Bella's Bridal Shower

I LOVE the Twilight Saga!!!!!!!

I DID go to Bella's bridal shower tonight at the movie theater.

I got to watch 20 minutes of extra footage before seeing Twilight on the big screen again.  It was one of the BEST nights ever being able to replay Twilight on the big screen.  I cannot even tell you how much I love it!  I love, love, LOVE it!!!!  I love everything about this story!  How lucky am I??  I am so glad that Janae and Andrea were able to go with me ... oh and they gave us flowers!  Oh how I can't wait for the premiere of Breaking Dawn!!!!!

More House Pictures

Alrighty, here is the remainder of our main floor.  We had to put a hold on some of the plans (you know that whole money thing) so forgive the music room and the office which can't be unpacked yet because of that reason.  I promise to show before and after pictures though.

Here are a couple views of our kitchen

This is the walk through from the kitchen ....

into the pantry........

into the storage room.  

Now this room is special.  Not only does it give a home to the games and crafts BUT its main purpose is to house all of Evans extra equipment.  In our old home his extra's would line our walls and take up so much space.  They are as small as they are ever going to be so it is such a blessing to have a room specially made to be a parking lot.  

(In case you are curious Evan currently has 4 pieces of mobility equipment that he uses on a regular basis)

Here is the main floor bathroom.

We put in progressive toilet seats so that we don't have to worry about potty seats and taking it on and off for Evan (he will always need a smaller toilet seat). 

The hallway just outside the garage and main floor bathroom.

wrap around from that and you are in our front entrance.  Do you see the white door on the left??  THAT my friends is the elevator.  The room on the right is the music room.

view from the front door.

picture of the stairs taken from the music room.

Finally you make a full circle around to the music room

and ending in the office.

 Well my friends, I hope you enjoyed the tour of our main floor.  When my life settles down a bit more I will post pictures of the other two floors.  Finished or not ... I promise they will come.  Now I am going to start getting ready for bed.  It is picture day in the symphony tomorrow and I want to look nice ;-)

Enjoy these sweet pics of Landon's play date the other day.  SOOOOO CUTE!

Goodbye Halloween

Thank you to Kristen for providing the materials for my awesome "themed" nails.  (Oh and they glow in the dark!!!

I can't believe that Halloween came and went!  I LOVE the holiday and even got to go out trick or treating with my boys this year.  Thank you Mark and Lanny for handing out candy!  

We had a cousin pizza party beforehand and then went our separate ways for the candy getting.

the boys were OBSESSED with this feature sitting on our friends lawn.

our neighbor had a very clever outfit.  Yes that is a real pumpkin on his head.

the LOOT!!!

needless to say the boys were wired!!!!  It was a great fun night!

Halloween

I LOVE LOVE LOVE holidays!!!  The natural closeness of a community and family that comes from the holidays are so uplifting for me.  Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays.  

Remember the "memorable" trip to the pumpkin patch?? 

This is what we did with the beauties that we brought home with us.

Tonight my friend, Kristen, and I hosted a trunk or treat at the church.  We kept it simple and had a REALLY good turn out.  I even ran out of candy!  It was fun and I am so glad that we did it!  

Now for the BIG reveal .........

we did a family themed costume this year!!!!

Justin and Evan both won awards for their costumes :-)

could not get a better picture of Landon!!!  He would stop running!!!!  (such is my life ;-)

my knight is shining armor!!!!

My co-conspirator!

yeah that's right .... we pimped out our van even better this year!  I need to do some more research on how to better attach things to the ceiling inside our van.  All the lights and streamers kept falling down :-(

Tender Mercies

I have wanted to write this particular blog for a while, but really needed to have some significant time to be able to write it as effectively as I possibly can.  I have that time tonight so here goes.

Life is hard.  That really is the point of it.  We are sent here to be tested and tried, but God knows us so well that he gives us the things we need ... good and bad.  It is so easy to see the trials because they are all encompassing at the time.  From extremes in infertility to physical disabilities, and rejections to being jobless.  Justin and I feel like we have been given a lot of trials.  There were times that I questioned whether God really knew how strong I was, because there were so many times I felt I would break.  The trials aren't what I want to talk about right now, but they factor into what I am feeling.

I am grateful!!!  Sure I am grateful for everything that I learned/ am learning from each experience but that isn't even what I mean.  I feel like there is nothing wrong in my life right now.  In fact I can't believe how well everything is going.  I feel like I am literally the luckiest girl in the world because I get to be me right here, right now.  Some would say, "I'm just bracing myself for the bad, because it's coming."  I know the bad is coming (it can't be avoided), but I am not spending my time bracing myself.  I have been spending my time LOVING this amazing wonderful ride I am currently on.  It is going to be these moments of tender mercies  that get me through whatever is coming next.  It is like Heavenly Father has said, "Kira and Justin, you have gone through a lot.  I know you are grateful for the miracles you have experienced throughout the years, but I also know that those years have been hard, really hard.  Here is a pillow to rest for a little while.  You deserve it.  Take a nap." 

I love my life and I want everyone to know it.

A Fish and the first pictures

So we had a cement slab poured so we can get our pool in next week.  The "cement guy" and I were talking about the lake.  I told him that our neighbor had pulled out some REALLY BIG trout.  Next thing I know I see "cement guy" fishing outside while his employees (he's the owner) are slaving away.  He didn't catch anything that day, but the next day I see him pull out a HUGE fish.  So Ashley and I run the boys out to the dock so they can see this sucker.  

I made the comment that he should keep fishing and catch me a fish too.  Next thing I know it is the end of the work day and he has given me the beautiful fish.  He did offer to gut it for me, but I figure he gave me our dinner, the least I could do in return was gut it myself.  

Now I do know how to gut a fish, but I have never gutted a fish this big.  I would have had an easier time if I had a sharper knife, or bigger hands.  I cut my thumb ... pretty badly.  The cut still hasn't come together (like I can see straight through it), but unlike my sisters accident I didn't go to the hospital and I will survive.  My thumb really does hurt though and because it is open it catches on everything!!!  

Landon fluctuated between super excited, curious, and scared.  He would touch it and run away and hide.    It was super yummy and we have a ton of left overs.

 I just wanted to share a picture of Evan using his new piece of equipment.  Living in this house Evan is able "walk" around.  I love seeing him use this.  I love that our home is now one that enables Evan to be the best he can be.

And now what you have all been waiting for ..........

I don't have a ton of finished rooms, but this is one of them.  I promise I won't wait to post pictures until everything is totally finished, but I want as much order as I could have when I share the pictures.  

With that said ... I LOVE this room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you see the lake?

the nook by our stairs

I love love love our view.  I took this picture tonight from our bonus room.

I didn't realize until after we moved in that we have mountain view!!!  I was so focused on the lake and the water that I didn't realize we had the mountains too.  

I really feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world right now.