The Petersons

December and January

2012-01-25T16:08:00.007-07:00

Why does it get harder and harder to post on this blog? I keep putting it off, and now that I'm FINALLY pushing myself to post, Blogger wouldn't let me rearrange the pictures, but I tried to work with it, so hopefully everything is in order :)

Peterson family Christmas party we went to Temple Square, because it's tradition. It's a miracle we got a decent picture, but I found a spot with a light so we wouldn't be so dark.

Gough family party always includes a special visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. They brought Wyatt a candy cane and a winter hat, but he wasn't a fan.

Christmas Eve is spent at my parents house. I made my parents a "family tree" that has the names of the family members as the branches of the trees. My mom has done most of the family history work on her side and my dad's side, so it was a super special gift to her (I actually gave her a canvas, but it didn't arrive in time).Christmas morning, opening presents at home.

Daddy got socks, his favorite!

Wyatt found a truck under the Christmas tree that Santa had left for him!After opening presents at home, we went to Grandpa and Grandma Peterson's for breakfast and presents. Wyatt got a semi truck that he likes to bump into the walls because it makes noise when it runs into something.My mother-in-law and I happened to get Adam the same sweatshirt, which is especially funny because he wore it over for breakfast and then opened the same one.

Hope that wasn't too many Christmas pics for you.

January has been pretty simple, Adam's been working lots and we've been cleaning, organizing, and trying to recoup from Christmas.

One thing we do every week is go to Toddler Storytime at the Herriman Library. Wyatt LOVES to go and watch all of the kids and mommy sing the silly songs each week.

October and November...

2011-11-26T23:23:00.006-07:00

Now that Wyatt's over a year old, my goal was to post AT LEAST monthly, but that is so much harder then it sounds for me. So we'll catch up with two months!

After Wyatt's first birthday, he was finally heavy enough to get a forward-facing car seat. He loves it, looks out the windows and likes to smile at us through the rear view mirror. Sleeping can be a little tricky, though. It makes me so sad when I hit the brakes and his head bounces forward, followed by sad fussing in the back seat :(

Before Halloween, we went to our favorite pumpkin patch with our friends (Kevin, Amber, and Paisley) to get our pumpkins. He loves to ride Daddy's shoulders!
Riding on the John Deere tractor.

Playing with PJ

While we carved our pumpkins, Daddy thought it would be funny to see what Wyatt did with the insides. He touched it once and that was that. We didn't dress up, but for sure will next year when he's old enough to go trick-or-treating!

Off to the zoo we went! It was Wyatt's first time and he really like watching the animals. We went with Uncle Brant and Shelley, and our favorite part was when the baby elephant chased the chickens out of his pen :)

Passing on some of my family traditions to Wyatt. Pie is a HUGE part of Thanksgiving for my family, so part of that is eating pie for breakfast on the morning after Thanksgiving. I don't think Wyatt minded sharing my pumpkin pie with me, do you?
Wyatt has been getting into everything and climbing up everything. He's walking along furniture like crazy and has started to climb on and off of the couch. His favorite pass-time (if I'd let him) is pulling off the toilet paper and putting things into the toilet.

This little guy is very interested in how things work and making them work all by himself. He's been trying to figure out the baby gate, loves to stack cups and "mix" with a bowl and spoon, and every time we wakes up in his crib, he turns on his projector :) My favorite moment... he woke up from his nap, and when I went to get him, I had some of his laundry to put away, so I did that first. His projector had turned off, so he walked to the other side of his crib to turn back on, and then walked back to where I was :) Wyatt loves to play with Brody. He laughs at him a lot and LOVES to get his ball. Oh, and feeding Brody his "leftovers." Plus, playing in Brody's bowl (mainly putting his food into the water bowl) is always fun :)

We had such a good Thanksgiving with both of our families and can't wait to have a wonderful Christmas season!

Wyatt is One!

2011-10-11T14:55:00.004-06:00

We accidently skipped a month because we were so busy, but we'll catch up this time! Our sweet baby is turning into a little boy! We've been up to a lot lately, so here are just some highlights.

Wyatt and I have gone to the splash park a few times this summer, since it's just down the street. He wasn't crawling yet, so it was mostly just Mommy swinging him into the water, but Wyatt loved it!

My Grandpa passed away suddenly, so Wyatt and I went on a road trip with my parents to Phoenix for a week for the funeral. We stopped in Vegas on the way home and Wyatt was AMAZED by all of the lights everywhere! Here he is in front of Excaliber.

Wy is really starting to love toys, so he plays a lot on the floor now while Mommy gets things done around the house. Now that he is crawling (about 11.5 months!), he loves to chase around the toys that he got for his birthday and play.

Baby Boy looks a little funny in this picture, but he is really starting to move around. He's started to pull himself up to the couch and has even figured out how to go up the stairs! Now we just need to figure out how to get DOWN the stairs, but it's much more difficult :) Recently, he just stays away from the stairs going down, or he gets scared if he get's "stuck" on the stairs because he can't get down. He's always so cautious!

We had a fun birthday party for Wyatt, but Daddy and Mommy made sure to make his actual birthday special too. We gave him a few small presents (John Deere UTV and toy semi truck and trailer) and clothes. He loves that JD UTV and plays with it a lot on the floor, rolling it back and forth and making vroom sounds. We also ran lots of errands on his birthday, and made sure to stop at the Sweet Tooth Fairy for a cookie and some cupcakes for later that night.

Little Man has recently gone through a growth spurt, so he's getting a whole new wardrobe! We've been shopping for clothes that are long enough, but not too big for my skinny mini, so it's taken a lot of trying on, but he's been awesome. I can't believe he's been wearing 6-9 month clothing since he was 6 months! With shorts and short sleeves, it was hardly noticable, but now that we're venturing into warmer clothes, I couldn't believe how short his pants were getting!

Wyatt has suddenly become interested in the TV. Not always, but here he is, watching HGTV on the plasma. He really likes the Sesame Street music video that we have and watches that about once a week!

Some more things we want to remember:

**Wyatt has six teeth now! The past three months has been exciting going from no teeth to six. There's always a new one coming!

**He's starting to pick up on little things and is copying and communicating. He signs "all done" VERY enthusiastically when he's finished eating, and copies my tone to say "thank you" after I've given him something. He knows specific words like drink and loves and kisses, so it's really fun to see the new things he picks up each day.

**When Wy gets excited, he fake-laughs and pants like he's out of breath. He thinks he's so funny.

**Wyatt is kinda in between one and two naps during the day, but still sleeps really good at night.

**Wyatt loves Brody, especially Brody's FAVORITE ball. He will drop anything to go crawl after that ball if Brody will let him get to it. Often, Brody thinks he's playing, so Brody will grab the ball and knock Wyatt over. Wyatt cries, so I started saying, "Tell Brody, no no" and pointing my finger at Brody. Wyatt's starting to pick up on it and points to Brody whenever he gets mad.

**He still loves to eat. A few of his favorites are grapes, noodles, milk, chocolate milk, fruit loops, and graham crackers. He also loves to eat whatever we're eating and is never picky, a stinker sometimes, but not picky.

**It's so funny to watch when he's doing something "naughty", because he is SO easily startled. All I have to do is say his name in a warning voice and he jumps so high! Sometimes he gets startled so badly that he starts to cry :) Guess he just has a good conscience early on!

We love you sweet boy. More and more every day! You make us laugh constantly and if all of our kids were like you, we'd probably have 10! You are so fun and mild and sweet.

Wyatt's First Birthday Party!

2011-10-03T16:05:00.003-06:00

Wow, my baby is one. Unbelieveable! We had a fun little birthday party with family and closest friends. It was supposed to be camping themed, but with a surprise funeral that afternoon, a lot of the decorations were thrown out the door cause we didn't have time to put them up! :)

Let's make this quick, so hopefully I can get through this post without crying :)

We had lots of people over in the backyard, including Wyatt's bestie, Paisley. Kisses!
Yummy yummy food, including burgers, hot dogs, dirt'n'worms, owl cupcakes, and s'mores! And thanks to everyone who brought something.

LOTS of family came, any one that could be there (ie. not out of state) was there! This is Adam's side of the fam (since mine was "segregated" on the other side of the patio. Why do families do that?)

Special b-day cake I made for him. I had to hold it away while we sang "Happy Birthday" because he kept grabbing for the candle :)

This kid takes sweets seriously! He ate quite a bit of the cake, especially the frosting, but he definitely needed a sippy cup of milk after.

Wyatt is so loved, he got so many great gifts! Lots of fun toys and clothes. Took a little incouragement from Mommy to get him to open the presents.

Roasting marshmellos over the fire is the perfect way to finish off this "campout".

Thanks to everyone that came and made this birthday so fun!

Ten Months Old

2011-08-04T16:04:00.008-06:00

July has gone by in the blink of an eye! We've been busy busy.

Wyatt and I went with Amber and Paisley to Daybreak Lake. They loved playing in the sand and the water. They are best buddies! Paisley calls him by name as soon as she sees him. Oh, and calls Adam, "My Pete" since he goes by Pete to most of his friends :) So cute.

On July 23, we went to Scipio for the annual rodeo. Uncle Brant came with us to go shootin' with Daddy, but Wyatt liked him best when he shared his snow cone with him :) We had to leave early, but the rodeo wasn't very good this year and we had a very tired baby, so it was okay.

It's been full blown softball season around here, and Uncle Brant is on the Monday night team this year. Wyatt and I go to as many of Daddy's games as we can (unless they conflict with bedtime!) The Blind Expressions team (Mondays) has done really well this season as usual, but this year Daddy and Kevin joined another team on Wednesdays...they're not very good. I think that team has won 2 games all season? Ha! Daddy's been playing 2nd base on Monday's, which is a fun change from the usual 1st base.

This picture is a little blurry, but it's so Wyatt. He LOVES to eat anything and this was his first chocolate chip cookie. Think he's a fan?

My whole family (minus Steve) came into town for Pioneers Day. We had so much fun spending time with cousins and family. We went camping over night and Chantel's kids loved it. Wyatt especially loved seeing Grandma more often the usual. He's happier with her then anyone besides Adam and I. Maybe because I take after my mom? Grandma loves holding and playing with Wyatt and was making him laugh and smile while playing with McKayla's Pooh Bear.
I like to post videos so I can remember how we acted and the funny things he does. He's starting to laugh at everythng, or nothing at all. And his laugh is getting bigger and bigger

*Wyatt's new favorite food is strawberries. He will pass up on hot dogs AND string cheese to eat some fresh strawberries! But I think they're still second place to ice cream :)

*Wyatt falls over a lot recently. He sits on the floor and tries to reach things that are out of reach, therefore tipping over. A lot of the time, as he's falling, he rolls on his tummy to avoid "getting hurt." He gets so mad, but we're trying to make him figure out how to get out of the situation rather then just fixing it for him.

*He seems to be going through another growth spurt. And as of today, he has three teeth!

*Wyatt likes to roll his trucks back and forth and make "vroom" sounds. It's his favorite toy by far, and it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

*Nicknames: Scooter, Buddy, Dooder, Baby Boy

Wyatt, you're getting so so so big! Can't believe your birthday is coming up so soon. We love you more each day and you hold our family even closer together.

Hike to Lake Blanche

2011-07-03T12:20:00.005-06:00

4th of July weekend we decided to hike to Lake Blanche. Because of the heat, we got to the trailhead at 6:30am. Early early. Getting started on the hike, still in great spirits, but Wyatt was tired. He kept looking at me like "mom, why am I not asleep in bed right now?"

Everything was so green and shaded on the way up.

Wyatt was such a trooper in his backpack. He kept sticking his right arm straight out to grab the leaves off of the trees. No luck:)

It wasn't an easy hike.

But the end was beautiful.

The last 1/4 of the hike, Wyatt got really tired and fussy. So his daddy carried him in his arms until he fell asleep. What a good daddy.

This is Lake Blanche. Next to it (below) are Lake Lillian and Lake Florence.

We stopped for a lunch/snack break and then headed back down. It was hot and sunny the whole way down. Blek! We were so tired that it took longer to go back down then it was to come up! It was exhausting, but such a pretty destination. Just wish it wasn't so hot hiking back down. We were all ready to be done and back in the car :)

2011-07-03T11:38:00.003-06:00

Not too much to update, since I recently posted about what we've been up to. But this is all about Wyatt!

Scooter got his first tooth! You can see it kind of shining in the picture below. He constantly sticks out his tongue to feel it.
Can't wait until he gets more teeth so he can eat better then just sucking on everything! (just crossing my fingers he doesn't start "biting") His favorite foods are string cheese and hot dogs, but will really eat anything. He loves yogurt, raisins, graham crackers, pretzels, peas, and applesauce just to name a few. He even likes shrimp that we just tried for the first time with fried rice. He's such a good eater, I'm so glad! At his 9 month doctors appointment, he had his blood taken and the doctor said that he's getting enough calories (how his blood can tell you that, I have no idea). It was such a relief that my skinny string bean was thin because of his genes (surprise!) and not because of any other issue.

We went to the Riverton Days carnival with our friends the Smiths and the Broos. Wyatt was really tired (wouldn't take a nap all day!) but he was a trooper.
Paisley loved to go on the kiddie rides. So cute.
Daddy won Wyatt this hammer. He was so strong!

Amber, PJ, Cameron, and Jackson going down the Big Slide. Paisley and Jackson weren't as thrilled going down, but Jackson would never admit it :)

Happy Family!

Wyatt's stats:

18 lbs 4 oz (20%)

30" long (95%)

Still wears 6-9 month clothing

He's not crawling but he pushes up when he's on his tummy. He is starting to mimick us already. If we sneeze or cough, he smiles and coughs back at us. When I make noises putting lotion on him (cause it's cold), he makes the same noises. He knows how to clap his hands and give "high fives". He really likes to read the book "Mr. Brown can Moo" and giggles when I make the animal sounds. His favorites are Moo and Cock-a-doodle-doo! When I get him up from his naps, I like to slowly peek through the door until he sees me. Then he usually gasps and starts kicking and trowing his arms. His favorite is to kick both legs and throw both arms above his head at the same time, over and over, to which he usually laughs at himself. He know reaches his arms out to us, sometimes just to be picked up, but often reaches for Daddy when I hold him or the other way around. He says "a-da", usually a whisper, when we say Brody or when he sees Brody. And still says da-da when he sees his daddy. He's sleeping at least 10 hours straight at night, which is awesome!

He is getting so so big and is more fun every day. Adam always says "Man, I love that kid" all of the time and it just reminds me how happy he makes us. He keeps us laughing every day. We love you Baby Boy. Can't believe how big yo're getting! Stop growing so fast!

What's up

2011-06-17T17:03:00.004-06:00

A lot has happened lately, so I thought I'd update the ol' blog BEFORE Wyatt's 9-month date.

Rodeo season has finally arrived! First up, Herriman Rodeo. It was really nice outside... until the sun set. Burrr! Never been cold during a rodeo before!
Here's my little stud-muffin and me.

We went with Kevin and Amber, and of course Paisley!

Wyatt and Paisley are becoming best buddies and they were both dressed to the nines for the rodeo. Pais looks so cute in the boots we got her for her first birthday! They both were very distracted by the animals, especially the sheep!

Gotta love the belt buckles! New family tradition.

The next weekend we went up to Bear Lake for a Peterson weekend getaway. Grandma Peterson had to "supervise" Wyatt's cousin Avery. She LOVED him and always wanted to hold or touch him.

Wyatt didn't know what to think of the toy merry-go-round. Daddy even let go! Yikes! Playing after dinner where we got the Old Ephraim.

We went on a tour of the Minnetonka caves about 30 minutes outside of Bear Lake. It is a constant 41 degrees in the cave year round. Burr! And the dripping from the ceiling didn't help warm things up either.

Wyatt's nose was cold and red :) Posing inside the cave

I had a much needed "girls night" with my old high school girlfriends. It's been a long time since I've seen them all, and it was so fun. Wyatt was ready to go home after 10:00 passed and I didn't realize it was so late!

Wyatt got his first haircut! I know, at 8 months old! But it's really straight and was starting to get too long that we couldn't style it easily anymore.

Before: (kinda out of control)

And about an hour later: (yeah, it does take that long on him!)

So handsome, looks just like daddy's!!! And so much better.

See you in a week for Wyatt's update!

Wyatt is 8 months old ALREADY!

2011-05-30T21:50:00.004-06:00

Forgot to post last month, so I have TWO months to catch up on.

Wyatt made his first trip down to Scipio for Easter. He did really good not to touch anything at the Antique Store :)

It was freezing for the Easter Egg Hunt, and since it was Wyatt's naptime, he just stayed wrapped up in his favorite blanket in Mommy and Daddy's arms.

Wyatt loves to try any food we put in front of him. Sometimes he takes it without hesitation, and sometimes he shuts his lips tight and pulls back to look at it for a few seconds before it passes his inspection. He is a REALLY good eater, still eating every two hours during the day!
He especially loves sweet treats! Daddy got this sucker for him at the bank :)

We had a spell of warm days and the ice cream truck came by our neighborhood. Mommy couldn't help but buy her sweet boy his very own popsicle. (PS, our tulips finally came up! It was our first time to plant tulips and we were very excited when they finally popped up)

It was My birthday this month. I was spoiled with flowers, a new diaper bag, and a NICE dinner out on the town at The New Yorker (my fav!).

Wyatt love to chew on his toes and likes to pull off his shoes so that he can chew on them.
He's looking so big!

What else we've been up to:

We (as in Adam) have built two landscaping rock walls to try and finish off or side yard. We've also planted grass seed around our new patio, planted flowers in the front yard, a large herb garden and some veggies.

Wyatt LOVES to talk. He likes to say Dada in the mornings when he's still in bed and he talks really loud when it's noisy. He growls back at Daddy when Daddy growls at him :)

Wyatt knows who Brody is and smiles and laughs at Brody every day. Sure loves that big hairball.

No crawling yet, but he loves to sit up on the floor and play with his toys. We just had to lift his Jumparoo up higher because he gets bouncing so high it lifts off of the ground! He also likes to lay on his back and push up on his legs so he can bounce his bum in the hair. It's pretty funny.

He has gotten really good at picking food up and putting it in his mouth, and prefers to feed himself. And he's finally gotten the hang of a sippy cup! (we've been working on it for a long time, since he won't take a bottle)

Wyatt gets really giggly before bed time. It's so fun to make him laugh out loud over the most simple things. He has such a great laugh!

Wyatt loves to play in the bathtub, especially with his rubber ducky. He pushes it in the water, then splashes until I hand it back to him. Then he holds it, drops it back in the water after a minute, and then splashes all over again :)

Wyatt is growing so fast. He's still just long and skinny, with such light blonde hair and big blue eyes. I never get sick of people telling us how cute he is :) Just makes me happy to know I'm not the only one that thinsk he's absolutely adorable. It's so fun to watch him grow and learn, we're so lucky to have such a sweet boy. We love you, Scooter!

Wyatt 6 months

2011-04-09T17:23:00.005-06:00

This is a little late, because my pics have been stuck on the card, but here's what's new with Wyatt. We have NO luck with bottles anymore, so we've been "practicing" with sippy cups before the hot summer comes! Mostly he just chew on it and swallows the little water that gets in his mouth and not on his shirt :) We've been continuing with solid foods, adding proteins to the fruit-veggie-only diet. And Wyatt loves almost any food we give him! He gags on lots of solid things that get on the back of the tongue, so we're trying to go slowly so he'll get the hang of swallowing. Favorite new snack? Nilla Wafers! They get ALL OVER! Wyatt is starting to notice lots of new things. Brody (which he cracks up at all of the time!), strange new people, and especially the camera. This is the face I catch most. He won't smile at my silly faces because he just stares at the camera :) Wyatt likes to arch his back while he pushes up on his legs, so he turns himself sideways. And kick at anything close to his feet. So most of the time when I put him under this playmat, he ends up knocking down the arch and stradling it :) Often with a toy in his mouth too Uncle Brant loves Wyatt, but I don't think he's so sure about him. Maybe because Uncle likes to let Wyatt try "new" things to see the funny look on his face. Horseradish, wasabi, etc. But only when Mommy isn't looking. I wouldn't trust him either, little buddy! We practice tummy time, but no signs of pushing up to crawl yet. Probably because we start out like this. Then five minutes later...... go to this...... and end up like this :) Oh, and Brody thinks that blanket is for him. And that Wyatt's baby lotion tastes delicious :) Paisley and Wyatt love to play together. PJ came over and had fun "tickling" Wyatt. Mostly, we just have a sweet, happy baby boy. He loves to talk to himself (mostly ada-da-da-da!) and chew on his fingers. He smiles REALLY big when I say Dada amd smiles the biggest for his Daddy. He loves to play in his jumparoo and bounces so high it seems like he's going to get it off of the ground! He smacks his lips if we're eating and we don't give him a little taste :) He likes to shout, but with his mouth closed sometimes, and his face is so funny! Wyatt loves to touch Brody and giggles when Brody smells his tummy. He's so fun amd we both love him to pieces!

Arches 2011

2011-03-22T13:07:00.005-06:00

We wanted to get out of town, so we decided to head to Moab for a quick weekend trip. We went with the Smith's and the plan was relaxing and going to Arches National Park and hike to Delicate Arch. I'd never been to Arches and it had been 10 years for Adam, so we were excited.

Paisley and Wyatt became best buddies! Ready for bed at Wyatt's first sleepover!

Wyatt was such a champ in the car. Getting excited to go for his first hike in Arches!

Here's Balance Rock, taken from the car. It blows me away how these rock formations just appear out of nowhere!

Off we go! Wyatt did really good in his "backpack", until we got close to the top. Then he got tired and hungry :) But we fed him and he was much happier!

The hike wasn't easy, but so worth it! The pictures don't do it justice. The arch was HUGE!

We walked over under the arch and Amber took some pictures of us, but I don't have them yet :) It was scary up there for me! I'm afraid of heights and since you're just walking on a ridge at the top of the mountain, I was pretty nervous. And having my baby there only made it worse :) It was really windy, but after such a warm hike with no shade, the wind felt good.

On the way down, both babies were SO tired. They took turns fussing so we hurried down :) First Wyatt fell asleep (yep, face-planted right into his chair. We could hear him snoring, so we weren't too worried)....

Then Paisley fell asleep. Poor girl was sleeping half-way hanging out of her chair :)

Got all cleaned up after our hike!

The whole trip was fun, but tiring (both babies had a hard time sleeping). We went to Zax for pizza and it was REALLY good! Oh, and Greg Miller (owner of the Jazz) stayed at our hotel while we were there. Almost went to say hi during breakfast, but the boys chickened out. And this sign across the street from our hotel cracked us up! I don't care how cheap the food is, anything (other then ice cream) that's served by-the-scoop can't be good!

Wyatt- 5 months

2011-03-02T09:54:00.002-07:00

Wyatt, you are 5 months old! Time has flown! What are you up to lately?

--Your current nicknames: Bubba (mommy) and Scooter (Daddy). Daddy also likes to call you Dooderhead, but mostly because you laugh every time he says it :)
--you LOVE to eat food! Your favorite things right now would have to be bananas and sweet potatoes. Least favorite? Peas and peaches.
--You love to watch US eat. When we're eating in front of you, you watch us really closely and smack your lips like you're missing out. So we usually give you a little taste of whatever we're eating :) And you love it
--You love your daddy. You stare at him when he's around and smile when he's not paying attention to you. He can Always make you laugh first!
--You are constantly moving. You kick your legs a lot and you always slap your leg with your right hand. Does that show a preference maybe?
--You HATE tummy time! You'll last for 5 minutes on your stomach, but then you stick your face into the ground and cry until we turn you over. Who knows when you'll learn how to crawl!!!
--You talk all of the time. You love to hear lots of different pitches in your voice, so you talk from low to high pitch and vary your volume from one second to the next :) Your current favorite sound is a growling sound that makes it sound like you're choaking. Mommy loves that...
--You love to grab toys and especially Mommy's hair when she's feeding you. And, of course, everything goes right in your mouth :)
--You love to be scared, but especially by Daddy. He throws you in the air, balances you on his hand, and tries to startle you every chance he can! And you love every minute of it. You always have a big grin and laugh out load with your Daddy.
--You sleep really good during the day and at night too, but lately have been waking up a few times during the night to eat. Another growth spirt maybe?
--You are still long and skinny, but starting to get just a little chub on your legs

We love you so much and it is SO FUN to watch you discover the world around you each day. You keep changing so much, and we enjoy you at each stage, but can't wait for you to get bigger and bigger! Love you Buddy

What we've been up to...

2011-02-20T12:52:00.003-07:00

Lots of pictures, not a lot of words.

Wyatt HATES tummy time, so we try the tummy for a little while and then turn him on his back. Brody always wants to be on the blanket with Wyatt, but we have to keep him from smothering Wyatt. But that doesn't stop Brody from taking a nap while Wyatt kicks him :)

We helped a dear friend of ours move. Miss you already, Shelley! (plus I cut my hair SHORT, but I'm always behind the camera so I don't have pics)

Wyatt is eating baby food now and LOVES it! Favorites so far: bananas and squash. Least favorites: carrots and peaches. Making homemade baby food is so much easier then I thought and so convenient.

Most of Wyatt's long, brown hair has fallen out and blonde has moved in, thick and long. Can't do the mohawk anymore because his hair is to stubborn, so it just gets spiked. And surprise surprise, he has a cowlick JUST like his daddy's. Turning into a little boy!

Wyatt is smiling all of the time! And loves to laugh, especially at Daddy. They've become best buds.

Last but not least. Wyatt finally fits into his cowboy hat! Yay, just in time for Easter in Scipio!

Wyatt 2.5 months

2010-12-18T10:24:00.002-07:00

Smiles!

2010-11-10T10:41:00.003-07:00

We've finally seen smiles from Wyatt! He's smiled in his sleep for a while now, but just started smiling at us. Daddy claims he saw him smile before I did, but he has no proof!And I just thought he looked like such a stud with his beanie the other day! :)

One Month Already!!!

2010-11-05T10:59:00.002-06:00

This is just a tad late, but better late then never!

Wyatt, you're a month old already! You weigh 9 lbs (50%) and are 21.25 inches long (70%)! Your favorite thing is to eat. You love to be talked to and love to look around. Your neck is getting so strong you hold your head up most of the time. You got RSV right before your one month birthday and you're working through it like a champ! The dr said he couldn't believe how well you are doing for being so young. No hospital for us! You are always stuffy, so you snort a lot and Mommy calls you Piggie when you do. We love to watch you dream because you make such funny faces and smile so big! We love you so much, Little Man!

(here's a little video for those of you who don't get to see him everyday like I do!)

New baby comes to town!

2010-10-06T13:34:00.006-06:00

Our little guy is here! Here's the story, I'll try and keep it as short as possible :)

My water broke on Sept. 28th at 4:30 pm. It was our anniversary :) It broke as I lay in bed, talking to Adam who had just woken up from the nap he was taking right beside me (I couldn't sleep). All of the "tricks" I had done to start labor didn't work, but trying to take a nap did! I gasped and told Adam, "Either I just pee'd my pants or my water just broke!"
We went to the hospital (after stopping for a quick bite) and it didn't take long for them to admit me into labor and delivery. I was leaking everywhere! When we were moved to a L&D room, I started bleeding A LOT, so they quickly got me hooked up and checked on the baby to make sure everything was A-okay, and it was.
My contractions didn't get stronger by themselves, so they put me on Pitocin. That stuff SUCKS!!! It made it hurt REALLY BAD, so at about 12:30 am, I got an epidural :) Yahoo! This is me shortly after, shivering from the epidural and labor. I took a two hour nap, and when I woke up, pushed for 1.5 hours......

This little guy came out! Crying crying crying (just like his daddy) but as pale as a ghost. They were worried that he wasn't getting enough oxygen (because he was so white) so they took him to the nursery quickly.

Here's me again after all of the pushing and stitching was over, finally enjoying the Sprite that I had been craving the whole labor!

Adam came back with Wyatt only 15 minutes after they had left for the nursery and he was just perfect and pale (takes after his daddy in more ways then one). I finally got to hold my handsome little boy for more then a few seconds. Ten fingers and ten toes PERFECT.

Here's Adam holding his son :) I think he cried for two hours straight after Wyatt was born. I've only seen him cry twice, once across the alter when we were married and when Wyatt was born.

A few hours later, Adam and Grandpa and Grandma Peterson took Wyatt to the nursery for his first bath. Daddy did such a good job!

All clean and wide awake!

Yay, my turn! Finally settled in our room and as a family :)

We only stayed at the hospital for 36 hours after delivery, and here's Wyatt in his special going-home outfit that his Papa McLellan bought him (tradition in my family).

Daddy is anxious to get home!

Home sweet home! Now we're ready to begin the rest of our lives together as a family :)

Some Wyatt photos...

2010-10-03T15:09:00.002-06:00

Sorry all. Promise to get pics up soon, but a nap is more important right now then waiting for photos to upload :) But if you want to see the pictures that they took at the hospital of us, check out BellaBabyPhotography.com
Click on the Bella Baby tab and the password is: 0929wyattpeterson

Enjoy!

Nursery Reveal!

2010-09-27T11:15:00.003-06:00

Finally done!!! Of course, we made most of the projects in the room ourselves, but rather then take a million close up pictures, I just took two and will quickly fill you in on the details :)

I painted our old TV cabinet an Oregano green color, just for more storage and a temporary changing table. The pic above that is a cute painting that Adam's grandmother painted and we got after she passed (which was right before we found out we were expecting). The blue frames I made, nothing special, but they're still empty :) Adam built my rocking chair!!!! I know! He's amazing! It's B-E-A-utiful! It's been years in the making, and he finished it just in time, since I'm due any day :) Just sewed a simple back pillow for comfort. Adam also built the barn doors/shutters on the red wall. Best part? They're functional, so I can close them and make the room DARK during the day. He made them of barn wood from Scipio, of course! Couldn't get a good pic of the red wall, because it's too bright outside, but the vinyl saying I made says "My Barn. My Rules" with a huge, old horseshoe in the middle.

On this side is his crib. Didn't make most of the bedding, but did make the rag quilt and bedskirt. The hat on the left side we bought for Wyatt, it's infant size :) Windmill I've had for a while. We made to W on the wall to mimick the Wrangler's logo out of hemp rope, and Amber Smith gave us the rusted stars. I built the shelves and painted them the same green as the dresser, and put some things I already had on them, plus the John Deere tractor we were given and of course Wyatt's first pair of boots :)

Well, that's it! Hope you like it! And if you don't, well, just keep those comments to yourself because we LOVE it! :)

Upholstery...Yuck!

2010-08-10T13:23:00.003-06:00

Never reupholstered anything before...ever. So what was I thinking when I decided to reupholster a COUCH before my due date? Hmm, maybe procrastinate it until TWO MONTHS before my due date? Yeah, hormones make me crazy in more ways then most...

But, it's done now! Guess a looming deadline was enough to push me to get it done. I forgot to take before pictures before I started ripping the fabric off. But just imagine this.... yep, old burnt orange velor... can't believe we EVER had this in our home As Is. Guess that shows how little money we had to spend on such things

Now it looks like THIS!!!! It's sweetly residing in our front room, so everyone that enters our home will see it's prettiness before the dog jumps on them or they see the pile of dishes overflowing in the sink :) The light tan color goes so well with the neutral green color of the walls. Love Love LOVE! Now, on to pillows..... After I get a bunch of other projects done that have been put on hold :)

Fishing at Trial Lake

2010-08-10T12:46:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, we left home early (how Adam convinced me to get out of bed before 6? Good question...) and started the drive to Trial Lake, off of the Mirror Lake Highway. Pretty, right?

We fished in our float tubes, like usual, but my waiters hardly fit over my belly and I had to use my father-in-law's float tube because I can't fit in mine :) Fishing was slow at first, but once I found what they were biting (gold Jakes, for anyone that knows what that means) and told Adam to try it out too, we started getting bites. I caught the first one :)

Adam caught an albino rainbow trout and was quite proud, since I had said whoever got an albino first got a 30 min backrub. Unfortunately, I caught one first, but it got away before I could pull it in all of the way, voiding my attempt!

Together we caught about 10. I caught 4 myself and this is my last one, which happened to also be the biggest of the day. Adam told me to hold it up for the picture, and after screaming once and dropping the fish, I finally got a hold of him :)
It was a fun day, especially when Adam "lost" his wallet (which turned out had fallen into his waiters) for a long while.

Family Vacation

2010-07-26T20:57:00.003-06:00

We left on Wednesday to drive down to St. George, and then continue on on Thursday to California (since our flight plans didn't work out for us). We got to California and went out to dinner on Thursday at Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co. It was SO yummy!!! Wish that they had one closer to us, because it was the best shrimp I'd ever had. On Friday, we went to Disneyland ALL DAY!!! Here's my mamma and me, waiting for the shuttle to the Magic Kingdom.

Here's the whole gang together at Disneyland. Dad, Mom, Chantel, Phil, Brant, Shelene, Me, Adam, Cristl, Steve, McKayla, Parker, Brynlee and Sam (plus Wyatt!). Anticipation for the day was high, and we still had all of our energy :)

We went on lots of rides, of course, but since I had a "condition", I stayed with the little ones on a lot of the more thrilling rides. Here's Adam waiting for the Star Tours ride. So handsome.

Taking a break to sit down before the parade starts. McKayla got the "royal treatment" at the Princess Boutique, thanks to Brant. She was giddy for the rest of the day as everyone called her Princess and said how pretty she looked. A couple of Asian ladies even asked to get their picture taken with her :)

Riding the horses on the carousel. One of my favorite rides, always to calm and relaxing.

Here's half of the group on Splash Mountain. This is one of the rides I couldn't go on, so I got to take pictures instead :)

We stayed late at the park and even had a late dinner at the Blue Bayou, the resturant in the middle of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

On Saturday, we went to Santa Monica beach to take in some sun.
Here's my view of the ocean :) Blocked just a little by my little guy!
Here we are at the beach, with Adam wearing his silly hat (his dad got it on the day Adam was born, so it's sentimental...can't do much about it). Nicely pale with fresh tan lines :)

Sam was so cute in his floaties :) He loved the beach, until he put it in his mouth!

We had so much fun in California, just spending time with our family and lots of laughs!

Long Time No See

2010-07-12T10:47:00.002-06:00

Alright, alright. Here's a new post finally. It took me a few weeks to get some pictures together, and then another few weeks to not post them :) But this post is going to be random, and quick hopefully.

Yep, the belly. 26 weeks, 2 days. And that was almost two weeks ago! Yikes, getting big already!

Progress is being made on the backyard...finally. We (as in I mostly just had to watch) pulled up the sod where the pation was going and Adam tore down our flimsy deck. Now just waiting for concrete! Then we'll hopefully get the grass healthy again, since it's mostly crispy due to the lack of a good sprinkler system.
And Adam took a picture of Brody. Not really a puppy anymore. More like 65-70 lbs.

We went and saw Carrie Underwood at the Stadium of Fire with Kevin and Amber Smith. It was really really fun, and the fireworks were awesome!

This past weekend we went to the demo derby with Kev and Amber out in Riverton.
(don't gasp at my picture! It's hot, and I'm pregnant and tired!)
It was so funny to see the car crashing. I had no idea what was in store when I said I'd go to the demo derby, but it was a lot of fun. Smoky, but fun.

Well, that's all folks! Hopefully it won't be another month and a half before I post again, but who knows? If you want more details, you're just going to have to call me :)

Happy (kinda) Anniversary!

2010-05-28T08:33:00.003-06:00

Three years ago today was my first date with my sweetheart. It was oh sooo exciting, starting off with ice skating with my best friend (everyone else bailed out last minute), then off to a family birthday party (yeah, on the first "date"), then back to his parents house to watch the Jazz game (oh what fun...), and then a whole late night of talking on the couch (where he kissed me first! I know, kissed me on the first date, what kinda girl did he think I was!). I saw him every single day after that first date, until after we got married. It was perfect.

In the last three years, we've lived in three places, bought a house, gone to Scipio at least 6 times, built and sewed almost everything we own, gotten a puppy, the list goes on and on. And now we're having a baby :)

Thank you lover for making these three years so awesome! Couldn't be happy without you!

May flowers

2010-05-26T20:10:00.002-06:00

We planted our front garden this year. After ripping the old plants out (they were mostly dead), we added a bunch of dirt to mound the area, cut out the sod so that it was curvy, and added sprinklers. Then we planted, planted, planted! It was so much work, and took our whole Saturday up, but it looks so much better now.
And if that wasn't enough, we decided on the next Saturday to extend the garden in the front to wrap the whole front yard, not just the house :) So there was another Saturday full of removing grass, adding sprinklers, shoveling and mounding dirt, and planting! It looks so pretty now, and as one girl in our class said "our yard is the nicest in the whole circle!" (and that's saying a lot!)

It's a Boy!

2010-05-05T09:30:00.002-06:00

Here's the little guy! Doctor and ultrasound tech said everything looks good! The gal doing the ultrasound said that he's VERY active (yikes, already?) and has long feet :) Surprise, surprise!
This is Wyatt at 18 weeks 1 day, but they said his skull and leg length are measuring a week and a half further along, but my due date hasn't been moved up yet.
We almost didn't get to find out the sex on Monday! He was being stubborn, keeping his leg together, and facing towards me rather then out. So they got GREAT pictures of his spine. Luckily, our U/S tech was determined to find out, so she FINALLY let me go to the bathroom (after drinking 32 oz of water before the ultrasound) and by the time I went and came back, he had flipped around! Yes! Then we just had to get him to open up those legs. So with me, her, and Adam pushing my stomach, he finally fluttered them open long enough to show the goods! We were both betting on a girl, so when she said Boy, it caught us both off guard. But we are so excited to start planning for a little man and getting everything ready for his grand arrival in the fall!

Oh, and on a side note, I felt him kick me for the first time last Wednesday, April 28. I was laying almost on my stomach in bed, not wanting to get out of bed yet, when he pounded me! No flutterings, no butterflies, but a really strong kick. He's been beating on me every day since then. And Adam felt him kick last night! He was moving around, so I grabbed Adam's hand (we were sitting on the couch watching the Jazz) and pushed in, hoping that if we pushed, he'd kick back. It took about 20 seconds and then Pow! Adam looked at me in surprise because he had kicked HARD! I'm glad he made himself know to his Daddy, it's so fun being able to share it with him :)

Growing Growing Growing

2010-04-28T08:18:00.003-06:00

Since this is really just a journal for me, I'm writing about baby again :) If you're sick of hearing about it (oh, especially without pictures, I know!) then you will not hurt my feelings if you click the X in the corner! I've been anxiously awaiting any sign of life in my stomach, as it seems to be getting bigger and bigger, but despite all of my efforts to bug the baby enough into kicking me back, it hasn't worked. But this morning, as I lay on my stomach/side and fighting the urge to hit the snooze button AGAIN, I felt it. Little flicks from the inside. Strong flicks! I still don't know if it's a boy or girl (our appointment is on Monday), but either way they are quite strong in my opinion! This isn't a pic of OUR baby, but this is what he/she looks like now at 17 weeks :) Looks more like a baby now then an alien!

***Edited to add***
Baby at 16 weeks exactly! Wow, getting big already! Cross your fingers this baby doesn't come out 10 lbs!

Baby Update

2010-03-31T11:20:00.002-06:00

I know I know, I have nothing else to talk about then our baby? Yep, you're right! You know it's been a long time since I've felt good enough to take pictures when our camera battery has been dead for months and I'm just barely remembering! So no fun pictures of us, no exciting events occuring (well, except for the growing babe), nope.
Had our 13.5 week appointment today and the doctor said "everything looks PERFECT". Yahoo! I like to hear the word perfect on something I can't control :) I've lost 4 pounds in 4 weeks, babies heartrate is 160, and all of my levels are just right on the dot! And we have an ultrasound scheduled for May 3rd to find out the sex! Loving my doctor, she's fabulous! Now we just have 4.5 weeks to finalize on a baby name. Adam is so excited and can't wait to find out so he can start painting the baby room. . . so cute, but scary :)

Nursery Ideas

2010-03-18T09:23:00.004-06:00

Okay, confession. I'm a bit of an obsessive planner. Okay, a lot a bit. But I just prefer to plan rather then cross my fingers and hope for the best! Kill me.
So, even though we have about two months left until we find out what the sex is (I know, I'm dying!) I've started "browsing for nursery ideas. Mind you, I'm not huge into themes, so most of these pictures aren't themed at all, but these are all I have found so far. Just thought I'd share and if you have any ideas or pictures you love for nurseries, let me know and add the link in the comments!
P.S. I'll probably be making my own bedding, so I'm not restricted with that. I can pretty much make anything I can dream up, as long as I set my mind to it!

This is one of my favorites. Not too baby-ish that it won't grow up with her, and I'm loving the idea of "no pink" in the bedroom. She'll be covered in it, why not make the room free from it?

This one is my mostest fav one so far. Once again, no pink and I'm loving the crisp white with the bold red and light blue. Could also be used as a boy room if I changed some accessories and avoided floral

I like this room because it's really warm feeling and the pink isn't too pink, more like a soft rose color. So weird, I love pink normally, but I think since almost every baby girl room has pink, my rebellious side is coming out!

This one is similar to my favorite (with the white paneling on the walls) but used rose and pale yellow. So springy!

Okay, all of these boy rooms are themed, but do you know how hard it is to find kinds rooms without a theme? And girl rooms without pink? Murder.
Loving the cars on the walls, though. If I did this I don't think I'd make the bedding to match though. Too matchy matchy is not my thing
I like this one because it's not "beachy", it's nautical. Though a surfer room like Brooke Franco did for her boys would be super cute and fun! Love the navy stripes and bold red.

And of course, this post would not be complete without a cowboy room! But the more I think about it, the more I'm steering away from this. It seems too predictable for Pete's little boy to have a cowboy room, and I don't like to be predictable. I might have to fight him about this one though :)

Now it's your turn. Let me know what you think (as long as it's not "I hate all of these pictures!" That might hurt my feelings . . . )

Belly bulge

2010-03-11T12:40:00.003-07:00

The search has begun. Now that we're quickly approaching the second trimester ( yay! only 1.5 weeks left!) my thoughts have turned to my waredrobe. Rather then buying maternity when my other clothes no longer fit, and dropping hundreds of dollars at once, I'm trying to buy slowly and on sale :) So what I'm asking you is, where do I look for cute maternity that's not going to cost 40 bucks for a T-shirt? Come on Ladies, spill the beans!

Sick and Tired

2010-03-04T13:48:00.004-07:00

Ever heard the saying "I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired?" Welcome to my life :)

What, you may ask, is the reason for this overwhelming sense in my everyday?

Is it work?

No doubt work is a big part of it. With three guys quitting last month (one of them being Adam's boss and my go-to guy) and not having replaced any of them, my work load has doubled. Raise? Nope. Extra appreciation? Good luck!

Perhaps a little sickness running through the office?

No doubt there has been the usual rounds of colds and flus, plus I did just get the Swine flu vaccine, which could be adding to my "sick and tired"-ness.

But the main culprit for constantly feeling sick and tired?

This little gummy bear. Coming soon.... Oct. 3, 2010

Skirts VS Dresses-- Revisited

2010-02-23T13:04:00.003-07:00

We''l it seems to be a draw between the skirt and the dress. And since you asked, I'll let you in on our preferences:

I'm all about the dresses, especially ones, that fit nice and snug around the waist and flare out after that. Think Marilyn Monroe. Oh yeah. To me, they're more comfortable because you never have to worry about your lower back showing or taking itty bitty steps. They flow :) Also, a dress always seems to cover up your knees better when sitting down, as opposed to skirts. Dresses are pretty and feminine and definitely overpower my "Sunday clothes" choices.

Adam

Now, don't be offended, I like me a skirt, but if I had to chose, it would definitely not be my choice. Yes, skirts are very versatile (everyday to formal) but so are dresses. But for some reason, my husband does not appreciate my large variety of dresses in my closet.
For example (which brought up this "argument" in the first place):

Me: Sweetheart? Since we're going to your friend's wedding reception, what do YOU want me to wear?

Him: Hmmm, I don't know... That's hard, let me look...

Me: (anxious to finally find out which dress he likes best) Okay, no rush

Him: I like this the best. Wear this (as he pulls out a simple black pencil skirt and striped button-up shirt from JCrew)

Me: Seriously?!? That's what you pick?

Okay, now seriously, that's what he picked for me to wear? Out of all of the pretty dresses I've made that fit me like a glove and make me look like Grace Kelly, he picked "business casual".

Case closed. I married a lunatic.

Skirts VS Dresses

2010-02-16T12:56:00.003-07:00

Okay, I feel bad that I haven't posted ANYTHING in like two weeks, but we've both been sick and it's hard for me to blog without a picture. I desperately wanted to take a picture on our date last night, but it's no fun to take one of yourself and Adam DID NOT want to take a picture!

So instead of posting about our life now-a-days, I have a question. Which do you prefer? Dress or skirt? Now, you can have mixed feelings (you love the look of dresses, but skirts are more comfortable... or maybe like dresses for more fancy events and skirts for everyday) but it doesn't matter. I just want to know what you think. We've had this arguement in our house for a long time, because it's the only opinion Adam seems to have, and it's opposite of mine. So what will it be?

Dresses? Or skirts?

At a loss for words....

2010-01-27T14:02:00.003-07:00

I'm already failing at my goal to post each week! I have no fun things to share this week. There have been big changes at work, causing me MAJOR stress, and Adam's granmother died last weekend, so needless to say we're having a hard time sleeping, let alone getting projects done! But we did build awesome shelves in the garage, built some little things for the house, finished painting the chairs, and started demo on the bathroom, so we've been doing a lot, but nothing complete to show pictures yet! But since I hate writing a post without a picture, here's one :)

Don't you just LOVE that chair? So classic, so neutral, so AWESOME! I'm loving the buttons too. What do you think? I'm thinking about building some just like it...that is if I can convince Adam to build the frame for it, but I think I could do it :) Wish me luck!

Always prewash your fabrics!

2010-01-18T15:10:00.004-07:00

Yes, I'm a firm believer in always prewashing your fabrics. After about the gazillionth time that something shrunk after I spent hours of sewing, I learned that lesson. Always always. Before you sew anything, prewash, even if you think you'll never have to wash them, do it anyway.

Well, I broke my own rule with the dining room curtains, that cover your sliding glass door.

I wouldn't have had enough fabric if they shrunk and I was So anxious to have some privacy and color after we moved into our house!

Unfortunately, I remembered I hadn't prewashed them after I stopped laughing when a friends dog lifted his leg and pee'd on them. Oh, really, it was really funny, especially the reactions from his owner. But with a young dog, we're used to a lot worse then a little pee. Just to be safe, I threw the curtain in the washer on COLD, and took it out of the washer to hang dry. Surely they wouldn't shrink after I had taken such precautions to avoid it, right?

Wrong! After LOTS of laughs (especially once Kevin saw them) I finally took this picture. Meet my new "capri" curtains, all ready for summer! Good thing I know the lady who made them (me) and EXACTLY where I could find some more fabric just like it! So, I've now washed and dried BOTH curtains to make them equally short and also washed and dried the extra fabric that I bought so there should be NO MORE SUPRISES for the next time I wash them :)

Done with Appliances!

2010-01-12T15:50:00.002-07:00

After spending lots of money (thousands! that sounds like so much!) we're finally finished with purchasing new appliances! Yay! As much as I love them, I'm so glad to not be spending so much cash. Now I get to replenish the savings account to be more comfortable, like it used to be :) Oh, but of course I wouldn't post about it without some pictures! So here's a before (after paint of course) and an after (more like a "during" since come spring everything will be moved around and look so different!)

Before: so much wasted space above the stove, and a vent that hardly worked.

Replaced our micro with a pretty shiny one, moved the cabinent up, and got our microwave off of the precious countertop!
Oh, did I mention we had an electric range and now we have gas? Yeah, the house didn't come like that, so Adam learned how to run a gas line :)

All done! Oh so pretty :) From blah to blown away!

Wow, look at all of those BTU's!!! (amount of heat being put out. It's a technical term) And five burners complete with a full grate, so no more tipping pots on the stove. Gotta love the heat happenin' here!

B-E-A-utiful! And just because we're so excited about our new stove, everyone's invited to our house, anytime, for some dinner and dessert (you just have to pick who "gets" to cook.)

PS, Adam's a really really really good cook :)

Custom Frames and Signs!

2010-01-12T15:06:00.003-07:00

Okay, I know I'm very much a DIY kinda gal, but seriously? I would so buy one of these because they are so cute! It's a standing plaque with a bud vase built in so you can have a pretty flower in it. And it's so customizable! Plus they're also having a giveaway at The Nester's, so I'm crossing my fingers that I don't HAVE to buy one :) You should really check it out here.

Table for Two?

2010-01-05T15:28:00.004-07:00

I hope I'm not the only one who has thought this, but have you ever had buyers regret? You think something is fabulous for the first two months you own it and then after that think of all of the ways to either get it out of your house or make it better without spending lots of money?

I have. Namely my bedding set, dining table, and TV stand. Each was purchased either right before we got married or right after. Before I had a style, let alone KNEW what that style was. The bedding set I took care of (see new bedding) and still love it (though I want to try something different for summer bedding). The TV stand we no longer use, due to the fact that our plasma hangs on the wall, so it's been repurposed and is about to get a makeover. But the dining room table...expensive to buy new..... couldn't find any I loved....oh bother! Well, better find a cheap one and FLIP it so that I love it! Oh dear, can't find a USED one either! So finally, after lots of time had passed, I convince Adam to ask his parents for their old one, that was sitting in the basement. Serious? They'd love for us to make good use of it? And they don't mind if I paint it to make it mine? It's Free?!? YIPEE!!!

So after much color diliberation, here we go!

Here's a half-before picture, since I had just started sanding. Just your standard pine table and chairs with white legs and yellow-y wood top. "Just like everyone else" is SO not my style!

Got rid of the yellowish top by sanding down the top FOREVER!!! Do you know how many coats of poly are on the top of those babies? TONS! I sanded with the palm sander until my arms got tired, then Adam finished up. Then we used more fine sand paper and hand sanded. Then even finer (more fine?) sandpaper by hand until my arms were numb.

Finally done with sanding, on to the stain. Oh, so much warmer and my style. Looks fabulous! About 5 gazillion coats of poly later (and two sanding sessions on the top) and the table top was done! Now just paint the legs--I don't have any pics, yet, but we painted them a barn red, added wood buttons (those little mushroom things on the post of your railings, tables, etc to cover screw holes) for some added character, and glazed it with stain, since our glaze didn't show.

Next, the chairs. We decided (and by we, I mean me) to paint the chairs black and then distress them. This was my attempt to bring some black in my house (of which I have nothing!). Bad mistake. It took 5 coats of paint, the distressing looked horrible, and I hated it!

And because I hated it (even after waiting for a week to see if I'd get used to them) you don't get to see After pictures...yet. Unfortunately, I'm in the process of REpriming and REpainting those chairs BACK to a light color. I'm hoping for two good coats or primer and one coat of BEAR paint/primer. Oh, plus a good rub down of glaze, before I give it a few coats of poly. Ha! Wish me luck! I may go crazy before the chairs are done, but so be it!

New Resident to Casa Peterson!

2009-12-30T13:10:00.005-07:00

Hope you didn't think I was talking about a baby!

Just paid for this beauty :) She'll be moving in with us sometime next week, we don't know for sure. She sure is nice and sweet, and very efficient with her time. Yes, she is a girl. You mean you don't assign your appliances a gender? That's a shame...

New Goals

2009-12-28T10:07:00.004-07:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Ours was a little too eventful, if you ask me. Christmas Eve started early, with both of us having to work a half day. Then I left early (yeah, early on a half day!) because it was so slow and I was SO sick I could hardly lift my head. And no, it wasn't morning sickness :) So we went home and I slept for three hours while Adam cleaned the house so it would be spotless when my parents came over that night. How cute, right? Well, luckily for me, after I woke up I felt MUCH better but still not 100%. But the parents came over, we had a yummy dinner and then watched Miracle on 34th Street, opened presents, played Apples to Apples, and ate some really tasty bread pudding. It was a really great Christmas Eve (except for the sickness)
The next morning, we woke up, opened presents (my big present was a carpet shampooer, and Adam's was a camcorder) and got ready for the Peterson's breakfast. We spent the whole day with Adam's family and came home exhausted to spend some time with the puppy.
All in all, it was a great Christmas. Didn't take many pictures, but oh well.
Anyhow, on to something else! As the title of this post states, I've been making some new goals recently. Life's been SO busy that I fell like I'm always bummed about not doing something or stressed out about something else so I decided I need to do more that I like to do and things that make me happy. A clean house is one of them :) Bloggin is another. So that's why I'm posting today. I promise to post at least once a week, and find something fun to actually post about.

Today's post? The kitchen. We've begun the painful process of changing up the kitchen and our first step was the appliances. With limited counter space, we REALLY needed to move our mammoth micro off of the counter and above the stove where it belongs. Before:

See all of the space that was wasted? Plus the vent hardly worked and neither did the light. OUT I SAY!!! So we took it out. And the cabinet above it. Well, actually just moved the cabinet up. Here's our poor kitchen during the process.
Old microwave on the island, toaster oven on the counter, missing cabinet somewhere, and dishes all over. Oh, and I know I'm the WORST person for not putting any pictures of the inside of our house up, but I promise I will, hence the goal to post more often.
We decided to lift the cabinet now, rather then wait until we added more cabinets, so we wouldn't have to install the micro twice.
See? Look how pretty :) All done and with only ONE trip to Home Depot. A 20 minutes job that turned into a few hours. Plus, we're so glad we raised the cabinet, since leaving it would have made the microwave WAY too low. Oh, this picture shows the color of the kitchen so much better then the one above it. Kind of a neutral green.

Oh, and we replaced the dishwasher! This one even works :) Now I don't have to handwash ANY MORE!!!
Oh so pretty! And quiet! And shiny! And no buttons in sight! We've since replace then fridge and due to a Christmas bonus and a surprise check from our escrow account, we'll be able to get our stove sooner then expected! But that'll be a challenge since we're upgrading from Electric to GAS!!! Yippee! I'm just glad I don't have to run the gas line. Love ya honey!

Living the crazy life!

2009-12-22T10:37:00.003-07:00

So, I know I've been totally MIA with my blog lately, but it's hard to do since we haven't done much "picture worthy" things lately because we're busy busy busy! Now that most of my projects are winding down (almost done Amber!) I thought I'd take a second to upload some pictures. Not very exciting, but it's all I've got people!

Here's me and Brody, on a Saturday morning (aka, no makeup, sweats and crazy hair). We try to take lots of pictures with him so we can remember how little he was! He's not little anymore! Last vet appointment had him weighing at just under 30 lbs and that was two weeks ago! I can hardly pick him up anymore.

Okay next not-so-exciting picture... We got free tickets to go to the Jazz game on Thanksgiving. So much fun! And we had pretty good seats. Highlight of the game? The guys that were accross the aisle and down a few rows were dressed in vintage Jazz uniforms (itty bitty shorts) and dancing their hearts out!

Of course, we had to get a Christmas tree after Thankgiving! We only got it just down the street from our house, but can you say Griswold? Looks great! Little full, Lotta sap!!

This is the first year we got to have Christmas lights. I think Adam was pretty excited, no, more like giddy to get those lights up. We had some stuggles (like blowing a fuse when we connected all 10 strands together! Shouldn't an electrician know better?) but it came out b-e-a-utiful!

disclaimer: our light colors in no way affiliate us with any college football team, even though Adam would like to think so

We've been up to a whole lot more, but I'll save that for a different day. Hope ya'll have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Treats

2009-12-11T11:48:00.004-07:00

Now that Christmas is almost here, I've been thinking of the infamous "Neighbor gifts." I don't like giving them, don't have time to make them, but boy do I love to receive them! With absolutely NO time this Christmas season, I'm heading to the good ol' reliable this year. Anyone in my family knows exactly what this is, right Cristl and Chantel? English Toffee!!! 15 minutes, not a lot of cost, and a big YUM factor! So, I'm letting you in on the family recipe so you can take advantage of this yummy, easy treat.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

1 cup whole almonds
2 sticks salted butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup semi-sweet choc. chips
Brown paper bag (just because)
large cookie sheet

You can make this with pecans or walnuts, but I think almonds are the best. You can also make a double batch, but don't risk doing more then two batches at the same time. It may not work.

Follow the directions TO A "T" or you'll have a hard time getting the right result.
Before you start, it's best to get everything out and measured, because once you get started, you won't be able to stop going. Melt the butter on low in a medium-large pot. While the butter is melting, chop up the almonds so that they are in small pieces. Once the butter is completely melted, stir in the sugar and water and turn up the heat to medium high. Take 3/4 of the almonds and add to the pot (leave the tiny bits and crumbs for the topping). Stir with a wooden spoon and oven mitt because it's going to get hot! Hope your arms are strong because you're going to be stirring, a lot! It's going to start boiling and you have to keep it moving, so stir constantly and quickly, going over every part of the bottom of the part to avoid any burnt spots. Remember that paper bag? Well, this is when you need it because it will make you PERFECT toffee every time. Keep stirring and the candy will slowly start to darken in color. Watch that paper bag, because as soon as the candy is the same color as the bag (and you'll suddenly see a bit of smoke coming up) it's done! Grab your pot and dump all of the candy onto your cookie sheet. It'll start to spread like hot lava, so don't touch, cause it feeling like hot lava too. If you want fewer, thicker pieces, let it spread itself, if you want more, thinner pieces, take your wooden spoon and spread it out a bit (like spreading tomato sauce on a pizza crust). Wait a few minues and sprinkle those chocolate chips on top (while it's still hot). Let the chocolate chips melt and then spread that good stuff all over the top of your toffee. Don't forget those almond bits and crumbs that you saved, because those get sprinkled on top. Let it cool COMPLETELY (you can stick it in the fridge or freezer to hurry it along) and break it up using your hands into bite size pieces. Stuff it in a cute holiday mug or add it to a plate of other treats and that's it! Seems like a lot of directions, but once you make it once, you'll get the hang of it.

(linked to Kelly's Korner)

Brody

2009-11-18T12:34:00.004-07:00

Having no new pictures on my camera (and after a request from my sista) here's more of Brody. He's now 12 weeks old and LOVES to chew everything! Luckily, we close our doors and he's only out of his kennel while we're home so we haven't lost anything to his chewing yet. He's almost house trained (and when I say almost I mean he's perfect for a week and then he'll have an accident). His favorite treats are pig ears cause he can chew them until they're gone (our favs too because that's the only way we get him to leave us alone for more then two seconds!). He's learned to sit on command and we're working on stay. He loves to play and wrestle with Adam. He's learned that after he goes potty outside to go to his bed, because that's where we keep the treats. He bites all of the time, but has learned to be soft and knows not to bite when we say no (but still likes to try to see how much he can do before we say something, which is never very long). He always thinks we have treats in our hands right after work, so he'll jump to get them though we never have anything. Brody loves tummy scratches the most and will go right on back as soon as you pet him, ready for a belly rub. He's such a stinker but he's our stinker and we love him.

(Don't let the pictures fool you! he's already gotten so much bigger since I took these!)

What would you do with $4000?

2009-10-28T09:13:00.002-06:00

Since we bought a house in 2009, we get $8000 back on our taxes at the beginning of the year! Hooray! As much as I'd love to go to Europe, Australia, and New Zealand with that money, I'm a bit too practical (bummer, right?). We've decided to put half of it towards our savings account (gotta save for a rainy day) and the other half toward our house, the best investment we could make. So, that gives me $4000 to play with :) So, what would you spend $4000 on for your house? We're thinking about kitchen improvements and our yard, but what would you do? You might have a suggestion that I never would have thought about, so please, GIVE YOUR IMPUT!!!

It's a boy!

2009-10-12T14:10:00.004-06:00

Hope that title got your attention! Nope, I'm not preggo, but we do have a baby boy in our house.

Meet Brody.

He's our new puppy :) Golden lab and so cute, even though he pees on the carpet if I don't watch him, and whines when I'm trying to sleep. But he's so fun!

This picture of him is right after his first bath on the day we brought him home. He's such a snuggle bug and so cute and chubby.

See, isn't he cute? Luckily, since it was Adam's idea to get a puppy right now, he gets to wake up with him at night to take him out. Fair, right?

New Pics

2009-10-05T15:46:00.006-06:00

Can't start off another year without pictures, can you? Not me! Think of these as our not-engagement-but-not-yet-family pictures. Here's just a little glimpse of some Brooke has already edited. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! Now, I just get to pick my favs for her to make perfecto!

2 already?

2009-09-28T10:12:00.003-06:00

Yep, today is our two year anniversary! Can hardly believe it's already here and what we've gone through together to get here (the good and the bad). In two years, we've bost lost our jobs, both gotten new jobs, went on two cruises, lived in three places (including the parents house), bought our first house, bought four new pair of boots, gone to 6 rodeos, never have thrown up (love that), and have gained a combined 50 lbs! (wish it was just him that had added the pounds)
These have been the best years of my life and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us. It doesn't seem like it can get better then this, but I've said that before, so I can't wait to see what IS better then this :) Love you sweetheart to the moon! Thanks for choosing me :)

Oh, heck, we've gained some weight, but we still look good!

Cruise 2009

2009-09-17T11:36:00.014-06:00

We're back! I'm going to make this post as short as possible...really...I will...well, I'll try. We flew into Orlando on Friday. After lots of drama and not being able to pick up the rental car (don't even ask!) we took a taxi ($40!!!! No kidding, for 13 miles!) to our hotel. Brand new, so chic, and the beds were even comfy! We totally scored with that one. Went to TGIFridays (cause it was in the parking lot. No car, remember?) and hung out at our hotel until Chris and Caytlin came around 1:00 am with the rental car. Yeah, don't ask. Slept, woke up, and had a complimentary breakfast of belgin waffles :) Then we were off to Cape Canaveral. Here we are in the back seat, trying to enjoy the 45 minute drive and get overly impatient about the cruise. Dropped off the car and got on the ship. Luckily, since we were running late (is the car rental return by the McDonalds or Wendys???) we zoomed through the check in and were on the ship in no time! Here's were all of the action happens on the days at sea. See how fast I'm going through this? On Saturday and Sunday, we were just at sea, traveling to Mexico. On Sunday was a formal night, so I felt better that at least we were DRESSED for Sunday at least for an hour or so. We impatiently wait for our dinner to come. It was always so yummy. And after dinner. The sunset was amazing, but it sure was hot and humid outside. Plus I felt about 20 lbs heavier because, yes, you guessed it, I ate too much :)

First port, Cozumel Mexico! Our absolute favorite this cruise. We spent the morning shopping (only paying a couple bucks for a cute necklace is fine by me!) and Adam was almost giddy, getting to talk Spanish with the locals. They thought he was the coolest. And from what Adam tells me, they all seemed to really like my butt too! Walking down the street along the beach shopping. They paint the trees to keep bugs away, I guess.

After shopping, Caytlin was in desperate need of A/C and we were in desperate need of some food. So Adam asked around where we could find A/C AND good food for cheap, and they led us to this resturant. Their A/C was really just shade and ceiling fans, but we both loved it. I got Chile Relleno (good but different) and Pete got steak fajitas. Yummy!

After lunch, we took a taxi and Adam asked where we could go to a nice, free beach. After a 10 minute drive, our driver took us to a resort beach, which you'd normally have to pay for, but they just let us in :) Here are the boys snorkeling. Adam saw some black and white striped fish, a crab, and a barracuda!

Next stop, Belize! It was very pretty. We had to take tenders from our ship to the port, where we were supposed to meet our bus for the Cave Tubing Adventure we had signed up for. The river was too high, so it was closed and we got talked into going on an ATV Adventure instead. Kinda lame, it turned out, but we only had to pay what it was worth. Here we all are after getting off the 4-wheelers. It was so muddy, but since it had just rained so much, it was really more like muddy water then mud. You can't tell very well, but our legs are covered!

After we got back in town, Pete saw the fresh coconut stands and had to get one. I thought it was way gross! Not at all sweet like I thought. The pic is blurry cause our camera contastly fogged up from the humidity.

You still with me? We're half way done :) Hang in there! Next stop was Costa Maya Mexico! Here, Caytlin and Chris did there own thing and went to the Mayan ruins, while we preferred to hang out at the beach and town. We're walking down this LONG dock, and start to see fish in the water along the side.

As I'm walking and looking (never a good idea next to a ledge!) I see this big thing moving. Swimmer, no way. Holy cow, it's a sea turtle! It swam under the pier and out the other side, before I could get this picture. It was so cool!

We took a taxi to a town down the beach and went shopping. Love it. Of course, Mexican Coke in hand.

We chilled on the beach, and since the snorkeling was no good, we decided to get a massage instead. Oh yeah! $15 per person for 45 minutes. Full body massage, with oil, on the beach. Oh yeah! I loved having a Spanish speaking negotiating machine with me at all times :)

Since we had lots of time and were having fun just being in Mexico, we decided to walk back to the port, rather then take a taxi. Yeah, thought that was a good idea. This is us still smiling, cause we still have water in our packs. Here we are, walking our path.

We kept walking and walking, thinking we'd have to get there eventually, but it took a LONG time and it was HOT and we ran out of WATER! Finally, we got to the shops around the port, but a chain link fence with BARBED WIRE kept us from going inside. Luckily there were some Mexicans on the other side.....who couldn't speak English. Oh wait, that's no problem! Adam speaks Spanish! Well, they told us that unfortunately, there was no way to get in, or climb over, so we'd have to go all the way back! What? No way was I going to do that! So after almost giving up (me, not Adam) we decided to follow the fence and saw some things leaned up against the fence on both sides that might help us get over. So after CAREFULLY climbing over the barbed wire fence (yeah, I'm not even kiddin') all we had to do is sneek in with the crowd without being seen. Man, now I know how illegal immigrants must feel, cause all we were trying to do was get across the "border" without getting caught and sent back! Such an adreniline rush, but not a good one, let me tell you! We shopped for a bit longer, and Pete finally bought some Turtle boots he had been torn over since Cozumel.

Next day, Fun at Sea! Here's us on the lobby stairs after another formal night. It was too dark outside to take more pictures on the deck, and we were SO done with "stuffy" clothes.

So, what do you do when you're stuck on a big boat, for a whole day, without drinking or gambling? Not much! We decided to play volleyball but it was too windy. How about mini golf? Such a great idea, except we're on a moving boat and the wind is blowing the balls around!

Well, how about some BINGO?!? We were SO close to winning! We even shouted BINGO, but the announcer laughed and said she hadn't finished the number. Well, just don't drag out O73 when we need O70!

Maybe try making silly faces at the camera to entertain ourselves? Darn foogy lense!

Well, fortunately, we only had to endure that for one day! Next, Nassau Bahamas. They had a gazillion stores downtown, but they're all diamonds, handbags, and expensive stores like Gucci. Who buys that stuff? So, we trekked to the beach. And man, was it a journey. We're almost there, finally!

After playing on the beach for a bit, we decided to start walking back, but more leisurely this time. We were beached right next to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, so rather then walking ALL THE WAY AROUND the resort, we decided to take a short cut THROUGH the resort. Smart us, right? Yeah, we thought so, until we were half way through and had to turn back because we weren't "staying at the resort". How snobby! But it was beautiful! See the arch above the right side of my head by the palm tree? The arch connects the two towers and is actually a Suite that is $25,000 a night, four night minimum! Can you imagine!

Took the ferry back to the main island and shopped until we got on the boat. We got a really cool painting and I bought a super cute necklace, made from fish scales! No kidding, it's so cute AND freaking awesome!

Next morning, we woke up to yucky, old Florida. Not that the Sunshine State is all that awful, but when comparing it to the waters of the Caribbean, it's hard not to be disappointed.

To fill in the time after we HAD to be off of the ship and before we needed to be at the airport, we decided to go to the temple. Such a good way to finish a vacation together, except that I didn't have my recommend with me. Luckily, after lots of attempts, I got a hold of the bishop and he hooked me up! Orlando Temple.

Okay, time to wake up now! I'm sure ya'll fell asleep during that SUPER LONG post, but some people (like me!) like details. Hope you enjoyed our vacation with us!

Countdown...

2009-09-01T11:49:00.003-06:00

Ho-ly cow! I can't believe it's been a whole MONTH since my last post! That's not like me, that kinda stretch is for people who don't have any time to post anything! Oh wait... that IS me! No time at home, no time on the weekends, and especially not even a second at work. Yeah, life is so busy right now! No time to breathe, which is PERFECT timing for a little vacation! No, not just a little vacation, THE vacation! Sad, isn't it, that we have no kids yet the last time we went on a real getaway (camping not included) was January 2008! Our last cruise. Yeah, I'm not even kidding. So... (dramatic pause for effect)... we're going on another cruise! Yeppers, we leave Friday for Florida and our cruise departs on Wednesday (we learned from our last experience that it's worth going a day early)! Wait, Wednesday? Wow, I'm mixing up the days, that's bad. (I would have totally just gone back and fixed my mistake, but before I stopped to read it, I eas too lazy to fix it, so I just explained. Does that make since to you? Me neither...) We actually leave Saturday, make more since? Okay. This go around, we're headed to the Western Caribbean :) Mexico, here we come! And now I have a trusty interpretur to get me the best shopping deals. Wahoo! Since life is so crazy, I'm devoting today to be my day to actually think about the cruise and take time to get EXCITED about it! And you get to come along for the ride! Here's some pics from the last one. This time around, we're both a little more pale and a little heavier :)
Here's Pete in front of the ship, at St. Maarten, if I remember. Yeah, he looks tan because he was :) Last time, he took the time to go tanning before. This time? Not so much. Hope he doesn't get too burnt!

Here we are, after "formal dinner night" at the club, waiting for the hypnotist show. It was so funny! We were going to pee our pants, we were laughing so hard! See that drink? Yeah, you pay $20 bucks, I think, at the beginning your cruise and you get unlimited soda and drinks. And they'll bring it right to you whenever you want! They just come up and ask what you want, so you don't even have to walk to the drink bar to ask for a drink! Luxury....

And Magens Bay. So pretty, stressful for a bit, but so pretty. I hate that this picture has a pink blob in it, cause I really like it a lot. Oh, and the camel backs were a lifesaver! They'll be coming with us this time around as well.

Thanks for reminesing(?) with me! I'll tell you how this one goes when we get back!

Scipio Rodeo 2009

2009-07-27T11:58:00.002-06:00

It was time for the Scipio Rodeo...again...so fast. Not that I hate it, I actually like searching for treasures at the antique store, watching the rodeo, and going up to the Grove in the mountains. The part I don't like is tall, leather boots, long jeans, and 98 degree weather! Hot hot hot! Plus Adam always asks that I wear my hair down...ha! But I always do, because you can't say no when your husband occasionally requests for you to get dolled up. He deals with enough ponytails every day. This year was much the same, with a few changes. Kevin came with us, so I sat in the back seat on the drive to and from Scipio. Not bad, considering that Kev got to keep Pete awake and I got to take a nap on the way home (and on the way there... :) ). We stopped at Chadder's on the way down (it's tradition now!) and got squeeky cheese at the gas station in Scipio (there are three now in Scipio! Can you believe it? Scipio's stepping up in the world!). Then we went for our usual stop at the antique store, and left empty handed! Of course, now that I have a house to put cool antiques in, I can't find a thing! Then off to the Grove we went, breaking out in a sweat in the 30 seconds between the car and stores. Luckily, it was nice and cool up there, so we stayed and the boys fished (I decided to dip my hot feet in the stream instead of fishing. Man it was cold!).

Here's Pete on the left and Kevin on the right. I'm sitting on this cute little bridge, dipping my feet. They searched the stream to find some fish and found around ten in this little spot! It's true, I saw them. The guys got so frustrated because the fish were two feet from them and weren't biting their worms!

So Pete gave up the fishing pole and attempted to catch one with his hands! He tried for 30 minutes, getting "so close!" a few times. He walked down stream to try a different spot, and just a few minutes later caught one! I had my camera ready, but he started running so fast over, the camera couldn't refocus on him in time. He was so proud of himself! I married myself a manly man!

And here we are just getting to the rodeo. I always make Adam take a picture together at the beginning, so I'm guaranteed a pic with some natural light. I love this picture. I haven't been able to take a good picture in 18 months, I always look sick or retarded! So this one is going up, somewhere, just to prove after almost two years of marriage, I can still look good!

Hope everyone had a good Pioneer's Day weekend, even if you're not in Utah!

Just another reason I love my husband...

2009-07-23T16:20:00.003-06:00

BEFORE:

DURING:

5 MINTUES AND 5 DOLLARS AND NO COMPLAINTS LATER:

Need I say more?

The House: a blank canvas

2009-07-09T16:02:00.006-06:00

After many requests for pictures of our new house, I finally put them on here. And this is my last post for a while, I promise! I hate playing catch-up. And I'll make this quick.

This is what we like to call the Sunshine Room. It's one of the extra rooms upstairs, complete with blue skies, thin clouds, and lots of sun! Adam said if we act sad or onery, we have to sit in the sunshine room until we can be happy :)

This next one is our master bedroom. It doesn't look that big anymore with our bed in it!

Here's the master bath. I know it's not huge, but this picture makes it look smaller then it is, and it fits our needs just dandy. Oh, and the shower is really deep so you can take awesome baths.

Here's the front room, or Home Teacher Room, as we like to call it. This is what it's going to look like for a while, cause we have no furniture for it, unless we put the orange couch in there :)

This is the kitchen, obviously, looking towards the front door. Alder cabinets, yay! and tile floors, double yay! All I need is granite countertops and I'll start to cry :) All of the cabinets are full. How all of our stuff fit in our tiny apartment kitchen before, I'll never know.

Here's the basement bathroom. Looks like they were trying to make the partial basement into a master suite, but that just doesn't work for us. Sink on the right, furnace and water heater behind the door, and walk-in shower on the right. Oh yeah :)
Here's the jacuzzi on the other side of the walk-in shower. I took a bath the other night just to try it out and relax, and it was way nice, except I have issues with just sitting in the tub naked. Would rather wear my swim suit and sit in the hot tub :)

Here's the family room looking down from the kitchen. Just big enough but not so large I don't know what to do with it.

The other room upstairs is a little less exciting then it's partner.

This is the dining area just off of the kitchen. Luckily that ungly chandelier is no longer hanging there. That's a whole other story.

This is the basement "bonus room" where we'll have a couch, fooseball, that sorta thing. The previous owners had there master down here, but the air ducts cause the ceiling to be a little low in the middle, which would look weirdie if we had our huge bed down here.

And the backyard. Fortunately, the grass looks better in this picture then close up. Not that it's horrible, but just a little uneven. This is from the back deck looking southwest (our house faces north). It's nice and big, plus already fenced all around.

And that's the tour of the house! The renovations begin this weekend, so stay tuned for some "before and after" pictures. Well, more like "before and now" pictures, since we won't even be close to finishing ANY room anytime soon.

Father's Day

2009-07-09T15:17:00.002-06:00

Since we moved in with my parents, every time we've gone fishing, my dad says "oh, that'll be fun." Okay, we got the hint, but it never worked out for him to come. So for his Father's Day present, we got him a fishing license and took him float tubing. He's not very experienced. I can remember us kids getting him a fishing pole for Father's Day when I was like 6, and that day we went to fish. I don't think we caught anything and he's never gone since. So we left the house at 7:00am (yes, I had to wake up at 6:30 to go FISHING! Like fishing, love my sleep, adore my Daddy) and drove up to Silver Flatts up above Tibble Fork. Happy to say it was nice weather, and beautiful, don't you think?

I took lots of pictures, but didn't take the time to download yet another picture of Adam and I in float tubes :) So I put one of my Dad, caught the first fish! Here he is pulling his first fish our of the water to examine it
We had tons of fun, but the boys caught fish and I didn't :( I finally got one, and it got off before I pulled it in all of the way! The one that got away....

Summer 2009 Rodeos....so far

2009-07-09T14:17:00.003-06:00

Giddy up, ya'll!!! It's rodeo season, so you know where we'll be on Saturday nights! We always hit at least three every year (Lehi, Pleasant Grove, and Scipio of course!) but since Scipio is on Pioneer's Day and these pictures were begging to be posted, I just have two for your viewing pleasure. Here we are at Strawberry Days in PG. It had rained THE WHOLE DAY before we went, and continued to rain while we waited for the rodeo to begin. Luckily we had our straw hats and a blanket, so we didn't get very wet. And the rain stopped when the rodeo began, but left the mud :) That was the funniest rodeo, everyone got up soaking with mud! Oh, and the strawberries, only ate two cups this year. And every time we tried to take pictures, Pete's hat would tilt mine all weird. Notice the guy on the far right? Why do people look at the camera when they know they'll be in it? He was nice, but looks SO grumpy.

And Lehi, more professional but still way fun. This day was perfectly warm, but got a little chilly at the end. Yum yum, burgers with special sauce. I had two by the end of the night! With these rodeos being only a week apart, isn't it crazy how hairy my man got? He used to NEVER shave! I picked this picture (though blurry) because this is the only on that the grandma on the right wasn't smiling at the camera. People are so weird! Now I kinda wish I put one that she was smiling, just to see how awkward. No cowboy hats at this rodeo! It was awesome, even the "half-time show" with the dirt bikers was awesome but way scary.

I hope you've hit (or will this summer) at least one rodeo! We look forward to it every year! Next up, SCIPIO!!!! I promised Adam I'd make my hair "as big as Scipio girls". Betcha can't wait to see THOSE pictures! :)

Opened Closets

2009-07-08T17:26:00.002-06:00

I was reading a blog not too long ago, and it talked about closets and pantries, and how lovely it is to shut the door so no one can see the chaotic mess behind. Then I read a friends post today about a Relief Society lesson she just had, and how everyone wants to show their best side, whether at church, around friends, or especially on their blogs. So I read some of my older posts and didn't recognize this person that's on here! This girl seems totally sane (ha!) and loves to cook, sew, decorate, and spend time with her husband doing what HE likes (aka. fishing, air shows, SCIPIO, etc.). So, I'm opening my closet, getting it all out, in hopes of reorganizing :)

*I don't mind making my bed, but I never do it. I spent FOREVER making my cute bedding and it's only on my bed on the weekends......sometimes.

*I wake up 20 mintues before we leave for work. Now you get why I wear a ponytail almost every day?

*I sometimes take a swig of the milk in the fridge, but it's just me and Adam that drink it. Well, we hardly drink it!

*I never eat veggies. Not that I don't like them, but I'm horrible at planning meals and I never remember to cook vegetables until we're almost done eating. So I always try to eat my veggies when we go out to eat.

*I can't stand cleaning the shower. I'd rather vacuum the whole house TWICE then clean the shower. Maybe if I did it every week, it would be easier to clean.....don't think I'll ever find that out.

*When I got married, I seem to have become "fashion retarded".

*I leave bobby pins and hair elastics EVERYWHERE, but then there are always some close :)

*I don't like taking baths. I prefer hot showers, alright? Sue me.

*I have about 2 unfinished sewing projects for every one that I finish. Like that head scarf for Adam from last hunting season..... I promise I'll finish it!

*I never iron anything. Ever. Unless it's really bad, and then I try sticking it in the dryer for a bit to get the wrinkles out, and only after a couple attempts will I finally just iron it. I don't hate to iron, I just really suck at it.

*I rarely floss. Maybe once a month. Gross, I know. Too much detail? Probably. But I've never had a cavity and I have one of those stupid "permanant retainers" that makes it impossible!

*I can cook, pretty well I think, but after a 10 hour day and the daily question of "What's for dinner" (like I spend all day thinking about what I could whip up in 15 seconds to please a starving hubby) I usually don't want to. So, sometimes we just go to Costco. Or Ikea. Or Wendy's. Then I don't feel bad about the cost of eating out :)

*My husband drives me crazy when he leaves toothpaste in the sink, gets spots all over the mirror from whacking his toothbrush on the sink, and doesn't put the new toilet paper roll on the holder, but rather on the back of the toilet. I don't get it, is it really all that difficult! Yeah, weird things bug me, but I love him, so I brush after him so I can rinse out the sink, I clean the mirrors, and put the toilet paper from the back of the toilet to the holder.

The Big Day is Here!

2009-07-02T07:58:00.003-06:00

All the papers are signed, the boxes packed, and now it's time to move! The big day is tomorrow, July 3. If you happen to be very available and want to help lift a few boxes (we know you love lifting!), we'll be moving in the morning. We're trying to get as many people as possible, so it should only take a couple hours tops! So come come come if you can. If not, feel so guilty! Just kidding..........kinda :) No, serious, we'd love help, but know about busy schedules and work. Let us know if you need directions to the starting point and a more specific time. And bring trucks if you have them, we'll pay for gas!

We're Moving! Again! To a house!

2009-06-17T15:23:00.003-06:00

It's true! Here's the new house! Just in case you guys have no idea why I'm using so many exclaimation points.... there has been lots of drama, trying to find a house.
We've been looking for a house since the beginning of the year (before then, actually, but that's when we got really serious and got a realtor) and couldn't find anything right. We could find it, and it'd be sold before we could do anything, like the next day! Finally, we found a short sale in Lehi at the first of April and put in an offer right away. After waiting over TWO MONTHS to find out, we didn't get the house. It was neck-and-neck with some other people and they barely won. So we decided to book a cruise (to bring our spirits up...can't wait for September!). The crazy thing is, we found out last Wednesday that we didn't get it. We immediately jumped into looking at houses again, but our realtor was swamped and couldn't take us until Monday. On Monday we saw our house, Tuesday evening put in an offer, heard back from the realtor one hour later, and started our negotiations. By 11:00 am today, they accepted our offer and the paperwork started rolling! So here we go! We definitely know good things often happen fast, so we're so excited to start this new adventure. Anyone want to help with the move??? :)

****Oops, forgot to mention, the house is in Herriman :) Thanks Chantel*****

Could it really be....?

2009-06-17T11:40:00.001-06:00

I don't want to jinx it quite yet, but something exciting might be happening over fourth of July weekend (well, exciting for us!). Stay tuned, and I'll let you know if something REALLY happens...

Recipe list

2009-06-16T07:59:00.003-06:00

Ever get sick of using the same recipes all of the time? I know I do. When I feel especially bored, I like to go on Food Network and find something yummy (usually Paula Deen and Rachel Ray, they're my favs). For Christmas, Adam took all of my print outs and put them in protective sheets in a binder, so I have a "recipe book" to keep them in. I still go back to them all of the time. But when using a new recipe, you risk the "yucky" dinner. So I decided to share the wealth with recipes I've tried! I want to put a link (yikes!) on the sidebar, for anyone who wants an idea for dinner, and maybe figure our how you can submit them yourselves! I might be getting a little over my head, but I think it will be fun. Give me a little bit to see if I can get it up. In the meantime, here's one we tried last week. Super fast and easy, and perfect for tomato season!

4 6-ounce pieces skinless salmon fillet
4 medium tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 teaspoon paprika, preferably hot
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and pepper
8 sprigs fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, sliced

Directions

1Heat broiler.
2Place the salmon and tomatoes, cut-side up, in a broilerproof roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the salmon with the paprika.
3Drizzle the salmon and tomatoes with the oil and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Scatter the thyme and garlic over the top.
4Broil until the salmon is opaque throughout and the tomatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

recipe courtesy of realsimple.com

Hope you like it!

Air Show and Kittens

2009-06-08T12:12:00.002-06:00

We decided it was worth the traffic and crowds to go to the Air Show at Hill AFB this past weekend. It was so fun! We were there for probably 4 hours, and were never bored. Here are a few pics we caught. Most of the ones I took are flying airplanes, but hard to see so small.After we went through the gate and walked around for a few minutes, I pulled out the camera so we could document our attendence, before I completely forgot to take pictures (learned that from our honeymoon. Only 1 picture, and it's somewhere on a disposible camera!). Adam was not as obliging as usual, so I only got this one, after promising to make it REALLY fast! Glad it turned out really good (notice the pale color of our faces...not for long!) It was perfectly cool and warm and nice and sunny!

Here's Pete in front of the BIGGEST airplane! The back opens up, and so does the front, so a million people can walk straight through! I wasn't meaning to get Pete in the picture, just the plane, but he happened to turn at just the right time. SCORE!

The grand finale was the Thunderbird show. 6 F-16 Thunderbirds were doing so many cool tricks. I almost missed the show, because I was trying to take so many pictures, but I'm glad I caught this one. They were flying so fast towards eachother, and at the last minute, turned sideways so they didn't crash. So cool! We had tons of fun.

This picture is just funny. After the Air Show (notice the red face! Mostly just hot, but you can just imagine Pete, cause I don't ever burn and he does in seconds!), we went home (the my parents, of course) and they had found this lost kitten. I was holding it, sat down on the floor, and tried to get it to drink something. After successfully getting it to lick some milk from my finger, it started licking my shirt...in the same spot....for a long time. Couldn't get the poor thing off of me! Her little paws were pushing me, trying to get milk out I think! Pete had to take a picture, thought it was so funny. Never thought a kitten would think of me as it's mother!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Decorating

2009-05-28T07:55:00.003-06:00

With the hope of a owning a house very soon, I've spent A LOT of my extra time checking out decorating blogs and fun, different ideas on what I could do with such a blank slate. I found this vinyl design company, Lewa's designs, when I fell in love with this dandelion wall decor. Isn't it so cute? So "on the plains of Kansas", I think. My mom has a Cricut, so letter decals are easy for me to get, but these come in HUGE sizes. They have tons of other cute decals, from nature to nursery designs. Check them out if you have a blank wall you need to fill :) ww.lewasdesigns.com

Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-12T09:59:00.005-06:00

(Yep, me in all my non-makeup glory! Give me a break, Friday morning, on the lake. Nothing a hat can't cover up)

This is why I love working 4-10 hour days. Makes for long weekends. This past weekend we wanted to go fishing. They stocked Tibblefork early this year, so we wanted to get on the lake before the summer rush. Not much luck. It was windy and kinda chilly, but really fun. I out-fished Adam! I caught the first, him the second fish, and I the third and last! Hayley-2, Adam-1. And I also got to try my new waders and float tube out (not holes in either I'm happy to say). The float tube is a little smaller then I'm used to, but nice. I love that it looks like I'm sitting in a baby floatie, so funny. All in all, it was a fun day up in the canyon.

Getting ready to catch the first one and swimming to the middle of the lake
It was such a beautiful day to be outside.
Here's me with my first fish. No close ups, cause we try to stay away from eachother so we don't hook someone when casting.
Adam is so good at unhooking the fish. I'm still grossed out by the texture of their skin, plus I like going home with my hands smelling like scented lotion, not trout :)

Hope everyone's weekend was as fun as ours and that you spent at least SOME time outside!

My Weekend Project

2009-04-27T10:17:00.006-06:00

So, I've been wanting to start another sewing project, but with every extra penny going towards saving for a down payment, no extra money for fabric :( When we were moving out of our duplex, I kinda pushed Adam to clean out his closet. He got rid of a lot that he never wore, and threw some pretty old shirts away, but when he came to this one (which he really likes) we were both torn. He never wears it because it is too big, but we both really like it. So I stole it and stuffed it in my fabric box, hoping to either alter it to fit, or make something out of it. Here it is.
Okay, second story. My mom has always sewn (even her wedding dress!). I grew up sewing. My dad likes to tell the story (whenever "sewing" is brought up) that when he was first married and my oldest sister was a baby, he was at work (Air Force) and the sleeve of his white shirt got grease all over it. Ruined, of course. So my mom made a pinafore (apron that you wear over a dress) for my sister out of the extra fabric. I just love that, so innovative, so resourceful, so sentimental, so me! So after a little thought, I asked Adam if I could rip his shirt apart and make a dress out of it. He LOVES that I can sew (and totally a sucker for baby girl clothes) so he was all for that idea. Well, this weekend I cut up that shirt and this is what I came up with. I wanted to keep the "shirt" details in the dress, so that we could still see that "shirt" come out of the dress. Let me just point out that my mom (my sewing idol) just made an apron, and I made a dress, bloomers, and headband and shoes are soon to come :) Take that!

The details I kept:

-Had to have the snap buttons!

-Kept all of the tags and put them on the dress

-Used the front flap pockets, made them much smaller, for butt pockets on the bloomers (my fav)

-Used the point at the back of the shirt (towards the top, the yoke) to make a point for the yoke on the dress.

This has been one of my favorite projects. I've never made something out of an article of clothing, especially making something so different from the original. What do you think? Would you put this on your baby? Adam is overjoyed, thinks it's the cutest thing. See? A major sucker :)

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T15:18:00.002-06:00

Okay, the pictures are in the wrong order, but here we go anyways. Every Easter (as per Peterson tradition) we go to Scipio, UT for the town Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday and then go "Eastering" (BBQ in the mountains) that afternoon, with a stop at the Round Valley Antique Store. Here are me and Adam, trying not to eat the Easter Eggs we dyed on Easter before they're all done.

Here's us "Eastering". It was sprinkling almost the entire time (flat hair, yuck!) and even hailed for a few minutes. Here we are in front of the stream. Adam caught probably 10 fish (most when he went without me, the stinker) and I caught one before our nephews ran over and scared the fish down stream :) New hot jeans, I totally love them. The fit perfect the WHOLE day, not too tight, not stretched out, plently long enough. Wanna guess where I bought these beauties? Pete calls them "hot butt pants" and they were 50 bucks (much more then I like to pay, but not horrible). Any guesses? CAL Ranch. I know, only me :)

That's the fish I caught. Love to catch and reel them in, hate to unhook them. Good thing Pete doesn't care. And Vancie (it's my dad-in-law, but I call him Vancie instead of just Vance. More fun, kinda become a pet name for him) taking care of the fish for me. Two almost died, including this one, but after floating on the water for ten mintues, they started breathing again. Yeah!

I also spent $36.00 at the antique store (kinda a lot for me, but I got such great deals. Frequent shopper discount(: ). I'll show my spoils once I finish creating my projects. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

New Purchase

2009-04-06T08:07:00.002-06:00

Spring is coming, and summer activities are being planned. This was my new purchase this weekend. No, not a cute pair of shoes or a new pair of hot jeans (those are on their way), but rather some fishing waders. For those of you who are like me two years ago, they are waterproof overalls so I can sit in a float tube in the water and not get wet. I'm nearly outfitted now for fishing. Got my fishing pole for my b-day last year, my float tube for Christmas from my in-laws, and now my own waders and tackle box. All I need now is some flippers and a few more flies and spinners, and I'll be all set! I love these, though they are definitely not "figure-flattering" :)

Tagged

2009-03-29T19:25:00.002-06:00

The rule of this tag is that you go into my pictures, take the 6th folder and 6th picture in the folder, post it, and tell what it is.
I scanned this picture for a slide show for my sister's high school graduation.
Me and my little sister (I'm about 3 and she's 2) sitting on the stairs after my aunt (who was living with us at the time) did our hair very pretty :) Back then we looked like twins! Can you tell which is me and which is my sister?

We're Moving!

2009-03-24T13:13:00.002-06:00

Don't get to excited, we haven't found a house yet. I'd tell you the whole story about why we're moving, but my lovely husband likes to make fun of me for telling LONG stories.

So, to say it simply, we got the boot from our landlord before we found a house so we're moving in with my parents until we find a house to buy.

If you need our new address, send me an email: hayleylynnpeterson@gmail.com
I'd post it, but... that's personal info on the internet I don't want posted :)

Our cell numbers are staying the same.

Any questions, comments, concerns (I have plenty of my own), or suggestions on how NOT to go crazy moving in with the parents once again, don't hesitate to let me know! :)

New Discovery :)

2009-03-23T16:37:00.003-06:00

So, had a few seconds online, and discovered this fun little blog. Once again, don't know how I quite got to it, but I'm so glad I did! Way cute decor designs, keeping it cheap and recycling A LOT (totally my style! Bed made of door frames, computer desk from old kitchen cabinet, herb garden in old vases, I'm already there!). Check it out. Just click the link on the side of my blog, The Lettering Cottage. I'm totally refinishing my cabinets like she did hers when we find a house, except not black, that's too dark for me.

Living the Crazy Life!

2009-03-19T17:14:00.003-06:00

At the moment, this is how I feel. Every other sentence consists of a sigh, trying to calm down, not get overwhelmed, relax even for a fraction of a breath (plus I really LOVE this picture. I'm going to try and take one like it for my Etsy page.). With work, church callings (yes, I still have TWO BIG ONES!), trying to finish dresses that have been bought, helping my sister sew a dress before she leaves, hanging out with my bro who came to visit, trying to get an Etsy shop up, searching for a house, and the dreadful thought that we have two weeks to pack up our house and move in with my PARENTS, while having no time to spend with my husband is slowly (well maybe not that slowly) making me crazy.

I don't want to go to work! I don't want to make dinner! I don't want to shave my legs! I don't want to wear anything but my pajamas!

Can I please have a break? Can't I just sit on the beach and feel the sand in my toes and sun on my face? I REALLY want to go on a cruise, but do I spend the money on that or save more money towards a down-payment? I don't know! These feelings of doubt, doom, and darkness are really eating at me. So here I go to the temple!!! (without my husband, cause he's still doing a side job)

She Does Hair!!!

2009-03-04T10:36:00.002-07:00

I somehow stumbled upon this blog (don't ask me how, I really can't figure it out!) and I really like it. It's a mom who loves to be creative doing hair and has some really cute, fun, and creative ideas that she uses on her THREE girls. So, for those moms out there who have a hard time creating their own, check out her hairstyles. From simple to WAY creative, she does it all!

Frustration...

2009-02-17T12:12:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I need everyone's opinion, please! I made this handmade this dress, put it on KSL and it's NOT SELLING! TONS of people are looking at it, but I haven't gotten even one call! It's made of cotton/poly for easy cleaning, but not as wrinkly, had a zipper in back, fully lined, with cute satin flower trim. Everyone I know that's seen it just thinks it's awesome and so cute, so the only thing I can come up with is the price is too high. So tell me how much you would buy this dress for. Now, don't be too generous, that won't help if everyone says "a million dollars!" because I need your honest opinion. Please please please let me know what you think. Thanks

Here We GO!!!

2009-02-09T11:22:00.002-07:00

So, I'm finally starting my new "side job." The pictures have been taken, the blog started, and the dress posted on KSL. I can't wait! I hope everything goes awesome. Just one dress posted so far, but if you want to check out my blog it's SweetCarolineClothing.blogspot.com Tell everyone you know! I'l post more as soon as I'm done :)

Enrichment Night

2009-02-04T07:49:00.003-07:00

So.... I'm freaking out a little. I'm being divided between two callings right now, Mia Maids and Enrichment, and since they are both pretty new callings, everyone's trying to get the "new girl" to share her talents with everyone! Didn't realize I had talents until now! So, last week I taught my mia maids all about hair and how to french braid and just a basic formal updo for when they start dating. No big deal, except I was given two days notice to plan! Also, I was informed I was volunteered to teach the Mia Maids how to sew pajama pants with two days notice, but luckily that activity was moved so I have a month to prep. And tomorrow I'm teaching enrichment night! Yeah, just me! At first it started as teaching a craft/skill at a Super Saturday-no big deal, I've done that before. Just provide the materials and give basic instructions. Then, when they decided to go more "spiritual" with that Saturday activity, rather then cancelling my class like everyone else, she said will you just teach it for an enrichment night? ALL BY MYSELF? Freak! Not being able to say no, I asked exactly what she wanted me to teach. She's been my visiting teacher, so I thought she might say "how to build a frame" or maybe "photography" but no, she wants me to teach how to REFINISH FURNITURE! Seriously? I know hardly anything, but now I have to teach a 90 minute class about it! So, for any of you out there who have taught enrichment night before, just tell me the time goes by so fast and it will be great :) Sorry for the ultra long blog. You know me, I tell long stories with more then enough details :)

Presents! Yay!

2009-01-30T09:56:00.003-07:00

Here's what the UPS man brought me today! I've always wanted my own sewing machine, and with the LARGE amount of sewing I've been doing lately, and the evening drives to my mom's to use her machine, Pete finally told me I needed to buy my own or he would buy it for me. After waiting what seemed like FOREVER, it finally arrived today! I can't wait to start using it. My mom's sewing machine is almost 30 years old, so it will be fun to use a newer model. Thanks sweetheart! I love it already and haven't even gotten to open it yet!

Date Night

2009-01-26T11:06:00.003-07:00

On Friday night, we hung out with Kevin and Amber. It was really fun. First, we went to do sealings at the Jordan River Temple, which was packed! Luckily, Amber and Kevin's ward had reserved a spot or we would have been there for hours waiting. When we walked out of the temple, it was so foggy. We went to Bonsai, one of my favs, and did teppenyaki. Gotta love it. After dinner, we got ice cream cones and went to Kev and Amber's and Kevin talked us into playing a few rounds of Scattergories. All in all, it was a way fun night with our friends and I even learned how to make my house more "cozy." PS Amber, I moved my furniture around like yours was, and I really like it! Adam even does, and he doesn't do so well with change :) Love ya babe!

Birth Announcement

2009-01-19T11:25:00.002-07:00

This is something I whipped together yesterday for Cristl's new baby.

Sam's Newborn Pics

2009-01-19T08:47:00.002-07:00

Love this full body one. Looks like an old grandpa with his poor eye and forehead smooshed :)

Here are some pictures I took of my new nephew this weekend for his birth announcements I made. There was no way I was going to let my little sister pay for a pro photographer and to get announcements printed when I could do them almost as well! So here are a few. I'll post the actual announcement when I'm finished.

Samuel Lee

2009-01-12T09:11:00.002-07:00

Here's my new nephew! His name is Samuel and he was born 1/9/09, 9 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches long. He is such a sweet heart, with dark hair, darker skin, and looks like he'll have brown eyes. He is so calm and relaxed, the nurses couldn't get him to cry when he was first born. He just looked around the room, like it was just another day. Cristl is doing great and so is Sam. Here he is, less than a day old, in his Marine outfit my mom found at Build-a-Bear. My brother in law is a Marine and stationed in Iraq, so we took pictures of him in this outfit to send to him. Luckily, Steve (my bro-in-law) got to watch the birth via webcam, listen from a cell phone, and watch it all later on the camcorder. It was lucky for him, because they were shutting down his camp that day, and shortly after Sam was born, they finally shut down power and connection at the camp. It had been delayed. We are so happy to invite him to our family and Pete and I can't wait to kidnap him to give my sister a break from baby and get our baby fix!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-29T12:13:00.002-07:00

We've finally figured out how to divide up Christmas! Christmas Eve and early Christmas morning with my family, and the rest of Christmas Day with Adam's. Then we get to go to both families and get all Peterson traditions in :) Here's how our weekend went. We got off work after 1:00 pm on Christmas Eve and hurried home to shower, pack our stuff, and go over to my parent's house for Christmas Eve dinner. After dinner, we went with my whole family to see the lights at Temple Square. I don't know why the temple is green....

Then we went back to my mom and dad's to hang out and spend the night. The sleeping part was a little tricky, with a small bed and two LARGE people :) We were woken up by the kids and opened presents. Adam got a Rotozip and router table to use in his woodshop, and a fly-tying book so he can learn some new fly-fishing flies. I got new cowgirl boots, a cute dress, and an OLD Nintendo Adam found in his parents basement that I've wanted forever! Best Christmas Ever!
This was a sibling gift exchange for us. We love this flag and have already hung it up at home :)

Here's Mom and Dad, opening presents. She can't wait to watch Mama Mia!

My brother Brant and his cute girlfriend, Shelene opening presents.

Here's Cristl, very pregnant, and very much missing her hubby who's in Iraq. To make her feel less isolated, I put our brother-in-law, Phil, in the pic with her :)

Here's sister Chantel with her kiddos, Baby Brynlee, McKayla, and Parker. Favorite presents? Parker loved his "spinny" things and McKayla love her sparkly presents.

After presents, we got ready and spent an our shoveling ourselves out of the driveway at my parent's (10 inches!!) and finally got out and on our way, running a little late :) The roads were bad until we got to 90th south and then it was dry, like another world! The breakfast casserole at Adam's Aunt Tracy's was great, and we hung out there until it was time to go up to Adam's grandparent's house for dinner. Here's me and my mother-in-law, not moving after we've eaten too much.

Awwww, such a cute couple :)

After dinner, we went back to Mom and Dad's to play games with everyone. We stayed until 11 and got ready to leave, our car packed full of presents! It was so windy, but we only had to drive 5 minutes.....or so we thought. The road to Suncrest was a white-out and after about 35 seconds, we found ourselves suddenly stuck in a snowdrift! Couldn't even see it! After trying to get out, I called my dad to come rescue us. Adam made me stay in the car, it was so cold and windy, while him and my dad tried to see and get us out. There is no tow hook on my car, so they finally got down in the snow and hooked it to my axle. Then I started freaking out because I had to steer while my dad pulled me backwards out of the snow and I could see out of my windows. Luckily, I rolled down the window an inch and Adam guided me (took a lot of trust). We got out of the drift, but as I pulled around to drive back to my parents house for the night, the wind pushed me into a snowdrift! Serious! So, Adam tried to push as I rocked the car, yelled at it a lot, and finally got through. I slowly drove the block to my family, didn't dare park in the driveway all of the way, but as I pulled in just enough to get out of the street, it started sliding towards my sister's van. I screamed out my now open window "I can't stop!" so my dad and Adam pushed the sliding car into a pile of snow before it hit the van. Finally, we were to shelter without any extra clothes or undies. Adam was freezing, standing in the wet snow blowing like crazy for 1 1/2 hours so we got him dry and went to bed around two. The next morning was another "shovel for an hour to get our car out" morning but we REALLY wanted to get home and shower. Oh, we need to get new tires after having to spin them to get out of the snow, and somehow the E-brake cable broke when my dad was pulling us out. But luckily, that's all! Wow, that's a long post and I'm exhausted just re-living it!

Trey's Blessing

2008-12-08T09:05:00.002-07:00

This past weekend, we headed down to St. George to go to Trey's blessing (Eric and Brittany Jensen's baby). It was such nice weather and we definitely enjoyed the small break from the cold! We love hanging out with Britt and Eric and we LOVED going to Dogfather's :) Yum!
Here's Pete with Trey on his blessing day. Isn't he just a natural? Going to be such a great dad!

This little doll is Parx. She got to come over to play with Katie and Chris a few times while we were there. We love Chris and Katie, they're so fun, but we instantly fell in love with Parx. So cute and sweet :)

After sleeping on an air mattress and staying up all night, I took a little nap. Britt luckily lent me her new little guy to get my "baby fix" so we both fell asleep on the couch while Britt hurried to clean up a little before everyone came over for the blessing. Such a cuddler!

BYU-UTAH GAME

2008-11-26T13:27:00.005-07:00

As you can imagine, the game wasn't so fun to watch. But Amber and Kevin came over to watch it with us and that was so fun. Amber taught us this "game" to play with pictures, so I thought I'd post them too. There are none of me, cause I really couldn't do it.

Salmon for the girls, brauts for the guys.

Kev's not bad, but just wait...

Now Amber, she just looks cute trying :)

This is what most of Amber's attempts turn out. It was hard not to laugh!

Pete was definitely the best. Big mouth, what can I say?

Can't help but laugh!

THE DUAL!!!

2008-11-21T08:59:00.006-07:00

The big game is almost here. Never before have the ties of marriage been tested like they will be this year :) Our first rivelry game married, I was able to go to the game with my dad to see the Utes slaughtered, while Adam watched it with his family. This year I'm not so lucky. With the game up at Rice Eccles, that leaves me and Pete, both at home, watching the game TOGETHER!!! Yikes, this will be interesting. I hope Pete can take the embarrassment of losing when the Cougars come out with the victory! By the way, everyone is invited to our house to watch it high-def on our new plasma. Especially BYU fans since I will be the only one of the group cheering on the Cougs tommorrow! We'll see who comes out on top. But Utes, beware. You might be doing really well, but watch out for the last quarter when the Cougar fans get on their knees and get ANOTHER miracle :)

So Rise and shout the COUGARS are out along the trail to fame and glory!

Rise and Shout our cheers will ring out as we unfold our victory story!

On we go to vanquish the foe for Alma Mater's sons and daughters!

As we join in song in praise of you, our faith is strong!

We'll raise our colors high in the blue and cheer our Cougars of BYU!!!

Tagged.....Again....and Again!

2008-11-20T11:02:00.003-07:00

Whoever made up these things has A LOT of time on their hands! Thanks Amber!

I've Been Tagged****8 things

Rules: 1) Post rules on your blog
2)Answer the six "8" items
3)Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV shows
1-House
2-The Office
3-Rachel Ray
4-Shark Wars
6-Trading Spaces
7- Flip that house
8-What Not to Wear

8 Things I did yesterday
1-Went to Work
2-Bought groceries at Harmons
3-Made dinner
4-Bought thread for a baby blanket
5-Watched "The Wedding Date"
6-Finished my book
7-Went to bed early
8-Took a long, hot shower

8 Things I look forward to
1-The weekend!
2-Thanksgiving
3- Buying a house
4- Making caramel apples
5- Sleep
6- Seeing the Twilight movie
7- Christmas season
8- My brother coming into town with his new girlfriend

8 Favorite Restaurants
1-Mimi's Cafe
2- Paradise Bakery
3- Cafe Rio
4-Noodles & Co.
5-Fuddruckers
6- Olive Garden
7- China Isle
8-Bonsai Teppenyaki

8 Things on my wish list
1-I wish I had a house
2-I wish I had a great pair of jeans
3-I wish I could go to Europe
4-I wish I could go on a shopping spree!
5-I wish I don't get sick this winter
6-I wish everyone was happy
7-I wish I counld find the perfect couch for cheap!
8-I wish I was a better photographer

8 people to TAG
1-Chantel
2-Britt
3-Cristl
4-Nicole
5-Heather
6-Tina
7-Caitlyn
8-? What can I say? Don't know that many people with blogs!

New Project?

2008-11-17T11:53:00.002-07:00

I want to experiment on something new. Adam is always doing side jobs to make extra money and I want to! So, I want to start a blog with posts on everything from homemade facials to cute new crafts. We're going to start building projects and selling them on KSL, from cute frames to shelves, and Pete wants to eventually make a bed to sell! Any ideas? If you have ever wanted something custom made (baby bows, wall frames, bath soaps, whatever!) let me know! At this point, I just need ideas of what to do. So many women are doing the same things (baby bows and tutus) and as cute as they are, I want to do something different. So leave me any ideas you might have, ANY! Thanks guys :)

Halloween Pumpkins!

2008-11-03T08:47:00.003-07:00

Here are our pumpkins this year! We did them on Halloween Eve and Adam didn't feel like posing for the camera, so only pumpkins this year :) Can you tell which one is Adam's? He hid what he was carving until he was done, so I wouldn't oppose to the UTE representation on our front porch. So to this I say, GO COUGS!!!!

Brynlee is 1 month!

2008-11-03T08:43:00.003-07:00

Since I can't be a doting aunt to my cute new neice all the way out in San Antonio, I have to show her off to everyone I can! Here she is, one month old already. Lucky girl has such big, beautiful eyes!

Looking for a House...

2008-10-28T15:47:00.001-06:00

Yes, we've begun the slow, painful process of first-time home buyers. If you know any great houses or deals around the Point of the Mount area (Highland, Alpine, Lehi, Draper, Riverton, Herriman, Bluffdale, etc.) let us know!

THE BED!!!!!!

2008-10-23T09:39:00.002-06:00

So... this is our VERY LARGE bed in our VERY SMALL room! I know, it took me a long time to finally get these pictures on here. But it took me FOREVER to finish the bedding! So here it is, finally posted. Adam made the bed frame, isn't it amazing! He made it out of antique doors we bought a year ago in Scipio. Notice the door handle plate in the bottom? He did a fantastic job, and made our side tables to match. He is so talented. I'm so lucky to have a handyman around!

Happy Birthday!

2008-10-17T11:03:00.004-06:00

Happy Birthday Babe! For real this time! Be safe on your trip, and if you get cold, just snuggle up next to Kevy :) Oh, by the way, Pete is so proud of his TV, he's showing everyone! So, instead of constantly sending him the pic i took for him on my phone, thought I'd just post a picture of his new plasma. He LOVES it!

Adam's "Birthday"

2008-10-14T08:36:00.005-06:00

Since Pete is going to be hunting on his birthday, we decided to celebrate it the weekend before. I had an early day off at work to attend my friend's sealing on Friday, so I got to surprise Adam, which NEVER happens! I had worked out to get a 42" plasma to my parent's house that I had bought for his birthday and my pregnant little sister helped me get it to our house and set it up. I bought a yummy looking birthday cake and made him chili and cornbread, as per Pete's request. He was so excited as he walked through the door after work and saw his new plasma! He's wanted one since we got married and right now was the perfect time to get one. We rented a movie to watch on his new TV that night and ate cake and popcorn! Happy Birthday, BAB!!! :)

The funny voice you hear is me :) We talk funny to each other to make us laugh. Notice that Adam is a little distracted? Can't take his eyes of High Definition!!! :)

BYU vs. UNM

2008-10-14T08:25:00.003-06:00

My poor dad has season tickets to the BYU games and my mom has to work every other Saturday! So, after my dad went to two games all by himself, I could finally go with him! It was freezing! I wore 4 shirts (two long and two short sleeve) long garms, two pair of long underwear bottoms, snow pants, two pair of thick socks, a scarf, beenie, two sweatshirts, ski coat, and brought a blanket! The only thing i din't use was one of my sweatshirts and I sat on the blanket. Luckily, it didn't rain! Or SNOW!!! BYU won and we went to dinner at TGIFridays after, to avoid traffic and get a bite to eat. Don't mind the weird face in the picture. I was trying really hard not to shake the camera when I was shivering and I have hat hair from my beenie. Thanks for taking me, Daddy!

Haircut

2008-10-06T09:48:00.005-06:00

I have long hair since 7th grade. So... a LONG time! Since being on the pill, my soft, flowing hair has become a course, tangled mess most of the time. I finally got so sick of it, so when Pete commented that I would look cute with short hair, I started thinking about it...so much easier to take care of.....get rid of bad ends.....still look cute..... I made my decision. After looking in magazines and online, I found the length I wanted and style to make it look good. I made Pete take these pictures so everyone can see the dramatic change this was. I almost backed out when I started freaking myself out, but I am so glad I didn't. The "after" picture my hair is a little flat, but it was raining all day so it got a little wet and flat. Hope you like the new look!

The Ginormous Quilt!

2008-10-03T11:40:00.001-06:00

I've been working on this quilt forever! What seemed like a simple enough project has turn into a massive pain in the butt, but it's coming. I finally finish tying it last night (with no help, thanks Pete!) so I just have to finish the edging and the pillows. Give me a week and I'll try to post some pictures of the bed. Sorry!

One Year Down....

2008-09-30T08:32:00.011-06:00

For our first anniversary, we stayed at Snowbird for a quick weekend getaway. It was so beautiful in the canyon, the leaf colors were at their peak. We stayed at the Lodge at Snowbird and did all of the activities that Snowbird offers. Plus, it was Octoberfest, so there was polka music playing and LOTS of beer! We had a great time. Here are some pictures we took (I forgot to grab to memory card to our brand new camera, so we could only take a few... Ooops).

This first picture we took at Mimi's Cafe. It was so good. We decided to eat out on Friday and cook dinner on Saturday.

Here we are going on the ski lift at Snowbird. It was so pretty and nice, just got a little chilly towards to top of the mountain. It was so nice and relaxing. I was freaked out that Adam would drop the camera from the ski lift (after our proposal experience has taught me not to trust his grip on important things :)) so I made him give me the camera to take the picture!

This is at the top of the mountain. It was pretty windy, and Adam was freezing in shorts. I told him to change, but he didn't listen! The view was fantastic.

At Snowbird, there is a tunnel that takes you through the mountain from the ski lift so you can ski on the back side of the mountain. Adam thought it was so cool, like a little boy :) It was freezing in there, but fun.

We went on the alpine slide. It reminded me of the night Adam proposed. That was the only other time I had gone on the alpine slide :) Adam was going so fast that by the time the camera took the picture, he was almost out of it!

Here's me on the zip line. Adam took this picture over his shoulder as he was going down too. I still can't believe he actually got me in the picture. He's got skills.

The tramp takes you to the peak of the mountain. Here we are at the top. Just behind our heads you could see Heber! What a view!

Now, this picture was an adventure. After we check out of our hotel on Sunday, we went for a drive up the canyon the rest of the way. Adam remembered a short hike to Cecret Lake (yes, that is how it's spelled) so we decided to hike it. It was really easy and only half a mile. It was perfect weather so we stopped at the lake to look for salamanders before heading back down. As I looked in the water, there was a flash in the water followed by the loudest BOOM. Adam said, "Did you see how close that was?!?" It started to sprinkle lightly, but we didn't want to leave yet because we had just gotten there. Two seconds later after another FLASH and BOOM, we decided it might be best to start hiking back down. As soon as we left the lake, the rain got heavier and turned into hail! I swear the temperture dropped 20 degrees in two mintues, and we started running down laughing, getting soaked by the rain and then pelted by the hail! It was freezing, our pants and shoes where soaked and muddy, and we got so wet. Rivers were created where they were dry on our way up. It hailed an inch, almost two, in some places. This picture was when the hail first started, so we are only slightly wet. By the time we got to the car, our shirts were soaked halfway down and my hair was dripping wet! It was an experience we will never forget!

Mt. Timp Temple Pics

2008-09-25T09:49:00.000-06:00

Here you go Chantel. This is what I came up with. Let me know which one you like best so I can send it with Mom and Dad :) Oh, and the one on the bottom has a horrible lamp in it, but if you like that one better, I'll take the lamp out. It'll be way easy!

Brynlee Elise Day

2008-09-23T16:54:00.000-06:00

Now I'm an aunt to the third power! In this pic is my big niece McKayla holding her new baby sister, Brynlee. She came a little early, born on September 22 instead of the 26th. She's 7 lbs 12 ounces and 20 in long. Everyone is doing great and we're excited to have a new baby in the family, though they live in San Antonio.

Don't you love McKayla's auburn hair?!? How'd she get so lucky? She still looks beautiful when it's messy in her face :)

Tagged.....Again....

2008-09-19T11:18:00.001-06:00

Great.....another tag....Thanks Brit!

8 things I am passionate about...
1. Adam :) He's my best friend!
2. My family (immediate and in-laws)
3. Food! Yum!
4. My Primary class. The cutest 15 kids I know.
5. The Church (I hope these aren't supposed to be in order...)
6. Church History
7. Building things with my honey
8. Kids

8 Words or phrases I use often..
1. Weirdy
2. Are you kidding me?
3. I love you
4. Babe, could you do this for me, please?
5. AVI?
6. Okie dokie
7. See ya
8. Where have you been all've my life?!?

8 things I have learned from my past...
1. The Lord prepares you for the future, whether you like it or not.
2. Don't stress the little things; they usually are easier to fix
3. Save money. It seems to disappear if you don't
4. Stay close to the ones you love
5. Always go with your instincts. They're usually right.
6. You want most what you can't have.
7. You really do learn from your trials
8. Know where you stand. In the moment of your temptation is not a good time to make those decisions.

8 places I would love to go or see...
1. Australia
2. New Zealand
3. Ireland
4. London
5. Greece
6. Italy
7. Egypt
8. Israel

8 things I currently need or want...
1. A blonde hair, blue eyed little girl.... But I can wait :)
2. A house
3. A new refridgerator
4. A back massage
5. To get my hair cut
6. Chocolate ice cream
7. Money to go shopping!
8. No worries or stress

8 people I tag...
1. Angela and Paul
2. Katie
3. Brandon and Holley
4. Chantel and Phil
5. Mom
6. Tara
7. Jenn
8. Cristl

Softball

2008-09-19T11:18:00.000-06:00

Here you go, Kev. This is for you!
Adam and Kev got forced to pose during the softball games so I could use my new camera. Thanks guys!

Comments

2008-09-18T08:46:00.000-06:00

So, smart as I am.... I just realized people had commented on my posts! I guess I didn't think that anyone would LOOK at my blog, let alone comment! Thanks, though. Sorry if I never answered you :( Chantel, I'll work on that Mt. Timp picture for you. I'll send you the pics I come up with!

TAG

2008-09-09T16:46:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been tagged! So now it's my turn to fill this thing out. Here we go!

How long have you been together?
We started dating after our first date, May 28 2007. Been together ever since!

Who kissed who first?
Ah, the ultimate question. We both blame the other, but he went 90%, I went 10%. So to me, that means he went in for it and I relented :)

Who eats more?
That's not even a question if you know Adam. Seriously, on our cruise, after eating three entrees, he would stand up from the dinner table and ask "Who wants to hit the buffet?" Not even kidding!

Who is taller?
Luckily, Pete. He's 6'3 and I'm only 5'11

Who is smarter?
That depends. Both equally, but different. He is more street smart, but academics is my expertise.

Who is more sensitive?
He's more thoughtful, but since I got on the pill, I'm a ball baby.

Who does the laundry?
He usually washes and I fold and put away. Seems to work best that way :)

Who cooks?
Usually I do dinners and he's more of the breakfast guy. Biscuits and gravy anyone? But we both cook.

Who drives when you two are together?
Pete ALWAYS drives. It's an ego issue, I think.

Who is more stubborn?
He is definitely! Except when we get mad. He's usually the one to say sorry first, I just cry :)

Who has more siblings?
Tie. Three for each of us.

Who is more daring?
He for sure is. NEVER dare him unless you want him to do it. I like to stay on the safer side.

Extras about your Honey:
Pete is the hardest worker I know. He's always running around, keeping busy working, building projects, and doing side jobs. Anytime he sits still, he usually falls asleep cause he's always running around! He is sweet and always surprises me with flowers or doing the dishes before I get home so I won't have to, even brushes my wet hair when I just don't want to do it. He is always happy to help anyone, and is the sweetest person in the world. I love you babe!