Selling the Car

This has been our go-to car for a while now, but its time to sell. This is a quick slideshow for our craigslist ad.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Cowboy-Up and Shop!

This weekend Will went to Elsa Nunley’s Birthday Party. Elsa’s parents, Marc and Kenna put on a fantastic Wild West Themed Party. They had a huge cardboard cutout of a “Juice Saloon” and a jail and it looked great. Also, unrelated to the cowboy theme they had a big bouncy house that Will liked once he got it all to himself (the other kids made it too disorienting for his already clumsy walking). Elsa was the cutest little cowgirl on the invitation so Teresa and I decided we would try to dress up Will too. At first I thought it might be fun to have will be an Indian to Elsa’s cowgirl, but then I thought he would just get shot at by cap guns all afternoon (and ironically he can’t stand loud noises). On further reflection it is probably better that we didn’t use our firstborn to perpetuate an unfair caricature of Native Americans, but to be honest my first thought was the cap gun shooting.



For those who have seen Will walk, you know that he already has that irrepressible swagger that is known to cowboys. Though, as devil’s advocate here, I may have to suggest that swagger be the wide-legged stumbling of a 15 month old. At any rate, we knew that role of a cowboy, individualistic, stubborn, reticent, though at times well spoken, would suit Will perfectly.



So the task then fell on my shoulders to find the various props needed to transform Will from City-Slicker to Cow poke. I thought that surely I would be able to find a toy gun and a badge at the first “Dollar Store” I came across I but I was wrong. So very wrong. After making trips to four different dollar stores, I didn’t find one gun, hat, or belt buckle. I didn’t even find bandana.



Giving up I went to Wal*Mart where I quickly found not one, but two cap guns, a felt cowboy hat, a belt with buckle included and one green bandana. The bandana turned out to be the trickiest as all of the Latino workers thought I was saying “banana” and the first “Whitey” I talked to had no idea at all. Finally I had to walk by the “unmentionables” to the handbags where I found women’s scarves and there it was, the green bandana like a beacon showing me the end of my four hour shopping fiasco. I snagged a Revlon Color Stay Eye-Liner (nod to Teryn Jensen for the “Believe-Me-Beauty Blog”) and then spent another half-hour trying to get out of the store.

But I hope as you can see the Eye-Liner came in handy both for painting a little mustachio on Will’s upper lip and for (I’m told) lining the lids of Teresa’s eyes. Teresa made flashy belt buckle even flashier by making a big “W” Buckle out of foam and aluminum foil. Hopefully these pictures of Will hamming it up for the camera made the shopping trip worth it, as he didn’t even wear the items for which I had spent so much time looking for even five minutes when we got to the party. I think this one tipping his hat as if to say "Howdy Padna'" made it worth it for me anyway.

The Wildest Thing of All!

This year for Halloween, I decided that it would be fun to make Will's costume. I had no idea what I got myself into when I bought all the material and got started. I think for the last couple of weeks if I got to bed before 12:30 AM I was doing pretty good. (Remember I also have to leave for work at 7:00am, if you do the math you'll realize I have been a little sleep deprived!) At one point I had an idea for our whole family to dress up in a theme (I won't say what it is in case we do it next year), but when I mentioned it to Grant he quickly shot down the idea of dressing up for Halloween. A couple of days later, I mention dressing Will up as Max from Where the Wild Things Are (Will loves the book) and then Grant thought he could dress up as a Wild Thing. I brought up the whole argument of dressing up and he confessed he just needed time to adjust to the idea of making a fool of himself for his kids. I haven't sewn anything with an actual pattern in SEVERAL years! I can't even remember what it was I sewed last. But I was pretty excited about this since I just got a sewing machine for Christmas last year and love the idea of any little projects. Even though between Grant's headpiece and Will's costume I got very little sleep and a little grief for neglecting my own husband's birthday, I think they turned out pretty cute!

Don't let that innocent face fool you!

He seriously has turned into a wild thing ever since he started walking!

I decided that I had already put too much time into the two costumes so I was the mom who sent Max to bed without his supper! Lucky for him, it's Halloween and people are giving out candy, so he didn't go to bed hungry!

This is the first house we went Trick-or-Treating to a house, it definitely

didn't take long for him to catch on to the whole free candy idea!

Grant was such a good sport about wearing that mask everywhere with Will! Will thought the mask was hilarious, and would smack it around to remind him who was king. However, some of our other friends' kids didn't think the mask was all that funny, it actually

left several kids in tears running for their parents! Oops!

Back from Utah!

First a little disclaimer, this post is long and is two weeks outdated, but I have been having issues with getting all the pictures on the post! So I hope everyone appreciates all the work I've gone through! So on Sunday, we went over to Dave & Kelli's place to have dinner. It was the first time since Christmas, we have all had a chance to get together. As always, there was a lot of laughing and joking! Here are a few pictures..

On Monday, it was "B" Party! We started off, my making BIG bubbles in the back yard! Everyone got to make their own bubble makers out of yarn & straws. It was pretty fun to see the BIG bubbles. Check them out!

Afterwards, my mom taught all the grandkids, except Will, how to bake bread. Yum! Yum! That smell of bread baking brings bake memories of warm bread after school!

Later that night, we had a tasty BBQ while swimming at Dave & Karli's house! The weather was perfect for a BBQ and swimming! We all had a great time having cannon ball contests, going down the slide and water fights!

On Tuesday, we all went to Boondock's where we played a little miniature golfing, go-karting, bumper boats and arcade games! I knew Grant would probably love all of this just as much as any of the kids! When they were on the bumper boats, you could squirt people with your water guns! found some guy he didn't even know and just soaked him! Afterwards, he overheard him talking to his family saying, "Did you see that guy with the blue shirt!?! He wouldn't leave me alone!" It was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, we down to BYU and did some bowling! Every time I bowl, I realize the longer I bowl, the quicker my game goes down hill! My mom was great and stayed at home to watch Will so we could enjoy the game a little more. It was pretty cute seeing Rebecca, Jeff, Brandon, Zachary & Matthew bowling! Afterwards, Dad treated us to some ice cream up at the CougarEat. Later, that afternoon my cousin Krista stopped by to see me with her two adorable little kids! It was so much fun to see her! I was so glad it worked out that we got to see each other! Thanks again for coming over!

On Thursday, this was a very special day for Grant & me! It was our 4th Wedding Anniversary! WOW! Where did the time go!?! I can't believe how much I love Grant and all the wonderful things he does to make me happy! That night, my family watched Will so we could go out to dinner and a movie. It was the first time in a while that we have gone on a date, BEFORE Will was in bed! It was so nice to spend some time with just each other! Earlier that afternoon, we went to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was so interesting learning and seeing all the dinosaurs!

On Friday, my family went camping, but Grant and I opted out of that because Will would not have slept very well and so NO one would have slept! Instead Brooke and Spencer came down from SLC and we went to Olive Garden to visit Kelli while she was working! It was great to catch up with each other! Then the next morning, Tanner, Lupe and Anna came down and we went to play a little tennis! As always, tennis is so much fun to play, no matter how long you've been away from the sport! Will even had fun chasing the ball all over the court!

Sadly, that afternoon we were packing up and heading back home! It was a great week! I was so glad I got a chance to get up there so I could see Karen and her three boys while they were visiting! Thank you mom & dad, Karen, Kris & Nate, Dave & Karli, and Marianne! Will loved all the attention from his cousins! Thanks again to Dave & Kelli, Brooke & Spencer, Tanner & Lupe, and Alli for making the time to visit! I know things are pretty busy for you guys with work! It means a lot to us when we get to spend time together! Thanks again EVERYONE for making it a great trip!

Still Alive in Phoenix!

   I really don't know if at this point anyone even still looks at my blog, but I thought I would post a few pictures just to let anyone know what is going on in our lives!  

    First of all, I can't believe that Will is nine months old!  There are so many times throughout the day when I look at him and am just amazed at how much he has grown up!  I absolutely LOVE this stage he is at, which I should mention that I have loved each phase so far!  He is such a happy baby/little man and loves to laugh and smile at just about anyone!  For the last two months at least, he has been getting up on all four and then rocking back and forth like he is going to crawl, but it hasn't been till Monday that he really started crawling!  He's pretty funny about it!  He will crawl about three or four feet and then roll a little then even throw a little army crawl in there!  I laugh because there have been times when it looks like we have GI Joe training going on in our living room!  A couple of weeks ago I was up in Utah and three of his top teeth cut through and since then he has gotten a forth tooth as well on top.  Much to his father's disapproval, he grinds his teeth together!  Grant has a hard time holding onto him when he starts grinding his teeth, not that I can blame him!  It is an awful sound!  Most importantly though I thought I would include a few pictures of Will from the last couple of months, which lets be honest is really what people (if you're anything like me) really care about when checking blogs!

  Even though these pictures are a little old!  I never got a chance to post them in a blog and I thought my friend Kenna did such an amazing job for his six months photos!  There were so many cute pictures but this just is an example of a few of them!  

     I love these pictures!  Will is definitely Grant's son for several reasons but it is very evident when you see Will with books!  The kid doesn't get tired of books and loves to have story after story read to him!  It's pretty cute when I put him to bed or down for a nap we always read a couple of stories and after each one he sits up on my lap watches to see which book I grab next with a cute little grin!  It is so sweet!  By the way, for any mothers out there, my sister, Kris, told me the Llama Llama Red Pajama was such a cute story so when I saw it in Target I couldn't help but stop and read it!  I am not ashamed to admit that I had to hold back the tears at the end because it is so sweet!  Every mother should own this book! 

  These are few pictures when I was up in Utah with Will while Grant was on a High Adventure campout with our ward.  It was so much fun to be in Utah and see my family!  I always love seeing them and they are ALWAYS more than welcome to come and visit anytime (hint, hint!).  Thank you again mom and dad for taking such good care of us while we were up there!  

  

   These are a few of the more recent pictures that we have!  The last four out of the five pictures show so much of his personality!  He is constantly laughing and smiling!   Grant and I just laugh when Will starts doing his "intense" smiles and it just keeps on encouraging him even more!  

  Well, I think that pretty much sums it up for the last little while!  I always try and tell myself that I need to be better about posting but I never seem to change so who knows when this will happen again!  Hopefully sooner that three months though!  

A Little Update

  So I feel like I haven't posted anything for a while.  Two weeks ago we had Grant's mom and dad come and visit us for a few days and then Tanner and Lupe were able to come down for a day at the last minute.  It was a lot of fun having them around and luckily everyone was able to enjoy some nice Phoenix sun.  On Thursday, Grant, Will, Peggy and I all went shopping.  We went down to Arizona Mills mall because they have a ton of outlet stores there and with Peggy's incredible shopping skill of finding a bargain, we knew for sure she would enjoy herself.  I think we all had the most fun in The Children's Place because there were so many cute little outfits for Will.  

Will trying on a little blazer & hat!

  The next day we went to the zoo for a couple of hours with his parents.  I think everyone's favorite part was the monkey exhibit.  They have a little area that you can go in and there are about 20 monkeys all over the place.  It surprised me how little they were.  One of the workers said that they are only 2 pounds when they are fully grown.  

  Later that night we went to our ward's activity because they were having indian fry bread and some indian dancer. 

  On Saturday, we went to the Botanical Gardens here in Phoenix and saw the glass sculpture exhibit by Chiluly.  They were amazing!  We also got to so and see the butterfly exhibit as well.  Towards the end of the night, Will was getting a little excited about everything going on and discovered a new sound he could make.  Needless to say, it was not a sound I would encourage him to do.  It was a loud squawking sound from the back of his throat.  He would make that noise and people from all around would turn and look to see who or what was making that sound!  Grant and I booked it out of there pretty quick and let his parents and Tanner and Lupe finish seeing the gardens.  At dusk and after the sun goes down, they light up all the sculptures which I think would have been really cool to have seen.  That night we also went to Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen, which is one of Grant's dad's favorite.  The food was great and we all had fun being able to just spend time with one another. 

   The weather down here in Phoenix has been so nice, for a while there we were up in the 80s and high 70s.  It is hard to remember that it is (or was at the time) still winter.  So this last week on my day off from the hospital, Grant and I decided to take Will down to the pool for the first time.  At first I just carried him right down into the water, but I think it was a little too much of a shock for him and so he started to whimper and cry a little.  I ended up holding him on my lap at the edge of the pool for about 2o minutes while Grant swam around and would occasionally come a splash water on Will's feet.  We finally got him to stand on the first step and than sit on the first step and eventually he went down to the second step.  After a while of doing this, he finally let Grant hold him and swim around the pool for a little bit.  One thing is for sure, as of right now, he is no dare devil.  He definitely wants to check things out before jumping in.  However, he was by far the cutest person at the pool that day, even with a little belly!