About time

After four years and three months of dating Brian Carson finally proposed to Amanda. We are thrilled! They will be sealed in the San Diego Temple this summer. The year is off to such a great start! New furniture, new paint, new carpet, a new son-in-law, a new grandbaby, I mean really - what more could anyone ask?

More paint

One of the changes in the living room was new carpet. The carpet that came with the house was poor quality and was pretty worn even though we've only been here for 4 years. Along with the living room we decided to replace the carpet on the stairs, in the loft and upstairs hallways. Brian & Katie also replaced the carpet in their bedroom & Tylers room. We've been wanting to repaint the upstairs for several years now but had been putting it off. There's nothing like replacing the carpet to motivate the painting. So we once again began the discussions of what color to use. Fortunately for us Brian & Katie had bought more paint than they needed for their room & Tylers room so we used the left over paint and redid the entire loft and upstairs halls. The carpet arrived at the end of February and was installed right away. It was quite an adventure having the guys here all day installing carpet and Tyler thinking that he was one of them and should be allowed to help. One of the installers had his nose pierced and Tyler asked him why he had a staple through his nose. The guy replyed that "It seemed like a good idea at the time" to which Tyler responded that he should be more careful with the staple gun and that he (Tyler) could use a staple gun without getting a staple in his nose. We all had a good laugh. Thankfully the guy was a good sport and did not get upset. The walls are much lighter than they were before and I love the contrast between the light walls and the dark carpet. It is so nice to walk on soft floors! It is amazing to me how much difference there is now between the old and new carpet. With all the changes and rearranging of things we have teased Katie about spreading her "nesting" to the rest of us. She is only 4 weeks from delivery and while I really love the changes in the house I do hope we are done for awhile.

My how time flies!!

Ok so I knew I had not posted for awhile but over 3 months - that was a shock to see! As always life is never dull in the Shoehouse. Christmas came and went with lots of joy and love, was that really 3 months ago? January brought many changes in our home. First off I have to say that Joe has an addiction to Craigslist that I just cannot understand. I guess it's the thrill of finding a bargain - or better yet a freebie. Despite my forbidding this behavior (like I can forbid him anything!) he continues to search the list daily. I did ask if he was going to search the list would he at least look for things we really need instead of just finding things for fun. We ended up getting a new set of sofa's for our living room which was really nice. We moved the old living room set to the family room - much to Tyler's dismay - and I finally got rid of my mismatched couches in the family room. The first morning Tyler came down and saw the living room furniture in the family room he cried "I want the old ones back! I can't play on these." The fun began when we realized the new sofa's did not match the wall color or the drapes in the living room which set off a chain reaction of events resulting in an entirely new room. Katie knew that one of the ladies at church was getting a degree in interior design & suggested we call her. We bartered her design services for Katie's photograhs of the finished product for her portfolio. So after Amie's first visit we spent several days - or maybe it was weeks - trying to agree on a new wall color. After having sample cards taped to the wall for several days we narrowed it down to four and bought sample sizes of each one. After painting them on the wall we scrapped them all and started over. I lost count of how many colors we actually looked at but we finally found one that we could agree on and the work began. Removing all the furniture, cleaning walls, taping baseboards & crown moulding, windows, etc. While we were busy painting Amie was busy trying to find accessories and drapes to match the new furniture. It was a great agreement. I destest shopping and Amie loves it. So she did all the shopping and brought everything over. All I had to do was choose what I liked and she returned the rest. With her help and gudiance we have a room that we absolutely love and thanks to Katie, Amie will have another set of photo's for her portfolio. Here's the finished product photographed by Joe on our little camera since Katie's are not done yet.

FHE Fun

The City of Folsom opens a temporary ice rink during the holidays so we decided to go have some fun for family home evening.

Tyler all ready to get started


Gran & daddy helping out

On my own! They had these tubs that little kids could use to balance themselves while they learned to move on their skates. Tyler had a lot of fun with them.

Daddy helping Ty do some smooth moves

Kelly & Kaitlin helping me stay upright

Kevin, Kelly, me & Kaitlin

We had a lot of fun despite a few falls. My elbow is nice and black where I landed on it. Brian & Chad say Kevin fell first and pulled me down with him which sounds good to me. Kevin fell several times as he is fearless in his efforts to show off his skills. Joe's back was out so he was sidelined with Amanda who is still recovering from her surgery and Katie who is 5 months pregnant. They made a great cheering section for the rest of us.

Long drive but so worth it!

A week after arriving home from Denver we packed up the car and headed out on the road. We went to Salt Lake first to spend some time with my family. My parents anniversary was on November 1st. It was their 55th wedding anniversary and the 35th anniversary of our family sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. My dad asked if we could all meet in Salt Lake and go to the temple together as an anniversary gift to my mom. What a wonderful day!!! Four of my six siblings were able to make it. We had a really wonderful time being in the temple together and then got to catch up a bit with each other over lunch before we headed south to Las Vegas. Once in Vegas we got to meet our newest grandson Deklan. Carinna and Kelly could not make it but Brian, Katie, Tyler, Amanda, Andrea, Todd, Avery, Kaeden, Deklan, Greg, Brittney, Derek, Alex, Nick, Logan, Riley, Kaitlin and Kevin were all there. It was great! We were able to participate in Deklan's blessing and then go to the Las Vegas temple to do sealings. It really was an amazing week as I was in the temple on Wednesday with my parents and siblings and then in the temple Saturday with my kids. Truly a blessing and a chance to really feel the sealing power in a personal way.

Almost all my boys

At the beginning of November we went to Las Vegas for Deklan's blessing and a mini family reunion. Here are some of my favorite family members. The title says "almost" because Brian & Katie's new little boy won't be here til April, & I consider Brian,Greg,Todd,Derek & Nick my boys as well but they are not pictured.

Avery, Deklan, Kaeden, Logan, Tyler

Avery, Deklan, Kaeden, Logan, Tyler

Avery & Tyler

Avery, Tyler, & Kaeden

Ty is used to having his picture taken but Avery isn't and wasn't being too cooperative so Ty was "helping" him to get back in place.

The final outcome. Tyler, Avery & Kaeden

Make it 6!

Brian and Katie have announced that they are expecting a BOY! In April we will have grandson number 6! I am very excited.