Summer '09

Wow, my last post was on the last day of school, and now school starts next week! I think this has been one of my all time favorite summers ever! I've just enjoyed every single day! We have been able to spend tons of time together, and have had lots and lots of visitors from around the country, and world for that matter. The only down fall is that there hasn't been a lot of downtime. Seems like just when we get over with an event, it's on to the next one! But it's been good. The move obviously has been the most exciting part. We love our house, and have landed in such a wonderful neighborhood. It's so cute, tons of kids, and a great ward! Who could ask for more? We're not too excited for school to start again, but that all stems from our innability to wake up early...once we're up we're good though. I think Madison has grown another 2 inches this summer, putting her to the middle of my nose, Yikes! Ethans feet grew 2 sizes, but other than that, I never see him changing. He always just looks like my little boy. His face and hairstyle never really change, and I think that adds to it. I know he's getting taller, cause his pants are too short, it's just that I don't see it! Maybe I'm in denial?

At the Provo Parade with James and Gloria, or as I like to call them Madison and Ethan, Take 2.

Having fun in the water at Yazmins on the 4th of July.

Madison and Kylee like to show how NOT embarresed they are to be themselves, they put there hair up, and put on Pajama bottoms for scarves and take long slow walks around the neighborhood. They swear this year they're going to wear them to school, and start a new trend that will eventually lead to Disney Channel stars wearing the same things. They managed to convince one of their friends to do it yesterday, so who knows. Crazy girls!....

We had a great visit from Todd and Jenny, who hail from WA. And Kevin and Becky who are living in Indiana. And Uncle Dennis and Aunt Diane from.....Spanish Fork! I'm so mad we didn't take some group shots, but it was a busy day!

At the BYU museum with our cousin Gabby who visited from Mexico! This was the I SPY exibit, it was so awesome! Raul's Dad and Sister, Claudia also came to visit us from Mexico, they stayed for 2 weeks, but let Gabby stay for an extra couple weeks.

Ronda and Greg visited from the great state of Alabama, (bow your head in respect) We had a blast all catching up, with them and Todd and Haylee! We love these guys!

The crew!! I couldn't believe how big Felicity was! But Hank and Bobby looked about the same! Hank is still super serious, and Bobby is so easy goin'

Wow, this is just not a great picture of me, but hey, they can't all be good ones... My girls Julie and Jen looking great as always! Love you guys!!

Yay! Julie came from Kentucky! The kids have all got bigger, but it felt like no time had passed at all!

This one's for Nick and Ty, I told you I'd put it on my blog!!!

Ethan and Sadie, doin' what they do...

Charlie has also found a new friend at our new house, we just haven't told him it's his reflection...

Madison and her BFF Kylee, these guys are so fun to watch together! They couldn't be more opposite in their likes and dislikes, but they have a great time together! You'll often hear one of them say "I love this song!," and the other will say "eww, I can't stand this song!" And then they giggle. It goes that way for Movies, and Food too! But they learn new things from each other, and they just get along so great! I'm so glad she has a good friend!

Corbin and Ethan, showing their awesome bulging muscles at the pool!

Madison, Ashley, and Joy!! Some cute, Happy cousins!!

Summer went by fast, but wow did we have a great time! Next year, I'm going to take a picture everyday. We went to so many fun places that I just never took any pictures! Well, better go school shopping...!

Summer!!!

(making a sign for your door is harder than it looks)

First day of school '08-09

Last day of school 08-09

How they've changed. Ethan I would say has changed the most personality wise. He started to be a little more daring! He's still a little shy, but he realized that the world won't end if he breaks a rule here or there, basically, he's finally just being a little boy! He's lucky to have so many friends from school who live in our neighborhood, it's like boy-city over here!

Madison has grown a lot this year, She's getting so tall! I wonder if it will stop soon, if she just got her growth spirt early, or if it will keep going! She's also growing up in other ways. She's starting to think she knows more than mom. If you ask her to repeat what she just said, she says "Oh, nevermind" (eyeroll) She also goes in her room, and shuts the door behind her, and listens to music loudly! She's been blessed with good friends this year. And she still likes to be crazy most of the time

Welcome, Sir Charles of Paysonshire

Or, Charlie for short (Chuck, when he's being naughty)


Oh my gosh, I've turned into one of those people who take pictures of their pets, and put them on their blog!

You have to admit, he's super cute!

It's just your imagination, he's not petrified of Madison :)

We had two names picked out for a dog if we ever got one, "Nacho" for a boy, and "Tula" (Raul's hometown name) for a girl. But when we found out we were getting a boy cocker spaniel, Nacho just didn't fit! I was reading a Jane Austen book at the time, so we flipped through it to find a "fancier" name, and Madison chose "Sir Charles" it fits him perfectly. He's our little Charlie, and we just love him!

Taking a break under my chair, this means, "keep the crazy kids away from me" in dog language.

Surprise! Breakfast!

Well, you know Ethan is my early riser. He also loves to surprise me with good deeds. We made a new years resolution this year of "No more cold cereal" And we've been eating a good, hardy, nutritious breakfast ever since. We've tried all kinds of new things, but Ethan's favorite is waffles! I however hate to cook them because our old waffle maker cooks 1 waffle per 5 min. I can have 10 pancakes, and the dishes they took to make them in done in 5 min! So this particular morning, he thought he'd take matters into his own hands. He woke me up with the sad, sad words "Mom, I failed". I was like what??? He said "come and see" And this is what I saw.

Bless his heart for trying. How could I get mad at that face. I showed him the next day how to use a bit less batter for each waffle, and since then he's done great!

New House

Our house is officially under construction! I thought it would be fun to keep adding updates to this post, so you can see the progress!
These pics go in reverse. (obviously) So start at the bottom if you're just seeing this for the first time!

Why do I only have pics of the Dog in the new house??? Who know, I was just parusing our pictures, and that's all I had...anyway here's a lovely picture of our new floor!

Charlie OWNS these blinds!!

Pics of the Kitchen when we were moving in... Still looks about the same:-)

It's officially done! 6/13/2009

Getting started on the roof, and sheetrock delivered! 05-29-09

Windows!! 5-28-2009, and finally a window cut for the front of the garage. We were getting really worried they were just going to leave it without a window!

Staircase going up.

We have an awesome view of the sky from our living roon! (for a few days at least)

5/26/2009 farther on the second story!

Wow! a second story!!

More finishing inside, stairs walls etc

5/23/09

5/22/09

You've never seen anyone so excited to have walls!!

I would move in now if they let me, I'm so excited! 5/21/09

Getting walls! 5/21/19

And this will someday be filled with junk and christmas decorations! 5-20-09

This will someday be the walkway to our front door!!
5-20-09

5/19/09 How firm our foundation!! Who knew it would get more exciting than a hole!!

You've never seen a family so excited to see a hole in the ground! 5/08/09

Moab!

So, I've lived in Utah all my life and never visited Moab! I have no idea why, I guess I thought it would be a bigger deal, that you had to be a serious camping/fishing/outdoorsy kind of person. But spring break hit this week, and spring fever set in, and we had to get away! It was so fun, Ethan said he liked it better than Disneyland! He was a little mountain lion on the hikes, he just shot to the top while the girls complained and moaned. It is just so very beautiful photos simply don't do it justice. But here are some of my favorite shots.