Furniture hunting

I am constantly keeping my eye out for the furniture we need. I think the only things we've bought new are Daphne's crib, a pack n play, and our bookshelves.  I just wait until I find used items. Overall I save money, and sometimes I find pieces that are great quality. Much better then some of the things you can buy new these days. I've found almost all our furniture on craigslist. My favorite things and probably the luckiest things I've found are the girl's beds and their dresser :) They are all a dark walnut, they look so nice together.

Anyway, yesterday I went a little craigslist crazy and found a bunch of things I wanted (I'm still waiting to hear back about a couch, but I'm guessing I didn't get it :/ ). One thing I found was a dresser for Dallas, it was at a flea market called Buy It Here Too. We went to check it out and came home with a dining table and chairs instead :)

I LOVE my table!! I've been hunting for one for over a year now, so it's a relief to have it. It's white... and so is the rest of my kitchen. But I'm loving how it all looks with our dark floors. The top is actually a very light green. I like it, but I'm not sure if it goes with the rest of the house. I'll leave it for now, but painting the top a bolder color would be fun.

We've had our previous table for over 8 years now, Dallas' parents gave it to us when we got married. It's actually the last piece of furniture we still have from our newly wed days. Kinda bitter sweet. We are definitely ready for something bigger :) Our new table fits six and I'm tempted to find/build a bench so we can fit all the kids on one side if we have visitors.

Up until yesterday I planned on painting a table that I got for free a year ago, it needs to be painted and fixed up... And it needs chairs. It's been in our garage waiting for me to make up my mind and get going with it. I just wasn't loving it and didn't want to put in the effort for something I didn't love. I'm glad I found something that doesn't need a paint job or chairs... problem solved.

Phone pictures from our lunch today...

Just for fun

So, we had a little fun with the camera while Cami and Mom were here...

A glimpse of Daphne's blessing dress...

My Grandma found this beautiful dress for Daphne. I love it, it was just what I wanted for her blessing.

Visitors :)

Having a baby is a great excuse to get visitors :) Haha... now you know my secret mom :) My mom and sister Cami came on the 9th and stayed for a week. I loved having them here. It was nice to have them here to talk to while I was not feeling up to doing much. They cooked, cleaned and watched the kids for me... ahhh. It was great. 

They got here really late, so the kids were in bed. But the next morning the kids were sure excited to see them! Makiah ran to Grandma and gave her a hug. Then they ran into the living room and jumped on Cami to wake her up. The kids LOVED having them here. 

My mom kept commenting on how sweet Evan was being with her. He usually keeps to himself, but this time he was always giving hugs and sitting on Grandma's lap. It was fun to see him that way with her. He has been that way a lot lately, so ready and willing to give hugs. I love it. 

Dallas and I even got to go on a date last Saturday. It was an early celebration for our anniversary that was actually yesterday. It was GREAT to get out of the house, be alone with Dallas, and to have a night with no kids (as much as I love them). Mom and Cami are the greatest babysitters :)

We stayed home most of the time they were here.... but they claim that was ok. I hope it was :) I know I enjoyed staying home and relaxing. We did some fun things though... my mom helped me make a cute nightgown for Makiah that I love so much. We watched movies, played Quiddler and of course Sorry for Evan. They brought the game Go Fish for the kids and they love it. They took the kids walking around the ponds in our neighborhood... we went to the library and Malones Gym (a gymnastics place close by).... we hid in the bathroom during a tornado warning... and took lots of pictures of Daphne in her blessing dress. Oh and we went to Walmart multiple times :) Haha... for some reason we couldn't get enough of that place and had to keep going back to get random things. I am sure we did many other things, but really the best part was having them here to talk to. It was a blast. 

Cami and Kiah did each other's hair... :) They looked so pretty!

I have more pictures to post... stay tuned :)

My Fam (and the last Utah update)

We are sure missing Utah. My kids ask me all the time if we can go again. They also like to pretend that they are their cousins, Sophie and Demi. Evan likes to reminisce about all the fun things he did with his cousins and Aunt Jillian. They talk endlessly about everyone there and what they did with them. We are already ready for another Utah trip!

Here is the whole crew... except for Alison who was away in Mexico. Joel, why is this the only picture I have of you? Shannon... I think the only pictures I got of you were these. 

Oh wait a sec... I have this one...

(Hehehe...)

We didn't have a whole lot planned while we were there, but that's the way I like it. We enjoyed just seeing everyone and letting the kids play all day long. 

We were also lucky to see practically everyone on my Mom's side of the family. My cousin Rachel planned a BBQ with the whole family. It was so fun to see everyone and have the chance to visit with them. 

Highlights from our trip...

Evan says that he liked to:

Play "animal in trouble" with Jillian, Sophie, Demi and Makiah

Help grandma with the garden

Read the princess book with Jillian and Grandma

Sleep in Jillian's room

Build forts with Jillian

Ride in the truck with Grandpa and Carly

Play in the backyard with the dogs, Carly and Talulah

Hold the bird, Maisy

Flying on 4 airplanes

Swing on the swing set 

Makiah says that she liked to:

Sleep in Jillian's room or in mom's big bed

Play "animal in trouble"

Catch the birds and hold them and put them high in the sky to fly

Eat cupcakes with Bethany

Sit on Grandma Fowler's lap, "she was really nice to me"

Look for deer at Grandma Fowler's house

Play at the park  

Dance with Sophie and Demi and play at their house

Swimming with Sophie, Demi, Evan, and Jillian. 

Playing on Joel's iPad

Dressing up in the ballerina dress at Grandma's house (Why don't I have a picture of this?)

Here are a few more random pictures... oh we miss our family!

Looking for deer...

Dance outfits with Sophie and Demi...

Bethany... Just because this picture is blog worthy...

Swimming on one of the only *really* warm days...

Playing on the iPad with Joel (I guess I did have another picture of you)...

And sitting with Grandma Fowler...

Ahhh. Good times, good times. Until next year everyone! We miss you.

Backtrack.

When I went to Utah last August I had one thing that I HAD to do while I was there. And this is it (only 7 months late). I got married just over 5 years ago now and my sister Shannon is coming on her 5 year anniversary this month. Neither of us got our bridal portraits done. Why you ask? I honestly don't know. Something about being in front of the camera alone... too much money... not enough time. I don't know, but it never got done. Until last August. I am so GLAD that we did this. Reasons.... 1. I actually still fit into my dress and I am not sure how long that will last. 2. I almost kinda sorta look like I did when I got married. 3. Photographs are so very important to me. More important than I thought they were 5 years ago. 

So. We pulled out the dresses. Did our hair and makeup. Found our amazingly wonderful skilled little sister, and got to work. Bethany is the one we owe this too. She is the one with the photography skills. She took all these photos and more and I couldn't love them more. 

Oh yes. One more thing. Shannon, you are stunning. Absolutely stunning. 

Oh... that was only a handful... I might have to show you some more. And we have some not so posed, fun ones as well :)