Scrapbooking

I am not what I consider an overly creative or artsy person, but I do enjoy doing paper crafts and scrapbooking and they usually look pretty cute. I don't do it too often because I just don't want to get all the stuff out and have to put it away halfway through a project, but this weekend I was working on some basic stuff for church and I had so much fun just sitting at the table and listening to music and making cute handouts and the invitations for our YW New Beginnings. It almost motivates me to do a mini scrapbook for Weston. I even have a pre-put together set of paper, stickers and mounts for a baby boy scrapbook that I got at Weston's shower (thanks Tori!), so my only excuse is that I would have to print pics. :) My poor second child has little hope of ever getting a cute scrapbook since Weston doesn't even really have one. Oh well. I was feeling pretty proud of my final products and thought I would share.

My handout for YW on Sunday about discovering and fulfilling our purpose in life.

The invitation for New Beginnings

Working Late

My oh-so-talented hubby is a graphic designer. He loves his job and what he does. It continues to fascinate and challenge him. He currently works for a company called Verite. He has been with them for a couple years now since he graduated from BYU and has advanced to Art Director in that time.
Ok, so the reason I am writing about Ian's job is that the nature of being a designer is that you work on deadlines constantly. Some projects it's no big deal because the timeline is appropriate to the work that needs to be done, the client responds with minimal changes, etc. However, every other month or so Ian works insane hours. These times always seem to correspond with busy times at home as well. What else would we expect?
Unfortunately this week is another one of those times. I haven't really seen Ian since Tuesday night. Wednesday he came home a little late (mainly due to horrendous weather and consequently horrendous traffic) but then we both had mutual so I didn't get to see him until about 9pm. Then the next day (Valentine's Day) he found out he had a rush project with a deadline after the weekend, so he stayed at Verite until 1am. Weston and I went and visited him before bedtime for a little while. Last night he stayed at work until 2:30am and we didn't get to see him all day or night. This morning (Saturday) he left the house about 9am to be in for a conference call at 10, which the client apparently ignored. We just got back from visiting and going to lunch together, but he will probably be there until late late again tonight.
Luckily he will be able to take tomorrow (Sunday) off, which is good because it's our ward conference and he kinda needs to be there. However, his President's Day holiday is shot as he will be at work all day that day too. The only upside here is that Verite is generally pretty good about compensating their employees for the crazy rush job hours they work, so Ian gets to take his monday holiday some other time (probably when the baby is born) and we already got a nice gift card since he worked all Valentine's night. A bonus should be forthcoming for the inconvenience of this weekend too.
Anyway, it does leave me lonely and slightly stir crazy with just a 2 year old to talk to, but at least I didn't have much else to do except work on my blog and now it's all cute and yellow! :) The ups and downs of being a designer's wife. I should have known going in. I still love my hard working hubby and can't wait til things calm down and we get a chance to reconnect.

Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day yesterday! There were several possible dampers to my day of love, but it still turned out pretty fun. First of all we woke up to about 6 inches of snow and since Ian was already running late for work he didn't shovel at all, just powered out of the driveway, so before I could leave in the morning I had to shovel the walkway by the car so Weston could get in without being hip deep in snow. That was a little difficult, but we managed. I took Weston to story time at the library and he had a blast singing and dancing and sorta listening to stories, then he made a valentine for his daddy with green yarn. We then went on a hunt for a heart balloon. 2 dollar stores later we managed to come home with a cute valentine's balloon, which he played with all afternoon. I also decided to really get in the spirit and make sugar cookies. I forget how much work they are, but they're so delicious. Ian was having a rough day at work and had to stay until almost 1am working on a project, so Weston and I went and visited him last night and brought him some of our cookies and his valentine. I missed having him home last night though. Overall a very fun Valentine's Day. Maybe next year I can actually think ahead and make valentine's for everyone on my list! Love you all!

The piled up snow in our front yard.

Posing with his balloon.

Weston had a good chat with Lizzie (literally for about 10 minutes).

He didn't really like helping much, just eating.

The finished product. My back was killing me but today I get to eat them and it's all worth it! :)

Mel and Brad's Wedding!!!

We had a busy busy week in California last week. After Grandpa's stroke I flew into CA on the 2nd in the morning and went straight to the hospital to see him. It was very nice to be able to say my goodbyes and Weston was very sweet and gave Grandpa kisses too. I even got a last hand squeeze from Grandpa. I spent the first few days of my trip hanging with Mel and Dad and running wedding errands, cleaning the house and playing Yahtzee with Mel and Weston. Mom was home for only a few hours of those days. Grandpa passed away early Wednesday morning.
Coincidentally, Wednesday was the day the wedding festivities started. Wednesday Brad and his family came into town and we had a luncheon at our house before getting ready and heading to the LA temple where Mel took out her endowments. It was awesome being there again since I hadn't been back to that temple since my own wedding 4 1/2 years ago.

Thursday we ran wedding errands and picked up our bridesmaid's dresses, got our nails done, etc. That night Jules threw Mel an awesome bachelorette party. We all went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner then over to Jules' apartment for some naughty games and presents. It was a blast. Good times.


Friday was spent setting up for the reception. Weston loved running around in the "big room." We grabbed In and Out for lunch then I took Weston home for a nap, but headed back later that evening to help with flowers and see the family that had come to help out too. It's amazing that it started out as just a cultural hall and ended up looking so beautiful with Mel's fun colors. (that picture isn't even the final product; it's missing the gorgeous flowers)


Saturday was the big day! Here are the happy couple and some other pics of the fun but long day. We had really beautiful weather; it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. The sealing was very nice and Mel and Brad looked so beautiful and are such a cute couple. Weston loved wearing his suit and was such a good, happy little ring bearer. He especially loved his pink flower boutinniere but it only lasted about 15 minutes. My feet, back and belly were killing me by the end of the day but it was worth it. I think everyone had a fun time and it was nice to have a celebration in the midst of losing grandpa.







Sunday we spent the entire day just relaxing at the house. I dont think I even ever got dressed, except for in my sweats. :) Mel and Brad came back to the house and we had lunch and watched them open their presents. It was nice to have a down day after all the excitement. Monday morning was Grandpa's funeral. It was really a beautiful service. There were tons of flowers, which was great since Grandpa was a gardener and loved loved flowers. It was nice to have so much family in town for the funeral. Weston went to the nursery that they provided and had a blast, so that worked out too. On our way back to the church for the luncheon, we stopped at the showroom for the CAT company. Weston loved seeing the big trucks but was kinda bummed when we left. We flew back home late Monday night and got home around 12:30am. Thanks to Nicole for bringing us home from the airport! Overall it really was a fun trip. I am spending the rest of this week recovering and getting the house in order.

Jealousy Bordering on Psychotic

I am so jealous of anyone with the ability to sleep more than 2-3 hours consecutively at night. I had forgotten that this point would come in my pregnancy when I can't even sleep for 2 straight hours without waking up uncomfortable and having to pee then once I'm up I have a really hard time getting back to sleep, so here I am typing at 2am . . . I've already laid in bed tossing for an hour and finally got up because I'm pregnant and I was starving. Then there's another dilemma: what do you eat at 2am that will actually possibly help you sleep and not keep you awake another hour? I usually go with something in the oat family; oatmeal or granola. It makes me feel full, tastes good and requires very little preparation. I am trying to remember back several months when I could sleep 6-7 hours straight, if not more and realize that someday I will be able to do it again, but hope is looking pretty dim right now. If I could sleep in until 9 or 10 tomorrow that would be one thing, but seeing as I have a plane to catch in the morning, it makes this particular sleepless night even more frustrating and everyone knows that everything seems 10 times worse in the middle of the night. Well, enough of my exhausted ramblings . . . I think I will try to read for a few minutes and then attempt to sleep again. And if you're ever up at 2am and thinking, why me?, just remember: I'm probably up too.

Grandpa Snowball

A little shout out to my adorable, sweet, green thumb, singing Grandpa Snowball. He had a massive stroke Thursday morning and I'm not sure that he will ever be quite the same or even be around for us too much longer, but I love him so much and have learned a lot from him and his wonderful example. I love that he has maintained such an amazingly beautiful yard and house plants until probably the day before the stroke. I love that he has a way with kids and taught us "Mr. Johnnery Beck," "A You're Adorable," "I Love you a Bushel and Peck" and countless others that I dont even know all the words to. I love that he is always interested in what we are doing and is subtly encouraging and so proud of me. I love that he has such a great attitude about life that really showed through when he fought and won his battle with cancer at 80 years old. I love that he has such strong, quiet faith in his beliefs. I love the way he interacts with his wife of 60+ years and did/does all he can to care for her when she was hurt. He is a wonderful man and grandfather. I can't wait to see him when I fly to CA tomorrow and I hope that we can keep creating more memories and that my sons will get the chance to really know him.

Grandpa and I--summer '05

My 85 year old Grandpa riding the alpine slide in Park City--fall '05

Me and Weston with Grandma and Grandpa--February '07

Grandpa playing mini, mini with Weston in Park City--fall '07

Grandma and Grandpa Snowball--Snowball Family Christmas Party 2007

Watch Jumping!

This is what I hear non-stop when Weston decides that he is going to jump. I think it's funny that he's such a cautious little kid and he just discovered that this is an awesome place to jump on the furniture. We have had a good week just getting things ready for our trip to CA that we leave on tomorrow! Weston had his 2 year old check up this morning and is still a midget at 10th % height, 8th % weight and 35th % head. He is super healthy and very smart though, so it's ok. Hopefully he will be funny when he grows up to offset any bullying. ;) Anyway, I can't wait to post some pics from our trip!