Good-bye Arizona

Although we are of course excited to be here in Washington, leaving all of our friends and family there was really hard! The last week or two was filled with lots of packing and cleaning, and lots of lasts:
Last time babysitting my sweet Brooke:
Last time hanging out with Jill and her kiddos:
Last mutual (softball):

All the YW at the end of the game... sorry my flash caught all of the dust that had just been kicked up:
Macey and Sarah:Caitlin after her awesome slide:Megan, Mary, Deanna, and Erika:
Last time seeing Grandad and Tami for a while:
Last dinner with my best friend Jatana: (or as she called it: The Last Supper)Jatana's daughter Alex with Adin:Adin playing with their big dog:I love you all in Arizona, and we really do miss you!!!!

Long time no Blog!

Hi everyone... I know it has been a while for me. We have been pretty busy the last little while, but I haven't really had the camera out much. I am not going to fill you in on all the details... the only important thing here is that I'll be arriving in Washington in ONE week!!!!! I still have quite a bit of packing to do, but I at least want to blog about the baby shower I threw for my friend, Jatana, on Saturday. It is the first shower I have ever thrown, and since she is having a girl, I kind of went crazy :)
Here is the name banner I made for her daughter's nursery:
And the outfits I got for her:
This isn't the greatest picutre, but here are the booties I crocheted:
The spread:
Games:
Our guest of honor with a beautiful blanket that a resident at our complex made for her:
I was unprepared... forgot to charge the batteries for my camera, so unfortunately, that is all the pictures I was able to get. Thankfully, you can get the idea. I am going to miss my dear friend, but am thankful that I will finally be closer to my family.

BIG Week!

WISDOM TEETH
Well, I finally got my wisdom teeth out on Thursday. No fun! But it really wasn't too bad... of course- I was a sight to see. lol
ADIN's FIRST STEPS
We had a huge milestone!!! On Friday, Adin took about 5 or six steps from me on the couch, to Dad a few steps away. I grabbed the camera, as we tried to coerce him to walk some more. We got a little recorded. Please keep in mind, that my mouth is stuffed with gauze as I was recording, so I sound a little muffled.



ADIN's FIRST INDEPENDENCE DAYI hope that everyone had a fabulous 4th of July! Ours was pretty low key. We took naps, played some games. Miah made a rotisserie chicken on our BBQ... which I could only gum a few bites of- but it was DELICIOUS!!! We kept Adin up, and drove over and parked at the Chandler Airstrip so we could get a good view of the fireworks. Adin and I with some fireworks in the background (Try to ignore me... I am still not 100%)Adin was MESMERIZED!!!! (Just look at his face)

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE!!!!

Finished... FINALLY

Remember that sneak peak... from like a year ago??? (Here's a reminder)
Well, right after that little peak, we moved and I misplaced the squares I had made, which really bummed me. Then I finally decided a couple of months ago to just start over (and don't you know they showed up!) But then I needed more yarn, so I went back to Walmart, where I had originally purchased the red and white, and go figure, they didn't carry it anymore! I checked JoAnns and Michaels... no luck. That means I had to order it online (which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't charge a million dollars for shipping). So I pouted about that for a while, until I finally decided I just really wanted to finish this adorable little blanket. I sucked it up, and ordered the yarn... and now it is FINALLY FINISHED!!!!! Hoo-ray!!!!!!!
And a close up of the monkey and the edging detail
Thank you to all of you who are an inspiration... I love looking at all the amazing creations you come up with! You truly inspire me to try to be more creative, and to be proud of the work I do! Thanks!!

mmmm.... blackberries!!!!!

My favorite everything is BLACKBERRY!!! Blackberry shakes (especially from Burger Express), blackberry jam, blackberry cobbler, blackberry pie....

But I have a very hard time bringing myself to buy blackberries, since growing up in Washington, where they grow like weeds, we used to go out and pick them for simply the price of purple-stained, scratched fingers. I finally broke down and bought a flat, when I got a good deal through the produce co-op I participate in. Ohhhhh, they are as good as I always remember...

Today I made jam: As easy as
1)
2)

3)

And had to top the day off with some cobbler... as fabulous as I recall it being... YUMMY!!!!

My projects

Earlier this week, chicken breasts were on a really good sale, so I bought a few packages, and decided to can them. I have done this once before, and it is surprisingly easy. I just boiled the chicken in my new giant stock pot, and then I skinned and pulled the chicken off the bone. Stuffed it in the sterilized jars, and filled them with water (last time I used broth instead of water). Then I took them over to my sister-in-laws, and used her pressure canner to seal on the lids. I have used the chicken to make Tortilla soup, Enchiladas, Stir-fry, chimichangas, and pretty much anything else that chicken is good in. It makes life a lot easier... not to mention I am trying to follow the prophets counsel to build up my food storage.

WHAT's for Dinner??? Adin Stew!!! Yum Yum!

New Crocheting project
I decided to try something a little new and different - I made a Lion! It took me a little while, but it really wasn't too hard! I had a lot of fun making it, and I think Adin really likes it too!!!

Feeling Sick

Yesterday I was feeling not-so-well. Mostly, I think I was just plain exhausted. Miah got terribly sick last week, and so I spent a few days babying him, until Thursday afternoon, when I had to go to a family in our ward to babysit/house-sit (they won a trip to Hawaii!!!). Miah stayed home, so he wouldn't spread whatever he had (the doc wasn't sure what he had, but gave him antibiotics anyways). At Three in the morning, their son came into my bedroom, because he was having a terrible Asthma attack. I got out of bed to administer a breathing treatment. By morning, he was still wheezing, so I kept him home from school, and by afternoon decided to take him to the doctor. Low and behold, he had contracted Pneumonia!!! (Good thing his mom was prepared, and left me insurance info and money... money intended for us to have fun with- the doctor is fun, right?!?!?). Poor kid, I had to fill FOUR prescriptions for him! If that wasn't enough excitement for me, on Sunday, Adin started having diarrhea - the blow out the diaper, change the clothes, and give him another bath, again, diarrhea! He is barely getting over that today! And of course, on Monday, I came home to a HUGE pile of dirty laundry, and gross sheets (who wants to sleep in the sheets of someone who was sweating terribly with a high fever?!?!), and a house that just smelled of sick. So I spent most of the day doing laundry, cleaning, and doing more laundry! Yesterday, I finally cracked. I was so exhausted, I felt congested, dizzy, and mostly, tired! I decided to do NOTHING! Of course, I am a mom, and I can't just call in sick, but every chance I had, I was laying down- either sleeping, or watching movies. Miah went to the store to get me some chicken-noodle soup in the evening, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a vase of beautiful tulips next to my bed! (Which I have no idea how he got in there without my seeing, I was sitting on the couch when he came in, and he only made one trip... I must have been more out of it than I realized!) I have never received flowers when I was sick/down, and I realized how much they really lift the spirits! So I want to publicly thank my wonderful husband for his loving and thoughtful gesture!!! I truly feel a lot better today. Support and love go a long ways!!!
This morning, Adin is finally feeling a lot better. I set him in his high chair to eat some cheerios (his new FAVORITE thing!!!). I went over into the living room to check something on the computer, and once his cheerios were gone, I noticed him playing peek-a-boo with me, so I had to capture a shot... it was so cute! (Just so you know, the entire box of cereal is not on his tray, even though it looks like it in this pic!)

New Hobby

A little while before Adin was born, I was learning how to crochet. It is a pretty slow process for me to finish a project, mostly because I don't find much time to really focus on it (and sometimes I am am just a little ADD!!). I have really been enjoying myself though... especially as the finished product unfolds. I have made a hat/blanket set for Adin- it is blue, white and brown.

Adin thinks it tastes good!!Now I am working on a monkey blanket and hat. I am so pleased with the way the monkey face turned out, and am excited to see what the finished piece will look like. (When looking at the monkey blanket-in-progress, just keep in mind that it still has to be ironed, and will look a little less wobbly when finished) This at least gives an idea of what my next blanket will look like: Isn't the monkey cute?!?!

PS. Update on the Photo book: I think it turned out Adorable!!! I love it (and Adin enjoyed it too)!

Photo Book

I am terrible at completing projects that I start, so I am thrilled to have discovered Shutterfly's photo books. I have taken close to 300 pictures of Adin so far, and was about to send them off to Costco to be printed when I realized, what on earth am I going to do with all of these pictures??? I can't stop taking them, because he is so darn cute, but let's face it... I haven't even gotten half way through my wedding album! I love scrapbooking, but it requires so much time and thought for me, that sometimes it is overwhelming and ends up not really worth it. So I am trying out these photo books that they offer. The first one I made is only an 8x8 with 20 pages and about 40 pics, but it was so easy- it only took me about a couple of hours. The layouts are pre-selectable, and then you just click and drag the uploaded photos into place. Pretty much it is a combination of a regular photo album with simple scrapbooking. Creating Keepsakes has designed many of the layout options. Anyways, I am pretty excited, and hope that it turns out (I should get it in the mail either the end of this week or early next week). I will let you know how the end product looks, but if you want to see what it should look like, just click on this link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EcM2TlmzcMXEA