It's Finally Finished!

Ben & I lived with my Grandma for 2 years when we were first married. During that time I 'tortured' her by making her go through the mounds of pictures that she had--I kid you not--she had about 10 apple boxes full of photos. I told her that I would create a collage on her living room wall of our ancestors (both hers and Grandpas). Well, it took me 2 years to finish it but it is done! Grama is going to fill in a couple more pictures so that the holes on the bottom row are filled in, but it is finally up. It has pictures dating back to my great-grandfathers grandfather. Pretty neat. Even though this project got pretty tedious--I absolutely loved learning what I did. It was a great project to undergo. Family is such a wonderful thing!

Black Beauty

One of my biggest fears in life is black widow spiders. Most of my nightmares revolve around being covered in these nasty spiders. I remember cleaning the garage as a kid and my mom 'battling' the things. I seriously get completely freaked out with them. So you can only imagine how I reacted when I turned on the hall light at my parents house only to be faced with one! Actually, I was really calm, told Ben to throw me a shoe and I smashed it with everything I had--I had babies sleeping in the room near by. Well, that was all it took for me to order pest control for my parents. The pest control company saved the day and came out as soon as possible. After they sprayed, Ben and I went on a hunt. We didn't find any inside (thank goodness) but we found no less than a dozen of these things right near the doors of the house
This one in particular was dieing very slowly and was still wiggling. AHHHHHHHHHH!!! At least I will feel more safe at my parents house! They now have a year of pest control.

Prayer Time

I just thought that this was too cute to capture!
(is that totally irreverent?)

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

On a whim, we decided to go with the Adams family (Ben's sister, Laura & her 3 kids) to Discovery Kingdom. We had a great day! The park was once just an animal park but it has since turned into a mix of zoo and roller coaster parks. The park has done a great job with rides and such for even the littlest of kids--like Eliza. And of course, Xander was more than estatic when we arrived in Thomas Town! Who could ask for a better day than riding around on Thomas, in Dumbo, running through water parks, or watching Shuka, the whale, or the elephants and tigers! So much fun!!

Our New Home! (2009-2010 Season)

We all drove up to Portland on Friday, June 12th so that we could look around for a place to rent. We made pretty good time and enjoyed staying with my cousins: the Leete Family! Ben and I left Xander with them Saturday morning and took Eliza to search for a place to call home until we find something permanent. Well, after 5 homes we walked into this one and both said: "We're home!" Some of the specs: 3 bed, 3 full baths, 1 den! 1852 sq ft!!! (2.5 Suncreek apartments!!!); Hardwood floors in kitchen and dining area--gas stove!!! 2 car garage! It's a little row home that has a community park and is in walking distance of the elementary and junior high schools which means there is lots of open green space! We were so impressed with the house we immediately turned in our application...AND we were accepted last night! We decided to visit the local LDS church and had a great time--lots of nice people. We were quite amused when we found out the neighborhood we are looking at is affectionately known as "little Provo." There were lots of kids in the ward--Xander & Eliza were both very excited! Now to just get up there....

Thinkers

It's been a crazy month or so but here are some adorable things I wanted to write down that the kids said or did---I just love how their brains work!

--During our trip to Oregon, we slept at my cousins house (1st cousin once removed-THX Leetes!) and Xander was having a really hard time getting to sleep the first night. He kept coming downstairs saying that he couldn't fall asleep because he kept hearing a crocodile. We kept reassuring him there were no crocs in the house. Finally, Ben asked him, "Xander, what does the croc sound like?" Xander said, "Tick-tock-tick-tock." :) Anyone seen Peter Pan recently?

--While I was preparing dinner the other day, I heard a big bang and Eliza screamed. I dropped everything and ran. I found the bathroom door open and of course, my first thought was, OH NO! When I looked inside, she had the toilet seat open and was trying to put the little toilet seat on it and started crying, 'otty'. (She's 17.5 months old remember?) I took off her diaper--it was freshly soiled--CRAZY!

--When Ben or I say no to Xander, his favorite reply is, "But Mommy! (or Daddy) You aren't saying the right words! (or we aren't saying 'yes')

--Xander has been quite the climber lately so Ben asked him, Xander what are you doing? As he was sitting on top of my parents lazy boy. Xander replied, "Well, I was just thinking I was a monkey."

--Eliza has her own cowboy hat now and loves to run around with it and say, "haw!" Just like her brother who runs around and says, "Yee-haw!"

Like Father, Like Son

Ben was so excited to bring "Gofio" home. It was a dietary staple for him when he served his mission in the Canary Islands. Gofio is ground and toasted whole wheat and corn. There are several ways to eat it and one is with soup. So, I made a stew and we all enjoyed some gofio with it. Xander was so excited to try it and be like his Daddy. He even put on his Canary Islands t-shirt!