Craft Day

In addition to 4 HUGE loads of laundry, today was craft day. I have been working on this bulletin board for-e-ver! Amy and I went to buy the fabric and stuff weeks ago...but before we knew it, I went out of town and she had a baby! Crap, I'm on my own!

Nevermind! I'd like to introduce you to my new craft buddy! Surprise! It's Sam!

I think the bulletin board turned out really cute! It's hard to see, but the dots on the ribbons are cute little pink letters.

Now that we take a closer look...you can see my gigantic mistake... The problem? The frame I bought (a week ago) is 24" x 36" - and the actual bulletin board is 23" x 35"...how annoying and frustrating! Did I mention I had been to Hobby Lobby 3 different times to get the 24" x 36" cork board. I called ahead this last time and the gal assured me that "there are tons!" When I got there (an hour later) there were none. ARGGH! Instead, there were a bunch of 23" x 35" ones (and a damaged one for only $7.79)...I figured with the batting and fabric, I would be fine...nope! Perfectionists should NEVER do crafts! People like me (and Blake) just like to pay for things and whine about about crappy they are.

AUNT MEESH

Rain, Rain...Go Away!

Samantha and I have tried to get creative in our activities now that rain has decided to stay in Houston. It is so hard to keep a toddler content and contained...but I thought I'd give a few things a try...

Mama Mia Matinee!

A Perfect Mommie & Sammie date...or so I hoped. Armed with Chik-fil-a nuggets, gold fish, juice, cheese, her baby, bink and a booster...I thought we'd make it through the whole movie! After dancing through a few songs, Sam discovered the lights...then the stairs...then the hallway...(do you see where we are headed)....ahh yes...the door...

I forget, who is Sophie's dad?

Then, we tried...

Painting Ceramics @ Plasterhouse

Great idea...not a great attention span. $8 and 10 minutes later...we had a very tacky 1/2 painted "S". Nothing like a group of toddlers to keep a business alive...or completly destroy it....whichever.

Now, we're off to...

Michael's and Hobby Lobby

I've been working on a craft project for weeks now, and thought I'd see if Hobby Lobby had the bulletin board in stock yet...of course, NO! Sam wasn't too upset...she loves to wonder the aisles, pull off random stuff, then find a seat to organize it...workers just hate us everywhere we go!

GEEZ!

If it just wasn't so hot outside...we could jump on the trampoline or go to the park or have a picnic.

I guess we should just stay at home, kick our feet up, eat some lunch all while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Ahhh...now we're talkin'.

Family Night Bowling

If you didn't already know (as we didn't), Monday night at the bowling alley is a discount night...so it was crowded. While we were waiting for a lane, Sam tried out the arcade...surprise, surprise...she went straight for the car racing games.

After breaking 2 nails with a stupid-heavy ball...Mom found a super-light pink ball...PERFECT!

Sammie, you're up! Uh oh!...so much for Mom's ball.

Final Score:

JAMIE 67

(notice I'm back with the heavy ball...can we say sabotage!)

BLAKE 132
(double strike to finish me off)

Blake Busy At Work

Blake had to fly into Salt Lake City this weekend for his 2nd job. We are just coming into his busy season, so things are going to get a little crazy around here. For the past 4 years, Blake has been the Commissioner of the Rocky Mountian Fantasy Football League. Yes, I know...impressive.

Sam So Sleepy

We got home from our trip to Utah and Idaho yesterday (see updates below). After this long, long week of playing and getting to sleep with Mom...Sam may never be the same. She didn't get out of bed this morning until 11:15am, so we didn't leave the house until noon. We had a bunch of errands to run, but by 1:30, she was tucker'd out! We made a stop by the bank...she had a great time "organizing" the crayons and brochures. She worked so hard, she decided to lay her head down to rest. This photo is not staged at all! Everyone in the bank was lovin' her! We got home right at 2pm and now she is down for a nap...that's right on schedule! Traveling is exhausting!

Samantha has had both the good and bad times this trip.

At times, she is the sweetest-cutest-most curious toddler you've ever seen (throwing grapes in the air and catching them in her mouth)....only to turn into the "dark angel" in no notice at all. Tantrums reared their ugly head this past week...sometimes 2 and 3 times a day! I sure hope we left those behind! Yikes!

Salt Lake City, UT

After our reunion in Idaho, we spent the weekend in Salt Lake City. My dad and his 3 brothers (and others) went on a hike to King's Peak in the Unitah Mountains. I had a small desire to go at the last minute, but once I found out my 2 girl cousins weren't going, I quickly changed my mind back to doing nothing. Always a good idea. My Grandma and Grandpa Jones, and my aunt Kim and her 4 kids were all staying at The Kimball with me, Sam, and my mom. The Kimball is a timeshare DIRECTLY across the street (east) of the conference center. It is the PERFECT location to hang out downtown Salt Lake City. Walking distance to everything!

We basically spent the weekend acting like tourists...you'd think we'd never have lived there! On Friday we walked around Temple Square and ate at the Lion House for lunch. There is an "I Am A Child of God" Exhibit at the Art Museum that was just for Sam. She really enjoyed being there. We got to play with blocks, organize stained glass and play on the chairs.During Sam's nap, I got to go see the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy Theater. Amazing. For dinner we had Cafe Rio and played at the park.

On Saturday I woke up extra early to get into the first morning session at the LDS Temple. Wow. Then, we drove to our old house and neighborhood in Lehi. Not much has changed in less than a year. We all went to Thanksgiving Point for lunch and the Country Farm. Did I mention I broke my camera...AND... thought I had lost it at the petting zoo...so no pictures! It was so fun to see all the kids playing and feeding the animals! Sam loved the horses and cows and ducks and pigs and goats and baby chicks....umm...she loved everything. Grandma bought her a fun new toy as a souvenir! I do have a picture of that!

Sunday we walked over to the Tabernacle to watch, "Music & The Spoken Word." Then, for the first time ALL week, a miracle happened! SAM GOT IN HER STROLLER! Hallelujah! So the real tours began! First we went to the Visitor's Center to see Jesus with all the cousins. Then, we went to the Conference Center for the rooftop tour.

The hikers got back on Sunday night to brag of their adventures and visit before everyone parted their ways. Happy 90th birthday Grandpa!

Sam sure loves her cousin Lydia. If my camera hadn't broke, I would have gotten them on video. Lydia has the cutest, squeekiest voice you've ever heard.

This "vacation" has been the best and the worst all in one. We had a WHOLE WEEK without Blake. We sure missed him...but he might have missed us more...this was waiting for us when we got home.