Didn't make the cut

Its that time of year again! I got my girls all dressed up and took them outside for some pictures for this years Christmas card...

Here is was you will NOT be seeing on the card...

"CHEESE"

Can you see her saying it?

She is trying so hard to get the word right that she forgot to really smile :)

Look how BEAUTIFUL her hair is!!! Jealous!

"Kiss"

I told her to kiss the tree...

looks like she is getting ready to take a bite!

"No way"

This little cutie kept throwing her hands up in front of the camera like, "Don't you dare take a picture of me!" but as you can see her smile was saying otherwise...

"Hands up!"

again

Anyone recognize the outfit she is wearing???

Probably not.... so i'll just tell you.... Its the same thing Maycee wore for our Christmas cards last year! (what can I say, I like green)

This little girl is growing like a weed, and is much much bigger than Maycee was at Lydia's age.

"and again..."

"Look what my tongue can do"

I don't know what Maycee was thinking... do you?

"Almost"

Cute girls, crappy backround

And thats it!!!

(I mean I took alot more but I didn't want to bore you)

Ironically the very first picture I took turned out the best, you can enjoy it in a few weeks :)

Employment!

The last couple of days have been COLD!

I mean wind blowing all day, no sun, frost in the mornings and even a little snow!

Its so different for me to be in conditions like this. Blake says to me this morning (in response to me talking about the cold) he says, "Ya know, it wouldn't be so bad f this was as cold as it got..." and im like "WHAT?! It's gonna get worse!!!" Aw shoot! I am in trouble!

Since it has been cold we have been doing things like this...

Yesterday Blake had the morning off so we took advantage of some family time!

Notice we are all still in P.J.'s and we had soup for lunch, so fun!

We really have to take advantage of the time we have together now since BLAKE GOT A JOB!!!

He is your newest Walmart Associate!

He stokes shelves in the grocery department :)

We came out here think school was going to be most of Blakes time but soon found out that was not the case... not for this semester anyway's. We have been so spoiled having him around almost all the time! Now we will be lucky to have him around AT ALL. Bitter/sweet. We decided it would be easier in the long run not to have so much "debt" in student loans when we were done with school.

The kids have so much fun playing in all the leaves!

Betty has agreed that she will pay us if we can keep up with the falling leaves. So far the leaves are winning... by ALOT! Betty has many MATURE trees on her land. They really are kicking our trash. We got up and racked this morning, and now you can't even tell where. But it is kind of fun. (that might sound weird but it is)

AND AS PROMISED...

The girls costumes...

Maycee was a cowgirl. I just used a picture from this summer's reunion...

Just imagine her with a pink sweater underneath, and no cute hat. (she destroyed it, the stinker)

And Lydia was a DOLL! Well actually she was a bunny, but she was as cute as a doll...

Here you have to think of warm costumes cause its so chilly in the evenings. So what I did was just add some bunny ears to her... I don't know what you would call it but its really puffy and really warm...

... and a bunny tail of coarse!

I think she quite enjoyed it!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well, no pictures of the girls in their costumes yet but I have everything else from yesterday...

Betty's birthday was the 28th but it worked out better for us to celebrate it on Halloween. We had a yummy soup night next door at the Browns!

5 choices: Cream of Broccoli (Blake)

Potatoe n veggie (Megan)

Pumpkin Curry (Megan)

Chessy Tomatoe (Betty)

Clam Chowder (Betty)

and we ate our soup in these...

Pumpkin looking bread bowls!

and for dessert...

Betty surprised us all with a great costume!

All the kids got a kick out of her hat, it danced and sang songs...

Megan (Brown) made thses really cute bats that we hung on the ceiling aorund the table

We shared alot of laughs through out the night...

in this foto I told the guys to smile add this is what I got...

I think the pumpkin bread bowls and soup are going to become a Halloween traditon.

And are pumpkins this year...

Blake's

and

April's

I feel like I was slacking this year on my pumpkin, but oh well... next year! :)

All in all we had a great Halloween Holiday :)

Brimhall Hotel

We have been here a little over 2 months and lets just say.....

IF YOU HAVEN'T COME TO VISIT YET... YOU ARE MISSING OUT!!!

We have been having so much fun getting to know are neighbors and hosting all of our family that has come to visit! Infact Grandpa Shum and Grandma Kathy just left this morning with Kamy to head back home. Oh what fun we have had with everyone!

In no particular order here are the pictures from our adventures so far...

Maycee had been towing all her friends in this...

Now we tow them in this...

Its not much to look at but it has been SOOOO much fun!

(It is currently under some cosmetic surgery, so stay tuned for updates)

The neighbors have some "pocket" bikes and the kids enjoy them...

We have been shooting...

Maycee finally got to shoot the gun she got for her birthday...

Well she posed for a picture anyway, she did shoot the 22 though...

It was a windy day, but lots of fun!

This little girl has hit 9 months and she is a blast to have, she even helps with the dishes!

Took a trip to Sutherland Farms for the "Green Chile Festival"

Here in NM everyone uses green chile in everything, EVERYTHING! You can walk into any restaurant here and order green chile on just about anything, that includes the franchises like McDonalds and Burger King. They even sale green chile dip next to the french onion dip at the super markets. (We, of coarse, have bought our fare share of green chile and bottled it)

My family payed us a visit. This was our scenery on the drive up to Durango during there stay. And let me tell you, this picture did NOT do it JUSTICE !

We rented this fun little bike in Durago and road along the river. We of coarse all didn't fit at once so we brought some other bikes and just rotated.

Best $20 we spent the whole time they were here.

We weren't totally prepared for the snow, but we stopped on the way into Silverton and "played" for a while. Rachel, the one in the middle, was SUPER excited because she had never played in the snow while it was snowing.

WE SURE MISSED YOU ANGIE!!!

If you haven't heard of Bolacks, here is a taste of it!

Its a musem of animals that one man, Tom Bolack, hunted in his life time. There are over 2000 species of animals in this place and let me tell you, it is worth the visit! This crock is about 12 FEET long, record size. You have to see it for yourself!

Here is Maycee and Kamy together, from the visit just these last couple of days. These two sure had alot of fun together!

It was awesome to have Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Shum here! It was just a flyin-in trip but we made the best of all there time here. We started out at Bolacks and then stopped in durago for lunch and then onto Cortez and had a tour of the Cortez Flour Mill there, which was amazing, and then back down through Shiprock and home again. Beautiful country we drove through!

Grandma made us some amazing biscuits and gravy while they were here! Blake has been that happy in a long time :)

We have been having so much fun with everyone here! Hope the rest of you can make it soon :)

Home and Labor Day Weekend

Here are some pictures of our "trailer" house, as promised :)

I debated about putting these up for two reasons

1.) The house wasn't the cleanest when I took them. But then I decided "Aw heck! My house is never gonna stay clean long enough for "clean" pictures anyway"

AND

2.) I don't want this to be an excuse for people that they don't have to come visit because they have "already seen the place".... So you can only look if you still promise to come visit.

Blake has always wanted a yellow house, now he's got one :)

The set up is kind of funny. This is the front door, but if you really pay attention to the layout of the house this should actually be the back door. So our back door has a doorbell. Anyway...

Our front "nook"

Betty pulled up one day in her golf cart and said "What a cute little nook you have."

Isn't it though??

Here is the entry way when you come inside...

and then you walk right into our living room...

(im still working on curtains and other decorations)

then if you walk up those stairs in the living room you pass through the small kitchen and dining room and then walk into the play room... As you can see it also currently doubling as a clothes line. We don't have a dryer yet! Can't tell you how much I miss my fluffy towels!!

We also were almost a whole month without a microwave but we have one now :) So funny all the conveniences we can't live without!

For labor day weekend we had yet another family reunion! We have been to three this summer! And I am really sorry that none of them were with my family :( I mean don't get me wrong, Blake's family was a blast to hang out with all summer, BUT I wish my family would get together more often for reunions or just planned party's in general. (Yes, that was a stab to my family, hopefully it will motivate them to put something together :) )

Maycee enjoyed her weekend with Avie at the reunion!

They have turned out to be the best of friends!

Aren't they adorable?!

We had some good laughs at the reunion. One of which involved these "Mobys" (Moby's are these wraps that are made to hold your babies)

Some of us were finding other things to hold in them... like adults! It was great! Can't wait to do it again next year.

Maycee finds some many things to do at home. She is always playing with her neighbor friends Jacob and Ellie and Betty too. This place is great for her!

The stairs inside are fun for the girls too. Maycee will jump from the very top occasionally. And I did find Lydia had climbed the whole way up yesterday. That girl can get around, even if it is still an army crawl.

This girl's favorite breakfast is eggs. Im not sure if even half of it gets in her mouth but she LOVES to feed herself.

Blake is staying busy with school and he did get a job. Don't know how long it will last... he is making minimum wage :( Better than nothing but he is WAY better than that! He is working as a lock smith but really all he has done so far is scoffer(sp?) a tech around.

No church callings yet... But we hope they will be soon :)

Moved OUT- Moved IN

Well as most of you know "were not in Arizona anymore"!

There are things I miss about my old house and being close to family but, let me tell you, I am really happy with how things have turned out here.

The double wide is... well.... a double wide. Its not the nicest thing in the world but there are a lot of things here we didn't have there...

Tons more space - about 400 sq ft more

3 car garage- that we can actually park our cars in :)

HUGE backyard

much larger master bedroom and bathroom

2 walk in closets in the master bedroom (its amazing. enough said.)

Lots of new friends (some of which I wish would go away, I'll explain later)

The set up here is really nice! Betty is our sweet sweet land lord. She is 80 years old and has a hard time getting around. But let me tell you she is wonderful. There are three houses here that kind of make a triangle. Betty's house is one and then two others are both double wides, ours and the Brown's (no relation to my moms side, that we have found... yet). The two double wide's share a back yard and then Betty's is just kind of right there. Maycee spends most of her day playing with the two Brown children, they are always at one of the 3 houses. Betty loves it! She looks forward to the kids coming over everyday. She has a drawer dedicated to treats for them. And is always taking them on rides around her property. She has about 5 acres just right here by us. We have already had a dinner with all 3 families and it was fun. Its going to be really nice here with the little group we have already.

We are just down from the river here and Blake has already tried fishing. The mosquitoes were really really bad though :( We have a tripped planned for Colorado soon, since its only 45 minutes away, so Blake can go do some real fishing.

There are some things that I have had to adjust to, or I should say still adjusting to....

The bugs. The bugs here are so different. Not like in Mesa, AT ALL. There are TONS of bees and wasps and TONS of other spiders and bugs that I am not familiar with. UGH! Bugs gross me out. I shiver just thinking about them.

The noises. The noises my house makes are so different. That may sound funny to you but it is really wierd all the different creeks and moans it makes, especially at night. I am still trying to learn them all.

The driving. The driving here is WILD if you ask me. On the main road through town there is no left turning lane to get to the other side, just a big wash basically. And you are welcome to pull into it anytime you would like, with no warning to the others and turn left when its clear. Its crazy!

The gas. Are stove is gas, thats different. Blake keeps talking about how it is so great. Im still kind of timid about using it. I think im gonna blow the house up every time I turn it on. It will grow on me, hopefully :)

The friends. The neighbors are great! The friends, not so much. Well its not really a friend, I wish it would go away. We saw a house scamper across the kitchen this morning. Not cool.

Ted. Ted is cool. Maycee is still scared of him. He tries to keep our porch free of bugs. We noticed him the other day and have seen him most days since. Blake gave him that nickname Ted becasue.... he is a toad :)

There are a couple unfortunates... actually just one that really gets to me.

The carpet. Betty is old and I think has a bit of a memory issue, as sweet as she is. Before we saw the place we were told the carpet was only 3 years old, which really isn't that bad. However when we got here we found out that she had confused it with the other double wide. Our carpet is original and it is AWFUL. (probably from the 80's) Not just the color though, I could handle the color, it really is just FILTHY. I dont go anywhere with out shoes or socks in this house :( I feel bad because the day we got here Betty had a carpet guy just finishing up inside. When I saw who the company was I just hung my head. Having a dad as a carpet cleaner you kind of know a few things about carpet. The company that was here has a terrible reputation for cleaning carpets. They basically put a ton of soap on your carpet and then don't get half of it up because there machines are not that great. So then it feels like you are walking on dried suds :( I put Lydia's clothes on her, and with in 15 min. she has a brown smear down the front of her from scooting around. It kinda makes me gag.

Really everything is going pretty good so far. Blake really likes all of his classes and teachers and he has started looking for a job. His schedule is much more ope than we thought i was going to be. We have been to church once and I couldn't really tell what people were like or how things are gonna be there becasue we got a new Bishop and everything was kind of crazy with that. Hopefully we get callings soon.

Check back soon for pictures of the place and are great neighbors :) Book your visits soon because weekends to come and visit are going fast! Blake and I have already checked out a few cool places we want to take you when you come stay :)

Summer 2011

What a roller coaster ride the summer has been... and its not over yet :) / :(

Have I mentioned Maycee loves "makin' dinner"

She loves to get ALL the dishes out where ever she is (she will help her self to the dishes in ANYBODY'S house) and as many spoons as I will allow and just go to town. She is the next Julia Child. This will keep her occupied for hours. Her favorite thing to make is cake.

For the 4th of July we headed up to Snowflake. Maycee LOVED playing in the irrigation at Grandma Kathy's and Grandpa Shum's. Lunch was fantastic, Thank you :)

Maycee and Megan

Lydia and Daddy, Blake. This girls smile is contagious!!!

Had to throw this one of me in there.

The kids found a snake and surprisingly Maycee was excited to touch it.

Maycee and Avie...

This picture is seriously bringing tears to my eyes... UGH! I am gonna miss this!!!

All ready for the RODEO!

Not the best angle, but these girls are just so cute!

(Don't know why they were chewing on them... weirdo's)

After the 4th we took a trip up to farmington to settle on a house to rent...

The girls did pretty well. It seemed to drag on forever for me. You guys got to see the drive... its a lot of NOTHING. And unfortunately the trip was VERY unsuccessful :( We had a couple of places lined up and they ALL fell threw... fell threw like a pair of bad apples falling threw the branches on their way down to the wet grass where they would sit and rot into the earth. If you can't tell I was not to happy with that trip :) Things are better now.

We came back 2 days later from Farimngton to The PSR Reunion (Blakes mothers side)

WE HAD A BLAST AT THE REUNION!!!

Here is Maycee... Notice the belt (its a rope). Uncle Bart was helping her out :) Always making sure her shirt was tucked in.

There was so much to do there! Traditionally the PSR is held at "Sherwood Forest" in Nutrioso but because of the Wallow Fire we were forced else where. Ironically we where able to stay with Blake's dad's parents. They live on a ranch in Pindale known as the B-13 Ranch. And like I said there was so much to do there! We had an inflatable pool. We had a slip-n-slide that would top any slip-n-slide you have ever seen. We had Zumba. We had amazing food. We had each other. AND we had RODEO!!!!!!!!

The rodeo was a BLAST! I went over the top this year with my girls out fits. I made them both and was so happy with how they turned out.

In my bias opinion Maycee was the cutest COWgirl there! (notice the cow print)

She was complete with vest, chaps, belt buckle, hat, rhinestones, boots, gun, holster,and smile!

(for a while anyway) Notice in the next picture she isn't to happy.

Lydia, on the other hand, was our cutest COW!

As you can see I over estimated on the ear size of a young calf. She was called "Yoda Cow"

Her dress was complete with a tail in the back. Wish I had a better picture of just the dress.

These girls were a hit!

Our rodeo had boot racing, barrel racing with our very own had made stick horses, and bull riding! The older boys were the bulls. I got a lot of great video. It was awesome!!! Wouldn't mind doing it again next year :)

We came home from the reunion ready to pack up the house. Lydia came home ready to start scootin' around, you should see this girl go. She will beat anyone in an army crawl across the floor.

I came home and had a small project to finish before I could start filling boxes. I made four "Tongan" skirts and this dress for a family in our ward. They turned out pretty good.

So we packed and moved out, just last Saturday. Just like that. We are out. Its still weird to think we don't live there anymore. Didn't go far. Just down the street to my parents house. We needed to get out so our renters (Blake's cousin jay and his Wife Brittany and their daughter Eden) could move in but we still didn't have anything lined up in Farmington and Blake was still working so to my parents house we went. AND I AM HAPPY TO SAY...

AS of this morning, I think we found a place to rent :) Please keep your fingers crossed. If anyone has heard the story of us trying to get a place you know its not been easy (like a pair of bad apples). So we are seriously praying continually that this will work out. I haven't seen it, don't know what it looks like or where its specific location is just know this... 1. In Kirtland (which butts up to Farmington) 2. Is a 3 bed, 2bath double wide trailer and 3. Rent is in our budget. Beggars can't be choosers right? Well I have been Beggin for about 4 weeks now so I am happy with this!!!

We still have another reunion and then the big move before summer is over. I am still kind of in shock about everything. I can't believe this is the way my life is playing out. I don't know why change is so hard for me (I believe I inherited it from my farther.) I feel at times I am excited for something new and then at others I am digging in my heels. However in the end.... I will have my girls... and my Blake... and we will be happy... because... there is no other option :)