Lucky Girl

I'm a lucky girl because my husband's hobby is wood working.  And this project really far exceeded my expectations!  He's all done with the mantle, and it's custom made - he created his own plan for it and pieced it together.  It turned out beautiful!

BEFORE - just tile around our fireplace (not the best picture, but you get the idea)

AFTER - finished mantle!

 

 

Updated Entry

I updated THIS POST with Brandon's entire Christmas calendar photo collage & a video of him surfing.   I also added a video of Andrew getting a new blanket for Christmas.  :)

Funny kids!  

Routines

Andrew naps around 1:30 - 3:00p (sometimes more, sometimes less) while Rachel has a little quiet time, then a movie to give her some down time.

I rarely take pictures of my kids sleeping (for fear they will wake up!), but this day was unique since he fell asleep in my lap while in the rocking chair, so I snapped a quick one.  

Then we play out back, pretty much every afternoon during the winter months.

Trampoline. Bikes. Sandbox.  Repeat.  I guess we only play in the sandbox if it's a bath night.

Gma & Gpa come to visit

I love February, because it brings beautiful weather, Valentine's day, visitors from Utah and it means January is over!

Brandon's parents are wonderful guests, and always very helpful and generous.  On Friday, they took the kids to the park in the morning while I stayed home and did something of my choice (which on that day was a shower and to get ready, go me!), then the boys headed off to the Phoenix Open.  They had a roaring good time (especially at hole 16), but the craziest part of their day was figuring out where they parked, and after two shuttle/bus rides to the wrong lots, I think it took them an hour and a half to find their car.  I'm laughing now as I write this, but it wasn't so funny at the time.  Nancy sent me off to do some shopping, and I was happy to and found new accessories (thank you, Ross - you are one of my favorite stores) for our custom-built fireplace mantle (more on that later).

On Saturday the boys went golfing, while Nancy and I took Rachel to dance class and then to a birthday party (Ella's 4th, one of Rachel's friends in her Sunbeam class).  That afternoon, Brandon got really sick so he stayed home while I went with his parents to Amazing Jakes with the kids, which we found out was not-so-amazing, particularly on a Saturday night (apparently draws a rougher crowd).  I could only laugh about it.  It's an all you can eat buffet with lots of games, arcades and little rides.  The kids loved it, and Nancy was a trooper to accompany Rachel on the teacup ride (Rachel had no problem spinning the teacup very fast while Val and I laughed on the sidelines wondering if Nancy would make it without getting ill - she made it - what a good grandma!).

We had a relaxing Sunday together and took full advantage of Grandma being there, so after Sacrament Meeting, we sent home Andrew and Grandma so we could actually enjoy the rest of church.  Countdown to Nursery:  1.5 months

I must say that it was a huge blessing that the kids were healthy and as well behaved as they were while we had them here - praises we sing!!