Our camera is about dead so usually the only way to take a pictures is to 1 - be lucky enough that the batteries are working at that moment - it's touch and go - and 2 - then you have to take out the memory card and hold it just right... I guess this can be a good thing because I really don't have very many more pics to put on my blog. Maybe I'll be caught up by the time we get a new camera!
Oh Nano Man! Happy Birthday my son! You are such a fun, wild boy! I love to see all the adventurous things you figure out to do! Although some of them do scare me a little! I guess that will only get worse the older you get... :) But I love your spirit son. Thanks for keeping us on our toes and for all the fun you bring into our lives! We love you buddy!
I love that you have an Aug b-day because we can still do all the fun, water, summer things that you LOVE! We got to go to the water park for the b-day party...it was a hit!
Thursday, November 04, 2010
The Kitchen remodel
Well, here it is...We went on our trip to AZ and UT. Then my parents and Dellma and Victoria came back with us and helped us tear out carpet and take off popcorn ceiling (or chicken - love you mom) and best of all, tear out walls! Thanks it was fun! :)
Then we headed over to Tacoma to see Nate before his mission and brought Merrill's parent's back with us. They helped us do A LOT of tapeing off and Merrill and his dad painted any brown that could be seen, white! :) Plus textured and painted the ceilings we'd scrapped. Mom helped me keep the kids busy and away from the paint! Thanks so much for all your help!
So, basically our families got to see all the mess and no finished product....we'll have to get you both back out here but the pictures with have to work for now.
We went out of town again and then we were able to come back and put the hardwood floors in while working around the guy tiling our new countertops! It got a little stressfull but we were able to get it all done and move in July 31! Hooray! No more renting!! Of course, we still have lots of touch up painting to do...but we are here in our own home and I don't have to tell the kids quite so many "NO's"..... :)
If you want to see more pics of the house or the outside of it... just scroll down a on the blog to the new house post!
Oh and Lynneah loved helping Dad with his projects, she's always a big help! :)
Then we headed over to Tacoma to see Nate before his mission and brought Merrill's parent's back with us. They helped us do A LOT of tapeing off and Merrill and his dad painted any brown that could be seen, white! :) Plus textured and painted the ceilings we'd scrapped. Mom helped me keep the kids busy and away from the paint! Thanks so much for all your help!
So, basically our families got to see all the mess and no finished product....we'll have to get you both back out here but the pictures with have to work for now.
We went out of town again and then we were able to come back and put the hardwood floors in while working around the guy tiling our new countertops! It got a little stressfull but we were able to get it all done and move in July 31! Hooray! No more renting!! Of course, we still have lots of touch up painting to do...but we are here in our own home and I don't have to tell the kids quite so many "NO's"..... :)
If you want to see more pics of the house or the outside of it... just scroll down a on the blog to the new house post!
Oh and Lynneah loved helping Dad with his projects, she's always a big help! :)
Watch out Texas!
We went to Tacoma to wish Nate good luck. He's headed to Texas and will be a great missionary. Of course I didn't get any great pictures of him. But I did get two of the back of him.....he was busy saying goodbye to everyone! Or really, I'm just a terrible photographer!
Neah in Panties?
We made another trip to Tacoma and Lynneah was acting like she wanted to wear panties so Auntie Michelle put some on her. She thought she was the coolest thing. They went outside and walked around and said hello to the dog and had a great time. Then she came inside and had an accident and she was done with the whole potty thing! Oh well, I guess we're not quite there yet.
Utah & a Bird?
We saw my family in Utah also but our camera was giving us fits, the thing has been well used for 6.5 years and just about to bite the dust. But we did get a few pictures of the water feature Dellma was building, and that my kids loved to play on!!! We had so much fun with you guys. Love ya!
We also had fun when we got home. We had a quail in the Grigg's garage! Merrill had a lot of fun trying to catch this bird! There were plenty of hiding places with all the boxes, both ours and the Grigg's! But after it being in the garage for 2 days and me having no luck...Merrill spent a good hour or two that night and he was the winner!!
We also had fun when we got home. We had a quail in the Grigg's garage! Merrill had a lot of fun trying to catch this bird! There were plenty of hiding places with all the boxes, both ours and the Grigg's! But after it being in the garage for 2 days and me having no luck...Merrill spent a good hour or two that night and he was the winner!!
Photo Shoot
This summer, we went down to see Merrill's folks in AZ. It was the first time in 2 or 3 years since everyone had all been together. We had so much fun! Before anyone got burned or any other craziness happened, we all got dressed up and got family pictures! It was pretty crazy with so many little ones but well worth it. Here are some of my favorites!
Birdno family fun!
We had such a fun time. Michelle brought all her jewelry stuff and Dave brought his pen stuff. They lady's had fun making great necklaces, bracelets and earrings and the guys and few lady's had fun turning the pens. We played lots of cards and the kids had lots of water fun! We just enjoyed time together and can't wait to get together again! We love you all!
Camping season is back
We went over to the wet side of the state for this trip. We went to Ohanapecosh campground at Mnt Rainier! It was beautiful! The kids couldn't get enough of the waterfalls and rocks to climb on our hike! I sure love camping with these kids! What family fun! Although, I did forget Neah's shoes....what kind of mom forgets her baby's shoes - ME! We were talking about it in the bathroom and a lady overheard...how could you not, Neah was a bit upset! They had an extra pair of flip flips and let us have them. We had to use a little rope and get creative as they were Josh's size....but we did it and our Neah finally had some shoes! :)
School's out!
We enjoyed some summer showers and just being home more. This is also a picture of Mikayla's 2nd grade teacher, Mrs Nicacio at Badger Mnt. Elementary. She loved Mrs Nicacio! Thanks for a wonderful year! It was sad though on the last day of school. Just after this picture was taken and Mikayla started to walk away, she also started crying. All the other kids were so excited to leave. Mikayla knew she wasn't coming back to Badger Mnt next year and she was going to have to start all over again with new friends and a new place. Poor kid, moving sure has been hard on her. Thanks for putting up with us Mikayla! We love you!
Baseball Time
Nano and Josh decided to try out baseball this spring. They both had a great time and so did we. It got a little crazy at times, with Josh and Nano having a game and practice at the same time in two different places. Usually we could tag team it, but Merrill was gone on trips a couple times and ya well, one had to miss. Poor Nano it was usually him, since we figured a game won out over a practice. I just love baseball, especially when the kids are starting out and learning what base to run too...it's the best when they run to third after hitting or better yet, almost take out the "pitcher" on the way to second after they hit. First base seemed to get skipped a lot! But what a fun time.
Baseball Take 2
Josh got a few more pictures than Nano because, Melissa - one of the other Mom's - was a great photographer. She got some great shots of Josh for us! Thanks Melissa!
One last Suprise
Oh and one last item of fun for our trip to NC. Mikayla decided to go and get stitches on us! We were at the Aldriches for a final goodbye dinner our last night in Durham. Mikayla was climbing a piece of wood propped up against a fence when Briggie told her there were termites! She promptly let go and slid down the tree, making a nice laceration in her leg! One hour, eight stitches later, we were headed back to the Alder's to pack and get a little sleep before we headed off to the airport in the morning. But hey, she got to ride in a wheelchair at the airport!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Graduation, Finally!
First off, I have to say thank you to Merrill's parents for all the pictures. I, of course, never had my camera with me....some days I wonder just where my brain is!
After five years at Duke and almost one year of work at Cadwell, Merrill got to walk for his graduation! It was a great feeling and a great excuse to come back and see all of our friends we miss so much. This thanks is long overdue as well, but needs to be said nonetheless, thanks to everyone for all the help with places to stay, watching the kids, meals and just wonderful visits! We love you all and were so glad to have Merrill's parents out there to join in the fun!
It was quite the day with the big ceremony and speech on the football field (I'm sure it was a good speech - didn't get to hear much for some reason, Neah), a little luncheon, and a smaller ceremony in the chapel. It was a long day but well worth it!
After five years at Duke and almost one year of work at Cadwell, Merrill got to walk for his graduation! It was a great feeling and a great excuse to come back and see all of our friends we miss so much. This thanks is long overdue as well, but needs to be said nonetheless, thanks to everyone for all the help with places to stay, watching the kids, meals and just wonderful visits! We love you all and were so glad to have Merrill's parents out there to join in the fun!
It was quite the day with the big ceremony and speech on the football field (I'm sure it was a good speech - didn't get to hear much for some reason, Neah), a little luncheon, and a smaller ceremony in the chapel. It was a long day but well worth it!
The Hooding
Now this I'd never seen or heard of until we started school. But it's a pretty cool ceremony that celebrates each graduate separately. Kind of nice when there are a LOT of graduates.
The Grad Party
I've never been able to surprise Merrill with anything the whole time we've been married. He always finds out! This time I was determined!
The kids wanted to do a fun scavenger hunt. Mikayla helped me with the clues and hiding them. Then all the kids got to help Merrill find them and take pictures as proof. They were all so cute and Merrill was a good sport. Along with each clue was a sweet note from each family at the beach of a favorite "Merrill memory". Then his final clue was a scrapbook from the kids of some favorite things they've learned from DAD. Afterwards the kids gave him an ice cream tasting party, and again Merrill was a great sport about that! Then we finished with a fun slide show of our time in NC with our beach family friends. (Of course, we had to all cram around Merrill's laptop to see it because I'm not computer/tv savvy and didn't bring the right equipment to show it on the big screen!)
I think I actually surprised him. We love you honey! This post is long overdue....Thanks for all the hard work!
The kids wanted to do a fun scavenger hunt. Mikayla helped me with the clues and hiding them. Then all the kids got to help Merrill find them and take pictures as proof. They were all so cute and Merrill was a good sport. Along with each clue was a sweet note from each family at the beach of a favorite "Merrill memory". Then his final clue was a scrapbook from the kids of some favorite things they've learned from DAD. Afterwards the kids gave him an ice cream tasting party, and again Merrill was a great sport about that! Then we finished with a fun slide show of our time in NC with our beach family friends. (Of course, we had to all cram around Merrill's laptop to see it because I'm not computer/tv savvy and didn't bring the right equipment to show it on the big screen!)
I think I actually surprised him. We love you honey! This post is long overdue....Thanks for all the hard work!
We love the Beach
As always, our yearly beach trip ROCKED! We had so much fun catching up with great friends, enjoying the ocean life, the sand, the waves, the beauty of it all and not to mention, great food! Of course we added a few friendly competitions...long jumping and arm wrestling. It's always something fun at the beach!
It was great to see the kids all reconnect and enjoy time together. The older kids really got into the boogie boards this trip. It was fun to see them getting such a thrill from catching the waves...they were really good at it too!
And it was great to be around friends. After a year of adjusting to the non school life, quite and adjustment I must say, it was nice to be back with friends and be just comfortable being us and not trying to remember new names and faces. Not that it's a bad thing to be meeting new people, just hard sometimes, it was a nice break. People who know and love you for you! A beautiful thing that i realized I took for granted. Thanks guys for a wonderful time!
Oh and Linds, again, thanks for the photos. You know me and my camera....it always is missing in action! :)
It was great to see the kids all reconnect and enjoy time together. The older kids really got into the boogie boards this trip. It was fun to see them getting such a thrill from catching the waves...they were really good at it too!
And it was great to be around friends. After a year of adjusting to the non school life, quite and adjustment I must say, it was nice to be back with friends and be just comfortable being us and not trying to remember new names and faces. Not that it's a bad thing to be meeting new people, just hard sometimes, it was a nice break. People who know and love you for you! A beautiful thing that i realized I took for granted. Thanks guys for a wonderful time!
Oh and Linds, again, thanks for the photos. You know me and my camera....it always is missing in action! :)
Our New House
Hooray! After lots of searching, we finally found it! We were excited for this house! The only thing I didn't love was the limited space and one entry into the kitchen. But we knew we'd fix that to our liking! All we had to do was expand the kitchen a bit and break a whole in the wall for a new entry! Simple right! Of course we ended up adding a few more things to our list of to-do's...but we sure loved and still love this house!
April Fun
We had a good time in March and April. One of which was moving from our apartment to a house. One of our friends from our ward was going to Maylasia for 5-6 months and we were lucky enough to rent out their house! It was a beautiful thing. No more complaints for our rowdy kids who LOVE to play outside. We celebrated by inviting lots of friends over and had the Garnica's come for a fun easter hunt with the kids. They also had so many beautiful tulips in front of their house that spring....I only got a small portion of how pretty they were!
Then we enjoyed conference and then all the silliness came out.
Oh and the last picture is Merrill with his hair LONG! I don't think the pictures does it justice. It's the longest I've ever seen on him. He got tired of everyone asking where Neah got her curls. But then as it was getting hot...he couldn't stand it any longer! This was just before I cut it!
Then we enjoyed conference and then all the silliness came out.
Oh and the last picture is Merrill with his hair LONG! I don't think the pictures does it justice. It's the longest I've ever seen on him. He got tired of everyone asking where Neah got her curls. But then as it was getting hot...he couldn't stand it any longer! This was just before I cut it!
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