New House Pictures

I've had a lot of family and friends want to see pictures of the house. I haven't taken any since we've moved in, but here are some pictures I took before we moved in. I need to take more, but it is still a little bare in spots. And I love it! I still wake up every morning and can't believe it's mine! So, here is the grand tour ...

This is one of the highlights of this house, the laundry room. It is upstairs with all the bedrooms and is so awesome! I can't wait to bathe my baby in that sink!


This is the room the girls share. I need a cute vinyl something to hang up there on that overhang. Any ideas?


This is the main bathroom upstairs. I love that the toilet and shower are their own little room. Now anyone can get ready and brush their teeth while someone else uses the bathroom.


This is looking into the loft from the hallway where the bedrooms are. The door you see is the one that goes into our room.


This is the master bedroom.


This is the vanity area in the Master Bathroom. I love those mirrors!


This is the Family Room right off the kitchen. It is like one big room, seperated by that carpet. It is wonderful how open it is, the carpet looks funky in this picture ... it's really not.


This is the kitchen, and it is huge. I love all the space, it is so worth sweeping this floor, which goes all the way around to the entry of the house, and mopping it even though it is a lot of work. I love it!


This is the entry way. You can see a little half-bath to the side. There is also a formal living room off this entry and a mud room by the bathroom.


There you have it! We have lots of space, so come visit!!

Yard Work

We're moving right along with our yard. I really feel bad I didn't take a good "before" picture. We've worked so hard on it and I really never knew if we would get to see a finished product or not. It was hard to envision what it would be when it was finished. I'm happy to report now that we're close to having the finished product! We had our cement poured yesterday, which was a big step, and our grass is coming on Thursday and we're going to go get some trees and shrubbery this week. We now have a spot for our garden, our trampoline is dug, our patio in back is extended to a perfect size, our dirt looks awesome (crazy how excited I've been about paying for good dirt!), our flower beds are mostly in place, and we're excited! My wood floor area is huge in my house and it is so hard to be mopping up the dirt and dust all day, so I'm really looking forward to the grass growing!
I'll post more pictures as we progress more. We're still hoping to have a little money left over for a fence after our grass grows and that will be the last step.

If you can see at all the back of this yard, it was just HUGE weeds!

Back To School 2009

I have a 3rd & 1st grader, CRAZY! They are both gone to school all day now, and I LOVE it! And more importantly, they LOVE it! They both ended up with awesome teachers and they're making new friends, and happy to be back in the routine of things.

Getting Ready for Baby Part 1

I guess I'm running out of time! I work best under pressure, so hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll post Getting Ready for Baby Part 2 and be finished with all my projects. Here's what I've been working on ...

Josie is convinced that baby Annie needs a "snuggly" like hers. So I attempted at making something comparable, it actually turned out okay. I'm not sure I'll make more, but I was proud of the finished product.


These are the bumper pads my Mom picked out. I've been working on the rest of her bedding, although we haven't yet put up the crib ...


The kids have been loving how teeny tiny her diapers are. They want to show anyone who comes around. Here they are compared to a lotion bottle. The amazing thing is that they are always still a little too big!


We did some shopping and now we can at least give her a bath and change her diaper when she gets here. That's all we need, right??

And since I've known I was having a girl, this is the only thing I've bought. It's size 0-3 months, and looks teeny, but my babies end up in preemie clothies for awhile so depending on how big she comes she may not wear it for awhile. Sad, (especially for me) I hope to increase this soon.


This fabric will *hopefully* become a crib quilt this week.


Here is a quilt top that I finished last week. I'm already to put it together and quilt it, again, hopefully this week.


And here is the crib skirt. I ran out of lace, but it should only take me a couple minutes to finish sewing that on.


Whew! I also am hoping to buy her a dresser, paint her changing table & rocking chair, recover the rocking chair and changing pad, make curtains, get out all my baby girl pink clothes and get them washed and put away, along with blankets, and buy new bottles and a swing, and I'm sure I'll think of more I need to do later. Wish me luck! Especially because John caved and bought us a new 32" TV for our bedroom and now all I want to do is lay on my bed under my ceiling fan and watch TV!

Livingstone Family Reunion

We had a Livingstone Family Reunion at the beginning of August, it was a lot of fun to see cousins that live far away. I'm always amazed at the kids who just play and play with cousins they've never met like they are old friends. The kids left at the end of every day just drained and all played out. We made wonderful memories and had a great time!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

We are very fortunate to live close to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We went to the Open House a couple of weeks ago and it was beautiful. The kids were amazed and have talked a lot about it since. I'm so grateful we got to take them and show them the inside, I hope that they remember and want to go back someday. We've been learning about Temples this month in Primary and it's awesome that we've had two Open Houses so close to us that about 60% of all the kids have actually been inside a temple, it makes it so much more real to them. We went with Honey & Ryan and their family and Micki & Spencer. I'm really proud of how reverent the kids were, and at the end all was forgotten and they just wanted the cookies. And pictures of me in all my pregnant glory are not my favorite, I should've know better ...

My Newest Favorite Store

Since owning our home we have spent more time than I ever have in my life at Home Depot and Lowes. Friday night I found my newest favorite store ever!

I drug John around there with me, and as much as he would never admit it, I think he was impressed. I "ooohed" and "aaahed" down every aisle-- there is nothing else like it. Now I can't wait to go back! Have you been there??

Cabin Week 2009

We always spend one week out of the year at our cabin in Island Park, Idaho. It is one of the weeks we all look forward to all year. We miss having Mike & Melissa there and look forward to when they will be able to spend it with us again. I can't say that it's very relaxing, but we always have good company, good food, and make good memories! My Grandpa used to own a resort lodge up in Island Park that burned down called Big Springs. We still go and feed the fish and admire the beauty of the land every year.

















Scott brings his dog, Brizzo, and wherever Brizzo & Scott are ... there is Josie also. She loves that dog and followed wherever he was and was always concerned he was taken care of.















The beginning of the week brought some rain and cooler temperatures with it, so we did a craft project one afternoon. Josie decided to cover her cup with black electrical tape while we did this-- and she stayed entertained for a long time with it. Who knew how exciting that would be? Why bother with craft projects?
















John looks forward to being able to waterskii everyday. We always have a good time behind the boat. We have to thank Micki & Spencer, who spent a couple days there with us for the good pictures. I didn't even pull out my camera this summer!
















And some of the best times we have are just sitting down on the beach. The kids love to swim and play in the sand. Jordan is so good to make a big sandcastle with the kids every summer. He is such a good sport and the kids look forward to it and remember it and talk about it all year.


















And here are a couple of extra pictures. My Grandpa built this cabin. We love it and hope that he knows just how much. We look forward to next year!

4th of July (over a month late)

We had my family in town for the 4th of July. We planned on moving that weekend, but moved the weekend before so it was nice to enjoy their company and relax a bit. My sister, Jessica, ran in the Freedom Run. It was fun to watch her and plan on being able to do it with her next year. Her birthday is the 5th so we always have a party for her on the 4th-- which always adds to the excitement!















The big boys went golfing while we went and saw Ice Age 3 and then the kids had fun playing in the mud in the back they made with the sprinkler and hose. Who needs a yard when mud pies are so much more fun?


















We had a low-key fireworks show. The kids didn't know the difference and they loved it. Maggie was a little nervous about the fireworks, but warmed up after a bit. Josie had NO fear and I was surprised she didn't burn all her hair off!

Time for a new post!

I know I have been such a slacker. I can't believe that summer is almost over! School starts on August 20th, and time keeps speeding forward. We've had a busy summer spent moving and taking trips. We're so happy to be in our new house, we're working now on putting in the yard which we hope to have finished by next month (hopefully before the baby comes), and then a fence is the last step. I'll post pictures as soon as it's finished. John rented a BoBcAt a couple Saturdays ago, it was a very manly thing to do. He got a lot of work done with it, but we're looking forward to paying someone next week to finish the work!!















I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, so I'll try to catch up the best I can. Sometimes it gets so overwhelming, but I'll work on it and hopefully be caught up by the time school starts and this baby comes.