Bell Ringers?

Or a plot to take over Earth? You decide!

This is a very good example of why you take your camera every where with you. Because if you don't have it you have to go home and get it! And then you feel kind of like a dork driving up and rolling down your window with Darth Vader watching you.

I was shopping at Wal-Mart yesterday and while I was loading my goodies I heard someone start to ring a bell. I looked up and saw three Storm Troopers standing there!!! And while I was watching Darth Vader walked out of the store!!! It was so cool! I kind of wanted to get my picture taken with them. But I had to remember this is Redding, not Disneyland!!

I wonder if they got more or less donation because of it? I could see people thinking its cool, but Darth Vader can be a little intimidating! plus Storm Troopers with weapons!

So has anyone else seen some cool or interesting bell ringers this year?

What! No Lime Sauce!?!

Well, it is the end of an era. Taco Bell no longer makes their lime sauce. It has instead been replaced with some avocado sauce. A couple of weeks ago Neil and I went to Taco Bell and he got a grilled steak stuffed burrito. It was so good I decided to finally get my own last night. Well, I went to order and when I said "add lime sauce please" the little lady said "I'm sorry we no longer make that!" Well, I said "That's just sad!" So I got the burrito anyway. And I must say it is NO GOOD!!

One of the Many Reasons We Love Hope

Brenda had me bring my laptop to Starbucks Friday morning so that we could transfer pictures between the two computers from Thanksgiving and Tree Cutting. It is so neat to be able to hook up the two computers together and just hit a few buttons. So after we were done transferrng pictures Heather wanted to see them. We turned Brenda's computer around and Heather and Hope watched them. It is so much fun to watch Hope while she is looking at pictures. She is so animated!!!! She laughs and yells and moves her hands all around! Well, since our computers have a camera we thought we would try and film Hope while she was looking at the pictures. Whatever you are filming shows up on the screen so you can see what you are filming while you are filming. Kind of like a mirror. So in our attempt to film Hope this is what we got. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I still laugh ever time I watch it.

Let's Elf!

Well I am joining the craze! After watching Brenda, Em and Zachary I had to give it a try. I think these cousins make a nice little addition to the elf community! so . . . .

Check Out the Cousin Elfs!

Extra Thankful This Year!

I love Thanksgiving! It is probably second to New Year's for me. There are no expectations except to eat lots of food. And if you time it right you can hit more than one house!

That is what we did this year. We started out at Dixie's. Which was extra fun because Jeff (Neil's cousin in the Coast Guard) got to spend a few days in Redding. It was Anna's first time meeting him. She thought he was pretty cool!

Then we went to my mom's to load up on more food and have dessert. In the midst of all the traveling and eating, Neil and I did Anna's footprint for the month. (She was two months old the day before Thanksgiving.) And I also took some cute pictures of her in her cute Thanksgiving outfit!Neil and I went with the gang to Mt Shasta on Saturday to get our Christmas tree. I can't wait to post pictures of it when we get it up. It is going to be great. Anna was pretty unconcerned about which tree we picked. We put her in her Snugli and carried her around. She stayed nice and warm and asleep the whole time. It was pretty crisp up there, but no snow!

The house now has shingles. And gutters. And the heating and cooling system is in. It is just cracking me up the order you do stuff in. Like one of the next things we have to do is put the shower insert in. It goes in before any drywall goes up. Why? You'll have to ask Neil.

Anna got to meet some more cousins this week. Eric and Liz were in town for the holiday so we got together at Aunt Denise's on Sunday. At one point while Uncle Jim was holding Anna in his rocking chair she started snoring. It was so cute. It was fun to get to just sit and talk to everyone!

I hope everyone had a great beginning to their holiday season and I look forward to checking posts and seeing pictures!

What a Change!!

Well, a lot has changed since my last post. So you will get a lot of info in this one. It is so much fun watching all the stages of a house going up. Apparently one of the first things you should do is get a "blue room". All the guys helping Neil were complaining because they had to leave the job to go to the bathroom. Lucky for us there is another job site right around the corner. But I know you will be happy to know we got one today. Was that too much information?
So onto something a little more interesting and a little less gross. Paul and Kenny came on Friday night (the 9th) and chalked out where all the walls would be. There were red lines all over the floor which I guess is what they measure the walls off of. It was neat trying to imagine a three dimensional wall from a flat floor.Saturday morning in the rain they started building walls. Did you know that you build walls flat on the floor and then stand them up? And you build them top to bottom (roof to the floor). So you have to imagine it upside down. Strange. They worked all weekend and got all the walls up so that we could have the trusses delivered on Friday (the 16th). There was a huge pile of trusses on the middle of the living room walls. The truss company delivers them to the roof and puts them on the roof in a specific order. So that by the time you get to the spot where the trusses are laying , they are the only ones left that need to go up. You can see them in the middle of the picture all piled up. There is a long board they put at the peak of the trusses that holds them all together. Which they take off when they start putting the sheeting on. Paul built all these "Cat Walks" in the large rooms so that you have a guy on each end of the truss and a guy in the middle holding the peak. I didn't get to see him, but I guess Neil even walked some of them. Which he is not really a height person. You can see one of them behind Neil's head in the next picture. The boys got all the roof stuff finished tonight and we go for our roof inspection tomorrow morning. Once we get that signed off we will start putting the singles on. Actually the gutters go on first. So this is just about what our house lots like right now. Hopefully tomorrow it will look a lot different.

What a good day!

We had a great day yesterday! But how could it not be a great day when you start it wearing these shoes! Auntie Brenda got these for Anna and she loves them. They even stayed on her feet all day.
This has been a busy week for our house. It is finally taking shape! The footings were formed on Friday and the plumber came on Saturday. Then he came back again on Sunday, because our house is the cool new place to hang out in the neighborhood. It seems the whole neighborhood is young families. Every night we have been down there a new family has come down to meet us. They are all super nice and friendly. Which I am excited about. But the plumber had been gone for maybe two hours when Neil and I got to the property Saturday night and the kids had used it as a jungle gym and broken the pipes. In order to pass our first inspection we have to prove that the house will hold water. So you have this pipe that is like 5 feet out of the ground which is connected to all the plumbing and you fill that pipe with water. So the inspector puts his hand in the pipe and if he feels water, you pass. Well that's the pipe the kids broke off. So all the water leaked out. So that is why he came back on Sunday. So we passed our first inspection on Monday and then the footings were poured. Then the poor plumber guy had to come back again on Tuesday because the concrete guys hit a pipe and again our water was gone. So finally I think the pipes are safe because yesterday the concrete guys came back out and poured the slab!!!! Hear is a picture of Anna and I standing were our front door will someday be. That is the garage to the right and the office to the left, and behind us is where the kitchen and living will be. It is so funny how small it looks when it is flat. The house is 1660 square feet, but it sure doesn't look like it.

This is the front left hand corner of the house and it is going to be Anna's Room. Last night after the concrete guys left Neil and I put Anna's name and date of birth in her first house. So cute. We are thinking about staining the concrete instead of laying tile in the kitchen and dinning rooms. So we went down to the house to make sure none of the neighborhood kids thought it would be cool to carve in our floor. But we put Anna's name where we knew we would put carpet. And we took pictures of her next to her room.
I am starting to get sooooo excited about this house stuff. It is just more believable now that it is happening and I can see progress.
We are hoping the framing will start this weekend. So maybe by the end of next week we will have walls!!! Crazy!!!!

A Cousin Halloween!

There were cousins everywhere this Halloween. We had a pasel of babies at Jennifer's home in the afternoon.

Wesley came up from Sacramento (his mom came with him!) and Jason was there too (he is the duck!) with his sister Kara. Of course Tessa, Bella and Jack (who was the dragon!) were in on the fun. You can see how much fun the babies were having. We couldn't get the mobile kids to all stay in the same place long enough to take a group picture (I am hoping Jessica got one), but the babies slept right on through all the fun. You can tell they are all used to getting their picture taking. The flash doesn't even phase them!
Anna was so warm in her costume, she basically slept the whole time we were at Trunk or Treat too! She was very cute as the Cheshire Cat. I was hoping to go as Alice and getting Neil to be the Mad Hatter. But we were very lucky to get the one costume done this year.

We broke ground on or property on Tuesday! Already it is starting to take shape. I am sure I will be posting pictures as we go along. Or you can stop by and see any time.

Anna's First Band Aid

Well it happened. I was cutting her fingernails while she was sleeping and I made her bleed. She really didn't care, she slept right through the whole thing. But like Jennifer warned me, it would not stop bleeding. So she wouldn't get blood on her cute outfit, I thought I should put a band aid on it. Well a regular band aid would not do. No, I got one of Hope's Dora band aids out and cut it down to size. And it looked so cute I had to take pictures of it. But like I said she slept through the whole thing.

She is such a great baby! I still can't believe she is mine (I mean ours) to keep.

Anna had her first outting without Mommy or Daddy today. Yes, it was a little hard on Mommy. Every Friday morning my mom, sisters and I go to Begals. Well, this morning I woke up with the flu. So I called Heather to tell her I wasn't coming, and Heather offered to take Anna so I could get some sleep. It was nice to sleep, but I had to tell myself not to be sad when Heather came and got her. She was only like 3 minutes away and I thought I could go get her if I needed to, but after Heather left I realized my car keys were in the diaper bag. I finally told myself to go to sleep. And it worked too. I woke up two hours later to Heather knocking on the door.

Hey here's a funny story. This morning when Heather got here she had to call me on my cell phone to ask which tailer was mine. What does that tell you? That we are not the only white trash people on this street! :)

Oh, by the way, I was excited to find this out. I ran into a lady a used to work with at the book store and she told me that there is a Christian Book Store opening up in Redding again. They are supposed to be open on November 1st and they are going to be in the old School Tools building on Hilltop. I am kind of excited about it. I can't believe how much I have missed the bookstore. This should be nice. So go check it out!!

Anna's Baby Shower!

I have really wanted to put these pictures up earlier, but when the baby was born 3 weeks early I thought those pictures were cuter! So I want to share these now.

My baby shower was so much fun!!!! Brenda and Erica did such a good job at making it so special. Anna is so spoiled already! One of the fun things for me at the shower was how many babies were there and how many pregnant ladies. It is definitely baby season in my neck of the woods!

From left to right the babies are Jackson, Wesley, Jason, Emily and Emmerie. Jackson and Emily are cousins to Anna. Wesley and Jason are second cousins and Emmerie is a friend. Neil and I graduated with Emmerie's Daddy, Jonathan Estes. Oh my word, that was 10 years ago!

Here is a picture of all the pregnant girls! Jennifer is due in December, LaRynn just had her baby on Sunday. A cute baby girl, Leila Mae (you can see her picture on the Mercy Website). And Ginni is due in April I think. But I could be way off on that one.

And this is a picture of the Prize Corner. They all sat together and they all won a prize (and Jessica didn't even want to play!) That is Wesley in the middle. Doesn't he look happy to be at an all girl party!

Thank you every one for coming to my party and for the super cute presents! We really appreciate your eagerness to spoil Anna.

This is for you Katie!

When Emily was born in March, her Auntie Katie bought her this cute outfit. Which she quickly grew out of! That girl knows how to grow!

Since Anna is so small and she LOVES to be warm, she has gotten to wear it a couple of times. And I got this cute picture of her today. So I thought I would share.

We had out first doctors appt yesterday. Anna is already growing so much! She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz when we left the hospital on Saturday and yesterday, 12 days later, she weighed in at 7 lbs 8 1/2 oz. She has gained almost a whole pound! And she grew almost an inch. But she is still so small and I still love to hold her little self!

Who do you think?

Well, here is a picture of Neil and I when we are only a few days old. I thought it might be fun to see who everyone thinks Anna looks like?

I think she looks just like her daddy, but has my hair and complextion. All I know is she is so adorable and fun to watch. Although she is starting to look just like Anna to me and not so much like a mixer of Neil and I.

Let me know if you want to come visit and hold her yourself! It is a blast!

She Has Gotten Cuter!

I know, how can it be? But it is true! She is cuter! I can't believe how blessed Neil and I are! It just blows my mind to see how God put this little life together and said, "Here, take real good care of her!" All I got to say is it freaks me out a little bit! Okay ! It freaks me out ALOT!!!! I just have to remember that God won't give me anything I can not handle with His help. So together the 3 of us (God, Neil and I) I guess we will figure it out! She is just so sweet and fun to hold. I don't ever want to put her down.

Have you ever seen a cuter yawn!?!

Introducing Anna Kathleen

Our Sweet Baby Girl is here! Which is actually a bit surprising since she isn't due for 3 more weeks. I guess my mom was right when she said I was going early.

She was born on Friday at 7:18 am. Neil and I got to the hospital at 5:10 and the nurse said I was already at an 8 or a 9. The whole experience was just so strange, and incredible! I didn't know I would use so many muscles giving birth. But today even my elbows hurt.

She weighs 6 lbs 14 1/2 oz and is 19 1/2 inches long! She is so little. And she has a full head of hair!

And I must say the older she gets, the cuter she is getting!

The first picture is just a few minutes after she was born in the Labor room and the second one is a few hours later.

The last picture is just about an hour ago. She was having some daddy time and when I looked at my camera this is what I found! Daddy is already smitten!

Well, check back for updates, but the baby just started fussing, so I guess that is my alarm clock now!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Here are some real cute pics from my birthday bowling party. Notice why they are real cute? Yep! Baby Emily is just so stinking lovable!

I will put a picture on here soon of me so that you all can see my really big profile!

Trailer Trash!

Yep, Neil and I and Baby will be living in a travel trailer! What an adventure!

We are going to sign papers today on our property. Here is a picture of our dirt! And at 4:30 it will be ours! I am really excited about starting from scratch like this. It will be so neat to see all the different layers of a house.

But in the mean time we will be in a 27 foot 1995 Wildwood Trailer. With Neil you just never know where you will be living! I can't believe how much I love this man! He is just so amazing! He is so good at everything he tries!

For now we will be parked in front of a very nice green house on Lori Lane, known to most as Neil's parents house!

Dirt?

Yep! Neil and I bought dirt. A pretty good amount of it too. We bought a city lot off of East Bonneyview. Well, we are in the process of buying right now. We should know in about 15 days if it will really be ours or not.
Once it is ours, we will start building. Neil has been wiring a house off of Twin View that we both like a lot. So I think we will try and biuld that one.
Had another doctors appt today. And yep I am getting fatter. WaHoo! I just realized I forgot to ask what the baby's heartbeat was. Bummer. I can tell you though this kid is active! I hope she is wearing herslef out now, so that when she is born ahe will want to sleep alot! Wishful thinking I know!
Only about 6 more weeks. I think with our current living conditions and the crazyness we are in, I wouldn't mind if it took her a little longer to get here. But I really would like to have the use of my normal stomach muscles back. Do you know how hard it is to round over when your center of gravity is off so much. Not fun!!!!

Hello In There!

Well, in case you haven't guessed Neil and I are no longer at the lake! In fact we have been quite a few places since then! But I guess the most interesting news, is that I am now homeless, pregnant, and now unemployeed! WaHoo! Yeah it is actually a little daunting!
Neil and I are looking for a place to rent right now. And man is that a pain! After living and owning your own home for 6 years, it is surprising how hard it is to get people to believe that you are not white trash and you do not plan on destroying their property!
On a brighter note, we started our birthing classes! I am actually enjoying it and feel like I am not so freaked out now. Neil may not be as pleased with the whole process, we had to watch our first births last week and let me tell you, it is not pretty! I don't care if it is a miracle, it is just not pretty!
Well, thanks for still checking my blog even though it has been months. I am off to another rental company!

At the Lake

Neil, Gauge and I went to the Lake last weekend. The water was so cold, but with Redding temps already getting warm, it was nice to feel the water (up to my ankles). I took a bunch of pics of Gauge fetching . I put my camera on a rapid shutter speed and got all these pictures of him charging into the water. It was neat to see how much he can stretch out and how quickly he can cover alot of ground. We also "tried" to take some family pictures but Gauge just wanted to lick the camera or completely ignore it.

May 8, 2007 Gauge had his Second Birthday. I can not believe we have had him for 2 years. Crazy! And before you say something about how pathetic it is I remember his birthday, I would just like to say that he is papered by AKC and he came with a birth certificate. Yeah I think it's funny too.

I thought it might be fun to see how much he has grown. He was sooooo little when we got him and now . . . Well, now he is not little! But he is still cute!

Bernard

I took this picture last week and I just love it because you can see how blue his eyes are. He is such a handsom kitty!

And in case you don't know yet, Noah now has a blog and Faither's even updated hers! WaHoo!