One on One Gracie Time

Although Gracie and I miss Hallie terribly when she goes to school it has been really nice to have some one on one time with Gracie when Em is sleeping. She loves to help bake and we have started doing osm simple things that she can do pretty much herself. This morning it was chocolate chip muffins. Its really fun to see her little personality shine thru when its just she and I

This day we painted out pumpkins with paint and lots of sparkles.

Ants, Washer, Bugs, & Water....What Next?

Our little condo has been pretty great for us for most of the time we have lived here but lately things haven't been so great. A couple months ago we got an infestation of ants in the kitchen. They quickly became a pretty big problem. After a call to our landlord they set up pest control and they came out to spray. I was highly unimpressed by all the crap they left sprayed all over my house! I was really angry and upset but it was already done and I made mental note never to hire them to treat our house. A couple weeks later I found a black widow on the back patio in the kids play house. I called the complany and they told me they were unable to help me since they were on the exterior of the house...it was a joke. The closer we get to moving the more annoyed I get with stupid situations like this. A couple weeks later our washer stopped working. Our landlord came to "fix" it since he was to cheap to hire a repair man. After several hours and a handful of bandaids he could no longer figure out how to put it back together again! So defeated he left and said he was going to buy a refurbished washer the following day. A couple days later they returned with the "new" washer and put it into place. I ran a cycle to clean it and left it to sit until the following Monday when I do my laundry. Over the weekend we started to notice cockroaches in the kitchen and Sunday night Matt went to check on Hallie and found them coming up the stairwell. I wanted to scream, cry, and punch someone all at the same time. I hate creepy crawly things and the thought of them coexisting with us is pretty unbearable. I spent most of the night thinking about the nasty things! First thing bright and early about 5:30am I got up and called Truly Nolen(the best exterminator ever) they had one remaining appt for that day and Matt and I decided the roaches must be coming from the washer so we hauled the washer up the stairs and out to the carport. When the sun came up I called our landlords to let them know and tell them I had lined everything up so it would get done correctly. They were pretty good and agreed we needed to get them taken care of quickly. It took about a week and 2 treatments but we haven't seen a bug in about 2 weeks. They returned the washing machine and had to buy a real new one. I think its probably the most expensive "deal" of a washer they have ever gotten.

This week I noticed water coming thru the ceiling in the kitchen and once again called the landlord. He once again wanted to take the cheap route and try to fix it himself/ Somehow he thinks 3 bottles of drano and some sheet roc mud will fix the problem! He is an idiot. I thought they may have learned their lesson with the washer but I guess not. Can we move out yet!

Liberty Pumpkin Patch

Saturday was so crazy. Em had a rough night and so we didn't get a block of sleep until about 6am! I knew something was up but not sure what. When she got up Saturday morning I knew right away she had a fever and a yucky green nose. Matt had already left for the house since Chris was able to come up and help him with the deck for the day. I had to get a bunch of stuff ready since I had been asked to teach a home decor class and a frugal neighbor gift class in our ward at our super saturday. Em was so sad and I was really overwhelmed but felt it would be ok. It started at noon but we had to be at the church to set up my display at 11 so we all got ready and headed that direction. Once we were set up I took the girls back to a neighbors house so they could play while I did my classes. I kept Em with me and one of the sweet sisters in the ward worn my moby wrap and held her while I taught. She was miserable and everytime she heard my voice she would whine. I felt so terrible so after I taught we picked up the other girls and headed home. I gave Em a bath and fed her just trying to help her feel better. I felt like we needed to go for a ride and I really wanted to go to the gluten free expo in Salt Lake so the girls and I headed for Salt Lake. Em was asleep before we left our complex and slept until we were ready to head back home. The expo was nice its like Christmas and so nice to go somewhere that I can eat pretty much anything they have out. We got some samples and headed back home. Before we did that we fed Em and then once again she fell asleep before we were out of the parking lot. By the time I got home we were all exhausted. Matt came home shortly after us with the intention of going to the Utes football game for work stuff but decided to stay home and just be with us. I know it was a hard decision for him but I was so grateful to have him home. Hoping Sunday will be more relaxed. 

Isn't this darling little house so perfect for this time of year? I'm so in love with it and the whole concept of living in a small town like this...or close to it. This just so happens to be in Liberty. Just on the other side of the lake from us. When I saw this I knew we just had to take the girls to pick their own pumpkins and have some pictures in front of this darling little house. Sunday we needed to get out of the house Emery and Gracie both have had a yucky nose and Em ran a fever on Saturday so we decided to skip out on church and take it easy. After lunch we loaded up to go for a ride. We stopped by the house to check progress then headed to Liberty to get pumpkins from this darling place.

Hallie was like a kid in a candy store. She would run from one pumpkin to the next yelling that it was the perfect one until she decided otherwise and moved onto another one. After about 45 minutes and everyone had a pumpkin we told her she had to make up her mind so we could leave. Then she walked over to another one and said this is it and then we could head for home.

Gracie loved carrying her pumpkin for all of 10 seconds then it was to heavy

For instance this is one of the ones she loved until the top broke off and then it was not good anymore

Gracie and Hallie both wanted a turn holding Emery for a picture it went way better than what I thought it might go. Emery has been pretty clingy since she hasn't been feeling well.

Matt turned on the voice activator on the phone camera. In the middle of pics Em burped and spit on herself while we were cleaning her up Gracie took some pictures of us...lol

I love this little family of mine

Silly and all

It was a fun little thing to get out of the house as a family. We have really missed our quiet fun family time just being us. The had tons of pumpkins to choose from they also had blue pumpkins that were cool. I have never seen a blue pumpkin.

House Update Oct 4-10

At this point we are so grateful that fall has extended into October and we are having warmer weather than normal. I met with the landscaper to talk about a plan for the yard. It will be a lot of work but it made me really excited to see what it can be. The landscaper will only be putting the plan together and helping us get all the plants to the house but beyond that its all Matt and I. Neither Matt or I have a green thumb so I think its a great idea to include someone that really knows what they are doing. They are starting to get the house wrapped and prepped for rock and siding. They had to order the rock so it should be here late Tuesday afternoon so hopefully they will start on Wed

Sheetrock is in full swing. The garage and 95% of the upstairs are done and ready for mud and tape. Only the basement is left.

Saturday Matt & Chris worked on the deck...they made pretty good progress. I can't believe the difference it look that it makes. We are getting closer and closer everyday to being able to move into this house we have dreamed about for soooo long.

Trav brought some recruits on Saturday and they busted out the garage so its completely done. I can tell Matt is getting really excited about his garage

At this point we are estimating and are on track to move in the week before Thanksgiving!!! We are hoping to move everything the weekend before Thanksgiving and then get our final permit the week of Thanksgiving at the very least. We will see if everything falls within the scheduled time. Im trying not to get my hopes up but its getting closer either way

Gymnastics

It has been just over a month since we started gymnastics. The girls are loving it. They ask multiple times a week when it is time to go and the classes never last long enough. They seem to be learning a lot. Last week after class both girls wanted to show me how they do the balance beam. I was impressed at how much their balance has gotten. The joy on their faces when they are doing gymnastics in undeniable and worth every dime and time commitment.

Seeing your kids happy and doing what they love is priceless.

Dad & Donuts

Hallie got to attend her first dad and donuts with her dad. She talked about it for days and reminded Matt quite a few times. She even wrote him a couple notes as reminders. They made book marks and ate yummy donuts.

This girl sure loves her dad. Gracie was so broken hearted that she couldn't go. It was so sad she said through tears some times I just need my daddy. I hear ya Gracie I completely agree. So in the near future Matt will be taking her on a dad/Gracie date. I'm glad I have a hubby that wants to be so involved and loves his kids

Em Holds Her Bottle

This little girl to determined to grow up faster than I would like. The other night we were out and about so I made her a bottle and next thing I know I turn around and she is feeding herself. It is a lot easier if she holds her bottle. I can't believe how great she is getting with her hand/eye coordination.