Just in time

Just in time for stockings!!!!!!!!!! My fire place is finally done! Morgan did a beautiful job! He had started on the fireplace back in April, but with lack of funds (job) it got put on hold. I told Morgan it HAD to be done by Thanksgiving so I could have a place to put my stockings. Well he got it finished just in time and it is more beautiful than I imagined.

Here is the before picture of the fire place. Nice, but I have never liked the pink tile.

Yes, I almost died watching Morgan rip off the old mantle and break the old tile with a hammer. He really enjoyed it though.
Next he added 2x4's to build out the walls and added a ledge to the bottom for some tile that wasn't pink :)

We got an AMAZING deal on this rock. 35 dollars for 90 square feet!!! Gotta love rich people who don't have to worry about making money, and KSL

Tada!!! After. Isn't it beautiful!? Well worth the wait.

Moran made this huge mantle. Yes he has skills :)

Happy Halloween

On Saturday we carved pumpkins with nana and nano. It's been our tradition since Bay was born. Here is Morgan carving his pumpkin with a power tool.

Avery wasn't sure if she liked it very much. I love the look on her face.

The older kids are pros at carving and gutting

Avery as a purple dragon
Here is popcprn, Mario and Luigi. Avery(a.k.a dragon) had nothing to do with standing still for a picture.

We took the kids down to the Gallivan Center for their block bash. They had a costume contest that we put all the kids in. Bay got picked to be in the final round and took 4th place. Not too bad considering there were about 200 kids in the contest.

Bay's costume

Popcorn anyone? Lucky for me, Bailey doesn't care what I decide for her to be for Halloween. I'm starting to wonder if she will trust me again next year after having to go walking around the hood while wearing a box lol This year Morgan and I made Bailey a box of popcorn to wear.

First I painted a box with red spray paint. It took close to three cans! After it was dry, we used white duct tape to make the white lines. Morgan designed a pop corn logo and I cut out the words popcorn using my cricut. Next was the fun part. We used Great Stuff to make the fluffy popcorn. Great Stuff is a gap filler if anyone is wondering. We had to do the corn in layers. It took about an hour for a layer to fully dry.

For the hat, I just bought a bowl at the D.I for 75 cents and added foam to it. Then we drilled a hole on the sides so I could put ribbon through to tie the bowl to Bay's head.

This was one of the most funnest costume I have ever made. Maybe because it was kinda crafty :)

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

We finally were able to make the trip down to Disneyland in October! We have wanted to go in October for years. I guess I should say, "I" have wanted to go for years. Something about mickey mouse pumpkins and Halloween decor :) We had been going back and forth with the idea to go this year but wasn't sure how to pull it off. Luckily a lot of things went our way and we were able to go. We decided we were not going to tell the kids until we were ready to leave to Vegas. The kids had been told we were going to Vegas but had NO idea we were going to Disneyland! It was so hard to not tell them we were going. Two days before we were going to go to Vegas, we had the kids meet in Logan's room for a meeting. The kids were a little nervous. Morgan got the video camera out and we headed up stairs to have a little talk. We told the kids that we were not going to Vegas any more but that we decided to go to Disneyland instead. At first, I don't think it registered because they started crying because we weren't going to Vegas. Then when Carson realized what we said he started screaming, "we get to see Buzz and Woody!" Then I heard Loagan say, "well are we still going to Vegas?" I'm thinking, come on kid you would rather go to Vegas than Disneyland?? Needless to say when it all finally sank in they were super excited, especially when we told them that we get to go to Vegas too.
We started our vacation with a stop to see our good friends the Patton's in Vegas. It was fun to see them again even though we just saw them a week before, when they came down for my surprise birthday party :) I swear we get to see them more than some of my other friends who actually live in Utah. We stayed with them for two days, and then made the rest of the drive to Huntington Beach California. We stayed at Morgan's grandmas house for three days. Her condo is only two blocks from the beach. On our first day there we went to the beach. It was kind of a crappy day and the water looked so cold. All of the surfers had their full body wet suits on. The kids wanted to go down by the water and the plan was to only get their "feet" wet. Yeah that didn't happen! The water was surprisingly warm and the kids were feeling brave. This was Avery's first time at the beach while being able to walk. She had NO fear of going into the water. We had to watch her closely or she would have been swept away!




Bay and Logan went in completely. So much for, "we just want to put our feet in"

Before

After

The next two days that we were in California were spent at Disneyland. We had such a good time. Our first day in the park we rode everything we wanted and only had to wait in line for no more than 10 min. But the second day, it rained all day and that meant that people stayed home. So we walked on to every ride! My kids never complained about being cold or wet, and luckily we had brought an umbrella and rain ponchos. We rode all of our favorites 3 plus times and watched a few 3d movies. Including Captain EO. Good old Michael Jackson :)

Logan was so brave and rode the Tower of Terror three times in a row. Carson loved the Buzz lightyear ride and could have been fine if that was the only ride he got to ride while we were there. Bay loved Pirates and we rode that ride about 5 times. Avery was scared of anything dark and loud which was about every ride. She didn't cry but she sure held on tight to who ever was holding her on the ride. I liked it. It was cuddle time.

Splash mountain was super fun. I love the look on Logan's face the best. Bay hated this ride.
I LOVE this picture! I had the kids wear their Halloween shirts for the full effect :)
I had to talk Morgan into riding the famous tea cups. This is his least favorite ride at Disneyland.
This time Carson actually stayed awake to see Mickey Mouse. A few years ago when we went to Disneyland Carson was only 18 months old. We went during UEA. Bad idea. It was crazy! Anyway, we waited in line for about 45 min to see Mickey and when it was finally our turn to see him, he had fallen asleep and would not wake up.

Avery has a very special place in her heart for "Rella" We waited in line to meet the princesses. They have a new area where you are guaranteed to meet three princesses. You don't know which princesses you will get to meet until you get behind the castle. We were hoping we would get to at least meet Cinderella. I thought for sure with our luck, that we would get Jasmin or Mullan, princesses Avery has never seen. When it's our turn to walk behind the castle, Avery sees her Rella! I put her down and she says, rrreeelllaaa (in a soft whisper) and runs into rellas arms. I have to say for some reason I got a little teary eyed.
Not only did we get to meet Rella, we also got to see Sleeping Beauty and Snow White
A little star struck
They had this action figure box in California Adventure. We are so tough!
This is what we saw while we waited to get into the park. Super cute!!

I'm so glad we had such a good time at Disneyland. And yes, the decorations were exactly like I envisioned lol

Surprise!!

I have to say I have the most AMAZING husband in the world!!! Let me back up a minute here and fill you in on just one reason why he is the best.
It was Saturday October 9th. I had gone to choir practice for savior of the world and came home not feeling too great. I had a molar pulled out two days before and the meds were making me feel sick. I came home and was going to cancel the plans I had made with my friend Misty. She had asked me the week before if I would go with her to Gardiner Village to see the witches. Misty had told me that she needed to get out of the house because her hubby was having a gaming day. She said we had to be back by 6:30 though because that is when "her hubby" needed help with dinner. Funny cause that is when I needed to be home so Morgan could go watch the Utah game with his friend. Anywho, Morgan insisted I go. He told me to go lay down and take a nap and that he would wake me up when it was time for us to leave. Luckily at 3:00 I felt better and off we went. I had no idea that Morgan had talked to Misty weeks ago and figured out a way to get me out of the house so he could surprise me. There was no gaming day. Misty had just said this just in case there were cars in front of the house. Smart smart.
As 6:30 approached Morgan started texting me. We were almost home and it was only 6:15. He kept asking where we were. I was kinda getting mad because I was home on time. But little did I know it was all for me.
Finally, as we got home I see my mother in law outside by her car. I knew she was going to be at my house because she had said she was coming to pick the kids up for a sleep over. As I get out of the car, she runs over to me and says, "melis you have to come and see the kids. They are making a pyramid and Avery is on the top! So I go running and open the back gate and as I walk into the yard I find 76 people yelling out, SURPRISE!!! I was so surprised!! Morgan, with the help of some friends, turned my back yard into a luau!! He had the fire pit going, lights, lays, tiki lights and best of all a PIG! He had went and picked out a pig from a farm and our good friends, Lacey and Chris roasted it for 5 hours. It was yummy. I couldn't believe how much work he had done just for me. He planned how to get me out of the house, mailed out invites, planned the food, bought decorations, found a cake and e-mailed it one of my beset friends and had her make it for him, he went as far as having my bff Melissa drive down from VEGAS and one from St. George. And he did all of this without me knowing! I can't believe it! I felt so loved by everyone. To think that all of these people were at my house in honor of me! How lucky I am to have such wonderful friends and people who love me!

Don't you just love my coco nuts??

Our dinner. Morgan had the hardest time picking out the pig. He said he just closed his eyes and pointed. All of the kids were in aww as they watched the Hola's slice it up. I know, I know, poor piggy.

Such a fun birthday cake!! My BFF Katrina did such a great job!! And guess what? It was carrot cake :)

Here I am blowing out my candles. Notice Morgan in his Utah shirt. You know how much he loves me when he misses a game just for me :)

Here is Melissa and I (yes her name is Melissa too, that is just one of the many reasons she rocks!) We met about 5 years ago when we were neighbors in Taylorsville. We were both called to the Young Women's in our ward and given the assignment to put girls camp together.... in just 3 weeks time and a budget of only $200! Impossible you say?!?! We somehow pulled it off. Ok we did go over budget a bit, but our Bishop approved it. And ever since then we were bestest buds! We spent those 3 weeks together constantly coming up with ideas for shirts, camp cheers, camp banners, games to play, spiritual messages for the girls, skits, menus, and all the little details that go into girls camp. I don't think there was a single day in those 3 weeks that we didn't spend together. Our husbands were starting to wonder if they would ever see us again. I'm sure we were quite the sight to see with us both having 2 kids and going shopping for supplies and food. There was once in the Army Surplus store that was particularly disastrous and I never stepped foot in that store again! :) We ventured off to camp together and endured the horribly timed rain storms, slept together on my air mattress that had a small leak somewhere and every morning we woke up with our bums on the ground, together we learned how to cook food outdoors, and I was there for her when she learned that her son Conner took his first steps while we were at camp. I love this girl!! I'm so grateful her and her family drove all this way just for me.
I want to thank my amazing husband for throwing me a wonderful party that I will never forget. As much as turning 30 has been hard for me, he has made it a good one. I guess I can get used to him calling me his old lady.

Halloween crafts

I got my groove on and made some fun Halloween crafts on Saturday. As all of you know I LOVE everything about the month of October, Halloween decorations mostly! They are fun! I love the colors purple, orange, black and green. They go perfect together.

Oh how I miss you

I have been thinking a lot of my brother this past week. I think of the fun times we had and the last things we talked about before his death. I often think about how it would have been to be an auntie. I'll never get to be one and it really makes me sad. I picture his little girl with curly dark locks and a bubbly personality like his. His little boy would have been handsome and had his daddy's smile and skinny body. I would have spoiled them rotten and have had sleep overs all the time. I wonder what Joe is doing up there in heaven. If he thinks of us. If he misses us. I know he is in a better place but that doesn't make me miss him any less. I wish I could go back in time. I would have done more things with him. I would have talked to him more. Said a few more I love you's. But I can't. But I will one day when we meet again. That day will be grand. Oh how I miss you.

I wish Heaven had a phone so I could hear your voice again. I thought of you today,but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, and often speak your name. All I have are memories and pictures in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, from which I'll never part......God has you in his arms. I have you in my heart.