Finally, new furniture ...

So, I felt like I needed to explain myself every time we had someone new over that came to sit on our old couches, "they can't be cleaned with water because it takes the color off, and on some spots I'd rather have the color off, but they don't clean AT ALL!" I felt afraid that I'd see someone stand up after sitting on them with the spots actaully transferring to their behinds from the furniture. Anyway, with some of the drama we've had with our house, one of the issues was soiled carpet from the previous occupant of the home's dog. We had the whole upstairs recarpeted, but the carpet choice the owner's of the home made was very disappointing, and looked especially worse with the furniture we had. It was like the neutral walls, floor boards, tile, and furniture were too many neutrals and didn't all jive. Long story short ... we finally invested in some nicer furniture that should wear well with little ones living with it. It makes a huge difference in how the carpet looks, and of course, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

Lawn Mowing Pro!

These pictures are mostly for my Dad who will be so proud of me for mowing a lawn for the first time in my life! I really wanted to buy a self-propelled mower so that John wouldn't be the only one that could mow the lawn on top of all his other obligations, and I was really excited to be able to do it. Week after week there would be a landscaping team showing up and mowing our grass for us. This week they came again and before they mowed the grass they checked their books and realized they weren't supposed to be taking care of our yard anymore, so I finally got my chance! We are on a corner lot and we have a lot of grass to care for, and I'm excited for the opportunities of making our yard better and maybe planting some flowers and really learning how to care for a yard. So, Dad, here's to your investment in our lawn really paying off!

And now we have a 1st Grader ...

Johnny started school on Tuesday, he is now in 1st grade. It seems like school just got out, we've had such a busy summer moving from Tucson to Utah, finding a place to live, and all the vacations we've taken. He was ready for school to start and he's really excited to make new friends. He's got a great teacher and a few kids from primary in his class. He's also had his first bus experience, which was a little nerve racking the first day, but today things went a little more smoothly. His bus comes at 7:22 a.m., so he's up bright and early, as are the rest of us! We're glad that he enjoys going to school, and he just looks so grown up getting off the bus!

Family Reunion at "the Farm"

The first weekend in August is always dedicated to a reunion on my Mom's side of the family, always held at my Grandpa's Farm in Ashton. This year was very sentimental for me as we've been doing this for so many years and I have so many special memories of times we've spent there. It is especially wonderful to see many of my Mom's ten siblings and their families, I love them all so much! I also love that my kids enjoy their time at the Farm. They love jumping on the trampoline, swinging on the swingset and catching grasshoppers in jars. This year we hooked up a projecter outside and watched Astronaut Farmer on the side of the shed and a weekend at the Farm is never complete until you get an old-fashioned milkshake from City Drug. My Grandpa is the best dutch oven cook and we enjoy our food cooked outside by him. He also loves giving kids hay rides behind his big tractor and we enjoy the stories he tells of his childhood growing up in Ashton. Like John, he was raised with 6 sisters and I love hearing him tell his stories about his family. The Farm is such a peaceful place to visit and we made so many good memories this year and hope that there will be many more years to come!

Lagoon 2007

Instead of unpacking the day after we moved into our house, we decided to spend the day at Lagoon with my Mom & Dad and Mike & Melissa before they went back to Chicago. We had such a great time, Maggie said it was her 2nd favorite, her 1st of course being Disneyland. The kids were very brave and tried out most of the rides without knowing what they were getting themselves into, but found that they liked most of what they tried. Maggie prefers the carousel, Johnny loves the roller coasters land prefers the exciting rides more than Maggie, and poor Josie just watched in jealousy as the kids played. It was a fun day and the kids are already looking forward to going again next summer and every time we pass Lagoon on the freeway they just want to stop "on the way" to wherever we're going!