Growing Up Skye

Two Months

2012-01-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby boy is already two months old today! It has gone by WAY too fast. He's already changed so much. Our little chubbers is just that--so chubby! And cute! He weighs 13 pounds, 4 ounces, in the 84th percentile and is 23 1/2 inches long in the 72nd percentile. So he's a lot bigger than Skye who wasn't even quite 13 pounds at 3 months (see why I call him chubbers?!), but then he was also a lot bigger than her when he was born.

Jack is a pretty good baby, though he does love to be held, demands to be held. That's okay because I love holding him! He's started smiling and he even laughed yesterday. He has started "talking" a little more, but still prefers to grunt most of the time--such a boy already! One of his favorite places is his diaper changing table. He can be crying like mad and as soon as he's put down on the changing table, his face lights up and he smiles away--just staring at the white wall next to him! He's sleeping better at night, still wakes up twice usually, but is quite unpredictable during the day. Most of the time he takes short 20-30 minute naps, but every once in awhile, he surprises me by taking 1-2 hour naps. Silly boy. And we love him!

Isn't he the cutest?! I love this cute dress shirt onesie. And I love my baby boy so much! Oh, I already mentioned that, huh!

Christmas 2011...Nearly a Month Later!!!

2012-01-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last post, it sure is a lot harder to blog now. So I'm finally getting Christmas pictures on here! Skye really got spoiled this Christmas, first at my parent's house.

Here's their cute, little Christmas tree--a lot easier to set up and decorate!

And here's our Christmas tree! After having a bad experience with a live tree last year, we decided to just spend the money and get a fake one. I think it's very nice and really like it.

Skye also got spoiled by Santa--here are the presents he left for her!

Skye got a reindeer toy (name Rani) as a white elephant gift at a Christmas party a few years ago. This year on her Christmas list to Santa, she wanted a reindeer friend for Rani. And he delivered!

She then got spoiled by my sister and brother-in-law with this HUGE present.

This is what was inside. Of course, Skye was quite excited since she loves horses so much. She named her Ginger and I'll get video of her riding it soon.

Finally, she got a little spoiled by us, too!

Skye with all of her presents.

This is how Jack spent his first Christmas--just hanging out, sleeping, and...

eating! He did not get spoiled. But what do you expect as a one-month-old?! He was spoiled when he was born!

Here's Skye in her Christmas dress by the Christmas tree just before going to church.

Oh, and did I mention that I got spoiled, too? I know the picture ended up blurry, but I had to put it on anyway. Lance got me this wonderful, new laptap for Christmas and I LOVE it!!!! Thanks, Bandit! It was a really great Christmas!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

2012-01-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

I've discovered blogging is a lot harder when you have two kids, one of which doesn't nap anymore and the other of which only naps if he's being held. I swear I will get Christmas pictures on here soon, but I just wanted to say that my Christmas present to Lance was tickets to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We went Wednesday night. Are they everything they're hyped up to be? Yes, and even more! It was amazing! One of the best shows/concerts I have ever seen! The music was amazing, the effects were absolutely spectacular! I love being a part of things like that!

This is not a picture we took--it's one I found on the internet. There's my disclaimer!

Family Pictures

2011-12-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, we had family pictures taken. Of course Jack woke up right before and was hungry, so it was quite a trick getting him to cooperate and look good for them. He looks kind of funny in the one of the whole family, but the rest of us look good!

A big sister loving her little brother!

Skye always looks good for pictures. It's so unfair! She's so photogenic, knows how to pose, and loves all the attention put on her. She could probably be a model!

And this was my favorite one of our little guy! He really is quite cute!

One Month Already

2011-12-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was Jack's one month birthday. It's crazy how slow and fast time seems to go. In a way, it seems like he's been a part of our family forever, but at the same time, it seems just yesterday that I had him. I took these first two pictures on his "birthday."

Here are some more pictures of our cute, little guy!

So precious!

I can't believe how much he's changed already. He's still a very good baby, though a little more demanding than the first week or two we had him. He used to do just fine hanging out in his bouncy chair, being ignored for long periods of time, but now he's more likely to put up a stink if you don't hold him a lot!

Another yawing picture!

He's still a grunter, though. He doesn't make the cute, high pitched cooing noises that I remember so often from Skye--he just grunts! Totally a boy!

I had to get a picture of him in this cute outfit my friend, Kara, got for him.

Skye was quite excited about him wearing this tie-dye onesie that was hers as a baby (given to us by my good friend, Jessica!). She calls it the rainbow shirt!

I may have already written this in another post, but I honestly was so nervous about having a boy and really struggled with it my whole pregnancy. But now that we have our Jack-Jack, I can't believe I could have wanted anything but him! I love having my boy!

2011-12-21T11:32:00.002-07:00

Here are videos of Skye performing at the Festival of Trees. Doesn't she look cute waving and waiting to begin? She did sooooo good this year--definitely better than last year. She loves singing, performing, and being in the spotlight.

2011-12-21T08:56:00.010-07:00

This is probably my favorite one because she does such a good job acting surprised and excited about the teddy bear Santa has left for Christmas. I just LOVE the expression she gives! She's quite the little actress!

2011-12-21T08:39:00.003-07:00

She's got a solo in this one. You can't hear it that good, but even though she got up there a little late, she actually sang her part really well. I'm amazed at how far she has come. When she was younger, singing simply meant using a very high pitched voice. That was how she sang everything. It was actually really cute, but eventually she realized it wasn't how to sing. Last year she sang everything on pretty much the same note. While she certainly isn't perfect, she's much better at actually staying on key and knows how to sing from one note to the next. It's so much fun and so amazing to see how your kids grow and progress!

Gingerbread Houses Not for Eating

2011-12-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

The gingerbread houses at the Festival of Trees is one of my favorite parts. Here are some of my favorite ones.

Is Flynn climbing Rapunzel's hair or hanging from it?

Skye was happy to see Maximus, though I don't remember him having a purple bridle and saddle in the movie.

There were a few beehives it seems like, but this was my favorite one.

This castle was really big and really cool!

Yep, that's a gingerbread outhouse!

The Weasley's burrow--pretty creative!

It's That Time Again!

2011-12-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

It's Sunshine time again! Skye's first performance for the Christmas season was at the light parade in Kaysville. There were a few cool floats, but there were only a few floats period. It was actually a pretty pathetic parade.

But at least we got to see Skye!

Of course, one of the best performances is at the Festival of the Trees. Last year, these two spent most of the time throwing glitter at each other, but luckily, they've both grown up a little bit and did really well singing and performing this time!

Skye sang so well! We were so proud of her.

One of their songs is about getting a teddy bear from Santa.

So cute! I'll be adding some video soon!

After their performance, we took some time to look around at the Christmas trees. There were a lot of Up themed things there. I thought this tree was really cool!

Enjoying some chocolate milk on Papa's lap!

I wanted to get a family photo while we were there and this is the tree Skye wanted us to stand in front of.

We also liked this Snoopy themed tree.

Skye also had fun participating in some of the crafts.

What a cute little reindeer!

Thankful

2011-12-06T14:04:00.001-07:00

After life starts to settle down again after going through a natural disaster, you have a little time to ponder the things you're thankful for--like this little guy! It's amazing how much he has changed in just two and a half weeks. Like I swear he only has half as much hair now as he had when he came into the world!

Today Lance said he's no longer a newborn; he's a baby now. I think he meant that for the first week at least, pretty much all Jack did was sleep and eat. He was an extremely mellow, mild thing who was content to just sit and stare without a care in the world. Now, it's harder to get him to sleep, he cries more, he's not as content to be left alone but wants to be held more, he was a very quiet baby and while he still doesn't "talk" much, he sure does grunt a lot, especially at night when he's sleeping. It almost seems like a lifetime ago that he came into the world!

Skye loves her little brother and is a great helper, though lately she's been struggling to adjust. I guess that's what happens when you're the only kid in the family for 4 1/2 years. I am thankful, at least, that she has preschool three hours a day, twice a week!

I love the funny/cute expressions babies give when they are awake.

And how precious and angelic they look when they are asleep!

What a cute little guy! We do love our Jack-Jack!

What a Time for a Baby to be Born

2011-12-04T19:10:00.001-07:00

Thursday morning, I awoke to Skye climbing into our bed--the wind had woken her up. It sounded horrible. We stayed in bed a little longer, then Lance left for the bus stop to go to work. Shortly after, he returned home to say that I-15 was closed and the train shut down. (Later that day, we drove to Salt Lake to sign on refinancing out house and drove past three semi trucks that had been blown over by the wind.) A basketball stand and two fences hit his car on the way there. We saw all kinds of objects flying around outside. Then Lance said he had something sad to show us and led us to the window you can see Skye's swing set out of. Lance put this together last year and we spent many, many hours of fun with it this summer and fall. This is where it used to be and what it used to look like.

When we looked out the window, this is what we saw. Completely gone. I honestly almost started crying, thinking not just about how much money it cost us, but about how much time Lance put into setting it up and all the fun we had with it.

Luckily, damage to our house was minimal compared to many others, but we did lose a few shingles.

There's a hole in the siding.

This is nothing compared to the big trees we saw that were uprooted in the older parts of Farmington and Kaysville, but Lance is sad it's gone.

Here's what the swing set looks like now.

And here's our nice picnic table Lance's mom found for us, blown over and the glass top shattered.

And that's out internet dish which also put a little hole in the roof when it ripped off.

Eventually we lost power even though the wind finally died down a bit by noon. If I didn't have a newborn, I wouldn't have minded toughing it out as much, but it really was a scary experience. I honestly felt like Dorothy, like our house was going to get blown away. I tried taking a nap in the morning, but the bed was shaking too much. Winds here in Farmington got up to 88 miles per hour. My wonderful parents paid for us to stay at a hotel that night. We got power back later in the night, but our internet is still down, we have no phone, and our yard is still a mess due to having a new baby and the fact that Skye has been very sick the past few days. It's been a crazy experience and I'm just glad we've made it through.

Welcome to the World!

2011-11-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 39 weeks, 2 days, thinking that my body just doesn't know how to go into labor on its own.

And here I am at 39 weeks, 5 days in the middle of a contraction. Somehow, my body did it! I meant to get a picture of the natural birth suite at the hospital to show how nice and wonderful it was, but it just didn't happen.

Jackson (Jack) David Stine was born Friday November 18 at 9:45 in the morning. At 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long, I wish my body could have done it a little earlier, but everything turned out fine and we are just so happy to have Jack with us now! Everything about this pregnancy was different than my pregnancy with Skye so it makes sense that this labor and delivery was different, too. With Skye, Lance or my mom were by my side pretty much every second, holding my hand, coaching and reminding me of my breathing and relaxing. This time, it was a pretty casual event. Lance and I walked around, he napped in the chair of the hospital room while I soaked in the tub and half the time barely noticed my contractions that were pretty easy and painless--that is until my midwife finally broke my water. For about ten hours, my contractions were totally inconsistent and not really going anywhere so she broke my water and then things got pretty rough. There's a big difference between pushing out a 7 1/2 pound baby and this big guy when you're doing it all natural! One thing is for sure, I wouldn't have been able to do it without my wonderful husband there. It's an amazing experience to go through with him! I was also happy my mom was able to make it just in time as well. After about 45 minutes of hard pushing, Jack came into the world!

Isn't he beautiful? I know you're probably not supposed to say boys are beautiful, but I think he is a beautiful baby!

Skye loves her new little brother. She was really sad she couldn't stay with him at the hospital Friday night.

Cookie (grandma) with Jack.

Uncle Trav holding Jack.

Here he is just before we came home from the hospital. He is a really good baby. He's really mellow and good-natured. At the hospital, we weren't even sure he knew how to cry. He slept through his heel getting poked and squeezed for blood and the pediatrician who performed his circumcision said he barely noticed; that he was a tough little guy. Since getting home, we've discovered he does have a set of lungs, but he's still mellow and likes to sleep a lot!

So far, Skye loves to kiss Jack, rub his head, sing and read to him. She is a really great helper.

A cute little guy!

Keeping Busy

2011-11-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

My forty weeks is almost up, but with the way this pregnancy has gone, I would have been perfectly happy to have my baby in my arms and out of my belly weeks ago. I thought he was going to come today. He gained a pound a week the last two weeks which made him almost 8 pounds last week at my appointment. My midwife said if the trend continued and he were around 9 pounds at my next visit, she was going to "nudge me along" just to be safe. Apparently he was just going through a growth spurt because this last week he only gained a few ounces and was an even 8 pounds. While the idea of pushing some huge baby out of me scares me, at the same time, I was so hoping to get him out of me today. I've decided that either my body just doesn't know how to go into labor by itself or this kid is as stubborn as me. Looks like I've probably got another week of agony ahead of me!

In the meantime, Skye and I have been keeping busy at my parent's house while my sister and the pugs are in town. Can you believe at 38 weeks pregnant I could hold a pug and a four-year-old on my lap together?!

Getting kisses from Cherub.

Skye, Cherub, and my belly!

Skye loves doing tricks with the dogs and giving them treats! I'm glad they're here right now to take my mind off of other things at times!

Skye's Halloween

2011-10-31T20:34:00.000-06:00

Skye's gotten more use out of her costume (as Bat Girl) this year than any other year. Here she is posing with Daddy (as Batman). "This is my Bat Girl face," she said.

She got to wear her costume to the Treehouse Museum where she met fairy tale characters like Snow White...

and Dorothy...

and got to do some of her other favorite things like playing with the knights and horses...

and riding on the bull.

She wore her costume trick-or-treating at my mom's office with Sadie, a co-worker's daughter.

She wore it again trick-or-treating at the zoo.

She also got to wear it to preschool, a birthday party, Lance's work party, and a Sunshine generation party.

Oh, and let's not forget trick-or-treating around the neighborhood tonight! She went with her friend, Jocelyn (dressed as Annie). The only good picture I got of them looking at me was blurry, unfortunately. But they weren't really cooperating for pictures anyway because they were ready to go get some candy. I must admit, it has been a rather exhausting Halloween season. But when you pay twenty to thirty bucks for a costume, it's good to know you've gotten your money's worth!

Our Pumpkins

2011-10-31T20:19:00.000-06:00

We had fun carving pumpkins this year. We went to a pumpkin patch near our house and picked them out. This one is Skye's. I let her draw a face on with a crayon and then let her help me carve it out. She wanted it to have a creepy mouth! I think she did a good job!

I wanted a white pumpkin so I could carve a ghost into it.

Lance carved these next ones. The dragon is awesome!

You gotta love the cyclops, too!

2011-10-30T20:13:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, my wonderful parents had Skye over for a sleepover. It was probably the last weekend Lance and I will get to ourselves for a long time. We took full advantage of the time by going to one of our favorite places Friday night--Beyond Spa--then went to another favorite place on Saturday. Yep, Antelope Island. And one of the first things we saw was an antelope!

Even though it is called Antelope Island, I've only seen them on rare occasions on my many visits there. And it seems like they are usually pretty skittish, but this one stayed the whole time we took pictures of it and even as we drove by. It was pretty cool!

This picture so doesn't do justice to what we actually saw. There was this mist just hanging above the lake. The scenery out there is always different and always stunning!

And here are a few pregnancy pictures of me at 36 weeks.

I sometimes think they should rename the island Buffalo Island because it's rare not to see a buffalo there. They are a lot more common than the antelope.

So cool to get a picture of a buffalo with the lake and mountains in the background. It was a great weekend!

Just Some Cute and Funny Pictures of Skye

2011-10-26T08:27:00.000-06:00

So talented! She can paint and balance on a ball at the same time!

Looking cute in the new outfit my mom got for her.

Wearing the Canada shirt my cousin brought back for her from her mission in Toronto.

Like Mother Like Daughter

2011-10-25T22:38:00.000-06:00

Awhile back, we decided to make matching shirts for Skye and me using a silk screen stencil.

It was a lot of fun, especially for Skye!

Here's the finished product!

Like mother, like daughter!

Skye also really wanted a bath robe like mommy and daddy so I let her pick one out at Target. She sure loves the thing!

High in the Sky

2011-10-13T11:20:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Skye and I saw this hot air balloon out our back door at breakfast. Pretty cool. Skye loves hot air balloons and is often saying how she wants to go in one.

I also thought I'd add this picture of what I think is a condor. I took this awhile ago. I love all the wildlife we see around our house!

Silver Lake

2011-10-02T19:00:00.000-06:00

We went to Silver Lake today in between sessions of General Conference. It was so beautiful and refreshing to be in the mountains and in the cool air!

Skye hiked the whole mile all by herself. We came here last year at the same time, and she didn't quite make it all the way before she was whining and crying to be held. This year, she had no problem at all! Of course it helped stopping along the way to do things like collecting leaves...

and putting on shows on rock stages for me! Yep, towards the beginning of the trail, she saw these rocks and wanted to do a show.

She danced and sang and it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life! People kept walking by, smiling and laughing! She is definitely an entertainer!

You can't tell very good in the movies, but she was singing, too. She got really into it!

I didn't really want to post this horrible picture of me (meaning I like horrible in the picture), but it shows the beautiful scenery and just how poking out I am at 33 weeks! I am WAY bigger this time around--I never even got this big with Skye and I still have 7 weeks to go. Please, let this little (or big) guy come early!

Skye scrambled up this rock wall with a bunch of other kids.

Lance said he remembered her struggling a little bit at one part when they went up it last year, but this time it was all ease! Our little girl is getting big and strong!

2011-09-27T17:09:00.001-06:00

I've noticed that a lot of moms love to brag about how smart their young kids are. No, my four-year-old can't read yet, she can't tell the time, she doesn't know math, but she's definitely not lacking in the imagination or creativity department. In fact, she is the most creative and imaginative kid I've ever known, and in my opinion, that's better than being smart!

Here's one of her inventions--a horse (or unicorn) plow. She made this up all herself. I thought it was pretty cool and creative!

One of her recent obsessions has been paper wings. She wants all of her animals to have wings so she cuts out pieces of paper and tapes them onto her animals. It wasn't long, however, before she wanted them on herself and on her mom and dad! Here's a pair of her wings and a pair she's putting on me.

She is also a very good little helper! Maybe she'll be able to cut Jack's hair for me eventually!

This girl loves to PLAY! She's great at playing pretend and is an animal more than she is a girl. Here she is pretending to be Shamu.

One day, she decided she wanted a fin instead of wings. We got one and so did her beluga whale.

Isn't she cute?!

And here she is being a horse--bridle and all! I love having such a creative kid!

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-12T08:14:00.000-06:00

Skye started preschool last week. It's something we've talked about and looked forward to for quite some time now, but she ended up being a little nervous her first day. She was saying things like, "I don't like going places without Mommy." Even though I've been really excited about having some time to myself with her at preschool, I ended up feeling nervous and a little sad myself. However, when I picked her up that day, she was sooooo happy! She talked non-stop for the longest time about all the things she did and how much fun she had. She has even been disappointed on the days she doesn't have school! So we both feel better now! I'm glad she is such an adaptable and happy kid! Here she is just before leaving on her first day.

And she wanted to show off her new princess backpack!

Our Obsession Phase 2

2011-09-06T10:47:00.000-06:00

Our final wildflower pictures.

Skye took these two.

Our Obsession Phase 1

2011-08-31T11:46:00.000-06:00

Here's the beginning of our wildflower pictures from Albion Basin. The mountainsides were just covered in yellow!

Mount Superior

The Indian Paintbrush is one of our favorites. There are so many different colors and shades of it.

Skye took this picture...

and this one!

And Lance took this amazing picture! I love this one! So stay tuned for more!

In the Wildflowers

2011-08-22T07:45:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures of us in the wildflowers.

Skye took this picture of Daddy!

I wanted to get a picture of Skye smelling a flower so she stuck this one she had picked right on her nose and inhaled. Yep, sneezes followed! It was pretty funny.

Next will be our favorite pictures of just the flowers.

Snowbird Day Two

2011-08-21T14:52:00.000-06:00

Our second day at Snowbird began by seeing a whole pack of marmots on our way to breakfast.

They were just nibbling the grass.

This one looked up right as I snapped the picture.

Skye making funny faces at breakfast.

With the Chinese dragon.

Kissing the Chinese dragon.

After breakfast, we went to see the wildflowers at Albion basin, but as usual, there are tons of those pictures so I'll put them in a separate post. After that, it was back for more fun like riding on the bull...

searching for gems...

and going on the slide again!

One thing we were disappointed about was not being able to go on the tram or the peruvian chair lift. Both had been struck by lightning the night before we arrived at Snowbird and weren't functioning. Luckily, the ski lift started up again just before we were about to leave so we got to take it up the mountain. It was a fun ride with spectacular views. Poor little Skye, though. She was so sleepy from the adventurous day in the sun that she fell asleep on the way up!

More views from on top of the mountain.

She did enjoy playing in the snow we discovered once she woke up, especially throwing it at me! This is actually on the other side of the mountain. After getting off the ski lift, there's a tunnel you can go through that takes you to the other side. It was pretty cool.

Here she is "skiing" down the snow with Lance.

Here I am at 26 weeks pregnant.

This is on our way back through the tunnel.

It was actually a very fun, little getaway we took and was a great deal. We've decided to make it a yearly event!

The Bull

2011-08-20T15:22:00.000-06:00

One of the things included in our package to Snowbird was the mechanical bull. The first video is Lance's first attempt. By day two, he had really figured out how to do it, as seen in the second video. I think he could be a professional bull rider!

Snowbird Day One

2011-08-19T15:32:00.000-06:00

Lance has wanted to go to the mountains all summer. Being pregnant, hot, and tired all the time, I've been kind of lazy this summer. So he booked us a stay at Snowbird this last Monday and Tuesday. The hotels have great deals there in the summer that include other fun things going on in the area. One of the first things we did was go to the bungee trampolines. Skye has wanted to do these for years, but was always too small.

Lance joined in the fun, too! If I weren't pregnant, I would have done it, too.

Lance got the hang of it right away and was immediately doing flips.

We tried getting Skye to try flips, but she was a little nervous.

She finally started getting used to it and at least did higher jumps. She did have a lot of fun--so much so that she did it again the next day.

Despite my big belly, I did get to go on the alpine slide, though I went very, very slow!

Here's Skye waiting for her turn with Lance.

Skye waiting for me at the bottom of the slide.

It's always fun to see these little guys running around!

This is the chair lift that takes you to the top of the slide.

We took it up a second time, then walked back down.

And this is one of Skye's favorite things to do in hotel rooms! She sure loves to jump!

Beautiful Girl

2011-07-21T20:41:00.002-06:00

I don't mean to brag, but...okay, so you know anytime you hear something like that, the person really is going to brag. But hey, that's what mothers do as is their right. So I'm just being a typical mother by saying that I have the most beautiful, photogenic girl in the world! Every year on her birthday, I take Skye to get her picture taken and every year it's so hard to pick out the pictures because they're all so good. I know every mother's child is the most beautiful to them, but you've got to admit, this kid is pretty darn cute!

Our Sunshine Girl

2011-07-21T20:26:00.001-06:00

Skye's final parade was in Farmington the Saturday after the 4th. Not surprisingly, I forgot my camera, but luckily, my mom had hers and she got these cute pictures and video of her. In a way, I'm sad it's all over until September. Summer camp and parades were a lot of fun. But it's also nice to have a little break. We sure love our little Sunshine girl!

Dog Blog

2011-07-12T18:53:00.000-06:00

I just thought I'd tell people about the new site I added to my favorite websites at the right of my blog. It's a really funny blog my sister shared with me. Anyone who has ever had a dog or likes dogs will like reading the post I've linked. Here it is again: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/07/dog.html Check it out and have a good laugh!

Our 4th of July

2011-07-10T19:49:00.000-06:00

This was probably the funnest 4th of July I've ever had. It started with a neighborhood breakfast and kids bike parade--come with your bikes decorated they said. We originally didn't think we could make it because Skye was supposed to be in the Kaysville parade, but Sunshine ended up not being able to do it so we went to the breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn't have anything for Skye to decorate her bike with so we had to improvise. While all the other kids had their bikes decorated very patriotically, my creative husband suggested to Skye that she decorate her bike with snakes and animals--some of her favorite things! So she did!

Getting ready to go.

Finishing the parade behind her friend, Jonah. I have to mention how much all the boys there loved her bike!

After the breakfast, we watched the Kaysville parade from my parent's house. It was fun for Skye to be able to actually watch one. She got tons of candy, a football, and a stuffed animal! After that, we had a good time at Boondocks with my brother and cousin. That night, we had a bunch of my family and Lance's family over for a barbecue. It was fun having tons of people over!

Skye did a sparkler for the first time. She wasn't really sure about it, though. Maybe next year it will be more fun.

And then we did lots of fireworks!

Just to end, I have to say that we absolutely have a house in the most perfect location in all of northern Utah. It's close to Salt Lake and Ogden, close to my family, has beautiful views with wildlife all around, and we have the most amazing view of fireworks ever! We seriously had the best fireworks show ever right from our deck. We could see fireworks going off EVERYWHERE! We figured we could see ones from Kaysville, Layton, Clearfield and other cities around there, and probably even as far north as Farr West. My brother said he and my cousin counted nine different places that they were coming from and that was from inside, looking out. We could probably see even more than that from out on the deck. It was so amazing, spectacular, beautiful! It was so good that I couldn't pull myself away long enough to get the tripod to get a good picture! Next year, I'll be prepared before they begin! So yes, funnest 4th ever!

Skye's First Parade

2011-07-08T07:37:00.000-06:00

Last year, after watching Kaysville's 4th of July parade, we asked Skye if next year she'd rather watch the parade or be in the parade and she said be in the parade. Thanks to Sunshine Generation, she got to do just that. Her first parade was last Saturday in Centerville. Lance's sister and her kids from Montana were down visiting so they came with us to watch.

There were some pretty cool floats in their parade.

But of course, the best of all were these guys--Sunshine Generation!

You can kind of see Skye here!

Here she is getting a drink. Can you tell how hot, tired, worn out she is? She seemed to have a great time, but the hear definitely got to her, too. I'm glad she's had this experience!

Twenty Weeks

2011-07-08T07:23:00.000-06:00

So my sister who lives in Virginia told my mom that she couldn't believe I hadn't posted any pregnancy pictures of myself yet. The truth is that until last Monday, we hadn't taken any. But I finally decided that since I'm 20 weeks along, we should probably take some. So, here they are.

Day Out With Thomas

2011-07-01T17:02:00.005-06:00

Every Memorial Day weekend, Thomas the Tank Engine comes to visit the Heber Valley Railroad. I've wondered about taking Skye the last two years, but never did. We finally decided to this year, though.
Here comes Thomas!

So, was it worth the 60 plus dollars I paid for all of us to ride Thomas? Definitely not, but sometimes you do things like that for your kids anyway! The train moved so slow that had we been a race with a snail, the snail probalby would have won. And the scenery was mostly just houses with a few pastures with cows in them. Totally not worth it, but there were some fun things...

like Skye getting cotton candy for the first time. She had been talking about cotton candy for quite some time. We don't believe in totally sugaring up your kids, but as I told Lance, "Every kid has to try cotton candy sometime."

Here she is trying a piece. The funny thing is that she totally didn't like it! Lance and I ended up eating most of it.

It was also fun seeing Skye on the train.

Skye's favorite part was sticking her head out the window.

There was a hay maze--always a favorite of our running girl!

The miniature golf might have been cool had it not been filled with a million kids and their parents trying to teach them to be professional golfers.

And then there were the toy trains. Skye played with those for quite some time. I mean, it's not like she already has a train set of her own at home! So yes, there were some fun things, but I won't be spending that kind of money on it again.

2011-06-16T18:39:00.002-06:00

Skye's actual birthday was filled with more presents and family.
I actually took time to make this present look nice and pretty!

We went to Boondocks the night of her birthday. They have this special for your birthday where you get to do all these things for free. Skye was really looking forward to riding on the go-karts with Lance and playing some miniature golf. Unfortunately, it was the night of that freak storm so pouring rain made it impossible to do any of those things.

We still managed to have a good time, though, eating pizza with my family, opening presents, and playing games.

Once again, she got some really great presents!

This is one of her favorite games at Boondocks.

Overall, it was really fun birthday for our now four-year-old girl! It was so cute--just after she woke up the morning of her birthday, I told her happy birthday and that she was no longer three, she was now four. She was all excited, then put her hand to her heart and said, "I can feel my birthday in my heart, Mommy." I can't believe how she's grown up! But just as cute as ever!

Happy 4th Birthday, Skye!

2011-06-15T20:15:00.004-06:00

I've gotten way behind on blogging. Rather than try to catch up (which I may still do eventually), I decided to start with the latest event which was Skye's 4th birthday. She had her first ever birthday party with friends a few days before her birthday. My mom got this beautiful cake from Sam's Club.
She invited 8 friends and all but one of them came so it was a bit crazy! We had one game and a craft and they spent most of the rest of the time just playing. I was so frazzled, though, that I barely even got any pictures. I wish I would have gotten a good picture of all of them together, but I completely forgot. Here she is opening some presents.

And here they are getting ready to eat cake. They all wanted a piece with a flower (frosting) on it and most of them just ate the frosting! Even though it was crazy and went by really fast, it was a lot of fun!

Since she invited boys and girls, I decided we shouldn't have a girls-only themed party. Since Skye loves animals (loves would be an understatement actually), I asked her if she wanted a wild animal birthday party. She thought that was a great idea so we got animal decorations like these animal candles...

and these fun things! We played an animal game and then made animal paper bag puppets.

Here she is with all her presents. I would say she got spoiled. She got some great presents that have taken up much of her time recently--what every mother wants!

Lance Body Surfing!

2011-06-15T20:00:00.002-06:00

Playing at the Beach

2011-06-14T15:58:00.005-06:00

Fun at the Beach

2011-06-14T14:30:00.004-06:00

Our last afternoon in San Diego was spent hanging out and having fun at Pacific beach. Skye spent a lot of her time digging in the sand and making sand castles.
The beautiful Pacific Ocean! Who doesn't love the ocean?!

Another fun activity was searching for shells. Skye had been waiting to find shells on the beach for years! The tricky part was that all the good shells were hidden under the water. You had to wait for a wave to head out to the ocean to hurry and pick them up before another wave rolled back in. It became quite an adventure especially when high tide started coming in!

Skye met this other little boy and they spent a long time together building and rebuilding (when it got knocked down by waves) a big crab house. They called it that because there were billions of miniature crabs all over the beach. Anytime we'd dig into the sand, it would unearth these crabs that would quickly burrow back down under the dirt.

The beach was Lance's favorite part of our whole trip. He had a great time body surfing and I had a great time getting pictures and video of him! Honestly, the beach was probably really Skye's favorite part of the trip, too. We should have spent more time there.

I couldn't believe the detail I could see of this boat once I got the picture of it. It was actually pretty far away, but the zoom on the camera did its job!

We often saw these big sea birds flying over in formation. None of my picture really captured just how cool they looked, but here they are anyway.

If we hadn't had Skye to keep an eye on, I probably would have gone out in the waves with Lance, but there was no way I was going out by myself so I just had fun jumping little waves with Skye!

Our happy girl.

The San Diego Zoo

2011-06-13T08:06:00.005-06:00

Our fourth day in San Diego, we went to the San Diego Zoo. What a disappointment. It was just a zoo like any other zoo, but cost three times more than any other zoo. We definitely won't be going back there the next time we go to San Diego. I'd much rather check out the wild animal or safari park.

Honestly, Skye's favorite parts were climbing on all the animal statues...

Playing at the playground...

Oh yes, and looking at the snakes, as usual!

You have to admit, this is a cool snake! Have you ever seen scales like that? It was pretty amazing.

This bird was pretty neat, too. And it hung out for quite awhile like it was posing just for us.

One of the animals Skye was excited about seeing was the hippo. The last time I was at this zoo (7 years ago), there was a mom hippo and a baby hippo and they were swimming around, up and down, and it was a lot of fun to watch them. This hippo just sat there. Not very interesting.

It was probably more fun climbing on the hippo stature than watching the live, sleeping hippo.

These are Lance's favorite animals to see.

Here's a slightly better shot of one.

Skye insisted that I get a picture of Lance with one of these masks!

And that was our day at the zoo. Luckily, we ate lunch and left before Skye could repeat another meltdown. We went back to the hotel, took a nap, then headed for the beach!

Sea Lion Videos

2011-06-13T07:30:00.002-06:00

Saying Goodbye to Sea World

2011-06-10T21:43:00.004-06:00

One of the last things we did our final day at Sea World was to catch the Sea Lion show. It was definitely my favorite show because it was the most entertaining. This guy kept everyone laughing until the show actually began. The show was themed after different T.V. shows. This one was a take on CSI, but instead was Sea Lion Investigation.
The sea lions were great!

Here's Dancing with the Sea Lions.

I have some good video of the show I'll have to put on next.

Who would have thought we'd see this cute, little bunny at Sea World?!

We enjoyed this sky ride in the afternoon.

Skye was happy to see a killer whale close up!

What an adventure Sea World turned out to be! I definitely look forward to going back someday!

A Dream Come True

2011-06-05T14:57:00.005-06:00

I've always loved dolphins. Ever since I was young, I wanted to be in the water with them, play with them, swim with them. So my favorite part of our vacation was the dolphin interaction program at Sea World. It was Lance and Skye's birthday/Mother's Day present to me. And while they don't actually let you swim with them, I did get to learn about them, touch them, do tricks with them, and even kiss them! We started off interacting with a two-year-old baby who didn't want to stop playing. Here we are waiting for her. She had a football she didn't want to give up so the trainer had to trick her to get it away from her and over to us!

The whole experience was great! The water was cold, but actually felt nice because it was so hot outside! I was so happy the whole time! The only downside was that Skye had another meltdown right before we got in the water. Lance completely missed the second half of the program because he had to get Skye an ice-cream to calm her down. It's sad because it was the best part. We went to another side of the pool to work with another dolphin. We did more tricks and learned more about her than we had with the baby dolphin. So he didn't get any pictures or videos of it, but luckily, they had professional photographers to capture moments like...

this!!!! The trainer told us, "Let's do this trick. She hasn't done it in awhile, but let's see how it goes." He then showed us a hand signal to do, but didn't tell us what it meant. We did what he showed us, then suddenly, the dolphin jumped out of the water and splashed back down! It was so fun, but unexpected! I got cold salt water all over in my mouth, but it was so worth it!

Thanks to Lance for letting me have this incredible experience and fulfil a dream!

After I was finished with the program and on our way to get some lunch, Skye saw Shamu and had to get a picture with her! She was sooooo excited!

After lunch, we went to see some dolphins that were getting fed. Ever since I told Skye we were going to Sea World and especially after she learned I would get to interact with the dolphins, she would say how she wanted to pet a dolphin. This was something she really wanted to do, but I didn't think she would get to. I was so afraid it would end up causing a tantrum, but luckily, she and Lance got to touch this one! I think I was more excited than she was that she got to because I knew how happy it would make her!

2011-06-05T14:41:00.003-06:00

I decided to mute the original sound from Lance's recording because mostly you could hear Skye crying and instead chose to put a little music on instead! Can you believe I got to kiss a dolphin?!

2011-06-03T11:38:00.002-06:00

Here's the video of Skye I couldn't get to upload before.

Sea World Day 2

2011-05-31T08:26:00.004-06:00

Our second day at Sea World started out at the Sesame Street Bay of Play. This was definitely one of Skye's favorite parts of Sea World. Here she is with Lance on Elmo's flying fish ride. Our climbing girl loved this net! And of course, Lance didn't want to be left out of the fun!

This was probably her favorite thing there. I don't know what they called it, but she spent a lot of time running and bouncing in it! I have a really cute video of her there, but blogger refuses to let me download it.

After lots of play, we took some time to enjoy the scenery around Sea World.

I loved this tree with all these puffs of flowers.

Unexpected Things

2011-05-30T21:25:00.003-06:00

When we went to San Diego, we expected to see Shamu, dolphins, and even beautiful things like the beach. But we weren't expecting this: We drove past this field of wildflowers to get to Sea World. We have never seen so many wildflowers in our lives!!! It was incredibly amazing and beautiful. We, of course, had to stop and take some pictures!

I could have spent hours there with the camera, but we did have to get to Sea World!

The Hotel

2011-05-30T21:04:00.007-06:00

Every hotel has its pros and cons. The con of our hotel was the bed. It was the most uncomfortable bed I've ever been on. It probably would have been more luxurious sleeping on a rock. However, the grounds of the hotel were BEAUTIFUL! Look at this amazing picture Lance got of this bird with a bug in its mouth! Who knew there were little dinosaurs roaming around San Diego?!
Another great bird-with-bug-in-its-mouth picture!

The flowers were spectacular! There were so many different kinds and so many different colors and it smelled heavenly everywhere we walked!

Skye is still a strong girl!

Lance said this was the best bird-of-paradise flower specimen he had ever seen. I'm not sure any of my pictures of it turned out that great, though.

Stopping to smell the flowers.

I love these flowers. They were in Phoenix, as well.

Another dinosaur!

Another pro to our hotel was the fact that we could walk straight down to the beach from our room.

We (Lance and Skye especially) spent a lot of time exploring, having fun and acting silly there!

Star Fish and Turtles

2011-05-27T14:39:00.004-06:00

One of the fun, hands-on activities at Sea World was touching the star fish. Skye loved it. We spent a lot of time here! You could even pick them up as long as you kept them under the water.
I couldn't believe how many different colors and varieties there were!

They were so beautiful!

There were also sea snails. It would have been cool to see one emerge or move around, but the shell was neat, too.

The bright purple sea urchins were cool as well.

Just before seeing the Shamu show, we cooled off in a building with different kind of fish and turtles.

It was pretty amazing watching the turtles swim. It often just looked like they were flying--only under water!

The turtles seemed like such graceful, peaceful animals--until feeding time came. They threw tons of these little squid into the water and the turtles went nuts! They'd fight over them and even chase and attack each other. It certainly changed my view of turtles!

Heat and Meltdowns

2011-05-21T21:16:00.006-06:00

One of the things we were looking forward to the most at Sea World was the dolphin show. My brother and sister-in-law went a couple of months before we did and had shown us pictures and videos. Skye couldn't wait to see the pilot whales that splash the audience. Here they are. Long before we left, I kept asking Skye if she wanted to sit in the splash zone and get wet or sit higher and keep dry. She always said she wanted to be dry so we took a seat high up. However, right as the show started, she decided she wanted to be in the splash zone. It was too late by then. That combined with being in the heat all day, hunger, and exhaustion led to a meltdown.
Lance was still able to get a few good shots, though!

I definitely wasn't expecting the show to have all sorts of acrobatics in it. If I hadn't already seen Cirque du Soleil, I might have been impressed, but as it was, I really just wanted to see the dolphins doing tricks.

Like this!

After getting something to eat and taking a rest in a nice, air-conditioned building, Skye was back to her old self so we could go see Shamu!

The next day, we went back to the dolphin show so Skye could get splashed this time. Unfortunately, the pilot whales didn't appear in this show. But she did get splashed by the dolphins. Lance had to bring her crying to me a few rows back where it was safe and dry. The funny thing is that now anytime anyone asks her what her favorite thing at Sea World was, she'll tell them, "Getting splashed by the dolphins." What a silly girl!

Back to Sea World (Finally)

2011-05-19T18:58:00.004-06:00

Our last stop in the arctic region of Sea World was the penguins. It's always fun to see the penguins! Then, after the cute animals of the arctic, we saw the...SHARKS!
I love the shark exhibit there--seeing sharks swimming all around you! Skye seemed a little nervous at first, but was then excited anytime a BIG shark would swim by!

Checking out the giant shark jaw.

After that, it was back to cute, cuddly animals--the sea lions. We assumed this must be a baby and mom. It was kind of sad because the mom kept moving around as if she were trying to push the baby off of her as they snoozed. But at the same time, I know where she's coming from which is why anytime we stay at a hotel now, I make Lance sleep with Skye.

Sesame Street Bay of Play is a great addition to Sea World. Skye had loads of fun playing around the second day we were there. Here we are waiting for Abby's Sea Star Spin--one of the rides they have for little kids--to start. Skye was excited and totally adamant about going on all three of the rides, but as soon as they started, she hunkered down closely to either Lance or me and did not see to enjoy them much. But I'm glad she was brave enough to try them!

Beluga Videos

2011-05-19T14:25:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Sea World

2011-05-11T13:31:00.005-06:00

First of all, sorry for the horrible looking posts (with tons of space between everything). It doesn't look like that when I'm writing it. Lance says it's because blogger has crappy html. I don't see anyone else's blogs looking like this so I don't know why mine is having such a problem. Anyway, Monday morning, we went to Sea World. Here's Skye getting a glimpse of her first animals... the beluga whales (Lance's favorite)!
We all enjoyed watching the belugas.

The best part was the baby! Yep, this mother had a baby. The baby is gray.

It stayed pretty close to its mom most of the time.

Also in the polar region were the polar bears!

We saw this one get a drink and even swat at a fish!

In a polar bear cave. They had loud growling noises in there that scared Skye. She didn't want to go in at first, but Lance finally coaxed her in for a picture. You can kind of see how she's covering her ears!

This was looking at the belugas from underneath the water.

We thought it was funny that they spent most of their time swimming upside down!

The baby beluga!

As much fun as the whales and bears were, Skye's first big reaction came from seeing the walrus. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of it, but as soon as she saw how big it was she loudly exclaimed, "Whoa!" Skye was the one who chose to go to Sea World. I asked her last fall if she wanted to go to Sea World or Disneyland and she said Sea World. I'm glad that's where we went. It was a lot of fun. Stay tuned for more!

Interrupting My Vacation Posts

2011-05-09T20:25:00.004-06:00

They say that life is full of surprises. Here's one of our own:

Yes, it is a surprise or an accident or whatever you want to call it. We were not trying to get pregnant. We were going to wait until the summer to try, but now I'll probably be due the end of November sometime. Skye is thrilled, of course, since she has been pestering me forever about having a baby! As for the boy or girl question, I have this feeling it is a boy. So far this pregnancy has been very different from my last. I'm a million times more sick than I ever was with Skye. I feel HORRIBLE most of the time. I've already got some cravings and I never got a single craving last time. I have to pee more this time--seriously, waking up four times a night to go to the bathroom just sucks! But in the end, even though it seems like I'm having a boy, I really want another girl. The main reason is simply because we are all agreed on a girl name. However, we all have very different ideas for a boy and no one seems very willing to bend. Lance wants Ben Lomond, I like Jack, and if it's a boy, Skye wants to name him Squiggles. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Vacation Day One

2011-05-07T21:28:00.005-06:00

Last Sunday we flew into San Diego. Skye did great on the plane even with a layover in Oakland. She loves helping with her suitcase even though it's probably as big as she is.
Here's Skye her first time on the beach at the ocean! Our hotel was right on Mission Bay so we went out to the beach every day we were there.

Meeting the ocean for the first time!

I LOVE this picture Lance took of us! Isn't it great?!

Lance had to go for a swim, of course, even though I thought the water was a bit cold!

Skye got braver and braver and even ventured in quite a ways herself!

We spent much of the time being horses (Skye is an animal more than she is a girl--what a great imagination she has). She and Daddy were hyper horses having races down to the water!

Easter

2011-04-25T14:43:00.005-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I arrived home to see a pinata hanging in our closet. Lance had gotten it, thinking Easter was the week before it was. We kept it concealed for a long time, then decided to invite one of Skye's friends over for some fun. We didn't have a bat so we had to sort of improvise with other things.

The girls gave it their best shot, but Lance finally had to give it some good whacks to get the candy to fall out. It was a lot of fun.

Here's Skye in her Easter dress. She picked it out herself. I was shopping for shirts at the Children's Place when she suddenly held this dress up to me. I told her I didn't want to get an Easter dress back and put it back on the rack. I went back to looking for other things only to have her bring it back to me. Since she seemed to want it that much, I got it. And I'm glad I did because she looked very beautiful in it!

The Ponds

2011-04-24T09:39:00.001-06:00

Any time we drove past Ponds Park on the freeway, we'd notice a lot of pelicans flying or swimming around, so we finally decided to go check them out. Of course, first I had to get a picture of this!

We were hoping to see a bunch of pelicans, but unfortunately there was only one! But we still got some cool pictures of it.

Winter Zoo Adventures

2011-04-21T19:50:00.004-06:00

Back in January, there was one of those days that felt like spring so we headed to the zoo. Unfortunately, the nice weather didn't last. It ended up snowing on us, but it was fun seeing the animals in the snow. They were pretty active. You can't see it that good, but this elephant was throwing mud on its back! Just a good picture!

Skye had fun in the snow.
I was just glad they had free hot chocolate for us!

The tigers were seriously trying to catch snow on their tongues, too!

Riding a tiger!

We probably had the most fun watching the tigers play!

We also had fun watching Zuri, the baby elephant, in the snow!

Princess Skye and Rocker Daddy

2011-04-21T18:42:00.007-06:00

I'm so behind on blogging. And we're going to San Diego in less than two weeks so I have some major catching up to do. I'll try and get as much on here as I can before we go! Last week, Skye went to a princess birthday party. All she had on when I dropped her off was a princess dress. When I picked her up she had this beautiful crown (decorated by Skye herself) and blue, glittery makeup on! You can't see it very good in the pictures, but she look very pretty--very much like a little princess!

Of course, I always think she looks like a little princess!
And then there's rocker Daddy! He wanted me to take pictures of him rocking out on his guitar before church started this last Sunday--in his suit and all! I love it when he plays his guitar!

The Tulip Festival

2011-04-16T09:54:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, we headed to Thanksgiving Point for the Tulip Festival.

As usual, we went crazy taking pictures of flowers like all these colorful pansies.

And then there were the tulips!

When we got inside the gates, there actually weren't many tulips in bloom yet because it's still too cold, but we did see a ton of daffodils!

And there were a few beautiful tulips!

Skye liked the flowers, but probably liked rolling down this hill even more!

And of course, Lance had to get in on the fun, too!

More Tulip Festival

2011-04-16T09:00:00.000-06:00

More of our favorite pictures from the Tulip Festival.

Skye and Babies

2011-04-07T19:06:00.003-06:00

Skye is obsessed with babies these days--well, she's obsessed with telling me she wants me to have another baby. Until that happens, we'll have to try and find other babies for her to be around--like my cousin's baby, Torsten. We tended him a few months ago. Skye had a lot of fun doing it!Then a couple weeks ago, Lance's step-sister, Andrea, was in town from California with her adorable new baby, Emmie. Skye was so excited to see her and hold her. We were so happy they came for a visit!

And then there were the pugs! They're just as good as babies, right?!

Skye's climbing harness

2011-04-06T20:13:00.008-06:00

We bought her a climbing harness with credit card rewards. She resisted it in the store but when we got home she loved it. Her first climb:

Then she used it and a rope for another strange obsession, tying her rocking horse with muzzles, bridals. bandages, and anything else around her.

Eventually, she hooked herself to the horse with quickdraws and was trapped.

2011-04-02T09:44:00.000-06:00

I just had to add these cute pictures of Skye and Lance!

I sure have one cute kid and one cute husband!

There's just something about this picture, about the look on her face. I guess all I can say is, "Skyebee."

Skye Hits the Jackpot

2011-03-30T14:13:00.004-06:00

After we were done at Build-a-Bear (see previous post), we went into an arcade at The Gateway--Chad's idea. While he went off to get some change, I gave Skye a couple quarters from my purse. She played this game where you pull a big lever down, the wheel spings, and you get the number of tickets the arrow lands on. At first I wasn't really paying attention, and thought she got only 5 tickets. Suddenly, as the tickets started pouring out, I noticed the number 1000 on top! You had to get at just the right angle to see, but the wheel had actually landed on this thin spot worth 1000 tickets! It was so cool! I couldn't believe how long it took for all those tickets to come out! Here she is with the prizes from her winnings (and those of Chad and Leisha). What's with the weird pose? Don't ask me!

She ended up with quite the collection. She got a dog, a Care Bear, three packs of play money, some Silly Bandz, and several pieces of chocolate. And then there's Kitties. What a day she had!

Kitties--the final product, complete with a Hello Kitty (or Mimi as Skye has named her) purse and all!

The Newest Member of Skye's Family

2011-03-29T16:45:00.008-06:00

For Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law gave Skye a gift card to Build-a-Bear. We hadn't used it yet so decided to go with them while they were in town visiting a few weeks ago. She picked out a kitty that she names Kitties. So creative, huh?! Giving life to her new kitty!

Giving Kitties, the newest member of her stuffed animal family, a big hug!

Kitties takes her first bath.

Then it was off to pick out an outfit.

She found this puppy in roller skates and tied its leash up on a hook!

Inputting information for Kitties' birth certificate.

With Leisha and Chad--the ones who made this all possible!

Kiss the Skye -take 1

2011-03-27T18:43:00.002-06:00

Let the Home Improvements Begin!

2011-03-23T16:41:00.007-06:00

Owning your own home is all about changing it, right? Wouldn't it be nice to get a house that is already perfect for you in every way? Some people probably get that lucky. We have a pretty good house, but one of the most horrible things about it is the flooring. First of all, whoever decided carpet in the dining room was acceptable? It's sooooo much easier to clean up a hard surface than carpet. And whoever decided ugly linoleum in the kitchen was acceptable? We certainly didn't, which is why we've spent the last couple of weeks remodeling our floors! We got the dining room finished and are in the process of doing the kitchen. So here's the before (with stupid carpet)... And the after!!!! Beautiful, isn't it?!
But the in between is what really matters. It took a lot of work, but was so worth it!
Luckily, we had some help. After pulling up the carpet, we (meaning Lance) had to nail backer board down. His friend, Dave, came over one night to help with it.

I cleaned. Oh yeah.

And Skye helped by keeping us entertained!

She also helped paint the primer on the floor (the picture turned out blurry). Then it was time to lay the first tile. Luckily, my sister and brother-in-law were there to help. They put this kind of flooring (peel and stick vinyl tile) in their house so it was great having them there to help.

There's no turning back now!

The girls were the assembly line. We'd get a tile, peel off the back, then hand it to one of the boys! So exhausting...he he he! And talking of help, my younger brother helped a bunch, too.

This is after laying all the tiles, but before putting the grout on.

Lance grouting the floor. This is what took forever.

Me cleaning the grout off.

Lance helped, too!

And there is our beautiful, new floor. We love it! I can't wait to have the kitchen finished. It is such an improvement!

The Flowers Are in Bloom Again!

2011-03-20T14:10:00.008-06:00

Last year at this time, I was photographing mexican poppies that were springing up wild all over our rock yard. I wasn't expecting to get blooming flowers here already! But here they are! I just randomly had crocuses come in my yard. They were beautiful and smelled great, too.

Remember the roses Lance got for me? For some strange reason, I've always wanted to photograph red roses on the snow. It snowed not too long after he got them so I took some outside to get pictures. It might be a weird concept, but I'm sharing them anyway!

Vegas Vacation: Final Chapter

2011-03-08T11:08:00.006-07:00

This is why we have loved going to Las Vegas in the past: Behold beautiful Red Rocks! This is the funnest place I have ever climbed. Lance has even said it's the funnest place he's climbed and he's been to several other states and even Canada and France to climb!
Unfortunately, we have had some disasters here, too. If the weather isn't nice, you can't climb, and you're miserable. One of the lessons we learned is that while climbing crags around where we live may not be as cool or as beautiful as Red Rocks, it's still climbing. Why go on a vacation to do something you can do close to home. A vacation should be about doing something you normally wouldn't be able to do.

And as great as Red Rocks is, we also decided it's not worth being in Vegas for. As we walked the strip, we were bombarded with dozens of illegal immigrants handing out adds for prostitutes. Even after I made Lance walk on the other side of the sidewalk, they would reach around me to try and hand him one. I finally grabbed one, threw it to the ground, and loudly announced, "He's already with a girl!" A girl in front of us (who was with a guy) turned around and congratulated me, then said, "Unfortunately, they probably don't understand what you said." Everywhere you look, there's pornography and totally depressed people gambling their lives away. I mean, have you ever seen some happy, smiling person in a casino? I sure haven't! So we decided that we probably won't ever go back to Red Rocks or Vegas again.

Luckily, we did still have some fun while we were there. We visited some friends who live there whom we haven't seen for a long time. We at least got to go climbing with them at the local climbing gym and had a good time. Of course, I think the most excited one was their dog, Seyla, who was always Lance's biggest fan. Even though it's been years since she saw him, she totally remembered him! She got sooooo excited!

We also went to the Las Vegas Museum of Natural History. This is what pre-historic buffalo looked like!

The reason we went there was to see the King Tut exhibit they had. There were some actual artifacts from his tomb and ancient Egypt, and they had also re-created what it looked like when they found it. It was really cool and definitely worth the trip!

So was this!

And this!

The other thing that made the trip at least half worth it were the shows we took it. We saw the Tournament of the Kings at Excalibur. Lance had never been to anything like this so it was a lot of fun. We routed for the Dragon Knight! We were the loudest section so it was awesome. I was just trying to re-create my band trip from over ten years ago!

We also saw Mystere by Cirque du Soleil. You aren't allowed to take pictures at the shows, so I got this from the internet. There were some weird parts to it--Lance kept talking about French humor. I guess I don't get it. But it was also quite amazing. If anyone ever gets a chance to see one of their shows, I would recommend it!

So the vacation wasn't a total loss, but I'm definitely heading to the beach for the next one we go on!