What's In A Name?

So several of you are confused about what my name is, as am I. I don't know what my parent's were thinking naming me Antoinette. It's hard to say, hard to spell and is more than a little pretentious. Yuck! How can you say that name out loud and say to yourself, "Hmmm.... I like the sound of that!"? Blah.

I've had several nicknames over the years, but haven't liked any of them. Especially that one that most of you know, but I will not share so my 'new' friends won't start calling me that. You wouldn't think you could get worse than ANTOINETTE, but that one is way worse.

Anyway, Dave calls me Annie and that one seems to have stuck. It's not weird, so I like it and I don't get creepy 'what the crap were your parents thinking' looks when I introduce myself that way.

Moving on, my brother and his wife were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple yesterday. It was awesome! We're so excited for them. Richelle (his wife) is the best thing we ever could have hoped for Rob. She is patient, kind and long-suffering. She's a great example of charity. I am so grateful she has come to our family. My kids love her and so do I. She's the best (and Rob is too ;).


Here's some more before and after pics of the bathroom, but we aren't totally finished yet. I don't like the sink much (it's too small), but by the time I figured that out it was already installed so I got a big fat "too bad" from my husband. I don't blame him. That man has put up with a lot of my projects over the years. He's only said 'no' to me three times in our marriage and this was one of them. I would care more if it were our forever house, but it'll do for now. Anyway, once again, I'm embarrassed to show the before pics.

I haven't figured out the towels yet, but you get the idea.

Go Me!!!

Dave and I have an unofficial agreement that when he goes out of town I can basically do whatever I want. He does this as an incentive for me to keep my mouth shut about the whole travel/animal hunting thing... which I still complain but not as loud. Usually I end up buying something expensive (like a new dishwasher... Deer Hunt '04; or the Living Room Makeover... MI '08) or doing something manly like rebuild half our back deck, with my dad's help of course (Extreme Makeover in Ohio '06). I'm starting to look forward to these trips and hunts because I get some wiggles out and it keeps me too busy to miss him too much.

So the Bow Hunt of '08 lasts from now until DECEMBER (yeah, I know :( so it will be interesting to see how many rooms in our house get redone while he's out hunting for who knows how many days. This years project is... (drum roll please)... redoing our ugly downstairs bathroom! YEA!!!

As I said before, sometimes I am very manly and this was a manly project. I had Dave take out the toilet and ugly vanity before he left. I then painted the walls and tiled the floor in one day. It's not finished yet (I need my dads help with plumbing), but it's coming along nicely. I just grouted the floor. I'm kind of embarrassed to put a before pic on here, but you've gotta see how far we've come.

Whoa, ugly! "Are those purple walls?" you ask yourself. Why yes they are.

Much Better

Anyway, there is more work to do, because that vanity I've been loathing for years is not making a comeback. I'll post more pics when it's finished.

Temple Square

Today we decided to skip out on our housework and take the Front Runner down to SLC to Temple Square. Jake has been asking to see the statue of Christ and the Conference Center so he was way excited to go. The kids were surprisingly good. I thought we'd have at least one temper tantrum or embarrassing moment, but we had none!

In the North Visitors Center they have tons of huge paintings of Christ's life. Jake went straight over to one and said, "That's John the Baptist. He was Jesus' cousin. He put Jesus down in the water and baptized him..."

I was a little surprised, so I pointed to another painting and asked him what was in that one. The response was, "Oh, that's Jesus saying to the men, 'Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men'." What?! How many three-year-olds know that stuff? I didn't realize he was paying that much attention to us and his nursery teachers. I'm very proud of him. He's such a smart boy and he really loves to learn about the gospel.

I love Temple Square! It was kind of hectic getting down there, but once we were there both Dave and I could feel how peaceful it was. Loved it!!!

As you can see, I had some fun with the pics I took while we were down there.

Blessings

So, last night Dave had his 10 year high school reunion. He's very social, so of course we went. Being there made me realize that we really are getting older (not older as in old, just that we aren't 18 anymore). Growing up I honestly never pictured myself at this age. I never would have thought I'd be one of "those" moms who don't get ready every day (and totally not care) or wear not so cute clothes just because it's laundry day (or that I'm too chubby for most of them) :-). But here we are, living the dream in our own house, with our own cars, our own kids and our own responsibilities.

Most days are awesome. Even those not so awesome days sure beat any day before I had my little family. They are my life and I love them!!! It's better than I could have ever imagined (although I'll admit I did picture my husband being at least somewhat romantic LOL!). I'm so grateful to have them in my life. I'm grateful that Dave and Jake make me laugh everyday. I'm grateful that I get paid in hugs and kisses. I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to have my own life with a family that I love. We definitely are blessed!!!

Happy 4th!

You know those days when you get all ready and try real hard to look good and someone says, "Wow! Are you sick or something? You look terrible!" Nice. Especially when it's your husband who you were trying to impress in the first place says it. Needless to say, I gave up and ate a bunch of mini chocolate donuts to make me feel better. Only it didn't work and now I feel worse than I did before.


On a lighter note, we had a way fun weekend. On the 4th we went to the Clearfield parade. Gracie didn't really care for it and cried whenever the firetrucks blared their sirens. Jake loved it, especially the pirates. Then we went to breakfast. We then set up Jake's little swimming pool and he swam for a while. Dave made a tasty dinner while Jake and I went on a walk/bike ride. He's still learning so it took us a long time to make it back home.

Jake with a pirate (Jen Cella's hubby Ryan)

Check out the nails

On our way home we ran into our neighbors and friends, the Turpins. They have these way cute twin boys that Jake loves to play with. If you ever hear him talk about Blake and Grant (which he does all the time) that's who they are. Anyway, we ended up in the Tai Pan parking lot with the Turpins to watch the fireworks. It was so nice! We just pulled out our camping chairs and watched the show. Afterwards we got right out of there. No crowds and not really any traffic to compete with. We're totally going there again next year. It shaped up to be the perfect day.

Summer Is Finally Here!

All we've done lately is play, play, play. For Dave's Birthday we went to Lagoon and a movie and some other fun stuff. Jake and I decided to throw him a mini birthday surprise party. We decorated the house and made breakfast. Then we woke Dave up. Jake thought it was the coolest. I think Dave liked it too.

I decided that I can't hide out all summer and not take my kids swimming because I don't have a suit that fits, so I went swim suit shopping yesterday. It was totally depressing. I couldn't find a modest suit that didn't look like a grandma, so I settled for a bikini with knee length board shorts and a tank top to go over. Not the cutest, but who cares, right?! At least I'm covered. We also took the kids swimming. It was Gracie's first time and she loved it! Gracie also started eating solids and she loves food!!!

I finished reading The Host in two days (as usual) and it was pretty good. I still like Twilight better, but it was a good read until the 4th Twilight book comes out. In answer to Siri's question, I am in the minority and am a Jacobite. I know, I know; but in my defense Jacob was right when he said it was natural for he and Bella to end up together because Edward isn't natural. I'll be happy whoever she ends up with though. Does anybody know if the 4th book is the last?

Also, we are going private, so send me your email address so you can view our blog. Thanks!!!

Lagoon Anyone?!

For Memorial Day weekend we decided to do a mini vacation close to home. On Friday we took the kids to the zoo and they LOVED it! It was fun to see the animals and the people. Jake kept running down the hills and falling flat on his face. So were other kids. That day we saw a lot of biffs and a lot of B.I.F's if you know what I mean. Yup, lots of 'interesting' people there.

Saturday we all went to Lagoon and bought season passes. If anyone wants to go with us we're game. Jake loved the rides. He wasn't scared of anything. He even went on the Tidal Wave and put his hands up and everything. So cute! Not so cute were the B.I.F's that also flocked to Lagoon. It was an interesting sight to say the least.

Monday we hung out with Dave's family. They rock! We had good food and good times. You know you'll always have a good time when you mix Hubba, Gudgy, Dave and swings. Let's just say no swing set is made for two large men doing the spider. YUCK ;) I also have to say my sister-in-laws are awesome. They are great friends, great cooks and they aren't afraid to get down and boogie!