Kellee's Familee

FINALLY...

2010-07-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

this morning we finally signed the papers to our new house. it has taken so long and been such a crazy process that i dont think it has sunk in yet. the house is in boxes and we are packing up with the help of 4 of my students this afternoon and heading to amreican fork. we cant wait! it will be 2 crazy days unpacking and packing to get ready to go to louisiana but mia and i are up for it! we will post more pics of the house as soon as we get setteled. thanks for everyones support during this long long long process of getting a house. oh and PS if you know of anyone needing a place to live in taylorsville let us know.

i am 1!

2010-06-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

here are some pics from mia's b-day dinner here at home. if you want to see her opening presents go to darrin's blog. www.deltakilolima@blogspot.com
P.S. Thanks Uncle Tim for helping me blow out the candle before i cooked my curious finger!

2010-06-02T18:20:00.001-07:00

today we got a new bed for mia. well it is a used bed we found at DI. it is a toddler bed so we brought it in the living room to let her feel it out. we guess she really liked it when she started jumping on it right away.

Then she liked laying down on her pillow. she just loves her pillows!

Then she kept going!
And going...and going...

Success! This is when we realized that she has monkey powers.

i love grass!!!

2010-05-30T08:15:00.003-07:00

mia just loves playing in the grass. when we went to see the new house she just had to get down in the grass and play. enjoy the pics!

the outside

2010-05-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

so we finally took pics of the outside. i guess it was good we waited because they finished the lawn. they also put 2 little red sunset maples in the front yard. they are supposed to be fast growers and have lots of color in the fall! they even surprised us with sprinklers, a drip system in the front flower beds and a few small flowering bushes. (double click on the photo and it will get bigger for you to see!)

new house

2010-05-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

so it has been a looooonnnnnggggg time since i posted anything on here. life gets busy but i guess that is no excuse. we have been house shopping since last October (2009) and we have finally found something in that is looking like it is going to work out. we have had many disappointments but this just feels right. here are a few pics...we forgot to take pics of the outside so will come soon i hope!
looking down the stairs to the basement. the rail is the hall way leading to the upstairs bedrooms.

faux granite counter tops.
kitchen, dining and bathroom floors.
the front door with a hardwood entryway.
view of the kitchen, bar and doors to go out to the patio

this is the dining room looking into the living room.

tooth?

2010-01-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

yesterday darrin said that mia did not want to eat very much and slept all day. so when i got home i stuck my finger in her mouth to check on her gums and possible teeth and there was a bottom tooth. she got her first tooth! it just broke through the gums and i am sure there are a few more on the way. as soon as we can get a picture we will put one up . she is being very shy about letting us see in her mouth. when i try to pull her lip down to look she sticks her tounge out.

crazy dayz!

2010-01-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

with grammy...

as you all know the holidays are a crazy time. so crazy i have not mailed my christmas cards yet..but no fear you will get them even if they are valentines cards!!! here are a few pics of mia with some of my family for the holidays. i will try and put more soon...but hey at least they got here right?!?!?

with memee....

with uncle paul...

all the pics with nenamaw are on another camera...so they are coming soon! check back for more great holiday photos!!!

a while

2009-11-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

it has been a while since i have had time to post pictures on here. so here are a few of the latest of Mia. a few weeks ago we got her ears pierced and she has found she loves popsicles to help her achy gum's while she waits for her first little teeth to come in...by the way she looks more like her daddy everyday!

overalls

2009-10-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

here are a few pics of Mia in her overalls from grammy. she was cheesin it up for daddy with his new camera!

all bundled up....

2009-10-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

it is beginning to get a little colder outside. this weekend at the tailgate party for the volleyball game Mia was all bundled up in her hoddie and yoga pants. here is a pic of her playing it up for the camera.

volleyball

2009-10-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

this saturday mia attended her first volleyball game. she was very calm and happy the entire time. darrin and i took pictures of the game...but when i got a chance i leaned over a snapped a few of mia. here is some of her having fun at the game.

Mia was wearing her overalls from her grammy
and just a chewing on her fingers...yum!

foto shoot

2009-10-05T20:05:00.001-07:00

tonight darrin and i took a few new pics of mia...she was very happy tonight as you can see here.

mia and ethan

2009-10-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Mia and her new baby cousin Ethan. he was born on September 19th, and has the same birthday as her uncle Paul. Ethan makes Mia look so big!

Mia trying to hold Ethan's hand....she wants to play already.

2009-09-26T21:53:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

awwwwwe...

2009-09-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

tonight mia did the cutest thing...she was holding her baby doll while i was rocking her to sleep, but when i put her in her bed she held on to it with both hands. i got the best shot i could with out flashing the camera in her face...but you can tell what she is doing...

the best game ever!

2009-09-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Mia has decided to take after me and darrin. she loves to watch sports especially
football. these are a few pics of her laying on the floor watching football (and of course she is sporting her Ragin' Cajun outfit grammy gave her!)

baby in a basket

2009-09-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

i tried to do a small photo shoot with mia. she was tired and really did not want to cooperate so here are a few of the best ones from that evening. we will try again soon!

toesies

2009-09-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

this weekend mia found her toes and is obsessed with them. she bends and contorts her way into any position she can to get to them all the while yelling at her feet. i think she tries to pull them off but of course they don't go anywhere!

grown up...

2009-09-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

this week mia has decided she wants to be big. she has started what we call talking. she just sits there and babbles and we talk back to her and she does it more. she started eating not only cereal but baby food this week. she likes bananas and apple sauce! (that is all we have tried so far) she is also very strong with holding her head up. now when she is sitting she tries to lift her head as to try and sit up and her face gets really funny as she tries with all her might!

with a spoon...

2009-08-30T12:49:00.001-07:00

today at lunch mia ate cereal for the first time. it was quite fun for her, and she seemed to like getting it everywhere!

2009-08-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

when we went to louisiana in august i was able to get a few of the dresses that i wore when i was a baby. today for church mia wore one. here are a few pics in the light pink dress.

laughing at daddy!

hiding her face...playing like she is shy!

can you tell she was ready for me to quit taking pictures???

she loves her dolly...

2009-08-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

recently mia has taken to grabbing anything she can. her clothes, my hair, her blankets and more. her dolly has been in her crib with her for a few weeks but now she just seems to love it. she hugs it and holds it tight. i hope you like these pictures as much as i do.

after a long week...

2009-08-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

this was a long week at work. i went up to park city for 2 retreats but i got to come home on friday to my wonderful family. mia was all smiles and darrin was doing his best to get the house clean. today we got lots done. mia and i went to morgan to see nellie, emma and baby george. when we got back we spent some time with daddy and then my friend carmen came to see us.

while waiting for carmen to get here mia decided she was going to lay around on the couch and watch harry potter.

she got really comfortable and is learning how to relax at an early age!

after all that excitment and a long day of fun, she passed out with her soft furry friend.

froggy???

2009-08-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

well this weekend i went grocery shopping at wal-mart and i just cant resist walking through the baby section. i saw the cutest little halloween outfits. i did not buy one cause i could not decide which to get and i wanted to ask darrin's opinion. they were little pajamas with hoods and had lots of animals and a flower for girls. when i talked to darrin he said lets go with the frog one. so when darrin's mom was coming here and asked us if we needed anything from wal-mart we asked her to pick one up. when she got here she had a surprise for mia. she had picked up the flower one in a size bigger too! if it was up to me i would get her one of each in the bigger sizes for pajamas and to play in. i could not wait till halloween so i dressed her up tonight. she seemed to like it and she knows how to play the part!

a few more...

2009-08-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

recently i have been told i do not put enough pictures up here. so here are some more. they were taken last week when mia was playing on the floor. now that i am keeping my side of the bargain i would like to challenge everyone else to add comments if you look at the pics and read the blog. i like reading the comments as much as you like looking at the pictures. so enjoy!

mia playing with her toys!

what is that big thing with flashy lights????

this rattle sure is yummy!!!

a cat project

2009-08-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

a while back darrin and his dad expanded our cat condo so that the cats could sit on top and see out of the window. today they decided to cover it with carpet and put a cushion on top. it allowed darrin to use his air compressor (his fathers day gift) for the first time. they had a lot of fun doing it and the cats really appreciate it... and of course willee is modeling it for you in the photo!

a chilly day

2009-08-15T19:27:00.001-07:00

today was a really chilly day. it rained this morning and snowed up in the highest of the mountians according to the news. here at home in the valley it was about 65 this morning when i woke up. i decided that it was probably not a great idea to have mia in just a onesie or a skirt since it was cold. so today she wore her first pair of jeans. she needed a belt so i made one out of pink ribbon. in lieu of having bare feet on i put her socks...well needless to say they did not last very long. but she is liking her new jeans. here are a few pics from today!

new place to sit...

2009-08-15T19:18:00.001-07:00

a few weeks ago darrin and i decided that we could not stand to sink into our couches anymore...they were used and worked well for the last year and a half...but it was time for new ones.

so we went out searching and founds this set at the RC Willey Outlet. not only do we enjoy them but the cats enjoy them as well. you can see max on top of the loveseat and mia enjoys the rocker/recliner as much as we do!

dolly

2009-08-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

today was my first day back at work. it was not as hard as i anticipated it to be but it was still not easy. knowing that darrin was home with mia made a big difference. being able to talk to darrin on messenger all day also helped me to feel better. by lunch time i was getting mia withdrawals and as soon as the clock hit 4:30 i was out of there! when i got home mia and i went to the store to get a few things...it seems we run out of milk almost every day! while at wal-mart i had to walk through the baby section...who can resist...and i got mia her first baby doll. here are the pictures of her playing with it and hanging on to it when we got home tonight. she just loves it and i am sure as she gets a little older and can really play with it she will enjoy it more. going to work everyday will not be easy but i know that she is safe and being taken good care of and that makes each day a little better.

to swing or not to swing...that is the question!

2009-08-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

so before we left for louisiana mia was very attached to her swing. while in louisiana mia was held and rocked by everyone and did not seem to miss her swing to much. since we have gotten back she has not wanted to be in her swing so much so today i put her in her chair. she looked all around and started to hold on to her binky string...so i decided to experiment. i went and got a rattle that grammy (my mom) gave her while we were in louisiana. because it is so light she was able to hold on to it easily. i helped her get a grip on it and she shook it for about 20 min. she just smiled the whole time! it was so cute. i grabbed the camera so all of you could see. she really is getting big fast..before we know it she will be walking and talking! i hope you like the pics!!!

the long trip home...

2009-08-05T21:07:00.001-07:00

well after a great week in louisiana we are finally home...we got back last night around midnight. the flights were ok but the 3 hour layover in houston was less than desired. mia did great on the flights...sleeping most of the time. the flights were worth it though, because we had a great time in louisiana visiting with family and friends..i just hope they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed being there. there were lots of things for us to do and see while there. we got to see mom and dads new house which well be finished in the next couple of weeks. it looks awesome by the way. we also got to visit with family from new orleans, houston and my best friend from high school and her family. two of my cousins even got together and threw me a surprise baby shower for mia...lots of my family and friends were there!!! darrin got to have just as much excitement as mia did...he got to eat alligator, and frog legs among other seafood, take pictures of alligators and get a few souvenirs. we are very grateful to have been able to go visit and look forward to going back for christmas!

great news!!!

2009-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

today after studying non-stop for a few weeks darrin took the GRE and did great! he needed over a 1000 and wanted to really make at least a 1100 and when all was said and done he came out with a 1120! so for those of you who have been following our blogs and wondering where the pictures have disappeared to, our photographer had to take a short break because he was working towards something bigger and better...but now he is back and should have some posted soon! we are looking forward to having darrin apply to graduate schools and find out where we will end up next...even though it will be a while before it actually happens! he did so great! mia and i are very proud of him!...in celebration we went out to lunch today with grandpa lee. he enjoyed celebrating with us on his lunch break and seeing mia!

pioneer day

2009-07-24T03:09:00.000-07:00

so today was pioneer day. for those who don't know it is a state holiday here in utah. it is like the fourth of july for utans...so we get to celebrate twice in july! no work, fireworks and bbqs it is great! so today we decided to go up to silver lake. it is about a 20 min drive up in the mountains. it is a national park type place with picnic tables, and nature center and a path that goes all the way around the lake. we called the hunsakers and Paul and Leah came with us. Angela decided to stay home...and i cant blame her if i was still pregnant i would have stayed home and slept too! we packed a picnic lunch and took off! it was so great it was about 20 degrees cooler in the mountains and made for a great picnic and walk. there is lots of wildlife to see also. the ground squirrls loved teh baked cheetos we gave them, and we saw lots of birds that weren't afraid to come and get food either. leah and mia loved our walk around the lake (well they got pushed in strollers) we saw a deer eating that did not seem frightened by people at all, we saw lots of little blue dragon flies and the best part was the moose we saw at the end of our walk. of course darrin and paul loved it! they took tons of pictures, and i got to see the moose i wanted to see. he was pretty big and less than 50 yards from us. he just ate and drank for a long time...maybe darrin will post some pictures of it soon! while we were out in such a beautiful place we paul also took a few family pictures of us if you are lucky darrin may post one of those too! keep a look out on his blog for new photos coming soon!!!

new sitting options

2009-07-15T02:58:00.000-07:00

so after a long while of saving up and having only a used couch from DI (like goodwill) and a breaking futon in our living room, we went this week and got a living room set. it is a sage green microfiber that is really soft and even came with the decorative pillows. it is so nice not to sink down in the couch. we got a couch, love seat and recliner that rocks too! the recliner is mia's favorite part cause we can now rock all the time, and darrins too cause he can put his feet up! i made the rule though that whoever has the baby gets dibs on the recliner! with the couch and love seat darrin and i each have a place to lay and take a nap on our lazy sunday afternoons. he says i get the small one cause i am small...i would not say small just vertically challenged. thanks to darrin's friend tim we were able to use his truck and muscles to pick it up and move it into the house....and get rid of the old stuff. to thank him for coming all the way from provo to help us i made a dinner of milaneses with chimi...and if is say so myself it was a great dinner that we got to eat in our new living room sitting comfortably on our new furniture!

a new toy

2009-07-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

so this week i can officially exercise. i have not been able to since i had mia. monday darrin got me a new surprise to help me have fun while i exercise. we have a wii and we already had 2 dance pads but we went and got the game disney dance grooves. it is just like dance dance revolution only slightly easier because i know all the songs...well 95% of them. i think i have officially become addicted and i am now a video game junkie...at least for this game! there is a work out mode and challenges. i have done over 2 hours a day for the last few days. it says i am burning in excess of 1000 calories an hour. i am not sure if that is true but it is fun and good exercise...and besides i can do it in the house while mia is sleeping or relaxing in her swing. maybe it will help me shed some of this wonderful baby weight i gained while pregnant. i guess only time will tell...until then i will just keep on playing! and if you are lucky you can come play too! (thank for the game babe!)

one month

2009-07-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

it is hard to believe that today Amelia is 4 weeks old. she is growing so fast, and we are having so much fun. yesterday while she was napping (along side daddy) i painted my toenails then hers. they are so cute. it was kind of hard cause they are so little but it was worth the struggle, the little wiggle worm. maybe i will get Darrin to post a picture of her tiny toes on his blog today.
we have decided that while we are both home with her this summer we will go on one adventure a week to spend time with her. last week we went to the aquarium and this week we are going to park city to see some of my work friends and go shopping at the outlet stores!!! we are also looking at going to the kenocott copper mine i think it will be cool to see...of course Amelia won't remember all these trips but Darrin will take pics so we can show her later. and to top it all off our last trip of the summer will be our big trip to Louisiana. we are looking forward to it, all except the heat and humidity there!

2009-06-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Mia...

need i say more...she is wonderful and beautiful and takes up so much of our time...but it is so worth it. we are doing great since we got home 3 weeks ago. mia is sleeping at least 5 hours straight at night (most nights) and eating well. she has grown about a pound since we brought her home making her close to 8 lbs. now. i am not going to say i have an excuse for not writing on here much...but you know why...hopefully. i am bad about posting pictures but feel free to check darrins blog, he as set a goal to post a least 1 picture a day and i can guarantee most will be of mia. if you want to get to his blog just click on "the hubby" on the right side of the screen and it will take you there. i am going to try and take a few pics of my own and post them once in a while too. we are so thankful for all of those who have helped, called and sent congratulations wishes. ok she is crying...bye!

i know it has been a while...but here is the good news!

2009-01-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

so it has been months since i last entered anything in this blog, and i accredit that to the fact that i have been very sick and doing all i can to make it through each day. fortunately it has gotten better so i can find a few minutes for myself and get to tell everyone what is going on. well back in September (hince the date of the last entry!) we found out we were pregnant. today we had the ultrasound and got to see the baby from many different views. the technician was great about explaining all the little details to us and pointing out things like the nose, lips, ribs, heart and even measured the head, abdomen, arms and legs. the final shot we got of the baby was from the bottom we got to see her butt! yes it is a her. we are having a girl! many have already asked if we have a name, and we are still working on it. if you would like to see pictures of the ultra sound just click on hubby and you can see them on Darrin's blog. we are very lucky that as far as we know she is very healthy and growing well. we looking forward to seeing her for the first time around June 15th! keep a look out for more updates soon! and i promise to write a little more often then every 4 months!

the wrong side of the bed...

2008-09-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

so i never really believed in superstitions but yesterday you could have fooled me. i think i really did wake up on the wrong side of the bed. i was running late for work and in turn i made darrin late for work. i ate my breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast in such a hurry that i spilt some on my navy pants. i thought i wiped them up...but when i got to work i realized that i had not...and i found 2 more spots. when my 10am snack time came around i spilt yogurt on my pants and had to go wipe them off again. everytime i tried the white towles in the lair left tons of fuzz on my navy pants. i luckly made it through lunch with very little on my pants. after a long crazy day at work...i left a few minutes early to walk home. when i was almost home...i went to step up on to the curb...thanks to the red no parking paint i slipped and landed right on my face. i was able to catch myself a little as i ended up in the grass. i am lucky to only have brused my leg and knee. i hope that everyone does not think darrin beat me up again...cause it was just me having woken up on the wrong side of the bed....

just another day in my crazy life!

Maybe Yellow...

2008-09-19T13:11:00.001-07:00

so i know that i have never had a green thumb. most of the things i have tried to grow before have been very successful....at dying! but this year i decided to try and plant a little garden in the small space we have next to the house. i planted tomoatos, bell peppers, squash and zucchini. i have learned alot from this and i am hoping that next year i can do better.

i waited a little while to plant to make sure that it would not freeze again. for a while i thought that it was effecting the plants...up until about 2 weeks ago. then one little tomato appeared, then a few more...next i found a zucchini almost big enough to pick and about 5 more growing...then my little bell peppers started to show up. I know that it is nothing compared to many other gardens...but i am proud of my first real little garden.

so...i have decided that i do not have a green thumb...but maybe it has turned a little more yellow and eventually it may get that great crayola color of yellow-green!

pictures to come...they are still on darrin's camera!

another project...

2008-08-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

this weekend i had a little time to myself while darrin went to see then new batman in imax with his dad and brother-in-law paul on saturday. so i decided to go to joanns to find a project, something kind of fun to do. in my search i found this simpson fleece remnant on sale. so i got it and made darrin a couple of pillows out of it. they go great with the random orange chair we have in the living room and with is bart.

although this was fun to make it was not my main project that i worked on that day. i had seen a few articles and examples in a few other places so i decided to make some decorations for my dining room wall. it had been empty since we moved in and this seemed like just the thing to do. i bought some letters in all shapes and sizes, and some paint in complementary colors. all the letters look random but if you would put them in order they would spell our names. of course we would have to repeat some of the letters but that is ok. we are going to one day add a letter or two when we have kids to signify their names also. as you can see there is a big L in the middle this was a project i did before the wedding. all of darrin's sisters and their families helped us do so much stuff i made them the same letter. i used the first letter of thier last name and spelled it out on the letter then added the year they were married. i made us one too, and we figured this would be a good way to display it. the picutre on the left also shows what it looks like all set up in our dining room (keep in mind that is my table for summer. i change it to go along with the seasons or holiday!) this was just a little more about where we live and what our new home looks like...more to come as the projects unfold....

the new do...

2008-07-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

so a few weeks ago i called my friend kelsey to see if she could trim my hair...by the time i got to her house i decided to chop it all off. so here is what it looks like now. i can also do it curly but i prefer it straight. it takes much less time to fix and is much cooler. the only thing is that i can't pull it all up in a ponytail, some of it still hangs down in the back.

as you may notice this picture does not look like it was taken at our house...and that is cause it wasn't. it was taken at the hotel in park city. we went and spent a few days in park city last week while i was at a conference. it was loads of fun and i still go my work done and we still had time to do some fun things like go swimming, go out to eat, and take walks along the trails. if you want to see more of our trip look at the pictures darrin took on his blog. more to come as it happens...

FINALLEE!!!

2008-07-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

SO everyone has been asking me and i have been saying i was going to post pictures of our new house. i have been a slacker and i know it. so here it finally is.

this is the view when you first walk in (you pass our office area which cannot be seen) and enter our living room. the table in the middle is our game table. darrin made that a few years ago. he made this cool panoramic picture so you could get a better feel for the room..you cant see our other couch which is perpendicular to the lamp and couch on the right.

this is our dining room and the kitchen which you may be able to see in the panoramic. they are much larger than the pictures show. the doors on the left behind the dining room hold our laundry room and the doors on the right are our pantry.

as you make your way down the hallway our bathroom is the first
door on the left. our bed room is the second door on the left...straight gets you into max and willee's room, also known as the spare bed room. and there is a door on teh right that you cannot see. it is the furnace room that also has extra storage.

max and willee's room is light purple as you can see. it was already that color when we moved in and since mom donated some cool purple sheets (that could not be a closer match to the wall color if you use that little machine they show on TV to match paint) we decided to leave it that color for now. i decided to use chocolate brown accents and it has turned great!

this is our bedroom. we have a water bed which darrin built for us last february and i satined and varnished...it has tons of storage underneath. we love our tables and lamps from ikea...that place is great!

so this is just a little tour of the inside of our house. if you would like a better view you are invited to come and share a room with max and willee!!!!!

maybe one of these days i can give you a tour of our porch and garden and the outside of our new house....we will just have to wait and see how long that really takes me!...so long for now!

fuegos pirotechnicos

2008-07-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

last night for the fourth of july we decided to go see some fire works with pangeah. paul, angela and leah came over early and darrin went swimming with leah and we had picnic dinner by the pool. after much deliberation we decided that the best place to see fire works was from the east bench (for those of you from flat places...it is the side of the mountain on the east side of the valley). from the side of the mountain we could not only see the firework at sugarhouse park and the baseball stadium, we could see them from all over the valley. it was awesome. some were smaller than others of course..but it was so cool. the attached pictures do not justify the valley but it is beautiful at night with all the lights and the fireworks just made it better.

slacker...

2008-06-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

i am calling myself a slacker this week...i have not written on here in quite a while...so many little things have gone on in the last few weeks for instance...
i have given myself the biggest bruise on my arm and everyone keeps asking who hit me or as my students would say "who gave you that big hickey on your arm?!?" i think this is the worst one that i have ever had...and they all think it is funny!

i have also managed to cut the tip of my pointer finger off on my left hand...about a month ago i cut the tip of my middle finger off on that same hand...i think that i am extra accident prone this month! the first time i was cutting an apple and this time i was using my rolling cutter cutting fabric...it never fails i always end up looking like someone beat me up...but it is just me being clumsy...

we also had quite the fiasco last night while we were eating dinner around 8 pm the electricity suddenly went out. so we finished dinner...opened the windows and went for a walk...hoping that when we got back that it would be back on. after going to sleep about 10ish with the windows open cause there was nothing else to do in the dark...around midnight we heard lots of trucks...the power company was there with 5 trucks, a backhoe thing and all kids of equipment. since it was so hot outside we had to keep the windows open...and we heard all the work...digging...scraping..yelling and all kinds of noise...needless to say we moved all around the house during the night trying to find the quietest room and ended up sleeping in the extra room with max and willee...around 4ish we got electricity and a few hours sleep...it was a most eventful evening...

more to come as i contine to beat myself up and as the story unfolds...

my new hobby...

2008-06-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

so as i have been trying to find things to keep my mind off of work and give me a break from doing things around the house...when i have a few extra minutes...and i have come up with a new hobby...thanks to teaching of my grandmother many years ago and a little encouragement from my mother-in-law. i have started making patchwork quilts from scraps. it started with a little baby boy quilt for one of my co-workers who had a baby in april. then i started a big quilt for one of my best friends from the mission...although i have not finished it yet. and just recently i finished my second baby quilt...for one of my friends, kelcey, who is having a little girl sometime this month. i have attached a few pictures so that ya'll can see and i can keep track of the ones i have done...too bad i forgot to take a picture of my first one! more to come as i keep trying to improve this new hobby!

our kids...

2008-05-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

so as many of you have heard we have adopted 2 very cute and energetic little boys...max and willee. they are brothers about 3 months old and very energetic. max is our little black wild one who loves to run and play with his brother. willee is our little creme colored boy who loves to cuddle and play. we have a little kitty tent that i have made some hanging toys for and they love playing in it. they chase each other into it, flip it over and even climb on top! when we com home in the evening they are all rested and ready to play.

in the last month they have grown a lot and are starting to try new things. max tends to be able

to be able to jump higher than willee easily jumping up on our bed. willee has proven to be the little daredevil as long as he does not have to jump. he is our climber trying to climb the blinds and window screens.

willee is still trying to bit ears, chins and noses once in a while...but i think they have become more of love nibbles. they are just like little kids learning the words "no" and "stop" and growing every day. they have not quite learned their names yet but the do come quite quickly when we call them. more to come as the story unfolds...

our great adventure

2008-05-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

this weekend we went on a great bike ride. we took our bikes and rode along the jordan river parkway all the way from our house to darrin's parents house. Pangeah (Paul, Angela and Leah) were with us. paul pulled leah in her little cart behind his bike and she had a grand ol' time eating snackes and relaxing while we rode. we took our time getting there and stopped for a water break along one of the more senic parts of the parkway and leah got to chase the ducks. after we tackled the steepest hill in the world we finally got to the Lee's. we vistied for a while at the Lee's house and then headed back home. it was a relaxing ride but good exercise for us all at the same time.

darrin and i have made it our new goal to ride our bikes to work. i have been doing it for a week and darrin started this week. i lood forward to it helping us to get more exercies in during our busy weeks of work. and besides it is just plain fun. i almost forgot how much i liked riding my bike outside when i was a kid. more to come as the story unfolds...

you know you are lucky when...

2008-05-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

so today i have been thinking how lucky i am...i have a wonderful husband who came home last night from a long day at work and helped me in the house all evening to get things cleaned. lots of people (mostly wives) don't have as much help as they would like around the house but darrin is always willing to help me. he supports me in my work and other things and he does not try to keep me from anything that i feel strongly about, and that makes me feel really lucky to have him.
at work this morning i got the funniest IM(instant message) from my sister-in-law diana. i had asked her a question earlier in the morning and when i came back from a work meeting the bar was blinking again. so i opened the window to read what she had to say. to my surprise there were about 7 nudges and 5 or 6 winks (for those of you who don't know what winks are they are fun short cartoon like things that you can send back and forth) my 3 year old niece gracie had sent me kisses and smiley faces and other things without diana knowing. diana was worried it would upset me or mess up my work...but it was just a fun reminder that she likes to play with me as much as i like playing with her and her siblings and cousins.
i also got to talk to my grandma yesterday on the phone. she sounded like she was getting over her cold and she was sounded like she was glad to hear from me. i called while i was waiting to pick darrin up from work. i feel lucky that we even have cell phones and email so that i can communicate with my family and friends that all live so far away.
you know after all this thinking i realize that we are very lucky and we have so many little things we can be thankful for all the time. and i just feel lucky that i was able to slow down and recognize some of them today... more to come as the story unfolds...

2008-05-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

i moved to utah about a year ago for my job and i love it. it is so satisfying to know that i am helping students as they go through one the the most critical times in their life and i may just be the person who influences them for good as they grow.
when i moved to utah little did i know i would meet the man of my dreams. i have always known he would come along but i never knew it would happen so quickly. after 4 short months we were married and i became the happiest person ever! nothing has ever felt this right.
Shortly after our wedding in april and we moved into our very own house, a dream i never thought would come true this fast. recently we have adopted 3 new "children" scabbers, max and willee. scabbers is our little dwarf hamster, named after the mouse in Harry Potter. Max and Willee are our 2 kittens who are about 3 months old. they are very energetic and are always ready to play...except during there nap time. they love playing with darrin and willee especially likes trying to chew on darrin's ears and try catch my eyelashes. max is a little more laid back but he likes to snuggle up on darrin a lot, and play with his brother willee.
i like being able to bring a piece of where i grew up to where i live now. especially with my cooking and family traditions. it is always so funny when i cook something that is new to people around here, they usually like it and want the recipe but i don't use one so i have to try and adapt it to something they can use. I do miss my family and the culture down in louisiana but it is fun to bring what i can here and learn from others. more to come as the story unfolds...