Early Thanksgiving

Kelly called me in October with a fantastic idea - she was coming  to Grandma Sony's house in November and calling to invite everyone.Only Michelle and the girls were able to come and hang out but we had a great weekend.

Sure wish we could do it more often!

The Last Big Project

Matthew and I have been planning a garage since we moved into our house. Last fall we knew that this would finally be the year that we got it. We have been thinking and planning what we were going to build and we came up with a plan that would fit our needs. Matt needed a shop that he could work in, fixing tractors, cars, trucks, and everything else. While I felt that we needed a couple more bedrooms. We also wanted it attached to the house so that we could add a mud room and so we didn't have to run through the snow to go back and forth.

We took our plans to a couple of different contractors to get bids and then to the bank for a loan. Like all things like this, it took a lot longer than we were hoping. We were finally able to sign papers on July 11, and start construction on July 23.

Ironically, we poured concrete footers on the garage the same day that we poured the patio in the backyard - August 1. From there, it went up so fast that we could hardly keep up. The first wall scared me, I thought for sure that we had measured wrong. Wow, it was big!

 The second story looked like it was going to go through the clouds and I was beginning to wonder what we'd done.

 By the time we got the roof on however, things started to come together and it didn't look quite so tall.

Adding the mud room and the awing on the east side made it blend better with the house and kind of finished it off.

And this is how it looks now. We got everything framed in and ready for winter. We'll work on the inside over the next few months and hopefully get siding on it next summer. It still looks big from the outside and I'm still getting used to the new look, but it's something that has been a long time coming, and has definitely been worth it.

Little Miss Honor

 Britnee was inducted into the National Jr. Honor Society on November 14. Matt and I went over to watch her cheer at the basketball game and then we ran over to the school for her induction. It ended up being on of my favorite meetings ever so I took some notes so that Brit could remember a few things from her special night.
        First, the student body president came over from the high school and talked about making goals. She told an awesome little story about planting a bamboo seed. She told us that for the first 4 years after its planted, nothing happens, but that we shouldn't get discouraged because during that time it's busy growing a root system so that on the fifth year, the bamboo tree grows to a height of 90 feet. Then she used that to teach the kids about making goals and sticking to them, even if nothing seems to be happening.
        Then the principal, Dr. Heeder, gave a short little talk about what it means to be a part of the honor society and to have honor. He asked each kid to think of two questions each time they make a decision in their lives:
      *Will what I'm about to do make the world a better place?
      *What if everybody in the world did what I'm about to do?
He challenged each of them to live with honor and then had them all come forward to recite the theme. The whole thing took about 30 minutes. 
 I'm so glad that we could be there with Brit and I'm so proud of our Little Miss Honor!!

My New Favorite Place

 It's been a big summer for us. So big, in fact, that I haven't been keeping up on much of anything else.
                    Project #2- The patio and hot tub. (Project #1 being the front fence)
 For a couple of years now I've been dreaming of a big patio and a hot tub in the back yard. I even killed all the grass and set my porch swing on the dirt, pretending.

 Finally this summer we were able to get everything going. Matt and I spent several hours digging and leveling and ready for concrete. August 1st was the big pour day. The boys came in and did a fantastic job finishing our patio. We are such nerds, we all (Matt, Cody, my niece Brooklyn and I) all sat and watched them pour like we were at the movies.

 I'm just going to close my eyes to all the lawn/grass damage and deal with it later. 

 The crowning piece to our patio was the hot tub that I found on the KSL classifieds. As soon as I saw it, I fell in love and my sweet husband agreed to get it. Happy birthday to me!! (And Merry Christmas, and a lot of other holidays.)

 I couldn't be happier with it. It came with this wonderful gazebo that will be just what we need all winter to keep the wind and snow out. We got in the hot tub for the first time on Britnee's birthday. She said it was the best gift.

I'm so happy to check this off my to do list. And I'm even happier climbing into it at night after a long day.

Roadshows

 This year our stake did more roadshows. The rest of our family opted out, but Britnee and Grandma Sony signed up. It was so fun to watch the ward come together and put on a cute little performance.

 Sony was the scene changer. She carried a sign across the stage telling where the next scene would take place.
Britnee was one of the three blind mice. She really hammed up her part and had a great time being on stage.

Brit's Bucket Liist

One day I was at school and my teacher, Mrs. Hadd told us we had to make a bucket list. Being the smart person that I am, I had no idea what that was. So she showed us what it was. Now I'm gonna tell you what mine is.

*Be a pilot to fly to all my awesome places I want to go
 *Eat pizza in New York
*Eat Italian pizza to compare
*Eat Italian ice cream
*Eat English chocolate
*Go to Rio
*Live in Hawaii after all my adventures
*Sky diving
*Scuba diving
*Be rich
*Go to the Great Wall of China
*Ride on an elephant
*Dance on the moon
*Travel with the circus for a week
*Travel around the world
*Have a 2002 standard lime green ToyoTa
*Write a book
*Ride a train
*Go to BYU Provo
*Live in Paris, France for 2 years
*Live in Alaska for 1 year
*Have a jeep
*Swim with turtles
*Ride a Tiger
*Find a Yettie
*Find Sasqhatch
*Be a Ninja
*Never fight with Abby
*Go to the Rain Forest
*Break the sound barrier
*Be a spy
*Make a $12 dollar bill
*Be someone in Despicable Me 3
*Play laser tag
*Be a bounty hunter in a movie
*Slide across the hood of a car
*Have a pet monkey
*Own a private jet
*Have a personal chef
*Own a zoo
*Be a hippie for a year
*Go to Italy
*Have jell nails
*Own a parrot
*Have 3 dogs
*Find a cure for cancer
*Kiss a stranger on the Eiffel Tower
*Go on a cruise
*Find Atlantis
*Have my own room
*Have weird colored hair

Moving

 In September we got to go help Garrett and Tamarie's family move to their new house. We drove down and met them as they drove north from their old house. Mark and Maggie came up, along with Jo and her new friend, Kelly, to help. Brady just lives a few miles from them now and he was there too.

On Saturday we took a few minutes to cook some burgers on the awesome back yard patio. The kids pitched right in and helped so much. They played great together and were excited that now we live a lot closer to each other.

 Those three McMullin boys are so so fun to watch. They just know what needs to be done and work like crazy to do it.

After all the moving on Friday and Saturday we all got to sleep in on Sunday morning. It just so happened that this was a special Sunday, as it was the temple dedication for the Brigham City temple. We had gotten our recommends from our bishop at home  so we went with Garrett and Tam to watch. I was so grateful to share that spiritual feast with my kids and also to have some of our family there too.

It was a great weekend. I'm sure that Garrett and Tamarie were glad to have it over with but it was so fun to be there together and to know that next time we go see them, it won't be nearly so far.