To my Kiddos

I wanted to take some time to jot down some things about Liesha and Kenzie, that I didn't want to forget. And that I don't want them to forget.
I often find myself regretting that I don't write more stuff down. And I know I should cause I have the worst memory ever! I never wrote down when they took their first steps or said their first word. I know how horrible is that!
I have a Sister-in-law who keeps a pad of paper for each of her kids and she'll write down funny things they say, or funny things they do everyday. I kept telling myself that I would do that, but of course I never did.
So I would like to write a few things down while they are on my mind.

Aliesha:
You are a very bright little girl. You always amaze me at how much you know. When mommy and daddy were trying to figure out how we would hide Zoe (Dog) for Christmas I didn't want you to hear what we were talking about. So instead of saying "Zoe" I decided to spell it. You quickly figured it out and asked why we were talking about Zoe.
You love when I do your hair, but you don't like it when I do it how I want it to be done. You tell me how to do it. I try very hard to get your hair how you want it, but lets just face it mommy is not good at hair.
Coloring is you favorite thing to do. You could color all day every day. And I love it when you spell words,that really aren't words, but jumbled up letters, and ask me what it spells.  You do well with writing each letter, and you will soon figure out how to spell actual words.
On Saturday January the 5th daddy pulled out your first baby tooth. You cried at first but as soon as you saw the tooth you laughed and were totally fine. And not to mention you were stoked to have the tooth fairy come. Which she did and she brought you 2 dollars in quarters.
You love primary and you always look forward to going to church. You remind mommy and daddy to say family prayers which I am so thankful for.
Tonight, Sunday Jan. 6th you told me that there was a boy named Payton in your class and that you thought he was cute. Then you added that he was your boyfriend! You are a silly girl.
You love snow. In fact on Christmas day Santa gave you and Kenzie a sled. You stayed out for a long time sledding in the back yard.
You are always so excited to do chores and very rarely do you complain when I ask you to do something. You even one day asked if you could clean the house cause it was messy. And one night when I came home from work daddy let you stay up and while you were waiting for me you cleaned the front room and your room. You are such an awesome helper!
When we moved into the house in September daddy taught you how to ride a two wheeler bike. You were so excited and caught on to it very fast. You didn't even fall down. Not once.
You have been doing very good at sharing with Kenzie. In fact it impresses me that you are so willing to give Kenzie your toy to play with with out a word. Though you have your days of being naughty mommy still loves you and you are a very special, beautiful girl. and I love you.

Kenzie:
You always know how to put a smile on peoples faces. You are one funny pickle.
Today,Sunday, you had your first day in primary and it was a little tough on you. You cried cause you didn't want to go to primary. You wanted to stay in Nursery. After mommy sat with you for a while you were able to go up and help in sharing time. And when you went into your classroom you didn't cry.
You love candy! You would eat if for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner if mommy and daddy would let you.
Speaking of food... You are one picky eater! you will only eat PB&J. and french fries. Oh and bacon... Daddy can get you to do anything when bacon is involved.
You love to listen to music and I absolutely love when you stand on a toat and yell: "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK N' ROLL?" Usually it's followed by an awesome song of Twinkle twinkle little star. and a very beautiful dance with lots of spinning.
You like to help mommy and daddy with chores. Which usually consists of putting away your clothes, though at times you don't like to put them in your drawers... You will still, at least, take them to your room.
I love when you play dress-up and come out in a tutu and princess dress.
You also love to wear my high-heels. You say you love to listen to the sound when walking on hard floors.
Grandpa made you and Aliesha some blocks and when we build towers  you are always the first to come running and kicking the tallest tower down, regardless of if it's finished or not.
You are getting so big and you love to do things by your self. You like to dress yourself and most of the time you do a pretty good job at picking out your outfits. Sometimes you come out with black and pink and orange striped leggins with  a long skirt and a T-Shirt with snow boots! I love it.
You always remind mommy and daddy to say our prayers for each meal. and every night when we get ready for bed, Just like your big sister. Thank you for the reminders.
You like when I do your hair just as long as I dont' put pony tails in or clips in. Yep that's right you like your hair brushed straight. Sometimes you will let mommy do pony tails, but you usually pull it out within an hour or so. You, like Aliesha, love to play outside in the snow.
Daddy lets you and Aliesha stay up some nights to see me come home from work, but most of the time you fall a sleep. But I always come in to kiss you goodnight.
You are one active little girl. I think you'll be just like daddy and always have to be doing something.
One night you went into your room to play and I came in to check on you and you took all the books out of your nightstand, and dumped out all your toys in your closet. and you were jumping on the bed. I asked why you made the mess and all you said way I don't know. but I think it was cause you just needed to do something. Mommy loves how curious you always are. You are a beautiful girl. Thank you for always keeping me on my toes.

I truly am blessed to have both of you in my life. I couldn't ask for better kids. They truly are sent to me from Heavenly Father. And I thank him every night for you two. I only hope that mommy can teach you two to become beautiful, respectful women. And I hope we can be really close and talk about everything. And now here's to hoping that I can get better at recording these memories.

LOVE YOU TWO GIRLIE'S! FOREVER AND ALWAYS!

Woah! Long time no post!

wow just like the title says, it has been a very long time since I've posted to my blog. I bet everyone has long forgotten me now.

Seriously though it has been super busy and crazy. As many of you know Greg and I recently purchased a house. I would love to share our story of house shopping...

*Warning lots of pics and words*

It all started with a crappy economy and low home loan APR's/prices, Greg and I knew that this was the time to get a house. The housing market was at it's all time lowest and it was either now or never to jump in and start looking for a house. One of the scariest things we have done is make this big decision. Buying a house is a big gamble we didn't know if the prices were going to get any lower or higher. We knew our budget and what we could afford and couldn't. Greg started us off by finding our mortgage broker and getting an estimate on what we qualify for. After we found that out, and before we got a relator Greg and I just searched the net for houses in our price range. We did that for about 3 to 4 months, still not really ready to fully jump in to the house finding game. Until one day we just decided to go for it and do it all the way. We contacted our Mortgage broker again and set up a meeting. She approved us for both Conventional and FHA and we decided to shoot for conventional. The only thing was, since I hadn't been working for 6+ months they couldn't count my income. So she said to look for a house but we couldn't actually buy until September. (We were in the month of June.) She referred us to a realtor, we called her and instantly fell in love with her. The minute we talked to her she was very proactive in finding us a home that we love. She sent us over a ton of MLS listings and said pick out you favorite ones and we'll go look at them.
We found a few that we liked and set up a day to go look at them. The first one we were scheduled to look at showed on the MLS was a two story new home. It showed a finished house. We really weren't looking for a two story, we wanted a rambler, but we were open to different options. So we got the address and Greg and I beat the realtor to the house. Only one thing... It wasn't finished, it was still being built! We called the realtor and informed her and she apologized and said that if we didn't want to look at it then we could got to the next house. (Even she wasn't aware that it was a new build.) Since we were already there we decide to look at it any ways. So they, The realtor and her husband, whom is a contractor, came and we looked through the house. It was OK, not what we were looking for. As we were looking at the 2-story our realtor received a phone call from the builders assistant. informing her that the house, across the street from the 2-story, funding fell trough the night before and is now on the market. It was a rambler. So we crossed the street kids and all and looked at the rambler. Still in the process of being built. The second I walked in I fell in love, but I kept my poker face on. You see I never wanted a new build. I've heard too many horror story's about new builds and decided to never go through the pain and headache of one. Greg looked the same as me. He liked it, but didn't share much about his feelings... Until we got into the car to look at the other houses. Both Greg and I looked at each other with huge smiles and started talking, asking questions, and trying to decide if these feelings weren't rash, or if it was a sign from Heavenly Father that this is the house for us.
We went to about 10 other houses that day, and all of them had something wrong with them. In the last house our realtors sat us down and said, you liked that new build didn't you? So out came all our feelings on new builds and that rambler. With her husband being a contractor he answered all of our questions and really helped make our decision on whether or not we should put an offer on this house. We went to their house, which reminds me of  funny story....
Aliesha and Kenzie were with us the whole time, they were loving house shopping and every house that we pulled up to they had their opinions, well our realtors office was at their house, which is HUGE! So when we pulled into their driveway Aliesha exclaims, with a smile, ARE WE GOING TO LOOK AT THIS HOUSE!!! I LOVE IT!!!! And Kenzie couldn't agree more. We had to tell them that this was not a house we were looking at but that it was the realtors house. Their smiles were washed from their faces. HAHA it was so funny!
Anyways after we put the offer in we were having second thoughts. Was this the right house for us? Should we go through with it? Is this a rushed decision? Suddenly I realized that there was a problem. If we were to get the house we wouldn't be able to do the conventional loan cause I still haven't  been working long enough... It was still June... two days after we talked to the mortgage broker. The realtors called around and asked when the house was scheduled to be finished. They told her September 15th. Which is Greg's and my 5 year anniversary. And if fit the schedule for getting the conventional loan! It was perfect!
 After a few negotiation's and many prayers we got got the house! Now the fun begins... picking out the interior! Here are some pics...

This is what it looked like when we got into the house:

 Front of house

 Entry

 Bedroom windows (Front of house)

 Front room. (View from front door)

 Stairs to basement

 Dining area

 Master closet

 Master bathroom

 Master Bedroom. (French doors.)

 Hall way

 Kitchen area

 Girls' bedrooms

 Laundry room/closet

With the house all sheet rocked:

 Front room

 Pantry

Dining

Kitchen

 Master bedroom

 Hall way

 Kenzie's bedroom

 Closet/Liesha's room

 Liesha's room

 Laundry

Stairs

With stucco and stone

The Granite we picked out for the kitchen counter tops

And the Finished product... I'll have to take a few more pics I guess.

 

 Master bedroom

 Kenzies Bedroom

 Aliesha's bedroom

 Entry way into hall way

 Front room

 Kitchen

 Master bathroom

I love my house and I know I have a TON of decorating to do. Right now it's looking kinda bare but it'll be fun to decorate it with some time. I am so blessed to be able to have a home to share memories with Greg, Aliesha, and McKenzie.

 

Dream, Dream, Dream...

I would love to share with you one of my biggest dreams. It never was a dream of mine until maybe a few months ago.

 Lets rewind a little....

Back in 4th grade I had a teacher, Mrs. Walz. Lets just say I gave her a run for her money. I loved being difficult and causing her problems. I hated math and often threw a fit over my math homework. One night at parent teacher conference I told her Math was stupid and that I didn't need it. She then proceeded to say that when I go to college that I would need basic math knowledge. So I said that I am not going to college. Then she says well you'll need basic math knowledge to pay bills for my home. So once again I said: I am going to marry a man who will do all the bills. and I will be a stay-at-home mom! That ended the discussion. I guess a while ago my mom ran into her at the grocery store. Mrs. Walz asked her how I was doing. My mom said fine. She's married, has two kids, and is a stay-at-home mom. Mrs. Walz then said well I guess she got what she wanted. 

From that time on that is all I wanted to do. I had no desire to go to college. Had no Idea what I would even go to college for.

A few months ago I was watching a show called "How the Earth was Made." and then it clicked. I want to be a Geologist! I have always loved rocks and their formations. Have always been curious about how earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, etc happen. So this job is only fit for me.

So here comes my dream:

It is my dream to go to college, get a masters in Geo-Science, specializing in Volcanoes. I especially would love to live in Italy and work on  mount vesuvis. The volcano is active and geologists are always going in and testing it making sure it's not going to erupt any time soon.

 I would also love to go to Africa and see Erta Ale.

Yes Erta Ale does look like this on a daily basis! It is one of the few Lava lakes in the world! In fact when hiking up to Erta Ale you have got to watch your step because there is constant lava flow, therefore creating weak crust. If you step on the thin crust you will fall into very hot lava and scorch your leg. How amazing would that be, Not the scorching leg thing, but being able to hike up and see nature at it's finest! It would be a dream come true, I just wish this dream would come true! One day it will. 

Any ways just thought I'd share my dream with everyone, cause I totally am excited that I finally found what I want to do in my life. :)

Easter

I'm a little behind on the blogging here. 

Easter Sunday was a great day, the girls had a lot of fun searching for eggs and looking through their baskets. At church they were so wound up and not being very good. When we got home it was nap time for everyone, then dinner at Grandmas house. We cooked a ham, which turned out good. All in all it was just a nice relaxing dinner/day. 

I kept telling Aliesha why we celebrate Easter and she would get really sad and ask why the bad guys would hurt Jesus, when I told her he died because he loves us she really didn't understand, but she had a huge smile and said Mom I love Jesus! I'm so grateful for the Savior and his great sacrifice, so that I can live forever with my two beautiful girls and my amazing Husband.

Here are a few pictures of our Easter Sunday

 I just love this picture. Their faces are priceless. They were so excited when we told them they could go down stairs.

 They thought the Easter bunny was silly for putting the eggs in and on the entertainment center.

 A scooter! Of course the Easter bunny left a note telling Aliesha and McKenzie that they need to share the Scooter.

 Testing out the scooter... She LOVES riding it.

 Kenzie testing out the scooter. She still needs a little help, good thing Daddy's a little more coordinated then I am.

After all that fun we got ready for church and I thought well why don't we take family pictures since we all actually got dressed and ready.  :)

 Kenzie wouldn't strike a pose... Oh well I still think it turned out so funny...

 I was pulling the same face as Greg, but at the last minute Kenzie turned around and I was in the process of telling her to look at the camera when the Picture took. haha. Good thing it was supposed to be a funny picture....

Last and final one. I wanted to get a few with the girls and Greg, but the girls were done. Maybe some other time.

Hope you had a great Easter as well.

Work, work all night long...

Wow time flies when you're working... well most day's that is.

I've been working for almost two weeks now. I'm getting used to the work. Standing for 8 hours is really tough on my legs. They hurt so bad right now! I feel like I have been working my legs out for a month straight, they ache so bad... Nothing that a little Advil wont help.

If you didn't know it yet I'm working at Beehive Clothing sewing Garments. Specifically Carinessa tops (don't know if I spelled  that right, but you get what I'm saying, right?) I'm getting the hang of it, I can now do about 4-5 tops a day, which is really slow considering they do about 300+ a day. So I have a long ways to go. I'll get there, right now I'm going slow so I have good quality and no defects.

The Girls are enjoying playing at Grandmas house everyday. I'm so appreciative of Greg's mom for watching the girls from when I drop them off to when Greg go's to pick them up. The girls have so much fun while they're there. Aliesha and Kenzie say they miss me, but things are still the same. I was afraid that they would be really clingy and want my attention more, but they love having Daddy cook dinner and play with them. They always scream GOODNIGHT MOMMY! WE LOVE YOU! HAVE A GOOD NIGHT! Right before they go to bed. And I can totally hear them! ;)

Greg is such a huge help. He makes sure if the dishes in the dishwasher are dirty he'll add more and then wash them, if there's a load of clothes to be washed he'll wash them for me. When I come home from work the house is always clean. Which helps me out in the day's when I play with the girls... and of course I clean my fair share too. He really is a big help to me, though, and I appreciate it. 

Going to work was a scary thing for  me at first. The last time I worked I was in High school! So I was scared of the work, and the social aspect. But I've made good friends with people, and I love their company.  All in all it's going really good. I still need to get a schedule going cause last week I forgot to plan a primary lesson, so Saturday night I was up planning a lesson, oops. Ha. 

I love being busy and having something to do. It makes me feel more grown up, and I've found that I get less bored during the day's now, which is good.

60 degrees. Oh how I welcome thee!

 I just loved the weather today! The girls loved it too. We all got to get out and play in the yard wearing jeans, T-shirt, tennis shoes, and a light jacket. First time, this year, for that. And they loved getting out and not being stuck in the house. I got a little ambitious and started cleaning out the flower garden. I love day's like these, perfect weather, and lots of fun. I just wish that it didn't end in tears when I tell the girls it's time to go inside and clean up so I can get dinner fixed. Oh well at least the majority of the day was spent laughing, and smiling.

 

 Riding bikes! Kenzie doesn't quite get how to pedal yet, 

but she loves to be pushed around.

 The neighbor kids came out to play... and of course they went straight for the snow...

But hey they had a fun snowball fight.

 The flower garden. I will never ever ever ever EVER do a rock bed EVER again!

My fingers hurt so bad after scraping half of the rocks out of the flower bed. But

I think it's going to look, better without all the rocks. And it's going to be much easier for 

me to weed the flower bed!

I'm looking forward to more fun outside days like today. I love the snow, but it's nice to just get out and soak in the sun... Plus both of my girls are really tired... that means bed time is gonna be easy as pie.