Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Day yesterday, Samuel and I (and Samuel's cousin Kyla) went to see "Oceans". I showed Samuel a trailer of the movie on Wednesday and he could not stop talking about it! He was super excited to go. We had a nice time and really enjoyed the movie. It was amazing to me that Samuel knew almost every sea creature in the movie.

Toward the end of the movie it shows some places with a lot of garbage in the ocean and how it affects the sea creatures there. Samuel was very concerned about the garbage and why someone would put garbage in the water.

As I was watching the movie I just kept feeling this great sense of gratitude for the Earth and everything on it that has been made for us to enjoy. It also reaffirmed the knowledge that I have a loving Heavenly Father who knows me.

A New Look

Last Thursday I stopped by a fabric store (not unusual for me these days) to pick up a couple pieces of fabric. As I was checking out, I saw this wonderful fabric and thought how good it would look in my house. I bought a small swatch and took it home to see if it would match. I showed it to Jim and he also liked it. So we went back that same night (Thursday) and purchased the fabric.

I was so excited about it (kind of silly to be so excited about fabric) that I called my mom to see if she would come over and help me measure it for my curtains. She came over Friday and we started to work on it at about 2 in the afternoon. The boys were very cooperative and just played most of the time. I had my first curtain panel hung by the time Jim arrived home from work. I stopped working on it to eat dinner and then went at it again. We put the boys to bed and kept working on it.

After I hung the last curtain panel I was ready to call it a night. Jim had other plans - he knows me too well : ) He said he wanted me to make the ottoman cover, pillows, and valance for the kitchen window before I went to bed. He was worried that if I stopped then the other projects (pillow, ottoman cover, etc.) would not get done (I still haven't finished the pillows and ottoman cover for the curtains we just took down). I knew he was right, so I went ahead and finished those up as well. My brother came over and helped us move furniture around earlier in the night.

We ended up going to bed around 2 AM, but we accomplished quite a bit in that 12 hours! I am loving the change too. I really like my other color scheme, curtains, and all but I am also really loving a little change. The new look has brightened up the room and it feels springy/summery (is that a word?).

Before: - reds, oranges, yellows, greens

After: - blues, yellows, greens

This blue couch is one of our favorites! It has been up in our bedroom - it was being used as an expensive (clean) laundry basket. Works much better as a couch.

The bottom hem still needs to be done as well as a little ironing and some tie backs

The kitchen valance - simple but has a pop of color.

I added a few vases of fresh tulips the next day and they are the perfect shade of yellow. Now we just need to find a few rugs and some new flower arrangements (are you up for a project Stephanie?). It is refreshing to get a new look every once in a while. We will still keep the other curtains, etc. and will probably change it up in the fall.

Stephanie and Locks of Love

We were lucky enough this past weekend to have a visit from our wonderful Stephanie. We sort of picked her up from the airport (not really the airport, but that is another story) and brought her back to our house to spend the day and night Friday. She was in town for her niece's wedding reception on Saturday.

When we visited Stephanie in March she informed me that she was growing her hair out for Locks of Love. I thought it was pretty neat and have to live vicariously through her since I don't think my hair will ever get long enough to donate. Anyway, I told her I could hook her up with a wonderful Hair Dresser/Stylist here in Utah. The plan was if she could wait until July (at the time that was her next trip to Utah) I would take her to Tricia Hilton (at Modifi Salon) for the haircut.

I have known Stephanie for a long time and I have always known her with long hair. I was super excited to find out that she was going to be here sooner than July. I made a call to Tricia who was able to squeeze in a haircut for Stephanie. So Friday was the big day. Here are the before pictures:

Cutting

Still cutting - she cut off 10 inches!
All cut off

Tricia was so good to work with! She listened to Stephanie and gave her a great cut and style!
Here is the straight look

And then the curly look



Stephanie and the amazing Tricia

I am sure it will take some time to get use to having shorter hair, but I think it looks great and what a great reason to get a hair cut! You are my hero Stephanie! And it was super fun to be there with you!

Ever So Lovely

If you are looking for a very lovely blog to blog-stalk, check out this one called Ever So Lovely. Brandi, the writer of the blog, has featured my bags on her lovely blog.

Eggs and Spring

Saturday we colored some eggs

then had a fun little egg hunt for the boys.
They were both really into it this year. Although I think George would have been completely satisfied with one or two eggs.


They had fun being outside and running around the yard.

I have always really enjoyed spring. I think it is the symbolism of new growth and starting fresh. It makes me rededicate myself to being a better person. Of course watching General Conference also helps with that. I feel so blessed to be able to listen to words of counsel, encouragement, and love from our church leaders. What a wonderful way to start the month of April!

Our Final Days of Vacation

It seems like every trip to California gets shorter and shorter or else the time just goes by way too fast. We were lucky enough to meet up with our friend Cheryl this time around. We had a fun dinner with her and just chatted. It was fun to see her and catch up on things. Samuel had a fun time entertaining her.

Stephanie saved some of her lemons on her tree so that the boys could help pick them. Samuel picked a couple and then decided it was too hard and gave up. We have sure enjoyed those lemons though - yum! Nothing like fresh citrus right off the tree
It is always super sad when we leave Stephanie's house and California. We had such a fun time with her at her house and at Disneyland, etc. Here she is waving and smiling beautifully! We love you Stephanie!
On our way home we decided to stop in Calico Ghost Town. We had recently read a book that took place in a ghost town so Samuel was always curious about what a ghost town actually looked like. We spent a short time there taking pictures wtih various props and wandering around the buildings and rocks. I think Samuel had a good time.



After we finished at Calico we drove to Las Vegas where we visited with family and made our regular trip to Trader Joe's to stock up on some good stuff.

We drove home the next day and it was the LONGEST drive we have ever had. We hit a major snow storm around Beaver Utah. There were cars all over the place. A semi truck was jack knifed - it was a mess. What should have taken maybe an hour ended up taking several hours. The boys were exhausted (and so were we). We finally got to an exit and pulled off in Filmore to stay the night because it was so bad. We went to several different hotels and everything was completely full. I guess everyone else had the same idea. I always wondered how those hotels in those tiny little towns stayed in business. Now I know - they must bank on bad weather. Our only option was to press forward - so we did. It was nice to finally arrive at our home (safely) and sleep in our own bed. I think George was the most excited about his bed. He had the biggest grin on his face and just kept saying "bed". What a fun trip we had though. I feel blessed to be able to make little trips like these where we also create memories.