My View Through Amber Colored Glasses

Friday, February 21, 2014

We built a house!

When Shawn and I got married, we knew we wanted a house that would be "ours". We looked for quite a while and couldn't find just the right one. We knew when the time was right, the house of our dreams would find us, and it did! We were looking at some foreclosures and short sales with our real estate agent, and he asked us if we wanted to see his mom's house cuz it sounded just like what we were asking for. After looking through his mom's house he took us to Hardrock Homes and we toured the model home. It was close, but not quite right. We wanted a master bedroom on the main level so when we get old and our knees don't work as well that we wouldn't have to climb any stairs. We wanted an office for Shawn and a music room for my piano. Hardrock was AWESOME to work with. They changed the house plan to exactly what we wanted. So, when people ask us which model we built, we say "The Beagley" cuz there won't be another house built just like ours : )

Digging the hole

That's a big hole!

Brooke

McKenzie

Brandon

Bradley

Carson

Framing has begun (Rear View)

Framing (Front View)

It's starting to look like a house!

The finished product!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Time flies when you're having fun!

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post! So many things to catch up on. I started this blog as a way to record the things my family does...for memories sake. But, life slips away so quickly and before you know it, almost 2 years have passed. So, the following posts are just a catch up.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Carson's Preschool Graduation

Carson's pre-school graduation was so great. His teacher, "Miss Kim" did a fabulous job with those kids. Carson really loved going to school. It was so cute, because when they asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up, he replied "I want to be an Eye Doctor". Gee, I wonder where he got that from : ) He loves getting dressed up in his shirt and tie with dress pants because he looks just like dad when he goes to work.

All dressed up, just like dad!

So cute in his graduation cap!

Carson and Miss Kim (The best pre-school teacher ever)

Our first Pinewood Derby!

We participated in our first Pinewood Derby with the boys in cub scouts! I would say it was pretty successful! Brandon brought home the trophy for fastest car, and Bradley brought home to trophy for having the best looking car! I was so proud of them! They worked really hard on those cars.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Mother's Day

I am so spoiled and so blessed! I have the most amazing family ever! So, for Mother's Day this year, my hubby brought me home 2 dozen roses and a "chick flick" to snuggle and watch together. It's one of my favorite things in the world be wrapped up in his arms. For someone as tall as I am, it's hard to feel delicate or even small and fragile. Shawn has this amazing way of making me feel like I am worth more than anything, and as fragile as a porcellian doll. So after we put the kids in bed on Saturday night, we watched "The Vow". I really thought I was going to like that movie, but it wasn't that good. But, it was the thought that counted.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, the kids brought me breakfast in bed (A blueberry bagel and Dr. Pepper - YUMMY). Shawn had bought a mother's day coursage for the kids to give me to wear to church. Then Shawn (with the help of the kids) wrote me a poem. I cried! I sometimes feel like it is so hard to raise 5 kids, and keep the house clean, homework done, piano practiced, running kids to and from their activities. I feel like I am going to "drop the ball" sometimes. But, my family always lets me know that somehow - I am doing an okay job! I love my family soooo much!

Disneyland 2012

We took our first trip to Disneyland as a family this year. It was absolutely perfect! I don't know how it could have gone any better. We left on Monday morning at 3:30am (we wanted kids to sleep most of the way). We stopped in St. George for breakfast & a potty break, then it seemed like no time and we were in Anaheim. I was expecting the drive to be the worst part of the whole trip...but it wasn't bad at all! The kids were fantastic. When we got to California, we checked into our condo, then went and got grocieries at Costco. We had plans to eat breakfast each morning in the condo, and pack a lunch to take into the park. Then we went to Downtown Disney District. The kids had saved their money to do a build-a-bear in Disneyland. Then we took them to Goofy's Kitchen to eat. It was an amazing experience. Most of the food is centered around kids, so you know they got tons to eat. Then Disney characters came and signed autographs and took pictures at your table with you. It was so much fun to see the kids faces light up when those characters came to see them.

The next day was our first full day at Disneyland! The weather was perfect and so were the crowds. I think we may have had to wait in 2 lines, otherwise we just walked on to all of the rides.

The morning of the first day we wanted to take the boys to Jedi Training Academy. Kids get chosen from the crowd to come up on stage and participate. My worry was that 1-2 of my boys would get chosen, but someone would get left out. But, all three boys were chosed to participate up on stage. They were so cute! I was so proud watching my boys fighting Darth Maul and Darth Vador!

We had so much fun at Disneyland. The next day we went to California Adventure. We told the kids that if they went on every ride with us at California Adventure, then we would take them to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. McKenzie was scared to death to go on California Screamin' but she dug up enough courage to go with us. It was funny too, because as soon as she rode it once, she wanted to go again - now she says it was her favorite ride! Taking the kids on the Tower of Terror was fun too. They were so scared - but we all had a lot of fun.

On the third day, we went back to Disneyland. I made reservations for Brooke and McKenzie to go to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. This cute little shop next to the castle that does hair and makeup and treats your little girls like princesses. It was so much fun to watch them get pampered by their fairy godmother in training.

While I had the girls busy at the boutique, Shawn took the boys back over to tommorowland to build a jedi light saber. They were huge - I really think that Carson's light saber is as big as he is!

We had tons of fun riding rides, visiting characters and getting autographs!

At the end of each day, we watched Fantasmic, World of Color, and the big fireworks show. They were amazing, but Carson always seemed to fall asleep before each show!