Photo Friday

New snack containers from Ikea that I'm excited about.

Who knew our double stroller was actually a triple stroller?

Justin wanted me to document the fact that he can hold
the baby AND do the dishes at the same time.

Photo Friday

Grandparents gave them McDonalds gift certificates for Christmas. It's been a hit.

Putting Ava to sleep.

My healthy cookie recipe has been on the snack menu this week.

Just needed to document that they DO help sometimes...for my own benefit.

Love you all and hope you're doing fantasticly!

19:01 EST January 15, 2014 It Is Official

I am now officially retired.  Well, from one company and anxious to start our new adventures.  It is good to cross this threshold and move forward with all that we have experienced. 

Thank you all for your prayers, faith, love and support. 

Love Mom and Dad

Our "Retirement" Project

Before sharing with you the completion of our project, we want to tell you I turned in all of my "stuff" today.  ID, Keys, phone, computer, et al.  Mom went in to Dulles with me and waited while I went in.  I went at 07:30 so I would only have to meet with the manager receiving the material.  Five minutes later we were on our way to breakfast.  New Mexican at Anita's.  Fitting don't you think? So in 70 more minutes I will be officially retired from United Airlines. 

OK, on to the project!  We are most excited and are grateful for the opportunity to do this together.   We have talked all our life that we want to still be friends and do things together after retirement.  Yes, I know, real retirement is years away but we are getting a good start on doing things with each other.  So, even with my groans, it was great to this together.

The last "groan" was connecting the headboard to the frame.  I went to my box of "goodies" (nuts, bolts, screws, etc.) in the garage and found the perfect things.  Bolts with a wood counter sink (anchor), specifically designed for this project and they worked very well.  I believe I took them from an old bunk bed set that was worn out and have had them for years!

 Here are the counter-sunk anchors.

 I know the picture is out of focus, I am not going to take the bed apart to get another picture.  This shows the bolt in the anchor.

The finished product.  Mom just sat in the bedroom looking at this until she fell asleep.

This has been a very fun but extremely dangerous project.  Dangerous?  You should see the list... 

Look what I did!

Hey! Marquie posting. Patrick was a fantastic guy today and modeled for me in my makeup class. We had a speed day where we had to complete 4 different makeups in less than 2 hours. Patrick did 3 out of 4. Here he is with old/middle age and a stylized which I must say is my favorite! It was interesting because I did what I could and when time was called I was done. So they are far from perfect or fantastic but it was a lot of fun and a great exercise! And Patrick was a peach. Seriously. I have the best husband. Even when I freak out at him. Ah. These are the days. 

About Time

Yes, we realize it has been quite some time since mom and/or dad has posted.  Not because we have not wanted to but just with all going on, well, ...

So today we want to share some pictures with you that show what our holiday activities have been.  We had to wait until today for the weather to warm up and allow us the opportunity to work on this.  We have truly enjoyed working on this project together.  It has taught me patience, and I believe it has also taught mom patience, having to work with me.

We cut the boards a couple of weeks ago and got them sanded.  We didn't do a smooth as glass sand because we wanted a bit of a distressed look.  Sorry, no pictures.

Then we stained it once, wiped it off and it was tooooooooooo red!  We stained it again with the intention of letting the stain just stay and soak in.  Worked well but it was toooooooo cold and took a week or more to dry.  Sorry, no pictures.

Well, today we assembled and we really did have fun and ... WE HAVE PICTURES!

 First stage of assembly, getting the body of the headboard square and aligned.  A bit tricky but it did come together well.

 Still the first stage of assembling the main body.  So many screws!

 Second stage, adding the vertical supports.  Had to make a pattern to ensure we drilled in the correct place.  Love that drill press.  Do not like the screws.  Broke two, had to drill more holes and finally converted to the black grabber screws instead of the "nice" CHEAP wood screws.  

Assembly complete!  We are pleased with the look, color and size.  There are still drill holes to plug, some touch up staining and then the protective coat.  Targeting Monday and hoping the weather stays warm.

Photo Saturday

We had a great snow storm followed by some intensely cold weather making sure that we didn't leave our house.  We hunkered down and stayed in the warm rooms in the house after putting up blankets to cover the windows and tried to keep the house warm.  We enjoyed the time together but were really happy when we could go outside and play in that beautiful snow.  Hyrum even joined in the fun.    

All of the boys were excited to take Hyrum out to play.

This is the best snowman the boys have ever made, and they did it all themselves.  

The poor snowman only lived for one day before it rained and melted his head off.  It was very sad.  But now the boys can work on fixing it!

Photo Friday!

Julia lost her first tooth

Photo Friday

Photo Friday

Enjoying some play time while Jodi takes engagement pictures for her best friend. She would have said no to anyone else this soon after having a baby!

Photo Friday!

I never post Photo Friday because I'm lame, but this week I have something to share! It's not much, but it's a special photo of our special 5th son. He knows he's on camera, because he's waving to you! What do you bet that he'll be Joshua's little buddy, a showman all the way! Can I just say that sonography has really gotten better in the last decade? Hallelujah!