Happy Anniversary to us!

Today Ryan and I celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary!!

This is our engagement photo...look how young we look!  This picture was taken in Lake Arrowhead the summer we got married...1999.  I was 21 and Ryan was 22.

This was the start of a grand adventure together!

I love you Ryan!

We'll be celebrating by going to the Weekly Race Series tonight...we're such romantics!

CA Trip Part I: The Cabin

Let me first say that Haley indeed get her cast (waterproof cast) before our departure!  The doctor looked over her X-ray and said that it was a pretty significant buckle fracture and will need the cast for the next four weeks.  However, it did not slow her down on the trip!  I'm sure it's full of sand and moss from all the lake and ocean swimming...should be a treat when they take it off!

 We started our trip by driving to Lake Arrowhead where my family owns a cabin.  I spent many childhood trips there so I was looking forward to taking the girls there.

Our drive out there took a full 12 hours...and I wish I could say that it was uneventful...but, is it ever with four children?!  At one point outside of Vegas, in the middle of nowhere (aka: Hell on Earth) Rory decided to throw up all over herself.  Yeah...not cool.  So we pull into this casino/gas station to clean her up.  I change her clothes and the only cleanser they sold was 409...so I used that to clean the seat as best I could.  But no matter hard I scrubbed and sprayed it still wreaked of barf...so that made a not so pleasant rest of the drive.

And then about 30 minutes from our destination (about that point when we all really, REALLY want to get out of the car and away from each other), the traffic abruptly comes to a stand still.  Turns out a motorcycle crashed and it was pretty gory as two people flew off and died on the scene.  We showed up less than 10 minutes after the accident happened as they weren't even police there yet. We decided to get the girls out of there and took the long way up the other side of the mountain.  It made for a very somber drive after that.

But we did make it!  Eventually!

The next four days were filled with hiking, swimming in the lake and kayaking.  Oh, and I went on a bike ride in there too with my dad around Big Bear Lake!  It was a lot of fun and I looking forward to going back!

The second half of our trip we spent in Long Beach...post on that to come!

Happy Birthday!

Today my sweet Haley girl is nine!!

Happy Birthday!

We love you!

We're still in CA...we'll be back next week!

Sofa, Pioneer Day and Broken Bones.

I have been saving some birthday money since February (my birthday month) for just the right thing to buy.  I was wavering between a buffet and hutch for the dining room or a sofa.  Well, a sofa popped up at Costco of all places and I didn't hesitate (much) and dropped the cash for it.  So our old blue sofa (remember this guy) has moved on...as in moved to my parents basement down the street.  Old blue may be used again, only with new upholstery some day...we'll see.  Anyway, here's our new addition to our family room.

 July 24 Utah celebrates Pioneer Day to honor and remember all the pioneers that made the trek across the country to Salt Lake City.

 Right after this picture of the girls in the handcart was taken, Ryan and I were thinking we needed to leave (I had the mountain bike series that night we had to get to).  But the girls really wanted to play on the playground for a bit, so we decided to let them for just a couple minutes.  Big mistake!  Within a minute of being on the playground Haley fell off...which I didn't see...in fact a parent had to find me and ask, "Is that you child on the ground over there screaming in agony?!"  Okay, I added the "screaming in agony" part...they didn't really say that to me...but they might as well have as she was screaming in agony!!  So I run over there and immediately I know...it's broken.  I help her up and take her to the grass.  And then a parent says to me, "It's okay...I've called 911, an ambulance is on it's way!"  WHAT?!!!

Now, let's rewind here to Feb.2012 when Rory has RSV in CA and had to be transferred to another hospital via ambulance (they absolutely refused to let me drive her...like they would have locked me up if I tried to take her myself!)...it took us a year to pay off that damn ambulance bill...it was in the thousands of dollars people!!! And that's with insurance!!  So, when this lady said ambulance I admit I freaked out a little bit...I mean this isn't life or death, and there are no bones sticking out anywhere, no bent arm, nothing gory...because you know if there was something gory I would have been laying in the grass where I ultimately fainted.  Haley was absolutely fine to be driven to an urgent care by us.  So I frantically said to this "good Samaritan", "CANCEL that ambulance!!!  I've been down that road already, and I don't want to do it again!!!

So we get her to an Urgent Care and sure enough it's broken with a buckle fracture.  

Sitting with my Haley girl waiting for the X-Ray.

It was quite a traumatic experience...but then Haley is also a very dramatic girl so everything was magnified ten fold!  But fortunately, she was smiling again when we left.

And I never did make it to the mountain bike race.

The next day we celebrated my Morgan's 7th birthday!  I made her a chocolate sheet cake that she decorated herself.  Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this cake...it was divine!!!  I may have to share the recipe with you some day!  It's a chocolate lover's dream!

More birthday festivities to come next week in CA.  That's right, we headed out of town tomorrow.  So here's hoping they fit Haley with her (waterproof) cast this morning.  If you're going to CA, you have to be able to swim!!  I'm terrified they are going to tell me that her wrist is to swollen to cast...in which case, I may resort to begging them to cast it anyway.

Happy Weekend ya'll!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my little Morga-Muffin!

Today you are 7!!

We love you!

Quick story about that little stuffed animal she's holding.  A few weeks ago Morgan and I were at Rite Aid picking up a couple things and she found that little Beanie Baby Prairie Dog on a shelf and of course fell in love with it.  I of course refused to buy it and we left.  She talked about that Prairie Dog just about every day after that!  Now, I have this thing with stuffed animals...I don't like to buy them because we have about a gazillion in our house already (I swear they multiply at night!).  But her heart was so set on that Beanie Baby!  So last night when the girls were in bed I went back to that same Rite Aid literally as they were closing (I'm surprised they even let me in!  Although, I would have begged if I had to.)  And what do you know?  They only had ONE left!!  I bought that darn thing and got out of there.  It was waiting for her this morning on the table...she was thrilled!  It's the little things that us moms live for!

Group shot.

 Here is my attempt to capture all four girls in a decent photograph.  I've been doing this for the past few years and would like to continue the tradition.  Easier said than done!  Can you tell they are looking at Ryan who is off to the side making funny faces to get them to smile (especially for that grumpy kid on the far right!)

New Mud Room....Finally.

 Okay, remember way back when I shared that I was converting one of my accordion door pantries into a "mud room"?!  Well, I finally finished!!  I admit that when my dad went back to Long Beach the project sat untouched for weeks and weeks!  All I had to do was sand, paint, and install the hooks...but for whatever reason I just never got to it.  Well, over the weekend I finally decided enough was enough and it needed to get done!  So while Ryan took the girls to the river Saturday afternoon I cranked out the last and final details!  Hallelujah!

Let's take a look back at where I started.  

We ripped out all the shelves and my dad built two boxes that became the bench and storage under.

We added bead board above the bench, molding, hooks and a new shelf for storage.

And then I painted everything a bright, crisp white...and ta da!!

Now I need to get some baskets for shoes and I want to have baskets for storage on the shelf and then it will be fully functional!

A before and after.

There is still a long way to go in the laundry room: painting the cabinets and the walls, but this is a big step!!   I'm so happy with the way it turned out!