Photo Tag

Sorry this is a long one, but i thought it was cute!!

PHOTO SURVEY

1) Answer the questions below

2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket.com search box

3) Take a picture from the first page of results and copy the html code

4) You cant copy the persons answers who posted this before you

5) This does take a little bit of time.

1) What is your name?

2) What is your favorite movie?

3) Favorite place?

Good Ol' AZ, I know its boring, but its too cold everywhere else!

4) Your car?

Only mine is bright Yellow!

5) favorite sport?

6) Hair color?

7) Favortie color?

8) Your favorite season?

11) Your favorite food?

12) a bad habit of yours?

13) what are you passionate about?

14)One of Your favorite store:

Best place ever for cute home stuff!

17) Your favorite drink

Especially since I have given it up!!!!

18) One of Your biggest fears:

19) something you want to learn how to do

Now I tag: Becca, Misti, Angela, Christine, and Brittney

We can handle it!?!!

We watched my best friends little boy this weekend. Yep, we had him overnight and everything all by ourselves. I really wasnt nervous, but mostly because he is a really good little boy, and so dang smart!! He did so good and only cried for a few minutes when he realized we werent going back home before bed, but he just missed his mommy and dada. He really likes Eldon and watched everything he did. He would even stop and look around the corner if he heard Eldon make a noise. My favorite thing about this kid, besides that he is so cute, is that he uses sign language. He says a lot of words as well for being only about 16 months or so, but he is so smart he is now signing sentences! His latest one is "more grapes please". Most kids dont get the concept of multiple word sentences until they are older than 2! I didnt take pictures like i wanted to, i kinda forgot, so here are just a couple of the ones i remembered to take. He came out with me to my adaptive soccer program. He had a blast running around outside. The weather was awesome today and he absolutely loves balls! I had about 20 balls out waiting for the soccer players to show up, and i think he touched just about every one :P He really enjoyed watching some of the bigger kids kick the ball into the net. The kids all thought he was super cute and wanted him to have a turn playing, so they let Kaden kick it. He kicked it twice and it only rolled about a foot each time, so then he picked it up and walked it into the goalbox :) I told you this kid was smart!

Well we survived and so did he....so if our kids are as good as he is, we are set!

Another new job!?!

Yep....its true, only this one is not by choice. I know, it might sound weird, and it is! I work for the City of Phoenix in the Parks and Recreation Department. Well, as you may have noticed, the economy is not doing super fabulous at the moment. Not only does that affect me as a person, but that affects the Cities and States and other municipalities in a very big way....almost 80 million dollars in debt way. So the City had to make some changes and some cuts in a very big way. I actually knew about this situation going into it. I was told when i was hired that because of the budget crisis situation, there may be a chance that i could be let go in a few months. Hopefully that would not be the case, but it depended on the amount of the deficit. Since i had only been hired in January, my seniority within my job level was pretty much zero, and i would be the first cut if any. I had prayed about taking this job and had felt prompted to take it and actually passed up jobs that now i wonder why!, but I believe Heavenly Father has a purpose. Anyways, so last friday i was called out of an all day training to go down town (scary!!!!) to City Hall to meet with the Director of the Department. Of Course they dont tell you what the meeting is about, they just let you sit and sweat. So i freaked out for about 2 hours of the training and then at the lunch break, left to go downtown. I was pretty nervous they were going to drop the ball and say see ya later, so i prayed........and prayed......and prayed! It was the only thing i could do to not freak out too much (at least on the outside). Basically my prayer went something like "Ok Heavenly Father, did you really compel me to take this job just to get fired? If so.....now what! I felt like there was a purpose so help me know the purpose whatever that is!" So then i walk into the meeting.........Well, they started out by saying that i wasnt loosing my job, so the meeting was a good meeting. WHEW!!!!! However, because I am the only Full Time person working for the City of Phoenix with the credentials of CTRS (Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist) i was being moved to do more good and be a bigger influence. So now, I am the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)/Inclusion Coordinator for the City of Phoenix. Talk about Holy Cow! Basically, I am responsible for making sure the City (well at least the Parks and Recreation Department which is the 3rd biggest department in the city behind police and fire) follows the ADA and makes all facilities and programs accessible for individuals with disabilities.

The Inclusion part I think i can handle, because that really is what i do...helping to find ways to adapt programs, equipment, or attitudes to allow everyone to participate and enjoy recreational activities, however dealing with the legal side of the ADA and the potential ramifications on a City wide level is pretty intimidating!!! Hopefully there will be a learning curve, especially since originally they were two separate positions being done by people who were much higher levels on the career ladder than I am. So if I seem frazzled for a bit.....now you know why!~

However, on the positive side.....perhaps this was Heavenly Fathers plan because i will definitely be in a much better position to make some real changes for people with disabilities in the City of Phoenix, and if we can get it all figured out and do a good job....Phoenix is the 5th largest City in the nation, so people look to the City for an example, so maybe we can be a model for positive change all over. Now that would be very far into the future, Im sure, but possible. I am really just hoping to not drown and to help any one that i can, and really i am just grateful that they didnt say your fired!

Strike 2

Unfortunately.......we didnt get house number 2 either! Although this one we had a little more choice. this house was a repossession, so the bank owned it, and apparently they were not in too big of a hurry to get rid of the house because they wouldnt negotiate very much. I actually think we gave them a pretty good bid, but because of all the fixing up needed, we were still trying to get a deal. In order for us to qualify for the specific loan we were trying to get, the house had to meet certain requirements. without doing some repairs, the house "as is" would not meet those requirements. The bank was not willing to do any repairs in order for us to close, and we were not willing to do the repairs on a house we did not yet own, so we decided to walk away. Who knows what other houses will be out there, and with the way the bank is negotiating, maybe this house will still be available in the future and for an even better price! but for now, we are on the hunt again

Round 2

Well....the bad news is, we lost the cute house i posted about over a month ago to a higher bidder! We were very hopeful but crashed and burned in our first attempt at home buying. It probably shouldnt be that easy anyways....so on to round 2. We went back out on the hunt (minus one broken realtor daddy). We did pick up some help for a few homes though. We found Misti and Olivia as we were headed to look at some homes in their neighborhood, so they tagged along for bit. Olivia had a great saying that really summed up all the homes we looked at that day. She turned to her mom in one of the homes and said "mommy, this home is dirty!" and it was. Most of the homes we are looking at are foreclosures. When people are being forced out of their homes, they dont really take the time to tidy things up, which means....more work for us. We have been struggling to decide if the prices are worth the extra work that will need to be done to them to get them in livable conditions.

Well, today, i think we found one for round 2, and hopefully this one is a knock out. The pictures arent as cute because the home does need some work to it and the rooms are bare because the home is vacant.

We really like the house itself and we think we will love it....once it has new paint, new tile instead of that hideous linoleum, and new carpet. Pretty every inch of the house needs new flooring of some sort, and the jungle in the backyard needs to be tamed, but other than that its not too bad.

It is on a cul-de-sac, which will be nice for kids some day, in a really cute neighborhood with parks right at the end of the street. It is a one story home, which again, will be nice for kids some day, and even has enough of a backyard to maybe have a pool eventually :) the other plus is that even though it isnt in Misti and Ryan's neighborhood like the other homes we liked, it is still in their ward and just a mile away. It is right off the 202 so it should be a pretty good location. We will put in an offer first thing monday, so cross your fingers again! So far, no one else has put in an offer, so hopefully if the process doesnt take as long as the other one did, we wont have competition and get beat again! Well, let us know what you think!

To his padded room!

My Poor Daddy! We have finally done it! This once tough guy was finally shipped off to a home! Really! But not for a padded room, although after his experience, he might have really needed one! If you look back a few blogs, my poor dad busted up his knee pretty badly. Well he had reconstructive surgery this week. He even had to get cadaver parts for his knee. His knee was actually worse than the doctors expected, so even though the surgery went well, my dad was going to be in a lot of pain for quite a while. This surgery was supposed to be ab outpatient surgery, but instead, he had to stay in the hospital for 3 days. He was still in quite a bit of pain so he had to go into a resthome!

Well....He lasted less than 24 hours, and despite the pain and against doctors orders, he called and said GET ME OUT OF HERE! So my brother and sister busted him out! He still has a long road to go, but it is much better for him to be at home rather than in a home!

Congratulations Mike and Erin

Its a Girl!!!!! Mike and Erin had a beautiful baby girl this Tuesday, February 26th in the Morning. Abigail (Abbie) or however they are going to spell, came about 2 months early, but was still 5 lbs 11 ounces. She and Mom and doing wonderfully and got to go home on Thursday. While Mom was in the hospital, I got to take my turn to help watch new big brother Kaden. He is so big and so stinkin smart! The thing I love the most is that he signs! He can sign "more, all done, please, and thank you". when he signs please, its like "i will give you whatever you want" because it is so dang cute!! Anyways, I just wanted to say Congrats. hopefully they dont mind that I posted first, but its just too exciting and they have their hands full and other things to worry about other than posting the cute pics!

Cars, Cars and Shop til you drop!

The reason the whole gang came into town was for the Winter Nationals Drag Racing event. The boys (Eldon, Brett, and Mack) including Derrick and Beau all went out to check out the cars! Boys are so funny! They come home saying how amazing it was, then....they say something like this "you would have hated it! We were so close you could smell the special gasoline and the burning tires. It was like being sprayed in the face with pepper spray. And we had to wipe the burnt tire off our faces". Sounds like fun! Well for them anyways, they loved it and already started planning next year. Meanwhile, I am so grateful for a sister in law like Angela who like me, would much rather go shopping then wipe the burnt tire off her face. So after I finished working in the morning, we went and checked out the new mall off the South 202. For those of you who havent been there.....you definitely need to go! I didnt think i would be too impressed other than it being new, but i generally prefer indoor malls to outdoor malls in Arizona. Well, we will see how I feel in July, but this weekend, the weather was perfect to be outside and this mall is awesome! It is like a cute little downtown shopping district. Its not a strip mall, its a whole little town with different streets full of shops. We stayed there all afternoon. I was very good, but not great. I broke down and bought a new shirt and some super cute new shoes. I found this amazing watch at Buckle, but i resisted. I might have to go back and get it, because i absolutely loved it, but for now, ill be strong. After the mall we hit Target. I think we almost spent as much time at Target. ha ha, just kidding but I do love all the things in Target. Say what you want about the companies morals. I dont like their return policies but i love their products! Anyways, Angela and I topped off a wonderful shopping day with Gecko Grill, so you know i was in heaven! We had a ton of fun, so much so that i honestly could barely move on Sunday. My back was killing me! So we definitely shopped til we dropped. It was actually pretty funny on Sunday. Eldon got a terrible sun burn (on his face). You can completely see the outline of his sunglasses. It is so funny (except that he burned his face really bad) but he wouldnt let me take any pictures like I wanted. So here is Eldon with raccoon face and me who can barely move. You know we had fun when we end up like this! haha! Thanks for the fun guys! It was a blast and we definitely have to do it more often!!!

Cosmic Bowling :)

Brett and Angela and Mack came down for the weekend to play! It was so much fun to have a house full of family! And we didnt sleep at all! Friday night, we went out and got fat at Outback Steakhouse and then went to Brunswick for some good ol fashioned cosmic bowling. I havent been bowling in I dont know how long!!! My fingers totally were sore, but it was so much fun! Mack was pretty amazing but my hubby kept the competition close. The first game I pretty much stunk the place up, but Brett kept me company at the bottom of the scoreboard. However.....in the second game I actually bowled a TURKEY! yes, thats right, me, bowled XXX :) I was very proud of myself!!! We rocked and bowled the night away until about midnight and then came home and Angela showed me how she keeps her blog oh so cute! Thanks so much Angela!!! You're the best! We all had to get up really early Saturday morning so we all went on about 3-5 hours of sleep, which makes for an interesting day for sure. It was so much fun to say the least! We love when they come to stay and play!! Oh and PS apparently Mack is going to have the next Larson Baby!!! Since he didnt have a date, he made his stomach look like he was bowling for 2! ha ha!

GRRRRRRR!!

Ok, this one is a venting one, but just for a second. I dont know if i am just a freak, but i really dont like it when i do everything in my power to make something go a certain way and it really is possible to make that thing happen and then it doesnt and i have no way to change it. Let me give you an example. So we are trying to buy a house right now (we still dont know yet, that is not what the example is, so please still keep your fingers crossed for that). But, we are trying to be good, and save and planning for extra money that should come in....like tax refunds. Last year we got a nice chunk of change from the government, mostly because we paid for Eldons tuition. Well, this year we were expecting even more because we spent more on school, so we had our hopes up for a nice refund to help out with furnishing this house we keep dreaming of getting. We made sure we didnt take any deductions and put down all the numbers you are supposed to put down so you are in the clear. So did we manage to get the nice refund we were hoping...........A BIG FAT NOPE!! not only that, but we owe a nice chunk of change instead. Really not sure how that happened, especially considered all that we did do, and how much taxes we really did pay!!!!! GRRRRRR!! and here is my other complaint as well as an FYI for those of you who care, or have paid attention to any blogs regarding my health issues. Well it has only been about a month and half since my surgery. I had a recent check up because the pains were totally back and not even close to what they should be. I was a little concerned, but wasnt sure if it was supposed to be normal or what. Again....A BIG FAT NOPE! My body just doesnt like me. So it that short time frame, my body decided to grow another cyst to cause problems. The Doctor says that shouldnt even be possible with all the other fun stuff. So not really a big deal, but it just means i dont get to stay medicine free like I had hoped. I would love to let my body do the normal, natural thing, but for me the normal natural thing appears to be bad. Oh well....K, im done venting. Just needed to do something!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

My Husband is amazing!!! I wish that would cover it, but its just not quite enough. The past few years that we have been together, we have taken a "break" from Valentines Day. There has always been something else big either right before or right after so we didnt really do anything. Well this year it didnt seem like there was going to be anything around it, so I said I wanted to have fun and just do something. Well a few weeks later, life got crazy like it always does, and I have been busy with work, and all my projects and lots of friends and family and just couldnt come up with anything good to get Eldon. So I told him not to worry about it because I didnt know what to do for him. Well....My wonderful husband, didnt let that change his mind and got all sorts of cute for today. He woke up early (even though he didnt have to work today and could have just stayed in bed) and even kept waking me up for work. You would have thought it was Christmas or something! So i come out ready to go to work and I see this super cute puppy on the table! (PS the words on the dog say "I Wuff You")

I thought that was so cute, but then when i looked closer, the dog was holding a very fun shaped box. He went to Jared!

haha, we always enjoy saying that, but he really did, and got me this beautiful journey diamond necklace. I thought it was so beautiful and especially significant considering some of the things we have coming up in life. Thank you Eldon for being amazing! And not just because of the great gift. You did do a fabulous job, but you really are the gift! I love you!!! Thank you for being my husband! Happy Valentines Day Babe!!

The Hunt

So we have been hoping to get out of apartment living for a while now. The market has been absolutely nuts!! so we were content to move into bigger and better apartments for much less mortgages and just wait. Well if you know me at all, you know that I am not a good waiter. I might be patient with people, but I am not patient with progress. So as nice as our little condo is, it is not a house! So with the change in the market and our lease soon to expire, we have been out on the hunt to find something to fit our needs now but still meet our future families needs as well, without braking the bank! Well Step 1- was accomplished by driving around all the of the East Valley for hours and hours and hours checking out over 150 homes to determine whether they neighborhood was good, the location worked for us, and how much work the house really needed! It is amazing how tricky listings online can be! So that was a pretty exhausting step, but worthwhile. From those more than 150 homes came about 35 or so that were deemed worthly of a second look. Meaning they would advance to Step 2- the walk through. This part has always been fun to me, however there was just one problem....our Realtor was broken (if you dont know what I am talking about go back a few posts to my dads knee problems). Well, he is finally able to kind of walk, so we spent 1 Saturday and tried to see about 6 houses on my favorites list.



Well, we were only able to get into 3 due to wrong combos on locks and not happy tenants, etc. But we went to look at my #2 fav house and .....We Loved It!!!

It wasnt perfect....but pretty dang close and the things that werent perfect, were just style and taste issues, the house was great! It is so cute and not too far (Sossaman and Baseline) and just happens to be only 2 streets away from Eldons big sister Misti! We decided it would be really fun to live so close to family and have them in our ward. We would also be in my cousin August and Melissa's ward, so even better. So because we loved it so much and Boys do not enjoy the walk through stage as much as girls (or at least Eldon doesnt enjoy it as much as me), we decided this place might work for us. So we moved on to Step 3- the offer... (scary music enter here) So we spent this whole past week gathering info and past tax docs,etc to get everything put together and will submit our offer tomorrow morning. Then we move on to Step 4 which i like the least.....the waiting part! Again, not so great on the waiting and not knowing part, but it is very exciting. We are really hoping they accept our offer, but we are trying not to get our hopes us. This house would be great, but there were still lots of houses on our list that we didnt even get to, so this process may start all over and thats ok....hopefully somthing is out there for us. We will keep you posted though! In the mean time....remember those fingers and keep them crossed :)

The amazing flying Brayton!

Our friends Dusty and Brittney came over for dinner Sunday night. They have a super cute little boy whose new favorite thing to do is flip! So when he came in and saw our new love sac, he hopped right up. So we had to take a few pics of his amazing tricks! But, he is so little and so quick, that my pics were just of his landings :) It was pretty funny though. They have better footage of his death defying acts on their blog. If you want to see something funny, click on the link to the side. Good Job Brayton! Honestly, this kid has no fear!!!

Love Sac Baby!

Our friends Drew and April are moving into a new house and decided they didnt have room for their huge love sac. I now realize why....it takes up our whole living room!!! So they called up and asked if we wanted it. We have always coveted their love sac. it is so comfy and just perfect for cuddling. Literally my answer was "heck yes!" so they brought it right over that night! k, this thing is so big that it took both Drew and Eldon pushing and pulling with all their might to get this monster through the front door! It weighs more than 75lbs and I no longer have a living room, but it is more than worth it! Thanks guys!!! We love our Love Sac!