Dear Santa.....

This year Natalie is old enough to write a letter to Santa "all by herself". While I did have to help her sound out and spell some words I think she did pretty well. I thought it was also cute that she included Hartley in there "since she can't write a letter to Santa" This was her letter:

"Der Santa,(Dear Santa)
For Christmas will you bring a pone set(pony set), princess macap(princess makeup), a doll, and art stuf(art stuff). And fo Hartle(for Hartley) los of blox(lots of blocks).
Lav,(Love)
Natalie"

December

I can't believe December is half way over and I haven't had a chance to post on our blog. Now that we're getting settled into our house I'll probably get better at this. December is a busy month for everyone. It was no different around the Bourgeous home. We put our tree up early in the month but haven't decorated it yet. It's pretty with just the lights and Hartley hasn't touched it yet(as soon as it has decorations she'll be ALL OVER it) But we'll decorate it this week and post a picture.
Last week we spent some time at my parents house making tamales and trying to take some Christmas pictures of the girls. That didn't go over very well. Natalie didn't want to have her picture taken and poor Hartley had burned her hand earlier in the day and just wasn't happy. In the end we got a couple cute pictures of Natalie but we'll have to try with Hartley another day.
Saturday night was our ward Christmas party. We have an awesome ward and the Christmas party turned out wonderful. Great food, fun people, a neat show put on by the YW/YM and of course a special visitor. Natalie had been really excited about seeing Santa all week but once we actually got to santa(played by a sweet family friend) she was terrified....She wouldn't talk to him or sit in his lap or take a picture so I gave up. NOT a good day for pictures I guess! In the end she was sad that she didn't get to talk to him so we waited in line AGAIN and she didn't talk to him AGAIN. We did manage to get a picture though thanks to aunt Kim!
Sunday was another fun day with family. It was Kyle's 30th birthday! We had my parents and his parents and siblings and spouses over for dessert Sunday night. I think Kyle would have liked to pretend it was just another day but I'm grateful for my handsome husband and look forward to spending many many birthdays with him in the future.
So far this week has been fun too. We finally got our shutters installed Tuesday and the look great! Much better than the sheets we've had hanging in our windows since we moved in. Haha Other than that it has just been preparations for Christmas. Shopping and baking and all that good stuff. We also have some fun things planned for this weekend. And I WILL get pictures!

Busy Busy Busy Blessed Blessed Blessed

I haven't had time to blog lately because, well, I haven't had any spare time at all! We've been very busy getting our new house ready to move into, getting our things moved, and getting the old house ready to turn back over to our (wonderful)landlords. Just ask Kyle, I've been a bit of a crazy person lately just trying to do it all. We have been so blessed to have such a wonderful family and such sweet friends who have helped us SO much with the girls and with moving and cleaning and feeding us very yummy meals on days when Kyle and I probably wouldn't have taken the time to feed ourselves! haha But now we're starting to get settled in and we are looking forward to some down time to simply enjoy life. I'm just so grateful for all that our family has been blessed with. Kyle and I look back one the short time we've been married and we can't believe all that has happened to us. We have a beautiful home in a ward we love that is filled with some of the most kind people in the world. We both have amazing families that we are blessed to be so close to. We have the sweetest little girls and we have each other. Kyle has a stable job and the ability to provide for our family. We're all healthy and happy and loved. And most importantly we have the gospel to guide us and strengthen us when times get tough. It seems like when we think life can't get any better, it does!

Kimmy's Wedding

I'll have to do this one in a couple seperate posts because I don't have all the pictures from the wedding yet. Actually I don't have any from the wedding yet, just from setting up for the reception. Anyway....Kim and Ryan got married on Friday in the Mesa, AZ temple. The sealing was awesome and we're so glad to have Ryan in our family now. Those two really belong together. So here are some pictures from when we set up for the reception. I say "we" but really I didn't do anything haha I'm sure Kim is glad it's all over but the reception really came together beautifully. I'll try to get the rest of the pictures up soon

Home Sweet Home

We've finally been able to get into our house and start getting it ready to move in. The biggest challenge so far has just been cleaning. Because the house has been sitting vacant for over a year, there is a lot of dirt and dust. Because of Kyle's work schedule and our busy week and having to take the girls with us, we really haven't made a ton of progress but we're getting there! We have plans for some improvements but our budget won't allow for all the changes at once so it will be a ongoing work in progress. Even so, we're all very excited to move.

Formal living room and dining room

Kitchen

Breakfast Nook

Family Room

Bathroom 1 Bathroom 2

Bedrooms 1,2,and 3

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom(with a bee-free bathtub)

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is a big holiday in our family. My dad always goes way over the top with his decorations and we have a party at my parents house every Halloween for the entire family and friends. Natalie has actually never gone Trick-or-Treating because every Halloween we're with family at the big party. My dad makes a pinata and sets up a spooky movie outside projected onto a big screen. The kids run around looking at all the scary decorations and eating fun food. It's always a blast! Hartley was really scared to see people in their costumes, she didn't like it at all. The party started at 6 and she's usually in bed by 6:30 so she slept through most of the festivities and it was probably better that way. Natalie had a blast though and she's already planning for Halloween next year. I'm posting these pictures in no particular order. This year Hartley was a bunny and Natalie was Sleeping Beauty.

Carving Our Pumpkin

We had lots of fun carving our pumpkin this year.(Yup we only did one pumpkin this time) We had to carve him one morning before Kyle went to work. Hartley was down for a nap so she missed out on the action. I took pictures but didn't get in on the mess this time. Natalie did a great job drawing a face and Dad has excellent pumpkin carving skills. I roasted the seeds from pumpkin and they were a big hit with Natalie. She loves them. Natalie and I eat the whole seed. Kyle breaks it open and just eats the inside. He thought it was weird that I would eat the shell. I thought it was weird to crack open the little thing and take out the inside. I love our family.

Us in 48 years and 2 months...

In August my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. So to honor them, our family threw them a surprise party. We had a Luau complete with Hawaiian flowers, food, music, dancing, and entertainment. We love my grandparents very much and Kyle and I look to them as an example of what we want in our marriage. We hope you have many happy years ahead!

We're both pretty bad dancers but Kyle was such a good sport so we participated in the fun

Ready or not...

Well it looks like we'll be closing on our house on Monday. I kinda had thought it would take longer to finish things up and that we wouldn't be moving until the end of November. It just hit me tonight that I should probably start packing haha. Yikes this move kinda snuck up on me. Things are going to get pretty busy around here. Once we get into the house I'll post some pictures. Just a warning though.....it's pretty scary right now. We still haven't decided whether to leave the flooring or just replace it all before we move in. We may have to live with ugly carpet/linoleum for a while! Anyway, wish us luck!

Kimmy's Bridal Shower

Saturday my wonderful sister-in-law Lindsey and I threw a Bridal Shower for my other wonderful sister-in-law Kim. Kim and her fiance Ryan are getting married next month so we wanted to celebrate the end of her life as a single woman! It was fun to put together. Lindsey really did a great job, especially with the food. Yum. I'm so blessed to have so many many wonderful sisters! I'll post a few pictures for now, I'll get the rest another day and update it.

The bride-to-be and Natalie, not the most flattering picture, sorry, haha but they're both pretty cute

(the cake is made of towels, the doll is made of cake)

Isn't this cake amazing?? A good friend from our ward made this cake, she's got serious skills!

Just a quick update

I'm really going to try harder to post more often but time just flies by and we have so much going on right now; I don't see it getting any better until some time next year......at least I hope so...
Anyway....things with the new house are moving along. They aren't moving along very quickly but we are making progress every day. We have a wonderful "bee guy"(my husband's sister's fiance's dad) who killed the bees and completely destroyed what used to be a beautiful bathroom. Ok it's really not that bad. The tub is torn apart and there's honey and hive and bees everywhere but they are dead bees so all is well. He did a great job. I have pictures but they're only on my phone and I have no idea how to put them onto the computer. Hopefully our contractor will get the bathroom put back together(did I mention we don't have to pay for any of this madness?!?) by the end of the month and we can close on the house and be moved in by the end of November. Hopefully......

Happy Birthday Natalie

Natalie has been so excited for her birthday and now that it's here she refuses to be 5. She's denying that it's her birthday today. I thought this didn't happen until a women turned 20something or 30ish. But regardless of what she's telling people.....it is, in fact, her birthday today. 5 years ago my life changed completely. 5 years ago I was sitting in a hospital holding this perfectly beautiful 8lb 4oz bundle of baby goodness. She was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen. I remember looking at her and just crying because of how perfect she was and how grateful I was to be her mother. Now Natalie and I have had an interesting 5 years. We've done a lot of growing up together and she's taught me a lot about the world and life in general. Natalie is very energetic, driven, stubborn, and independent. She's always been advanced for her age. Crawling, talking, walking, reading early. She has a love for learning and improving herself that I really admire. She has been the best big sister ever. She is a huge helper and I know Hartley looks up to her so much already. Natalie loves playing outside, helping Dad in the yard, cooking with me, visiting her grandparents and aunts and uncles. She's beautiful and compassionate. She loves tennis and drawing and playing on her computer. Its hard to believe she's 5 already, where has the time gone?! I love you so much Natabug. I hope you never forget your potential; you're well on your way to being a beautiful and amazing young woman.

Happy Birthday Hartley

My sweet little baby turns one today! I can't believe how time flies when you have little kids. Hartley has been the most laid back and angelic baby you could ever hope to know. From the day she was born she has been happy and content. She only cries when she needs something(although now she's learning to throw tantrums, I think Natalie has taught her) and she touches each of us with her sweet nature. Hartley has been working very hard at walking and is getting pretty good at it-crawling is faster though so sometimes she just sticks to that. She loves to play and giggle and is learning so much each day. She likes to whisper(Hi! Hi! Hi!) and is working on her sign language. So far she can sign "more" "milk" and "eat". And if you've seen this girl eat, it's not surprising that these are the signs she's perfected. She loves to climb on things and hates grass. She adores her daddy and her big sister and is starting to give sweet kisses(kinda more like she wipes her nose on your face but I'll take it). I'm sad to see my teeny tiny baby growing into a toddler but can't express the gratitute I feel to be the mother of such a sweet spirt. I love you more than words can say Hartley. I hope you always remember how much you mean to so many people.

The birds and the bees.....and the bats....

Just a quick update.... We are busy busy lately with the girls' birthdays coming up and getting house stuff in order and inspections and stuff done. We got the estimate for the bee removal/repair........yikes........Let's just hope the seller pays for it all! I'm so glad it's conference weekend though, what a great chance to slow down and make sure we keep our eternal prespective.

One more thing....

Natalie- Mom, what are baby owls called?

Mom- I don't know, Nat...owlets I think.

Natalie- Probably not.

Mom-No?

Natalie- No. I think they're called bats.

That girl is wise beyond her years, she teaches me something every day.

Good news and bad news

Well let's begin with the good news shall we? Well, to start, we did the inspection for the house we're buying yesterday and everything looks great. Lots of minor fixes, LOTS of cleaning to do, LOTS and LOTS of bugs....But once we get in there and paint and possibly replace flooring it'll be a great house for our family to grow in. And the smoke detectors work great. haha Although we didn't test them on purpose.....The part we were really worried about was the bee inspection. We knew that there was a beehive in the wall of the back of the house somewhere but we didn't know exactly where it was or how big it was and were thinking we would have to put a huge hole in the back of the house(or in the master bathroom) to take out this hive. Well the good news is that they aren't really in the walls so we won't have to put a big hole in the house. The bad news is that the bees(and a large hive) are under the bath tub so we will have to rip that out. It will probably end up being more expensive than putting a hole in the wall but will be easier to repair and the repair won't be noticeable. All in all we are one step closer to being home owners. Good stuff.