

What Happened to August?

2009-09-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

Its hard to believe an entire month went by with very little to announce. We just have spent a very busy summer together.
We have one piece of silly information, and that is Evelyn is officially taller than Egan. We had our Dr. appointments this month, fortunately we are all healthy. Egan was measured and remeasured by both the Dr. and his assistant, consistently coming up with just 37 inches. Poor Kid. Evelyn came up with 37 1/2 inches. Though he is the shorter of the two, he weighs 5 pounds more. Hefty boy. I constantly get at the grocery store or where ever I end up, "What cute twins you have". Of course I don't go into any details with strangers and just nod and say "Yes I know". Like all mothers, I'm completely biased and think my children far outdo every other child in the cuteness category.
Among other news, I've taken on the task of blogging and helping my dad's website become a leader on the web. Feel free to take a look at his blog Canopy Comfort. I've been called to teach as the Beehive advisor in our ward, and am loving it.
We are looking forward to a nice fall, holidays and fun events. Egan said just yesterday "When is Santa coming mommy?"

Darth Vader Came to the Party!

2009-07-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Darth Vader came to visit Egan for his party. I asked him before hand if he wanted him to come, and he was so excited to see Darth Vader, but when the moment happened he got a little scared. Luckily he's not too tramatized. Darth Vader was played by my dear friend Rebbecca's Husband Kent. Thanks guys!

Singing Happy Birthday to Egan

2009-07-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

It took him a while to blow out the candles. But he did it all by himself! What a big boy!

Egan's Birthday!!!!!!

2009-07-29T10:25:00.001-07:00

Egan had is 4th Birthday! Be prepared tons and tons of pictures! Of course we had a Star wars themed party because it just happens to be Egan's favorite thing right now. Here is Egan wearing one of his "Party Hats" obviously a Darth Vader mask. The table cloth had 3d characters and spaceships on it so when you wore the mask, or 3d glasses it was neat. Egan opening his presents with his aunt and uncles. Pay no attention to the chunky lady next to him. We played pin the light saber on Luke Skywalker. Evelyn is so funny when she's dizzy. Just a few of the zillion star wars toys Egan got. (taken the morning after) Thanks to everyone for donating to his ever growing toy pile. Car sets, dinosaurs, toy tools, books, and homemade head gear were also part of the hysteria. So, I spent a long time planning for this cake. I tried to make the cake look like a spaceship cut in half horizontally. I colored, cut, and laminated cardboard pieces for the "wings?" The cake was chocolate fudge with a cherry filling and just plain vanilla frosting. I used a little chocolate frosting for decoration. I got on Ebay and found these great figurines for a deal. They originally came from Disneyland and were still in the package. Included in the package was of course Darth Vader, R2, C3p0, a star trooper, a bounty hunter, chewie, an Ewok and of course Yoda. In planning for the pinata, I made a star ship like the one Luke Skywalker flies. Unfortunately the whole thing was made with card board and extremely solid, so... I made a death star out of just paper mache and a balloon. Egan Loves the "space ship" Its still holding strong. Its amazing what you can make with paper mache and a little paint.
Egan before the party got there admiring his neat cake.

Charming Cherries!

2009-07-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

I made the cutest dresses and accessories ever! Take a look on my dress blog!

Evelyn's Missionaries

2009-07-02T15:33:00.001-07:00

We've recently had the missionaries over for dinner a few times (we're lucky, our ward has our own set!)These elders are great hard working young men, and we enjoy having them over. Evelyn has decided these young men are one of her favorite things. Though she acts shy and timid when they are here she talks about them all the time. The other night when Aaron left to do splits with the missionaries I was left to put the kids to bed by myself and this is how my conversation went with 3 year old Evelyn:
"Is Daddy at work?"
"No, Honey, he went with the missionaries, he'll come home and give you a kiss later."
"Missionaries coming?"
"We'll see them again another day, Good night."
"I want the missionaries! I want a kiss!"
"I'll give you one, and Daddy will be home soon."
"No Mommy I want to kiss the missionaries!"

What could I say to that? As a teenager, I admit I tried my darnedest to flirt with the poor missionaries in our area.
After laughing a bit and giving her a few kisses I simply said, "Sweetheart, we can't kiss the missionaries. When your older you can marry one when they come home. Mommy did."
Cross your fingers she isn't planning her wedding. =)

Pretty Perfect Precious Purse

2009-07-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

I made a fun new purse for Evelyn and am selling these on my site and blog as well.

Hair Cut!

2009-06-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

I gonna be vain for just one post. I asked around in my ward to see if there was anyone who could cut hair in exchange for a massage. My hair hasn't been cut in almost 2 years, and not professionally cut for much longer. It was all the same length down to the middle of my back. SO heavy and boring! I got a response from a WONDERFUL lady in my ward who works with Evelyn in the Nursery. She came over today and did an AMAZING Job! I love it! I don't think I've looked this cute in... Ever. Thanks Marla Sharp!
I took all these silly pictures myself.. (what am I gonna do? Have Egan do it. he he)

Driving without a license

2009-06-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

On our trip to Tahola the kids had a blast playing with their aunts and uncles. In Tahola (an Indian reservation) regular federal laws can be overlooked and ignored, this not only happens with the natives, but with my crazy family too. I have proof of a minor driving without a license. (Uncle Malachi or Mackie)

Egan was overcome with peer pressure and gave into the temptation. By the end of the 3days he could drive it himself without running over anyone. Of course he is thrilled.