The NEW Kitchen!

So, here it is, this is the past month of our lives! I know that this is a little off topice but I love the view out my kitchen window. It's all trees. I can't see another person's house. It's great! it's also great to watch Nali play!

A little bit of a change! I love love love this! We're still going to put up a crown. Hopefully we'll get this done this week. It should tie in all the white nicely. Also the ceiling is green. With a white crown it will bring that out. And PLEASE ignore the hideous hand towel....seriously I need to get new ones!
What? No tacky wall phone? Nope just a light switch!
There's a little desk by the fridge, here we put our phone, ipod speakers and all the junk. We are still putting a cabinet over the desk and over the fridge, just haven't gotten to that yet! O yes, and look at all that counter space! I can't wait to cook in here!

The Previous Kitchen

These are a few pictures of the renovation time line. If any of you are wondering why we reno'd. These pictures should clear that up. Pink tile back splash, tacky white veneer cupboards, NO counter space, NO dishwasher, NO garburator and a hideous microwave.

Don't you love the microwave...and the beautiful phone cove in the wall!
Sam rewired the whole kitchen with our friend Greg Coppieters.
New insulation!
Sams beautiful drywalling job!

MY 7 FAVORITE THINGS

So I've been tagged to name my 7 favorite things...this is kind of difficult, how do you narrow your whole life down to 7 things with out seeming somewhat shallow.
So here we go:

These really are in no particular order:

1-Nixon watches, always loved them always will. I'm the owner of 6 Nixon watches 5 are living. I purchased my first one 8 years ago. I own The Small Don, The Naughty, The Cougar, The Small Player, The Chalet and the newest one pictured below the Stainless Steel Vega. I've received the last two for Mothers Day gifts. I love the simplicity of these watches, the quality, the style etc. The nice thing to is a watch always fits...at least it should. I think partially these watches help me feel like I'm holding onto my youth.
2-Waterton Lakes National Park/Canada. Anyone who has ever known me knows that I love Waterton. It's about 1hour 20 minutes from our house. It's beautiful! Really heaven on Earth. I've spent many weekends hiking here. The majastic mountains, simple townsite and clear water make me feel complete. Since Nali was born we've been here many times. Sometimes we'll drive there and just throw rocks, either way it's all good. My Love of Waterton probably is linked to my love of my country. Anyone that knows me to knows that I'm proud to be Canadian. Waterton is also close to where my Dad was raised. His Dad supplied the meat to the Prince of Wales Hotel (pictured in the left). His Mom nannied the kids of the owners/managers and that's how they met. Also one of the Lakes is named after my Great Aunt Bertha. Currently my dad's cousin runs the boat rentals at Cameron Lake. So free row boats for everyone!

3-My Mission/Cape Town South Africa. This was the view that I had for half of my mission. Left to right: Devils Peak, Table Mountain and then Lions Head. This is Cape town, Where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. I love my mission for many reason. It taught me how to love. It taught me to be grateful. It opened my eyes to the world. It taught me the simplicty of the gospel. I love the people of this Rainbow Nation. I love their food, their hospitality. This country has been through hell. I looked at Robin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned almost everyday for 9 months. It's remarkable how a person can come away from that telling everyone that we need to forgive. Desmond Tutu's book "No Future Without Forgivness" sums it up well. My mission meant so much to me that I've named my 2 girls after 2 little girls who were sisters from my mission.

4-Mountain Biking/Hiking/Tennis/Golf-Anything that involves moving a little bit of competitioin. I love it. Even Chess I love to play...When Sam and I were first married we played Chess a lot. I FINALLY beat Sam one day. I was so overjoyed that I took a picture of the moment. Let it be known though that I schooled him at Backgammon.

5-Reality Shows-I LOVE reality shows, not all of them but a lot of them. Laguna Beach, The Hills, Two a Days, The Amazing Race, Top Chef and last but not least So You Think You Can Dance. I don't know what it is about them but they've sucked me in to say the least. Sam knows NOT to bother me when they're one.

6-My Little Family-I love my family. Below is them in Waterton this past weekend. Sam and I have been married almost 7 years, I couldn't have married a better match. Nali is one of my best friends. I'm so lucky that I was able to spend so much time with her before Ella was born. Ella is just a sweety. All three are truly the greatest blessing in my life.

7-All of You-If you're reading this chances are you've had a major impact on my life and will never be forgotten. I love Blogging and the closeness it makes me feel with people that I haven't seen in years. My Friends are a very important part of my life. All of you have been such great examples to me. From High School to Ricks, my mission and then Sam and I at BYU. I truly feel blessed to know each one of you.

So now you know my 7 favorite things!

Ella's First Waterton Outing

So on Saturday we took Ella and Nali to Waterton Lakes National Park. It was Ella's first trip there. Other than forgetting Ella's bottle, a 30 minute down pour and Nali wetting her pants the trip was a great succes.

Ella getting her first touch of Glacier cold Waterton Lake. Baptism by ice! She didn't like it much but she'll get used to it. Nali goes in up to her waist now...we turn our backs and she pretty much is stripped naked in the water.
Me and my little sweetie. It was raining and I was trying to get a little shelter. Yes, I know under a tree...
Cameron Falls.
Sam and his girls!

I Didn't know I married a plumber

So below is a sneak peak of our new kitchen. The other night Sam installed our new garburator/garbage disposal, dishwasher and sink! I was so impressed, I had NO idea that he knew how to do all of that! After 3 weeks of not having a sink I was a little emotional, I think that I even shed a tear.

Happy Girls!

So I know that all I post pictures of is my girls but really, what else is there? So this is happy baby ella! She really is a good baby. She can let you have it every now and then but overall no complaints in the least. She is sleeping about 8 hours a night!

Princess Nali with Princess Kitty! No it is not our cat. My sisters boyfriend brought it in for a visit!
Here's Nali bunnysitting! My sisters boyfriend brought in a couple of bunnies for Nali to watch. I told her to leave them in the work room in the box. I went back downstairs a little later, they were out of the box, in her toy room running wild!

Can't get enough...

SO this is one of my favorite pictures of my girls. Ella loves her big sister. She grins whenever she's around.

Ella's pose.
Nali's pose...
This is what Nali and I made my mom for Mothers Day.

My twins!

So this is another picture of what happens when you leave a 4 year alone with the little one.

Ok, camo pants are the best!! Nali told me that she thinks that they look like a cow...
Aren't they the cutest?
This was the girls this morning cuddling in Nal's bed.
Nali has green eyes and Ella's are still blue. Nali's were bright blue until about 6 months so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Immunizations Times Two...

The above pictures is one of my favorites. Nali couldn't get up the slide because her feet were to slippery. In jest I told her to lick her feet...Sam had his camera phone and captured the moment.

So I have no idea why I thought that it would be a good idea to get Nali and Ella's shots done on the same day...The nurse asked, "does Nali know why she's here?" I said "She knows she's here for her immunizations...but she has no idea what those are." Nali was more traumatized than Ella. Thank goodness Nali is done until she's in grade five. We have round two with Ella in two months. Anyways, we're surviving. I went to get tylenol for Nali last night, she wanted a treat as well. So as soon as she found the marshmallow strawberries, she didn't need medicine anymore...I'm such a sucker. Anyways, no new pictures, we have "demo'd" our kitchen...what a mess pictures will come soon!

Bowling

Nali and her cousin Sophie

At the bowling alley.
Me and My girls! notice the matching outfits! Who would've thought two girls would be so much fun!
My brother Eric helping Sophie.

Ella's blessing

Nali LOVES horses! This is her playing in the backyard with her dad's shoes on!

Sunday we had Ella blessed.
What an angel. She wore the dress that Nali and I were both blessed in.
My mom with Ella.

BUMBO's & Such

So I recently found out about these things called "bumbo's". So I was quickly interested in the idea that my little 8 week old could sit up on her own. So off to Toys R Us I went. I must say they are very over priced but look at her!! SO cute!

My girls!
This is what happens when you leave the 4 year old alone with the baby!

Easter Pictures

On Good Friday we had an Easter Egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa's house with the 4 grandaughters. On my side of the family there are 4 granddaughters and one grandson.

Uncle Eric with his 4 nieces.
My sisters boyfriend brought 2 bunnies for the girls to play with. They were quite excited.
My dad with baby Ella. If you look in the background you can see that the ground was covered with snow. This moved the egg hunt indoors.
Auntie Heather. Yes I know that Ella's puking in this picture but I thought that it was funny.

The Girls!

Every time I take a picture Ella smiles. I think that it's the red eye reduction light that goes off right before the picture is taken. Anyways, it makes life kind of fun.
So I think that this is Nali doing her best Gene Simmons impression. She has quite the tongue.

Last Sunday doing the snow fall. Nali evolved with just playing in the snow to the mud...this was her NEW coat and her Sunday dress. She wanted to smile for the picture. I wouldn't let her.
Our little grinner