While the Boy is away the Girls will Play!

This week Jared went to Scout Camp, and while he was gone I made a few improvements to the house! Jared likes straight lines, and abstract art. He has this thing about the house being too "Mormon" (Whatever Jared). And he's not a huge fan of little sayings, such as the one above. I love them! They would be every where in my house if it weren't for him; but baby steps.... His mother has been telling me for years now to just do what I want to the house while he's gone, and he wont ever have the energy to take it down; She was right! (Don't rub it in Yvonne!)

My AWESOME sister Wendie, who is basically the Wonder Woman of moms; came down for a day to help me out. When I say "help me out" I mean she did everything while I just handed her the tool she needed. She also had a birthday this week! HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY!! ;)

so here is what we (but mostly Wendie) did. if you don't like, its okay not to comment! :)

oh P.S. Jared actually liked the "kiss me goodnight pic!"

I wanted something centered over the bed but with the window it wouldn't look centered so we put these flowers up to give it a little more "oomph" and I spray painted some red to go a long with the other little pops of red we have in out bedroom.

Erin's bathroom!

Jared and I actually did this last weekend. However, Wendie moved the towel rack over and put a hook up for right next to the shower

On the show "Cougar Town" there is this really cute "EAT" sign in her kitchen that I love. I thought to myself "I could make that" so I did! (with Wendie's help)

side note: those are chocolate chips on the "A" not coffee beans.

Last, but most definitely not least!

We had a mirror there but moved it to the stairwell and my nephew Thomas spray painted the frames for me. I'm hoping to place a family portrait right there under the temple. and soon!.... although a cute little "mormon" saying would look super cute there!...

IIIIII'm Baaaaaaack!

Well hello there Blog world! I'm making my once in a-every-few-years-blog post-...post! I guess you would say. Read carefully and appreciate these few precious paragraphs you get from me today.

Today was an adventure to say the least. I came to post about Erin's dance recital and COULD NOT for the life of me remember the email address we use for this thing! it took me an hour! and then i saw it really needed to be "prettied" up and that took another hour to figure out. so you all better love it! But I'm here now and thats all that matters.

We have enjoyed living in Mesa. We love our place and our neighbors. The ward is great and we have felt right at home for the most part. JARED, as always, is working hard and is still in Young Men's at church. He has really gotten into Scouts and loves the time he spends with all the young men. He has gotten into photography BIG TIME lately and is awesome! I'm hoping some Family pics will be coming soon to blog near you! to view his pictures just click on the slideshow there to the right! ME you may ask. well there isn't much to tell. this summer I plan on finishing odds and ends here in the house. (mostly while Jared's at Scout camp) shhh! don't tell! I'm also going to get my sewing machine out and spend some real quality time with her. I think she's been quite lonely. It's been a big year so far for ERIN. Last fall she started Dance and Pre-school. She loves dance so much! she looks forward to it every week. And pre-school has been awesome! she talks about it everyday. I don't know how she will do now that both are done for the summer. Erin also became a sunbeam at the beginning of the year. I can't believe she is already in Primary! and last but not least (but kinda) OSCAR! We got a dog! Jared and I both grew up with dogs. and we promised each other that once we had a yard that we would get a dog. He's been a great addition to our family. Erin loves him and he loves her for the most part... when she's not pulling his tail or squeezing the life out of him.

I'm sure you are all dying to see the pics and videos of Erin's Dance Recital. So here you go.

WARNING: she is so stinking cute! please refrain from coming and stealing her! thank you.

Knock-Knock, Anybody Home?

So as many of you know Jared and I are building a house!!... It's actually a Townhouse so we do share some walls. However while going every Saturday to check on the progress we did some testing and you can't hear a thing. We also have a 2 car garage and back yard. It will be the perfect starter home for us! I'm VERY excited to NOT have to walk my groceries up a flight of stairs while coaxing Erin to hurry up them. And we are so excited to have a yard for Erin. She loves to be outside and it will be nice to just let her run around all the time. Jared can't wait to have a BBQ and Laythe. I also can't wait to have new appliances as well. The dishwasher I have now s a nightmare, so we are ready for a fresh new place to make our own.

We will be sad to leave this Ward. It has been, by far, the best ward we have lived in. The house is in the south east side of Mesa. Thankfully Jared will be able to transfer to Tempe soon, so it won't be such a bad commute for Him. We feel very blessed to be in the position to buy a house, and to still stay home with Erin is going to be so nice! Here are a couple of pictures of the house so far. It should be done in about 2 weeks!

My beautiful Kitchen!!



Living Room and Dining




We have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a Laundry closet upstairs

Halloween

Of course this year for Halloween Erin was Minnie Mouse. It was hard to keep the dress off of her until Halloween. And she wouldn't where the headband Ears for anything. In fact When we went to story time at the Library, we got her dressed up, hair done, and then I actually argued with my 2 year old!! For a good ten minutes I tried to explain that if she didn't where the ears people would think she was just a princess! I got her to where them until we got to the library and then she had the nerve to take them off and refuse to put them back on... Needless to say, she was just a princess to everyone. So I had to come up with away to make my own ears and bow that she couldn't take off all willy-nilly. (my friend Pheobe actually gave me the idea) I got some black foamie board from joanne andmade some ears out of that. Then I just attached the ears to her pony tales. I also made the bow. I'm quite proud of myself and I think they ended up looking better than the headband.
We Went to our Ward party on Friday. We played games and Erin got to run around with her friends. Erin was also voted Cutest costume! Our ward doesn't do Trunk-or-Treat. so On Saturday we went down to Tucson and went to Jared's parents Ward party. It was a blast! they have a cat walk set up and have a kind of parade for the kids and Erin LOVED the homemade Rootbeer! Jared took her Trunk-or-Treating while Fred and I handed out candy. So all in all it was a great weekend! Erin is still wearing the dress everyday. I hope it doesn't last too much longer. but she's so cute in it!!


Didn't quite get the concept of "The Cake Walk"


This ones for Aunt Kari!


Pouting Minnie

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!!

Erin has become a little obsessed with Mickey Mouse. In fact everything that has to do with Him. Every morning when she wakes up she asks for Mickey. Erin has to take all of her Mickeys and Minnies with her where ever we go. She also is going to be Minnie for Halloween and is so cute in her costume! I can't wait to take her Trick-or-Treating!! She can't sleep without them. The last one picture is my Favorite and I PROMISE (Rachel and Kylee) More to come with her costume!!






She decided that Mickey and Minnie needed her pillow and blanket more than she did. (she also changed her close herself, can you tell?)

Big Girl Bed!

Last week Jared and I decided that it was time to take off the front railing on Erin's crib. She had been waking up in the middle of the night and wouldn't want to rock or go back to sleep. So I thought why not just give her the option of getting out of bed herself. I was worried that it would take time for Erin to get the concept that she was still suppose to go to sleep once she was "free". SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!!! I can not believe how well she is doing! Yesterday was the first time she immediately got out of her bed when I put her down for a nap. She didn't try to come out of her room, she just played in there for about 20 minutes and then got back on her bed and went to sleep. Last night she got up as soon as I shut the door, played a little and then came to the door and just knocked politely. We were too soft on her, and let out for another 20 minutes before I put her back in bed and she went right to sleep. We open Erin's door when we go to bed so that she can just come into our room in the morning. Although sometimes she forgets that she can get out or something and will just sit there and call for me... laziness! JK here are a couple of pictures of the night Erin got her "big girl bed". she was so excited she jumped up into it, laid down and said "night night!!" Erin also HAS to have her bed full of her stuffed animals. so it's kind of chaotic! She loves though and is such a big girl!





This is Erin Saying "night, night!"





All of Erin's blankets and animals

My Mini Tara

Erin's new favorite thing to do is to get into my closet and wear my high heels. She'll wear them for hours. She will walk around the apartment gathering things to put in her purse, and if she can get her hands on some keys too it's a bonus for her. She will then say to me " bye mom, see you later" and go to the door and try to stick the keys into the door knob. She is the cutest thing in the world. I do get nervous when she gets a hold of my stilettos, I'm always afraid she is going to hurt her ankle or break the heel so I try to keep those out of sight.
The reason I call her "mini Tara" is because Jared has a sister, Tara who is all about the high heels! and Erin looks a lot like Tara as well, that I sometimes look at the Erin and think "she is not mine, she should have gone to Tara" not that I would ever want that! but she is definitely her Aunt's Niece! I hope you enjoy these pictures!

To Update or not to Update...

Ok so yes it has been QUITE awhile since we have done anything with this blog. in my defense When we moved up to the valley we had no computer and I just sort of forgot about it. We were busy getting settled, Erin was (is) a handful and blah blah blah. Thanks to some encouragement from Friends ( Erin and Kylee) here we go!
We have been doing Fantastic! Erin and I are now working on learning the abc's and colors. she loves to read books and play with her animals from her Noah's ark she got for Christmas. (still her favorite toy!) And we are working on trying to stop the "Y" she has started to add to all her words such as "watey" instead of "wateR" drives me nuts! but she is doing great!
I'm always busy with her but I try to manage some "me time" in, on occasion. Jared got me a new Sewing machine for our Anniversary in Dec. and I'm loving that. Right now I'm working on a quilt for my mom. Fingers crossed that I can actually finish it. :) (no comment needed for that one)
Jared is such a hard worker! He is an amazing provider for us and has a great work ethic. He loves his job. It is much more challenging than AOL and I think even though it is much more stressful, he prefers it that way.He's also none stop with the Young men in our ward. He is the YM 1st coun. and is always busy with them on weekends and things.
All and all everything is going well for us. We manage to get down to Tuscon every once and awhile and that is good for us to get together with friends and to spend time with Jared's Parents. here are some pic's of Erin there are more to come I promise!

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she loves her baths! She couldn't wait!

Grumpy Erin isn't very nice.

Sometimes she doesn't like kisses...or her dad.

Erin and her Dad!

Ducky ducky! She loves her ducky

Aunt September and Erin best freinds forever

Trick or Treat....Erin's 1st Halloween

Erin was so excited to go trick or treating, can't you tell? She makes a cute Eeyore!