Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Feels Like Home

Finally, after living in our house for almost two years it is starting to feel like a home! This summer we have finally been able to work on our yard and it makes such a huge difference!
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I have always wanted a porch to hang bunting from. I've kinda gone a little crazy with my patriotic-ness!
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Griffin loves the porch too. It's a great place to practice climbing..
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and to play with cars...
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and to practice yoga!
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Now on to the backyard. Here is the before...
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And after!
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These pictures are from last summer when Marc was building the deck.
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He designed it himself and it was a lot of work! We are grateful for Marc's dad and Brother Jeff who came and helped with the finishing touches.
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And TaDa! Isn't it beautiful! It is so fun to come out here and relax!
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I love the stairs and the bench. Marc is so talented and creative! I need to get some flowers in that planter box...
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Marc got a firepit for Father's Day and we've added it to the circle. We tried it out tonight for the first time and it is wonderful! You should come hang out with us... or at least use us for our smores!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Marc's 30th and 31st Birthdays!

Last year for Marc's 30th birthday I decided to do something special since 30 is a big milestone. So I got him a gift certificate for skydiving!
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Well finally, the day before his 31st birthday he got around to using his gift certificate. He took his brother Jeff (mini Marc) and his friend Joe with him. Here they are before any of the action started. They began by watching an "instructional" video that was hilarious. It featured a man with a beard down to his belly button who basically told you if you die, your family can't sue. It also showed video a footage of an ambulance driving away to which Joe stated, "do they need to show the ambulance? Why don't they just show a grave?"
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Here they are all suited up and ready to go!
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What's wrong with this picture? We had some time before they went up and we took tons of pictures with this little demo plane. I was laughing so hard, I thought I was gonna go into labor!
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One last kiss for the unborn...
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And they are on their way! Que Kenny Loggins Top Gun Theme...
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They each did a flip as they jumped out of the plane. They free fall for about one minute before they pull the parachute rip cord. While free falling Marc's tandem guy did tons of spins and Marc said he thought he was gonna toss his cookies!
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They got to steer the parachute so that was pretty cool!
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And luckily they all landed safe and sound! They had a blast and are ready to do it again!
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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

What is Up

Griffin LOVES fire trucks so on Memorial Day we went to the American Fork Fireman's Breakfast. Griffin loved being able to get close to the truck and said "Fire Truck" about 1000 times, followed by "Weee ooo weee ooo weee ooo" (his sound for the siren.)

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The food on the other hand... well I'm pretty sure that I've never eaten so many calories for so cheap. Nuff said. We picked up my dad and took him with us. He saw so many people that knew him and would come and say, "hi" and as soon as they would walk away he would say, "I don't know who that was." It was pretty funny.

Marc has been spending every spare second that he has getting the backyard ready for sod.
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Finally, last Saturday, it stopped raining long enough to get it done!
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We had the best help! Our neighbors just showed up to help, and Marc's dad and my family were a huge help too. The sod got to our house at 7:00 a.m. and they were done by 9:30 a.m! Thank you for all of your help!
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I will get a better picture but for now here's a preview of our new greenery!
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Sunday was so beautiful so we went up Provo Canyon to soak up some sunshine.
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We ended up at Bridal Veil Falls. The river is so high right now! We were brave and walked through the little stream at the bottom of the falls. Griffin wasn't happy about the freezing water, but he had a great time throwing rocks into the stream.

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It was such a beautiful day!
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We're getting closer! 34 weeks!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

May...

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Griffin and I ventured up to Layton to visit Cort. While we were there, we made a trek to the park... probably not a trek for most people, but it was up hill and I am 7 1/2 months pregnant. Griffin had a good time exploring. And, no I don't think that a onesie works as a shirt. He had on long sleeves and it was just too hot so we stripped off a layer.
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I love this girl and her skinny little collar bone

Meanwhile, back at the South House we have been doing lots of yard work. Marc has been working hard to get the backyard ready for sod. Too bad that we didn't get it in before it rained for a week and turned all of his hard work into a mud puddle. Griffin had a blast on the tractor with dad and just kept saying "tractoo, tractoo, tractoo" over and over again the entire time!
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Last Saturday we worked in the front yard. This is our first time planting flowers and we really didn't know what we were doing so we are just praying that they thrive and fill up our flower beds this summer. My poor sister Missy got roped into helping us when she came over for me to help HER with a project. She ended up getting down and dirty with us and made it go so much faster! Not to mention, she helped me figure out how to arrange everything. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of her, but she was the cutest and best dressed gardener that you've ever seen! Thanks Miss!
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It's still a work in progress, we need to get some bark and a few more flowers and then I'll post a picture of the finished product. I can say that nothing has died...yet!

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All of the hard work in the yard has really worn us out! Luckily we are blessed with one of the best sleepers on the planet, or at least we think he's the best! He takes a 3.5- 4 hour nap everyday, goes to bed around 7:30 and usually sleeps about 11-12 hours every night! I'm enjoying it while it lasts because I know that there are gonna be a lot of sleepless nights with a newborn right around the corner.
A little more about Griffin, he is AWESOME! He is so smart and isn't afraid to tell you so. For example.
Me: "Griffin where is your nose" (or eye, hair, head, ear... the list goes on)
Griffin: Points and says the word
Me: "Good Job Griffin!"
Griffin: "Mmmmmaaaart!"
It is so funny and cracks me up! He knows all of his body parts and it is so funny to hear him say them. Every time he points to his belly button he also follows it with a "beep beep." He loves belly buttons and points them out every chance he gets. Like on people magazine at the grocery store. He also points to my belly and says "Baby!" It's so adorable!
He knows all barnyard animals and the sound that they make. My favorite is piggy because he says "a-hynk." Griffin still loves horses on t.v. or in a book, but is absolutely terrified of them in real life.
He will finish some of the words to songs like Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
He loves busses and is always pointing them out on the road.
He just talks non stop all day long and I love it!
He is a horrible eater. He lives on juice and milk and if we are lucky some cheerios and goldfish crackers. He only eats things that are crunchy. Oh, and dog food. Sick I know! But he is always sneaking it out of Ruka's dish and it makes me gag, especially when his breath smells like it! Hey, it's his only source of protein but I still don't let him get away with it.
He RUNS everywhere, never walks. And will repeat most anything we ask him to except for "I love you." The kid WILL NOT SAY IT! He hears it all day long but refuses to say it back. Oh well. I'm writing all of this for my own sake... so kudos if you're still reading!

We got together with the South Family to place Marc's sister, Carrie's headstone. Carries kids designed it, Wendi engraved the granite, Jeff set it in the concrete and everybody helped place it. Carrie passed away last year and we have been looking forward to placing this in memory of her. We always get together on Mother's day at the cemetery and let balloons go for Marc's mom and for Carrie. It is a great tradition and way to celebrate these women that we love!

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I love these handsome boys of mine!
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And of course we are still working on the nursery and getting everything ready for our sweet baby to join us! It is coming together and I am excited to be done, with the nursery and the pregnancy!
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32 Weeks!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Mooooooooooooooooooo!

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The 3rd trimester is here!

We are working on the nursery and it is turning out awesome! Hopefully we can wrap it up this weekend. I wish that I could clone Marc so that he could be working on the nursery and the backyard at the same time. I made him stay up until 1:00 a.m. last Saturday, working on the nursery, which resulted in him getting a migraine. Sorry Babe! I will feel so much better when they are both done!

This pregnancy has flown by! I can't believe that I only have 10 weeks (or maybe 7-8) left... Griffin came early so I'm really hoping that I don't have to see the month of July as a pregnant woman!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter

We got Griffin a basketball hoop for Easter. What a great investment!
He played this way for an hour and a half before church. He was so worn out that Sacrament Meeting was actually enjoyable!
I made a quilt for Griffin that he loves because it has cars and buses on it. Every time he sees it he says "Bussss sh". It's pretty cute. It was not intended as an Easter gift but I just happened to finish it 2 days before, so I saved it for Easter.
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Thank you Costco for carrying adorable suits for little guys. He looked so handsome! He still looked cute even with green crayon on his vest and face (he likes to eat crayons in nursery...)
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My food assignment for this year was rolls. My mom has had 2 different teaching sessions with me on Thanksgiving in years past. I did a practice round last Monday and called my mom 15 times. But they turned out so I was up to the task for Easter. Only there were going to be a lot more people so I doubled the recipe. I ended up with 85 rolls! And they were pretty delicious if I do say so myself.
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They may not be much to look at but at least they tasted good!

We attempted to take some nice Easter family pictures, and this is how it went down with Griffin.
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So we let him get down and play with a ball and got a good one of just us.
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Griffin and Papa. I love that Griffin loves my dad so much. It's so adorable. He LOVES to go visit Papa!
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It was a great day! Church was awesome. I am so thankful for the Atonement. I love and am grateful for my family.