Backyard!

So, when we bought this house it came with lots of projects, some are done, some have been halfway done since we moved in, some are still being worked on. Needless to say, there is always something to do. But, one thing Ryan really was anxious to get working on was the yard. This is what it looked like when we moved in. We killed whatever was left growing, cleaned everything up and took out a lot of ugly rock.

Here we rented a roto tiller one weekend to help break up all the ground and caliche so we-and I mean Ryan-could dig for sprinklers.

Some of the ground was so hard, Ryan's arms would sting for days after picking at it. He did the sprinklers pretty much all by himself. He was grateful for help and advice from family members along the way. But, I have to give credit, that he and the kids moved A LOT of dirt in that backyard. We got some more concrete poured and put a pathway all the way to the front of the house.


We added a bunch of dirt and smoothed it nice, added a little retaining wall in the back corner and got ready for the sod.

So, this is the final project so far. We got the sod in, and I helped Ryan and we laid all 500 sq. ft. by ourselves in about an hour. I want you to know I loaded and unloaded almost every piece. I was tough that day. We still have to add plants-probably in the Spring. We need curbing, and lots of rock and some sort of play structure, but we feel as if we have a good start and can now at least enjoy the yard without getting all muddy.

Halloween!

Then we celebrated on Halloween with some friends with our yummy chili and soups and trick or treating their neighborhood and ended with handing out candy at our house. We had fun at everything as a family and with friends. It is always a fun time of year and a time to kick off fall, cooler weather, remember past costumes and activities.




Of course we carved our own pumpkins-Ryan's least favorite activity-can you tell by his face. But ours turned out cute. Ash and Ry did a two sided normal jack o lantern face and Annika and I did a cat on a fence with a moon. Sticky, messy, but fun!


We had a Stake Trunk or Treat where the kids could safely walk around the parking lot and collect candy from decorated cars. It was a great turn out and we had fun with the Farnsworths and Kundananis.



We hosted a Halloween Party at our house for some friends of Annika's. We played pin the nose on the pumpkin, pitch the pumpkins, find the candy and dressed up as mummies-here is Annika in her mummy get up and this is what Ashton and Dax did with the leftover toilet paper. YEAH!


There was a Fall Festival at Annika's school with a petting zoo. We went to Gilcrease Orchard with Michelle and kids and picked out a pumpkin and apples. We had a school Halloween Parade and Classroom Party.




I forgot the photos go backwards on Blogger, so this is the backwards entry, we visited the pumpkin patch with the Kundanani's and played lots of games.

Hey there, I kind of feel like this holiday was a week full of events and the start of the holiday season. I chose to make the kids' costumes this year. Annika really wanted to be Jessie from Toy Story and at first Ashton just wanted to be a pirate from last year-bonus since he still fits. But, as I was buying stuff for Annika's costume, he changed his mind and chose to be Woody from Toy Story-which I love because I really enjoy it when their costumes go together. So here is a bit from our week of fun.

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for Annika. I intended to do a post about our summer, but my photoshop is being funny, I will have to wait for Ryan to get home and fix it. She was so excited and a little nervous to start 2nd grade this year. I am glad that she is finally able to start the year, and not have it be the first time for her at the school like it has been in the past. I love the school-and am very impressed by the teachers, administration, everything. This year they did take away the bus for us though since they paved some new roads, and now we are too close, so I am dreading fighting the school traffic every morning. Annika is excited to meet new friends and learn a lot in 2nd grade. Now Ashton and I get to spend a lot of time together, just the two of us. I hope I can keep him busy!

8 Years!

So, eight years ago today on a very hot, Vegas day like today, Ryan and I were married in the LDS temple for time and all eternity. We feel so lucky to have one another. Ryan is one great guy. He is so patient and loving to me and he is a great help around the house and with the kids. I love Ryan so much and appreciate the great husband and father that he is and that he has helped me to become a better person over the years. I love you Ryan!

Private

We are going private, so if you are interested in seeing our site, that I might actually someday update again, please send me your email to my email, or leave a comment. Thanks!

Britt

We are on the move again!

So, we FINALLY closed on our new to us house. We are so excited to own a home again. Pictures will come soon, because it is a little outdated and needs some work (love). After living in that apartment in Utah, we thought this would never come. My kids are excited to have a backyard and I am very happy to have 4 bedrooms and a garage to hold all of our storage. YEAH! But, I was looking back and realized that this is our 9th move (if you count the 1 month we lived with Grandma in UT) in the 7 1/2 years we have been married.

Through all that, we have had our own ups and downs. We have struggled, we have cried, laughed, worried, smile, done it all. Ryan and I feel so blessed to have the extended family that we have and to have our kids that we love so much!!! We have really enjoyed all the friends we have met along the way and the new adventures that have come with it all. Here's to the future, maybe things can slow down a bit now. Maybe!!!

We are here!

Hello everyone! So we have been kind of missing in action lately. Here has been our life in a nutshell. We are settled in and living with Ryan's sister and her husband while we find a place to set roots, they are great to put up with us. Annika started her third elementary school in 2 years. Ryan is loving a job that he is not confined in the office all day, and I am trying to keep everything straight. We had Halloween, a Pirate and Tinkerbell. We have been doing a lot of house looking, it is amazing what people do to their houses sometimes. We took two trips to CA-one for a nephew's baptism and one to celebrate with my bro-in-law that graduated from Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB. I work a couple of nights a week still at Kohl's and Ryan and I just got called as primary teachers in our ward with one of the tough classes. We celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of the family and for once we did not travel "Home for the Holidays". We had a great Christmas and feel so blessed. We are enjoying being close to family, but still maintaining our family time as much as we can squeeze in. We have, so far, had a relatively healthy winter- a first for us. I think this dry, desert may be good for Ash. Annika has taken the training wheels off and Ashton has graduated from his squeaky Radio Flyer Trike to a big boy bike with training wheels and is working hard on potty training-YEAH!!! That is us, keep in touch. We will post more when things continue to fall in place.