This Guy

 I sure love this guy. 

I just had to add this picture because it made me smile.

 

 

Clint is such a good father. 

 And then I've got this amazing Dad who is now an amazing grandpa.

 Clint can do anything- literally anything.  He just figures out how to do stuff.  Even when his hand is all stitched up and all swollen and infected he continues to work hard and power through his projects.

 He spends a great deal of time reading to the kids, especially Easton.  He is a devoted father and makes sure each of his kids are well loved.

 Easton pointed out in his Father's Day gift to Clint that he is easily recognized by his "bald head and pinpoles (pimples)."  Clint always says I'm the only 37 year old who is bald and still gets acne.  It's alright though.  I don't mind.  The kids and I love him just how he is because he is amazing to us!

This Little Girl

She makes me happy.  I could just eat her up she is so cute.

 

Heavenly Father knew a lot would happen in our lives during the first year of her life so He blessed me with Adriana.  From the get-go she's been a mild-mannered and mellow girl.  Unlike my other baby girls who were so fussy, always needing to be held, Ana was so good.  I didn't dread the evening time where it seemed the crying would be nonstop and who knew when I would be able to go to bed.  She would just eat and go to bed. 

 She is starting to talk more saying: that, bye, hot, shoe and more.

She loves to wear layers and layers of clothes.  She gathers armfuls of clothes from her sisters drawers and wants them on.  Often several pairs of underwear, a pajama shirt and maybe a couple of pairs of shorts for good measure.  You can never have too many layers in the Vegas heat.

                                        Adriana loves to nurse- loves it.

                     She is 14 months old in these pictures.

 Look at those cute chompers.  Teething has not gone well for her.  When her front teeth were coming in she had a difficult time sleeping.  We were living at the hotel at the time so I would end up just holding her through most of the night.  She would sleep if I held her. As soon as I put her in her pack-n-play she would immediately wake up and begin crying.  That was a rough time.

 Adriana loves her big sisters and brother.  She doesn't mind being toted around by them. 

When Clint gets home from work Ana is right there to greet him with a hug and lays her little head on his shoulder.

She just melts my heart.

Home Tour

I wanted to document our second house where we lived for almost 6 years.  We moved to Eagle Mountain when Easton was only 20 months old, back in April of 2008.  We added 3 more children to our family and created so many memories here.  It was hard to say good-bye.  (At least I know our home is in good hands now as some friends from our neighborhood bought it.)

 

I'm going to miss growing pumpkins and corn every year to decorate the front porch with.  It's far too hot in Vegas for pumpkins to grow.

Prior to moving in we worked on the house for about a month.  Although the house was brand new, we did a lot of the upgrades ourselves to save money.  The wainscoting was one such upgrade.  We also did the two-tone paint, installed hardwood floors and new carpet.  The crown moulding we had installed several years ago by a friend. All of the furniture in the living room was purchased off KSL classifieds.  The chairs were painted and then I had them reupholstered.

 I loved our fireplace and the many chilly nights spent laying by it with the family.  The fireplace mantel was another KSL find, installed by Clint.  The couches and ottoman were my 30th birthday present purchased at Bassett furniture

 Clint put up this board and batten for my Christmas present.  It is beautiful and was so nice to hang coats, bags and keys on.  I didn't get too enjoy it for that long because several months after it was installed we found out we were moving.

 The half bath was completed shortly after moving into the house.

 In the kitchen we put the granite countertops in for only $926 installed, including the sink. ( I found the receipt while packing and couldn't believe that was all we paid.)  We also sold the builder basic appliances and purchased these clean steel ones.

 The buffet and dining table were another KSL find and then painted in a creamy hue.

 The girls' room was painted and a chandelier was added when I was pregnant with Esme.  Prior to that it was our guest bedroom.  We purchased the beds and dresser on KSL as well. 

 For Christmas when Easton was 4 we re-did his bedroom.  We put up the board and batten, painted it blue and bought the bed off of ....you guessed it -KSL!

 

 The master bathroom received a coat of paint and moulding was installed around the mirror.

 The craft loft saw many a mess.  We love doing all sorts of crafts here in our household.  All of the furniture was purchased at the DI thrift store and painted a nice crisp white.

 Clint built these shelves two years ago to hold all of our crap.  I miss having a basement to store all of our items.  All of this stuff is now stored in the garage or spare bathroom.  That's right- I said spare bathroom.

What I miss most about our home though is our friends and family.  The kids miss their amazing friends they had to play with all the time.  I long to be able to run and talk to my friends real quick or have game night at our house.  I know in time we will make new friends but it seems to take at least a year to get to that point.  We miss having all of the grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins so close.  Birthday's are a little bit quieter here.  However, we are really enjoying life in the city and look forward to building new memories in our new home.  Pictures to come soon.

 

 

Beach Bums

While in California we went to the beach.  Ah, the beach.  Enjoying the waves, sun, warm sand and the $71 parking ticket.  I don't think life gets better than relaxing at the beach.  Or in Easton's case, getting wiped out over and over and over again by the waves.

 

  Now here is a child who I think he might be half fish.  He could live in the water and spent his entire time either gathering seaweed or getting knocked over by waves.

 

 

  Easton told me he wanted to help clean-up the ocean by gathering all the seaweed he could find.  Dad even helped out.  We are so environmentally friendly here in our household. The good news was after Easton had made huge piles of the smelly seaweed, flies came and set-up camp. 

 

It was well worth the $71 parking ticket.  Next time we'll know- you have to pay to park by the beach.   

Look who's back!!

After a short 4 year hiatus from blogland- we're back!!  Well, we'll see. I'm not promising much.  I was just looking through our old posts and it made me miss our memories that have been captured on our blog.  It's so fun to see what we did and I got really excited about trying to do that again in order to remember all of the amazing things that happen in our lives.  So without further ado I bring you.... LEGOLAND, California.  Obviously a lot has happened between the time we went on Pioneer trek back in 2010 (which was my last post) and now but I might lose my momentum if I try to play the catch-up game.

 

We went to LEGOLAND on May 17th for a few days.  It was a surprise for the kids and they loved it!!

 

Easton and Marielle posing in front of the city we now call home.  Las Vegas, baby! 

 

               While at LEGOLAND we had the chance to go to the waterpark and the aquarium. 

 Snack time!  Esme tried to give the Lego guys a snack too but they were not that interested in our Triscuits. 

Adriana loved, loved, loved this little train.  As soon as it would stop and we had to get off she would start crying hysterically,  So as any nice parent would do, we would get back in line and ride the train again and again and again.  Usually after the 6th or 7th time riding it she would realize she had filled her train quota and could calmly and happily exit the train without hysterics.

We met Emmett from the new Lego movie.  Adriana really enjoyed Emmett's hand and tried to pry it off as we left.  She just wanted a small souvenir to take home with her because her parents are too cheap to buy over-priced Lego's at the souvenir shop.

We loved LEGOLAND!  The kids had fun riding all of the rides and seeing so many cool structures built out of Lego's.  Plus it was not terribly busy and the weather was perfect!

So Much For Catching Up

Well, my attempt to update my blog clearly failed. 

Let's see, after returning from Seattle we packed up again two days later to head out on the pioneer trek with the youth of our stake.  My mom came and watched our little ones while we pushed a handcart for three days. 

 After my trek experience I am humbled and eternally grateful for the sacrifice the pioneers made.  Just those 3 days I spent in the wilderness exhausted me mentally, physically and emotionally.  Not to mention the inch thick layer of dirt I had stuck to my skin and hair.  Needless to say, I would like to cordially invite myself to never go on another trek again. 

Clint and I were Ma's and Pa's and these were our kids.  We actually trekked up into the hills behind our house.  We walked 17 grueling miles, mostly all uphill of course.  This photo was taken on our last stretch of the trail when we were the most ornery, tired and dirty we possibly could have been. 

After returning from trek, Clint left the next day for a two week stint in Alabama for work.  When he returned we celebrated Easton's 4th Birthday.

Little mate received a bike for his big day.  We celebrated with a beach party.

I made the birthday cake by cutting up pieces of cake and layering pudding, cool whip, then cake.  I then crushed vanilla wafers and graham crackers to make the sand.  The seashells are just chocolates I made with candy molds. 

For being the beginning of July it was a bit chilly- so much so that we started a fire in the fire pit.  However, it didn't stop Easton and his cousin Jane from swimming in the pool.