updates!!

so i fell off the blogging wagon.

BIG TIME!!

But I am back and will be posting lots of updates as i get a chance. 

New House

New Jobs

New schools!!

New everything!!

Loving Life in NC!

Conversations I don't want to forget.

first:

Kael: We can't say shut up until we learn to do it in a holy way!

Me: How does that work?

Kael: I'll show you. Cullan ask me a question. 

Cullan: Why am I here?

Kael: SHUTUP!

Me: Nope, that is pretty much just still saying shut up!

Kael: Oh, Ok. 

second:

talking with Cullan about his baptism and why it is important and what will change afterwards....Kael pipes up and says:

"Yup, and you will be able to pass the last supper at church!"

Close kid.... Just not quite right. :O)

Little Moments

Nothing beats sitting in a box with your cousin watching a little adventure time!

(Cullan and Alaina)

Excuse me...We mustache you a Question!!

So we still have some cousins staying with us while their mom is at Young Women's Camp and their dad is at work. 

Tonight I was trying to keep everyone entertained while Garran was out with the missionaries from our church. 

So I dished up some ice cream cones and sent everyone outside to avoid a mess in the house. 

Here are Kael and Alina..They said these were their "evil Santa beards". 

Not sure what that is about, but they sure are cute. 

 Then I told them to make the best mustache with their ice cream that they could and that we would send a picture to Grandma and Grandpa to have them judge. 

I thought they did a pretty good job!!

 Oh these CRAZY kids. 

It has been busy at our house this week with 7 kiddos, but we have had lots of fun and not to many squabbles. So that means success in my book!

Pictured above;

Alaina, Kael, Blane, Tobie, Briea, Cullan

Ayla fell asleep through the festivities. 

Family Time

So my SIL Jerusha is at Girls Camp with her oldest three children, and so we are watching her youngest three for the week. 

Last night was their first night with us. 

Things were crazy, but in a good way. 

Everyone running around, playing and having fun. 

Right before bed, the following conversation happened. 

Conversation between Briea and my niece Alaina tonight. 

A: Briea, isn't your favorite color pink?

B: yes it is. What is your favorite color?

A: well my first favorite color is Rainbow and my second favorite color is fink.

B: did you say fink?

A: yes, it's my nickname for pink!

And then when I checked on them later, this is how they fell asleep!

I think it is so funny how Alaina's head is hanging off the bed!!

Fresh From the First Lady

My Cousin Katie's Big Surprise

Katie Schneider never lost faith that Michelle Obama would return a letter she sent her about gardening.

Her faith came through as the 28-year-old special needs adult received a letter from the first lady earlier this month. It was handwritten and signed by Michelle Obama.

"I screamed," Katie said of her reaction when the letter arrived.

Katie, the daughter of Eldon and Monica Schneider, of Marshalltown, has a book about gardening and healthy eating published by the Obamas. After looking through the book, she decided to send Michelle Obama a picture of herself in the Schneider garden with a letter about how the book inspired her.

A couple of months later, the return note from Michelle arrived at her door.

"I don't care what your political view is, when they take the time to send a card back, it's pretty awesome," Monica said.

The letter from Michelle noted how proud she was that Katie was learning how to grow her own healthful food. In the letter the first lady called Katie an "amazing young woman."

"I'm their No. 1 fan," Katie said.

Monica also got a letter from the first lady talking about how "spectacular" Katie was.

Katie is now even more inspired to work in her garden as she grows broccoli, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and radishes.

Monica said they will frame the notes and put them in Katie's room. She said her daughter was always thinking positively about the possibility of a return letter from the Obamas.

"She knew it would come," Monica said.

Happy Father's Day and some other stuff.

So I missed my usual Father's Day post on our Blog. 

 But here are some great men. I have been blessed with great men to be my fathers and to be my husband. I am so thankful for each one of them for some many different reasons. I count my blessings each day when it comes to them. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now for some of the others....

Cullan drew the Tardis on this Etch A Sketch..

I mean seriously.. this is pretty good for being on an Etch A Sketch. 

I know I am his mom, but this kid has got some artistic talent. 

No big surprise. I mean look who his dad is!

 Also, the bugs in NC mean business. Usually when I post pictures like this, it is Briea. Nope this time it was Ayla. Garran and I were both paranoid at first thinking that she had lyme disease. But in the end we both agreed that it was probably just a reaction to a mosquito or spider bite. 

I just hate seeing my poor kids and their crazy reactions to stuff. 

Beating the Heat!

So it is definitely warmer in NC than in IL. 

One day the kids were getting antsy in the house and Garran and I were getting pretty sick of unpacking. 

So I googled some stuff and found this free splash pad that is part of a local park. 

The kids LOVED it. 

Garran and I had fun too. 

 The boys standing over a grate of water. 

 Ayla was so funny. She kept running around and then would come up to us and say in a giggly yell "I LOBE THIS PLACE".

 Briea waiting for the water to get her. 

Garran and I enjoying watching the kids and soaking up that vitamin D that we were both deficient in for to long!!

New Additions

Well we were planning on waiting to add anyone to our family, but I was on craigslist looking for a dresser and came across miss Layla. 

The family was relocating and need a home. I did not know about Jax. I had not seen his ad. 

So I talked to Garran about it. In the add they had 4 children, almost exact ages as ours. It seemed so perfect. They were house trained and had been around kids since they were puppies. 

It just seemed like a great fit. 

Garran grumbled a little, but said it was bound to happen. 

So we eventually brought them both home with us. 

On the left is Layla and the right is Jax. 

 They are so spoiled. 

I mean look at this picture of Layla. 

She is just so stinking cute. 

 This picture of Jax cracks me up. I mean look at that tongue. He is the funniest little thing. 

They really are good dogs. Two peas in a pod if you ask me. They are so happy together. 

I think we found the perfect match when it comes to dogs and our family. 

Colors and Decisions

So we got moved in. Got mostly unpacked. 

Decided we did not really like the colors in our dining room. 

So we decided to change it up a bit. 

When we moved in the walls were off white. The door was green and so was the trim around the window and frame going into the kitchen. 

The first three are before pictures. 

 See. White and green. 

Not bad, but we wanted something different. 

Here is what we came up with. 

These were in progress pictures. 

 The lighting was not that great but you can see the door frame is still green. 

One more shot. 

I will have to post more pictures sometime of the completed project. I still have to finish the base boards and we are thinking of adding crown molding or a chair rail. We will have to see. 

For now it is coming a long nicely. 

Tessa Graduates!

We were lucky enough to get here just a few days before the oldest of our nieces and nephews Tessa graduated from High School.

I was so excited we got to be there on her big day!

We have always lived so far away from our nieces and nephews that we miss stuff that happens in their lives. 

 Her is beautiful Tessa on her big day...

 Her we are with Tessa. 

and at the house after..getting ready for cake and big celebrations!!

Congrats Tessa!!

We sure love you and are proud of you!

First few Days in NC

So for the first few days that we got to NC we stayed with my SIL Jerusha and her family. 

We enjoyed visiting and watching some softball. 

Alaina's team had lost every game this season but managed to get second place in the playoffs. 

It was such an exciting night. 

 Ayla got bored with the ball game and decided to just roll and play in the dirt.

 After a few days we got the keys to our house. The first day we were there and put the washer and dryer in, we found this little guy in the wall of the garage where we needed to hook up the washer.
Ya, I always have my eyes open now when I go out to do laundry. Have I mentioned I hate snakes!!!

 We also wanted to make some quick changes.
For example the locks.
I was feeling handy and decided to give it a try myself.

 This was our first official dinner in our new house. You can see all the boxes behind us. We were still unpacking...um we might still be unpacking. :O/

 While we were busy unpacking, Kael decided to lose a tooth. He is starting to look like a snaggle tooth look.

 After being here for a week, my dad had to fly home. He was such a big help while he was here. We really appreciated all that he did for us.

and we are off...

so they day we loaded the truck was a stressful one. 

we had way more than we thought and our truck was packed to the BRIM!! 

our neighbors got to keep half of our stuff because there just was not enough room. 

i tried not to be sad about some things... but it's just stuff right. 

so we finally finished packing around 6:30. (we were thinking we would be done around 2)

our plan was to drive to Indianapolis the first night and then knock out the rest of the trip the following day. 

 Don't they look excited to be heading out. 

 Garran and my dad were in the Budget truck behind me and the kids. 

 Here was our last family picture in front of our house. 

When we moved here, we only had three kids and I was pregnant with Ayla. 

In three years we went through and accomplished a lot. 

Time sure flew by. 

 We also got a picture with our neighbors. They were so great to us while we lived there. We are surely going to miss them. The kids would go over and visit and steal cookies from their kitchen. They were great to live next door to. 

After two long days of driving we finally made it!!

I was so happy to see that North Carolina sign. 

I was ready to be out of our van for a while!!

Briea's last day

Breia's last day at pre-school was sad. 

I really loved her teacher. She had both Kael and Briea. 

These were the gifts we made for Mrs. M and Mrs. O. 

 Briea waiting for school to start. 

  First day and last day!

So glad that she had such a great experience. 

Happy Birthday Garran

As we walk this life together,

I pray for our love to be forever.

You give me the strength and support,

Right from the day we began to court.

Life with you is worth every second,

My love on your birthday beautiful memories I reckoned.

Happy Happy Birthday Garran. 

I love you  more than words and I am excited to see what adventures you will take on this year. 

My little Comedian

I can honestly say that my life would not be nearly as funny if I did not have this boy. He thought this was hilarious. 

DIVA

This girl travels in style no matter where she goes. 

Anniversary/Graduation Surprise

This year some friends of mine and I got together and conspired to do something fun for our husbands who were all graduating this May. 

It was a surprise for the boys and fun for us girls.

It was kind of my anniversary gift to Garran as well because we didn't really have a chance to do much on our actual anniversary. 

 Here we are on the way to the surprise!!

 Can you guess where it is??

 That's right...Downtown Chicago. A dinner cruise out on Lake Michigan. 

 I mean, look at this view while we got to sit and enjoy a wonderful meal and good company!

 It was the perfect night. It was nice weather and clear skies. 

 As you can tell, I just kept snapping pictures fo the awesome skyline view. 

 Our group as the boat was heading back into the dock. 

 Garran and I! 

I just love this picture. 

 This one too. 

 When we got off the boat, Navy Pier was all lite up. I thought it looked so pretty. 

 We had the most delicious virgin strawberry daiquiris on the boat. The were so good we were talking about them the next morning. 

 One of my favorites of the night.

Happy Anniversary and Graduation Love!!

You are an amazing man and I love you dearly!!

Oh and I could not forget Phil. 

I promised him I would not put this on facebook, but my blog...Well that is a different story. 

There was a dance competition on the boat and there was a teenage girl that had signed up. The DJ was randomly selecting songs and this girl got "Single Ladies". She was obviously shy and the DJ asked if anyone wanted to go up and be her back up dancer. Of course Phillip jumped at the chance. 

ENJOY!