The McNeffs

Just a Few Things...

2011-11-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, like usual, we've been rather busy. Mostly it was to get ready for Thanksgiving, which we had at our house, and for Keith Kossman's visit. We finished up some of the painting:

Quinn was a huge help, and in a good way! He helped me paint for about an hour. I was rather impressed with his dedication to helping Mommy. Here, we are painting the cubbies for our laundry room that we can now fold laundry into as it comes out of the dryer (SO NICE).

I love his little tongue sticking out, showing that he's working. He inherited that from his Great Grandpa Glen :)

Next, we FINALLY cleaned up our room, including all the laundry that has been stacked on the closet floor since we moved in. It is now all folded and put away for the first time ever! I have some plans to finish up the bedroom in the future, like closet doors, longer curtains, etc. But here's our sexy bedroom until then, pictured for the first time (and with sexy models):

I want a new bed and headboard... I have one in mind... but it's way down the road.

On Thanksgiving, my family and Keith came to celebrate with us. It was a wonderful day! The food turned out perfectly, and not too many mishaps occurred. Here, Auntie Laurie is reading a book to Quinn (he loves being read to).

Josh helping me set the tables. I broke out my china, had center pieces (the flowers were from Keith), and everything! It was a lovely meal.

Keith helping wash the dishes afterwards. Such a great friend! Not only did he drive from Arizona all night, get in at 3 AM, then get up a few hours to help me get ready and catch up, but he helped clean up too! We absolutely loved his visit (and not just for the dishes)!

Eating pie. Mmmmm!

Then for my birthday, Keith bought us a Christmas Tree. On Saturday we set it up. It's a huge, gorgeous fake tree! We had fun putting it together.

Peekaboo!

Running to get more ornaments

Keith setting up the skirt for us.

Quinn loves playing under the tree:

Quinners kept putting his ornaments in the same area. We didn't move them because we thought is was really cute :)

Then Quinn found the Santa hat before we left for church, put it on, and refused to take it off. So this is how we went to church, with SantaQuinn :D

Robin Hood

2011-11-14T11:46:00.001-07:00

I know, I know... it's well past Halloween now. But I never posted about it, and I took lots of pictures that needed to be shared! I made the costumes, too, so I was proud of myself. And don't critique them too much: I realized they were just costumes, so I didn't spend a lot of time on them making them authentic or anything, just fun.

Quinn was Robin Hood, Josh was Little John, and I was Maid Marian. We went to our ward's trunk-or-treat, ate soup and candy, and had a blast. Enjoy the pics!

Eating the candy once we got home:

Weekend with Danny

2011-10-25T16:38:00.001-06:00

We had my little brother, Danny, come stay the weekend with us over UEA break. It was a lot of fun! We went up to Payson Lakes and took him fishing for the very first time, we made applesauce, went to a park, watched lots of movies, and just hung out for 4 days (Quinn and I were kinda sick, so there wasn't a whole lot we could do). Here's what I documented over those days:

Up at the lake (I love this picture!)

Daddy and Quinn exploring along the shore

Pooch had a blast running through the water

Danny was stoked to try fishing. However, when the hook caught his hand while he was trying to pull off moss, he freaked out and swore at the top of his lungs that he hated fishing and would never go fishing again! It was really hard not to laugh at him too much. I eventually coaxed him into trying again.

Josh trying out his new pole

Mommy and Quinners

Such a beautiful day!

Pooch loved rolling in the dirt after wading in the lake. He made me laugh.

Quinn watching Uncle Danny cast

Josh and his faithful dog

Daddy and son fishing together

We got some live bait, since Josh had never used real worms before. It was grossly fun to stick the live worms with the hook. Quinn didn't know what to think.

Pooch checking up on Danny to make sure he was okay. Danny like watching a bubble with the worm on it over using spinners (as long as I would put the worm on for him lol).

I sure know how to put two boys to work. Danny would help me cut up the apples, and then Quinn would put them in the pot to boil.

They had so much fun :)

After the apples were softened, we'd put them in the bowl so make the applesauce. Danny would poke the apples down, while Quinn would help me turn the handle.

At the park, Danny helped Quinn figure out how to get to the wee (slide)

Josh loved being able to play with his son at the park.

I love my two boys!

Quinn swinging on a big boy swing for the first time (the little kid seats were taken up). He managed to actually stay on!

Wee!

Okay, time for the other wee again.

I tried to get a nice shot of my hubby. When editing the photos, I realized Quinn was climbing up to the slide again in the background, and thought it was pretty cute.

Danny workin' on the digger!

This shot was just too perfect

I think this is the first real Danny-smile ever caught on camera. I was trying to teach him how to not smile fake and cheesy for pictures, and it worked out pretty well!

We had a blast with him over the weekend, even though we were sick. And I think he had a pretty fun time, too.

Amazing what a lick o' paint will do, eh Gromit?

2011-09-13T17:53:00.000-06:00

For those of you who have been waiting to see everything we've been doing and telling you about, and for those of you who didn't know we have been busy bees down here in Santaquin, your wait is finally over! While we still have a few things to finish up, I decided to stop stressing you out and show you what we've done. Keep in mind it looks a lot better in person (hint hint), and that we've been working ourselves to death to get these things done.

What our house looked like when we bought it (paint chipping, wood warped, shudders falling off during wind storms, etc):

..........AND NOW!!!

We didn't have enough money to completely replace the siding, so we just got some paint and repainted it. Oh, and got new shutters that won't fall off. I can't wait for spring (aka tax return) when we can landscape our yard, too!

Oh yeah, we took out the fence, too...

...and put part of it here. SO MUCH BETTER than that sliver-infested, rotting wood gate that used to be here. I had to literally drag it every time I wanted to go to the back yard just to open it. And we couldn't see back there, let alone Pooch see us. We are all very happy now :)

(I still have to lay brick down in front of the gate before winter hits so we don't get all muddy, though)

Josh sold his motorcycle, and that gave us enough money to put in a new kitchen. Woo hoo! The cabinets came from Habitat for Humanity (originally at Lowe's, but got replaced by new ones, and then donated, and sold at 65% off! I was really happy about that).

What the kitchen looked like when we bought it:

eck

*shudders*

Part-way through the process of making it prettier:

(painted cabinets, torn down wall, new appliances, etc)

.........AND NOW!!!

New cabinets (the old ones were falling apart, didn't hold half my kitchen, and were dark and gross)...

finished half wall...

new microwave, over the range (to free up counter space, and bought on clearance), and one that works like magic!!! (the old one busted on us months ago, but we haven't been able to do anything about it)...

new tile backsplash (we still need to do the grout, but it's basically done)...

Still plenty of room for our table and walking, yet more counter space, more cabinet space, and it just looks a heck of a lot better! I actually WANT to cook now, AND I now have the space to do it :)

Quinn's room when we bought it:

...yellow and purple... not my boy's colors...

Last time you saw it:

......AND NOW!!!

I finished the stripes on his wall, and decorated a bit. I love his room!

The pile of our trash from all this work:

We love making our home more beautiful! With every finished project, our home is left with such a nice feeling. Nothing is better than the satisfaction of working with your own two hands!

Kitty!!!

2011-08-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

As per multiple requests, here are a few pics of our new kitty, Kitara "Kitty" Storm. It's hard to get her to hold still, but I did my best. She's awesome! Really loves to be loved, and play, and act crazy, and cuddle.... Quinn loves her a ton, too :) And Josh is in love with her (yes, I am jealous). She is three months old. If she ends up being more inside, we'll definitely declaw her. If she ends up going outside (from my allergies, and possible allergies with Quinn), then she'll keep her claws, but get spayed :) Mwah ha ha!

Just some fun spur-of-the-moment pics:

Quinn chases her all day, and picks her up and carries her around. I love it :) He makes me giggle.

"And you smell like one, too!"

2011-07-22T11:35:00.003-06:00

Quinn Ewan McNeff turned the ripe ol' age of 2 last Saturday, the 16th. We celebrated by taking him with our friends, Casey and Quincy and their daughter Tabitha, to the zoo. He went when he was 1 month old, but I don't think he remembered much.

He had fun, despite the heat. He really got into the small animal exhibit where he could go up to the glass and see the animals really close. The dinosaurs they had there scared him to death - poor fella. They roared, moved, and even sprayed water at him, the meany-heads.

Our apish family these days.

What he looked like same place, two years earlier. My, how he's grown!!

Quinn and his girlfriend, Tabitha, sitting on the big kitties.

Cute Tabi wearing her Daddy's hat while we took a lunch break.

Our family, including Josh's cousins: the giraffes.

Quinn loved looking at the little animals that were close to the glass. You can see he's actually excited in this picture.

Quinn was like this a lot. He told us when it was time to leave each exhibit - especially the dinosaur ones.

Daddy holding Quinn up to see the squirrel monkeys (I want one)

Baby Swap!!

Quinn loves playing with Casey.

Then that evening, we had a party around the firepit in our backyard. We blew up balloons, made a cake, and roasted weenies when everyone showed up. A lot of people came, and Quinn had a fun time playing with his cousins. He also got some perfect presents.

Playing with the balloons.

The car cake. It was supposed to be red like Lightning McQueen... I used every drop of red dye we had, and even used some strawberry jello to try and get it redder... it didn't work.

But it still turned out pretty cool. Quinn knew it was a car, and that's all that mattered lol.

He blew it out on the first try, with no prompting from anyone! I'm proud of my little man!

Sitting down in his chair, getting ready to open presents. Our little King.

From Mommy and Daddy. He loves just walking around the house dragging this thing behind him (SOOO much better than the popper, because it makes little jingle music that is much quieter)

Opening a big one from Aunt Brittany and Uncle Gjanden.

It was a race track. It's pretty sweet.

Note how he's holding the toy from us in one hand while trying to open the present with the other? Yeah, he didn't want to give that toy up! I think we picked a winner.

Cool glow in the dark things! Thanks Matt Kirk!

Opening Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's present. He said the wrapping paper was yellow - we let him get away with that one :P

A dump truck! Sweet!

After a while, he got tired of opening presents and just wanted to go play. What a goober.

I chased him down to open one last one from Aunt Aliesha and Uncle Jeff. It was a little yellow car (he got the color right again). He had to take it to church with him the next day. It's the perfect size to carry around with him.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this a special day for our little boy! We all had a great time, and Quinn is a very blessed boy!

Third Anniversary!

2011-06-08T16:21:00.000-06:00

We have now been married for three years! Crazy how time flies...! We've been in serious need of some R&R lately. So we decided to splurge money we don't have and go up to Logan for a few days - where the magic all began. We rented a cheap hotel room that had a pool and hot tub (GREATLY needed, and amazingly relaxing), and drove around town reminiscing the good ol' days.

The beautiful Logan Temple we first attended as a couple, and got asked to do sealings on our first visit together.

The Bluebird, where we always wanted to eat, but thought we couldn't afford. We ate dinner here, and it was so good! I introduced Josh to Ironport - so yummy!

The A&W with the world's best rootbeer on tap! While painting our first apartment, we'd go to Little Caesar's and get a $5 pizza, and a gallon of rootbeer from here, then ate it on the floor. Great, cheap dates!

The Toaster, the church where we went to our single's ward while engaged.

Josh changing clothes for the first time in a car. I had to snap a picture of this momentous occasion (we had already checked out of the hotel, and went to the temple, but had to change to finish our travels).

And Utah State University campus, where we met, had our first kiss, got engaged, went to school, and everything else happened.

We also went to Gossner's on our way home. Josh had never been, so I had to introduce him to it. Yummy squeaky cheese, really awesome cheese spread, and crazy-flavored milk :) (We ran out of batteries in our camera, so I couldn't take anymore pictures.)

Unfortunately, it was raining most of the time, so we didn't make it to the Willow Park Zoo like we wanted. But we spent some quality time in the hot tub and pool, just relaxing and talking and enjoying our time together.

I surprised Josh like none other, and I'm very proud of it. I got him a new belt buckle to add to his new hickness. However, the belt he wears his buckle on was permanently attached to his old one he always wears (a scorpion) in El Salvador. So when he saw the gift, he was touched, but was thinking in his head, "I can't wear it with any belt that I own." But then I told him to take his belt off and try anyway. Much to his surprise, I had switched out the rivets that held his old buckle on with snaps sometime last week. He had been running around for a week wearing this belt, not realizing what I had done! Yeah, I'm amazing. So now he can switch between the belt buckles, no problem! I'm awesome...

Before.... After!!

2011-06-04T00:22:00.000-06:00

After 3 months of work (though the last month and a half we haven't really done a lot) I have finally broken down, taken some pictures of our house, and provided them to you below. I put the before and after pics with the same angles next to each other. You'll probably have to click on them to see them all the way. I also provided additional pictures of what they look like now (I've been writing too many scholarly papers to talk normal apparently).

Let me know what you think! We've put a lot of work into our new home!

Here's some pics and videos of us working on the house before we moved in:

Quinn camped out in the living room the first day we came to work on the house just after signing. The heat wasn't turned on, though the electricity was, so he watched movie and cuddled in his coat in front of a space heater all day.

Daddy getting dressed up to take down nastiness on the ceiling and climb into the attic.

We had to take a lot of wallpaper down, too...

Quinn loved helping us paint

Even though he was getting the wrong colors everywhere. To this day, we still have fun little Quinn art on some of the doors.

FRONT ROOM

I actually have a large clock and iron designs on the tv wall now, so it's not so bare. I just don't have any pics of that wall yet.

We replaced the carpets, painted the trim white, took the popcorn texture off the ceiling and painted that, then painted the walls. We also installed a new fan in here and in the office.

(I'm rather proud of my decorating in the living room. I love my blue accent wall!)

OFFICE

Green yuckiness to a full office

Josh finally have a place to display his scout stuff.

And, we have our old 26" TV as the computer monitor - it's awesome

BATHROOM

The old tub surround was nasty, moldy, gross. So we got a brand new one and installed that, and painted the walls to match my shower curtain and other bath accessories :) We also installed a new toilet (the old one was really short), and a shower features (Josh is loving that we put it higher for him so he doesn't have to bend over to get his head wet anymore).

Quinn and Pooch were following me around while I was taking pictures, so I had to add them in it.

HALLWAY

A view from the other end with my model son. We have yet to finish painting the hall and kitchen ceilings, thus why the light fixture is hanging down

QUINN'S BEDROOM

I haven't finished his room yet. The bottom half will be painted in stripes to match the curtains.

KITCHEN

We removed that excess cabinet downstairs, knocked down the wall over the stairs, replaces all the major appliances, then painted the cabinets to look a little better until we can replace them.

I also installed a chandelier over the dining table. We still have to finish the wall we knocked down and paint the stairs.

I didn't include any pics of our bedroom, because other than painting it, we haven't touched it. Nothing is put away, it's really messy and thus embarrassing. I'll include pics of it some other time most likely - once we get all the mounds of laundry sorted, washed, and put away :)

"Photo Dump" - A.K.A "Lately"

2011-05-28T20:52:00.000-06:00

I've been collecting quite a bit of pictures, but haven't really done anything with them. So I figured I might as well do a major update about our lives just so I can show you all the fun pics we've taken. Enjoy!!

My little climber

Notice how he's wrapping his foot around the side to get higher :P

Quinn enjoys climbing into small spaces, too

Quinn holding his girlfriend, Tabitha Bowen. They are betrothed

He loves to hold babies :)

He also loves to help us clean

Giving us "the look"

Josh and Quinn built a fort in the living room - I love them :)

Peek-a-boo, Mommy!

Quinn holding Sage Burnett

One day, Quinn locked himself in his room during his nap. We had to literally break in to get him out

Showing off his new door

We also knocked down a wall - to open up the kitchen (before and after pics of what we have done next will be in the next post)

Quinn got a trike for Easter

Setting up the chicken coop

Pooch getting a peek

Quinn in my Boston Red Sox hat I got from Aimee Butler on our mission

Breaking in our new fire pit

Doh!

Helping Daddy bring in more firewood

Yeah, Buddy!

Pooch got neutered. When he's in the house, we keep the Cone of Shame off because he's good about not licking his stitches. But he needed a break (or I did) so I sent him into the backyard for a few hours, where he had to have the cone on. I think it's hilarious

Eggstra! Eggstra!

2011-04-26T16:08:00.000-06:00

Read all about it!

We had a crazy, but good Easter! It started with us getting chicks :)) We are going to raise them, and they are going to give us eggs. We will be converting the back of our wooden shed into a coop for when they get bigger, complete with a ramp and roosts. And no, we do not need a rooster to get eggs. They will lay them all by themselves.

Quinn wasn't sure at first what to do with them. He was certainly interested, and had loved playing with them at IFA. But now they were in his home...

All he wanted to do was hold them. I had to keep reminding him not to pat them hard like he does the puppy.

He loves to just sit there and watch them.

From the left bottom to right top, the chicks' names are Ethel, Gertrude, and Henrietta.

We have them on top of a table for now, in their box with a light to keep them warm. Quinn loves to stand on the table and stare at them.

Eating their seed. (left to right, Gertrude, Ethel, and Henrietta)

Then on Saturday, Quinn and I went to my Grandma Rosie's house with my family for a barbecue and egg hunt. Josh couldn't come because he was in Colorado getting a new couch from his Grandma Nancy. He got back safely that night, though.

Grandpa Alan helped Quinn go around and find the eggs.

Quinn had fun finding them around the yard.

Danny had a blast playing with our puppy and Quinn.

It was so cold... Quinn didn't like it very much, but he refused to stay in my lap in front of the heater.

Egg-cited!

Quinn got to sit at the little table with the other big kids.

...While Pooch was tied up away from the food. He wasn't a very happy puppy. He thought he was dying lol. Silly, poor puppy

Then on Sunday, after going to our dear friends, the Bowens, baby's blessing (their daughter, Tabitha, and Quinn are betrothed), we went to the McNeff's house for dinner and an egg drop.

My rules were only paper products, string, and tape. Though I also allowed plastic bags.

This is a home-esque video that Josh made while we were creating our egg drops.

Mariah's contraption

Julie's egg box and parachute (Karen's sister), with Quinn trying to figure out the tape to her side

My masterpiece

Miranda's Egg Capsule 3000

Gabe's monstrosity (he somehow snuck balloons into his creation)

Matt and Karen's egg (I told them it was a representation of their daughter, and Matt better be careful how he treats that egg), snugly suspended in that box.

X marks the spot that Josh was to aim for from the roof.

I was trying to get a good-looking shot of Quinn, but he was too distracted.

THE OUTCOME:

Matt and Karen's daughter - still intact!

Miranda's egg - crushed and oozing

Julie's egg - a survivor!

Mariah's egg - Safe!

Gabe apparently did NOT crack his egg before the drop, because it was untouched by any imperfections

Matt and Karen, proud of their joint effort

Me, rather proud of my contraption. So much so, that I allowed a picture of me holding it

Man's Bike

2011-04-20T21:51:00.000-06:00

I just want everyone to know that there is no question, no dispute, nothing whatsoever over whether or not I'm an amazing wife! Because I am, and Josh will be paying me back for a very long time. Why? Because I let him buy a motorcycle. Yup. What was I thinking? I don't know. I grew up around them, my dad had one, no biggie... until I see my inexperienced husband driving this one home along the back streets because he has yet to get his license to legally drive this thing. But, before he can do that, he has to take classes (my stipulation in this deal. That, and I own him).

So, the story - because there's always a story, right? Last week sometime, Josh brought up the idea of buying a motorcycle for his commute to Lowe's 5 times a week to save on gas (rumors are prices are going over $5 this summer). I like saving money, so why not? But, being the logical thinker I am, I pulled out Excel and created a spreadsheet showing the costs and gains of owning a bike. I did some research on prices, got a quote on insurance, etc. Turns out, it'll take him less than two summers to pay off everything we are spending on getting this bike, just by driving it instead of our car. Fine... I'm sold. IF he could find one for under $1000.

And... he did. KSL works wonders. We picked up his new baby for $500 today in Orem, got a newish helmet for $45, and will work on getting it registered and insured soon (and him enrolled in classes to get his license). You won't see him strutting down the freeway on it for a little while. But my man is stoked beyond belief. He keeps just wanting to go outside in the rain to stare at it. I guess his nerves of driving it home wore off rather quickly along the way...

Quinn got to try out Daddy's new "hat"

He's stylin'

Puppy House!

2011-04-09T11:18:00.000-06:00

We just finished building Pooch a dog house for when he's stuck outside. We've been feeling really bad everytime we have to go somewhere, and it starts to rain or something, because we don't trust leaving him in the house alone yet. So, we decided to build him a house. For now, it's in our front yard, since that's where he spends all his outside time. But as he gets older, and we fix our back gate, we'll move him to the back yard. He's still inside most of the time, especially at night. But at least he now has some shelter for when he's outside. We're also planning on painting it, but the weather needs to dry and warm up a bit first.

Quinn was a big help. He even had his own little hammer. He was so stinkin cute to watch!

Just making sure Josh can fit inside. I told him he better get comfy, just in case he ends up spending a lot of nights out there ;)

Finished product (minus paint)

Quinn likes it, too

And so does Pooch

What the Snow??

2011-04-03T12:10:00.000-06:00

So we got about 4-6 inches of snow overnight (NOT expected, at least on my part). I was afraid that would leave me with a hyper puppy stuck inside all day, and many accidents because he'd be afraid to go out.

I was wrong.

(a couple days ago)

(versus this morning)

He was having a ton of fun

(If you are viewing this post via facebook, please move over to my blog to see the videos. They don't show up on facebook for some reason: themcneffs.blogspot.com. And sorry for the poor quality of pics and vids again - we lost our new camera in the move, and yet have to find out where I so safely put it)

Leaping for joy:

He started to dig for something in the snow (I'm guessing one of his toys). Quinn was watching from the back of the couch, and thought it was pretty funny to see Pooch perk up his ears when Quin would pound on the window.

Quinn was having a blast watching his puppy dig for whatever it was he was digging for.

(Don't mind the conference talk going on in the background...)

Puppy Love

2011-03-13T18:49:00.001-06:00

Yes, that's right! We got a puppy! We've been wanting one for so long, and now that we have a house (and the paint stuff is put away) we were able to get one! His name is Dopey. He's a black lab/ australian shepherd mix, but as you can see looks like a chocolate lab (from the auzzie coloring and lab body). He's 2 months old. He's such a sweetie! We named him Dopey, like the dwarf from Snow White, because he was the runt, is so sweet, calm but has a silly personality, floppy ears, and is kind of a klutz. And he loves to give kisses!

Josh fell in love with him as soon as we saw his picture on KSL. We got him from a sweet couple in Payson who love the mom (the Auzzie) very much, and loved the puppies the same. They started Dopey's shots (they called him Brownie), we just need to finish them up in a couple weeks. Since he was the runt of the litter, he was kinda shy until his sisters were adopted. Then he got more playful with his remaining brothers. But we came and snatched him up.

Quinn and Dopey love chasing each other around the yard (though the puppy runs out of energy faster than my son does). Last night, his first night with us, Quinn refused to go to sleep, because he knew a puppy was in the house, and didn't want to leave him. But I had a migraine, and Josh was exhausted, so we just brought the two little boys into bed with us. Dopey is very cuddly, and just snuggled up with the three of us. During the night when I got up to get more medicine, I put Quinn to bed in his own bed, but Dopey stayed with us. He was so cute!

He's almost house trained. We just take him out every couple hours, and he goes potty right away. Then he holds it pretty well when inside the house. We've had a couple small accidents when we've waited too long for the poor little guy, but we'll get it.

The only real struggle we have is convincing Quinn to leave him alone while Dopey's trying to sleep, and to leave the puppy's food and water alone :)

New Home :)

2011-03-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

Pictures are yet to come... But I thought I'd give you an update.

We moved into our new home this past Saturday, March 5th, after a rigorous week of packing and painting. We had to get the painting done so the carpet could be installed on Friday. It looks like a new place! However, we are still succumbing to eating off paper plates, using the microwave, and eating out because I still don't have a complete kitchen. And honestly, I don't know how to cook with a microwave anymore... I got used to a stove and oven. We also don't have a complete bathroom. We're in the process of changing out the faucet, so we have to wash our hands and everything in the kitchen sink. Then we'll be replacing the dinky toilet and gross bathtub surround (both of which we have, we just have to demolish, repipe, and replace). But the kitchen comes first so we can stop spending money on fast food (which I am getting sick of... we've never eaten out this often! I miss real food). We need a part to get the new gas stove hooked up, then I can cook again. Then we need to move everything downstairs and out of the way so we can paint the cabinets and walls this week during Josh's days off. THEN I can unpack the kitchen. Then we'll work on the bathroom replacements, and painting, and be done for a while :) I also have a lot of unpacking yet to do. It's so fun trying to find a place for everything and get things arranged the way I want (at least, it would be if I wasn't so worn out from last week's adventures).

We're adapting to our new home and small town living pretty easily. Quinn doesn't have a problem sleeping in his new room at all, and loves to run around on our new carpet (SO soft compared to burber!). Our fishies have a new home, with a new castle, rocks, and plants (I threw everything out in the move because they kept dying, so I wanted a fresh start minus whatever it was that kept killing them). Josh loves that he has an office, with our old 27" TV as his monitor (but only until we get the basement fixed up and the toy room set up. Then he has to suffer with the old (yet newer) 19" monitor again. I'm loving the lack of white walls, and trying to make my house a home, with our personal touches to it. Though I'm really tired of scooting around boxes... I'll get them all out of here eventually. And as for a puppy, well, we're waiting until things are unpacked and paint supplies are out of the way, and for it to warm up again, before we get one. But we are DEFINITELY getting a puppy as soon as we are able! Quinn needs a pal to run around the backyard with him so badly!

Anyway, that's an update for ya. I'll work on getting things put away so I can take "after" pictures and post them. Until then, don't let the suspense kill you...! Mwah ha ha ha!

Curly Sue

2011-02-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

...or Curly Nicci Lee :) I kinda missed having a perm (I had one on my mission), and desperately needed a haircut anyway, so I went and had my hair done Wednesday. I love it! It's so easy to do, and I don't have to feel guilty about not using the blow dryer, since I don't need to! And I look nicer for the less amount of effort, too. Perfect mommy-do, if you ask me.

Kissy face!

Enough, Mom!

I was trying to use Quinn to take a picture of my hair so it'd be cuter and more fun to look at. But he was ornery.

On the downside, Quinn is throwing temper tantrums like crazy, literally all day and night. Josh and I are getting rather frustrated, especially when Quinn decides to throw a temper tantrum at 3:00 in the morning and refuses to go to sleep for hours... I hope he grows out of this soon, or else I'm going to run away :P

Stepping Up

2011-01-22T17:00:00.001-07:00

Quinn is quite the little helper. He literally ASKS us to do laundry or dishes so he can help us. (I secretly hope he keeps this attitude for many more years to come). Now that he has grown so much taller, he is realizing all the things he can reach and do. For instance, he can now pull his door open when he feels it's time to get up (even if I don't agree). Our favorite story is how I'll put him down for a nap, then a few minutes later I'll hear him opening his door "asking" if he can get up. I'll tell him to go lay back down, to which he responds to by slamming the door and crying. He makes me laugh :)

Quinn also loves to help with the dishes:

Note that he was putting them in the wrong drawer, but I didn't care. It was so cute!

And Quinn gets mad at me if he can't help me with dinner. So the other day, I had him put the potatoes I was cutting into the pot for me.

And here he is helping Jan do the laundry. Quinn loves putting the clothes into the washer, and taking them out of the dryer for us. He also is really good at pulling the clean clothes out of the basket and spreading them out on the floor for me :P

Another way us McNeff's are stepping up is by inches; about 20 inches. To go along with our PS3 and blueray we got for Christmas, Josh just HAD to have a bigger TV. I admit, it's pretty cool, and it's really nice to be able to actually see what's going on. It was big enough we had to get a new TV stand, too. Now our fish tank sits where the old TV used to. Josh claims the old TV will be our new computer monitor... I haven't given him leeway for that yet.

Before:

After:

Quinn likes it a lot, too.

Here he is playing "his" ps game. It's a downloaded demo of Hamster Ball. He loves it and won't let anyone else try :P

Quinn has also become in love with our camera. He and Daddy were playing with it the other day. Quinn loves to ham it up :)

Santaquin Home

2011-01-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't heard yet, we are in the process of buying a home in Santaquin. After three months, 7 offers, and many more showings, we finally had an offer accepted! At this point, we're just happy to be getting into a house. We really can't afford our rent, we hate sharing walls and yards with other people, and we want a dog. And, with the economy and housing market the way it is, buying a home is cheaper than continuing to rent! Yes, Josh will have to commute 30 minutes to work, but he's more than okay with that, especially since all of his traveling hours would be during non-rush hour times. And I will only have to travel 15 minutes to school in Nephi instead of 50+ minutes each week.

The details? The house sits on .28 acres, at 274 North 100 East in Santaquin, Utah. It's MLS #1004718, if you want to look it up that way. It's a rambler house, 2100 square feet, with a full basement 70% finished. 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms. We are getting it at $85,000, which is a steal! This means we are definitely coming into some equity! We went and measured for carpet and such today, and took pictures, as per requested.

You ready for a rather detailed virtual tour? No? Oh well! Here it is, anyway!

FRONT VIEW

BACKYARD

panoramic style, so imagine you are in the corner of the yard, next to the fence and the house. We have two sheds, that tin one, and another one to the right of the fenced-off area. The wooden one will be Josh's shop. That fenced area will be my garden. There is already a sandpit for Quinn to play in on the left by the fence. There are two apple trees (the other one is in the back, kinda hard to see in this picture). And, it's totally fenced off, and we'll get a dog!

BACK STEPS

up up up the stairs we go!

KITCHEN

We plan on taking out everything, wallpaper included, and remodeling before we move in. We're going to knock down that wall on the right to help open the space (it would then be a half wall overlooking the stairs to the basement).

The dining area of the kitchen. That cabinet on the left here, and on the right above, is going to be gone!

FRONT ROOM

Little shelves in the corners? You're gone, too! We're re-carpeting in a nice, neutral, non-shag way, and painting all the trim white, with a pretty tan on the walls. We will also be stripping all the ugly ceilings and re-texturing those. Have I ever mentioned how I love that Josh works are Lowe's?

In the front room looking towards the hallway. We also have different fans we will be putting in, in place of these gold ones. Then probably moving these to the bedrooms.

HALLWAY

....and then a tunnel! Okay, it's just a normal hall. But we have a swamp cooler, as you can see.

BEDROOM 1

Which will be repainted (thank heavens!) and will turn into Josh's office (he's just a little excited).

Office, looking into hallway. I love how Josh posed for me in all the doorway pictures.

UPSTAIRS BATHROOM

Not a whole lot to say... it's a bathroom. Nice tile floors, though!

And a nice maple vanity, stained a nice cherry color (with my carpenter husband, we have to notice these sort of things)

A linen closet in the hallway.

BEDROOM 2

To be Quinn's room. I'm going to have so much fun designing and painting this room for a little boy!!!

Quinn's room, looking at his closet.

MASTER BEDROOM

A.K.A. our room! We'll have the same carpet, trim, and paint as the rest of the house, but we'll also have an accent wall painted a romantic red behind our headboard :)

Our room, looking at the closet. We have really nice-sized closets throughout!

STAIRS

Going down? The wall on the left will be knocked down to about waist height, and a cupboard built above at the end to add more storage in the kitchen.

BASEMENT

FAMILY ROOM

Yes, this is a wood-burning stove :D The basement, as I said earlier, needs to be finished. It at least has each of the rooms walled off, but it needs a lot of work. This will be done in the future, with other tax money (This year it's all going to the kitchen and carpets). This will be where we have our main family room, complete with theater system, kids' toys, etc.

Looking from the stove the other way. There's a nice, big closet to store games or whatever. And, of course, my dorky husband again :)

The water heater and furnace will be walled into a closet.

LAUNDRY ROOM

Across the hall from the family room. The stairs open up into this room and the hall, basically. This is the water softener. The washer and dryer go here, obviously. We'll be using some of the cabinetry from the kitchen in here to make doing laundry MUCH nicer.

Other side of the laundry room. This door leads to storage.

STORAGE ROOM

a.k.a. Mormon Food Storage Space :) I won't have to store things under beds!

All this shelving goes under the stairs, too. Very nice use of this space, if you ask me.

DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM

It's in working order, but the floor and vanity will be replaced eventually. Probably when Lowe's has a secret sale, or something.

This bathroom has a window, where the upstairs one does not. I think it's a bit odd, but at least I won't have to worry about peeping toms.

BEDROOM?

This will eventually be another bedroom. For now, it is full of shelved, like an inside shop. It will probably end up as my craft and sewing room :D

Looking the other way, from the door. Like I said, the basement needs a lot of work, still. The windows need to be replaced, walls put up, mudded, painted, carpeted, etc.

BEDROOM 4

There is a nice, built-in cabinet next to the closet.

The closet and window.

STAIRS

Looking from the back bedroom. So, from this view, the laundry is on the right in the back, the family room on the left. The bathroom is the doorway on the right you can kinda see, and the bedroom/craft room is on the left there.

The previous owners had interesting taste. All this WILL be painted over, and the stairs carpeted.

So, that's it! We have a lot of work ahead of us once we close (and we'll probably be asking for volunteers to help paint and such). But this is one of the best, and certainly the biggest, homes we have come across. We're really excited! We'll let everyone know when the sale is final, and then, of course, show finished pictures when we're done remodeling the upstairs :)

Christmas!

2010-12-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

Quick disclosure: Sorry about the quality of the pictures. Unbeknownst to us, the lens was dirty. Most likely from Quinn playing with the camera.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year! Josh and I were ready, had our presents wrapped and under the tree for a week, just waiting to finally open them! We were doubly excited, because Quinn was old enough this year to get excited and know what was happening... sorta. He was rather tired, and didn't get too excited until the next day when he really got into playing with his new toys. We spoiled him, but that's what happens when you have an only child :)

After Santa visited, this is what it looked like:

Mommy and Daddy too excited to go to bed

"I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe last night..."

Quinn showing me his stocking

Opening presents

Quinn loves to color and write, so we got him a Magnadoodle. He's a pro

Josh got a new racquetball racket since his was stolen a few months ago

Quinn and his new puppy, Pooch. Pooch sings a lullaby to him every night to go to sleep

We got Quinn a few cars and a mat to play with. Josh likes to point out he got a '62 Corvette, and a '67 Farrari. I just say he got matchbox cars. Lol.

Snow!!!

2010-12-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY got some real snow here in Orem! (Man, I miss Logan in winter!) So we went out, Josh helped our neighbors dig their car out so they could go to the doctor, and Quinn and I got dressed to play. Quinn didn't want to go in the snow itself (probably because it was so high, and he couldn't move in it).

He seemed to enjoy looking at it. At least he did until our neighbor, Casey, and I got into a little snow fight. Then Quinn started crying because his Mommy was getting beat up. It was cute :)

After the shoveling was done, we decided to go over to Grandma McNeff's house and take Quinn sledding down the little hill they have in the backyard. We were sure Quinn was going to love it!

Strider, their dog, sure enjoyed having us back there to play with :)

Sledding!

Is he going to smile yet?

...yet?

But was Quinn happy? No... he hated it! I even went down by myself to show him how fun it was, then with him, and nothing worked... He only got happy when we went back inside. Poor kid :(

But Josh and I didn't let that ruin our fun. We had a blast! Snow angels, snow fights, dragging Josh down into the snow and white-washing him... great times!

...Priceless!

2010-12-15T20:10:00.001-07:00

Manly men having a tea party... priceless!

Josh's face when I point out what it looks like... priceless!

Getting to eat leftover frosting... priceless!

Getting that frosting in your eye... priceless!

Playing with your laundry hamper... priceless!

Loving it so much that he keeps bringing it to us to put it on his head again... priceless!

My Birthday! (aka Thanksgiving)

2010-12-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, my birthday is November 25th, which means this year it was also Thanksgiving. We went to my parents' house where we had a yummy turkey, and lots of other yummies I made from my Grandma Chris' recipes (like stuffing, for my first time ever!). It all turned out very good. We had a really nice time with my family. Danny and Laurie each made me a birthday card, too. They were very cute :)

Waiting for the turkey so we could dig in!

My daddy carving the turkey.

Danny is such a poser :)

Brekke helping out with the yams. I love them! With marshmallows on top... mmm....

Laurie

Two of the pies I made: Lemon Meringue and Cherry. They were YUMMY :)

Then on Friday, Josh bought me a cake from Smith's so I could blow out candles. Quinn thought it was pretty neat, too.

Then we set up the Christmas tree! We decided it's a bit dinky... But Quinn absolutely loves laying underneath it and looking at the lights.

"Ooo! Wow!" is what Quinn says. :)

Then Saturday Josh took me out to dinner and a movie for my birthday. One good thing about having my birthday on a holiday is that I can have it spread out over a few days :) We ate at Olive Garden and then saw Harry Potter. It was a great date with my sweetheart. And a wonderful birthday. Thank you everyone!

Future Photographer

2010-12-01T14:02:00.001-07:00

What happens when your 16-month-old gets a hold of the camera?

Spoiled Rotten!

2010-11-20T18:17:00.001-07:00

Usually it's me that's addicted to eggnog during this time of year. However, this go'round, it's Josh. He goes through it so fast! And then if I'm not keeping my eye on him, this is what happens...

And just because he's so cute, I'll include these pictures, too. This is Quinn's favorite thing to do to pass the time... I can't wait for his head to get too big that I have to pull out the butter...

Big Boy!

2010-11-11T14:04:00.001-07:00

Yes, my little baby is turning into such a big boy! Quinn had his 15 month check up this week (yes, almost a month late). His stats are as follows:

Height: 32.5 inches (75-90th percentile)

Weight: 21 lbs 8 oz (5-10th percentile)

I have a tall, skinny boy! Yeah, like that was unexpected with Josh as his father... :P

Quinn just got a big boy bed. He and Daddy got it last night and put it together for their Man's Night (when I am in class) while watching the CMA's. Apparently they had a blast. Josh told me that Quinn was a BIG help having to touch everything Josh took out of the box, playing with the styrofoam, and even helping to lose a bolt.

He likes it a lot. He thinks it's pretty cool that he can get on and off by himself. Last night he went right to sleep in it just fine. And after only getting up twice, I put him down with a bottle and he was able to take a nap on it today, too. Woo hoo!

He's also become quite the climber. He's been able to climb up the couch and stairs for a while. But with his increasing height, he now can climb up on the table when I'm not watching. See how proud he is of himself?

And here he is trying to climb over the gate like we do. He didn't get very far, luckily.

So I've been trying to make him learn to go down the stairs by himself. He usually stands at the top, whining until Josh or I go and get him. He's fine trying to come down if he's holding our hand, but I want him to do it by himself. Here's his latest accomplishment:

Do You Remember?

2010-11-08T16:37:00.001-07:00

Do you remember when we first met?

I got flustered and spilled my life story.

You wanted me to leave –

But I thought you were cute.

Do you remember the spaghetti?

You used bologna instead of meat.

You shared your meal with me –

I thought you were sweet.

Do you remember the girls?

They all wanted you and so did I.

We were friends but I was afraid –

You were fun to tease.

Do you remember our first date?

We watched Stardust at your place.

I made you make the first move –

Those kisses were sweet.

Do you remember that night?

We couldn't stop talking or holding each other.

You said you wanted to marry me –

I realized I did too.

Do you remember the butterflies?

I know I had them, and so did you.

I kept running into doors –

You thought it was sweet.

Do you remember that afternoon?

I was mad, I knew you left the box.

We walked up to the falls –

You were nervous.

Do you remember what I said?

You looked around to make sure we were alone.

You pulled the ring from your pocket –

I said yes. You were sweet.

Do you remember our house?

The paint, the root beer, the pizza.

We did a lot of talking –

But it was perfect.

Do you remember last night?

Our son couldn't sleep without us.

We don't get a lot of sleep now –

But it's still sweet.

~Nicci McNeff

_________________________________

This was an assignment for one of my classes. I had to give a gift of writing. So I wrote this for Josh. I love you, Sweetheart!

Ride em' Cowboy!

2010-11-01T17:30:00.008-06:00

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We carved pumpkins, went to the ward party, trunk or treated, visited with family, made homemade wassail....sigh.

My pumpkin. Can you tell what it is? I made the pattern, because I was tired, and couldn't find anything I liked online.
(hint, it's a smiley face in fire)

Josh's scary pumpkin

And the one I carved for Quinn - cute and simple, like when we were kids.

At night... bwah ha ha

On our way to the church for the partay. Note his Sheriff badge, cowboy boots, vest, and neckerchief. Quinn was the Sheriff, and Josh and I were the bandits.

I love my rough and handsome boys :)

Cute Mommy and Buddy

At Grandma and Grandpa McNeff's house getting ready to ride his horse off into the sunset
I couldn't get him to keep the hat on
The best I could do lol

No, he's not suicidal, and it's a toy cap gun from the dollar store (minus the caps). Every time we gave it to him to play with, this is what he did... I can't wait for when he figures out how to hold it and shoot things with it (like the quails in our backyard)

Getting ready for the kiddy parade

Showing off his awesomeness

He wouldn't say Trick or Treat, and he couldn't figure out what we wanted him to do when the bowl of candy was offered to him... so I got to go around for him, and he got to wander, playing with his glowstick, and having a blast with all the craziness around. The best shots I could ever get was of him walking away from me. He was too busy for Mommy and the camera.

Update

2010-10-24T14:42:00.004-06:00

I've been a slacker, and haven't posted a blog in a very long time. And, since our camera's screen broke, I've slowed down in the taking of pictures (I get frustrated I can't see anything, and don't know how it's going to turn out). But here's a few pics from the last couple of months.

As for an update on us, we're alive and well. Still in school - I only have a year left. Josh is in school, but doesn't know what to do with his life, because we can't find someone to cosign for his flying lessons. And the program for flying planes at UVU costs about the same (which we didn't find out until it was too late to drop the classes without penalties...yay). That dream has to be thrown out the window, and Josh is crushed. My heart feels for him. He really wanted to be a helicopter pilot. So now, we're back to square one, trying to figure out what to do when he grows up.

We're trying to have a second baby, still no luck yet (most likely the stress of life). So keep your fingers crossed for us! Quinn REALLY needs a sibling!

We're trying to buy a house! It'll cost less for us, and then we can do all those things we've always wanted, like not have wall-to-wall neighbors, our own yard to throw the kid into when he's driving me insane, and, of course, get a puppy! We have one picked out in Spanish Fork, and will be putting an offer on it this week. Just pray they will pay the closing costs!

Other than that, nothing is really going on. Life is busy, but we still love each other, and adore watching our little boy (who is definitely not a baby anymore)!

Just being cute for Mommy

Chillin' with Daddy on the couch

What..?

Playing Playstation with our scouts when we helped them earn their video game pins.

Mommy and Buddy Boy!

Eating a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich all by himself... I don't let him do that too often, because I'm not a huge fan of the mess (not only does he get it on himself, but when he's done, he'll squish what's left on his tray, on his lap, and then throw it to the floor...yuck!) Needless to say, we've had ants getting well fed because of Quinn.

Playing video games with Daddy. He loves to help :)

Our little boy has become the new Fred Estaire or Gene Kelly! He LOVES to dance! He'll be watching one of his shows (like Word World or Super Why), and when a song comes on, he gets all excited and dances along. It's so fun to watch! He'll even put his hand up and twirl all pretty and everything. I think it started because I'll pick him up and dance with him to his Baby Einstein videos sometimes. If I fail to come in and dance with him on certain songs, he'll come get me.

And he's become quite the sharer (well, not with toys yet). Here he's feeding Daddy some of his roll. SO cute!

We got him some fun toys to play with since he seems to be soaking up information like crazy these days. One was a laptop (which also was to try and keep him away from my laptop). He loves pushing buttons, so we thought it was a good choice. He mostly just likes pushing the small, insignificant power button, though.

As Time Goes By

2010-09-15T10:09:00.002-06:00

I was trying to find a picture I wanted to print out, and ended up putting these two together. Look how much we've changed in only 2 1/2 years of knowing each other! Apparently this is what 2 years of marriage does to you: makes you old and fat!

Summer Fun

2010-08-12T15:41:00.007-06:00

It's been about a month since my last blog (Gasp!). Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to make a summary blog post (pun intended). Here's what we've been up to! (Make sure to go all the way to the end! There's lots of fun stuff, and cute videos and pics of Quinn).

Josh's 24th Birthday! He got his favorite spice cake, and Quinn even helped him blow out the candles.
And then he got his long-awaited present: Starcraft II! I didn't see him the rest of that evening, or much of the next day. In fact, he stayed up literally ALL NIGHT LONG playing it. Boys...

We've been workin' hard. Helping our garden grow, cooking, cleaning, the normal routine. But there is now a new twist: Quinn HAS to help us. He helps us load and unload the dishwasher (by pulling out the spoons and playing with them on the floor or trying to eat them). He helps me cook. In fact, if he sees me stirring or something in the kitchen without him on my hip, I get in trouble.

Helping Daddy do the dishes:

My most recent adventure: bread for the umpteenth time. Each time I try to make bread, something goes drastically wrong. It's so frustrating! I'm just trying to save money, but it doesn't work. This time, I'm not sure what happened, but I had the loaves in the oven rising, and I went to check on them and found out they had exploded and were dripping... *sigh* One of these days I will succeed.

Our loverly produce from our amazing garden. We had raspberries and strawberries (though the strawberries were eaten by birds before we could get to them). They were the sweetest, juiciest berries I've ever tasted! Then our peas and beans came up. Our peas were so yummy! Reed and Marian (Josh's niece and nephew) helped us eat them straight from the pods. And now our corn and tomatoes are ripening. I love this garden idea. Next year, we're making it twice as big, and growing more stuff :)
We've had lots of fun in the water these past couple weeks, too. Between our backyard, the pools, and the rain, Quinn has gotten wet a lot!

Reed, Marian, and Dani came over while Aliesha was at work. We got out Quinn's kiddy pool for them to play with. They had a blast! Josh came home and laid down next to Dani on the blanket.

We also went to a regular pool a couple times. Quinn doesn't like pools, though. I guess they are too cold for him. He just clung to me the entire time.

At the park
Quinn trying to get up the nerve to play in the rain

Quinn's new favorite thing: climbing our coffee table. I can't get him to stop. I even tried piling stuff on it - he just throws them off and climbs back up.

One of his attempts didn't work out so well:

And lastly, but cutely, Quinn learned to play the drums! (He even plays them on Mommy... owie)

First Birthday!

2010-07-17T18:35:00.008-06:00

This last Friday (the 16th), my little boy turned 1 year old! Crazy how fast they grow up!

Some of the things Quinn has accomplished over the past year (roughly from newest to oldest):

~ Standing up in middle of floor by himself
~ Walking
~ Climbing up stairs - fast!
~ Climbing down stairs - sometimes~ Words: Mama, Dada, baba (bottle), more, night night, and various other jibber jabbers
~ Tells me when he wants to go to sleep (lays head down on my lap)
~ Talking on the phone
~ Teasing Daddy (and just about everyone else)
~ Growling
~ Standing up using my legs
~ Walking along furniture
~ Holding his own bottle
~ Crawling
~ Getting up on hands and knees
~ Playing peek a boo by himself
~ Laughing
~ Being the darndest cutest little boy on earth!

In the McNeff family, it is tradition to have a spaghetti dinner on the first birthday, allowing the kid to feed themself, getting as utterly messy as possible. Unfortunately, Josh forgot to request that evening off of work. Luckily, he was able to switch shifts with someone, changing his schedule from 2-11 to 10-7. But that would also mean missing dinner, since the party was at 7. So we had spaghetti when he came home for lunch break.

BEFORE

AFTER

He was more interested in painting with it than eating it. But he seemed to enjoy himself
Mommy? I got a bit messy...
We had family come over for cake and ice cream. Here are some highlights from his fun day:

Opening presents (Quinn had just opened a couple books from Josh and me, and then he got a card from Grandpa and Grandma Cis. He wanted more presents instead lol)

All the kids playing with Quinn's new toys
The cake I made for my baby boy. Isn't it cute!? He loves puppies
Quinn eating the cake. Mmmm!
Dude, you guys gotta try this! It's amazing!

Walking, Parade, Indians, and Camping... Oh my!

2010-07-15T20:56:00.007-06:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks! This may seem like a blog dump, but really, this all has happened since the beginning of July, only 2 weeks ago! ...Really!

Biggest news: WALKING! Yes, that's right, my little boy has learned how to put one foot in front of the other, without our fingers to hold on to. Here's a couple videos of when he first started getting it down (He now can stand up in the middle of the floor by himself, and not only walk from one side of the room to the other, but can walk in circles around the house, and turn around, and carry things while walking, etc):

We really wanted to make sure Quinn got a good introduction to our annual July festivities, starting with an Independence Day parade! We went to the one in Provo on Monday morning. He loved it! He got his waving down, cheered with everyone else, and liked the horses (though the multiple fire engines sounding off their sirens made him cry, and not out of respect for the firemen). He found a couple girls to sit next to while enjoying the show (he's SUCH a little flirt! I don't know where he got that from...)

A SHELBY! One day, I, too, will have an Eleanore!

We went and visited my Grandma Rosie last week. She and her husband are doing a project involving pictures of their smallest grandkids dressed up as Indians. Here's a few pictures of my little Indian boy:

He loves this drum!

And finally, we went camping down in Cedar City because I had to go to the Shakespearean Festival for one of my English classes. Quinn got a new seat since he's becoming such a big boy. It made a big difference in his attitude during the trip. Rather than screaming the whole way down this time, he drank his juice, looked out the window, played with his Uncle Jan, and tried to figure out how to lay his head down to sleep.

Once we got to camp, he began his ritual of tasting the new dirt.
Quinn really had a blast in the mountains. He was in his element. He was so happy pretty much the entire time. He loved calling to us from one end of camp to the other to tell us to watch what he was doing, or to come here, or whatever it was he wanted of us.

Jan in front of his little tent

Josh setting up our sleeping bags in our tent

Our tent in the background, with Josh's amazingly comfortable hammock. We all took turns enjoying the serenity found upon laying in said dreamy swing.

Just a glimpse of how much Quinn enjoyed the hammock. He probably spent the most time in it.

Family Photos

2010-07-08T11:57:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago, my dear friend, Jennifer Fowler, came down and took our family pictures. It had been threatening rain all day, but hadn't yet, so we decided to risk it. Then as we got to the campground we wanted to take our pictures in, it was raining pretty good. We did it anyway, since she had come all this way for us and everything. Then as we were driving home, the rain stopped. Go figure. But I think we got some really nice ones in. I couldn't decide which ones to share, so here's a lot to look at. Thank you Jen, you are amazing!

PS, if you'd like to look at more of Jen's amazing work, I have a link to her page at the right (jfowlerphotography). She's also the one who did our engagements and wedding photos. She's relatively good priced, too.

New Hair Do

2010-07-02T13:49:00.001-06:00

We cut Quinn's hair the other day for the second time (it gets SO long in back...). Then today when he woke up, the front part was sticking up because of how he slept. It gave me a great idea. Isn't he such a cute little boy?!

Quinn in the Little Outdoors!

2010-06-26T20:12:00.006-06:00

Little, meaning our backyard and a duck pond. He loves to go outside, often leading me by the hand to our back door where he will look out and yell, waiting for me to let him out. If I leave the door open, he'll just crawl right on out whenever it pleases him. I'm fine with it, as long as it's not too hot outside, and I know when he's going out.

We have these wonderful trees who have dropped billions of seeds over the past couple of months. They bunch up and get EVERYWHERE - quite annoying. But Quinn doesn't seem to think so:

We were bored, and poor, and needed to get out of the house. I tried calling around, but the nearest place I could find to feed ducks is the one we went to when we lived in Springville. So we decided to go there and reintroduce Quinn to his duck friends. He liked it a lot. He was really funny though; whenever I'd give him some bread to try and throw, he'd eat it instead. What a goober.

Look at the duckies, Mommy!

After we were out of bread, the ducks started to go away. Quinn wanted them to come back, so he took after them, calling for them to return. It was cute (though he got a little to close to the water, and I had to send Josh after him).

We stayed for a bit, admiring the peacefulness of the stream, looking at the huge fish in the water, watching the ducks swim by. Josh taught Quinn how to dangle his feet in the water. He liked it.

Cub Scouts

2010-06-26T19:21:00.005-06:00

Being a girl, I've never gone to scout camp. Obviously. However, Josh and I are now Webelos leaders; and as such, we got to go to scout camp this last Thursday. We took our three cub scouts up to Jeremiah Johnson where we had a lot of fun. I even got in on the action and got to shoot a bow and arrow for the first time in my life (personally, I am much better with a gun). Here is a glimpse of our day:

Our Itinerary

Josh went up the river to reminisce his cubby days, and decided to take a walk

Before long, our boys were following him down the path, wherever he went. I thought it was cute.

Making catapults.

Andrew and Joey

Andrew and Rylie at the archery range

Joey trying to figure it out

Watch out Robin Hood! Nicci's getting the hang of it!

I wish this was my target... but it was Joey's. The arrows were difficult to get to stick in the targets. But he managed it twice!

One of the scariest parts of the day: BB Guns

Andrew and Joey posing for me while they wait for the okay to shoot

What happens when you give a bunch of boys a BB gun, tell them there are limited bb's and to wait for permission to shoot each time? They choose when to shoot and go crazy, not listening to the boys in charge. We couldn't help but laugh and be glad we were behind them. One of the boys (not one of ours) even started to yell in a deep voice, "Ready. Aim. Fire!" pretending he was the leader. The funny part was, the boys listened to him.

All in all, it was a long, but fun experience. Now I know what I missed out back in the day. Good thing I got to go camping with the family, shooting real guns, and without having to wear a uniform :)

Long Time Comin'

2010-05-29T13:11:00.002-06:00

I know, I know... I'm sorry... I haven't been keeping up to date with my blogs... I apologize. And most of the time, I'm thinking, "I need to take a picture of that," and, "I should make a blog about that," and then I don't... So here a few of the things I managed to catch. Check the side for the new posts I just added. Enjoy!

New Blanky

2010-05-29T13:07:00.003-06:00

Quinn has been in dire need of a blanket that fits his crib, and that one that is made by his Mommy. (Or maybe I just wanted to make one). I stuck to his colors (blue and green) and the puppy theme I have going on in his room. I think it turned out rather cute! I had him play with it so I'd have some cute pictures of him with it to show off.

Pretty Girl

2010-05-29T13:03:00.002-06:00

Whenever my teenage sisters-in-law have a concert or dance, they ask me to do their hair and makeup. It's a lot of fun (Miranda's is getting so long, that it's getting difficult for me to come up with new ideas). So any suggestions would be great (since back when I had long hair, I really didn't do much with it if you remember). Here's s couple pics from last week when I did her hair. Personally, I think she's darling!

PS, She just turned 16! So watch out boys!!!

Big Day!

2010-05-29T12:50:00.003-06:00

So, yesterday, not only did my brother, Jan, move in with us, but it was also my Mom's and my other brother, Jamie's birthday. We went up to good ol' WJ, got Jan's stuff and the whole family, and trekked back down here. After moving all his things into his awesome room we're providing him, we played around a bit. Then we had a BBQ to break in our virgin barbecue Josh and I got each other for an early anniversary present. It's just a charcoal grill, and Josh had to learn how to use it, but he said it was a lot of fun, and looks forward to grilling all sorts of things this summer! The burgers were yummy! Then we had cake and ice cream, played a bit more, and they took off. Overall, it was a pretty fun day, and I think Jan is excited to be living with us, and that my Mom and Jamie had a good birthday.

This is a stinkin' cute video of Quinn singing while we played Rock Band. He's so cute! I love this kid! He's definitely his Daddy's son...

Arrrg, Matey!

2010-05-06T12:33:00.008-06:00

Last night we went to this pirate place next to University Mall for Reed's birthday party. It was pretty cool! As soon as we walked in, however, Quinn started crying because he was scared by the anamotronic pirate at the entrance. We got in, played arcade games, ate pizza, and had a lot of fun.

Quinn, Marian, and Gideon on the merry-go-round

There was an area for kids to play on, kinda like a pirate-ship-playground. We stuck Quinn up on the deck and let him crawl around. I think it was the most fun he had all evening (since he was finally free to move around by himself).

He found stairs and thought to climb them - big surprise...

And then Gideon decided to join him

Peek a boo!

I think he's adorable peeking over the edge like that

The face that tells it all
Yay! Mommy won 100 tickets on one of the games!

Family photo

Then, with all the tickets we (I) won, we got Quinn a pirate rubber ducky and a shark. He loved the ducky.

Biggest laugh of the night: Watching Reed play a video game

My Beloved Monster

2010-05-05T13:04:00.004-06:00

Quinn's favorite: Throwing food on the floor so he can come back when he wants a snack

NOTHING is safe anymore... He was so proud of how he was able to pull the DVDs out of their shelves... Me? Not so much. Gone forever are the days I could keep my house straightened all day long.
Rawrr!!!

Playing in the grass, and picking dandelions for Mommy:

I love my busy little boy. Even though he makes things crazy for me, he's still stinkin cute and shows his love for me :)

VENT

2010-04-24T15:26:00.002-06:00

I am going to stray a little bit from my usual, upbeat, Quinn-infested blog posts and vent a little frustration I am having in one of my classes...

In this class, we are focusing on Young Adult literature. My teacher had us all choose a YA book from each assigned genre, asking us to log it early in order to make sure no one stole our book, so they would all be different. I did so like the 1st week of class. A few weeks later, as I turn in one of my papers that I had spent a lot of time on, I find out someone did the same book as me! I go back to make sure it wasn't my fault, and she just did the wrong book, a different book that she had written down she was going to do. I was rather upset, because I had looked forward to that book, and had bought it, and spent a lot of time working on my paper for it. I discussed it with my teacher, and I was able to turn it in still, with no repercussions (though the girl did get scolded).

Then I've been working on my final project all week. I had logged the idea for this unit months ago, been thinking about it a lot as I read each book, etc. In this project, I basically have to create a reading schedule and lessons plans for teaching 3-4 books based on this one topic, just as if I were teaching them. That's a lot of work! I was so happy I got it done a couple days early, so I can work on other assignments now, and went to turn it in. Upon doing so, another girl had stolen my topic idea and just turned in his assignment. Same thing. Different books, etc. I am so frustrated! A good weekend gone bad... as if I'm not stressed out enough trying to finish everything up for this semester, making sure Josh is going to pass his classes, and getting ready for summer semester...!

But, on the upside, as I'm sure everyone already known from facebook, Josh has a job! Starts May 6th. Awesome pay, benefits, commission on top of the pay, bonuses, etc.... we're happy about that!

Stupid school....