Never fails . . .

It seems like once I get the hang of keeping up with this blog and updating, something comes up and I forget about it for months. I couldn't sleep so I was cleaning out my photo library on the computer and I realized there has been so much happen since the last time I posted. A lot that really needs to be documented. We have made a few home improvements, Darrell was baptized, Christmas, Thanksgiving, trips to visit family, and just our crazy fun everyday lives. I have a lot of catching up to do! Just some random pictures of things that have happened because every post deserves photos!

 What handsome little men they are! 

Darrells baptism day.

 Many Saturdays were spent enjoying irrigation in the yard!

 1st Day of School!

 Joe and I went on a hunt here, amazing views, amazing country to hunt. It was crazy rough hard hiking country but a ton of fun, all but rolling the 4 wheeler, that is a story for another day!

 Crazy Taxi Driver for Halloween.

 The Lone Ranger.

 Christmas found our house.

I got a remodeled laundry room for my present. Best present EVER!!!

 Before

 After

 We had the awesome opportunity to go to the Gilbert Temple open house. The boys LOVED it. We LOVED it. What a beautiful place!!!

These, plus some, are all the things I will be catching up on and writing more about soon. Hopefully I can stick with it!!!

Hey ya boo boo. . .

The boys and I got to go to Duncan this past weekend to visit family and just take a mini break and relax and we had a blast. The lightning and thunderstorms were amazing. I miss Duncan for their monsoon season. You have never seen a lightning storm like the ones that little area produces, they are beautiful. We enjoyed the rain and the smell of it and just the feeling that comes with it, you know the one where you just wanna bundle up on a porch swing and just watch and listen and swing, it is quite relaxing. On our way home, I saw what looked like a calf on the side of a hill and I have learned from previous experience, a bear looks a lot like a small baby cow from a distance so I slowed down a bit and low and behold, it was a bear! This is the 3rd bear I have seen in the wild but the first I have been able to capture pictures of. It was only about 100 yards off the highway and had no care that I was stopped taking its picture. It just walked along and ate. It was a pretty awesome experience to be so close and just willingly sit there and watch it. The adrenaline and excitement was very much present!

I left my heart in San Francisco . . . .

Well not really since I didn't go to San Francisco BUT I did go to LA!!! Well we all went to LA to Joes brothers baby blessing. It was so much fun! We got to see family that we haven't seen in a long time and got to meet the newest member of the family baby Katie. I am so mad at myself, I didn't take any pictures of her. I am really kicking myself now. She is the prettiest old fashioned looking baby. I say that cause she reminds me of the black and white baby pictures taken in the olden days. Gobs and gobs of hair and very dainty features. She is a doll. I got to love on Brooklyn whom I haven't seen in a year! She is so big now. I'm gonna say I'm her favorite because she remembered me from last time I saw her at like 3 months old :)  I love her to pieces. And after 30 years of waiting, I finally for the first time got to see the ocean. What an amazing sight it was. On the drive down there I enjoyed looking at the sky and the grape vineyards. On the way back to the hotel I realized what I thought was the sky I was enjoying on the way there was actually the ocean from a distance the entire time. I had no idea, they just blended into each other. It was so calming to watch and listen to the waves, they were amazing!!! We had a blast and can't wait to get back over there to visit. Thanks for having us Malcom and Lindsey!!!

The kids managed to get grandpa in on the fun

Brooklyn girl

 

Tad thought the seaweed was the coolest thing at the ocean 

 Racin the waves

  Drew and Brooklyn

 Not sure if you can see the two tiny black dots out there but there were 3 dolphins that swam down the coast past us. They were fun to watch.

Bittersweet . . .

I was extremely excited when my niece Shaylee asked me if I would take her senior pictures until I realized they were her "SENIOR" pictures. This beautiful young lady has been my Shay Baby since she was born and we have become pretty close buds over the years so I became extremely sad as the realization set in that she will be graduating from highschool in 24 days and then she is off to college to start the next chapter in her life. I am way excited for her also to be growing up and figuring out what the future holds for her, it is such a fun time! We had SOOOO much fun taking 400+ pictures over the course of the weekend and getting to escape to the mountains for an afternoon. It will be a memory I treasure forever!

  LOVE YA GIRLIE!!!

Finally!!!

We are really good at starting projects and then something happens that we don't finish them but this is not the case this time!!! I am very proud to say we have started a project and finished it. It may have taken almost 2 years BUT, it got done!!! When we bought this house, we knew it was going to need work and the boys bathroom would be first because the bathtub didn't work. So that is where we started and that is what we finished before Joe started any other projects for us.

 The front panel to the tub wasn't like that when we bought the house, it was all put together. We had no idea what we were about to find when we opened it up.

  This is what we found when we opened up the face of the tub!!! I FREAKED!!! Ha ha ha I have no idea what the mummified animal is so if you have any ideas, feel free to share!!! You don't want to know what all was under there, we took care of the problem!!! ha ha ha

 Finally sheet rock on the walls and ceiling, tape and texture, and a fresh coat of paint.

  I LOVE THE CABINET!!! I am a hickory kinda girl. Left over tile from our Duncan remodel.

 More left over tile from Duncan. Two expenses that were nice to be able to save. Shower tile in!!!

 And finally a finished product!!! 

Me and my OCD ways though, I am going to take out the white shower curtain rod and buy a rubbed bronze shower curtain rod to match the light and faucet and door knobs and towel holder and toilet paper holder and door hinges. ha ha ha I am not even joking a little bit about the whole OCD everything has to match thing, I am CRAZY but we had company coming so I bought what I could find, it will work in the master bathroom when we redo it. I love how it turned out though and the boys are excited to have their own bathroom back and I am happy to have my own bathroom back for a little while! Ours is next though so time for the boys to return the favor and let us share theirs till it gets done.