I just posted more pictures of our family from the last three or so months. You can go here or you can click on the flickr badge to the right.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Snow!
I realized the other day that it has been an incredibly long time since I updated this page, almost two months in fact. I can't believe how much time flies when you are busy!
Halloween and Thanksgiving have passed us by and Christmas is almost upon us. Lena was a cow for Halloween and was totally adorable (I will post pictures on flickr later). Before we knew it we were flying off to San Diego to thaw out for thanksgiving... especially appropriate because, in case you hadn't heard, San Diego was on fire just a month previous to that. (Again, I will post pictures on flickr soon.)
Last weekend brought the first storm of winter and it was nice to have everything in Provo, that was looking so barren and dead, covered in a sheet of glittery white stuff. Baby didn't take too kindly to the snow, however, and when we tried to put her down to crawl around she quickly decided she didn't like it and arched her back to try to get her hands and her feet off the cold stuff. Since she was in her snowsuit, though, it had the effect of making her look like a rolling marshmallow, which, much to Lena's dismay, Evan and I found hilarious.
This weekend also brought snow. More snow, in fact, than I have ever seen in Provo. We easily got 8 inches of snow yesterday alone, and as I write this it is still just about snowing outside. (They didn't plough the streets until the evening, and so running errands and grocery shopping was quite the adventure, let me tell you!) We thought we would give Lena and the snow another chance and so last night we decided to bundle the family up in as many layers as possible and go sledding. We went to Rock Canyon Park, famous for it's bowl shape, and were astounded at the number of people there all with the same idea as us. Lena, thankfully, had far more fun than we expected her to and just loved being sent down the hill by herself, obviously with one of us at the bottom to catch her. She even rolled off mid-hill one time and when she finally stopped she was face down in snow and grass giggling away. The cutest part of the whole evening, though, went to Lena trying to crawl through the snow in her suit that already made her look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. She was in the snow to her shoulders and it really looked like a task to bring her arms out high enough so that she could move. At times it was just too much work and she had to stop for refueling - lowering her face about and inch so it got covered in snow and then licking it off. Mission accomplished.
Next order of the day... introducing our cat to the snow by throwing her in it.
Halloween and Thanksgiving have passed us by and Christmas is almost upon us. Lena was a cow for Halloween and was totally adorable (I will post pictures on flickr later). Before we knew it we were flying off to San Diego to thaw out for thanksgiving... especially appropriate because, in case you hadn't heard, San Diego was on fire just a month previous to that. (Again, I will post pictures on flickr soon.)
Last weekend brought the first storm of winter and it was nice to have everything in Provo, that was looking so barren and dead, covered in a sheet of glittery white stuff. Baby didn't take too kindly to the snow, however, and when we tried to put her down to crawl around she quickly decided she didn't like it and arched her back to try to get her hands and her feet off the cold stuff. Since she was in her snowsuit, though, it had the effect of making her look like a rolling marshmallow, which, much to Lena's dismay, Evan and I found hilarious.
This weekend also brought snow. More snow, in fact, than I have ever seen in Provo. We easily got 8 inches of snow yesterday alone, and as I write this it is still just about snowing outside. (They didn't plough the streets until the evening, and so running errands and grocery shopping was quite the adventure, let me tell you!) We thought we would give Lena and the snow another chance and so last night we decided to bundle the family up in as many layers as possible and go sledding. We went to Rock Canyon Park, famous for it's bowl shape, and were astounded at the number of people there all with the same idea as us. Lena, thankfully, had far more fun than we expected her to and just loved being sent down the hill by herself, obviously with one of us at the bottom to catch her. She even rolled off mid-hill one time and when she finally stopped she was face down in snow and grass giggling away. The cutest part of the whole evening, though, went to Lena trying to crawl through the snow in her suit that already made her look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. She was in the snow to her shoulders and it really looked like a task to bring her arms out high enough so that she could move. At times it was just too much work and she had to stop for refueling - lowering her face about and inch so it got covered in snow and then licking it off. Mission accomplished.
Next order of the day... introducing our cat to the snow by throwing her in it.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The $800 Furniture Project
Inspired by Guinevere, we have been wanting an ottoman that we can tuck into a corner that will serve a dual purpose... mainly more seating, but also a family reading corner. (And of course, cute!) We decided that with the time that we had today, and with our limited budget, we would see what we couldn't do to solve our "problem." Guinevere acquired an adorable naked but still cute ottoman from IKEA that she upholstered and painted. It looks like a million bucks! We got intimidated by the upholstering factor of things, but still wanted something cute that fit within our limited budget.
We stopped by the local clearance furniture store, mainly to browse around and price things out. (Interpret as, how many weeks would we be eating top ramen to have the project that we wanted.) Sadly, everything cute was priced higher than we could really afford, and we obviously didn't want something ugly... There were a LOT of ugly things.
Then as we walked back by the ottoman that we really did like, but couldn't afford, we saw the sheet of computer paper taped to the wall, stating, "Ottoman Blowout! Leather - $100, Upholstered - $50." We couldn't believe our luck! The $550 giant ottoman that we loved now cost us a steep $50! We obviously collared the first salesman we could find to make certain that our eyes weren't deceiving us and whisked it off to the checkout.
Although upholstering may be a talent that we haven't quite mastered as of yet, accessorizing happens to be Hannah's specialty. We proceeded to a couple different stores, ultimately dropping in at the Pier One store. We also managed to steal bargains there too, picking up six cushions (about as many as Hannah could possibly carry) for a total of $65. They were all on clearance too.
Here is the finished product:
If we had have purchased everything full price, we would have easily spent over $800.
We're pretty happy that we can buy normal groceries next week.
We stopped by the local clearance furniture store, mainly to browse around and price things out. (Interpret as, how many weeks would we be eating top ramen to have the project that we wanted.) Sadly, everything cute was priced higher than we could really afford, and we obviously didn't want something ugly... There were a LOT of ugly things.
Then as we walked back by the ottoman that we really did like, but couldn't afford, we saw the sheet of computer paper taped to the wall, stating, "Ottoman Blowout! Leather - $100, Upholstered - $50." We couldn't believe our luck! The $550 giant ottoman that we loved now cost us a steep $50! We obviously collared the first salesman we could find to make certain that our eyes weren't deceiving us and whisked it off to the checkout.
Although upholstering may be a talent that we haven't quite mastered as of yet, accessorizing happens to be Hannah's specialty. We proceeded to a couple different stores, ultimately dropping in at the Pier One store. We also managed to steal bargains there too, picking up six cushions (about as many as Hannah could possibly carry) for a total of $65. They were all on clearance too.
Here is the finished product:
If we had have purchased everything full price, we would have easily spent over $800.
We're pretty happy that we can buy normal groceries next week.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Labor Day Hike
We miss San Diego a lot. We miss the beaches, and the weather, and normality. But one thing San Diego does not have is pretty mountains. I have never really liked mountains, but I have a new found appreciation for their beauty since Labor Day.
We decided we would go on a family hike since we had the day off, and the weather was reasonably warm. We were going to hike Timp, but we decided that, seeing as we had only recently moved up to Utah and were, therefore, still getting used to the altitude, it might be a bit of a tall order. Not to mention that fact that the trail would be swarming with BYU students. We wanted something that was long enough (and short enough at the same time), hard enough to get a good workout (but yet easy enough that we didn't kill ourselves), and, of course, with views worth our going.
The trail we ended up hiking was in Alta, and it was perfect. When we got there the skies were threatening at the very top of the mountain, but it was dry and cool, and the sun was fighting back. So on our way up (when we are all hot and sweaty from exerting energy holding baby the whole time) it was nice and breezy with no sun to bake us. Then when we reached the lake at the top and went down again, the sun broke through and kept us warm. Couldn't have picked a better introduction to hiking.
And did I mention it was absolutely beautiful? The trail took us through mountain meadows, and while the flowers were at the end of the season - drying up - it was spectacular.
The trail linked up with another that heads up to a lake hidden at the top of the mountain. It is called 'Cecret Lake'. Ingenious. Must have been an accountant that came up with that name!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, it was excellent, and we are going to hike it next summer when all the flowers are out. And (what you are really all reading this for) we got some pretty good pictures! (My personal favorite is the one where baby is holding up a twig that Evan gave her at the beginning of the hike like a trophy.)
We decided we would go on a family hike since we had the day off, and the weather was reasonably warm. We were going to hike Timp, but we decided that, seeing as we had only recently moved up to Utah and were, therefore, still getting used to the altitude, it might be a bit of a tall order. Not to mention that fact that the trail would be swarming with BYU students. We wanted something that was long enough (and short enough at the same time), hard enough to get a good workout (but yet easy enough that we didn't kill ourselves), and, of course, with views worth our going.
The trail we ended up hiking was in Alta, and it was perfect. When we got there the skies were threatening at the very top of the mountain, but it was dry and cool, and the sun was fighting back. So on our way up (when we are all hot and sweaty from exerting energy holding baby the whole time) it was nice and breezy with no sun to bake us. Then when we reached the lake at the top and went down again, the sun broke through and kept us warm. Couldn't have picked a better introduction to hiking.
And did I mention it was absolutely beautiful? The trail took us through mountain meadows, and while the flowers were at the end of the season - drying up - it was spectacular.
The trail linked up with another that heads up to a lake hidden at the top of the mountain. It is called 'Cecret Lake'. Ingenious. Must have been an accountant that came up with that name!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, it was excellent, and we are going to hike it next summer when all the flowers are out. And (what you are really all reading this for) we got some pretty good pictures! (My personal favorite is the one where baby is holding up a twig that Evan gave her at the beginning of the hike like a trophy.)
Life in Happy Valley
Well, it has been a while. We are still trying to get into the swing of things. Evan has got so much on his plate with his full-time commitment to both school and work. I'm not sure how he does it, but somehow he manages. I have a feeling we shall need a vacation soon.
It has been an interesting month for us. I think Provo is a different experience when you are married, but I am still trying to work out if that is a conscious choice that we have made or whether that really is the reality. It definitely seems, judging from a lot of the people in our soon-to-be old BYU married students ward, that there are people for whom the whole BYU experience is exactly the same, married or not. (Sadly, I think those people fall under the category of things we didn't like about BYU in the first place.) So, the question then becomes an issue of whether they have made the conscious choice to keep it the same, or if they are living in 'fake-believe'. I would like to think that I am the one slightly more in touch with reality, but this place is so overrun with strange people that I am beginning to be filled with self-doubt. It's rather akin to the main character in Orwell's '1984', although, I hope, less sinister and I pray the ending will be different.
Oh well. It is all rather odd, and at the end of the day all I can say is I am glad I have someone who has the same outlook on life as I do, and I am so glad I never have to go to a singles ward again... I makes life here more bearable.
It has been an interesting month for us. I think Provo is a different experience when you are married, but I am still trying to work out if that is a conscious choice that we have made or whether that really is the reality. It definitely seems, judging from a lot of the people in our soon-to-be old BYU married students ward, that there are people for whom the whole BYU experience is exactly the same, married or not. (Sadly, I think those people fall under the category of things we didn't like about BYU in the first place.) So, the question then becomes an issue of whether they have made the conscious choice to keep it the same, or if they are living in 'fake-believe'. I would like to think that I am the one slightly more in touch with reality, but this place is so overrun with strange people that I am beginning to be filled with self-doubt. It's rather akin to the main character in Orwell's '1984', although, I hope, less sinister and I pray the ending will be different.
Oh well. It is all rather odd, and at the end of the day all I can say is I am glad I have someone who has the same outlook on life as I do, and I am so glad I never have to go to a singles ward again... I makes life here more bearable.
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