Playing soccer with Andrew

Andrew and Lexus came up on Friday to be here for Braden's Eagle Court of Honor this weekend.  Once the temperature dropped to a chilly 95 we headed out to play a little soccer...

Andrew's pretty new(er) car

Connor.

We are just missing Kayla
and an unnamed chihuahua.

Step, 2, 3, 4.

The dream team.

Andrew, Rojan and his dad on the other team

Soccer dad.

Happy 12th Birthday Shea!!!!

My baby graduated from primary today and started in Young Women's.  Feels a little strange to realize she is so grown up.   I'm so proud of what a wonderful person she is and so glad she is part of our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHEA!!

 Nothing like a birthday surrounded by boxes...

Shea looking beautiful!!!

Shea and I got our toenails done after
a day of shopping earlier this week.

Patience is not one of my virtues.

It has been so hard being in Oklahoma while our house is being built in Utah.  Truth be told... it has been driving me crazy.  My mom was able to stop in for a day on her way home from a trip to Colorado and gave me bits of information and then Greg and Tammy spent her birthday taking pictures of the house (that's a true friend for you!)

Our builder is doing a fabulous job and going as quickly as possible, but of course that isn't quickly enough for me.  Sometimes having high expectations is not a good thing. 

Notice the beautiful trees in the back.
Makes me happy knowing they are there.

This is the back of the house.
Bottom level is my moms.
Top level is Braden and Shea's
Middle level is mine.
oh... and Robert's.

living room
TALL ceilings

Tammy by my bedroom fireplace.
yes - bedroom fireplace.
Because I am pretentious.
and spoiled.
and want what I want.
so there.

My mom's living room.
her wood stove will go in the corner.
Looking forward to cozy winter days!!

My living room
LOVE, love, love the windows!!!

Consequences

We are trying to sell our house and every single day I ask the kids to clean their rooms.  

And every single time we have a showing, I end up spending way too much time getting their rooms to look nice.

So yesterday I said "I'm done."   I decided to come up with consequences when they don't keep their rooms clean.  Today's consequence was to take ALL the garbage cans in the house and scrub them clean.

Only problem - they had a little too much fun.  Maybe next time I'll make them clean the garage floor with toothbrushes.  Or pack up the house.  Something big.

Arkansas - #17 is done!

Robert and I headed over to Arkansas this weekend to get my 50 miles done.  Remember my crazy goal??  Bike 50 miles in all 50 states.  Insane. But it's a good insane.

We stayed in Fort Smith, which is right over the Oklahoma border... endured heavy rain all of Friday so instead of biking we went to Pirates of the Caribbean and had spicy Cajun food while listening to live blue-grass music.  VERY loud music.

Saturday we headed out and had a blast... I will say that Arkansas is definitely the roadkill state.  They call themselves The Natural State, but The Roadkill State is more accurate.  Possum, raccoon, beaver, squirrel, frog and a gazillion armadillos.  They must be very slow animals because we never saw a live one, but plenty of squished, very dead ones.

Saturday night we ate a a fantastic German restaurant which reminded us of how much we loved the food when we lived there.  mmmmm.

Even the visitors center was beautiful

Saturday morning we found a fabulous,
beautiful road with a wide shoulder.
Robert saved this turtle from sure death.
Lucky turtle.

Me, in all my sweaty glory at the top of a loooong hill.
The scenery was amazing!

A field of buffalo.

State #17 is done!!  

Only 33 states to go.

in memory of....

I want to have something to remember our time in Oklahoma.  First I thought that was red cowboy boots.  But they weren't comfortable and were pricey.  

So Robert and I went to Guthrie... a cute little town about 30 minutes north of us... to look for my "something".  After going in about 10 antique shops, I found it.  "It" turned out to be a church pew from one of the first church's built in Oklahoma after the 1889 land run.

Beautiful.  A little more expensive than red cowboy boots, but more religious.  Remember, I can justify anything.

So beautiful that I convinced Robert (but does he really ever say no to me??) that it truly was ok to buy more furniture that we have to move.  So glad he loves me.

I love my church pew.  Almost as much as my bike.  And my kids.  Almost.

Smarty Pants

Congratulations to Andrew for getting on the Dean's list this semester at TTU!!!  We are so proud of him for doing so well.... and also carrying a lot of hours at his job.  Yay Andrew!

Grandmas and Grandpas....

Priceless.

two handsome men.
only one with teeth.

Tyson's brother and Andrew
off on a Grandma race!

Beautiful.

I thought I remembered both my mom and Lois
doing this at my wedding....

.....but I guess it was just my mom.
loving those 1980's glasses!!

So of course I had to add this photo.
white tux with tails.
again an 80's thing.

and then I realized I didn't have a shot with just my dad and Madeline.
Ugh!  They are standing to the right of Braden and Shea.
Love them!!
I'm sure I'll get it right at the next wedding.
or the next
or the next.

and just because I can.
scan.
here's another shot from my wedding
25 years ago.

Shea's spring recital

Shea playing In the Hall of the Mountain King
and My Favorite Things.  She did fabulous!!

just in case we forget to get them together on Shea's wedding day..
I'm going to start collecting photos now :):)

nothing to do with piano-
just a little token of Oklahoma love that
was on our front porch a few days ago.

Wedding - my little family

I thought I would post pictures in different categories.... because I am very type A and I like to organize things.  And chocolate.  I really, really like chocolate.  Squirrel!

These are pictures of just my little family....

love this shot :):)
click on it to see their expressions.
priceless.

My children are extremely good looking.   Extremely.

amazing girls
amazing flowers.

my girls.
my friends.

ahhh.

We didn't realize until the pictures came back that we didn't have one of just Robert and Kayla.  So very sad.  Maybe I can get them to dress up again so I can get that shot????  Probably not... so here is one of my favorite daddy/daughter pictures.  Simply fast forward 23 years and you'll get the picture.  No pun intended. Well, maybe a little pun.