4th of July Backyard Campout

 Our 4th of July plans didn't go as planned when a wildfire started in Alpine earlier that day. The original plan was to go up American Fork canyon and camp out with the family. They closed American Fork canyon right away once the fire starting spreading.  We scrambled to change plans and decided Karen and Brad's backyard was just the right spot for camping!

We had lots of fun eating, and doing craft (Jess and I won for best Americana Pipe Cleaner craft!), and just messing around and having fun. We set up tents of course after it was dark, and everyone played around until super late. Our kids slept horribly, but it was a great weekend!

Logan washes dishes and himself

He dragged his chair up to sink to "wash the dishes". When i turned back around there he was in the sink.

Can't Sleep

So much going on in my head that I couldn't fall back to sleep after Zoey rolling around in the bed at 3am woke me up. (I love that little girl of mine!)

Zoey and I are in NY and have been since Friday. Sarah is getting married this weekend and decided to make it a longer trip so I could have some fun with my family. Jake and Logan were supposed to get into LGA at 10:30pm tonight, but their flight out of Denver was cancelled and my head is still spinning from trying to get him a flight here and figure out how he will get up to Utica for the wedding.

On top of that, I am in the chairperson for my 10 year reunion, and have been trying to use every free second this week to get decorations and meet with the venue coordinator to try to organize the event while I am here. Currently my mom's dining room table is filled with all sorts of decorations that hopefully will come together for a nice event.

On top of that our renter in Baltimore doesn't think she has to pay her rent, or that she has to communicate with us. With just our one income it has been impossible to pay the mortgage plus our bills. We are just financially drowning right now. I am counting down the days until I get my first paycheck when I start teaching in a few weeks! We want to badly to get rid of our debt and to not worry about how many times we might overdraft in a month. I am not sure how to evict someone, and worried and nervous about that whole process, especially being so far away. I am worried about the house sitting on the market for years upon years and never getting sold. It seems the housing market in our area just keeps plummeting!

To alleviate that issue, not only am I going to start working full time in West Jordan, teaching Family and Consumer Science at a middle school, but we are thinking of getting a cupcake truck started within  the next few months. If our renter is not going to pay and if we have to evict her, and pay off our debt significantly then we would need to take on a small part time job as well. So I was thinking Jake and I could get a job waiting tables a few times a week, or.....why not start a cupcake truck. The overhead is really low, and it is a dream of both of ours. We will prob have to work our butts off for the next year and it's not going to be easy, but it could def bring in the extra income we need to get out of debt and get our house in Maryland figured out. Heck, it has the potential to double my salary.

And the last thing buzzing around in my head constantly is our dream house. Jake and I want so badly to build a house. We found a great floor plan and lot. We got approved for a mortgage and we have 2 weeks to decide if we want to take the next steps. It seems crazy, and in all honesty I wish we could put it off for another 6 months, but real estate in Utah is a whole different  ballgame. The lots are really cheap right now, but they are going SOOO fast. We were looking at this one area where the lots were $60,000, but they sold so fast that the next phase of lots right next to them are going to start at $130,000. We could build a 4000 sq ft home for $260k (base price) now. If we wait 6 months, it might be more like $330k because of lot prices. We certainly can't live with Jake's parents forever (even though I really love being there!) and to rent would be $1200 anyway. So it's not like if we were renting we would be able to "save" money for a house since it's not much different from what a mortgage would be.

Oh and did I mention I am doing all the flowers for Sarah's wedding? Did I mention I am worried there aren't enough flowers? And that there are so many I am not sure how they will all get there?  Hmmmm. Just one more thing to figure out.

This is def a big turning point in our little family right now. We are lucky that these are our issues. I know so many face such bigger problems and set backs and heart aches. I know I have a Heavenly Father that blesses my life constantly. I am so humbled by all the love I feel in my life. Sometimes it is so hard to pull myself back into reality of what is important. All of these things "will be but a small moment" compared to what is to come.

Ahhhhh. Just writing this all out makes me feel better. I am going to hop back into bed with Zoey for a few more ZZZZZ's!

The Cat's Birthday Party!

One Saturday we told Zoey we were going to a parade. I think she thought we meant "party".


All day she asked when we were going to the party. When I asked her what she wanted at the party she replied with, "cupcakes, and party hats". So I figured...heck...why not! Let's have a little birthday party. I just didn't know whose birthday we could celebrate. I figured Gogee (the cat) wouldn't mind a little celebration in his name, and so that's what we went with!






We went a bought a little cake, and an elmo and cookie monster cupcake for Zoey and Logan. We got stuff to bbq and invited Jake's siblings to join us!

Jake manned the grill and everyone sat around by a makeshift table and chatted about life and longboards.


We made everyone wear their party hats! It took me like 3 stores just to find them! Even the poor cat had to wear a hat. Zoey love it!!

Gogee wasn't too thrilled with it all, but we all had fun! Zoey was very pleased with her party, and I got to eat cake, so it was a win win for everyone!

Zoey 2 3/4

Zoey is still such a sweet little girl. She is so fun with talk with these days. I love being able to have a conversation with her.  She repeats anything you say. If you say, "time to clean up the toys", she will echo back, "time the clean up the toys?". It's pretty cute.

We are growing out Zoey's bangs. Her hair is constantly a mess. "My hair a mess?", she always says. She has a funky part and that little blonde patch is always in a knot. Mommy isn't the best a keeping it brushed and pretty though! Grandma always does a nice job though!

Zoey loves Jake's cousins! She loves loves loves Hope! They play really well together. (side note.... I remember going to Hope's blessing the night after Jake and I got engaged. It was such an exciting time!)

This girl LOVES to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"! She will say, "Mom, I'm gonna sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', okay?" She will perform for just about anyone. She also likes ABCs, Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, Itsy Bitsy Spider, I Am A Child Of God. There pretty much isn't anything cuter than a 2 year old singing a song and not quite getting the lyrics right.

I think that Zoey might never be potty trained. She FREAKS out if her diaper is off for longer than 30 seconds. She even freaks out if Logan's diaper is off! We got her to pee in the potty once. It was amazing. She was thrilled, we were thrilled. But that was it. We have candy and presents wrapped for her. She has like 2 different potty's. Not interested ONE BIT! I am pretty sure Logan will potty train before her. That kid will do anything for candy!

I have been thinking a lot about what I think Zoey will be like when she gets bigger. She seems to have a really obedient heart. Don't get me wrong, she is a typical two year old with temper tantrums and all, but she seems to be like rules. You can threaten Zoey with sitting in the corner and she will knock it off. She will point out when Logan is breaking the rules.  You can say, " You are making Grandma sad when you spill milk on the floor" and that will make her really concerned. I hope she is like this forever. She seems to have such compassion for people.

She is really good at puzzles, memory, angry birds, counting, colors, understanding directions, somersaults, jumping on the trampoline, making friends, helping mommy bake, sharing (for the most part)

In the morning, she usually gets up first and we spend an hour or so in bed cuddling and watching her shows. I love this time with her and will miss it terribly when I go back to work.

I should prob also get her in a toddler bed, take away her binkie and bottles at bed before I go back to work too, but I really just don't want to. She is so happy in her little crib (with the crib tent on!) and might die without her binkies. I know I just have to do it. She will live. I will live. Maybe next week. 

I really love this little girl of mine.

Logan 1 1/2

Oh man! Logan is pure boy. He's a climbing, jumping, running, hitting, biting, throwing, adventurous little guy. I can never keep up with him. Usually by the time I pull him off the counter tops he is already lining up his chair in to get into the upper cabinets. He has the cutest little face. Good thing too cause somedays his little smile wins him another day before selling him on ebay or something.

You would think he would take on the "Baby" of the family role. No way. He has no time for this. He is more of the "bully" of the family. Poor Zoey is always having to defend herself or block herself as either Logan steals her toys, or comes flying in on top of her full force.

He sure is a fiesty thing. But, he loves his momma. And with all the energy he has, he still lacks the "no fear" that Zoey has. He is a little scared of things (fireworks, snakes). He isn't afraid to come running to me or cuddle up to me when he is unsure, or tired. I love when he can finally rest his head on my shoulder and give the super baby thing a rest.

Logan loves things in the sky. He says all sorts of cute fake words. And he doesn't say them, it's more like a half whisper, raspy voice thing he has going on there. He loves to point out planes, the moon and stars.

He knows his animals well like Zoey and does some good animal sounds, like horse, and bear.  He hops like a frog really well.

Kid is obsessed still with balloons. Jake and I were laughing that when he is 30 we will still have to be blowing up and tying balloons or him.  He also loves balls and bubbles still.

Logan (and Zoey) have been sleeping in till 10am and sometimes even 11am. It's nuts, but I love it! I know I will not get to sleep in for a long time once I get back into teaching. They still both take 2 hr naps in the middle of the day. They play hard and sleep hard. It's great.

Gigi, pooped in the potty the other day. I just saw the signed and got him on there really fast. Has yet to happen again though.

He weighs 23 lbs. He is in the 30% for height and 40% for weight. Little guy, but busy guy.




Having Logan around definitely keeps us all on our toes. He also provides hours of entertainment and we love this kid to death.


While I am terrified to have another boy (ha), I couldn't imagine Logan being any different. Actually, I would be bummed if he wasn't exactly who he is.

Love you Gigs. (pronounced geegs)

Patriotic Babies