The Time Sucking Basement

John has spent A LOT more hours than any of us downstairs. We will all reward from his hard work. Thanks Babe!

Braxton hammering the nails in to prepair for the sheetrock.

Insulating the walls was one of my contributions - I was quite proud of my work :)

And onto the painting. Final coat was put on this morning! - total of 23 gallons (primer & paint)

Nikki took good care of the stir sticks by placing them around the room under the sheetrock.

And John is very happy to have one more step completed but when I share my excitement, he quickly lists off all the other steps.... hang & paint doors, cut, paint and nail base boards, finish up electrical, install carpet.... oh, and then the bathroom............... yes, it will be completed eventually!

This is how I feel about blogging.... I love the history it easily holds and the story it tells but sometimes it is just the last thing on the list. I haven't done well blogging this past year and I have even done worse with printing pictures to have in photo albums on our shelves. I scroll through photos on my Snapfish account not knowing which ones are "album worthy" and then I do nothing with all of these memories I have photographed and documented. If I took the camera out, it was probably for a reason.... celebration, kids being silly, or just plain photos of our daily activities where one day I will have forgotten how Nikki likes to sit on the bathroom counter while I get ready in the morning or Braxton likes to snuggle me even though he is 12 years old. Life is to live and I need to start showing that we are enjoying the big events and even the small. Let's hope 2011 daunting task of documenting our lives will be easier than the past... here's to blogging again!

The Cholesterol Battle

Yesterday we got back our health assessment for our life insurance. I gleefully poked my head into our bedroom to make a comment how John's cholesterol was higher than mine. I think this was somewhat the conversation... me saying, "hey hun, it looks like you need to watch your cholesterol." John says, "I think it is you who needs to." Long pause and I study the separate letters and realizing the one stating the low stats on cholesterol was to Mr. Painter. What the heck!!!

John is very fit, I'll hand it to him but his diet... hello! It is not even as healthy as mine. Here is a sampling of my meal plan for the day, breakfast: low fat yogurt & banana & coffee, lunch: sandwich (light on mayo, probably a slice of cheese and rarely chips) soda or iced tea, dinner: some form of meat, pasta and veggie. Here is John's meal plan for the day, breakfast: coffee, snack: HOT DOG, lunch: tuna w/ a little bit of mustard (he's on this pure protein kick for lunch) and he would probably have water, gatorade or soda, afternoon snack: what ever is in the fridge or some CHIPS, dinner: the same thing I eat.

hmmmm I am stumped maybe I need more tuna and hot dogs to bring my cholesterol down :) or truly I probably need to get back on my morning workouts at the gym. Well, I guess the good news is that my cholesterol levels where still in the "normal" range but just by a smidgen and if I fall over dead tomorrow from my "higher-than-John's cholesterol" he will be able to pay off the house and have some more to squirrel away.

Nikki's many faces @ age 2

i LOVE this girl!

Camping in Duchesne

We went camping last weekend near Duchesne with John's fam. It was our first attempt of tent camping with Nikki.

Nikki thought it was pretty cool - and really liked the mesh patio area on the tent. She did not however like the huge rain storm the second night :) Which in turn, made the outing be cut short... but 1 out of 2 nights of sleeping in a tent with a 2 year old isn't bad :)

4-wheeling was definitely a highlight for the kiddos

...and chopping wood for the men

...and the scavenger hunt!

Nik and Caleb became pals

and really enjoyed playing trucks together

Sarah & Cole roasting hot dogs over the campfire - gotta love crispy campfire wieners!

camp side games, jumping rope, horseshoes, and relaxing by the fire - it was so nice to get away from our busy lives for a few days!

more camping trips will be happening this year :)

What has Nikki been up to????

About a month ago I discovered Nikki buck-naked in her crib. It was quite startling the first time and the three days to follow. Since she didn't have a diaper on, her bedding needed to be cleaned daily - something that was funny the first morning quickly became an extra chore before I could head to work. I tried putting her diaper on backwards and putting her into zip-up pj's. The little devil quickly figured it all out. One morning when I was putting her into the tub to make her not stink of urine, she looked at me and cried, "Why, why, why?" It was cute but absolutely broke my heart. Giving a tub in the morning is out of our normal routine and she was not happy :( Gratefully while John was discussing the adventure with his co-worker, Stuart mentioned that his little guy used to do the same thing and the solution was a simple safety pin! How fantastic and inventive a little piece of metal could be! Three weeks later and a nightly routine of zip up pj's secured at the top with a safety pin, I am proud to say that there are no more nudity suprises in the morning!

Nikki LOVES to aggressively rock on the glider. She swings her little body forward and back on the chair while giggling loudly. She swings back so far that the front feet come off the ground. John or I are always close to supervise and make sure the fun doesn't turn into a trip to the ER ;-)

She gives lots of loves to the puppies and doesn't mind it when they give her loves back by licking her face - she smiles and goes back in for more hugs.

Nikki drinks her cereal milk - thanks to The Kids Park for teaching Nikki to not be wasteful. Maybe it's just me but I think this is super cute and hearing the little slurps is so delightful.

Nikki's party!

We had a birthday party at our house to celebrate Nikki's 2nd b-day in addition to the other April birthday's in the family. The kids had a great time playing together. Gabe, Nikki and Bridger enjoyed Nikki's beauty vanity and "decorating" Bridger - hahaha. It was a great event - thanks to everyone who came!