update time

does anybody even check this anymore??

I guess it has been a month since I have updated here. Life is busy as usual. I have been a terrible picture taker as well. Maybe part of that is because the only camera that is working is my phone. Here is a small taste of what has been happening here. Last night, David and I headed over to Lavell Edwards Stadium to volunteer at the Costa Vida booth to support the girls' soccer teams. I haven't been to a game in ages, and I have forgotten how FUN it is to be at the game cheering for our COUGARS! But it was FREEZING!!! We helped sell burritos and salads. We had to arrive a couple hours early to the game. . . that's why the stands are so empty in these photos. After half-time we were able to go out and watch the second half of the game. It was midnight by the time we got home. I overslept this morning. . ..oops. We were all late to church today. Well, had a whole season of soccer this fall, and I failed to get a single picture of both Kennedy or Elizabeth. David coached Elizabeth's team, so he at least has this picture of Elizabeth with her team at their end of the season get together. Both girls played club soccer this fall. Elizabeth's team went about 50/50 for the season, and Elizabeth scored at least a dozen goals. She is fun to watch. Kennedy's team didn't fare quite at well. . . didn't win a single game. But they both had fun. This spring I will have to be more diligent with my picture taking. Halloween has come and gone. Here are a couple pictures of the girls at their school Halloween parade. Kennedy is with her two BFF's Amberlee and Janette.

Elizabeth with two of her friends, Kylie and Bethany.

Mia with her BFF, Kate.

The last weekend in October we went to Las Vegas for a Baseball tournament for Luke. It was the last Hurrah to end the fall season for Luke and his team. We were able to stop and wish Mom a happy birthday! The girls enjoyed being able to swim a little between games. Luke's team did pretty well. Went 2-2. Luke had a good season. Hit the ball really well. we hit one of the vegas buffets while we were there. Luke and some of his buddies thought they were in heaven :) What else is happening??

• Luke made the freshman basketball team. I lost WAY too much sleep stressing about that. But hopefully he will have a fun season. First game is this week.
• We finally closed on our loan for our addition.
• We moved bedrooms around. . . Elizabeth and Mia each have their own room now.
• Luke is busy planning and getting ready to do his eagle project.
• The girls each have a dance class they take once a week. They LOVE it!
• I will be out of a job come February. .. Nordstrom at the Orem location is closing. Crazy. I was thinking I need to quit anyway, so now the decision will be final for me. I'll work through February when the store will close for good

I'm sure there is more. . .. hopefully I'll take some more pictures and keep updated a little more.

UEA weekend

This weekend the kids have been out of school for UEA break on Thursday and Friday. The weather has been absolutely beautiful! Perfect fall weather. Cool in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon. We didn't go anywhere in particular. . . just did a few things here. I had to work Thursday, but was lucky to have both Friday and Saturday off. All these pictures are in reverse.. . . oh well. Saturday afternoon was spent at the ball park watching Luke play baseball. He has been playing Fall ball this season, and it has been a lot of fun. The team has done really well, and Luke has looked really good, especially at the plate. They did loose both games today. . . but like I said. . perfect weather. . .

Saturday late morning, I took Kennedy and Elizabeth on a hike up the Y mountain. I have been wanting to get out hiking, and this hike is pretty short and so it fit into our schedule. It is pretty steep. . . but well worth it. The fall colors are coming out. We had a good time.

David had a few errands to run, so he took Mia with him and dropped us off at the trail head.

On Friday, I took the girls to Build-a-bear. Elizabeth and Mia still had money from their birthday (thanks grandma!) and have been waiting to go out and get their bears. Kennedy has saved up her money for the past month or so and was able to get one too. (Kennedy has been doing a little babysitting for a lady in our ward, and has enjoyed making a little money and getting some experience with the little kids.) All the girls are all quite in love with their animals they made. I also took the girls to get hair cuts on Friday afternoon.

Overall, we have had a nice weekend. What have you been up to?

BYU Soccer and sleepover time!

Kennedy has had a few fun adventures over the past couple weeks. A couple weeks ago, she was able to go to the BYU Women's soccer game with a couple of her friends. They were able to get some cute pictures taken while they were there! Do you know who any of these people are?? Here is Kennedy, Hayley, and Amberly with Dave Rose, the head BYU Basketball coach.

I will have to ask Kennedy who this is. . . .I know it is one of the soccer players on the BYU women's team. Oh, and don't you love their cute pink BYU beanies?? I wish I could have been there to get one! They were handing them out at the game!

Of course Cosmo was there!

They also met several players on the BYU basketball team. . . no Jimmer, but still pretty cool, huh?

They This weekend Kennedy invited Bronte and some of her roommates over Friday night for some girltime and a sleepover! They make home made pizzas, did some hair and make up, had cupcakes, watched Justin Bieber. . . all the fun things you should do with your girl friends. I know my girls had a BLAST! I hope Bronte, Roni, Lauren, and Michelle did too!

Lauren and Elizabeth

Mia was attached to Bronte. Everytime I saw her, she was sitting on her lap, sitting by her, etc. Do you notice Bronte's Shorewood shirt? I guess it was Shannon's way back when and now Bronte has adopted it.

Making pizzas

Kennedy, Michelle (sorry she got partially cut off :(. . . ) Roni, Bronte, and Mia.

I hope the older girls had fun. Thanks for coming and making my girls happy!

Front entryway

I have been a stressed out basket-case for a while now. Like I've had melt downs, I can't sleep at night, anxiety, etc etc. There are several factors to me being a crazy-person lately. But a major one has been our construction project. We started last April. The first picture below is a "before" picture. . . well not quite before, because there is already a pile of dirt, but as close as I got to taking a "before" picture of our front. NOTHING has been completed on time, We are still trying to get closed on our final loan, budget has been over, money is tight. . . etc etc. Just a few factors to my stress. Why am I sharing this?? Not sure. I guess I have to get a little off my chest. When we started making plans to add on to our house about a year ago, we decided to also re-do our entryway. I am soooo glad so did!

This is the outside to our new entryway. We added the gable, put in a new solid wood front door, and opened up the entry way. I have alway hated how when you open the door, there is no room to come in, and the stairs to downstairs are right there! Well, no more. . .

Here is new light in the entryway that David just put up last week.

I don't have a "before" picture of the inside. I wish I did. But basically where the dark wood flooring starts is the area that we added. Before our front door was right where the tile starts in the photo with the step down stairs right there. We almost had a couple people take a tumble down the stairs. . . that won't happen now!! I love our new entryway. We have the wood floor that will eventually replace all the tile. . . but we haven't started removing the tile yet. That will be another project this winter. Yes, something more for me to stress about!! I love the window over the door, I love having a real entryway now, I love the wood floor, I love the gable in the front and the pole. So I am really happy with our new entryway. Am I still stressed? YES. But things are winding down a little. .. . .more to come later :)

a slacker mom....

so luke mentioned the other day that I had done a blog post for everyone's birthday but his so I am feeling a bit guilty today.... granted, I don't think I blogged all summer....but still Luke deserves to be celebrated!

He turned 14 on July 3 this last summer. Luke is a pleasure to have as a son. He started 9th grade this fall. I can't believe I have an official highschooler!

Luke keeps busy with his athletics (he chose to play baseball over footballthis fall, and he's been doing great) and he is so smart he'll knock your socks off!

We love you Luke :)

Here are some of Luke's Favorites right now (in his own words):

• Food: Teriyaki Chicken with ranch
• Colors: Maroon and Gold
• Things to do: Any sports, hang out with friends, watching Sports Center
• Vacation Spot: Seattle (Especially Safeco field)
• Movie: Glory Road or Remember the Titans
• Book: Percy Jackson series
• Song: Party Rock Anthem
• Place to eat: Just about anywhere, but Cafe Rio is the best!

happy 9th to elizabeth!

Elizabeth is celebrating her 9th birthday today! I remember David flying in to Seattle on September 11, 2002 from West Virginia to be there for her birth. . . the one year anniversary of 9/11. Luckily the flights were safe that day, and Elizabeth arrived safely on the 12th! All 9 pound of her :)

Here are some of Elizabeth's favorites right now:

• Favorite Food: Apples
• Favorite Colors: Purple, Blue, and Green
• Favorite thing to do: Play soccer and Dance (she is playing on a club soccer team this year. . . her goal tally so far is 4! )
• Favorite Vacation Spot: St. George
• Favorite Movie: Soul Surfer
• Favorite Book: Two times the Fun
• Favorite Game: Littlest Pet Shop
• Favorite singer: Justin Bieber ( I finally caved and got her a JB T-shirt for her birthday! She has been wanting one for quite some time now)

Elizabeth is a joy to have at home! She is looking forward to getting her own room when our addition is completed ! (More Peeks to come soon). She is a hard worker and generally a happy, friendly girl. We love you, Elizabeth! Have a great Day!!

peek1

You may or may not remember that we have a bit of a project going on here this summer! I thought I would start to give a few little "peeks" into what we have been doing and where are progress it at! This picture is the outside of our house. You can see the scafolding is up because they are working on putting up the stucco for the outside. I am just giving an overall view today. I will continue to give "peeks" and focus on different areas of our house! YOu can see our new garage door is in. . . .and also get a bit of a peek at our new entryway. We have been working so hard this summer. David has done some of the work himself inorder to save a few $$. Do these pictures make you nervous at all? I don't know if you can see how dangerous it is up there! He has a ladder on top of the scafolding putting a few shingles up. I had to go up for just a few minutes to help ( and I was only standing on the scafolding. . . ) and I was scared to death! Granted, I REALLY don't like heights! Well, untill the next peek!! . . . .