Procrastinating...

I am such a hypocrite….I get annoyed when I see that people haven’t updated their blog in two+ weeks….then I notice I haven’t updated mine in two months….so here is the update!!

I'M PREGNANT!!! We get to have our first ultrasound this coming Tuesday (November 22, 2011). I'm pretty sure my doctor’s nurses messed up and mischarted (as in completely did not record) my last visit so I don’t think they realized how far along I was and that our appointment last Friday was supposed to be an ultrasound but instead it was just another appointment listening to the heartbeat. I had a freak out conversation with the nurses (it was a bad day to start) and so when I saw my doctor she said I should come in next week for an ultrasound….That’s more like it!!! I’m dying to know what the baby is so that I can get clothes and things. This little onesie in particular....

I got another promotion and raise which was timely since Sheehan is no longer working at REIC after they laid him off since they eliminated his position. That was also timely because we just switched over to my work health insurance and it allowed Sheehan the time he needed to finish up the basement apartment so that we could get it rented. We have everything finished finally and had it rented the same day we posted the ad. I am really proud of Sheehan and all the hard work he did. He re-did the whole kitchen (cabinets, installed the dishwasher, microwave, tile, baseboards, etc), he did the bathrooms (installed the shower, tile, etc) and the other 60% of little things that you don’t realize or account for when you start big projects.

Sheehan’s dad was nice enough to drive from the High Desert (California) to come and help us with some electrical and plumbing projects. He helped with a lot of things that we don’t know how to do and would have had to hire someone. We were really grateful for his talents and taking the time to come help and visit with us.

We are debating our options as far as Sheehan’s employment goes. We are thinking about working with Vivint (formerly APX) selling security systems again. We will see what happens.

I am now 18 weeks along and am feeling pretty good. I’m just starting to show and graduate into maternity pants. They are awesome! It’s like wearing PJ’s all day!....which I do 70% of the time anyway. I haven’t thrown up or had any weird symptoms. If I was the type that threw up all the time I don’t think we would have very many children so it’s a good thing I’ve been blessed so far to have a pretty easy pregnancy.

All of the chinchilla babies are gone. We gave them all away and Sheehan is having withdrawals. He made a video of them before we let them go….

Sheehan and I were called as the Christmas Activities Chairs so we are in charge. We’ve got it in the bag since half of the activity is already planned based on this ward’s traditions.

We can’t wait for the holidays and being able to see all of the family again. I’ve been dying to go to the beach and back to California so Thanksgiving is going to be awesome at Carpinteria!! I can’t wait for a Reynaldo’s bean burrito while I watch the waves crash on the beach. B-E-A-utiful.

It was so exciting this year to finally have a house where kids come to trick or treat!! I was pretty excited about it...I bought a bunch of candy weeks ahead of time which turned out to be a mistake (or a well-thought out plan) because I ate half of it before Halloween actually arrived. The Kit Kats in particular disappeared very quickly... We had Julianne, Devin, Katie, and Preston Davis over to make lanterns from pickle jars and had the Shurtliffs over to do real Jack-o-Lantern carving. It was lots of fun and the pumpkin seeds were worth working through the pumpkin slime.

Ready for Fall....

We have had a great Summer and I know I am really looking forward to Fall! I like the cool weather and pretty fall colors. I've decided Fall is my favorite season. I'm really excited for Halloween and decorating for Fall!!

The first week of August we bought a new car and sold the other car we had. The other car was great but Sheehan's brother told us about a great deal for a 2003 Honda Civic. We couldn't pass up the offer so now we have the Toyota Camry and the Honda Civic. Sheehan had to go to Vegas to pick up the car so he flew to Vegas and then he drove the car back with his Mom to visit for a few weeks. We took Sheehan's Mom, Colleen, to see the sites in Salt Lake since she had never been to Utah before.

We did all of Temple Square and ate at the Lion House. I LOVE the Lion House...mostly for their amazing rolls.

Don't be alarmed....it's just Root Beer and Sarsaparilla in those bottles. haha

We also went to Swiss Days up in Midway.

We enjoyed all the crafts and of course..the scones!

Our little chinchilla had babies...again. She had 3!! We couldn't believe it! Her first two litters she only had one baby each time and then this time around she popped out 3!

We've had to help her feed them a little because 3 of them was a little much for her to handle. They are VERY cute and are a little over a week old now. They were born on September 9th.

This is a picture of Milly a week or so before she had the babies. She was pretty exhausted.

Here's the Dad chinchilla, Max. I laughed so hard after I took this picture. I timed the picture with the perch just right.

We bought a house!!

We have been looking out for the right home with all of our requirements for a few months and then our home listed. The morning it came on the MLS we got it under contract. We are so excited and looking forward to being homeowners. It is a beautiful house in Provo! I'll get some pictures of it soon.... We are looking to close and be able to move in on Thursday or Friday. It is exactly what we were looking for and couldn't be happier!!
My parents have been back and forth from California to Utah for some business here in Utah. It's been fun to see them so often visiting us. It makes Sheehan and I really miss living so close to family. We miss going to the beach, Disneyland, and Sunday dinners with my parents but we are lucky to have family here in Utah too so we aren't totally alone. :)

One of the trips that my parents were here we had a little family celebration for Julianne's birthday.

We played a few games....

and had some good cake made by yours truly.

Birthdays, Pioneers, and Family

It was my birthday!!! 7-11!!! Finally 21!! We went out to Tucanos with Devin, Jules, and Katie. Tucanos is one of my favorites!! I love it so much! It was the perfect thing to do for my birthday because I love food!! We were stuffed.

We even got a little adventurous and tried chicken hearts. They weren't very good....but I can say that I have tried them.

Katie

Devin and Julianne

On the 22nd we went with Norm to the Pioneer Day Commemoration Concert at the Conference Center.

It was awesome!

It was themed, " For those who follow" remembering the Armed Forces who continue to pioneer and sacrifice for freedom for future generations. The whole presentation was beautiful. I was getting teary-eyed the whole time. Sheehan leaned over and saw my watery eyes and asked, "Are you crying?!" then I said, "Aren't you!?" Sheehan then rolled his eyes and said, "If you're crying you know I am...."

We really liked one of the starring guest singers, Brian Stokes Mitchell.

He had an awesome voice and he sang a song dedicated to his father who they had a video presentation of talking about when he was in the armed forces. His father was also in the audience so everyone applauded him. It was really nice.

Aunt Michelle and the boys were visiting all the family in Utah so we took Zach to the Discovery Center. Max is still too little but maybe next year he'll be ready to come play with us too! We were in the parking garage and Zach yelled out look it's Max's name! The cinderblock wall had an "I-MAX" advertisement painted on the wall.

Sheehan and Zach playing in the beehive with the tubes that suck the plastic spheres up. They are both pretty excited...
Zach made Sheehan a sandwich at the deli.
Sheehan helping Zach put gas in the car.
We were putting blocks in the crane to lift them up. Then Zach decided he wanted to be lifted up. The only problem was he was a little bit heavier than the foam blocks. :)

After a fun few hours at the Discovery Center we were all exhausted. We decided to go eat at California Pizza Kitchen. While waiting for a table, Zach decided to play with my "magic necklace."

Sheehan and Cousin Zach. Best buds.

It was a great month and we can't believe how quickly times flies. It's already the last day of the July and Summer is going by too fast. We still have so many things that we want to do! We are looking forward to my family coming to town. We'll be helping with all the construction on the fix and flip house my parents are doing. Lots of work but it's been fun to learn the how-to's of fixing up a home. Here is a pic of Sheehan helping prime the exterior of the house.

He was covered in primer from head to toe. He got most of it off until I noticed at church he had a huge glob in his hair still. I was cracking up because that happened to be the Sunday they were going to set him apart as the Elder's Quorum Second Counselor in our ward. I tried to get most of it out...hopefully they didn't notice all the white flecks in his hair. I don't think he is old enough yet to get away with the "salt and pepper" look.

Yosemite June 8-12th, 2011

Yosemite requires it's own post. It's that important!

Yosemite this year was so much fun! It was worth the 14 hour drive each way. We had Devin, Julianne, Sheehan, Katie, and me (Kiersten) in the Camry. We left Wednesday night after work and drove all night and got in Yosemite at 8:00 the next morning. We only got a little lost ;) but we made it! It was beautiful! Perfect weather. We had so much family this year. It was so much fun to be around family that I haven't seen since Christmas! We did our usual art class and painted Yosemite falls. We hiked Vernal falls up the mist trail and of course we couldn't miss getting drinks at the Ahwahanee hotel. The whole trip was so worth it. It was fun to see little Max, Kiley, and Zach. They are all getting so big. Sheehan and I are sad that we don't get to see them more often. We are looking forward to them coming to visit us on 4th of July and Pioneer Day Weekend!

Sheehan looks like a serious rock climber in this picture...until you see the next one...

Some pretty scenery pictures of my favorite place on earth!

The picture above is of Illilouette Fall in Yosemite. I've never seen it so full! All of the waterfalls and river were just overflowing. They had 178% of their normal snowpack this last winter. Amazing!!

We all hiked up to Vernal Fall, strollers and all. Some of the group stopped at the bridge, while the rest of us kept going up the mist trail to the top of Vernal. Devin, Julianne, Paola, and Kyle hiked another couple miles all the way to the top of Nevada Fall

Sheehan loved playing with Zach-a-doodle all week. They were buddies.

My Dad and Uncle Clyde with Michael on the right. Takin' a breather.... :)

These was taken on the way up the Mist Trail about half way through to the top of Vernal fall. We were drenched.

It was like walking up a stone staircase in a rainstorm but it was sunny.

We made it to the top of Vernal! I was sore for a week...barely able to walk around the pharmacy.

Sheehan passed out for a while at the top. He was guarding the snacks from the squirrels while he basked in the sun.

I think my favorite part of this picture is the guy passed out on the right side of the picture....Oh wait....that's Sheehan. Devin, Julianna, Paola, and Kyle were much better hikers than we were. hahahahaha

Just passed Vernal there is the Emerald pool and few other smaller falls. I'm not sure if I was trying to point at the gushing water or the man passed out on the rock....take your pick.

Later on in the week we migrated over to the Ahwahnee hotel for drinks! Before and after Sheehan played with baby Max and Zach on the grass.

The Schall's joined for a few days which was so fun to have them with us! They came just in time for Ranger Kevin's nature walk. :)

It was a great trip. So worth the drive and I can't wait to go again next year. Hopefully Tioga Pass will be open next year and we will be able to stay for a little while longer.