Tuesday, October 23, 2012

All My Pretty Girls

Shyla Beth - 9 months
 
Paisley Joanne - 3 years
 
Jade Carole - 8 years
 
Amber Lynnae - 10 years
 
I just love these girls so very much! They bring such happiness and joy into our family!

My Forever Family

 
 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Just a Few October Randoms

I have been horrible at taking pictures and blogging these past few months! I just checked out how many posts I've had over past years and I'm way behind this year! Just too much going on I guess. We have an official closing date for our new home - November 26th. We're working on getting it closed a week earlier which is the week of Thanksgiving, and hopefully we'll be able to. Just depends on how quickly the water heater flood repairs take. But as soon as they're done, the appraisal can be ordered and we can get going. So....my house is a constant disaster. Like a tornado is always coming through. I vacuumed and picked up this morning and right now there's crumbs and toys everywhere. How obnoxious. Anyways, here's the few pics I've taken over the month:
Shyla stopped crawling at 9 months and 1 week.

Cute monkey walker!

What the girls do right before bedtime

Flynn Rider I made for a 2yr old

Playing with my baby

This is how Paisley thinks makeup goes on
 


Fall Festival

This year, David and I were asked to be in charge of our ward's Fall Festival. It's kind of a big deal as it's the most well-attended activity of the ward. We were pretty stressed out these past couple weeks trying to get it together, but it happened and actually turned out pretty good! Seems like everyone had a good time, there was plenty of food and candy, popcorn, cupcakes, and a train ride! We were even under budget. =) I wasn't able to take many pictures, and didn't even get to sample any of the chili because I was too busy making sure everyone had what they needed (plus a couple runs to the building to take Paisley potty). Thankfully, Paisley and Shyla were both well-behaved and happy. Shyla didn't mind being passed around and Paisley stayed on the field. Amber and Jade had a blast running around with their friends (and catching grasshoppers!) and David drove the train for awhile. I even had prizes for the chili winners! Here's the pics I was able to get:
Everyone thought Amber's hair was a wig! It was sooo big and frizzy!

Little Miss Alice couldn't resist digging in the red dirt all night....

Ran out of time to make Shyla's costume so I just got her a blue sweatsuit and called it a day. She's Absalom (the blue caterpillar)

Jade FINALLY won a cupcake at the cakewalk!

Amber NOT eating a grasshopper. lol

David The Knave driving the train


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

When Life Dumps Blessings....

....you sometimes have to make snap decisions that will determine the rest of your life. The house in Avondale we put an offer on waaaay back in May and then the owner accepted it and then it had to go to the bank because it's a short sale and then we never heard about it - well, we finally heard back from the bank and they accepted our offer! That would have been awesome news a month ago before we invested time and $$ and energy and love into the Mesa house, but yesterday it just confused us and made my heart drop. We decided to go look at it again before deciding so we met up with our realtor. Now, the very first time we saw the house (back in May), I got an overwhelming feeling of coming home as I drove up to it and got out of the car. I very firmly felt like this was our home. But then it was soooo looooong without hearing about it from the bank and we found the house in Mesa we love near family, I kinda put it out of my mind. Then yesterday, driving up to the house, I again felt overwhelming happiness and peace. So even though the Mesa house is bigger and more upgraded, close to family, has a basement, etc - David, the girls, and I have all agreed the Avondale house is better for us as a family. The neighborhood is much nicer, the schools are better, it's plenty big for us, and I can't deny the feeling I got as we walked through it again. It's ours and we belong there.
One big surprise yesterday - the hardwood floors in Amber's and Jade's rooms and the hallway were destroyed from water damage! Apparently the hot water heater burst and flooded that end of the house! We were dismayed to see the house in that condition and very concerned about it's ability to pass the appraisal. However, the homeowners maintained their insurance even though they moved out and all the damage was covered! There's already a brand new 70gal water heater installed and a contractor is going to the house tomorrow. I'm meeting him and the owners there and I'm hoping to convince them to just put carpet in all the bedrooms and new wood down the hallway. It would be cheaper so since they've already received the insurance payout, they'd keep the remaining $$. Fingers crossed they go for it! Even though I posted the link already, here it is again. =)

Friday, October 5, 2012

BIG NEWS!!!

WE'RE FINALLY MOVING!!!! Let the celebration begin! =) It sure took us a loooong time to give up on the west valley and look eastwards.....but Heavenly Father got through to us and apparently we're needed in Mesa. On a whim we did a home search and included most of the east valley and the most perfect house popped up - in our price range! 4000sqft, 6 bed/3 bath, BASEMENT, 3/4 acre, and just 1 mile from the temple! The house was bought in June by an investors group and completely renovated. The kitchen and bathrooms are brand new, granite countertops, brand new flooring (and not the ugly cheap-o carpet, but the nice soft fluffy stuff!), new light fixtures. There's a huge bay window in the huge front room (21'x34'), 3 bed/2 bath on the main floor and 3 bed/1 bath in the basement. A kitchen on both floors and a large pantry downstairs. There are lots of various citrus trees and with 3/4 of an acre, plenty of space for a garden. If everything continues smoothly, we will close on November 1st and begin moving in! I can't wait!!!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Park Fun and Stuff

It's October now. The high today was 103. Ick. But....the evenings aren't super horrible. In fact, we've gone to the park a handful of times in the past couple weeks. David and I bought a soccer ball, volleyball, and a frisbee at Target one night while Amber and Jade were at Activity Days. Jade promptly kicked the volleyball over our neighbor's fence (who happen to be in Montana for who knows how long....) so all we could bring was the soccer ball and frisbee.


 

Shyla is officially a toddler. At nine months and 3 days. Yup. She very rarely crawls anywhere no matter how many tries it takes her to walk there. =) And.....she quickly figured out climbing. Yay....

 

Finished Amber's Halloween costume. She's the Mad Hatter! Her jacket is a real jacket for fall/winter and should fit her for several years as I made it a misses size 4. Isn't she cute?? Gonna make her hair super frizzy for the big day!