Easter

Easter was a hoot this year. We dyed eggs, hunted for eggs, and had a special visit from the Easter bunny Sunday morning. Natalie also had a Spring Fling party with her preschool class. We were running late Sunday morning so we didn't get pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses but I will eventually. Natalie likes to have her picture taken when she's dressed up all pretty for church so I'm sure we'll get some soon. For now here are a few pictures from when we dyed our eggs!

Random stuff....

*"The future is as bright as your faith" -President Monson...One of my favorite tidbits from conference last weekend. Lots and lots of good stuff this conference.

*I was picking up Natalie's room earlier this week and found that she'd just stuffed her pajamas from the night before under her bed instead of putting them in her hamper. Frustrating. So I said "Natalie, why would you put dirty clothes under your bed???" to which she replied "Mom, it's just my thing....." Um OK then....

*We hunted Easter eggs at my grandparents house today. A tradition that goes back longer than I can remember and is something I look forward to every year. My grandparents really outdo themselves. They fill and hide 14 plastic eggs each for about 20 grandkids, great-grandkids, and foster-grandkids. That's a lot of eggs and A LOT of candy. The girls had a blast. I was the only one who couldn't find all my eggs. Sad.

*Jesus loves you. And you too Rachel. I think I needed to let you know. hahaha

*Kyle and I made pickles yesterday and it was a hoot! We are definately going to make more in the future, they turned out pretty good. Pickle, pickles, pickle smell. Pickle train conducting... If you can tell me what that's from you win.....

*I haven't had a full nights sleep at all this entire week. I'm really looking forward to taking a nap tomorrow. I hope.

It's a GIRL!!!

Yup another girl!

We went for an ultrasound this morning(Kyle, my mom, and me) and got to see how the baby was doing. She was very uncooperative but things looked good. The baby is definitely a girl. She weighs about 9 oz so far and is measuring right on her due date. I was thinking maybe she'd be measuring a little behind because I haven't gotten very big yet and have only gained one pound. At our first ultrasound she was measuring several days behind but she seems to have caught up. I love being able to say HER and SHE now instead of IT! Her name will be Leah Pearl, a name we decided on very early in the pregnancy, maybe even before I was pregnant, now I can't remember. Natalie was really hoping for a brother and is still sulking and hoping for one. Kyle and I are very very excited and glad that we can still be "Kyle, Brenda and "the girls"!

On my mind today....

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
-Marjorie Hinckley

I've been reading President Gordon B. Hinkley's biography lately and it has really touched me how much he and his wife commited their life to service and to moving the work of the Lord forward. They are truely inspirational people. I can't imagine I'll leave the world having influenced it even a fraction of the amount these good people have, but I sure could try a lot harder. They had an awesome grasp on the important things in life and I would love to have that same dedication and focus to my family(and ward family) and the other things in my life that REALLY matter.

Making progress

*Only 2 more weeks until we find out what we're having! I can tell this baby is getting much bigger. It's growing UP instead of OUT....I can't breathe.....I can also feel lots of baby squirms and the occasional kick. I'm very glad not to be so sick and tired all the time!

*Kyle is really making progress on our trampoline pit. He didn't have a lot of time to put into the yard last week because we were so busy but he's trying to get as much done as quickly as possible. Soon it will be to hot to be out working in the yard.If you've ever put an in-ground trampoline in your yard and you have some words of wisdom, let us know!

*Today I made jam all by myself. My mom makes jam(sometimes several kinds of jam) every year and I'm usually around to "help" but I have never really paid attention to how she did it until this year. I made one batch myself and it turned out pretty good. I have some room for improvement for sure but it was much easier than I thought it would be. It'll be a good addition to our food storage.

*Our girls our super sweet and wonderful. It's amazing that there is a 4 year age difference between Natalie and Hartley and they still play so well together. Natalie likes to be in charge and Hartley is very easy going so it works out well. Natalie is getting really good at reading. She can sound most words out on her own and tries to write full sentences. Her reading is much better than her writing at this point but I think once school starts she'll have a blast. She calls my mom every night to have story time with grandma. My mom reads her a chapter from a book. They've read Charlotts Web, A Cricket in Time Square, and now they're working on Little House on the Praire. She definately developing a love for books and reading.

Week 3.....making progress. Good job dear!

Pictures

This is one of Hartley's favorite places in the house-the pantry

These are the pictures I meant to put in my last post but our internet rarely works these days so I never got them to load. These pictures were taken by my little sister Rachel. She's a really great photographer.

HAPPY HAPPY Day!

Today I'm happy because this morning we're going to the temple. Kyle and I are finally going to be sealed to Natalie for time and all eternity.

I was also happy to see something in our garden is actually growing. I was starting to thing our attempt at gardening was just going to end in a sad little patch of dirt that wouldn't grow a thing. But today one of our bean plants started to sprout and our tomatoes are starting to perk back up after wilting when we transplanted them. Yay.

I'm also happy because my super fantastic husband killed the spider that has been living in a corner of my kitchen since before we moved in. How long do black widows live anyway? We've been here since November and almost every day I would sweep away a web at the bottom of my cabinet only to find it back within the next day or two. Well I'm glad to have my kitchen back. I'd seriously been avoiding using that corner of my kitchen for food prep because I knew the spider lived under the cabinets over there and I was afraid it would jump out and gnaw off my leg. Despite many attempts to get rid of her she wasn't giving up easily. Thanks Kyle! I gained way more counter space overnight.

Also, less than 3 weeks left until we find out if we're having a boy or a girl! A boy would be a fun change but I think I might have a panic attack if it is a boy haha. I know nothing about boys!

And of course how can I not be happy when I've got kids that look like this.....Beautiful right?

Picture of Natalie to come when my computer is a little less lame.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Or "Four Leaf Clover Day" as Natalie calls it. She was having trouble saying "Patrick's" so she improvised. This holiday almost passed unnoticed. I didn't realise it was St. Patrick's Day until later in the morning but I like to do special things for Natalie on holidays so we put together a few fun things to do for the day and ended up having a lot of fun. Natalie was nice enough to make some fun green decorations and lots of shamrocks to decorate our house and get us in a festive mood. I love this age when everything is so exciting for her. I hope it lasts a while. For dinner we had all green food and green milk. Natalie was amazed and asked how I made the food green. I told her that leprechauns give moms special magic to make green food for their kids on St. Patrick's Day. She thought that was awesome and said she couldn't wait until she was a mom and could have some leprechaun magic too. Although, later on that night she was talking to my mom on the phone and grandma told her it was green food coloring. ha ha. Oh well.

Our backyard in progress

Kyle has been working hard to get our yard in shape lately. I wish I had a "before" picture so you could see what a mess it was when we moved in. Kyle has spent a lot of his free time pulling/clearing weeds, filling sink-holes, and roto-tilling our dirt. We have plans to put an in-ground trampoline in our yard for the girls(and baby) so Kyle has started digging a big big hole that will some day be our trampoline. The dirt in AZ can be very hard and it's definitely going to be a long process but, in the end, I think it'll be great. We also planted our garden today. We planted tomatoes, basil, peppers, squash, and green beans. We also have seeds for okra and cantaloupe and Kyle wants to plant chilies and Natalie wants to plant flowers so maybe we'll do a second garden, we have the space for it so we might as well. Here are some pictures of our yard so far....

Week one working on the trampoline pit

Natalie with Dad planting seeds

Our spring garden day one.....hopefully SOMETHING grows, this is our first attempt at a garden!

Adoption, Ultrasound, Birthday....

Ok time to play catch-up starting with a couple weeks ago.
We've been working on all the paperwork and hoop-jumping we have to do to have Kyle adopt Natalie for a ver long time and we finally FINALLY finished a couple weeks ago. We were just waiting for our court date and now it's all over! Kyle, Natalie, and I went to the courthouse and waited and waited for our turn to see the judge. Natalie got pretty antsy waiting but she thought it was cool when we went in to see the judge and he was asking questions and talking to her. It's definately a relief that it's all over and it was fun for us to spend the morning just hanging out with Natalie, we don't get to do that very often. We are really looking forward to going to the temple some time soon.

The day after the adoption was done I had an ultrasound. I was about 13 weeks and it was a "Nuchal Translucency" scan. They do the ultrasound and a blood test to test for things like Down Syndrome and Trisomies 13 and 18. Natalie and my sister Rachel came along and it was really fun seeing the baby. Natalie thought it was SO cool. She always likes coming to my appointments to hear the heartbeat so this was even better for her. She kept saying "Aww how cute" and things like that. The baby looks good, everythings is healthy and the tests came back to show that my risk for any of the defects was practically nothing. We don't know whether it's a boy or a girl yet, we'll probably find out within the next month or so. But we think it's a girl. I guess we'll see! So far our name choices are "Leah Pearl" for a girl and "Bennett" for a boy. We still don't know for a middle name for a boy. Any ideas?

Last week was my birthday. I turned 23. Exciting stuff. Ok, not really, but it was fun to have family over for dinner to celebrate. Everyone came over Friday night and we had loads of food and fun. Kyle's sister Xan and her husband Jason and their little girl Hannah drove down last week from Oregon and made it in time to visit with us that night too so it was a full house. It was a blast having them here and I'm sad that they're gone already.

Ok I think I'm mostly caught up. I'll post the ultrasound pictures when I have a chance to scan them.

I'm just waiting.....

Waiting, waiting, waiting for Natalies bangs to grow out. Yup, that's right, Natalie has BANGS. SHORT bangs.

Today Kyle was going to the barber shop to get his hair cut and Natalie asked to go with him. She loves going with him when he gets his hair cut because they always give her a sucker. Well before they left Kyle asked if she wanted to get her hair cut too.(Not at the barber shop) She was very excited about it. I was hesitant. I have always cut Natalie's hair. I know her hair well and I'm a bit of a control freak so I have always cut it how I like it. But Natalie has really wanted bangs and Kyle has also.

So we talked about what they would do a little bit before they left(since I wasn't going with them) and I thought we had ruled out getting bangs this time....but I guess not. Well, when they got home Natalie went straight to her bed and fell asleep so I didn't see her hair until about an hour later. Then she woke up....and I almost cried. Hartley kept staring at her like she was a stranger, she looked really different. I went and got scissors right away. Her bangs were really crooked and the lady that cut them missed a big chunk, it was awful. So I touched it up a bit and faded the bangs in with the rest of her hair so it would frame her face and not be so dramatic....Natalie doesn't care, she loves her new hair. I just hope it grows out quickly.....

Making Valentine's Day Treats

Natalie recently started going to preschool two days a week at a friends house. This week they had a Valentine's Day party and went to the Ceretta candy factory to learn a little bit about how they make their yummy candy. For the party, Natalie made some fun treats for her friends in her class. She had a blast!

Natalie's Photography

Natalie loves taking pictures with our camera(or anyone's camera for that matter). Sometimes we'll end up with some strange pictures. These are just some photos she's taken this week.

This is a self portrait....Beautiful...

Yes, that is Kyle. Yes, he is cooking.....take a good long look.....

Natalie's toybox...exciting

Another self portrait, I was really surprised that she took this herself. She said she pushed the button the jumped in front of the camera.

And Hartley.... I don't know what she's looking AT but I'm pretty sure I know what she's looking FOR.

It's not dinner

It's a hat!

Now I have to admit. Because of some serious morning sickness I haven't been much of a master chef lately. Some days just thinking of food makes me want to puke. No fun. SO our meals have been pretty simple the past few weeks. Obviously, Hartley has more sophisticated taste and decided to show me she's sick of Macaroni and Cheese by dumping dinner on her head. Kyle and Natalie have been much more helpful, though. Not only has Kyle put up with all my whining, but he's done SO much to help around the house it's not even funny. Natalie has been a very good helper as well. I'm very very lucky to have such a wonderful family.

Baby Names

When I was pregnant with Hartley, Kyle and I could not decide on a name for her. We were torn between two names: Avery and Hartley. We decided that we liked both well enough so we'd just wait until we saw her and then see which name fit her. Well needless to say, she was obviously a Hartley so things worked out well. Even though we're only about 8 week into this pregnancy we've been batting names around already I thought I'd post them now and see if/how they change over the next 7 months.

If we have a girl:
Leah Pearl
Holland Pearl
Charity ?????
We like Pearl as a middle name. It's my grandma's name. But I'm not sure it flows as well with Charity.


If we have a boy:
Leiland ????
Kimball ????
Everett ????
Wyatt(after Kyle) ????
Kent(after my dad and grandpa) ????
Owen ????
I'm pretty clueless about middle names for boys. Feel free to add your thoughts/suggestions

All About Natalie

Natalie and Hartley at the Zoo with Grandma Horne

Natalie's contribution to our family blog:

How old are you? Um, 5! Almost 6.

What is your favorite thing to do for fun? I like to play with my camera and my computer and dig in the dirt. And when Dad helps me ride my bike.

What is your favorite thing to do with Hartley? Play and pretend that I have magic and swing on the swing.

What is your favorite food? Ice cream

What is your favorite color? Pink and red and all the colors of the rainbow

Who is your favorite person? Ummm Mom and Dad and Hartley. My whole family. Cause I love my family.

What is your favorite movie? Barbie movies

What is your favorite book? Ummm my favorite book is Curious George.

What is your favorite primary song? I like all of them. All of them are my favorites.

What is your favorite scripture story? Noahs ark because I thought it was fun.

Do you want our new baby to be a brother or a sister? I want both. I want a twin.

What is something you are looking forward to this year? This year I'm looking forward to Valentines Day because I can make Valentine cards. I'm excited to see all my friends when I start school.

My extra special Christmas present

I have to say, this Christmas was the best Christmas EVER. Kyle and I had agreed not to buy each other presents this year- the house was our big present to one another. We were fortunate to be able to get into our house and settled(mostly) before the holidays and it was most definately an awesome Christmas gift. So we decided we would focus on the girls and not get each other gifts this year. But still, Kyle kept asking what I wanted for Christmas. And I would tell him, "I just want a house......and a baby." And we already had the house so......To make a long story short, we're having a baby!! We shared the exciting news with our families on Christmas day and everyone is happy to have another little Bourgeous bundle of joy joining us this summer.

I think this finally gets me pretty much caught up on my holiday blogging...now we can start the new year haha

Natalie-isms

Natalie: "Mom, Dad's going to cook you dinner tonight."
Me: "Oh that's sweet!"
Natalie: "Yeah, I told him he had to"

That girl knows how to keep a man in line.

Two years down, eternity to go.....

Today Kyle and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Two whole years and he's not sick of me yet. Can you believe it?? We went out this afternoon and evening(thanks to Kim and Ryan who watched the girls) to celebrate. We did some shopping, went to a movie, then out to dinner at Kyle's favorite restaurant. It was a blast.

While we were out tonight we were just talking about how fun the past couple years have been. A lot has happend that we didn't think would. We've been blessed beyond measure and life just keeps getting better! I feel so lucky to have such a strong sweet man as my best friend and partner in crime. He's the PERFECT husband and an amazing dad to our girls. I could go on and on about how great he is but I'll spare the mooshy gooshy. I love you lots hon!

Grandma Bailey's Christmas Party-Annie and Willie's Prayer

The Christmas season would not be complete without the annual Christmas party held by my Great Grandma Bailey for my dad's side of the family. My grandma is a dear dear woman. She's 95 years old and blind but still has a love for life and her family that I so admire. Each year we gather at her home to sing(very loud) songs and share memories and fun Christmas stories. Each year my dad is asked(or volunteers) to recite a favorite family poem called "Annie and Willie's Prayer". It tells a sweet story and I'm amazed that he can always recite it from memory year after year. We look forward to this special Christmas tradition and are exciting to keep it going.

Annie and Willie's Prayer

"Twas the eve before Christmas, good night had been said, And Annie and Willie had crept into bed: There were tears on their pillows, and tears in their eyes, And each little bosom was heaving with sighs, For tonight their stern father's command had been given That they should retire precisely at seven Instead of at eight--for the troubled him more With questions unheard of than ever before: He had told them he thought this delusion a sin, No such creature as "Santa Claus", ever had been And he hoped, after this, he would never more hear HOw he scrambled down chimneys with presents each year. And this was the reason that two little heads so restlessly tossed on their soft, downy beds. Eight, nine and the clock on the steeple tolled ten, Not a word had been spoken by either till then. When Willie's sad face from the blanket did peep, And whispered, "Dear Annie, is 'ou fast as'eep?" Why no, brother Willie," a sweet voice replies, "I've long tried in vain, but I can't shut my eyes, For somehow it makes me so sorry because Dear Papa has said that there is no "Santa Claus." "Now we know that there is, andit cann't be denied, For he came every year before Mamma died: But, then, I've been thinking taht she used to pray, And God would hear everything Mamma would say, And maybe she asked him to send Santa Claus here With that sackful of presents he brought every year." "Well,why tan't we p'ay dest as Mamma did den, And ask Dod to send him with p'esents aden?" "I've been thinking so to," and without a word more Four little bare feet bounded out on the floor, And four little knees the soft carpet pressed, And two tiny hands were clasped close to each breast. "Now, Willie, you know we must firmly believe That the presents we ask for we're sure to receive: You must wait very still till I say the 'Amen,' And by that you will know that your turn has come then."
"Dear Jesus, look down on my brother and me, And grant us the favor we are asking of thee. I want a wax dolly, a tea set, and ring, And an ebony workbox that shuts with a spring. Bless Papa, dear Jesus, and cause him to see That Santa Claus loves us as much as does he, Don't let him get fretful and angry again At dear brother Willie and Annie, Amen" "Please Desus, 'et Santa Taus tum down tonight, and b'ing us some p'esents before it is light, I want he should div' me a nice "ittie s'ed, With bright shinin' 'unners, and all painted red; A box full of tandy, a book and a toy, Amen, and the, dear Desus, I'll be a good boy."
Eight, nine and the little French clock had struck ten, Ere the father had thought of his children again. He seems now to hear Annie's half supressed sighs, And to see the big tears stand in Willie's blue eyes. "I was harsh with my darlings," he mentally said, "And should not have sent them so early to bed, But then I was troubled, my feelings found vent, But of course they've forgotten their troubles ere this, And that I denied then the trice asked for kiss, But, just to make sure, I'll go up to their door, For I never spoke harshly to my darlings before." So saying, he softly ascended the stairs, And arrived at the door to hear both of their prayers. His Annie's "Bless Papa" drew forth the big tears, And Willie's grave promise fell sweet on his ears. "Strange-strange-I'd forgotten," said he with a sigh, "How I longed when a child, to have Christmas draw nigh." "I'll atone for my harshness" he inwardly said, "By answering their prayers ere I sleep in my bed." Then he turned to the stairs and softly went down, Threw off velvet slippers and silk dressing gown, Donned hat, coat and boots, and was out in the street, A millionaire facing the cold, driving sleet! Nor stopped he until he bought everything From the box full of candy to the tiny gold ring. Indeed, he kept adding so mucht to his store, That the various presents outnumbered a score. Then homeward he turned, with his holiday load, With Aunt Mary's help, in the nursery was stowed. Miss Dolly was seated beneath a pine tree, By the side of a table spread out for her tea. A workbox well fitted in the center was laid, And on it the ring for which Annie had prayed. A soldier in uniform stood by a sled "With bright shinning runners and all painted red." There were balls, dogs, and horses books pleasing to see, And birds of all colors were perched in the tree! While Santa Claus, laughing, stood at the top, as if getting ready more presents to drop. As as the fond father the picture surveyed, He thought for his troulbe he had amply been paid, And he said to himself, as he brushed off a tear, "I'm happier tonight than I've been in a year. I've enjoyed more pure pleasure than ever before, What care I if bank stocks fall ten per cent more. Hereafter, I'll make it a rule, I believe To have Santa Claus visit us each Christmas Eve." So thinking, he gently extinguished the light, And tripping down stairs, retired for the night.
As soon as the beams of the bright morning sun Put the darkness to flight, and the stars one by one, Four little blue eyes out of sleep opened wide, And at the same moment the presents espied, They out of their bed they spang with a bound, And the very gifts prayed for were all of them found. They laughed and they cried, in their innocent glee, And shouted for Papa to come quick and see What presents Old Santa Claus brought in the night Just the things that they wanted and left before light. "And now," added Annie, in a voice soft and low, "You'll believe there's a 'Santa Claus', Papa I know." While dear little Willie climed up on his knee. Determined no secret between them should be, And told him soft whispers how Annie had said That their dear, blesssed Mamma, so long ago dead, Used to kneel down by the side of her chair, And that God up in heaven had answered her prayers. "Den we dot up and prayed dust well as we tould, And Dod answered our prayers,now wasn't he dood?" "I should say the he was, if he sent you all these, And knew just what presents my children would please. (Well, well, let him think so, the dear little elf, 'Twould be cruel to tell him I did it myself.")

Blind father! Whoe caused your stern hearth to relent, and the hasty words spoken so soon to repent? 'Twas the being who bade you steal softly upstairs and made you his agent to answer their prayers

By: Sophia P. Snow

Gingerbread houses

I know it's a little late but I'm working on catching up here. We've had lots of exciting things happening in the Bourgeous home. Christmas is always much more fun when you have little ones and this Christmas was no exception. My dad has made it a tradition to make gingerbread houses and decorate them together. This year he made over twenty houses! He bakes them and puts the houses together himself and buys TONS of candy to put on the houses. No matter what age you are, this is a blast! We went over to my parents house the week before Christmas and had fun decorating the houses(and eating the candy) We also took some to family and friends to decorate as well. LOTS of fun! (Pictures to come)

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)