The Green's

House Pictures

2011-10-10T12:52:00.001-07:00

I have had many requests for house pictures but have obviously procrastinated. We purchased a forclosure that definitely needed lots of love. I was putting off the pictures so I could post before and after pictures together. Well those of you who own a house know how quickly things get done with family, work, church, etc. So I guess I am going to post some before pictures and some in-progress pictures. I decided to start with the kitchen/dining room. We are almost done with the things on the list for this part of the house for the time being. We would eventually like to redo the counters and floor in the kitchen but that is pretty low on the priority list. Andrew stripped all the popcorn off the ceiling in the dining room, kitchen and hallway this summer and then he finished the ceiling with smooth mud. It looks amazing. He also painted the dining room and hallway. Replaced all the doors (the previous doors had knife holes in them), trim and baseboard. I stripped the wallpaper out of the kitchen and did all the painting in the kitchen and down the stairway....which I am very proud of. We still need to replace all the outlets and light switches and then caulk all our base and trim. This project is almost done!

Here's what we started with.....

Here's where we're at now.....

2011-04-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ok my new obsession is finding a cute modest swim suite for this summer. I have birthday money set aside for it but I have to find just the right one. I have been searching www.limericki.com, www.downeastbasics.com and www.modbeclothing.com. Just came across www.hapari.com and fabulousfamilyfinds.blogspot.com is having a giveaway for a gift card. So Fun! Then I wouldn't even have to spend my b-day money. Any other suggestions?! Silly that I never post on my blog and then this is the thing I post. I should post some cute pictures of my adorable children or of the cool house we're trying to buy but we'll save that for another day.

Andrea's Nasty Bread

2010-11-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

So the other night we had a family from the ward over for Family Home Evening. I have made it a goal to invite atleast one family over a week so we can get to know people and make friends. I made homemade cinnamon rolls and they brought the lesson. After the lesson we were all sitting around eating our treat. The mom and I were sitting at the table with Summit and her four year old. He ate half his cinnamon roll and then passed it over to her. She asked him if he was finished and he said, "Yeah, I don't like it." I could tell that she was embarrased. She said that he is a super picky eater and will basically only eat a few different foods. Then she said, "He has no taste buds." He looked over at her and said, "Yes I do, I just don't like NASTY bread." It was the funniest thing ever. The mom turned all red and I got all nervous cause I was worried they really were gross. Everyone else finished their first and then went back for seconds. When they were leaving the mom said, "You can feed us your nasty bread anytime." And the dad said he was going to start calling cinnamon rolls Nasty Bread from now on. So I didn't feel so bad after all. Kids say the funniest things.

Sweet 16

2010-11-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our little Austin is 16!!!! He is offically dating material and legal age to drive now! (He won't be doing that for a little while so you don't have to worry yet) CRAZY!
Some things about Austin that I really admire are:

He is an amazing big brother. I know I have said this a million times but it is worth saying over and over because it is so true. He has an amazing love for his little brothers and takes such good care of them. He is looked up to so much by them and I know that he really strives to be a good example to them. Whenever he goes to the library to check out movies and CD's he brings one home for Summit. Even if Summit doesn't like watching the movie he carries it around and thinks it is the best thing ever just cause Austin brought it to him.
He is awesome at playing the guitar. He has been practicing so much and is getting really good. He loves listening to music, playing music, learning about different bands, etc.
He pushes through when things are hard....and sometimes I think it's pretty unfair the hard things that people get delt.
He doesn't worry about what other people think about him. He likes what he likes because he likes it not because other people say it's cool.
He is so HANDSOME! And he has an awesome smile!

HALLOWEEN

2010-10-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to get Summit to decide what he wanted to be for Halloween for two months so I could make him a cool costume. Everytime I asked him he just made it into a joke so I could never get a straight answer from him. Finally we were at Old Navy and he saw a shark costume he had to have. So I bought it for him. He wore it for a week straight. Then my mom sent him two costumes that she had made me when I was a kid. He LOVED them and decided that instead of being a shark he was going to be a leopard. Tosh can't talk so he had no say in the matter so here he is as Brobee. We went to the ward party on Saturday night and then tonight we put the costumes on long enough to show Grandma and Popi on Skype. Summit didn't even want to trick-or-treat.

On Friday we went to a play group and had a Halloween party. These are a few of the play group friends.

2010-10-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

It snowed here in Casper today. It didn't stick but it was cold so we hid inside all day. Here are a few pictures from our day. I worked on Tosh's halloween costume. Here's a little piece of it.

Summit and I made animal bread while Tosh was napping. We made a spider, a ghost, and a turtle.

Here are the boys playing in the crib.Nothing too exciting to post about. Andrew has been working out of town five days a week and I am in survival mode. I'm not super good at parenting three kids all on my own. I don't even cook nice dinners like I do when Andrew is home and I still can't manage to keep the house clean or find any time to relax. I'm in awe at women who work outside the home or are single moms and do all the wife stuff too. This is HARD work! But isn't it amazing! These adorable smiles make it all worth while!

Friends

2010-10-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

We had friends over today! Now you may not think this is blog worthy but this is the first time we have had kid friends over to our house in Wyoming. Summit woke up yesterday morning and heard Tosh playing in the living room. He got a big smile on his face and said, "Are my friends here to play." I felt so bad so I got on the phone to a girl in the ward and invited them over for lunch today. Summit was in HEAVEN!!! We had homemade mac & cheese for lunch and then played on the tramp. The boys played monsters and football. Summit laughed and played SO hard. We miss having good friends around to play with and hope it won't be long until we have a great group of buddies like we did in Nevada City!

California

2010-10-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Andrew's sister Lisa got married a week ago and we were lucky enough to take a trip out to California for the occasion. The little boys and I were able to go out there a week before the wedding and do a little playing. We went swimming in Nancy's pool, played with friends, went shopping, spent time with Grandma and Poppi, relaxed and had a nasty stomach bug. Overall it was really nice to go back and visit. The pictures are in a crazy order cause I am not smart enough or patient enough to figure out how to fix it on Austin's mac. Haha...I just turned that whole paragraph into a link also. I really suck at this but I'm not going to try and fix it. :)

Art and Roz at the wedding

Alex and Brianna at the wedding

Summit and his buddies Coen and Beckett

Andrew and Austin were able to come out for a three day weekend to enjoy the wedding and a few short hours in Nevada City. We had a wonderful dessert get together at the Clove's house. Here is our buddy Will reading books to the little guys.

All my boys at the wedding

My lovey and Me at the wedding

The bride and her daddy

Summit carrying the rings

Lisa and her daughter Christina

I was so busy worrying about the little guys that I didn't get any good pictures of the bride and groom. Sorry McLeod!

Handy Halloween Helper

2010-10-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

My mom sent Summit these costumes that she had made me when I was a little tyke. He loves them and has been wearing them everyday.

We just got a new dryer and Andrew was hooking it up for me. When I went down into the basement to see how things were going this is the what I found. They each had a screwdriver and they were taking turns. How adorable is this!!! These are the moments that I live for as a mom!

Sum's B-day

2010-10-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late with this but here it is. First thing when we woke up Summit went to his closet and go out his special birthday shirt that I made him. Then we decided to head to the park.

Next, the boys treated me to a nice peaceful jog.

Then we went home and waited very patiently for daddy to get home so we could open presents. As soon as dad got home Summit told him that he was waiting to open his presents until he got home and asked him to go in his room to see them. Next thing I know the two of them are in his bedroom opening presents without me. He got some movies, a game, some coloring things, and a trampoline. This is his surprised look when we took him outside to see his trampoline. It wasn't completely put together so it took him a second to figure out what was going on.

Here's the smile after he realized what all the pieces in the yard would become

Then we headed back inside and had cake. Summit requested a football cake.

Three Years Old

2010-09-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our amazing Summit!

We have been so blessed by this wonderful little spirit coming to our family. There is no way I can express the joy and love we have for our son.

Here are a few things that we love most about Summit

He is hilarious! He loves to make us laugh.
He is so sweet! When I am sad he will come and comfort me and make me smile.
He is the best little friend! I would be so bored during the day if I didn't have his company.
He loves life!
He is so confident!
He's super smart!
He is a great big and little brother!

Basically He is a SUPER COOL kid!

September 20, 2007

September 2008 - One Year Old

September 2009 - Two Years Old

September 2010 - Three Years Old

A New Step

2010-09-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

We have started our journey down the solid food road with Tosh. It is incredible how much one child can LOVE food. He is an eater! The second time I fed him rice cereal he laughed every time the spoon started coming towards his mouth because he was so excited. It was hilarious.

Yellowstone and the Tetons

2010-09-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

We took a short little vacation over labor day weekend. Why does it take so long to drive anywhere with three kids?!
We spent our first day in Yellowstone. Our first stop was Olf Faithful. Then we looked at some waterfalls and a few other smaller geysers. Summit was so excited to see buffalo so we were really relieved when we ran into a whole herd of them sitting on the side of the road eating. The next day we went to the Tetons and hiked around Jenny lake to the Hidden Falls.

I can't access the other camera card so there's no pictures of Austin or I but we were there.

We're here!

2010-08-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

We've finally made it to WY! It seems like it has taken forever. We've actually been here two weeks but still no internet. It's a little hard to blog with no internet.
Andrew is really enjoying his new job. We are getting comfortable in our new house. Still lots of boxes to unpack...hopefully it will be done soon! I keep telling myself I have to wait to craft till I get at least our clothes and basics unpacked. Austin started school and is taking some cool classes. In his PE class he gets to scuba dive in the pool, fly fish, rock climb, orienteer, etc. Summit, Tosh and I are working on making some connections. We've been walking on the river every day and taking frequent trips to the park, the library, and the grocery store. We had a picnic the other night at one of the many fabulous parks here in Casper. Here are a few pictures of our adventure.

WE'RE MOVING

2010-08-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably already know but we are packing up and heading to WYOMING! On July 9th Andrew graduated from Northwest Lineman College. Then on July 16th he recieved a call from Short Powerline offering him a postition on their team. He headed out two days later. He has been out there working 12 hour days and trying to get a place for us to live. The boys and I are still here in Nevada City packing and getting all our ducks in a row. We are hoping to head out of here in a week. We will post again when we arrive and fill you in on our new life in Casper.

If this is really what it looks like there in WY...I can't wait to get there!

HAIRCUT

2010-06-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

We decided to cut our little guys hair. He looks so old!
He wasn't sitting in front of a mirror when we cut it so when it was all done I took him to look in the mirror. As soon as he saw himself he got the biggest ear to ear grin I have ever seen. He loves his new haircut and so do we but we still kinda miss the long hair.
These pics aren't the best but they are the best of the hair.

Our Week in a Nutshell

2010-06-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

I HATE SHOTS AND EAR INFECTIONS! This was Tosh 5 hours after he got his first shots...ugh! Then three days later Summit got an ear infection.

This is Tosh a week later...we like this so much better!

Here is Summit going for a run with Popi...he loves to exercise and stretch with Popi.

Here is Summit and his best friend Coen playing Guitar Hero at our friends house.

My soon to be Lineman

2010-06-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Two months ago Andrew went back to school at Northwest Lineman College. The program is 15 weeks long and runs monday through thursday. After school every day Andrew studies from 4:30 until about 10 pm with a short break for dinner. On Thursday mornings they are tested on that weeks material. For the past five weeks in a row Andrew has got 100% on his tests! He has also been able to pass off a lot of the physical tests already. He is so dedicated and I am so proud of him!!!!

First smiles

2010-05-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Tosh just started smiling two days ago. After his eleven o'clock feeding he started cooing like crazy and smiling. Andrew was still up so I called him in to see just to make sure I wasn't crazy. You know those first few smiles are hard to tell if they are really a smile or an accidental/gas face. As soon as Andrew came in he stopped...of course. But it's been a few days and he has continued so now I'm sure that those were smiles for me. Here's the best I could catch on camera.
We are having so much fun with our little Tosh. He is a great sleeper....he has been sleeping six hours on most nights for the last two weeks or so. After that he sleeps another two or three hours and then another hour or so. We are really enjoying a baby that sleeps because Summit was up every two hours until he was 9 months old!

Coming out of the stone age

2010-05-19T21:20:00.001-07:00

We are excited to announce that the Green family officially has internet and cable in their home. This is a first for their marriage! The frequency of blog posts should only increase from this time forward. Here are a few pictures from the last two months.

Tosh's Baby Blessing

Photo shoot of the two little boys

Andrew, Summit, Andrea, & baby Tosh (in tummy) at the Ocean visiting Uncle Erik

Summit's new big boy room that he and Nana decorated

Austin playing his guitar

Baby Tosh sleeping

Baby Tosh

2010-04-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to introduce you to our newest addition.

Tosh Kyler Green
March 25, 2010
9:26 AM
7 pounds 2 ounces

Summit Turned 2!!!

2009-09-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our little boy is two already! He loves dinosaurs so here he is with his dinosaur cake. It was so fun to watch him get all excited over the presents and cake and decorations. Two is a great age...atleast so far.

Doug got married...here are the boys outside the temple.

Summit and Austin have such a close relationship. Summit gets so excited when he gets to go in Austin's room and just hang out. Here they are laying on Austin's bed looking at pictures together.

Here is Summit's cape that I made him last month.

A Giveaway!

2009-08-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

My cousin Kerri is hosting a double giveaway on her quilting blog Lovely Little Handmades. Stop by and check it out. She is offering a frame from The Green Pickle
and beautiful aqua and red charm pack.

Make sure you make a comment to be entered into the drawing.

2009-07-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a few fun pictures I've taken in the last few weeks. Nothing really exciting going on with us lately. We've had a few low key weeks. Been working on thegreenpickle, swimming in the river LOTS and trying to stay cool. My sister's been here visiting. Mom and Andy show up in two days and then Summit and I head back to WA with them in a week. Vika and I go on a 50 mile backpack trip in week and a half. That's about it.

getting ready to raft the Truckee River

8th Grade Graduation

2009-06-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is growing up so fast!!! He graduated from 8th Grade a week and a half ago. We are so proud of him! He was invited to the Honors Night and he was awarded with a certificate for being on the Honor Roll all four quarters this year.

Beads, beads and more beads

2009-06-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

I can't figure this whole blogging thing out!! What did I do wrong? How do I fix it? Can anyone help?

Well while I'm at it I'll post a few pictures of what I've been doing lately. I was asked to do the beads for our stake girls camp. They thought it would be a great idea to have like 30 different beads for each girl and there are 180 girls. So that has been my task for the last three months. I'm finally finished and here they are!!!

Spiritual beads for scripture, prayer, testimony and journal

Certification beads for flags, music, humanitarian aid, fires, clouds, capers, first aid, compass, stars, environmental protection, hikes

Activity beads for COPEs course, tomahawk throw, polar bear swim, archery, horse riding, crafts, visiting the nurse,

Daily theme beads

Name beads for Africa, Egypt, Europe, India, first mates and china

random beads for memorizing scriptures, happy camper, Find the Light 2009

I SUCK AT BLOGGING

2009-04-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

HAHAHA.....It's been almost three months since my last post! I truly suck at this blogging thing. I have probably lost all three of my readers...how sad.

Well I was asked to create all the beads for our stake girls camp. I have a list of over thirty different kinds of beads that need to be made and I need about 180 of each bead...on a tight budget. Wow...it has become a full time job and the pay SUCKS! Actually it's kinda fun but after 213 hours of work it starts to get a little old. That is what has taken up the majority of my time lately but I've been able to squeeze a few other activities in there along the way. On Friday's I have Polly's kids while she works and that keeps me on my toes. They are so fun and I missed them like crazy when she was in Ireland. But that makes it nearly impossible to blog on Fridays. In February I went to WA to visit my family and that was a blast. Then they came to visit us the last week of March and again we had so much fun. Summit and I have been going to the park and playing outside as much as possible. The weather has been so nice. Here are a few pictures of the last few months. I also have been working on setting up an etsy shop. It's slow going but I'm excited about the progress I've made. Here's a link to my shop if you want to take a look. I'll post again and let you all know when everything is officially set up.

Utah and more

2009-01-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

A week and a half ago Andrew, Summit and I went to Utah for my friend Emily's wedding. It was such a priviledge to be there with her. Emily was my first roommate at BYU my freshman year in U Hall at DT. It was so cool to be a part of the sealing. I was able to reflect on my own sealing and the words that were spoken there. How awesome that we can be with our families forever. We are so blessed. While we were out there we were able to visit with some old friends which was a blast too. Thanks Lindsey and Wally for letting us crash...you guys are great!!!

Summit and I also started our second session of music class. It is so fun and Summit is learning so much. He loves to sing (even though he can't say the words), dance, and head bang (thanks to Austin). Anyone with little kids should check it out. http://www.musictogether.com/ They have classes all over the country. It's amazing the power that music has on such a little child.

Andrew and I also started class at Sierra College in Rocklin. Andrew is taking College Algebra to refresh so he's ready to take the GRE and I am taking a guitar class. I'm so excited. I learned to play my first song The Ding Dong song. It only has three notes but it's great. Hehehehe.

Austin is getting ready to go into high school. We already signed the paperwork and next month he starts registering. I can't believe how old he is. The times just flies by. He is still taking guitar lessons and doing great! Everyday he comes home from school with a new song he learned with his friends during lunch. It's hard to find him without a guitar in his hands.

And of course as always, I've been crafting. Here is my latest project. Our friends, The Hamberlin's had an adorable little boy. Tisha had told me about this cool frame that she wanted to make for her baby Tanner. When Andrew and I saw the idea we fell in love with it and decided to make two of them, one for the Hamberlin's and one for Summit's room. Here is Tanner's...Summit's isn't done yet. The first one is always the hardest so hopefully his will take a little less time. One reason this frame is so cute is the amazing font I used. A dear friend of mine is an incredibly talented font artist and I'm so grateful for her sharing with me. This font is called P.S. I love you. I've had a few people comment on it so if you are interested you can find it here. http://shop.scrapbookgraphics.com/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=53 They are super cheap to buy and they make any craft project, Relief Society handout or digi scrapbook page so much cuter. Thanks Islandmom!

I think that sums it all up. We're staying busy but loving life at the same time!

Christmas Crafting

2009-01-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

When we went to WA for Thanksgiving my parents gave me this sewing center for my Christmas gift. I LOVE IT! I just need to put the doors on the top so I can close it all up. I had so much fun organizing all my craft stuff and fabric. Next to it is my cutting table. I have been using the corner of the dining room to store my craft stuff and the dining room table as my craft/cutting table. Not very convenient.

I definitely caught the crafting bug this holiday season. Here are a few of the fun projects I did.

Here are the gifts I made for my family. This first one is a tin star covered in pictures of our family and cool paper. I decopauged all the pieces to the star. It turned out really cool. The second thing I made them was a sign that says "Families are Forever". I painted a piece of wood and attached three 5x5 frames to it with pictures of our family. Then I cut the words out of vinyl on the Sillhouette machine and stuck them on there...Thanks Polly for letting me use your fun machine.

My favorite decoration is my Merry Christmas blocks. I decopauged scrapbook paper onto blocks, cut out letter on a Sillhouette machine, wet embossed all the letters with clear glitter embossing powder and then decopauged them on to the blocks. This project took me hours because I had to have it perfect but it was worth all the time because I LOVE IT!

A tradition in Andrew's family is that each member of the family gives a stocking stuffer to each other member of the family. This year I made ornaments for everyone. I noticed the kids didn't have ornaments with baby pictures on them so I made them each one. This is Alex's.

I was just released as the 11 year old girls Primary teacher so as a Christmas/Goodbye gift I made each girl one of these mirrors. The mirrors were $2.99 at Ikea. I painted the edges of the mirrors brown and then sanded them to give them that worn look. Then I decopauged scrapbook paper on the front of the mirror and decopauged the words "Daughter of God" on the front. They turned out so cute!
Here is my PEACE sign I started last year and finished this year.

I saw a cute idea on a blog before Christmas and I had to do it. So here it is....I opened pop-top cans with a pampered chef can opener that uncrimps the edges. Then I cleaned them out, refilled them with candy and fudge, decorated the outside with paper, ribbon and stamps, and then I glued the lids back on. So here is one example. Then when the person receives it they open it with the little pop top thing. Cute, huh?!

Almost two months...where to begin?!

2008-12-29T23:22:00.000-08:00

I guess I will start with the most recent and go backwards.

We had an amazing Christmas this year. We spent it here in Nevada City with Andrew's family and had a wonderfully relaxing day. Although we missed the other side immensely. We were spoiled this year! I got an amazing desk that I call my "sewing center", a Vita-Mix, and lots of thoughtful gifts from my husband. The best gift was being able to spend time as a family and see my boys open their presents. Austin got excited over all the little things and Summit just wanted to play with the balls. It was great!

The month of December was filled with fun crafting. I made some super cute Christmas decorations for the house and also some fun gifts for friends and family. I need to post pictures later cause I don't have any right now.

We also received our first snow. We got a foot and a half at our house. Summit had fun sledding with Austin. He didn't want to come in but he was so cold we had to force him.

November was a busy month also. I started out the month with Christmas crafting in hopes that I would be able to finish them in time to drive them up to WA instead of send them. Back in October I found out I had skin cancer. My mom flew out here in the middle of November to help me through my surgery and such. She took care of my family and I for a week while I recovered. She even took my stitches out for me while we were in WA...this picture was taken right before she took them out. Then we piled in our van and drove up to WA for Thanksgiving. We were able to spend a week there hanging out with my family. It was fun to be with my family and my boys together. It had been a year since we were all able to get together. We spent a day at the Pacific Science Center.

Andrew and Austin were able to go on a deep sea fishing trip in the beginning of November. They had a blast and came home with a few fish and lots of crab. We feasted for three days after their return.

We also spent some time playing in the fall leaves.

This is quite the quick recap of the last two months but it's about all I can do right now. It's almost midnight and I'm starting to fade. Excuse the grammatical errors...I'm outside of my thinking hours.

2008-11-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Summit. Just thought I'd share it with everyone.

Fort Bragg

2008-11-04T09:20:00.000-08:00

We went to Fort Bragg a few weekends ago and I never got around to posting the pictures. We had so much fun. We met a group of people there from our ward.

Austin found this cave in the rocks.

Summit and I made a crocodile in the sand while the rest of the family went out boating.

Here we are exploring in the tide pools.

A little stroll down to the beach.

Summit was so helpful with putting up the tent. He wants to be just like his Dad.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here are the costumes I put millions of hours into. In the middle of the night on Thursday I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep cause I was so excited for Halloween. How ridiculous is that?! I haven't been so excited for Halloween in YEARS! I guess it was all the anticipation from making the costumes. Here are the pictures. I do have to say that these are the best costumes I've ever made (I've only made two other costumes). Austin looked incredible!

I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of just Summit. This picture doesn't do him justice. I'll have to dress him up again and post a good picture of just him.

I know I already did Austin's Birthday post but today is the real day so again here is a tribute to Austin....You are the most amazing big brother and a great son! You make our family complete! We love you so much. You continue to amaze me every day. You are such a great example for good. You are such a strong young man! We are so lucky to have you as one of our sons!!!!!!

Reasons I love Austin

2008-10-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

I've been reflecting the last few days on how grateful I am for Austin. He turns 14 on November 1st and it seems like his birthday is always overshadowed by Halloween. So here I am doing a birthday post for him without any Halloween distractions.

Here are a few of the reasons I love Austin.

1. He is the best big brother I've ever seen and a wonderful son.

2. He is funny. We can laugh at each other and ourselves together.

3. He is a hard worker. (When he wants to be) :)

4. He is forgiving.

5. He is such a strong person. He tries to move past the challenges in his life and continue on the right path despite hard times.

6. Our family wouldn't be the same without him. He brings a lot of personality and spunk to our home.

7. He trusts me.

8. He's so cute.

9. He's a great student.

10. He's loyal.

Update on Life

2008-10-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick update...Summit and I have been working on Halloween costumes. We've finished Summit's and we are in process for the other three. I'm excited to do a Halloween post but I have to wait. We also made a cute Halloween decoration.

On Monday we had a card making day at our house. That was fun. Now I have a few cards stocked up. Here are the boys playing the drum while we made cards.

I also made these cute beanies for my nieces.

Austin is doing great in 8th grade. We got a call from one of his teachers last week to tell us how awesome he is doing. She went on for 5 minutes about how wonderful he is. That was really neat to hear!

That's about all the excitement we have right now. I know it isn't anything too monumental but that's our life! :)

Busy Crafting

2008-09-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well I've been playing a little bit lately. I made myself a Halloween decoration cause I don't have any. It turned out kinda silly but I think it's cute. The ghost reminds me of an ugly doll. For some reason I can't get it to face the right direction but here it is....

These are some super cute shoes I made for Summit. The pictures doesn't do them justice!

I also made Summit's Halloween costume. I'll have to post pictures of that later.

We Need Everyones Help...Please Vote!

2008-09-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Austin's trying to decide which hairstyle to go with. Which one is best A, B or C?

Isn't he CUTE!!!

The Birthday Weekend

2008-09-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend. Summit's birthday stretched all weekend and it's still not over. He hasn't opened his presents from Grandma and Grandpa yet. Friday night (the night before his b-day) we went shopping and got his presents. On Saturday morning he opened a few and played with them. Then we relaxed and cooked for his party/family reunion that we had on Sunday night. On Saturday night we ate pizza and opened another present. Then on Sunday morning we opened more presents, went to church and then that night we had a party. He got more presents and had a huge cupcake all for himself. It was so much fun.

Thanks Nana and Grampy for the cool truck and the fun instruments...we love them!

Here he is giving Muno loves.

He found his favorite animal in his book.

Dinner. Yum.

Here are some of our friends that were there...Polly and Beckett.

More friends...Amanda and Kayden.

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Little Boog!

2008-09-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already been a year. Time goes so fast! We are so lucky to have our little Summit! He has been such a blessing in our lives. I thought I'd share a few reason's why I'm grateful for him.

1. His smile lights up my day.
2. He likes to make me laugh. He knows what to do to make me laugh and he does it with a straight face which is even funnier.
3. He's so smart...he can say eight words now.
4. He trusts me.
5. His cheeks are softer than velvet and so incredibly kissable.
6. He loves to snuggle me.
7. He gives great kisses.
8. He is obsessed with toilet paper and wipes...can't find a toy much cheaper than that.
9. He's a great shopping companion.
10. He says "HI" to everyone we pass in grocery store.

This is the first moment we met and the bond was so strong already. I am so grateful that I get to spend everyday with him. Our bond has grown so much in the last year. It's incredible how a parent can love their children. I'm so blessed to have my amazing boys!

On the way home from the hospital, as tears streamed down my face, I asked Andrew, "How can they send me home with this baby? I don't know what I'm doing. I can't be a Mom." I couldn't imagine how I was going to do it and now I can't imagine how it could be any other way. My life is amazing.

HI DAD

2008-08-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well...Dad has been gone for two weeks on a crazy backpacking trip and we're visiting Nana and Grampy. Here is a post for Dad so he can see his cute little boy and see what we've been up to. Welcome home Dad...we're so proud of you...you're amazing! We miss you like crazy. Two more days and we'll be home.

Here we are at the zoo watching the whales swim.

Here is Aunt Vika taking Summit down the slide...he loved it!
Here we are in the yard playing with Grampy and setting up their new tent.
Summit is playing with his new monster toy from Aunt Becci...he thinks it is so funny!
Here he is picking blueberries with Nana up at Uncle Steves house.
Here he is playing with the bowls were were using to pick vegetables in the garden.

Here are the blackberries we picked...like 16 cups or something. Then Nana made a pie...yummy!

Lost Coast

2008-08-06T17:32:00.001-07:00

It's a little late but here are the pictures from the lost coast. We had such a blast! It's hard to backpack with a little baby though. Austin and Andrew were so awesome though...they carried all my stuff so I could carry Summit and his stuff. What troopers!

Here's the before shot

And the after shot

And a few in between

Wish it didn't take so long to download them or I'd put more. We're headed to the fair....I'm excited!

WE LOVE VISITING FAMILY!

2008-07-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

Summit and I were so lucky...we went up to Washington to visit Nana and Grandpy and Aunt Vika and Uncle Andy. We had so much fun. We are so grateful for Art and Roz letting us tag along on their way to Canada. We played at the park with friends and family, in the water at the Gig Harbor dock and in Nana's bay and at the Peterson's pool, we played with the dog, with Aunt Becci, and we relaxed. What more could you ask for?! It was so awesome! He also said Mama while we were there, started to play peek-a-boo with his blanket, and said Ba for his Ball. I can't believe how much he changed just in that week while we were away from Dad and Austin. Oh, and another piece of earth shattering news...Summit is sleeping through the night. Finally I broke down and put him in his own crib for good. None of this wishy-washy retrieving of the child when he whines stuff. He sleeps until 5 or 6 am. I am so excited. I should have done that a long time ago. The other day he sleep for 11 hours. Never thought I'd live to see the day that happened.
Summit thought that Uncle Andy was pretty cool. He even babysat our little guy so Nana and I could go kyaking. Yummy...sea treats. Summit thought the seaweed and musscles tasted so good straight from the sea.

Nana is crazy...she was dangling him above the water...of course she had quite the grip...and Summit thought that was the best thing in the world. If she took him out he would try and crawl right back in.
We had fun floating in the tube in Burley Lagoon with Aunt Vika.

Summit giggled like crazy when I pushed him on the swing.

Here we are back home with Daddy. We start 'em early with this driving business.

And we can't wait for our next trip to WA!

Update on life

2008-07-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome Fourth of July. We spent the day at the river. It was so relaxing.

And then we went and watched fireworks at the fairgrounds. Summit was watching them at first and then he started to get scared and fuss. I started nursing him and he fell right to sleep even with all the noise.

The other day we were getting ready to go and we were ignoring Summit. He decided to entertain himself. He dug through the grocery bags that hadn't been emptied and found himself a nectarine and helped himself. We found him on the floor eating away. It was so cute. He loves fruit more than anything else except milk.

Now we're in WA to hang out with the fam...we'll post more later.

More Pictures of My Boys....Big Surprise

2008-06-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

This blog has become my bragging page about my boys. Sorry if you don't care for that...I know atleast one person will appreciate it...huh, Nana?! Summit has a few new tricks. His very favorite thing to do now is clap his hands. If he hears the word YEAH he can't help but clap his hands. He also likes to give high five. He thinks it is so fun. He has also started standing for a few seconds on his own. He uses anything he can to get to a standing position and then he will stand there and play without holding on. He also loves to make noise. He plays with grandpa's drum whenever he gets the chance. He just discovered the guitar when Austin was playing it yesterday.

We went on a hike as a family last night to Rush Creek. We live in the most beautiful place ever! Don't tell anyone...we want it to stay that way.

Austin is loving the summer! He is so excited to have so much time to relax. He worked really hard this year and definitely deserves it! He's at the top of his school now...a big 8th grader. Wow...where does the time go?!

Families are so great!

2008-06-05T21:35:00.001-07:00

Nothing much to say just some cute pictures we've taken lately.

Daddy and Summit stayed home from church cause they were sick and this is what I came home to.

Here's Summy with his Uncle's. He and Austin are so lucky to have such great uncles on both sides!

This was Mother's Day breakfast.....I was so spoiled. My boys are AMAZING! I'm so grateful for the sealing power, that I can be with them forever...I'm so lucky!

I love summer...here's Summit with Zeke and Gio at the pool.

The Crack (in the clavicle)

2008-06-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

Austin and I have joined forces to bring you some very exciting news! Austin has his first broken bone. We're a little late in posting this cause it happened two weeks ago but that's alright. Tonight at dinner he said it almost feels totally healed. Here's the story though. Austin and his friend Logan were biking at Seven Hills (Austin's school) on friday night. Now that Austin is 13 he thinks he is superman. I thought they grew out of that stage at 5 but apparently it comes back in teenagehood. So he found a nice big jump and flew off of it. He cleared the pit after the jump but didn't land right. He flew over the handle bars, did a flip and landed on his shoulder. We were having a nice relaxing dinner at Andrew's parents house when Logan called. He said that Austin fell and hurt himself so they were ready to come home. We didn't think anything of it so Art and Roz went to get him. Then a few minutes later we got a call from a police officer asking for our information. He said Austin had been hurt and an ambulance was on its way. Ugh! So we got in the car and went down to Seven Hills. When we drove up there was a fire truck, an ambulance, a cop car, Art and Roz and Logan and his Dad. Austin was in quite a bit of pain and wasn't really sure what had happened. They got him fully stabilized in a c-collar and taped to a board because his neck hurt. Then they loaded him in the ambulance and off we went. After all that we found out it was a broken collar bone....and here's the proof. The xray is turned the wrong way but you can see the break right in the middle of the picture. Austin was so tough. He wouldn't take any pain medication until the Doctor insisted and put it in his IV.

Then it was time to go home and lay low. He sat an watched TV for three days and then it was time to go back to school.... :( Here they are watching a movie....well I interrupted them for a second to take the picture...they weren't really watching TV in that position.

Her is Austin a week later standing by the jump...he said he can't wait to get back on his bike.

And this was the look Summit gave Austin when he saw him in the c-collar, taped to the board. Not really...but I thought it was a funny picture.

Fun in the sun and the sweetest brothers ever!

2008-05-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

My mom was here last week and we had such a blast! Summit loves the Yuba River...the sand, the sun, the water, the hike....we have so much fun there. I can't wait till we can swim in it. We found a fun trail that leads to a cool spot on the river. My mom and I hiked it twice while she was here. Summit loves being outside riding in the backpack and I am trying to get ready for the Green Family Trek this year. Summit had so much fun playing with Nana and Austin had a blast hiking with her and impressing her with his swim in the freezing river. I'll have to post a video of that later. Just like I was going to post our family pictures. Someday it'll happen. Here are a few of our best river pics.

I love my boys...they are so awesome! They have the sweetest relationship. Austin is the best big brother I've ever seen. Summit loves him more than words can explain. Summit has started really cruising now. He is quite the explorer. His favorite place is Austin's room especially if he knows Austin is in there. He even likes the bathroom if Austin is in there. The other day he followed Austin down the hall and into his room while Austin was trying to study and then later that day he sat outside the bathroom playing cause he saw Austin go in there to clean it. He eventually lost interest but it was the cutest thing watching him wait for his big brother to come out.

Scrapbooking!

2008-04-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Ok...so I have to confess that I always hated scrapbooking cause I wasn't creative enough, patient enough, rich enough, etc. to do it. When Summit was a bun in the oven I told my friend Polly I wanted to make a baby book for him. She had the cutest idea. You make two pages for each month of their first year. You have a calendar on one page to write all the cute stuff and fun milestones and on the next page you have a place for pictures from that month. So the goal was to have it all put together before he was even born so it was all ready. Of course that didn't work but here it is. It is so cute!!!! I'm so grateful for Polly and her creativity...actually it was from a magazine but that's alright. It's easy enough that hopefully I can keep up the tradition with the rest of the kids. Just thought I'd share the cute idea.

P.S. My mom is on the plane right now coming to see me....gotta leave for the airport!

Life is so fun!!!

2008-04-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since the last post...big surprise. So I had to put up a bunch of our latest pictures. I even found pics from Easter that I hadn't posted. Oops!

I am blessed with the cutest boys ever. Here they are hunting for eggs together.

Why does the Easter Bunny bring candy and toys when he could just leave fake grass?!

How cute is he in his little basket?

Here is a bath picture. Austin was entertaining him and he was LOVING it!!!

Summit and I went hiking last week on the Yuba River. We stopped and played in the sand for awhile. Summit loves sand...he kept picking it up and opening his hand so it would run through his fingers. He didn't even try to eat it....good boy!

Today we had our beautiful friend Tiana over and we gave her a wall hanging that I quilted for her. Her mom passed away 8months ago and she was an artist. She had designed a card with a butterfly on it and Tiana had used it to write me a thank you note. I took the design and blew it up, cut it out of fabric and quilted this for her. Both her and her mom's favorite color is Purple. She is such and amazing friend!

Here is Summit getting kisses from her dog Rummy. He loves the dog but not so much when he gives him kisses.

Here is Summit giving me a grumpy face cause he wanted to sit up.

I'm so excited....my mom is coming to visit me in a week and a half! I can't wait! My mom is my bestest girl friend and I love her so much!!!!!
This past week we went a took family pictures. They turned out so awesome but Andrew needs to crop them and all that good stuff. I'll post them when they are ready so keep watching...hopefully I'll get them up sometime before next month!

Austin Skates and Summit Crawls

2008-04-06T18:08:00.000-07:00

Two in one day...aren't you guys lucky. Actually I just had lots to share. I took these videos after the first post so I had to do another one. Aren't these boys talented...Summit is crawling and Austin has been practicing his skateboarding.

2008-04-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it might seem as if I've fallen off the edge of the planet but in reality I'm the mother of a 6 month old and a teenager and that'll do it to you. (How do you moms do it with more than that?)

Summit had his first ear infection and of course it wasn't just one ear...it was both. And his little independent spirit has become quite the roadblock with the medication. He would not take them! He squeezed his lips together and spit it out. If I forced it in his mouth he would gag and throw it up. Finally I found a way to trick him. Then the wonderful antibiotics that were supposed to solve the problem have of course caused other problems...I'm sure all you mothers have experienced that with your little ones. So now we're on to curing the "diaper rash". Ugh! Good thing he is so cute and irresitible!!! Here he is sitting up...he's such a big boy now! I can't believe it. He's almost a little man.

Aren't they so cute! Austin is the best big brother ever! The other day when Summit had a horrible fussy day with his ears as soon as Austin walked in the door from school Summit was smiling and all happy to see him. Summit doesn't like Austin enough to take antibiotics from him though.

We love our Uncle Alex....he's so rad!

Can anyone help Summit find the seaweed wrap to his sushi block? He was sucking on it and then all of a sudden it disappeared. He couldn't find it anywhere.

One last thought.....

Isn't being a parents so awesome! I can't believe how amazing it is. Heavenly Father has trusted us with these amazing little spirits...wow...what a big responsibility but I love it! The love you have for your little ones is a love like no other. It's so cool!!!!!

My Very Own Homemade Hooter Hider

2008-03-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited....yesterday my friend taught me how to make the cutest nursing blankets. Here it is!!! Every nursing mom should have one of these. It has a strap so the baby doesn't pull it down or it doesn't slip off your shoulder. It also has a strip that holds it out far enough so you can see what your baby is doing and get him latched on but no one else can see down there. How fun is that?! I wish I had one when he was younger! I don't know how many times I have accidentally exposed myself in restaurants or stores...hopefully those days have come to an end! Thanks Breanne!!!

I can't believe how fast Summit is growing. I hope you guys don't get sick of hearing about him and seeing his pictures. I guess if you do then you can quit looking at my blog. So here goes the Summit update. Since I last posted he started sitting up and scooting on the floor. He knows he can get a toy if it is a foot or so away but he hasn't ventured farther than that yet. Pretty soon he'll realize he is moving and he'll be all over the place. Here is a picture of him sitting up playing with his toy. He loves to be up looking around. No more laying on the floor for him.

Here he is in the bath. I can't get him to smile for the camera very often but this one was just perfect!

What a blast!!

2008-03-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

Well we've been back from Washington for a week and I'm just now getting the pictures up. Here is Summit with his Papa having a little male bonding time in front of the TV.

And tickle time with Nana.

We were so lucky to get a day with Aunt Becci and Uncle Michael.

Here is Summit eating his teething biscuit that Nana made him. They are the coolest things...except they are really messy! He loves them.

It was so fun to get together with old friends and see their babies...and them of course.

We're Still Alive

2008-02-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

Wow...that cold that's going around really kicks your butt. I thought I was going to die. I can finally function enough to do a post. Lots has happened....well kind of. Lots more than happens in a normal week. Andrew threw me a super fun surprise birthday party. Summit got his first two teeth (no pictures cause he's asleep and they probably look like every other kids teeth...you've all seen teeth before). How fun...for everyone except the mother who has to breastfeed. The weather warmed up so we had a beautiful day to hike at the Yuba River. Summit loves being outside! The whole time he was in his little backpack he had the biggest grin on his face.

We went down and visited Travis and Steysi at their new place and took pictures of their kids. This is for you Desta...and everyone else who hasn't seen them in forever. Their kids are huge. Tommy and I were playing with my camera and after I took the picture, I showed it to him. He said, "Wow, look how cool I look!" It was so cute.

And Summit and I flew to WA to visit Nana and Papa. His first plane ride. He was so good the whole time. He was charming everyone whos attention he could get. Except the cranky old lady who asked us to sit in the back of the plane....rude!

Here's Summit looking out the plane window as we landed.

Our Turkey and his baster

2008-02-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

Here's a funny video of Summit. Wish I could have caught it all on tape. He started crying when it fell out and wanted it back in. Then he was crying with it in and the sound was all muffled inside of it. Pretty funny!

2008-02-03T20:09:00.000-08:00

This is the sweetest thing ever. Summit got done with his bath and Austin picked him up. He cuddled right in to Austin and didn't want to move. He loves his big brother so much. Austin was gone for the weekend and when he came home this morning Summit was so excited to see him. He was all smiles!

This is the best pacifier ever. Plugs the hole right up. :) When it fell out he started crying and tried to put it back in.

Happy Birthday to me tomorrow.....what an awesome present to have our little Summit! Here he is...totally worn out after a fun night of sitting around.

We now have almost 3 feet of snow at our house! This is the most snow I've ever lived in. We couldn't even get out of my in-laws driveway last night with the 4-wheel drive so we had to crash at their place.

2008-02-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

How cute is he?

This is a view of our backyard from the dining room (to the left) and a picture out the front door (below).

This is Andrew and I on top of St. Peters Basilica in Rome. An old picture but fun.

This is my favorite picture that Andrew took on our cruise. It's a boat in Monte Carlo, France.

Here's more movies for you Nana. Nothing too special. Just some smiles and curiosity.

The Big Roll (This is for you NANA)

2008-01-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

Here is our little Summit rolling over. He started laying on his stomach, curling his legs up under his bum and pushing his legs out. He's only scooted an inch or so but soon he's going to be traveling far. Andrew said he gives him two weeks until he starts to really move. That's scarry! I had so many cute pictures on my camera last night and I erased them all so I can't post them. Lesson learned.....read the manual before you start pushing buttons.

We got almost a foot of snow last night. This is the first time in his life that Austin's had a snow day. He was so excited this morning. As soon as he heard I was awake he came in our room with the most proud smile I've ever seen and announced that school was cancelled.

I'm Stoked on This Blogging Thing

2008-01-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

How fun is this! I was so excited to come back to my lonely little blog and find 9 comments. Yippee! Today we went sledding up on Hwy. 20. How fun!!! Summit loved being outside and

Austin was loving being the dare devil. Here he is with his new snowboard from Christmas.I was just glad to get out of the house after being stuck there in the snow with a grumpy baby for the last two days. Sure would be nice to have internet at our house so I could play with my blog on lonely days like that. Had some time to quilt on Thursday thanks to the snow...so I guess I can't complain too much. That's about all the excitement here in Nevada City. Not too much going on. I'm going to have to think of more exciting things to write about if I'm going to keep you guys interested.

Here's a finished quilt...not the one from Thursday.

This one I made for Andrew for Christmas.

Here it Goes!

2008-01-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Well here is our first post. We'll see if we can get this thing up and running for real. It's been in the process for the last four or five months but I'm blogtarded (Thanks to Desta I'm slowly trying to reverse that). Summit is four months tomorrow and I feel like it's time that I get some pictures up. It's crazy how fast they grow. He started rolling over from his stomach to his back a week and a half ago and then from his back to his stomach a few days ago. He is so crazy! He's going to be on the move way too soon. I'm going to leave it at this for today and try and get some pictures up.