Cuddles, kisses, snuggles and LOVE- That is what baby BOYS are made of.

Baby Boy Vega

will be joining our little family in July of 2011. It was a hard secret to keep, but it was kept for a while. We told our families around Christmas time and it was a happy moment!

We told my side of the family on Christmas Eve. We were getting ready to go see the Christmas Lights and right before we left, I told Manuel that he had a present he needed to open, and everyone was watching...they all were expecting a beanie and some gloves. As everyone was gathered around the table watching the Man open the present, he opens a Baby Bjorn (a front baby carrier), attached to the box is a note that read "Baby Vega, coming July 2011." However, not a single soul caught on to what the gift was or what the note truly said (some will say it was hard to read because of the background of the paper), however my uncle Scot, a couple minutes after opening the gift, speaks out, not loudly, nor softly, but "Chelsea Dawn, you're going to have a baby?!" It was more of a shock to everyone than anything...but I don't understand why when all the time we were asked "when are you guys going to have a baby?"

It was a delight to share the fabulous and exciting news and be able to talk about it!

We told the Vega's around the same time as well, however a few of them knew prior to the announcement because of trickery...those Vega's know how to trick you into saying stuff....but it's rather fun because my sister-in-law Vanessa is due in June with a little boy as well, so it will be fun to have little cousins around the same age!!

December Graduation 2010

Left to Right: Grandpa Ron, Grandma Carol, Grandma Nola, Dad, Mom, Chad, Chelsea, Manuel, Gordo, Consuelo, Gerardo, and Frank


A lot has happened in our life since June 2010. I figured I would update the blog of the important happenings in our life!

December Manuel graduated with his Associates Degree from BSU/CWI! It was a super exciting day. We didn't know if he would be graduating or not in December, due to some classes he was testing out of and the lack of communication a bunch of people can have. See at the beginning of Fall 2010 he was told he would need to test out of Spanish to get the credits, well he was also told to do it after he finished his first 8 week class, because the class itself was a little heavy and not so easy. So after his 8 week class, he was prepping to take the Spanish test out. He goes to the testing center, takes a test, approximately 2.5 hours long, and tests for 16 credits!! I was pretty proud, I mean the man does speak the language, it was just nerve-wrecking because it would determine his graduation or not, or so we though! So he forwards the appropriate information to the appropriate people. Only to find out that the test he could only tests out the classes and only gives him the credits pending he ACTUALLY pass the class he tested up too, NOT WHAT WE NEEDED, or WANTED. So they basically tell him to contact this professor at BSU to see if she will give him a test to 'test' his knowledge...She would have happily done it for him, had it been during the first 5 weeks of school....WHAT, so at this point, we were pretty sure he would be a 2011 rather than 2010 graduate, so we went about our life and we was working with Paula (the education god) at Micron. She figured things out, told him to return to the testing center, take the appropriate test (Thank you BSU Testing Center, for 1 not giving the proper test, and 2 taking 6 hours of my husbands life) so, after many hours of testing, he was given the correct test, and he passed :) 16 credits worth and life was golden for the Mr. Vega!

We were just talking the other night how nice it is to not have school (I will admit it though, I do miss it...at times) It is nice to reflect back on the last few years of life and how we managed through it all, class, homework, group projects, papers, tests, and all that school life entails. I think I stressed more over his school work rather than my own, because I was more of a deadline setter, and he works best on last minute prepping and doing it under pressure. At first, I couldn't handle the way he did his work, studying for tests the day of, doing project (starting) days before it was due and writing papers and finishing the night of...always stressed me out, but I did learn that that is the way he learned the best and did the bet, so I learn to adjust, it was a huge adjustment and biting of my tongue on sometimes, but he did well in school and he is a smart cookie!! One of his professors did tell him Congrats on graduating during his last class with him and told him he would miss seeing him around!

He's been called to serve!!

Chace was called to the North Atlanta, Georgia Mission! He leaves tomorrow and the time has come to quickly! When he got his call, I thought June seemed forever away, and now it's tomorrow that he leaves and yesterday I wasn't quite ready to say my final goodbye for 2 years! However, I am very proud of the young man he has become and the decision to serve a mission!


(L to R: Manuel, Chelsea, Chad, Dad, Mom, Chace, Chanc, Liam, Randy and Aidan)

This memorial day weekend was dedicated to the young man and we had festivities galore!! Friday night the boys went to the movie, Saturday he went thru the Twin Falls Temple, and then we went to Johnny Carinos, where he devoured his yummy meal!! Saturday afternoon/evening involved some basketball games!! Sunday was his farewell in church! He stunned me! He made me laugh and he made me cry! He's a great guy! His talk was amazing, and I know he will be a great addition to Georgia, they better love him! The luncheon after wards was fabulous, and as always good food!!!


Monday morning bright and early, as per Chace's request, Grandma Asher made her famous maple bars!!! So we had a farewell breakfast! It was delicious and I think he stuffed himself silly with the delicious breakfast!! We went up to Aunt Betty and Uncle Keith's for lunch on Monday afternoon, which then after wards the guys went to play basketball and Frisbee!!!


After which Chace was served some tasty shrimp cocktail at the Contreras residence, which was real tasty like always!! Then at about 645 that evening, the boys decided to go to one last movie together!! Prince of Persia, only this time, Grandpa Bench, and my dad tagged along! I thought the two hours would drag on, I was hoping they would, I didn't want the time to go fast, I wanted the movie to last longer, as I could prepare my final goodbye!! Well they came home from the movie, and that was it! Manuel and I needed to start heading back to Boise! I didn't want to let go of the young man, but I wished him well, hugged him tight and shook his hand, calling him Elder Asher! Also giving him some spare change so he can hopefully call home or someone as he leaves the airport in 3 weeks!


He will make an awesome missionary and I hope the people of North Atlanta Georgia Mission love
him and take care of him! Feed him well and make sure he is happy! Here is to the next two
years Elder Chace Asher!

and I thought life would slow down...way down...

If anyone reads this, thanks for having faith in me, I will come around to more posts with less time in between, one of these days...but for now, 5 months may just have to work for y'all. So ALOT has happened since the last post, and I mean alot. When I think back on 2009, I can't really think, I had one goal in mind, and goal only, and that was to Graduate!!! I was ecstatic, and couldn't wait! December 18, 2009 couldn't have came quick enough for me last year, and looking back, it flew right by me!! I am pretty sure the senior-it is set in 2008, but I really did enjoy the last year at BSU. I had some pretty fun classes, some classes that made my head hurt real bad, and just one class that brought me to tears, because it was difficult, and I definitely had to work for my A in that class. My most favorite class was MGMT 301, the professor was so down to earth, and just honestly the best professor during my college career. She taught me alot, her teaching wasn't strictly out of book, or mgmt styles completely out of the book, she brought in and took us out to real-life management scenarios! it was great. So for Graduation, Manuel bought me the sweetest present....a Cannon Rebel T1i, its truly a great camera! It's fantastic, and I love taking pictures, it's been fun!!! So on graduation day, he was snapping all sorts of pictures and loving it, while I sat with the class of 2010, (hoping I didn't slip out of my heels, while accepting my empty diploma case) I was real nervous, walking in front of thousands of people, being projected on the big screens....brings the butterflies back, and there were lots of eyes to see if I did anything. Graduation was great, the speakers were speedy fast, and delivered well-written, and thought out speeches for the fellow grads!! Those in attendance at graduation consisted of my sweet hubs, mom, dad, Grandpa, Grandma Bench, Grandma Asher, Chace, Chad, Mr. Aidan who was a champ, and my sister. after the graduation we went to GoodWood to Celebrate, it was fantastic. More family and friends were there to celebrate with me, and I couldn't Thank my family and friends enough for supporting me on this huge day! It took a while to get there, and (the husband says quite a few tears, which I wont' argue with) but I made it and that's all that matters!!! I not hold a 4 year degree...which then required me to graduate the "nanny" business and get a job. With the economy, and me not wanting to get a dead end filing job in a hospital, my family that I nannied for, offered me a job back in November to take over their Billing Manager's position in April, bc she is having a baby. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I have been working for about 2 months, and love it. It was very stressful at first, and overwhelming, but I think I have the hang out if and love the ladies I work with and couldn't express my appreciation enough to the Dr's. Not only do I do the managing with Heidi, I also am Dr. Jones' personal assistant, and the nanny boss (I still am so much involved with the little girls). I was expecting to be done with nannying in February, but couldn't find a replacement, but we finally found the one, a few training sessions with her and I set her free. I was real sad the last day I worked, but stayed strong...for an hour. When I dropped Syd and Reese off at school, I just cried, I have been there for 4.5 years, it was difficult leaving as a nanny, but I am so thankful that I was part of their lives for so long, I love them all dearly! I had this thought in my head, that once school is over, life would slow down and it really hasn't. I mean I can't believe that in one more week, it will be April!!! I thought with not having to do homework on a nightly basis, or reading, or writing papers, that life wouldn't be so hectic...mmm I think I was completely wrong, it's just flying by, with working 5 days a week, my mind constantly thinking, and taking care of the hubs, life is great, but going by super fast!!!

My sister Chanc, had her 2nd baby on February 4th! Little Liam Asher Todd, he is so sweet, and oh so adorable. Aidan is a sweet big brother, and adorable too!!! We were able to visit Randy, Chanc, Aidan, and Liam when Liam was a little over 2 weeks, then we back last weekend, for his blessing! It was a fun family filled weekend! Mom, Dad, Chace, Chad, Grandma Asher, Manuel, myself, and Little Miss Aaliyah (cousin), all went to Moscow. We have a cousin in Washington who was having a welcome home party, so while Mom, Dad, and Grandma attended the festivity, us siblings, and cousin all hung out ! The guys played some b-ball and the girls went shopping for a few hours! it was a great day! Time always goes by so quickly, but being able to visit my sister and her family two time with in a month was great! I love her dearly~ plus seeing her little family is just an added plus!

Manuels' paintball season is in full swing---(I don't know that it's ever really stopped, hahah) He has a tournament coming up in April, somewhere in Washington, hopefully the weather is nice and WARM! ( I need to do a special post for our trip to California, where his team took 3rd PLACE) It was pretty sweet! He is taking 3 classes this semester- so far so good! He actually just finished one of the classes about a week ago, and his final project...was a sprinkler timer. It looked real confusing, and he spend lots of time working on it, and by time I mean two days cramming to get it done, finishing shortly before it was due!!! He's good at what he does though and he tried to explain it to me and that electronics stuff and me...well were not a good mix, it's just best he stick to that and I help with the English papers, which isn't bad! I am just more of a person who takes time to write papers, and he is a last minute paper writer type, so I am a little pushy, and it always seems we do it the night before...he wins!

(ps.) I was going to add pictures to this post, but I think I will do it on another day, just because it's 10:10, it took a while to download the 172 pictures from my camera, and I am tired..the pictures can wait, I will try to post them in the next couple of days!

how bout an update to the current life.

wow- it has been a while since we updated the good ol' blog...my sister is coming this weekend, maybe she will re-decorate the blog for me. (wink wink). Not a lot has been going on....School started in August and it has been a crazy mad rush since. I was a little overwhelmed at first...I think each new semester I have a week long crying session, because I just can't see the end...well that held true for this semester as well. I was so overwhelmed with work and school at the beginning that I seriously would cry at anything. I can happily say that I am over that and am happy it's October. ( I feel like this is a group meeting like Shoppers Anonymous...I am Chelsea Vega, and I don't cry because of school anymore!!!) So after school started I anxiously began awaiting for the arrival of my graduation acceptance letter...ANXIOUSLY...well I finally received it last week, I was HAPPY, but a little bummed, it was the most, insincere letter of all times. It seems to me that it was a mass email to all fall 2009 graduating students. When I received my associates, they at least sent out a letter of approval ( a little more personal). I am just glad that with my 5 1/2 years worth of tuition, hard work and dedication to BSU, i received a mass email approving me for graduation....Thanks BSU- your awesome. I had a friend ask the other day if I was going to walk the line...OF COURSE. I didn't walk for the associates, I feel like taking part of commencement services is meaning to an end. A closure. and my Bachelors degree and 5 1/2 years here definitely means time to END. I will so be done with school...I can't wait. It will be time to celebrate in December :). (there I hope you all can sense my ExCiTmEnT to graduate)

Manuel got a new shift!!! He now has weekends off!!! I love it. He now works M,T,W,Thurs from 12:00 PM to 10:30 pm. What a hard shift right...getting to sleep in every day...I know i would like that. I don't mind waking up early, but I do love the days I get to sleep in. I am happy for him, I hope he likes it as much as I do...not having to stay home alone anymore at nights every 4 months. It is a bummer that he won't be getting home until 11 at night 4 days a week, but having time home on the weekends and more flexibility as to what we can do is awesome. He can now paintball on Sundaya with out having to rush home b/c he has to go to work, or not being able to go at all b/c he has had to work on Sundays.

We purchased Mtn bikes in September, and we are putting them to good use...(well he is more than me, but...) He has been up table rock like 3 or 4 times now. The first time I went with him and 2 of our friends was a little intense. I had just returned from the EAST coast, and I was tired as heck and when he got home from work, he told me we were going on a bike ride...I didn't expect an actual mtn bike ride though. it was tough terrain for this beginner, but it was fun. my chain came off once and Manuel was far ahead of me...and I had no idea what happened to my bike (haha) and it was a good think our friend Margi was close, thanks to him, I was ready to get back on in no time...I did walk the bike up quite a bit, little sleep, no watter, not in the best shape will do that too you. Manuel went again about a week 1/2 ago and told me he that one trail they one that time was a lot more difficult and he about passed out. Thankfully he made it up and back okay, and he has gone 2 times since and is loving it. We have an REI membership, he went and purchased a North Face Jacket and loves it. It's a nice jacket for biking... I was a bit jealous so I wanted to get a biking jacket as well, but REI didn't have one that I liked so after looking around a bit, I found a good deal at Marshall's and love the jacket. When we wear them, and ride our bikes....I feel a bit like a tree-hugging hippie. (not that biking and jackets have anything to do with tree-huggers, I just feel that way!)

My family is coming this weekend :) My sister, BIL- Aidan, Mom, Dad, Chace Chad. G'ma, G'pa, possibly G'ma Asher, Stacie, Aaliyah and Ashton and possibly Shaun and Deanna. I can't wait. It seems like it's been forever since I saw my family...August. I think I went the whole month of September...goodness.. I sure miss them and can't wait for this weekend it will be fun. Manuel's parents came up last week and it was a good time visiting. They came Tuesday night and brought Peaches and Tomatoes (which didn't survive...I left them in the bag and they went moldy..I was real sad...fresh garden tomatoes are my favorite) and some peppers. we got some peaches from them a few weekends ago Gerrardo (Manuel's dad met us in Twin to give us some, we had been in Jerome for a Paintball tournament) and they were delicious peaches. We just had a lot and I didn't want to waist them so I made a peach crisp (delicious) and then made the filling for peach crisp and froze them, I was happy to do that with the peaches they gave us last week as well. I have about 11 quart size containers in my freezer with peach filling for peach crisp...so happy about that. Last year I made peach jam with the peaches they gave us and it was D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G...seeing how much sugar actually goes in to making peach jam was sick, but the taste of the jam was just nasty...I don't know what happened in the process, but I don't like peach jam anymore.

In August we found out that our fridge had been leaking..so after moving the fridge, we come to find some lovely dark water spots on the floor (laminate flooring, wood)..so we pulled it up to dry the area underneath and we were hoping to not have any mold under the house. we obviously needed to replace the floor that was underneath the fridge, but matching proved to be a pain in the butt. Either it wasn't the right color, different grain, not deep enough, not wide enough...it was real annoying...so while at Home Depot on Saturday, we were introduced to a type of mat flooring, and it sure was a brilliant idea. Just to give you a visual...it's like a floor or a weight room...black, rubbery type. It pieces together like a puzzle, so Manuel cut the floor from underneath the fridge and then cut and pieced together the rubber flooring. It wasn't quite as deep as we needed so we went to Lowes and purchased some black plastic stuff. It was perfect to put on top of the rubber and it was level with the the rest of the floor and you can't even tell...and now if the fridge leaks, we won't ruin anything, and it's easy to wipe off... great and brilliant work babe, glad my the fridge is back in place and my kitchen is back in order.

Manuel and I leave for Vegas on the 16th- we didn't really do anything for our anniversary in JUNE so since he wanted to go to Vegas for a Paintball tournament we kind of justified going by including our anniversary celebration...even though he's not playing. He was asked by a team from Burley if he could play on their team..he thought about it..and said no. I was happy with the decision, although I would have been okay with him playing, I am just glad he decided not too, it would have been more money and I would have been hanging out by myself. I think with me telling him "I am not going to leave the hotel super early every morning when you leave...I will walk there later" had something to do with it. I don't know but me walking the streets of Vegas alone didn't seem to appealing. haha- he is excited some big teams are playing in this tournament so it will be fun to watch.

okay so a couple of weeks ago I was working...the cleaning ladies came to my boss's house to clean and I had returned from the grocery store. They finished their cleaning, I gave them their check and out the door they went and I went back upstairs to play with Charley. Next thing I hear in a whimpering voice "Chelsea...can you come down here" first off I didn't know who's voice it was b/c the cleaning ladies has just left and the two big kids were at school... so I get going and the cleaning lady meets me half way up the stairs..." (Cleaning lady=CL; Me-my words, CL2: another cleaning lady)

CL:"I wasn't paying attention and I hit your car..." I was shocked...how can someone hit a parked car...so I go outside and sure enough she hit my car...The bumper on the front passenger side was a mess...and she said to me
CL:"well my car is fine, but I am not sure about yours"....
Me: "well do you have insurance"
CL: "do you really want it? Can I have yours?"
CL 2: well I can crawl under your car and hit the dents out...I think it should take care of it, its a plastic bumper"
Me: "yeah I am going to need your insurance information, and my insurance has nothing to do with this, you hit me"
CL2: "Yeah I am sure I can crawl under here"
ME: "NO!!! just leave it alone, I don't want it to get messed up worse than it already it
CL: "Yeah, leave it alone."
CL: "here is my insurance, this one is expired, but I am pretty sure that I have a new copy at home"
ME: "uhmm..are you sure, I think I should call on this before you leave, just to make sure everything will be taken care of"
ME: "okay everything is current and I will get estimates"
CL: "yeah and just let me know whats going on"
ME: "yeah okay"

seriously...she was gunning it out of the drive way..I don't know why..but she seriously hit my parked car, asked for my insurance..when she asked for it- I gave it too her, just to satisfy, but really I wanted to tell her a thing or two. I don't know what she wanted it for...but oh well.

So I picked up my rental car today, because mine is going in the body shop until Wednesday... for a new bumper .... First off let me tell you, I have never rented a car before, I am under 24 and was a little intimidated going to the rental counter. I was just acting cool, like as if I knew what I was doing. I didn't really. I went up there, told him my name, gave him my DL, the credit card...and he looks at my DL, and the credit card and was like...yeah sorry I can't rent to you, I need a cc with the same name as your DL..."... I was quick to interrupt that I called last week, explaining that I was renting a car because mine was in a minor accident, but my boss was taking care of it and they told me I could use her CC if she was aware of me renting a car"... the guy at the counter "uhh...let me check with the manager" "okay everything looks good, how old are you?" Me: 24 the guy: "ohhh...(in a worried voice) uhmmm...it will charge you an extra 27 a day because your under age... Me: yeah that's fine, (seriously I thought about telling him I was 25 just to avoid the charge, but then I thought he would have checked my drivers license to confirm my age...but he didn't... the things I wish I would have known then what I found out 3 minutes into being there... Then he continues to offer me all this stuff...my response to everything was "No Thank You." I think a reservation means something. If I reserve a standard car, please just offer me the standard car, don't offer me the mid-size, or luxury, or SUV...just give me the keys, have me do the paper work and I will be glad to leave..I was in kind of a rush , I had a group meeting at 8 that i needed to get too...he was offering me all this extra stuff that I clearly didn't put on the reservation...I am a simple kind of girl, I don't need the extras. Thanks. Now I am driving a CHERRY red Chevy HHR. It's a kind of weird, but something different kind of car... I needed a car to fit 5 people. the website told me that all economy cars would only fit 4...so I went with the standard car...haha not knowing I would be driving around a mini-PT cruiser.



oh my goodness..I think that about sums up our life to this very minute. I will have to post later about the trip to the East Coast. It was a fun trip with the kids I nanny...lots of good memories and never wanting to eat crab (like a real crab) ever again, it was quite the experience.

RIP ol'Blue

I know this post will make most happy, it sure makes me happy :). We finally got around to painting the house. It was suppose to happen in the July but some things came up with my father in law, that required Manuel to go out of town a few days prior to painting the house, so we canceled.

{My father in law- has a tumor. It came on pretty quickly, the symptoms anyway, the tumor had been there for a while. He went to the ER on July 6, and was told there was a possible tumor, but he needed to go down to Salt Lake City to get more tests done. Tuesday 8/7 the family took him to Utah, and met with the Dr. and on Wednesday 8/8 he was admitted for surgery. The tumor was benign, and he is doing much better. however, the medicine he was taking for the tumor and the medicine for his high blood pressure counteracted, resulting in Diabetes, and now had to have insulin shots. They have been all over from SLC to Boise seeing Dr's. It was quite scary, but we are happy the tumor was small enough to take out through the nasal cavity, and that he recovered well.}

This last Wednesday, our friends Marc and Lyndsey came up to help paint the house. A Huge Thank YOU to them for all their hard work and help as well as Frank, Gordo and Manuel. . The painting started at about 7 on Thursday morning. I was at work and when I came home at around 2 pm, the house was PAINTED. It was kind of weird driving down the street and not seeing a blue chimney {a bittersweet moment}. When I got home, everyone was hungry so I fired up the grill and we had carne asada. It was hit and then back to work we went, only this time, we were painting the trim...can I just say what a chore it is...and I never want to paint the outside again. Manuel rented a man lift to get all the high places, we were suppose to return it by 5 pm on Thursday, but there was no way we were going to be finished, so we were able to extend the return to 9 am on Friday morning. We all worked on the house until about 6 Thursday night and then went to dinner with Manuel's brothers and friends to celebrate Hector's birthday.

Friday morning Manuel and I woke up at 5:30 to get things going. It was early.. and a little to dark outside to do much, so we went to Lowe's (who would have thought they open at 5, wow) to get a few new paintbrushes. Came back home and went to work. I have never been in a man-lift before, and since we needed to return it by 9, I decided I needed to set my fears aside and get to work. I went up with Manuel and was freaking out, not a big fan of heights, but I managed. The man lift is just too wobbly for my liking. Manuel let me down and finished all the high parts and I went to work on painting in between the trim of the house and the rain gutters. that was a chore and took me most of the day,I work on the front of the house for a good maybe 4 or 5 hours. It was tedious work and i think whoever painted the house blue was serious, and took off the rain gutters and painted them individually...not me, the paintbrush works for now :)

Our house was blue, and while we love our house, we didn't so much love the blue and either did the neighbors, but painting is no 1 or 2 hour job. As people were driving by, walking by, the neighbors were verbally expressing how much they like the new color. We got horns honked, claps, HORRAYs!, We were joking with our neighbor who used to work with Manuel that after two years of living here, we have hardly spoken to our neighbors (vice verse) but after painting our house, we have decided that they have all come out of their shells, and realize that we may not be the black sheep of the neighborhood anymore...or that they can walk outside and wont be blinded by ol' blue's brightness... Regardless, we are extremely happy and love our new color.








Finally after 2 hard days painting, and touching up, here is the finished product. With the new paint job and the rose bushes finally cut down, our house looks completely different.

Who ya gonna call...911?

here are the the three of us..Don't judge, we had just returned from swimming. one thing is for sure, the three of us sure had a good time this weekend <3

Well here it is Monday morning at the late 12:19 am...I can't sleep, Miss Aaliyah Jade is fast asleep upstairs, after about 30 minutes of giggling, she is the cutest little girl-just love her little personality but she is so tomboy at the same time. She came on Friday and is here until Wednesday, when we will return to the big city of Burley :) Friday was fun, we went and picked her up in Bliss, came to Boise, did some minor shopping (BTW, she hates shopping, just keep this in mind) came to the house, watched a movie, played Basketball, took a nap, had dinner, anxiously awaited the arrival of my bestest Crystal and Kody, went to Wal-mart in the dead of the night- 10:15 and the little girl was just beat, we were all tired, but we forgot to get her a toothbrush and some toothpaste, felt bad for dragging her out that late and so Manuel gave a piggy back ride while in the store! Crystal attended Special Olympics Saturday morning, for her work, Aaliyah and I stayed behind and just relaxed at home. Manuel was sleeping b/c he had to work Saturday night. Crystal came home, took a nap, then off to more shopping we went. We were out for a good three hours at a couple different stores.

here are the fearless foursome***Manuel, Me, the old Grandpa Kody and Crystal. Kody wouldn't get up from the chair and he had a red blanket on his lap...we had to come to him to get our picture taken***

We re-decorated the kitchen this weekend, it's super cute and I love it. After Kody came home, we went to some more stores, (poor Aaliyah was done at this point), we went and visited Kody's Grandma and Great Grandma, who is 101- amazing and she looks so good- a very sweet lady, Aaliyah was pretty impressed and excited at the same time that she met someone over 100. In fact the Great Grandma is "101 and 5 months into her two's." We finished the night out by enjoying a delicious salad and pizza and yummy vanilla Dr. pepper at Smoky Mountain pizza!! This is the new decor about the sink. Love the blue plate in the middle and the Live and Laugh plates...well they are the coolest, b/c they are super light and aren't really made like a plate, they just have a cool texture to them!!

***Funny Story*** Aaliyah drew a picture of a house with smoke coming out the chimney, I told her I hope that house is not on fire! She then proceeded to draw a smoke alarm in the house that was going off, and then brought it back to me and said this house is on fire. Me a little bit on the excessive worrying side, told her I was going to dream of my house being on fire..not a good combination. So later in the night probably about 11:45 Crystal, Aaliyah and myself were just sitting on the stairs admiring all the stuff that we changed around earlier, I told them I could smell smoke and they both told me "no you can't your just worrying" I followed my nose, upstairs to the bathroom, where i sniffed outside the window and for sure I could smell smoke. Well after we turned the lights off, we could see that something on the corner/or near the corner was on fire...we could see sparks!!. So we race downstairs and frantically look for the phone and we run outside into the road, towards the fire...well we get closer to the corner and don't worry, it was just a tree with the street light. We were totally fooled. There were bugs flying around the top of the light which we believed to be the sparks from the fire. After much thought...we decided that the fire smell must have been coming from the people lighting the fireworks. When I told Manuel this story when he called from work, he interrupted me and said "who ya gonna call, 911.. It reminded me of back in time...WHO YA GONNA CALL...GHOST BUSTERS. haha, this story has made for some fun times laughing in the last 24 hours, I tell ya- it was a kicker.

Today we went swimming, it was lots of fun! We decided that after dragging Aaliyah all over the place yesterday that we had better do something totally different today. Swimming was fun. We went up to my bosses pool and we had loads of fun- I am not much of a swimmer, not one for deep ends, and definitely panic when my feet aren't touching the bottom, but I can proudly say I swam across the pool- or barely...I freaked out a couple times but it was alright, Aaliyah was my little teacher. I have never been a BIG fan of swimming and it's all b/c I am not very good at it and have this phobia of drowning. it may sound retarded but that's alright-it's me and everyone that knows me pretty good, knows my fear and today it was okay, I swam across the pool and it was good- a few minor panics but for the most part we had a good day- Manuel came with us, it was fun for him to be able to hang out with us for a little bit while Kody and Crystal were here, b/c yesterday he was sleeping, Kody was golfing, there was just no time for us to hang out- so It was fun that he was able to join us for a few hours today, but I felt bad, b/c swimming wears you out and he had to come home and go to work, so I am sure he is just beat by now!

This is the new decor for the kitchen..the clock, candle sticks, and flower vase were all in the living room above the fireplace mantle..which now sits pretty lonely. waiting for paint and a tv to be hung...but until then..

This weekend was loads of fun- it is amazing Crystal and I haven't seen each other since September when she got married. I went to Pocatello last weekend, while Manuel went to his paintball tournament in Salem, Oregon. We had fun together, it had been months since we had seen each other but it definitely didn't feel like it at all (and from the guy's perspective...we talk on the phone all the time, why do we need to see each other...boo on you) So seeing my little bestest two weekends in a row has been fantastic and it will be more fantastic if I can see her over the 4th of July..because we will be around, she will be around..so hopefully we can be around each other, trying to convince her to go camping with us, but she's not too keen on the whole "tentin" it idea!! so we shall see.


Here is to my wonderful friend, who has a great eye for house decor on a budget---who can sometimes be considered jewish because she doesn't let her husband buy a new putter, and who wants what I want, too spend my money on stuff for the house, but will loose in an argument with the husband b/c of I don't know why, but it was explained to me earlier about that our excuses are not logical about rather spend the money on stuff for the house rather on shoes or clothes anymore...isn't it funny how life changes. Crystal and I have been through a lot, but weather it has been good or bad, we have stuck with each other and it has been wonderful. Now here is too wishing this lovely little couple good luck with finding a job, and a house in Boise/Meridian area..*oh wait...a house has been found, right down the road from me, perfect, just what they want, they don't know what it looks like, they haven't seen it, I found it after they left today, but it's perfect, b/c it's in the same neighborhood--wouldn't that be wonderful