Furniture & Fixtures

If I am being honest, I thought that 11 months into owning a home we would be A LOT further in the move in process. We didn't even buy a "project house" and we are still painting and repairing and cleaning and living out of boxes...and I really thought by now we'd have more furniture. Moving from a 900 sq ft condo to double square footage in a home of our own, we are having a hard time filling the empty spaces. It doesn't help that our furniture budget was poured into replacing our A/C unit just a month into living in our house. Also that we are waiting for my parents to sell their home and send some furnishings our way when they downsize (fingers crossed)!!

In the meantime, we are still making great progress...

Of the few pieces of furniture we have been able to purchase, my most favorite is my kitchen table!! I LOVE my table. If any of you are in the market for a new one, we got this afforable beauty from IKEA and I highly recommend getting a bench for the kiddos, it is so convenient. {Shout out to my Dad for hanging my boards on the wall you see in the background, and to my big sissy Aubrey who just happened to have the perfect parsons chairs just sitting in her garage.}The curtains, covering our (kind of awful) sliding door, took me 3 months to finish sewing and put up...now you have a better idea of why we are so far behind ;)

I have made a huge effort to get rid of every last brass fixture in our 15 year old house. I have had much sucess and am down to the last bit, 8 new door handles and there will officially be NO MORE BRASS!! Some of my favorite changes came from replacing the same old, ugly brass light fixtures in both the powder bathroom and more importantly, entry way ceiling.(Notice how nasty dirty the ceiling was and why we had to repaint EVERY ceiling in the house).Yes, I know it's a "boob light" but it was on sale for $10 and I think it's perfect.And this I love, ordered from Shades of Light, where I hope to order an area rug from some day soon.

Finally, I saved for almost 4 months to buy this table, (yet another reason why the furishing process is moving so slowly) and as much as I LOVE it, I have no idea what to put on it. Mom, sister, anyone?!?! Is there some sort of rule of thumb when it comes to putting things on shelves? Any ideas on how I can make it look fantastic would be great :)I have a few things to put there but don't really know what fits. (Shayla, take note I finally bought that dumb bird I love on clearance for $2.50!!) I'm thinking maybe a bowl for Mark to toss his wallet in?Even though it is currently empty at least I know Dallen loved helping put it together, it's a little hard to see the hidden smile on his face in this picture but cute nonetheless.
That's all for now. We are hoping to get the Master bed/bath underway this weekend and work on it all month, but that's just a goal, you never know!! But you can know I will share when it's done!!

Our Little Athlete

{THIS WAY}{THAT WAY}
I just love these two together. We are so sad when we get months (like this one) when Daddy is busy at work preparing for a trial. I prefer weekends when we have time to take Dallen to do his favorite thing ever, attend sports games {pictured above}. I have been to at least 3 rugby games in my life and have NO idea what the game is about, we took Dallen to one, and he came home wanting to play and knew exactly what to do. I know I am his Mom and think he is the most awesome at everything but, if you ask me Dallen will be voted "most likely to be an athlete" when he goes to school. This kids loves sports, EVERY sport and he has some skills!! Love my little boy, our little athlete :)

Praiseworthy

Dallen is definitely not short on love, attention and mostly PRAISE at our house. It is amazing how quickly he caught on to and came to expect the positive reinforcement.

When he hits the baseball or tennis ball or banks a shot in the hoop, throws a perfect spiral...he says "that was amazing"

When his friends are playing something he stops them and says "watch me do it, I'm awesome"

Dallen even reminds me to praise him now when I forget. One time he said to me when we were coloring together, "good job Mom" when I said "Thank you" he said "No Mom, say it 'good job'"

I am happy to praise my little boy and turn him into the confident little man he is becoming. He knows that one stroke of a crayon, one cut with the scissors, one super cool sports move MAKES him awesome and I love that!!

My Sister is Married

Everything about the wedding turned out so wonderfully!! It all began Saturday, March 19th at the LDS Los Angeles temple, where we took lots and LOTS of pictures to commemorate the occassion.The ever-growing family.
Some of us got a little bored when it wasn't our turn and posed for our own pictures.


After a tremendous luncheon, we went back to my parents house for a few more pictures before the festivities began:


Then there was the most beautiful reception. Hopefully everything Aubrey always dreamed it would be, because it was gorgeous!! From the white tulips and wall of mirrors...To the plate sign in table...To the dessert table...Which wouldn't be complete without the most amazing wedding cake I have ever seen (I had major cake envy)...Of course there was the food, it was absolutely fantastic, delicious paninis...And Dallen had a brief love affair with coconut cupcakes!!
And then there was the dancing!! Oh, the dancing...One of my favorite pictures from my wedding was captured during the emotional Father/Daughter dance. I just know that this will be one of Aubrey's favorites as well...One of my personal faves of the night, Matt stranded on the dance floor, yelling for his Mom :) Classic.I may or may not have cried dancing with my little brother who is leaving way too soon.
And the perfect ending for the couple, a motorcycle ride through a sparklers tunnel!!
It was an incredibly magical day and already seems like it happened forever ago. Good thing I can relive it whenever I want on the Mormon Bachelorette blog :) Congratulations Matt and Aubrey, we love you!!

Sneak Preview

Without revealing pictures of the bride until she's had a chance to do so...here are some pictures from our FABULOUS weekend wedding trip!!We were so blessed to not have a single drop of rain on the special day!The first, of very few, smiles we saw from big D all morning, came at the luncheon...One of my favorite things about the day, was getting to spend some time with my little brother before he leaves for Korea, in ONE MONTH!!Dallen's favorite part was getting the dance floor to himself and his new best buddies!!



And finally, during clean up, Dallen requested I take his picture on every rock in the backyard with his new best friends. Why couldn't he smile like this for the professional camera all day?!?! Sorry Aubrey.
The wedding was absolutely fantastic, and I can't wait to reveal more pictures soon!! Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Laidlaw :)

Spring Break

Most everyone around us has been spending this week taking a break from school to celebrate the arrival of spring in the valley. We on the other hand are taking a break from celebrating spring to go to California for the wedding we've all been waiting for. So here's to enjoying the 20 degree cooler weather and hoping for NO spring rain!!

"If Ye Love Me"

My testimony of my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ has increased an hundred fold since becoming a Mother. I daily learn lessons that I never understood until I had a child of my own. I understand now, more than ever, and less than I will later, the love that our Heavenly family has for me. I also understand that the commandment to "multiply and replenish the earth" is as much, if not more, for the benefit of the parents, to learn and to grow.Tonight, Dallen was crying about getting in trouble for not being obedient. After a minute or two he said to me over and over through his tears, "I love you Mommy, I love you". I caught myself as I started to say "If you love me..." and stopped myself before finishing with "...you would obey me". Instead I said "I love you too" and sat back, heartbroken, and in awe as I reflected on discovering the true meaning of the scripture found in John 14:15 that reads "If ye love me, keep my commandments".Dallen, you are an incredibly independent little man, who insists on doing things your own way with so much attitude!! Sometimes it seems like an impossible feat to try to teach you. But if in the end I teach you half of what you have taught me, I feel that I will have been a sucessful Mother. I hope that someday you will understand HOW much I truly love you and love our Father in Heaven. Thank you for teaching me in ways I never thought possible and loving me despite my need to still learn SO much. I love you baby boy!!

I Love it When...

I love it when you sing along to your lullabys at night.

I love it when you stroke my hair when you are tired or sad.

I love it when you insist on cuddling so close our foreheads have to be touching to fall asleep.

I really love it when you pause from playing with your friends to help me hold on to special memories:Because you are such a cute little model.Because there is no greater subject of my pictures.Because I always want to remember you this way.I love it when you let me love you and when you love me too!!

I've said it before...

And I will say it again, I have the best friends in the world!!

Just look at all the fun things we have been doing together:Hanging at the zoo.
The LONGEST game of bowling ever, with 5 boys under 5!!
Climbing in trees at the park :)

And that was just the kiddos, you better believe we have our own fun too:My BEST friends :)
CJ's birthday dinner, so fun!! (picture collage stolen from Shayla's blog ;)

These are the kind of days I hope to always remember. I love all of my friends and are so glad we have SO much fun together ALL the time!!

Don't know about you but...

...we are enjoying our shorts and t-shirts weather over here :)