{Life is Sweet}

Christmas tree hunt 2011!

2011-12-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time finding our christmas tree this year and we found it in record time due to the two little girls that started crying because of the cold 5 minutes into our journey :) haha... we are sand babies... not snow bunnies :)

Daddy and his girls.... my favorite sight.

going to get our tree we picked out once the girls are snuggled up in the car again :)

2 minute before this picture there were tears streaming down her face because she was cold...

can you spy a cute little girl in the back window?

we have literally taken a different vehicle every year!! shawn has commitment issues with his cars :)

the final product.... makes me smile.

maddie was being so sweet to mia... she was teaching her how to bake :)

the girls were so excited to go see santa and they both just hopped right up and they held hands the whole time!! i think it was comforting to them :) precious! Maddie asked for a bike and Mia asked for a pink blanket :)

Thanksgiving in Elko!!

2011-12-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

We went to Elko this year for thanksgiving and had a fun time with the Fam!! The girls Loved playing with all of Grandma's fun toys :)

Mia slept through thanksgiving dinner....

Mia rocking all of Grandma's jewelry :)

{ Halloween 2011 }

2011-11-07T07:20:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween this year.... the girls wanted to be princesses again!!!

My cute little princesses... a "pink" one and a "Tangled" one :) they were very excited to be able to wear makeup and have sparkles EVERYWHERE!!!

Maddie did not want a wig because she was the Rapunzel after her hair got chopped off :) PERFECT!!

Trick or Treating at my door...

Mia was kind of shy at first getting candy... then she got the hang of it... she was collecting as much as she could get her hands on :) and then she found our candy to hand out and she started fist fulling it in.. with this face i have a hard time saying no :) haha

Shawn was Flynn Rider for Halloween ... a request from maddie :)

Cute princess friends!!

Pony Rides at the trunk or treat!

Mia wasted from so much fun and sugar!!! This is not the first time we have found her curled up somewhere all tuckered out :)

Disneyland !!

2011-10-29T13:14:00.001-07:00

we got the chance to go to Disneyland with Shawn's family!! we had so much fun playing one day at california adventure and the another day at the main park :) Maddie and Mia LOVED playing with their cousins and how lucky they are to play with them at the happiest place on earth!!

maddie's glitter tattoo next to her new sparkling ears :) Daddy took her the day before disneyland to get her ears pierced!! Shawn dropped me and my mom off to shop while they were supposed to go to the park... once we were out of the car shawn asked the girls what they wanted to do and maddie answered "go get my ears pierced!!" the deal has been she needed to sleep in her own bed all night all the time... she has been good to consistantly do it so shawn said okay!!! when they picked us up from shopping maddie held her hair back and asked me if she looked different in anyway :) haha... I was SHOCKED!!! and happy that shawn got to take her for that experience :) she didn't flinch a bit and picked out the biggest pair of diamonds offered (that's my girl :)

yummy treats....

another yummy treat :)

taking pictures while stuck on a ride...

shawn took maddie on splash mountain and they both came off wet and shivering.... then we went on again and came of soaking!!! shawn DEFINITELY got the worst of it being in front :) hard to see in this picture, but he is dripping wet with squishy water filled shoes... and it was the 2nd ride of the day :) oops!!

Fun times with the cute kiddos!!

maddie was such a brave girl to try all the scary rides.... she went on tower of terror with me and i was freaking out and then i was feeling guilty that i took her on it!!! she was so excited to go and then on the ride her little face was freaked out and after i asked her if she liked it and she got all quiet and said no.. it lifted me out of my seat!!... the next day she told me she wanted to go on it again but with daddy.. not me! i think she sensed me freaking out!! and then we took her on space mountain for the first time and it was decorated for halloween.. a little scarier than usual and she was a little scared on that one too... but she loved thunder mountaina and matterhorn!! what a dare devil 4 year old!! :) mia on the other hand loved winnie the pooh :)

Random few..

2011-10-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Grandmas,
we have NOT been good about taking pictures.... i am putting my camera in my purse right now. Next post should be better :) Love you and i hope these quench your warner girl thirst for a week or so :)

maddie with her bestie Addie :) and Addie's little sister too!!

We went to the st george marathon to cheer on a friend!! we walked the mayors walk before and maddie was proud of finishing her "own" race!

my halloween bats !! i like this new addition to my halloween decor!! they are fabric and i put them on with Liquid starch !! when halloween is over you just peel off and wipe away the residue with a wash cloth :)

My Maddie...

2011-09-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

i am so PROUD of my little maddie!! she is such a sweet little girl with such a sweet spirit :) each day i get to know her a little better and i feel so lucky that this beautiful little lady was sent to me !!!

a few things about Maddie (age 4)....
- she has a FUN personality and ATTITUDE :)
-she just started preschool and LOVES it!!
-she started dance too and wants to go everyday... (sadly we have to wait a whole week in between classes )
-she is an AWESOME big sister... she really watches over mia and is soooo excited when mia wakes up from her nap so she can have her little friend with her :)
- she has a thing for tucking in her shirt at the moment... {drives me a little crazy sometimes}
- is a fish in the pool... can swim NO problem with no help and has swam to the bottom of the deep end to retrieve her dive toys!!!
- gets embarassed when talking about boys she likes :)
- loves soup... haha... she will honestly finish an entire can of progresso by herself!!
- maddie is a HAM!! she is super theatrical and when she hears music she will interperet accordingly ...
- has been in my stroller on a walk almost everyday for 4 1/2 years!!
- asks to paint her toenails and finger nails daily!!!
- bites her toenails... eeewwww!!
- tells me i look hot when i have gotten dressed up :) thanks mads!
- one day i told maddie that my dad used to pay me a nickel for swiming laps in the pool (an extremely good idea for wearing kids out!!) and maddie asked if she could?... yeah sure!! have at it.. i will pay you 1 nickel for each short lap you swim. she continued to swim 20 LAPS!!!! wow.. she definately earned her 20 nickels :)
- still likes to come sleep in our bed at night but she is currently working on this and getting much better...
- loves to take baths
- says the most amazing prayers... so heartfelt and different each day.
- ...and there is so much more but these are just a few that instantly came to my mind :)

LOVES her daddy!!

they get super silly together :) shawn is the BEST dad ever and i lvoe to see the girls run to him when coming home from work!!

one of maddies more... "colorful" outfits!! she looks like she belongs in florida :) haha...

one of maddie's first days of preschool.... as you can see the tucked in shirt strikes again!

what would i do without this girl in my life?!!! she is soooo much fun and brings so much joy to our house!!

My Little Mia....

2011-08-26T21:14:00.001-07:00

This is what my cutie pie looks like on a daily basis :).. haha!! panties and boots! somehow we always end up here at the end of the day :)

Stealing Brownies!!

{ Fun Facts about Mia right now }

- Mia is 2 1/2
- she LOVES to mimic her older sister
- she loves any stuffed animal
- can do a killer booty shake...
- is still my squishy baby.. so fun to cuddle!!
- loves to talk at all times and has 1 volume.... LOUD! does get shy when strangers talk to her :)
- pees & poops in the potty!! and not many accidents!! yay!
- still sleeps in her crib because i can't bear to mess with her WONDERFUL sleeping habits... she goes to bed easily and still takes 2-3 hr naps :) happy mommy!!
- favorite foods are apple juice, watermelon, cantaloupe, any fruit, peanuts, chicken nuggets, lemonade, PIZZA, popsicles, pez, waffles, and pretty much she is not a picky eater :)
- she is a funny friend... always making us laugh!!
-she loves to play dress up, babies, barbies...
- 99% of the time she wakes up a happy girl... and then there is the 1% when she wakes up and buries her head
because she is MAD and doesn't want ANYTHING :)
- maddie hardly lets her choose the movies but when she does get to pick its often coraline or Tangled
- is a great swimmer and will swim anywhere in the pool with floaties
- is miss independent
-her vocabulary is amazing!
-gives sweet puckered lips kisses
- cannot put into words how cute she really is and the joy she brings to our lives :)

Cali trip 2011!!

2011-08-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Off to Grandmas house again!! and as usual we wore ourselves out!!! we spend 2 weeks using every minute wisely so we can get in the most fun possible :) love love love the time spent with my mama !!

Airplane ride ... first year i had to buy 3 tickets!!!! it was fun to have an entire row to ourselves :) maddie loves the jetblue tvs!!

Disneyland day....

and a chuck-e-cheese night :)

and we visited our friends again... they are like family :)

Grandmas hats :) they LOVE to try on my moms vintage hats!! LOVE mia's eyes in this one !!

Date night with Maddie !!

2011-07-19T16:07:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to do something special with Maddie just the two of us... so i decided i would take her to her 1st play at Tuachan to see The Little Mermaid!! She was super excited to go!! we got dressed up and maddie looks for ANY reason to wear make up and i always say no so tonight i said YES!! i did her eyeshadow.. glitter.. lipstick and a little mascara :) and here are some pix of our date ....

i let maddie choose the restaurant and looks like i have trained her well because she picked MY favorite too!! Pizza Factory! YUM...

then we had an hour to kill since maddie was super anxious to leave on our date so i thought i would let her get her nails done... (really just a polish change :) .. she was beaming she felt so special :)... then she wanted me to get mine done too... it's way more fun when someone does it with you..

the final product!

My little mermaid :)

wating for the show to begin!

maddie with her kids treat! i got one too because i knew that mia would want a special cup when she saw maddie's :)

the play was AMAZING!!! there were tons of special effects and maddie was at the edge of her seat for the first half!! the second half she got a little tired .. she kept pointing to the exit with no words she was so tired!.. i cant blame her though.. it was 11:45 when the play was over!!

and needless to say this is what happened instantly when we got in the car ...

Worn out from all the FUN!!

What we've been up to....

2011-07-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

campouts on the trampoline with daddy:)

Shawn took us to kanab on a job with him the other night... we got a room and had fun swimming and just being together !!

Dinner at a mexican food restaurant in Kanab... YUM!

this is what entertains our daughter while out to eat.... i'm sure the waitress loves to clean up the 20 empty sugar packets off the table and floor :)

Gymnastics!!! Maddie looks forward to her class every week!!

here are some of the baby quilts i've done recently and all you have to do to get one is have a baby... easy enough, right?! :)

and while i sew... maddie wants to "sew" too!!! she cuts up fabric and wraps it around her to make 'outfits' :) isn't she the cutest slutty bride you ever saw?!! "sew" proud :)

future clothes designer?... :)

Zion and Fathers Day!

2011-06-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

went to zion this past weekend to hang with the folks :)... shawn had to work so i just headed up alone with the girls ... we had a BLAST!!

nothing makes me happier than watching my girls play HAPPILY together :) spending time at the campground was definately the highlight of their trip! they had fun searching for lizards, "nice" bugs, playing in the freezing cold river, splashing in the WARM blow up pool, eating ice cream, reading books, making smores, and playing in our huge new tent ( brand new from a garage sale... $20 HOLLA!! thanks mom and pop!)

obviously worn out !! she slept for about 2 1/2 hrs in our arms... to the bus... to this nice bed on top of the table... to the bus... to the campsite!!! Wow!

LOVE this girl and her BRIGHT eyes :)

kinda made the colors whacked on this one ... my little dolly!

grandpa was having fun pouring FREEZING cold water on Mia .. but she was a good sport about it , haha!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!! 2011

LOVE this view :) ... DARLING GIRLS... and 1 seriously SEXY husband that looks like he belongs on a 1970's farm ... (side note: his entire outfit came out of his grandpa's closet)

it's all about the little things...

2011-06-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

things i LOVE about Mia right now.....
1. is such a talker and has only one volume.... LOUD!
2. sleeps in till 9 am :)
3. still takes her 2-3 hr nap
4. wakes up with the messiest bed head each morning
5. is super snuggly
6. at the store she will sing at the TOP of her lungs and when i tell her to be quieter she says with her hands in the air " but i'm just singin' " ... and this is said in the softest most angelic voice :) haha
7. does EXSACTLY what maddie does
8. says she wants things "so bad" again she melts me with her cute phrases... this girl knows how to work me :)
9. goes pee pee in the potty for a "nerm" aka gummy worm :)
10. loves all bugs and calls them "nice bugs" . once maddie stomped on a bug that she was playing with and talking to and she freaked out crying that maddie had stepped on her "nice bug" when maddie took her foot off the bug was totally dead but mia told me that "no he's not dead.. he's a nice bug" and continued playing with him :) so sweet!
11. loves to swim, ride bikes with maddie, help daddy, pick out her own clothes and shoes, wear big girl panties, pee in her big girl panties, dress up, and be wrapped up like a baby so mommy can pretend she still has a newborn :)
12. says "o-tay" for okay :)

LOVE THIS LITTLE SASSY GIRL!!!

playing at mcdonalds...

this mornings bed head :)

maddie helping with my project... she is very good at glazing :)

after their friend Sione's party... i think they played hard!!

Mr. Maddie :)

fun at grandma's..

2011-05-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

We went down to California to go to my cousins wedding and shawn's sis. baby blessing :) and of course i have NO pictures of these but i do have pictures of the rest of the trip :) on Monday after our fun weekend of being with both our families i sent my cute little husband on his way so that i could spend another week in cali with my mom and my niece and nephew :)..... why not right?! My mom was watching my neice and nephew while my brother and sister in law went to italy :) the kids had so much fun playing with each other and all of grandma's fun toys!!

Aiden's baseball game :)....

went to the movies to see Rio....

of course we ate at Ruby's Diner :) mmmm..... and my kids LOVE cherries!!!

we went on walks in the mornings and fed the ducks and went to the park...

and my FAVORITE was going to the beach 2 times :)... maddie loved playing by the water and Mia just wanted to sit by me up on the sand :)

we also had fun playing legos.... swimming.... chuck-e-cheese....bedtime stories...and just being at grandma's house :)

Mother's Day

2011-05-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

My sweet babies and me on Mother's day!! i am the luckiest mom alive to be able to take care of these little darlin's :)

that morning i woke up to find handmade cards and beautiful hand picked flowers from my mom's backyard :) LOVED them!!

My cute mom with 4 of her 6 grandkids :) she is the BEST mom and grandma ever!!! i love her more than she knows!!

Easter weekend!!!

2011-04-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun eventful easter weekend :) friends, easter eggs, candy, bike riding, yard sale, and all the stuff in between :) my camera was always close at hand and grandma should be very proud !!

it started off when my friend anna came down to play with us in st. George!!! this is maddie's oldest friend ... maddie and addie used to lay on a blanket together not knowing yet that they would be besties :) and now mia and izze each have a little playmate too!! here they are causing a ruckus in old navy :) makes for a cute picture though!!!

yes... once spring/summer hits this is what i do alot of!!!! i become a scholar ..... the only way i get some good reading in is if i have some good warm sun to go with it!! and as you can see i am teaching my daughter about the good things in life :)

isn't she a diva?!

My friend and i decided to put on a little easter egg hunt this year with neighbors :)

special friends.....

Maddie showing me one of her many pictrues drawn of the easter bunny.....

racing to get the loot!!!

mia was so cute!!! at first she got one egg and ran to show me.. i said you can get more :) so she went back and then was happy with the piece of candy she grabbed.... again i said you can keep going and thats when she started to get the hang of things.... here she is getting every piece she can before somebody else :)

i love this little girl!!! sigh.....

the two most ADORABLE people in my life!!! .

enjoying her hard work......

can't get enough of this face!!!!

recently we took maddie's pedals and training wheels off her bike so she could use it as a glider and learn to balance... after a couple of weeks we tried her on a friends bike that still had it's pedals and she hopped right on and peddled away with NO help at all!!

she has been a two wheeler girl ever since!!! proud parent!!

Easter Morning!!! the girls found their hidden baskets and then headed to mom and dads bed to open the goods!! holidays are so much more fun when you are making them special for somebody else!!!

Easter dresses....

These girls LOVE their daddy as you can see :)

the cherry on top of our fun weekend was a sleepover in the front room!! we got out the air matress and the girls loved playing trampoline on it :) then every single toy they owned came to the sleepover including some candy nerds that were in the bed in the morning...

shawn used the leaf blower to blow up the matress and then this is what we did with it ....

now watching nim's island and eating popcorn and LOTS and LOTS of snuggling!!!!

{LIFE IS SWEET}

what a day!!!!

2011-04-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

My husband has been in charge of a bunch of foreclosures lately and that includes getting rid of all the leftover items in a house... that is where we have been getting all this CRAP to sell at our awesome yard sales :) so this past saturday we were able to unload our garage yet again to make another $500 dolla- holla!!! and all of it (with the exception of a few clothing items) came out of his foreclosures!!! wahoo!!

here is the lot of goods....

a wee bit closer....

maddie made $22 selling cookies!! and she was only selling for about an hour :) my cookie selling little russian is making more money per hour than most college students :)

and then this happened and was just the cherry on top of a relaxing (i say this with as much sarcasim as possible) day..............

oh the horror............

ahhhhh!!! it's even worse from the side..........

don't cry laura.. don't freak out... it's only hair!!! i am so in LOVE with maddie's cute little bob and i have so much fun doing her hair every day!! they are my little dolls and i was sooooo sad when i saw the damage!!! all i could think was we need to get this fixed as soon as possible!!!

Daddy on the other hand thought it as CUTE.... haha! right! she totally looked like one of the little orphans on the movie Annie!!! :)

so off the fantastic sams and we did what we could.....

i guess it could have been worse... but lets be honest.. it could have gone a lot better too if my four year old would have kept her sticky mitts off those scissors !!!

lost & found

2011-04-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

so i lost my camera about a week ago and i could not find it anywhere!!! anyway yesterday i woke up and i had a dream that i found my camera in my beach bag. i thought what the heck i will check it out.... yep! there it was! i thought it was so weird :) anyway so now i plan to take lots more pictures...

went to 25 main for dinner one night and the girls LOVED their cupcakes !!YUM!

\

Sleepy Babies :) we don't really sleep that good when they are in our bed but how can you say no when you wake up to this ?!!! it won't last forever ...right?

{ hope that holds you off for a few days Mom }

St. Patty's Day!!!!

2011-03-21T14:27:00.001-07:00

I don't normally go all out for this holiday... but this year i thought we would do a few fun and novel things :)

so we started off our day with Rainbow waffles .....

and then maddie LOVES to bake with me so we made rainbow cupcakes :).....

and then finished our day with green pizza :) i think the girls had fun.... or maybe i had the most fun :)

RaNDoM moments are the {BEST} ...

2011-03-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

I LOVE my two little beauties!!! they are so much fun and i feel so lucky to be able to fill my days with moments like these :) sigh.... doesn't get much better than this :)

Just in case you've missed the important part of this picture... just look at how my 4 year old has developed boobies that are larger than mine :) haha!

and then they are so precious when they fall asleep.... and i LOVE that my girls sleep in all of shawns old soccer jerseys (thanks Grandma Dianne for saving them all those years :)...

Maddie has been begging me to get down my wedding dress... it was in the attic boxed up all nicely and she was dying to get her sticky hands all over it !! she changes her mind from time to time to wanting to get married and have a baby to wanting to stay at home with me forever :) sweet girl!

and since i was sure i wouldn't be able to find Mia if i attempted to put it on her i opted to sit her right on top and she was thrilled to feel apart of the party ....

LOVE MY LIFE!!!!

bedtime stories?

2011-03-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

the other night we went into the girls room to read before bed and this is what ended up happening :) They LOVE to watch tv on shawns phone .... so here they are watching a good wholesome (haha) episode of spongebob... or as Mia would call it spah bum :) Love them... they even picked out matching jammies for themselves :)

More catch up pictures...

2011-02-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures of fun things we have been up to :)
My {SWEET} little mia :) she was ready to go get the mail :)

Trying on grandma's vintage hats....
maddie had all sorts of winning poses :) haha!

My Birthday Lunch at pizza factory... they give you a free pizza in the shape of your age on your birthday .... thank you Anna for that most wonderful information !! it was delicious!!

Maddie tried on her blessing dress... still fits! actually much better now than the day she was drowning in it!!

early to rise for our huge garage sale!!! my friends Darice and Janell came down and brought all their bunches of stuff to add to mine and we sold a grand total of about 1,000 dollars!!!! money money money!! theni of course went shopping that night :)

My 2 beautiful little valentines girls :) we spent the day going to the movies (gnomeo and juliet) and then came home and had a nice dinner in that night :)

Hello Kitty Birthday !!

2011-02-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

This year Maddie and Mia wanted a Hello Kitty Birthday party!!! i was thrilled to do it since there is Tons of fun things out there that are hello kitty :) i had so much fun making the cake this year... i tried fondant for the top and then made the hello kitty cake bites for each cupcake ... i thought they turned out pretty cute :)the party was fun and girly ... we did face painting ate lunch, did a prize walk, pinned the bow on hello kitty, and cracked open a pinata!! the girls loved all their new toys and i love my yearly picture of them with their dad :) i can't believe my babies are 2 and 4!!!!

can't get enough cali!!!!

2011-02-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

we just can't get enough california... and i figure while my girls are not in school we might as well live it up right?!! so we headed down for a week before all of our birthdays :) and of course we did our usual shopping.. and i am a sucker for disneyland now that my girls LOVE it.. so we had to go there too :)

It was so nice to go to disneyland in february!! there was nobody there and we walked right onto most rides :) the best!!! the only bummer was there were a few rides closed for repairs including splash mountain :( so sad!! but maddie had fun going on some of the big girl rides that she is recently tall enough for !! yay!! thunder mountain was so much fun with her!!!

grandma let them each pick a prize and maddie knew right away what she wanted when she saw the umbrellas :) just like mary poppins! mia picked a dumbo baby but when maddie went to get her umbrella she stuck her hands out to recieve hers :) she obviously didn't understand that she had already picked her prize.. grandma was a sucker and ended up getting her a mini one too :) haha!

and as if we didn't have enough junk food at disneyland... maddie wanted mcdonalds for dinner and we thought we would just go out with a bang :) they had a pajama party picnic in the living room with happy meals and a movie :) what a fun day!!!

and off to chuckee cheese!!! we went to chuckee cheese with my brother and his kids :) the kids had fun spending way too many tokens and just playing with their cousins:) grandma even brought valentine surprises to have a little valentine party :)
mia was emily's little shadow!! they went on this ride a bunch of times.. mia was mesmorized :)

we always have too much fun at grandma's house... and maddie is already asking to go back :)

HI, I'M LAURA! TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! I'M 28!!! MY HUSBAND LOVES ME!!!

2011-02-09T05:50:00.001-08:00

If you see me today, wish me a happy birthday!

my precious baby...

2011-01-31T06:40:00.000-08:00

on sunday the kids were watching a movie after church and before i knew it this is what i found :) a tired little baby sleeping on top of our hard coffee table looking just {PRECIOUS}...

What we've been up to....

2011-01-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

we recently went down to California for a short weekend trip :) the girls LOVE playing with their cousins!!

Maddie and Mia made fresh Lemonade from the lemons in my parents backyard :) mmmmm!! grandma even broke out the tea pot to have a spontaneous tea party on the counter :)

my mom gave mia this little bottle one afternoon for fun.. (it was mine when i was a wee child :).. anyway she was hooked.. always wanting more apple juice in her bottle.

there is always a fun project going on at grandmas... and whatever maddie is doing mia is sure to follow :) cute sisters!!

Mia Rockin' the side pony!!!

this chair provides so much more than sitting at the computer... it is a fabulous ride :)

We went to Home Depot the other day and it was so cute.... the girls carried this piece of trim throughout the entire store... teamwork!!!

we painted our kitchen and tv wall the other day and my girls are great and will just watch and not get into any paint trouble..... my husband on the other hand makes poor decisions from time to time :) he thought it would be "fun" to let the girls help paint the wall. They actually did really good... shawn would dip their brush and then hand it to them to go to town on the wall where we were going to repaint anyway. there were a couple mishaps that were easily fixed and a yell here and there to Stop!!! but all in all a fun family painting night :) as you can see they were thrilled with their work !!

{ wE WeRE goOd... }

2010-12-28T16:10:00.000-08:00

Santa came to our house and we had a super fun Christmas morning!!! it was our first christmas staying home with our kids and it was fun to create traditions of our own.. and to keep some going :) we read the nativity story before we went to bed and the girls loved it... and then of course we had to open stockings on mom and dad's bed :) here's proof that we were good!!

The loot just waiting to be dug into!!!

what is wrong with this picture?.... the parents up and the kids are asleep!?!? i know you're thinking i should be sleeping in with them but it's 9:00 am and my kids have taught my body to wake up around 8:30 now... especially on christmas morning.. i get too excited :)

i even tried to jiggle this one awake... with NO luck!!! come on, don;t you know we have serious business to attend to?!

so we looked at each other and thought what are we waitng for?... we got to feel like little kids and open our stockings in no rush :) i love my new scissors :)

and the moment we've been waiting for.... we had too much fun and i think the girls did too!!!

That's my daughter!!

2010-12-23T13:49:00.001-08:00

it has been raining all week here in st. george... and today Maddie was playing quietly in her room and i walked in to check up on her because as we all know quiet does not always mean good things :) .. but i was amazed to find a sunbathing beauty!! haha... she had on her bikini, sunglasses, and was laying on her "towel" (aka blanket).... this is one of those moments when i am so proud :) and glad to know that someone appreciates the summer sun like me :) That's my daughter!!

Better late than never!!

2010-12-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

Walking to church..... the girls both wanted to push their strollers and before mom said "no".. dad said "yes ":) and it was raining... and they both wanted an umbrella but discovered that it was quite difficult to both push a stroller and hold a large umbrella ... so i guess that pretty much sums up the picture... cute little fam huh?!! ... oh also notice the very large "mom's purses" that were filled to the brim ... shawn has maddie's and mia's is dragging :) ha ha ! oh the memories we have walking to church....

the girls feel the need to "organize" my books off the book shelf... but somehow I am the one who always ends up finishing the job!!

we went to park city for thanksgiving and were able to spend some time with friends and family...

we stayed at the marriot with shawn's brother and his family.. the kids LOVED just hanging out together :)

and we forgot our bathing suits but were able to scrounge up a pair of shorts for shawn.. maddie's cousin brought two bikinis :), and we just threw mia in a swimmie... i was able to be the photographer and stay warm :)

after park city we headed to salt lake to the Peery Hotel. it was a really old hotel but had been re-done and it was sooo perfect for us!! our room was small and cozy with two rooms and was on the corner with two Huge windows.. one night we enjoyed lounging and watching a christmas movie while it snowed outside and we could see all the city christmas lights :) it was awesome!! side note: maddie would NOT get in the picture and Mia wasn't very happy either as you can see... oh well!

Little mia being a ham!!

i was able to meet up with my good friend Anna while we were up there... we had so much fun and the girls LOVED playing together!!! here we are at the childrens museum at the Gateway mall..

funny girls..

and the end of the trip :) they were EXHAUSTED from all the fun we had!!

tis the season to be jolly!!

2010-12-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

my mom bought these lights for me when they were on super clearance (love a deal) ... anyway i have had them in my attic for about 5 years now because my husband keeps refusing to put them up.. well this year maddie asks daddy and what do you know.. he comes home early from work that day and puts them up !! no hassling needed :) yay!! my very own sparkly house!! .... oh and as you can see... safety first at the warners!!!!

on to my favorite yearly tradition....the Christmas tree hunt..and we almost missed it this year! i was sick all weekend feeling HORRIBLE!! then sunday morning i heard that my family was going to go without me?! no way i would miss it... so luckily i felt good enough to go and we got a biggie :) i have no sense of scale when we go each year...

ummmm.... yah , we had to trim it a bit :)

and the end result!!! ( notice maddie holding her nose?.... it's because mia had a stinky diaper .. haha!)

and a tired little girl who fell asleep sitting up :)

Family Pictures!!

2010-11-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

we just had our family pictures done and we are soooo happy with how they turned out!! we had Nate Kinzie do them ... you can visit his website here ... he does great work and we have always gotten great shots!! yay!
so we ended up with too many great ones to post but i picked our favorites out of our favorites :) here it goes!!

LOVE THEM!!!!

and here is the new love of my life.... false eyelashes!!! i wanted to spice my eyes up for the pix and so i bought these bad boys!! i felt super hot with them on since my own eyelashes are short and boring! shawn loved them and so i have bought a few more pairs for date nights :)

ReNEw & REfrEsH

2010-11-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

From Shabby Crappy......

(and 500+ staples later)..... to a picture perfect rocker for the 2 beautiful girlies in my life :)

I am super happy with the outcome of my first upholstering project :)

Fabric choice upclose and personal.... LOVE it!!

{ Blast from the past }

2010-11-04T13:01:00.001-07:00

And somehow history seems to repeat itself .....

Happy Halloween!!

2010-10-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Belle.... i had so much fun making maddie's dress this year! and i think she had just as much fun wearing it! we even put makeup on her (which she loved)!!

and doesn't she just make the perfect snow white?!! my mom made her dress and i think she did a fabulous job!!! i just can't look at her in her cute little costume without giggling :) haha!

they were all smiles when they got ready in their costumes :)

the warner fam... no theme this year but we all had fun dressing up!!

walking in the parade at the trunk or treat.. they came home with a bundle of candy!!

i was the pumpkin carver this year... i love the hello kitty one :)

my kids ate way too much candy .. mia was bouncing off the walls late into the night!! bed time came much later that night :)

another one of my halloween treats that i thought came out cute.... candy corn rice krispie treats :) cute huh?!

california.. the repeat :)

2010-10-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

we had so much fun in california in august that we just couldn't wait a whole year to do it again so we went back and pretty much did the same trip again.. and yes, it was just as fun as the first time !!!

the second we got to grandma's house maddie ran up to my mom and whispered in her ear, "can we PLEEAASE go to Disneyland.. it would make me soooo happy!" and here we are again at disneyland... it was so worth it :) lines were short with it being so rainy all weeklong.. luckily the day we went was blue skies!!

so happy to meet tigger :)

and mia wasn't so sure of winnie the pooh... which is why i'm in the picture holding her above :)

this pretty much sums up our day right here :) a sucker in one hand and popcorn in the other... it was an everything goes kinda day.... the best kind!!! you want a sucker before lunch?.. you got it.... popcorn too.. coming right up :) Its so much fun to spoil your kids every once in a while :)

my little lover :)

Mia was a grandma's girl all week... seriously wanting nothing to do with me :) i finally got to enjoy my dinners in peace :)

grandma with 4 of the 6 grand babies ...

Chuck-e-cheeses (sp?) we wanted to go to the pumpkin patch but it was rainy and super muddy... so that ended up being a no go.. but we wanted to do something fun for the kids that day so we headed over to play games at the cheesiest place in town :) it was tons of fun! i LOVE ticket games... me and maddie were running around that place having so much fun!! maddie loved this horse ride .. it was cute :)

maddie's BFF.... haha! we spent a good five minutes talking to this cute little manequin!! maddie gave her a name that i can't remember and she wanted a picture with her friend! it was pretty funny.. people were totally staring at us :) i wonder why ?!! mia befriended the dog ...

**Random extra** i made these halloween cookies and i thought they turned out pretty cute :) gotta love jack!

{ Alice in Wonderland }

2010-10-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

My sister in law is truly amazing!!!! we recently went to my nieces 5th birthday party and this is what we enjoyed....

a beautifully decorated table with the perfect birthday girl chair at the end :) and don't you just LOVE the paper lanterns!!!

the cutest table setting EVER !!! i was in love with these place mats .. and real china for the kids to have their tea party :)

the birthday girl of course in the sweetest alice in wonderland costume you have ever seen.. isn't she a doll.. and she was the sweetest birthday girl hostess :)

the kids enjoying their lunch.. yum!

maddie peeking over the table :)

and the loot each kid got to take home!!! it had an alice in wonderland book with necklace.. a "drink me" drink, and an "eat me" cookie :)

i didn't get pictures of the darling cupcakes and cake... or the signs that lead into the house that said "which way" and "yonder" and that sort of stuff... they were super cute! she thinks of it ALL!! and the kids played fun games and got to bounce in the bounce house... we had a ball!!

Camping in Zion

2010-10-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

We met my parents in zion for a couple days of fun camping!! we had a blast spending time together and took a TON of pictures in the 2 short days we were there :) so here we go in no particular order....

maddie and mia in grandma and grandpa's tent... grandma ALWAYS has a bag of tricks with her and the girls always LOVE it!!!

maddie fell down and i don't even think she got a scratch... but daddy got his trusty first aid kit that he always has in his car and never uses and fixed maddie up :) she was having the time of her life playing the patient and was limping around :) then of course mia fell and the doctor kit came out again!!

grandpa and maddie... i remember as a kid i used to always ride on my dads shoulders :)

my dad is such a dork! :)

maddie and mia took turns riding in the backpack...

family picture :) love the 80's pose maddies rockin'!!

tuckered out from being carried on a hike ... we didn't have a blanket so we threw down a newspaper to keep her off the cold damp grass :)

we got ice cream from the lodge while mia was sleeping and the second she heard ice cream her head popped up and was ready for her cone :)

pedi party!!

tubby time.... i LOVE a clean baby..

cute sisters!

when we ask maddie how big she is getting she straightens up and then goes up on her toes and now mia copies her to show us how big she is too!!

surprise face!

this is us trying to take a family picture by ourselves...

mia loves her "gaga" grandma!

A fun Few...

2010-09-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

We had a snow shack this past summer and it was a hit!!! with all our high school workers going back to school we sadly had to shut it down for the season... until next summer!! but before we did that we wanted to get rid of all our excess flavors and ice!! so we set up the shack on our street and handed them out for free one night.. untill the flavors were gone :) My kids were on a sugar high to say the least!! and DIRTY!!! but it was alot of fun :)

and then our annual visit to peach days in hurricane!! we love to go and walk around and play games. our girls were enjoying their cotton candy!! i wonder if maddie knows she has a little on her face!

and then kids were walking around with their face painted and we could not find it for the life of us and we were all tired, hot, and thirsty!! so we told maddie that we would paint her face at home :) she loved the idea... i got home and took a nap but daddy didn't let his girl down.... he painted both cheeks, a kitty face and both hands! what a lucky girl...... but wait there's more! later in the day maddie got into her dress up clothes ,because heaven forbid she goes a day without stripping off a totally acceptable outfit for a mix match of princess/dance costumes, and we went out as a family to the brick oven :) i think people thought she was in some sort of dance recital and i had to tell them .. nope.. just every day apparel in our house!! ha!

Old School Grigoruk Family :)

2010-09-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

My mom sent me this photo of my family (going to church i think) from probably 1983 :)
Dad, Mom, Me , Mike, and very front scott :) LOVE my family!!

{RaNdoM}

2010-09-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

so here are a few moments that i want to remember...

i met up with one of my lifelong friends, Stephanie!! we have known each since the days when we had fluffy bangs, matching sweatsuits, and scrunchee socks (in all colors)! Now we are big girls with little girls and boys of our own :) we had so much fun catching up and letting our kids play in the pool!

i know this is super un-flattering of me... but look at that little beauty next to me!! oh i cannot resist this one!! she melts me whenever i see and hold her... nothing better than a sunday afternoon nap with my baby :)

what a pair!! they are both sooooo cute!

okay.. so i have always held a special place in my heart for this frozen treat! i can remember eating them as a child in the summer :) and summers have come and gone and we have eaten a few here and there... but this summer the otter pop consumption got a little out of control! this box here would be our 8th box of the summer... meaning we have downed 800 otter pops in 1 summer!!! i think that special place in my heart has vanished!

California trip 2010!!

2010-08-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

our annual august california girls trip was a hit!! of course we had tons of fun and did many of our traditional activities including ... going to disneyland, the beach, ruby's diner 3 times, my brother and his kids came over a few times to swim in grandma's pool, i got to have a girls night out with my sister in law :), we played games, ate frozen yogurt and hit up every mall we could think of :) here are some fun pix!!

grandma got out the halloween costumes and the cousins got to play dress up :)

we went to the beach a couple of the days... oh how i LOVE the beach!! i could spend all day every day there!! now i just need to train my kids to feel the same... mia would NOT touch the sand! it was pretty funny and semi nice that she would not leave the blanket.. kinda like there was a barrier!! and maddie was playing in the waves and got trampled and so that was the end of playing in the water for her!! but we still had fun!

can you think of a better place to take a nap?!

the girls were teasing the waves :)

popcorn party at grandmas... cute little cousins!! if only mason and paxton were there:)

Disneyland could not have been a better day!! we got there at 9 am and we stayed until 9:30 pm!! the girls were so good! mia took two naps while we were there and maddie was just an angel!! we had one of every treat they had to offer there and went on lots of rides... we also watched to 'celebration' parade.... it's an AWESOME parade and maddie got to go out and dance with the dancers and other kids :) she had fun!!

maddie and mia liked seeing the baby goats at the petting zoo too :) mia thought it was a good idea to throw dirt on them... sorry baby goats!!

oh maddie... silly girl!

2010-07-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

My maddie is such a fun girl!! We have sooooo many fun times together and i feel so blessed that she was sent to me :) she has entertained us many times in the past with her stories, dances, sassy attitude, and truthfulness :) i often forget to write down (for me this is where my blogging comes in handy) all the things i'd like to remember in the future.... and occasionally i catch a few and remember to write them down :) so here i am remembering one of the latest ....

maddie had just woken up from bed and shawn went in to see her in the morning.

shawn-"hi honey, how did you sleep?"
maddie- "i'm sick"
shawn- "oh?.... what's wrong"
maddie-"i'm dying..."
shawn- "huh?!"
maddie- "...i'm dying to go to disneyland."

hahaha!!! i thought that was soooo funny! especially for the first words out of her mouth in the morning :) cute girl... i bet she'll be excited when we show up at the magic kingdom in August with grandma !! yay!!

water makes everything better!!

2010-07-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

When summer hits we LOVE to spend most of our time outdoors :) and when the temperature rises water makes everything better :) so here are a couple water activities we have had fun doing ...

went to one of the many splash pads around to get cooled off :) the girls were asked to smile and this is what i got!! haha!

why do kids get a kick out of sitting on the water?! WEIRD! anyway.. mads is doing just that :)

LOVE HER!!

We were invited to go to the lake with some friends who brought their jet skis.. the kids had tone of fun getting pulled around :)

and today maddie wanted to paint... and so did mia :) so i set them up and they had a blast!! notice our children's outfits?... this is a common outfit for the warner children in these hot months!!! LOVE a naked baby :)

4th of July weekend

2010-07-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

some Fun pics from our 4th of july weekend!!

Mia in her 4th of july church outfit :)....

maddie hasn't been super willing to smile for the camera lately.. but she was super excited to pose with barbie... whatever works!!

my cute little family going for a ride on daddy's motorcycle :) they are Daddy's girls!!

what's a 4th of july weekend without watermelon?... my favorite summer snack!!

and here is the big kahuna!!! our friends bought this bad boy for an explosive fun time :)

here is maddie in her jammies... i help her pick out her outfits for the daytime.. and this is why! she is very creative with her clothing choices :) haha!! silly girl !

the fireworks were EVERLASTING... they kept going and going and going!! we started to light 4 or 5 at a time... they were super loud too! i'm sure the neighborhood loved us :)

cute kids!

the end result... lots of smoking trash. and notice the kids roasting marshmallows in the post fireworks fire in the back?.... shawn had to later use a fire extinguisher to put it out.

my little doll.... both of my kids put their hair in their ears when they are tired!! weird, i know!!

{ RanDOm }

2010-07-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

all dressed up for a picnic outside :)

Maddie wanted to pretend she was Mia... high chair, sippie, baby face, baby talk, and of course i had to call her "Mia" :) silly girl!

my sweet princess... she has LOVED dancing lately! she puts on that tutu.. turns up the jams.. and boogies!

this girl cracks me up!!

friends having a popcorn party and watching a movie :)

maddie wanted me to "come over to her house"... it was located under our desk :) mia quickly joined in on the fun!!

k mom... that should hold you 'till the fourth of july?! love you!

Quick Trip :)

2010-06-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

We wanted to take a quick trip just to gettaway and spend time together so what better place for some wholesome family time than VEGAS :) we stayed at the Rio for a night... went swimming.. ate at Pf changs (mmmm.. lettuce wraps)... visited nordstrom rack.. met up with old friends.. and just had fun together :)

How sweet is this little girl?!

our kids are such great little travelers :) they sleep, watch movies, eat snacks, play, and giggle with each other :)

i have the most handsome man that holds my hand, kisses my lips, and takes such good care of me and our girls!!

Sleeping Beauties... we decided to try putting mia in bed with mads instead of bringing up the pack-n-play... worked out great and they thought it was pretty fun too.

lets play "i spy".... (i will give you a hint... mia had no pockets to put her sticky treat) haha!

My 3 year old photographer :).. not bad eh?

Splash park

2010-06-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

when summer comes to st. george we LOVE to do all sorts of water activities to cool us down :) this is one of our favorite.. the Library splash park :) The girls had alot of fun and wore themselves out :)

Maddie had fun jumping from rock to rock and making new friends...

mia loved taking in everybody playing around her... she loved the water too :)

playing together....

and after the splash park... we came home and took naps and then headed for the pool.... yes... the warner girls are water bums :)

I heart MADE!!

2010-06-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

okay so i have mentioned this girls site and i'm gonna do it again and i probably will talk about it in the future :) i LOVE this site... MADE!!!! you have to check it out if you love to sew :) i frequent this site and i am always wanting to experiment using her fabulous tutorials .. but because i still DREAM of my one day craft room i have to unload my laundry room of all my supplies... scatter them ALL over my living room/kitchen... and then i can allow the creative juices to flow :) i have had my eye on these "market skirts" for many moons now and i finally tried them!! super fun and cute!! here are the results...

i have so much fun making things for my girls....

i HAD to re-create her yellow one!!! it was perfect and i LOVE yellow :)

i thought a fourth of july skirt would be fun.... still need to figure the measurements to make mia one too :)

i have also been eyeing this fun project... cute little bags for whatever!! i lined them with vinyl and they were soooo much fun to make... i learned soooo much just following these two tutorials of hers... seriously like taking an online sewing course :)

cute huh?! mia's red tights that i have NEVER used got cut up and put on this one :)

i was giddy when i finished my first one of these... i just had to keep going...

so here's another

and i didn't stop there ... i made three more! super fun!!

Warner girls update...

2010-06-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

Every day I watch my kids play and interact with each other and us and every day they amaze me with something new!! i can honestly see them growing physically and mentally EVERYday!! i LOVE my girls so much and i am trying to cherish each day...i couldn't be more happy than i am right now.. able to stay home with my girls and PLAY all day :)

Mia.... 15 months

-can say a few words... including, Hi (my favorite.. she sounds so sweet when she says hi :), bye bye, dada, mama, more (she signs this one), ball, that (dat), baba (for drink), Ta Da (like you'd say after a trick), and wow.... i could be forgetting a few.
-LOVES her stuffed monkey :) at night all we have to say is "you want your monkey?" and we hand it to her.. she gives up a big grin and a little giggle, and then we put her in her crib and she plays with him untill she falls asleep. Mia is sooooo good about nap/bed time!! i can just put her in when i know its time and she will either play for a bit before she falls asleep or lay right down and snooze :) THANK YOU MIA!!!
-Mia is deffinately a paci girl... she will do almost anything to get her hands on one of those bad boys .. haha! i really have to hide them when she is awake because if she catches her eye on one.. it's all over :)
- mia still prefers crawling, but we are thinking she will walk anyday (we have been saying that for 3 months now :) .. but really.. she took seven consecutive steps at church the other day and keeps taking a couple here and there at home...
- mia's favorite foods would be... BANANAS!!!! pasta with red sauce, cafe rio tortillas, any drink, she likes waffles in the mornings, and she will pretty much devour ANY fruit , oh and how could i forget otter pops.. the must have for a st. george summer :)
- i can't look at mia without falling in love all over again..
-she dances to the music.. super cute
-when i point a camera at her and say cheese she tilts her head and smiles.... what a good girl! maddie still hasn't quite mastered that one.
-mia takes one good nap a day in the afternoon.. this is when i get some good sun laying out in my back yard.

cute little sisters..

Mia with her 2 favorite things.... Monkey and paci! what a happy camper :)

cheese...

cheese...

and one more time for mommy, cheese! (notice the head tilts on all 3)

sick baby... mia had a fever for a couple of days (we think teething) so i made her a bed on the floor and she was so content to just lay there and watch movies and nap all day .. sweet girl!
.....................................................................................

Maddie.... 3 1/2 yrs old

- Maddie just started gymnastics :) she is sooo cute when she goes.. i feel like she is getting sooo big but when i watch her at the gym she is sooo tiny compared to all the other girls... guess she's still my baby :)
- some cute phrases that commonly come out of mads mouth... "i know what we can do..... we can play hide and seek!!!!" (said with rolling enthusiasm)... " let's go get mia together... because we are both mommies and we are BEST FRIENDS" ...
-likes to dress herself!
-loves to ride bikes with all the neighborhood kids
-puts on my makeup almost daily!!!! aahhhhh
-favorite drink is root beer (any brown soda is root beer) and chocolate milk
- loves to make and drink protein shakes with daddy in the morning :)
-has been changing her identity lately to a different princess each day...
- Sings and performs all the time!!! She Sings at the top of her lungs and LOVES to show off.. haha!
-is a great artist... she draws people all the time with eyes and eyeballs, ears, arms, legs, hair, a nose, and a smile... i seriously am impressed by many of her drawings :)
-recently hung onto the garage door as it was going up... all of a sudden i hear.. "help mommy help!!" and i look over to see her hanging from the garage door like 5 feet off the ground.. haha! i quickly grabbed her down and she was holding onto me soooo tight.. i think the whole ordeal may have scared her a bit :)

goofy girl

goofier girl...

goofiest girl?!....

we LOVE this girl !! she makes us laugh

here is our re-inactment of maddie's ride on the garage door today :) needless to say i wasn't able to ask her to "hold that pose while i grabbed my camera"... so i thought to give you the idea of what happened i would just re-do it :) Funny huh !!... i just wish i could have seen the whole thing... slowly riding up !

Meet Squishy...

2010-05-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Squishy Baby :) i was given to my best friend Maddie for her first christmas! i have been her FAVORITE baby/toy since :) Maddie is such a good mommy!! she loves to take me everywhere she goes so i don't miss out on anything... i go to church, wal-mart, target, grandma's, camping, and many other places!! My clothes are lost somewhere but that's okay because maddie puts me in silky jammies at nighttime :) as you can tell i am super LOVED !! xoxo Squishy Baby

Playa Del Carmen :)

2010-05-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have been BEGGING shawn to take me on a beach vacation just the two of us and we finally had the chance!! YAY!!! so we planned a trip to Playa del Carmen... (it's near cancun in mexico). We had soooo much fun! Having two spunky little girls we sometime have a hard time focusing on each other... we were so lucky that my Mom was able to take them for a week!!!... so we were able to RELAX... and celebrate our 7th anniversary in style :) we have both been here before so we didn't care if we did any of the touristy things and so we just woke up at our leisure.... walked 100 ft to the beach... layed out, swam, ate... repeat.... around 6pm we would head in from the beach to get ready for walking around 5th avinue... which is sort of like playa's "strip" :) ... and i swear we did this EVERYday and i probably could do that for the rest of my life :) well here are a few fun pix of our second honeymoon :)... hopefully we will have a 3rd and 4th honeymoon very SOON!

View from the plane... can't wait to land and jump into that beautiful water!!!

When we got there we quickly checked into our hotel room and headed to the beach for some sun, sand, water, and ceviche :) mmmm.. yum!

My sweet boy!

i LOVE the colors in his picture.. the water was AMAZING and probably about 80 degrees!

Our home away from home... this is where we spent the majority of our time.

No words needed :)

our hotel had a deal with this hotel so we could lay out on their chairs... super nice hotel, and super $$$$. we took a slightly cheaper route :).

The love of my life! i am so lucky to be married to my best friend :)

In Mexico and out to dinner at an Italian place :)

us in front of OUR hotel... we LOVED it!! we would totally go back :)

Our room was tucked away in a little garden area...

The pool at our hotel..

mmm... sushi dinner!

I love to take kissing photos... i just wish shawn did too! haha.. i kissed .. he bit!

GQ baby!

They had a bunch of gelato places that were soooo good! this was my favorite :)

our last lunch before we had to fly out...

Poor shawnie didn't feel so good on the flight home... he thought he better just be prepared :)

checking out our escape ... better safe than sorry!

THE HAPPY COUPLE!

Happy seventh anniversary babe!! i love you sooo much and am so happy to be married to you :) thanks for such a memorable trip.... but PLEASE take me back soon!!!

What we've been up to...

2010-04-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

being absolutely ADORABLE!!! ... Mia has started to stand up on her own lots more recently and has taken a couple of steps on her own... hopefully she will be walking like a champ soon.... her pants and baby legs are getting trashed!!

we have been gardening!! one saturday we took the whole day and played in our back yard planting trees, flowers, and a square foot garden!! ...

here is our cute garden! i can't wait 'til i can cook with my fresh tomatoes, and other veggies!! we have already been using our fresh basil!! mmmmm!!

another family favorite lately is Hide and Seek :) Maddie requests to play this frequently!! it is sooo much fun to play with her... and everytime she finds me she instantly hides in my same hiding spot and tells me she will hide there and i should go count and try to find her :) haha.... kids are fun!!

My beautiful girlies in their easter dresses. Sadly this is the best shot i got of them in them.

Little kitchen Remodel :)

2010-04-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Here is our cute Target kitchen that Maddie and Mia absolutely LOVE!!! so i decided it needed a minor makeover....

i thought it was in need of some ruffles :) and then the high chair didn't match so of course it needed to be covered in a matching fabric... and what would their kitchen be without a matching pot holder?! just another fun project i had fun playing with :)

HOLLA!!!

2010-04-15T11:48:00.001-07:00

I was soooooo excited about my latest shopping experience!! i got a call from my friend who said she had gone to albertsons and with just the coupons in the store she got boxes of cereal for about 17 cents a box!!!! i literally jumped in the truck and went straight to albertsons!!! this is what i filled my cart with!! and just take a guess at how much it all cost?!!!......................wait for it........................

wait for it....................

wait for it....................the suspense must be killing you :).........

10 DOLLA HOLLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so we may be eating the same cereal for a while but for 25 cents a box WHO CARES !!! i was soooooo excited :)

Wedding in Cali....

2010-04-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

we were able to go down to california to go to one of my good friends wedding!! Erin has been my friend since we were born:) (our moms were pregnant together)... and we have had so much fun in years past!! Erin is crazy fun and i hadn't seen her in about 7 years and i am so happy to say that she has only gotten more fun, if that's even possible!! i loved seeing her and i am so glad that we have been able to stay in touch all these years! she was such a beautiful bride!! and her wedding was at the crystal cathedral followed by an amazing reception at the grand california hotel at disneyland :)

Me and Erin, 2010 :)........and our place cards to find our seats at dinner each had a personalized photo on the back of it.... here was mine....

Me and Erin (girls in the middle) at Joy school in prob 1986?! ohhh..... how cute, our moms thought it would be fun to put matching bowls on our head :) oh wait , that's our hair! haha!! okay, and my second favorite part of this picture is the shoes i chose to wear to joy school :) this picture totally reminds me of maddie's personality!! she would totally wear her ballerina slippers everywhere... so fun!!

Shawnie hanging out at our table :) we later danced for an hour or so (this is NOT usual behavior by my husband!! i can usually only get him to dance for about a minute in our kitchen before he gets bashful and then heads out to his garage to feel more manly:) .... so i was SUPER excited to get him to dance with me!!!!

Maddie was painting in the kitchen when all of a sudden i noticed that she and her paints had dissapeared from the kitchen counter... hmmm... where are you maddie? oh, okay.... you are just painting your face black, FUN! haha... she was so proud!

SWEETEST little girl!!!! LOVE HER!!!

my own real life little dolly :)

Easter

2010-04-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

we were lucky to have the jensens visit from salt lake ... they came to our annual neighborhood easter egg hunt and they LOVED seeing each other again!! here they are in 2010........

and a year ago in 2009.... BFF!

Mia had fun picking up candy in the grass and eating through the wrapper and of course making a HUGE mess :) gotta love oxy-clean!!

business :)

the neighborhood.... where's maddie?!

Mia's basket....

I have soooooo much fun planning special days for my girls... it is way too much fun shopping for them and i finally understand when my mom always told me that she would rather buy something for her daughter than herself :)

On easter sunday we had our friends the pratts over for dinner and an easter egg hunt :) we love the pratts and always have so much fun with them :)

Mia with her boyfriend Brooks..... they are the cutest couple :)!!!!!

What we're up to...

2010-03-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry Grandma's.... i've been a bad blogger lately :) hopefully these cute pictures will make up for the lack of posts lately!! We have had some funny moments in our household lately.... it's sure never dull with two sweet little girls to entertain us :) so here it goes... some fun and RaNDom moments !

One of my latest projects ... my friend darice needed some centerpieces for a baby shower and so this is what i came up with :) the two cakes on the ends are diaper cakes and the one in the center i made to try to mimic the diaper cakes but it's a real cake :) i thought they turned out pretty cute...

mia is becoming soooo playful!! i love it... she is so happy all the time and laughs easily. likes to play peek-a-boo and other fun games with us.

She is also a little lady... loves to put necklaces on, read books in maddie's bean bag chair, and basically likes to copy everything her sister is doing.

I couldn't resist blogging this picture :) hahaha!! i think it is such a cute crying picture.... sooooo DRAMATIC!

i found maddie the other day like this.... she decided to do her own dishes :) she washed all of them and put them in the dishwasher... and i love that she brings this stool everywhere she can't reach lately :)

Mia fell asleep like this the other day.... it's kind of hard to see, but she is sitting straight up and she was just wobbling back and forth .. funny!

Our little fahionista.... dressed for the day all by herself ... bet you couldn't have guessed that one :)

and the latest cute picture is from this morning when mia woke up around 7 and then while shawn was showering and she was playing in the bathroom she fell asleep on the tile!! sleepy head! shawn then moved her to the rug at least and threw a towel over her... she slept in another hour :) yay!

and maddie has done so good to sleep in her own bed all night every night, but last night she snuck in! but i think it is funny how she takes this purse EVERYWHERE!! she has the most random things in it and of course she wouldn't sneak into our bed without it!

Los Algadonas Mexico ...

2010-03-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

So we recently went to Los Algadonas with my parents to explore their dental town we have heard so much about!! i had some work i needed done and since we don't have dental insurance it was much cheaper to get it done down there.... i won't go into to many details but my teeth look great now and we had a fun time down there as well :)

Me after my root canal..... :( not my favorite pass time.... but it went really well!

Our hotel had an awesome pool!! there was a lazy river, and a beach-like entrance and the pool was heated to 94 degrees!! we spent lots of time out there after our days getting teeth worked on in mexico :) Mia LOVED crawling in the super shallow part... she even fell asleep in the pool one of the days :)

Daddy and Mia :)

Grandma swimming with the girls...

The crew (minus shawn... he was taking picure:)

mommy and her two beautiful girls laying out... we can't wait for summer!!

Factor Five :)

2010-03-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we were able to be apart of the Lake to Lake race here in st. george!! it is a 50 mile relay from Gunlock lake to Sand Hollow lake!! we had a team of 5 people so that made it so we each ran approx. 10 miles. Shawn and i were so glad that we could do this race together!! his family was in town and so they were able to watch the kids for the 6-7 hours that it took for us to finish.... thanks!! :) we finished 30th overall out of 88 teams, and 14th in our division (boys/girls)! we were pretty happy with our results since this race was just for fun :) we hope to do it again next year!!

we have been having so much fun running together lately!! most mornings shawn will go run and then come back and tell me the route he went on so that i can do the same one and we can compare our times...

our team!! left to right.... kevin, Danni, Me (Laura), Shawn, Janelle. Don't we look hot after running 5o miles.... haha!!

Cutest lil' rodeo in town!

2010-02-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

Our girls birthdays are one day apart and so this year i wanted to do something extra special for Maddie and Mia's first shared party. Maddie loves her cowboy boots and for a time she loved to watch the rodeos on tv .. so i decided it might be fun to have a cowboy party :) i have so much fun planning a party and this party was no exception ! the only bummer was that it was supposed to be at the park (since we have been having such beautiful sunny days lately) and of course the day of the party the rain came down ... oh well, we moved the party to our house and i think it was just as fun :) here are a few pictures......

The cake... i had NO idea what i was going to do for this until i just started to make it and i think it came out pretty cute ... i was happy!

Pin the tail on the pony!

cowboy/girl dress up station :)

one of the birthday girls :) i can't believe she's 1 already!

a cowboy family :) shawn loves any reason to wear his cowboy shirt! isn't he SEXY!

the other birthday girl!

i love the look on her face here when everyone was singing to them :) she was sooooo happy!

Friends :)

Mia eating her very LARGE cupcake :) i was hoping she would get way into it.. but both of my girls must be little ladies because neither of them made a mess like i was wishing for :)

we had a special visitor for the party... trigger the minature horse!! it was a hit ! what's a cowboy party without a pony?

we had such a fun day and we were so glad so many friends and family could come and spend the special day with us!! (don't we look amish?)

Birthday girls :)

2010-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

every year we take a picture in the same spot with shawn and the girls :) here is this years batch!

Maddie Jane .. 3yrs old!

Mia June... 1 yr old!

2 happy girls and 1 happy dad :)

Mia at the park on her special day!

we had a tutu photo shoot because every girl deserves to get dressed up in a tutu on her birthday :) we just did it in our front yard and i figured if i took enough i was sure to get a few winners ?! i think i got a few cute ones...

for some reason i think the ones where mia is getting tortured are just funny :)

Valentines Day!

2010-02-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

We had a fun valentines day this year... we went to church, came home to have a special valentines dinner with my mom and shawn's sister krissy :) the girls loved opening their little valentines stockings and we all spent quite a bit of time in the backyard that day because the weather was BEAUTIFUL! i absolutely ADORE my family .... and i am so lucky to have a wonderful husband who loves me and two girls who bring me so much joy!!

and..... my little daddy's girl! this is one of my favorite pictures lately.... shawn said she was helping him "fix" the car for about a half hour just super content under the truck banging around with her tool :) funny girl!

A blissful slumber

2010-02-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

i recently re-decorated my bedroom... i found this comforter i LOVE and started working around it :) i bought the furniture on craisgslist and painted and glazed them and of course added new hardware :) then i found my lamps on clearence at tj max! and my "W" at kohls (i love this w... so silly but i just think it's so cute ! it was black and i painted it silver :) i recovered my old pillows and painted the branches on the wall! i am really happy with the final look of the room and the best part is shawn LOVES it!

and i covered my kitchen chairs! they were so dirty from maddie eating, painting, play doughing, etc... and finally i decided it was time to rejuvinate these babies! it was only $20 and so i figure if they get disgusting again then i can just recover again right?! but for now i love them... they add just the right amount of funk!

A SMILE and a TEAR...

2010-02-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

A SMILE..... today i was getting ready for the day (don't mind the fact that it is 2:00 in the afternoon:) and i am just doing my thing and i look down to find Maddie curled up asleep on my bathroom floor.... oooohhh how cute! and now i am doing my hair glad that i don't have to worry about maddie pulling mia's hair or stealing her toy... when i look down to find mia has fallen asleep too! how often does this sort of thing happen?!.... this was a second nap for both of them and it's not like they were in some super comfty and quiet place! anyway needless to say i ran and grabbed my camera before i transferred them to their beds :)

and A TEAR... we sadly found our sweet puppies new homes. We have been thinking of giving them away for awhile now and we decided that we really can't give them enough attention since we are ,of course, focused on our sleepy princesses :) Luckily we found them each a great home with nice people that will spoil them with love and affection! We have had these pups for about as long as we've been married and are super sad to see them go. today is my first day of having to bend over and actually pick up the crumbs from my girls lunches.... no dog vacuum anymore! we love you Vince and Theo!

Jazz Hands!

2010-01-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

I came across my old dance costume ( as you can see it's from the early 90's.... and yet it still gives my heart a thrill... LOVE the sequinned leg warmers... sigh:) anyway.. i instantly knew who needed this sparkly gem.. MADDIE!! when i gave it to her she was sooo thrilled! she put it on and felt so special. She is always performing for us.. singing and dancing. Some of my favorites lately are her singing ALL the words to Annie's "Tomorrow"... and Little Mermaids "part of your world", and of course mama mia's "honey honey"! seriously funny! so since i did a post on Mia's fun facts, i thought i would do one for maddie too :)

Maddie Jane:
- almost 3 yrs old
-LOVES chocolate milk
-potty trained... no pull ups anymore!!
-tends to be the ring leader in a group
- loves to perform
-has a great imagination
- just stopped calling Cinderella, cindaberla, i was saad, i really liked her version of the name :)
- likes me to skip with her
-loves tubby time... HATES to get her hair washed!
-loves the princesses
-will tell long made up stories with lots of enthusiasm
- is growing up soooo fast... every day she surprises me :)

I'm a runner?

2010-01-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

I did it!! i ran my 1st 1/2 marathon!! all 13.1 miles of it!! i was super excited and nervous to run my first one but now that i have i loved it!! hopefully i will be doing more in the future :) it was supposed to snow/rain the morning of the race but luckily it was nice weather (a little chilly)... then i was greeted at the finish line by my sweet sister-in-law krissy who brought the kids with her to cheer me on :)

Miss Mia :)

2010-01-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

i have nothing to blog about lately so i thought i would post a few random pix..... this one's for you grandma :)

traditional baby eating spaghetti picture... gotta love it!

not her most glamerous moment.... but she was way sad so i gave her some jello and she was in heaven!!! she fisted the jello into her mouth and by the end it was EVERYWHERE!! and she fell asleep to top it off :)

a few random things about mia....
- age: 11 months
-she LOVES bananas :)
-has the princess wave down!
-loves to clap
-army crawls everywhere
-hates the bouncer chair (bummer... mads loved this)
- laughs and crys when maddie comes near her :)
- looks forward to her nightly tubby with maddie
-is chubby :)
- says mama and dada
- gets a huge grin on her face when daddy comes home :)
-is absolutely a living doll!!!!

Christmas 2009!

2009-12-31T12:50:00.000-08:00

We had a BLAST this christmas spending it with family in California!!! we were able to go for just shy of two weeks! nothing like feeling like a kid again at your mom's house :) we were able to relax, go in the spa... shawn dove into the freezing pool!, see both my brothers and their families!, shop, eat, got sick, parties, the mall, movies, D-land, pretend city, running in the Warmer weather, and so much more!!! here are a few pictures.... okay that's an understatement... here is an album of pictures :)

Dinner at BJ's Pizza with just us :) we had fun the first night just going to dinner and then hitting up the crowded brea mall :)

Miss Mia .... what a gem!

She slept all the way to the restraunt and then all the way through dinner :)

We were laughing at ourselves because we found ourselves texting love notes to each other while we were at dinner together.... only in this day and age right?

My sister in law Laura threw a cookie exchange party that i was able to go to this year!!! she is amazing!! the kids had fun with crafts and decorating sugar cookies while we got to exchange loads of cookies to take home in cute boxes and bags :)

maddie enjoying an ice cream cone at one of my favorite restraunts... ruby's! what a doll!

we went to the pretend city one day... it was sooo much fun, and so cool! here is the play beach :)

... and santa came to town.... look at that smile!!!! pure joy :)

and maddie with her cousin emily digging in the garden :)

Miss Mia with grandma picking strawberries :) Fun Fun Place !!!

DISNEYLAND!! we had such a magical time at disneyland :) we were able to go with my parents for a few hours and then we hung out just the warner crew for another few hours and then we took the kids home to get in bed and we were able to come back from 8-midnight ALONE!!! YAY!!! it was such a highlight in our trip to get to play by ourselves and go on a special date :) thanks sooo much mom and dad!!

grandpa with Mia

Funny how the kids love the carousel at disneyland? maybe we should have saved our money and just gone to south coast plaza?

In line for peter pan.... i was so thrilled to go on this one! it's been a while and i loved it! so did the kids.
disneyland was way fun and i will be craving another frozen lemonade until next time for sure!

grandma with her cute grandkids in their christmas jammies :)

Christmas Morning!!

Maddie with her big santa gift... a fancy dollhouse! BIG HIT!!

Mia with her big santa gift.... her princess car :)

maddie and Mason playing with their computers :)

for christmas dinner we went to laura's house.... just look at this table!!! BEAUTIFUL! again... she is so amazing.... i am trying to learn everything i can from her :)

and the food.... sooooo yummy! everything was so gourmet :) loved every single minute of it!

Shawn's newest father of the year picture :) i love the little girl on his head wearing her tutu, mink stole, hat, and coloring all while on top of her daddy's shoulders... and then little mia who looks like she is falling but she doesn't care because she is being included :) and then shawn... no words needed :)

Our walks...

2009-12-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

My friend Anna and i have been walking together everyday for 3 years and here is the picture of our last walk before she moved :( ... we love our walks! we were so excited to escape our house each morning to talk about anything and everything that was on our mind. our girls are best friends and we loved to share all the funny, sweet, annoying, and messy things that they did. we would strip them down and hand them watter bottles during the hot summers and bundle them up in the winter... and on those days that were just too cold or rainy, fear not, there was always Dr. Mario :) We will miss you guys tons!! you were the all time BEST walking partner ever :)

T-shirt dress...

2009-12-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

I LOVE a project!! i am always checking out new blogs for fun things that i want to re-create and my newest favorite blog would have to be MADE (there is a button for the site on the side :) ... anyway this girl does the most amazing sewing projects... she takes di clothes and makes them SWEEEET!! so i decided i wanted to try it... i went to di.. and got a shirt and transformed it into something pretty cute :) i think :) here it is!........

The shirt i bought for a dollar :).... don't mind the writing, it doesn't show in the final product..

the final product... a cute little dress to wear with leggings, and my favorite.... maddie's leg warmers! it's way too much fun getting her ready... she's my life size barbie :)

here is the close up of the "smocking".... its not really smocking.. it's called shirring and it's soooo easy!!

i had soooo much fun trying something new.. it's not perfect, but it was a fun project and cute for a dollar!

Jump start to Christmas!

2009-12-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

Every year we bundle up and head on out to the mountains to get our Christmas tree! we look forward to it every year and love this tradition we have started with our family :)

yay for Christmas tree hunting :)

Maddie loved playing in the snow...... for the first 15 minutes ;) she must get that from her mother!

What a trooper... she tried walking in the snow but once she fell in down to her waist it was a ride in our arms from then on. i must also add that this was the first year that shawn didn't complain once :) usually he makes me pick a tree after the first ten minutes of walking around... he was very patient and i only had to hear maddie ask for her pajamas and hot chocolate 50 before we found our perfect tree!

Here it is... all that work for this glorious piece of nature that will soon take up our entire living room :) (what a weird tradition to chop down a tree and stick it in your house and put presents under it.... who thought of that one?)

Oh mads.... what a silly little girl! she LOVED santa... when she saw him she ran to him and lept into his lap and immediately told him she wanted a horse, a dog, and a lamb for christmas :) (how am i supposed to tell her that santa will not be delivering livestock to our house this year... or ever!! )... anyway, she was his little best friend and sat on his lap for like 10 minutes... there were no other people in line. And at the end he got a big "good bye santa"... Mia on the other hand cried after the second picture taken :)

The tree chopped down about 5 feet so we could fit it in our house (it was quite the beast for shawn to drag through the snow) .... decorated... and ready for christmas time :)

My very favorite decoration this year!! i made this with the leftover tree branches :) It makes me soooo happy!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-30T09:27:00.000-08:00

This year we were able to have all of shawn's family over to our house for thanksgiving Weekend :) We had fun relaxing, eating, shopping, talking, playing, and enjoying each others company! A few pics from our fun time together...

Here is the table.... this is MY favorite part of having thanksgiving at my house :) i get to decorate the table!!

and here is the kiddie table...

Shawnie and his sister Melissa ... and mia

Fun playing at the park...

This is Mia's idea of a good time :)

cute cousins :)

the big kids playing at the park...weeeee :)

the big hit was this tiny dvd player we let the kids watch in maddie's room :) the cousins had so much fun playing together! wish we could get together more often!!

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-11-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

My friend got tickets to the Regis and Kelly Show in Las Vegas and she couldn't use them! so she gave them to me!!! yay.... i immediately called my mom to see if she and my dad could meet us in vegas for a quick and spontaneous trip :) they were all for it! So my mom and i got to go see the show at the Wynn in Las Vegas and we had a blast. These are the only pictures i got from my mom because in mesquite we realized i had forgotten our camera!!!! aaarrgghh... i was so mad! but here are a few from my mama...

Tubby time at the Rio (where we stayed... the rooms were awesome, soooo big!!)

Me with the Love of my life ! Like his "christmas beard" ?

Me and my mom waiting in line to get into the theater at Regis and Kelly :)

The boys....and maddie :)

We had a blast!! Thanks anna for the tickets... and thanks mom and dad for coming to meet us!! we loved every minute of it :)

Joy School!

2009-11-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

My friend Aubrey invited me to do a joy school with her and 3 other little girls and we have had so much fun with it!! Four Sweet, smart, and cute little girlies :)

Maddie, Addie, Avery, and Talise

Snack time!

Hot air balloon ride!

2009-11-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

We went to Paige az last weekend with some friends for the hot air balloon festival and to just get out of town :) we loved just being able to focus on each other as a family with no other distractions around. we had alot of fun!

Can you find Maddie? .... she was super excited to go on a ride with her friend Sione :)

Mommy and Mia looking over Glenn Dam...

All the Balloons were lit up in the street that night.. it looked awewome!

Free ride :)

Bow wig?

2009-11-03T07:26:00.000-08:00

Maddie and i were playing with her bows and i started just putting a bunch in her hair and then i thought it might be fun to put every single bow in her hair :) She was loving it!! i thought it would look super funny ... but i think it actually looks kinda cute :) ... photo shoot below.

Warner Pest Control :)

2009-11-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

we had such a fun halloween season this year... here are a few fun things we did :)

thursday we carved pumpkins with a few neighborhood friends... the kids had fun running around and the adults had fun carving the pumpkins :)

friday we went to another pumpkin carving party and brought some fun treats :) i was pretty excited about my "candy corn" cupcakes. i thought they turned out cute :)

addie and maddie..... (shout out- please don't leave us jensens!!)

My little lady ...xoxoxo

The fam... shawn was the bug catcher... i was a butterfly, maddie a bumblebee, and mia a ladybug. i love a themed halloween :)

i had too much fun getting them ready.... i decided to try crimping maddie's hair and then thought hmmm... mia has enough hair to crimp too... why not?!

the end of the day photo shoot :) at least addie smiled! (shout out- maddie is going to miss her BFF!!!)

The car wanted to dress up too :)

the most handsome bug catcher in st. george! and yes the mustache is drawn on.

he did some good work that night catching two of the cutest bugs ever!

We went to our friends house who carved over 50 pumpkins!!! it was super cool!

To grandmother's house we go!

2009-11-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

We love to go to california to visit family and just have a good ol' time :) we always go in august... but who says that our annual girls trip can only be once a year?!! we decided to get in the car (warner girls) and head on down for some fun in the sun :) As we drove down maddie got sick and threw up in the car! uuugghh, yuck!! luckily grandma nursed her back to health in a couple of days so we could play!! As usual we ate out, shopped (but not sooo much:), sewed, relaxed little, and to top it off we went through my mom's entire craft closet and had a garage sale! we made some pretty good bucks too!! here are some fun pix from the trip...

Grandma and the girls!

Emily and Maddie playing dress up... cute cousins!

Driving the car by herself at the pumpkin patch... what a maniac!

Waiting patiently in line :)

Riding horses!! what a thrill! Maddie gets such a kick out of this!!!

My little pumpkin princess in the baby pumpkin patch!

feeding the animals :)

maddie getting her haircut.... and grandma and mia watching. Maddie looks forward to sitting in the car and watching Dora :)

Trash to Treasure - part 1

2009-10-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so all of you who know Shawn well need no explanation ... for those of you who are a little less familiar with my husband should know that he is a man of many trades, is always working on something, LOVES to work :), is the worlds best networker, loves to provide for his family, and Loves a bargain.... hmmm let me rephrase that... loves to get something for FREE!! We were hanging out in the garage the other day and we got to talking about all the fun things that we have literally pulled out of the trash :) WOW we're classy! anyway, we thought it would make for a fun blog! here are a few we could think of.... ( side note: we have thouroughly cleaned all of these items.... with soap:)

here is Maddie's new "barbie" bike ... she feels so big riding it and Loves it!! This was a spectacular find... almost brand new and was in the trash because of two flat tires and a bent training wheel.... we gave it a good home and fixed it up... love it!

I don't love this chair but shawn insisted i blog it... just an ugly camping chair, but needless to say it was FREE!

i saw this rocking chair hanging out by the garbage and thought maybe shawn could fix it (one of the legs was broken) and then we could sell it on craigslist for $5 (thats 5 diet cokes)... but i love to sit in it while shawn hangs out in the garage... guess were keeping it for now !

ugly trike that i desperately want to throw back in the trash!!! but maddie loves it and all the neighborhood kids love it too... it's a hit! I still HATE it!

The window behind the wreath we got off a house shawn was demolishing.. i got a bunch of them and ended up selling quite a few :) This is a great example of how to make money off of trash :) Cute huh?

we were walking in Yorba Linda CA (where i'm from) when we saw this beauty sticking out of a trash can.. i was sooo embarrassed as shawn knocked on these strangers door and asked if we could take a looksie in their garbage .... they were way nice about it and let us take this play piece and the next beauty too..

our bath buddy! This was honestly never used... yay for free baby gear!

I spied this one... it was missing the swing part but shawn was able to make one.... we figure if maddie gets a little fun out of it , it was worth it :)

Lastly... my sweet girlies!! they love each other!!!

St. George marathon '09

2009-10-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

Shawn decided to run the St. George marathon!!! i was so impressed how he just decided he was going to do it and then he just started running :) he worked up to 17 miles and then a 20 mile race, and then the 26.2 mile (marathon) race!! Here are some fun pix from the day :)

Each year there is a mayor's walk at 7:00 am and you walk the last mile of the marathon.... this was my second time doing it :) Here was the crew we walked along with :)

Maddie is a Ham!! this is what she does on command if i ask her to pose :) Love this little girl!

BFF for life! These two have WAY too much fun together :) they were running around in the street... clapping for the runners... and dancing to the band :)

Shawn at the finish line... (sorry it's not a better picture) he sprinted the last little bit! he's a mad man! and then i called him over to take a picture.. but he ran for the misters... a drink... a popsicle... and i didn't get my post race kiss 'till a few minutes later :( oh well i guess he was the man of the hour so he can do whatever he pleased :)

Mia sharing daddy's post race ice cream treat! i don't know if she liked it... :)

Finally a picture of the runner!!! he finished in 5 hours. then we had to walk a mile back the place the mayor's walk started... (for the record i told him that i would run back and pick up the car so he didn't have to walk another mile but he wanted to go with me.) That night you would think that he would take a load off right?... no way.. not Shawn Harris Warner :) he went to the ladies night expo an hour after getting home to help a friend out with his booth... he got home from that around 9 and then gave ME a massage! What a Man! we are so proud of your accomplishment shawnie :)

I'm obsessed!!!

2009-09-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it all started with the blog that i have a button for (all things thrifty... definitely check it out)... then i ventured off onto a bloggers site that commented on "all things thrifty"... i had no idea that there was this amazing world of thrifty home design and Do it yourselfers :) i have no life anymore, all i want to do is find cool things on these blogs to re-create and design my home! my butt is surely getting flatter and wider form sitting in front of the computer for hours at a time, my trips to the DI have turned quite frequent (i would go twice a day if i had no self control.. i swear), i am buying spray paint by the cart full, and polka dots have a whole new meaning in my life (i always loved them... but they may be getting out of control :)

on my blogging journey i found the coolest entry way idea and wanted to re-create it...( go to inthefunlane.com to see the real deal) .. but i am pumped about how mine turned out!!

i love simplicity!!! so not many decorations on this wall but i LOVE my pumpkin witch!

i love these pumkins! i bought them orange at walmart for a dollar and then spiced them up with a little spray paint, polka dots and some love :) i did three little ones first and then i needed more so i bought two big pumpkins to doll up and a box to give some height to my entry way set up:)

Lake Powell

2009-09-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our friends invited us to lake powell on a last minute weekend trip! we only went for a day and night but we had TONS of fun! it was the perfect ending to a super summer!!

here's Maddie and Shawn going tubing! maddie was so excited to go but then didn't like it so much when she was on it :)

Tanley and Maddie loved playing together!

Mia's traditional photo pose :) Sleeping :) ... Mia was having a nice little nap and then maddie came over wanting to sit by her sister. Then maddie slaps mia's back!! (mia sleeps through it) but i get mad at maddie and say "don't you hit your sister!!! she's sleeping! move away from her!!" and maddie responds, "there was a bee on mia's back!" ... haha... we thought this was pretty funny because there was definately no bee... little stinker is already making up stories to defend herself!! funny girl!

Shawn taking all the kids for a ride :)

We wore her out!! Soon after this picture we went to sleep in the back of our truck... the four of us!! it was sooo awesome to sleep under the stars together :) all snuggly... even though it did sprinkle rain on us a few times :)

Ty, Janene, and Rusty... trista must have been in the trailer :)

Special friends :)

All the kids having a dirty ol' time together :)

the girly train...

Proof i was there :) Don't you just love the mascara eyes!!

{Life is Sweet}

Christmas tree hunt 2011!

Thanksgiving in Elko!!

{ Halloween 2011 }

Disneyland !!

Random few..

My Maddie...

My Little Mia....

Cali trip 2011!!

Date night with Maddie !!

What we've been up to....

Zion and Fathers Day!

it's all about the little things...

fun at grandma's..

Mother's Day

Easter weekend!!!

what a day!!!!

lost & found

St. Patty's Day!!!!

RaNDoM moments are the {BEST} ...

bedtime stories?

More catch up pictures...

Hello Kitty Birthday !!

can't get enough cali!!!!

HI, I'M LAURA! TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! I'M 28!!! MY HUSBAND LOVES ME!!!

my precious baby...

What we've been up to....

{ wE WeRE goOd... }

That's my daughter!!

Better late than never!!

tis the season to be jolly!!

Family Pictures!!

ReNEw & REfrEsH

{ Blast from the past }

Happy Halloween!!

california.. the repeat :)

{ Alice in Wonderland }

Camping in Zion

A fun Few...

Old School Grigoruk Family :)

{RaNdoM}

California trip 2010!!

oh maddie... silly girl!

water makes everything better!!

** 4th of July weekend **

{ RanDOm }

Quick Trip :)

Splash park

I heart MADE!!

Warner girls update...

Meet Squishy...

Playa Del Carmen :)

What we've been up to...

Little kitchen Remodel :)

HOLLA!!!

Wedding in Cali....

Easter

What we're up to...

Los Algadonas Mexico ...

Factor Five :)

Cutest lil' rodeo in town!

Birthday girls :)

Valentines Day!

A blissful slumber

A SMILE and a TEAR...

Jazz Hands!

I'm a runner?

Miss Mia :)

Christmas 2009!

Our walks...

T-shirt dress...

Jump start to Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2009

Viva Las Vegas!

Joy School!

Hot air balloon ride!

Bow wig?

Warner Pest Control :)

To grandmother's house we go!

Trash to Treasure - part 1

4th of July weekend