Happy Anniversary!

So today is our 3rd anniversary. Cant believe it has only been 3 years. Seems like several lifetimes with all that has gone on. ( and in a good way!) I got up this morning to snow and marveled at the fact that when we got married, it was a warm 70 degree sunny day- we got married outside surrounded by our family and friends.

Its quite remarkable when I look over our wedding and honeymoon photos I think" WOW who are those tanned, well rested people??" And I just have to give it a minute for our little bugs comes screaming down the hallway and I am immediately brought back to our reality. Ah- thats why we are no longer sunkissed - but in a constant state of exhaustion! LOL

Super excited to have a date with my slayer of dragons tonight. Michael Buble concert - dinner- alone time. Complete bliss and I cant wait!!
Love you honey!!

It all started a long time ago...a desire to have a picture of temple in our home but never really being able to decide on which image. My dad gave us a wonderful watercolor of the Salt Lake Temple for Christmas that we loved. However when we moved to our new house, most of the frames on the wall were black so we decided to change out the matting on the photo and spray paint the frame. Well upon removing everything in the frame, we found out that the watercolor was more fragile than we realized and it ended up getting ripped at the bottom. So I sat around try to decide...do I replace it with another photo with the Salt Lake Temple or find another picture all together. I had my eye on Emily's black and white photo of the Mt. Timp Temple(where Jonathan and I got sealed) for months as I wanted a picture of both temples...however after the incident with the watercolor, I ultimately decided on the Salt Lake Temple and I purchased this print.

Emily has a great eye, and her shots are gorgeous. Its quite an honor to have something that you love in your home that a friend created.

My advice is to check out her website, check out her prints, and put one up in your home. You wont be disappointed!

Piano!!!

A life long desire to have a piano in our home came to fruition today. After a few months of looking on KSL, and Piano stores, testing and playing many many...we found one in our price range and that met Jonathans standards. While we would have been happy to keep Jonathans very nice Keyboard as a substitute for a while longer, we knew if we didnt go for it now, we might never.
There is nothing that brings me more happiness than to see Jonathan happy. He had been missing Mom and Laynes Grand Piano that he often sat and played when we lived with them, and I knew that even though we could have spent the money other ways...this would give him joy.

My hope is as Elijiah continues in his lessons, and Tristan starts- that our home will be filled with the sound of music. Good - bad and everything in between.

Life

This is a great post.

For better or worse, man cuts hair...

Amber and I agreed that lil'T needed a haircut and as my last attempt ended well, I took on the task again. First attempt left the little dood looking like Friar Tuck (bowl-cut to the max) so tonight, with the blessing of the wifey, I went a little more aggressive. Amber mentioned in Sacrament today that she liked another little boy's hair so I copied it on Tristan. I think it looks exactly like the other little boy's, but I fear that Amber is not loving how shorter hair has made little man look not quite so little...

T hates having hair on his body so this was one of his first showers, taking place right after I gave him the Friar Tuck doo.

And after tonight's more aggressive cut

Living room...

When we bought our house I decided to try this time to add pieces that I loved, rather just buy things to fill the house. Due to this - Ive been literally scouring websites, blogs, design magazines, in search of things that I really wanted for our home. One of the items that I came across was this Bombay chest.

I decided that I would track this piece down and use it for our entry way. Well after finding it at the store, and talking with Jonathan, we decided that we could find something similar and redo/paint etc if need be for cheaper. Over the course of furniture shopping we found another piece for the entry way, but thought a blue coffee table for the front room would be perfect. We got a blah dark gray table, one with lots of potential, and Jonathan spent the next week, sanding, painting, distressing, etc for this end result:




While the pictures dont show how vibrant the color is, I absolutely love it. The room is coming together, and with a few more things to be added, it will be complete.

Little T

Tristan is coming up on 2. In a short few weeks the big day will arrive and Ive noticed a few things since our arrival to the new house.

First off ---bedtime routine. Now sleeping isnt one of Tristans favorite pastimes, nor is it an easy road we travel each night. And infact when we moved in with Mom last year, we created a monster. It was easier for us to try and have Tristan self soothe, and calm down and we did this by putting in baby einstein DVD's for him to watch and listen to as he fell asleep. It was so successful ( 90%) of the time, that when we didnt have a TV for him to watch our nighttime routine fell apart quickly. Once he started talking, he would demand "show!" until you either put one on, or in the case of not having a TV next to his crib, he would cry and cry and ultimately ended up on your lap watching a movie till he fell asleep.

When we moved to our new house, I was bound and determined to stop the madness. However I underestimated the the effects of the move on Tristan as far as his crib went

SEE Im a firm believer of keeping children restrained, confined, and generally SAFE at all times. Since we had climber- it necessitated the crib tent. It worked well. He couldnt wander the house nor hurt himself should he fall out of the crib. Well when we moved, we didnt get that re-set up quickly enough and he had a hard time adjusting to his room. So we did what any parent would do to avoid the crying fits of a toddler. GIVE IN. It started with him falling asleep in our bed and then we would move him to his room. Well, now Tristan tends to wake up as we are transferring him from our bed- EK to his bed and insists on sleeping on the toddler bed. Now there are nights that I can have him start on the toddler bed, and stay there till I move him, but its always a crap shoot. Id have to say that Tristan is having his say and letting us know- that he doesnt not LIKE his crib huh? Makes sense to me! All this sleep anywhere but his crib business!

The 2nd thing that is changing around our place is his BINKY!!! After a dentist appointment that told me his bite is being affected, and if not stopped( his binky use) could lead to serious dental problems we decided to try and go cold turkey. This hasnt been the easiest road either. Much of the first 18 months of his life was spent ill with one cold, ear infection, etc after another and he developed a serious habit of never being without his pacifier. So much so that he had a preference for color( same brand, just different colors) and we had to have them strategically placed throughout the house. For heaven help us if we didnt have one when he wanted it, or it fell out during the night!! ( I will say there is nothing more annoying than him waking up after dropping his pacifier out, cant find it around the crib, and searching the house in a sleep walk and unable to find a replacement!) SOOO Jonathan and I decided that we would just tell him that he was going to be "2" soon- a big boy and that big boys dont have binkies. So far that has been working. He has thrown a fit or two, cried for it, and actually found one that he refused to give up- but after he fell asleep- we took and hes been doing fine since. We are day 3 into the no binky rule, and I think that this time...the PARENTS might have won a round!

Lessons learned in SF

I learned several things this week while in San Fran. Some of which I think are noteworthy. Having traveled a bit in my young life, and living close to the bay growing up...it was the city that my friends and I( namely Jenna, Mariann, and Sarah) would often visit. There were times when I would drive into the city several times a week to work, or even on the weekends to go dancing, shop, or eat yummy food.

I have many fond memories as I vacationed as I was older in the very fine San Fran, but this trip in particular I found myself doing a bit more observing than I have in the past. Id like to share a few things I learned:

1. You literally could die while taking a cab ride. ( It was the trip upon arrival with a fellow co worker- that I thanked heaven and kissed the ground when I exited the cab. There were several times on the eventful ride, that I had to restrain myself from grabbing my co-workers leg in attempt to not slam back and forth in my seat.)
2. Cab drivers will let you pack as many people as possible into their cab...as long as you are willing to pay what they ask.
3. I dont like to party. Especially with drunk single men at a work event.

4. Even when at a hotel I get scared of the boogie-man.
5. Doesnt matter that Tristan isnt around. My internal clock still goes off at 5:30 am. Makes for a very long day when out late.
6. Health is wealth. A very wise man told me this. I whole heartedly agree.

7. The second poorest man in the world is a man without family or friends. The other thing the very old wise man said as he drove me to the airport. This time going the speed limit.
8. I realized that I would rather walk with my luggage all over town, (even without my luggage) than take a cab.
9. I miss the shopping that SF has to offer.

10. The homeless folks are NOT harmless

11. I really really hate traveling for work and being away from my boys.

When I got back I had tons of things to catch up on, and one thing on Saturday that I had volunteered for was Elijiah schools 5 k. Last year we ran it, but this year I sat out to help during the event. I am so proud of Elijiah. He ran it just over 30 minutes and did a great job.

Elijiah has a friend Ben. Ben is autistic. He is high functioning, but still requires a lot of assistance and Elijiah thinks Ben is the greatest. Ben was the last race finisher. He was so proud as he crossed the finish line.

Bon, Ben, and Elijiah- all classmates and all race participants. Honestly I couldnt be more proud of these boys...they shouted praise and encouragement to one another and that is what competition is all about-celebrating everyones success.

I am happy to be home. Happy to be with my hubby and kids even after a short couple of days away. I realize that there is no place that I would rather be than in SLC. Perhaps Utah has grown on me, or I have finally realized what really matters in life. Its to be healthy( headache free for 2 weeks now) and have those you love around you.

While I never expected to end up staying in Utah after I left California- it is now home. ****Elijiah took my camera and shot this photo. Not so interested in looking at him for some reason and because he took it- I posted it.

March

March is a good month...our anniversary is coming up...good things happened in March for us.

Photos from our family dinner the night before we got married.

(I love this shot of my grandparents. I still miss my grandpa.....)

....my how time flies!

Its all about the house lately

Well for some family that are out of state and friends that wanted to see pictures of the new place here you go. Ive pulled some photos off the web from similiar houses in floor plan to ours...so these photos are not OUR house. They are however virtually identical. The front of the house( picture shown ) is OUR house tho. As soon as we get more of the rooms organized and set up Ill post picts from our actual home.

I love the stone on our house....

The only difference on the kitchen is that the fridge is centered on the other wall and we have more cabinet space. On the far right is more counter space- the stove and microwave.

Laundry room

Picture standing in the master bath from the closet area. On the right side is the jetted tub and separate shower

Dining area off the kitchen. ( we have a patio - deck off our dining area)

Family room.... What you dont see are the bedrooms, unfinished basement and the kids bathroom, and the formal living that is just off the entry way. ( We dont have these banisters. Ours are just wood- not the wrought iron...our carpet is brown too not beige)

So there you go - a quick tour of the house and as you can see lots of potential.

Home sweet Home

I love where we live. I really do. Draper didnt feel right- can I just say it??!! Too stuffy, not as friendly - I dunno not my place. Not that we have been here long :) just over a week- but yesterday I finally went for a quick run. Afterall Ragnar is coming up and I need to start running more often. So as I was running around my neighborhood and down the mountain- I was totally in awe of the view. While this photo is a stock photo from the internet(our camaras are still somewhere in a box) its a clear picture of the east side of the valley. The other side has Utah Lake and last night as the sun was setting I was super happy to be where we are. People were out, waving to one another- runners like me, walkers, parents with their kids.... Its like a little community. I likey.

funny story

Moving can be crazy. Stressful. Challenging. But I think with this being our 4th move in 12 months- we are tired of it. We were cranky, sick, and overall overwhelmed with all the details. Because lets be honest-moving isnt at all like buying a house...that adds additional stress, draining of bank accounts and a million details to keep track of.
However- we made it.

Much in thanks to our family that helped. THANK YOU!
I love our house. Have I said that yet? Oh yes I do. Especially our kitchen! And the space! And our room, and the kids rooms, and Jonathans office......

(tristan swinging from a closet bar)

So you know that painting that we were waiting for...well funny story. The artist had sent an email out a few months ago- saying it was the last one she hadnt sold etc etc...so when she contacted me about the painting to buy, I misunderstood. I ASSUMED that it was the same one in the email....Um no. We decided not to unwrap the painting until we moved as it was so carefully protected and we didnt want anything to damage our prize possession. Well much to our surprise upon unwrapping it...it was THIS painting. We got a good chuckle. Luckily we both love it. Had I known it was this one however, not sure I would have jumped at the chance...as this isnt my favorite of her work.....HOWEVER- its on our wall and I cant stop looking at it. The texture of the paint, the colors, the beauty of it. I honestly am SO glad we bought it. It makes me happy everytime I look at it.