Mommy funny!

I can't remember if I mentioned how Jacob is terrified of cats. Well, he is. Our neighbors cat was in our yard and he freaked out the other day. I wasn't there with him, so it was worse. Well yesterday we have to walk to the backyard and he is freaking out thinking a cat is going to come out somewhere. I was trying to calm him down and stop his crying... THEN... so close to my feet I almost stepped on it was a SNAKE! I screamed and started jumping around and it scurried off but poor Jake was terrified!!! He didn't see the snake and I'm sure he thought there was a cat. Not a good thing to freak out while trying to calm a toddled! But funny!

Nauvoo

We left at 7am yesterday and drove a long drive to Nauvoo. We stopped by the LDS visitors center and saw their beautiful garden and the statues to tribute women... My favorite one... the woman quilting! We visited the family living center and made rope, and learned how they made candles and rugs. It was fun. We stopped by the bakery and the gunsmith. We also saw the tin shop which was cool to see how they made so many things out of tin. I really like the blacksmith and the wagon shop. We all got a rign made out of a nail... a "prairie diamond". We ate lunch at Zion's Mercantile. It was pretty good. The Nauvoo temple is beautiful! Wish we had more time to walk the grounds. After lunch we went to the Smith family cemetary and then on to Carthage. It was wonderful. I had been there before but it great to take Luis and Silvia, who had never been. The Carthage Jail is so reverent. The spirit is so strong there, even with babies crying and such! I am so thankful for the restored gospel and all that was sacrificed to bring it forth! Here are a bunch of pictures!

One of the original 30 sun stones from the nauvoo temple

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Eternal marriage rope... because there is no end :)

Grandma's Here

We picked up Silvia from the airport on Monday. Luis requested a few hoours off work, so he was able to come with us. We went straight to Popeye's for some good chicken and biscuits... and red beans and rice! Yum! It was Silvia's birthday. Then we went to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. It was our first time. We went all the way to the top! 630 ft! The boys had fun looking out those windows at the city! Then we went off to Union Station where they have turned the old train station into a hotel and shopping center. We went to the fudgery, where we bought some delicious fudge... cookies and cream, rocky road, caramel nut. YUMMM! We were so exhausted by the time we got home. We have had a lot of fun with her since then! She helped me bind Liz's quilt... we went shopping at the commissary! Been eating good food! We spent yesterday in Nauvoo. It was a 3.5 hour drive there and back. We wish we could have stayed longer but it was a nice visit! Liz was driving down to meet us and we had dinner at Ihop around 9:30pm. We woke the boys up to leave at 6:30 that morning and Jake only had a 20 minute nap on the road... so we were all exhausted. The boys, especially Jake, were so goofy! They were on a tired high! It was hilarious! We had fun eating and enjoyed our sleep last night! Tomorrow we are going swimming! So glad to have family visiting!

Liz's Quilt

Before I wrote this post I double checked the correct poSessive form of Liz... Liz's sounds so wrong! But it's right! I finished her quilt just in time to give it to her. She got here late last night and Silvia and I finished binding it the night before. I Quilted it on Christine's long arm machine. I picked a pretty advances quilting pattern and quickly realized I was way in over my head. It was great practice though. I am pleased with it! I was so unsure of whether she'd like the colors. When she walked into Ihop to meet us last night she was wearing coral colored shorts... so I was so happy! Turns out she loves her quilt! The detail is hard to see... but here are some pics.

Ethan would be so proud!

Megan always posts songs she loves to work out to. Here is one of mine. If you haven't heard, spinning is my favorite right now! Luis Loves that I am getting into it. The instructor played this song. It was amazing! I put my gear up to 20 (VERY HARD) and pedaled the whole song! It rocked! I like that it sounds kind of tribal! Anyway, I heard it on the radio today and realized it was Fun. Are you proud Ethan? I hope so! Anyway, listen and love it! Click the link... I can't figure out how to embed the video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQkBeOisNM0

New look, again!

This is the new me! I like it, but it wasn't exactly what I was going for. I really wanted it longer towards the front but she cut it too short to do that. Maybe next time. I like the color, but next time I think I want more light brown less blonde highlights! I was shocked when I saw it because I really look like my sisters now! I think I always felt like I didn't look like you guys because my hair was much darker... but now I have light hair like you and I love it!

Vote!

I love the first day of school... for everyone else. We went to Sams this morning and the place was EMPTY! It was wonderful! After I work out at the Y in the morning I let the boys play on the playgroud for a while. Today it was just us, and it was so fun! I had been annoyed that Jackson wouldn't be able to start school this year. He is so smart and I know he'd do well, but now I am glad he will be home with me. I am happy to have one more year with him... even though they drive me crazy sometimes, I think it is going to be really hard to let him go! Ok, time to vote. On Saturday I am getting my hair done again. I hate the fact that highlights require constant maintenance. I got these highlights early in the summer, so it's time to do it again. I feel like I want more blonde... or maybe auburn... help! Please tell me what you think. I love the cut I have now but I hate that it is on my neck so much, so I think I am going to go for more of a Victoria Beckham cut!

I like her light brown highlights... so this is the haircut but also the first choice for highlights.

Choice 2- love that you can see the dark below the blonde

Choice 3

Choice 4 What do you think??? What would you do???

My future olympian

We just signed Jackson up for soccer!!! I am so excited because he is really good! Even just kicking a ball around it actually goes where it should. He is in a six week clinic. 2 practices and 1 game per week! I was considering doing a miniclinic but luis said if we are paying he should get the real deal and actually learn the sport! Yeah baby! Its in his blood! It must be... luis is hispanic and i loved it growing up... so in his blood right? :)I! Cleats arent requored at his age so i think he will hust wear his tennis shoes. The shin guards are so small its adorable! We will post pics when he has his first practice..

Biter!

We ad an interesting experience yesterday. When the boys were in a different room playing... I mean arguing... I heard Jackson freak out and start crying really hard. Turns out Jacob bit him!!! I was so surprised! Jackson picks on Jacob a lot and sometimes it just gets too much for him and he really fights back. I don't know where he learned biting... it didn't break the skin thankfully, but it left quite a mark. Jacob was very sad afterwards because I think he realized that he really hurt Jackson. Jackson was so good though and kept saying "It's ok" after each time Jake said sorry, which was many! Check out these teeth marks!

We went to the theater this morning because it was free kids day. They play older movies. We saw Rio, I know my kids can sit through that one because we own it. I thought it would be fun to have them watch it on the big screen. Jacob wanted to sit on my lap the whole time. I think he was a little scared of the dark. And he was too light to keep the folding seat down... that was pretty funny. Jackson was quoting the movie out loud, really loud, at times, which was pretty funny. Thank goodness everyones kids were being loud, I think it was pretty much expected. THey both had fun and Jacob fell right to sleep when we got home. Who knew it would be so exhausting?

Our "crib"

I have been asked by several people to see our house... I don't know why... it's ugly, and especially ugly when Mom and Liz and Kaylee are posting pics of their beautiful new houses! In fact, it kind of reminds me of some cabins we stayed in at girls camp... ugh! We are renting a duplex, which is nice because it is cheap enough that we can affort to rent an office as well for the business. Megan requested even to see our furniture! This is where we wished we lived...

Ok, don't be too disappointed...

This is where we actually live :) Girls camp cabin, no??? And yes, that is a giant weed in the front bushes... kinda like the one growing up through your porch mom! I sprayed it with weed killer and it did nothing! It's a mutant weed and I'm not strong enough to pull it! Whatever will I do... Probably just keep cutting off the top :)

Our lovely living room furniture. Oh and the curtains are my favorite part!!! They were on clearance for $9 at JCP! I get happy everytime I look at them! They are so pretty! I know it's hard to see them in the pic.

Jackson's bed, which Grandma and Grandpa Gibson gave him... recognize it guys?

Jacobs toddler bed that we got at a garage sale for $20. It is an extra long bed from Ikea. And the boys dresser we got from a garage sale for $10!

Kitchen... I know it's cluttered... if anyone talks to Silvia soon tell her not to read this post ;) I thought there was a lot of shelf space when I first moved in... but now I just never have enough room, probably cuz we shop at Sams... a lot of food gets stored in our laundry room, next to the fridge. That side table isn't there anymore... we still don't know where to put it though, we don't have enough space! You already saw the piano and our table... we have a nice bedroom set, but our bed isn't made, so I won't run and take a pic! The dining room is very big whigh is awesome because it counts as our office and sewing room as well! We have a nice little back yard for the boys to play in, when it's not 100 degrees outside. And all those trees behind the house give us great shade, our backyward is pretty much a forest, with no houses behind us! Anyways, now you have seen our humble home. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can upgrade!

Masterpiece!

I am in love with the throw quilt that I made for my couch. It matches my living room perfectly and I am so happy! I pieced it together and my friend Carol used her computerized long arm to quilt it for me... for FREE! It turned out way better than I could have hoped for! The back of the quilt is very scrappy because I didn't want to go buy any more fabric so I was desperately trying to fit all the scraps I had left over from the front. It worked. I am so paranoid about this quilt though, I wanted to keep it on my couch but I cringe anytime the boys touch it! It's just too pretty! Hope you guys like it!