the most snuggly house for sale

Photo taken at my mom and dads in 2008. The lighting in their home is the best part about it. And the stairway.

My mom and dad are selling their house in Orem so I thought I'd post a few pics of it. If I could live here I would in a second, it's the best floor plan, I just love it. It's right by UVU, the freeway, and in a new small development.

Click on pictures to see larger. Call 801-224-2464 or email furnituremill@yahoo.com if interested.

halloween

Halloween was great fun but I am never making my kids costumes again!


Peter Pan and Tink. I was Tiger Lily and Justin was a shadow.




Cody was SO mad at us. "You cut my pants! You cut my shirt!" He wouldn't wear them until he figured out he couldn't get any candy until he put them on.




You would never guess from this sweet picture that Ellie was mad at me for days leading up to Halloween because I wasn't "doing it right!" Meaning her costume, which did not look a think like Tinkerbells dress in the movie.


Meeting up with friends to trick or treat, this captures everyones personalities well.


Cutest pirate ever!




This is the first year Ellie has trick or treated door to door. After every door she would run up to me and say, "Look Mom! I got CANDY!" as if each time her wildest dream had come true.

fall in mapleton

A couple weeks ago I took Cody on a walk after making carmeled apples in Mapleton, where my in-laws live. It's so pretty and quiet, Cody quickly fell asleep and I snapped lots of pictures.






Get your own chairs from my dad!










Our little leaf fairy.

it's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay

a lot of pics from disneyland, etc.

We had a fabulous time in Disneyland with the Bankhead's last week. We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn which is a motel and it's really cute! I'll keep the comments short but highlights for me were having Ellie be big enough to go on most of the rides, including Tower of Terror! Watching Jann go go go. Using FastPasses to their full potential. Reliving the beach. Eating. And sleepovers with the kids.
























Ha ha, Ellie scored this shot of grandpa.


Top right: Me, Ellie, Brittany
Middle right: Calley, Court, Lew
Bottom right: Dustin, Jaime, Brett


Click. Not the greatest pic, but whatev, I wanted to try it.

ride to a witch!

Well it's about time I showed some pictures of our little buddies, Molly and Ethan. They are just about the cutest kids ever and we love to hang out with them. Saturday night we went up to Gardner's Village to ride a tractor to a witch's home, ride ponies, pet goats, get lost in a hay maze, and eat yummy soup and sugar cookies.

















This large goat wanted to snuggle up to Cody. Cody didn't realize it was there for a good couple minutes. Once he did he was pretty scared.


Some funny things to remember:
-Jumping off the tractor at full speed with a kid in each arm (hey, we were passing the food!).
-Emily getting trampled by goats while the Donkey hee-haws.
-Cody realizing that I'm not holding his hand while riding the pony.

the bird

Today I took the kids up to Snowbird to pick up some skis I bought when we were backpacking a couple weeks ago. We made a day of it and hiked around, ate lunch, rode the tram and watched the first tracks of the season being made (jealous). I LOVE hanging out with my kids! We wished daddy could be with us but he is gone working hard for us.

sarah oliva

Meet Sarah. My beautiful, talented, super smart cousin and the darling of our extended family. She has become an amazing person through lots of challenges and I look up to her so much.

She is a senior and already planning her graduation announcements and asked me to take pictures. I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to get any good shots as I really don't know what I'm doing but we got quite a few, mostly thanks to Sarah and her modeling skills.

utah is pretty

The moment we drove home from Vegas we grabbed our prepacked backpacks and headed up to AF Canyon to meet our friends Matt and Alissa.


Within the fist mile a big storm hit. Once we got out of it the weather was cold but nice.


The next morning was beautiful!




Looking down towards Midway




My favorite color combo in nature: blue sky, yellow field. This is looking at the backside of Timp.


We hiked up to 10K feet quite a few times on this trip. Once we dropped down the ridge in the picture we had lunch at Catherine Lake.




Then we headed down the trail towards Alta and Snowbird - or so we thought!


As we decended we started coming through the ski runs. Justin was taking a trip down memory lane remembering the sweet jumps at Alta he used to go off. But at the bottom there was a map for Brighton. We came down the wrong canyon. We were so ready to just relax. Everyone but Matt was totally devestated. Matt just laughed at us wimps. After lunch we began the climb back up to 10,000 feet, over the ridge and back down the left side - to Alta and our destination, Snowbird.


Matt and Alissa


Heading to Alta, attempt 2.


After all is said and done I'm glad we went to Brighton - Big Cottonwood was incredible.




Once we got finally got to Snowbird around 8:00 pm we cleaned up and had the most amazing dinner at the Cliff Lodge. My fav was the heirloom tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella. The next day we checked out Oktoberfest, sat in the hot tub, and then took the tram to the top and hiked down Mineral Basin to our truck. We figured we did about 27 miles. I AM SORE!

vegas

So Wednesday our friends Jared and Simi called to invite us to their wedding. The next day. In Vegas. H ya! :) We drove down Thursday, they got married, we played in Vegas till 3 a.m., and came home the next morning at 9:00.


The lovely couple.

Before the ceremony, we all took turns having a "moment" if you will.








Done! Thanks so much for inviting us, we had a blast!

around the house

Date with Cody to Sundance. After the hike we got an M&M cookie and a sucker. Now whenever we get in the car Cody says, "Go get cookie sucker?"


There could not have been anything more perfect at the end of our hike than a "digger".




Kids office.


New hat, new Vans. Now Cody and Justin can be twins. Maybe now Justin won't feel the need to match his tie with my dress on Sunday just to bug me.


Failed boating attempt.


"Hummm, who can I boss around now?"


I got a new camera! It is a point and shoot but has a bigger lens. Cheap and good. Like it lots.

first day of school

No, not for Ellie silly, for me!





I am going to attempt to finish my graphic design degree!

peach font

Make your own font here!

park city

Labor Day weekend in Park City with the Bankheads. Oh how nice it was to be in fresh clean dry mountain air! Although my lungs and heart did not like the elevation. We road biked and mountain biked, shopped, relaxed, and got to know our two little cousins better.


Baby Brayden


Baby Cade, who is almost 1!


My mini boyfriend.

me and my babies

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU JESS!

bye friends

We are all alone now in this mean state. We miss you friends!


Kelty and Ellie


Peach and Pie

tent city

Ocean Grove is just a few miles south of where we live. The streets are very narrow and most homes are Victorian and painted all kinds of crazy color schemes. In the center of town is Tent City. Mostly retired people rent these tents for the summer and apparantly you can be on a waiting list for years before one is available(one site said "generations" but I can't imagine that is the case). Jess and I took this first picture from the secrecy of our car at dusk one evening. They look so cozy! From what I can tell the front room is the bedroom and sitting area, and the back room is the kitchen and bathroom. The other pictures are from flickr.

i tried

Oh the day when I can afford to have a real photographer take pictures of our family (Amanda I am saving up for you). But here are a few cute ones of the kids I got tonight. How do you get your kids to look at you and not smile some wierd face/cheesy grin?! Impossible!

little people

new york at 2 feet

On our recent trip to NYC I gave Ellie the camera while she rode in the stroller. I think her photos could win a prize!

delish

We recently found Delicious Orchards, the freshest, localist, bestest market I've ever seen. It next door to the raspberry fields so the pefect outing includes a combination of berry picking, shopping for produce the market, lunch at the outdoor cafe, and the park. We eat really healthy for at least a few days after coming here.

more family!

Back for more, Grandma Jannie came again to snuggle her grandkids and brought Gramps, Court, Jaime and Calley (Justin's 3 youngest sisters) this time! We packed a lot into their short trip - they are so fun and easy to have around.

Six Flags






I wasn't sure how Cody would do on this ride. Parents couldn't ride on it and Cody seemed a little unsure. I'm so glad he has such a good big sister and he loved it.




We only had 4 hours there but it was perfect for me. The girls and I went on a few roller coasters while Lew and Jann went with the kids and to the Light Parade.

Beach






A new restaurant called Shaka just opened below our apartments. They have so yummy tacos, chips and salsa for only $2.50 so I eat there a lot.



Asbury Park

Asbury Park is known for it's rich music history. Almost any band you can think of back to the 50's has played there. They are trying to revitalize the town and I like what they are doing. It reminded Lew of Uruguay with the flat roofs, the shipping containers turned shops and eateries, and the mis-matchy-ness. We ate at a great mexican restaurant on the boardwalk as we watched a storm move in. We had time to look in a few shops before the rain trapped us under the old casino.

new york

Saturday the girls went to New York while Justin worked (sad) and Lew took Cody to the racetrack by our house. I think Lew had the most fun!


Outside MOMA - I wanted to go in their giftshop but it was closed.


American Girl Store


M&M World. Ellie dissapeared for a moment and I found her sitting on this ledge, eating her M&M's, looking down on Broadway.


Sephora. I think this was one of Ellie's favorites.


Waiting for the girls outside Macy's.


Chasing the pigeons.


We also saw Mary Poppins and it was sooo good. There is one wierd part where the toys come to life and scare the kids. But the costumes, scenery and acting were so fun. Ellie loved when Mary Poppins flew over the audience, when Bert walked up the wall and across the ceiling and when the bad nanny dissapeared.

Thank you for such a fun day Jann! She paid for everything from the train ride to lunch to the play. It was a day I will never forget!

serious business.

Miniature golf is serious business for Cody. He nevers gets distracted and plays all 18 holes. Since these pics he's figured out how to hold the club correctly - maybe my dad will get a golfer after all!


"I did it!" Then he hits the club on the ground as hard as he can.








Ellie took a few breaks to make tables and picnics out of the rocks.



These pics are from Asbury Park where we have been hanging out lately. It's becoming one of my favorite little spots here. It's very unique. I'll be back to take pictures soon.

yankees

Who did they play? Can't remember. Did they win? I think so. What's the new stadium like? It's like cement. Did you have fun? Of course!