Family Yearbook

I'm not a good scrapbooker. I've tried to make scrapbooks before but failed. I just don't like cutting everything out and arranging them on a page, gluing it all down. And I'm not too creative either. But I have a ton of pictures that are just sitting on my computer. I've done a few photobooks from different online sites. I like doing that and for Christmas Dave got me some scrapbook software. So for the past few months I've been putting that software to good use and I made a Family Yearbook for 2008. I made cute pages with my software of all of the things we did last year (Logan being born, trip to Disneyland, family reunion in Reno....) and uploaded those pages to Shutterfly and made the cutest book. And when I was working in it a couple weeks ago I noticed photobooks were on sale so I upgraded to a bigger book and finished it. It came today and I love it. I want to go back and make a yearbook for each year since we've been married and then keep it up so I make one each year. My friend says she does the same thing but uses her blog posts for her yearbook. So what else does everyone do with all of those pictures on their computer?

Our house

I've been thinking a lot about our house lately. I remember about 5 years ago when Dave came to me one night and told me he wanted to move. I was a little shocked since we had not been in our first house for very long, but the more we talked the more it sounded like a good idea. We started looking for houses in November of 2004. I told Dave where I wanted to look and we got listings for the ones that fit our price range and wants. I remember praying before we looked for houses. I prayed that we would find the right house in the right neighborhood in the right ward where we could raise our boys. At first we just drove into neighborhoods to look at the outside of some homes. There were streets we'd drive on to and drive right back out, knowing that no matter what the house looked like we did not want to live there. But one day we were driving around and we came to this street. Just the street made us excited. We drove slowly, looking at all of the other houses, commenting on how well cared for all of the yards and homes looked. Then we came to this house and just the outside of it made us excited. It wasn't the prettiest house I'd ever seen before, there was nothing outside that made it stand out. But there was something telling us that this was IT. When we came inside for the first time we got that feeling again. We came to this house first one Saturday afternoon and as we walked through each of the rooms, looked in the backyard we could both see ourselves living here, raising a family here, having teenagers here. We looked at more houses that day but came back to this one again. We knew it's the one we wanted and I knew it was the one I'd prayed for. Everything happened quickly and fell into place and we've been happy here for almost 5 years. It's not the fanciest house or the cutest, it doesn't have all of the upgrades and updates other homes have, but we've made into what fits us, what we love. There are things I love about each room. I love taking naps on the green couch in the living room on Sunday afternoons. I love the colors of that room and the light that comes in from the windows. I love my kitchen. Even though I always tells Dave I want new cabinets and counter tops I love the way it is now. I love how it flows and how it fits everything. I love that it is the center of our home, it's where the heart is. Our living room is simple, relaxing and casual. I love the new couch and how comfy it is. We love our big TV, watching movies together at night or our favorite shows. I love sitting on the couch and reading a book while the boys run around. The playroom is the best. I love that the boys can go in there and imagine and play all day long. I love that we can close the door when it's messy and that their rooms stay clean because all of their toys are in the playroom. I love our bedroom. It's our space. We don't have any pictures of the boys in our room but just pictures of us. It's where we go to retreat and just have our time. I know it's the people in a house that make it a home, but it's also the memories, the stuff you do. If we lived in a different house would our lives be exactly the same as they are today? Maybe, maybe not. But there is something about coming home, being in the place you know you're supposed to be.

School Pictures

I got a new camera this weekend so I finally had a chance to take pictures of Trevor and Colin before heading off to school.

Trevor's first day of school

No, I don't have any pictures of Trevor on the first day of school, or the second or third. I forgot. I completely forgot to take a picture of him before he left for his first day of first grade. Could be that the camera isn't working, or it could be that I am horrible at taking pictures of my kids. I am sometimes surprised they have baby books. Trevor had a good first week. He had a few mishaps (getting a hot lunch for three days when I packed a lunch for him - he said he "forgot" where his lunchbox was) but all in all he did well. This week he missed 2 days of school because of strep throat and then did not want to go back because I made the mistake of letting him watch TV and play on the days he was sick. I finally got him to school this morning (late) because I told him if he was sick he had to stay in bed all day and when he figured out I meant it, he was suddenly feeling better. Trevor has been pretty forgetful this week; left his lunchbox at school, forgot his reading folder twice, forgot to give his teacher his sick note twice. But I was reminded by some good friends that he's just a little boy and first grade is a big adjustment. Today I was no longer Mean Mom when he came home from school without his reading folder and the sick note still in his "Friday Folder", but I just said, "Try and remember next time." I hope the rest of the year is not as long as these first two weeks have been. One of these days I'm sure he'll get it.