Grandma

I had a dream about my Grandma Lope last night. Her name wasn't actually Lope, that was her nick-name. Her name was Lola Nell, but for as long as I can remember we called her Grandma Lope and my Grandpa was Grandpa bald-head. My grandma passed away a couple of years ago and I was always really close to her. She is my mom's mom... the wife of my grandpa I often talk about. I have never dreamed about her before since she passed. I don't remember much except it was just the two of us holding hands, being Grandma and grand-daughter. I have always had a special place in my heart for her. And although I woke up with a horrible headache today, I have to say, it was nice to see her, I miss her dearly!

Saturday is a special day

I had such a good time today. Shawn, honestly the best husband in the world, took both kids today so I could enjoy Heather's baby shower! It was so nice! It was not too big, a very intimate setting that was really enjoyable because we all had so much fun chatting and enjoying eachother. I had fun making gifts and food, especially the best Kathie's rum cake I've made yet (I think I finally have it mastered) and a diaper cake. I really enjoy doing this kind of stuff...

Then for dinner we went over to Mark and Caroline's for dinner for Mark's birthday - Happy Birthday Mark. Caroline made these absolutely DELICIOUS ribs and potatoes, it was oh so good!

Good Food, Good Fun, Good Company, what more can I ask for?

The only crappy thing on my mind is the fact that my camera is still no where to be found. I am absolutely sick over it!! All the pictures on my blog since Cali were taken on my phone, so sorry for the poor quality... I am so depressed over it!!!! It was new too :(

Much better

I'm much happier now that my kitchen is clean

and the laundry is finally getting done!!

the bad thing that happened today was that Hugo's heat rash got a little worse. His face broke out in a ring-worm looking rash so I took his helmet off and with a little cool inside air and some cortizone, he is much happier. Taking it off reminded me I hadn't posted pictures of the latest painting on his helmet!

another good thing is Lacy passing out on the couch giving me a minute to blog and play on the computer - i swear its the first time i've sat down today!

Is it just me??

Is it just me or does crap like this always happen when your house is perfectly clean?? (Refer to last post.) Yesterday I was all excited to get my laundry done from our little mini-vacation, and after 1 1/2 loads my washer started to freak out. and it took a load including both Lacy and Hugo's "special blankies" hostage!! It would start and run, but it wouldn't drain. Since it wouldn't drain the door wouldn't unlock (we have a front loading washer) because all the water would run out! AHHH, what a mess! Well my Mr. Handyman husband came home from swimming with the kids at his parents to try and help me out. He ended up flooding the laundry room and the garage, cutting his hand pretty badly and NOT getting it fixed! He went to bed all flustered and irritated, and I went to bed wondering if all the laundry was going to get ruined from being wet for so long- dang mildew! Kelly called me in the morning to see if it was fixed, and since it wasn't he came to the rescue. Once again I had a flodded laundry room and no fix! He was kind enough to at least get the laundry out and let me bring it to his house to wash and dry (I LOVE having them as neighbors!!) Then tonight at 11:30 Shawn's dad was over trying to fix the sprinklers (arent we a mess?) and I enlisted in his help to try and fix the washer while Shawn was at soccer. Welll... one more time with the flooding laundry room you think they would get the hint... ITS NOT THE HOSES PEOPLE!! He finally gets the brilliant idea to take the washer to the back yard as to keep the water from draining all over my house. Needless to say, the washer is FINALLY fixed and the culprit of all this disaster?? One half of a measley, hairy, soggy, freakin toothpick in the pump!! Thanks so much Papa, Shawn and Kelly all for helping fix my washer! 1:19, the washer is put back, Papa has headed home... its time for bed!!

after some pictures, of-corse!

Our tiny house is lacking storage so our laundry room usually doubles as a pantry. All this had to be taken out to be able to move and work on the washer.

This was the one load I actually got done yesterday before it broke. Shawn's mom came over to visit today and she folded the laundry while she was here- she's an angel!!

As is Heather who also walked over, 7 months prego in the blistering heat with a laundry basket full of my clean, neatly folded laundry (how did I marry into the nicest family ever!?!?!)

Get outta here, your makin a mess!!!

Thats much better, I dont care if my back porch gets all wet!

While they were fixing the washer Shawn asked me to go clean off his car so he doesn't go to work in the morning looking like a high-school kid with a crush... I'm dying to know who did it too, my guess is Lauren ??

I know I'm lookin like a disaster but mind you it was after midnight and I was trying to descretely get a picture of my marijuana smoking neighbors in the back ground. They are really nice people, Lacy thinks that one is a princess when she comes out in her full African attire.. but they sure do like their Mary Jane's.

I know, random picture, right? This is what I was doing when Papa got here- making birthday cards for the relief society sisters in the ward.

And the stupid toothpick that started it all... I'm never going to use a toothpick again!!! EVERRRR!!

Home Sweet Home

Sometimes the best part about going on vacation is coming home. This time, that was definitely the case. I came home to the best suprise I could ever imagine.

I'll start with a little back-up, before I left I was a little over-stressed and under-slept. I had taken too much on and was a little over-whelmed. The week before we left I had painted a bedroom, done all the stuff for the funeral, had swim lessons, 2 doctors appointments, re-painted Hugo's helmet twice, 4 loads of laundry, plus the towels and sheets, lots of messes and clean-ups, had a chicken-pox scare that eneded up being a really bad rash (make that 3 dr. appts) and that was all before Thursday. My Mom called me when I was trying to pack for California and she happed to call at my breaking point. I was all over-whelmed and crying in a big stupid mess that I was stressed because Shawn was on him way home ready to leave and I hadn't started packing, I hadn't done my hair and I really wanted to finish the laundry and mop before I left. She told me to just pack and leave and she would take care of the house while I was gone. I expected that she would mop, maybe vacume and maybe even finish up what laundry I had left to fold. Boy did I under-estimate the power of my SUPER MOM!

Her, along with my dad, brother and my brothers friend Whitney went WAY above and beyond. They re-arranged all the pictures in my family room so they went with the new couches, they organized and cleaned my kitchen. Getting me a cute new holder for my recipe books and paper towels. They got a cute new basket for shoes by the front door. They hung some pictures in my kitchen, they spot cleaned the crazy dirty carpet in the family room, patched, sanded and painted all the holes in the family room, hung new black curtains (the red curtains with red couches was just too much red!), added 2 new damask black and white pillows to my couches, sprayed the weeds and grass in the rocks outside, finished up all the laundry, and so much more. I've been home all day and keep finding new things they did. They even put new tires on Shawn's car for Father's Day. (While we were enjoying the beautiful cool California weather in my dad's new Prius)

THEY'RE CRAZY!!

I am so greatful for such wonderful family. On both sides. Shawn and I are blessed beyond measure. My in-laws are so awesome, we had so much fun with everyone and are greatful for all the time we got to spend with them. Then at home my family was blessing us tremendously with their time and service. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now. I could seriously just cry!

We also got to go down to San Diego

Brian and Chantal came to the beach with us on Friday for our BBQ. It was so nice of them to drive all the way up, I wish I had my camera- I'm awaiting Chantal's pictures so I'll post them when they arrive.

On Sunday after our Father's Day breakfast at Aunt Sharon's we drove down to SD and spent the afternoon with the Jones'. We had an amazing late-lunch and some awesome cake. Today is Brian's birthday so we were also celebrating that. We had a lot of fun with them and as always it was not nearly enough time!

I did have an absolutely amazing mommy moment while there. It was one of those moments that you feel you might just be doing something right as a parent. The girls (Katie and Lacy) were being especially quiet and usually being quiet means they are up to no good. Well I slowly tried to sneak up on them in the kids room playing (thinking I was going to catch them doing something mischievous) and what I found was just tear-wrenching. The girls were up on the top bunk with Katie's picnic set all out. They were pretending to have a picnic and were being so cute and girly. They both had their arms folded, heads bowed and eyes closed while Lacy blessed their "pretend food" It was the DANG cutest thing I have ever seen. Her up their blessing her family and the food they were about to pretend to eat.

Fun times in HB

While in California we also had some FUN! All Shawn's family was there with the exception of Adelia who is due to have a baby any minute and her little boy Jayden. We all had such a blast. All of us who have kids stayed at an awesome beach house. TJ and Alex, Ryan and Krista and their 4 kids and Shawn and I with our 2. One of the mornings we went down to Balboa Island and walked up and down the shops. This is one of every ones favorite things to do when we are in HB. The girls all got to make cute bracelets in one of the shops, and one of every ones favs was the BALBOA BARS!! A big chunk of vanilla ice-cream dipped in chocolate coating that hardens. Before it hardens you get to dip it in some kind of topping. They have oreo's, sprinkles, cinnamon, heath, peanuts, and lots more (of course I chose the one that had it all mixed together) it was actually my first time having one. YUMMM!!

We also went to the swap meet, had a BBQ on the beach, went to the Farmers Market down on Main Street, had a beautiful Fathers Day breakfast, and lots more. I lost my camera (AHHH, thats the worst thing ever!) so all my pictures are from my camera-phone. I hope to find it soon or to get everyone else's pictures.

All in all we had so much fun in Huntington Beach.

Emogene Mary O'Connor Stanley

We went to California on Wednesday to attend the funeral of Shawn's gramma Emogene. It was sad to see her go, but it was definitely her time. She had broken her hip, gotten pneumonia, and was getting worse every day. She was being taken care of by hospice and the last few days was in a coma, not eating or drinking anything. I know she is happier now because she is in no pain and now with her dear sweetheart. I LOVED Shawn's gramma. She was the sweetest, tiniest gramma I think I've ever seen! Lacy loved her too, she taught Lacy some really cute songs and Lacy learned "Woops a daisy" from her. All the grand-kids and great-grandkids called her gramma-gramma. Its so cute! I just love Shawn's family. We always have such a good time when we visit and miss them terribly when we are apart. I was lucky enough to help out with some things for the funeral. They let me make these really cute seed packets that had a cute poem about remembering Gramma when you plant the seeds and see the flowers that grow. I also got to make a collage of a bunch of pictures to see when you walked into the funeral. I also put together about 20 pictures in frames for all the kids and grandkids to take home and remember Gramma.The funeral itself was very lovely and very different at the same time. I have never been to a Catholic funeral before. It was really nice, all her daughters got up and said something about their mother. They did a communion thing (I am so naive when it comes to other religions) I didn't understand it all, but it was really beautiful. I enjoyed it but it made me really grateful for my testimony of the gospel. I am grateful for the knowledge I have of everything Christ has done for us and that if we live a good, obedient life, we can live with Him again.

I LOOOVE TO PAINT

Last week I was lucky enough to PAINT! Ever since I saw the movie 50 First Dates I have had this crazy urge go paint gigantic murals in my garage every day. That would serioulsy be my dream, for me, painting is therapeutic. Well anyways the last couple weeks Heathers sister Chelsea has been really sick. (Heather is my brother in law Kelly's fiance). She was in the hospital down in Tucson so Heather spent a lot of time down there. I knew that she was really stressed and needed a good pick me up. I asked Kelly if while they were down there if I could paint their nursery. He was so good, he gave me a key, bought the paint and supplies and told me how they wanted it and trusted me to do my best! I hope they are happy with the result, because I had a BLAST! I went over there Friday night after the kids went to sleep and painted until 3 in the morning (by flash-light) and then went over as soon as I woke up and spent most of the day finishing up. It was so fun, I'm glad they let me do it. Kelly is going to put crown molding and waines coating up. The room is going to be so adorable, I can't wait to see it all finished.

Cool Hats!

Lacy thinks it is so funny if when she is getting un-dressed for the bath if she leaves her shirt half on her head and pretends it is a cool hat! She is so silly and imaginatie! She came running to me in the other room screaming "Mommy, Hugo has a cool hat TOO!"

Jam-Packed Post

So far this summer, we have been having a lot of fun! We have been doing a lot of swimming, trying to keep cool in this heat. Lacy is in swim lessons with some of her friends in the ward- Cameron, Carson, and Kennedy. We have such a great ward and I have way more friends than I have had in any other ward, I LOVE MY WARD!! Anyways Lacy is finally getting over being scared (with the help of some bribery) and she is doing great! Her teacher is also so much fun- she is from Austrailia and they all love her accent! She is way good at her job, we are lucky to have found her!

We got to show off some of her great swimming skills when her cousins were in town. One night at Mimi and Papa's pool she even went with out floaties at all (sorry, i didn't get pictures!)

I am also finally posting pictures of Hugo's painted helmet. The top pics are the first time I painted it, I took that one off right away, I wasnt too pleased. The bottom ones was the second time I painted it. Everyone loved the superman- I took it off because it started to chip, that one was on for a couple weeks. It is now painted for the third time and I havent taken pictures yet, they will come soon!

Okay... one last story, I promise!! I have talked about my Grandpa before and how sweet he is and how much Lacy loves him. Well while the Jones' were here the kids all loved going to see Grandpa-Grandpa and getting gingersnaps. We were all dying laughing this one day when Brian, Katie, Lacy and Israel went to get cookies and all of them rode away on their bikes or scooters with the cookies hanging out of their mouth happy as can be! It was a sight to see, we tried to re-inact the whole thing and although the pictures are cute, the first time was priceless!!

Maybe I watch too much TV

We just got cement poured in our driveway and all day all I could think was...

"Wet cement, outside, it's drying, fast, come on! This is a life long dream. What do I write?"

"Dwight :Force it in as deep as you can. Michael: [muffled] That's what she said."

"Today's a very special day for me. And it's really not about me. It's about my grandkids, it's about my great grandkids... I can come back here when I'm one hundred and I can find that piece of cement and say, "That's me. Look kids, your daddy left that face hole." I donno. It's a good feeling."

If you watch TV as much as I obviously do (especially since i dont even have TV!) this needs no more explination- except that I did NOT put my face in my wet cement.

i am sooo lost!

what the freak!!? okay usually alot of my blog stalkees post about Lost, but I haven't heard anything recently. Is anyone besides me still totally obsessed. I just can't get enough. The more far fetched it gets, I would expect myself to be turned off by it all but I'M NOT! Its like, whoah, did the island seriously just disappear? What about Daniel and the rest of the guys on the raft. And can you believe Sun wants to work with Widmore? And I am so happy for Desmond, he deserves to find Penny! and Jeremy Bentham?? what the heck. What about Charlotte, she gets outted by that asian guy that she finally is back. Who else thinks maybe she was Bens little girl friend from when he was a kid on the island? ok.. tooo much going on in my head- i loved it.. thats it!