Just Plugging away....

Fall is settling in here and I am beginning to embrace it. This semester so far (even though we are only a month into it) has been one of my most difficult adjustments. I'm not completely sure the cause of this, there have been A LOT of changes, new apartment, lots of new people, new work schedule, new school schedule(Darren), and new daily routine/work out routine.  The girls are getting more independent which is a GREAT thing they play well together, they sleep good, they are AMAZING. I've come to REALLY realize that I need to TRULY trust in my Heavenly Father. I've always known this but recently I have RELEARNED it. I've been in a SERIOUS spiritual rut, and it has been affecting every part of my life. I've been depressed, grumpy, impatient, extremely tired, and emotionally drained.  We have been recently reminded because of numerous friends really struggling in their marriages that if we do not constantly work as a team, and progress together, all you have left is to grow apart and although things are really good right now we have seen how quickly things can go down hill. So we have gone back to the basics, we have upped our scripture reading, individually, with the girls and as a couple as well as our prayers, we have been focusing on having more meaningful FHE, and making a conscious effort to put aside more time to spend with just each other. Darren gave me a blessing a couple weeks ago the night we sat down to reevaluate things and the peace I felt has been carrying me since. The blessings have been pouring in and I know with out doubt that it is because of our efforts.  I am so blessed and for a while I was just so wrapped up in my own stuff that I wasn't seeing it and what a horrible result. 

I am so grateful for Darren who has really come through for me and loved me through this bump in my road and of course my babies for loving me even though I have had a short fuse. I am looking forward to this season full of fall leaves, soup, crisp cool air, warm blankets, snuggling with babies, SQUASH, halloween costumes, and my favorite FINISHING CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!!! 

Let FALL begin!

Salsa

When my parents came last weekend they brought me a big box of tomatoes, I was really nervous trying to figure out what to do with them, then my friend talked me into making salsa, it took a lot longer then expected but with her help we got it done and I think it turned out yummy!

Kloee's big girl Bed

My dad is AMAZING, he made this FABULOUS toddler bed for Kloee, it is ADORABLE and it matches the theme of the room perfectly. She loved it. She does really good at staying it and just wait for us to come get her. Such an easy transition, she was for sure ready!

Such a big girl!

Spring Valley

My friend has told me that she LOVES this place, so when my parents came last weekend I thought we would go for a picnic before it gets too cold. Well it turned out to be a nice hot sunny day. We didn't get out there until 1pm and we were starving so we found the shadiest place we could (there isn't much) and we pulled out our fried chicken and within minutes we were taken over by bees.....it was MISERABLE. We ate as fast as we could but they were just everywhere. Finally we took one of the pieces of chicken and put it at the end of the table to distract them and it worked fairly well but look how much of the chicken they ate.....

Gross Right?

After we ate we started down a trail that went around the lake...it was fun we grabbed a couple Geo-Caches and got some great exercise and the girls did fairly well considering it was nap time and once again it was HOT! So my little sister and I said, who cares if we have swim suites lets just dive in.....

and we did the first dock we came to.

it felt so good

such a great day. 

It was one of those days that I was just counting my blessings, it was beautiful, I had so much fun, and I got to spend time with family, can I ask for anything more?

My Baby is 1!

Yes it is TRUE one year ago today I was in a hospital bed giving birth to my blue eyed SMILE queen. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Cake made by Auntie Jayne

Cupcakes for the rest

Present time

The girls were VERY helpful..

SMASH TIME!

Sydney was very blessed to have a lot of people at her party, all my siblings were there and MOST of the Allens were.....its a GREAT perk of having families that live close by.

We LOVE you Sydney!

Labor Day!

As usual we spent our Labor Day at Boulder Cave, always a good time....It was our last Horrah of summer, school is underway and we are slowly getting into a routine and I am coming to terms that my my beloved summer is over and FALL has begun, Ive been in SERIOUS denial. I think this last trip was just what I needed to get going!

Minus Sydney, here we are at the waterfall

My cutie nieces...I just CAN'T get enough of them

Looking over, Kloee was such a good hiker she almost hiked clear back down to the car

My little sisters friend was so kind to carry Sydney for me and she fell asleep it was so cute

Jakob pondering

Group shots

The whole crew!!

Kloee Loves Grandpa

Kloee climbed up on Clint's lap and they play games on his iphone for a LONG time, she just loved him so much, he is such a great Grandpa!

Murder Mystery #2

 This summer Darren and I found two murder mystery games at the goodwill that we snagged at for our last HORRAH for the summer we had a date night with ALL my siblings and it turned out to me SOOO much fun! We goofed off ate some good food and had a great time. I was so happy with how much everyone REALLY got into character as well. My sister and sister-in-law made a backdrop for pictures so we got some funny ones.

Bloomin onion!

My in-laws gave me some GIANT onions and so I decided to try this out.....its not all that easy to make but it tasted REALLY yummy a lot better then it looks that's for sure.

Mater Teeth

I couldnt pass these up too FUNNY....its kinda like a ring pop she loved and it brought me great joy to watch her eat it.

She loves those tomatoes....

I think the pictures say enough here!

Before & After

I have been staying busy for sure.....and a lot of people have asked to see these so here are my before and afters of MANY projects that I have FINALLY finished.....

I turned this shadow box into a medicine cabinet.....

Before

After (outside)

After (Inside)

I also bought this picture frame at the same time and I spray painted it and but rabbit fence behind it to hold jewelry

The Girls needed a more functional dresser and lets face it...I'm cheap....so I found this one on craigslist.....

before

After (sorry its dark)

Plus I finally finished the window on the wall above it for their flowers

Close up of the dresser

We have had this table since we got married and I LOVE it but it needed a facelift.....little did I know this was going to be a pretty lengthy process

Before (best picture I had)

After (best picture I could get that would show the color)

When we moved I decided I wanted something on the wall going up the stairs and I started with this...and I HATED it so I changed it up and made something new with some old windows

Before

After

After(close up)

After (close up)

Lastly also when we moved we inherited this........

it was out of control and I felt kinda like white trash sooo I spent a day, yes it took all day!

Here is how it turned out this was a first for me so I am pretty happy with how it looks. Darren was super surprised when he got home.

Grandpa's Surprise Birthday!!

We had a surprise birthday for my Grandpa Gripentog this year which turned out AWESOME! I baked about 100 cupcakes (which yes they ALL got eaten) and my little sister taught me how to make Gnash frosting (so yummy, to die for really:))

My grandpa LOVES hugs, so my older sister and I helped all of the Grandkids make "HuGs" for him.....so he could take them home with him!

Here he is with my little sister Erikka sporting all the hugs.....LOVE YOU GRANDPA!

Bowling with the Allens

While Darren's sister Melissa was in town we all went bowling.....It was a lot of Fun! I love spending time with the Allen clan, they are all so easy to chat with and hang out with.

I tried for a while to bowl with Sydney strapped on, it did not go well, but let s face it I didn't do any better with her off either...sigh....someday maybe I might get good ;)

This was my FAVORITE picture of the day, it Brandon (Darren's oldest brother) showing us how its done!

Kloee LOVED it! She had a blast.