Tuesday, July 31, 2007

First Zoo visit

While I was gallivanting around Oregon, my sister picked up Flower and took her to the zoo so that KG could sleep. This is the first time she has been away from both of us at the same time.








She loved the zoo and my sister was kind enough to take photos for me since it was Flower's first zoo trip.


It was also her first time on a merry-go-round. She road the elephant.


















As always, she loved the slide!


She always loves being with her cousins.

Considering they picked her up at 10:30 am and didn't bring her back till around 5:30 pm, she did really well.

Thank goodness for sisters!

My own personal road trip

KG dropped me at the airport at 6:00 am, after only 3 hours of sleep. I was chosen for an extra 'pat down'. The lady that performed this task was really nice and since we were having a good conversation I decided to ask her why I was chosen. She said because I had purchased a one way ticket, that automatically makes me suspect. I suppose I can understand that. I boarded my plane and was in Salt Lake before I new it. I had an hour layover. I then boarded my plane for Eugene, Oregon and landed, without incident at 9:45 am. I walked outside the airport in search of my ride and there she was, in my new car! :) I was so excited! She drove us to the bank so I could withdraw the cash and then we drove to her house so we could perform a thorough check on this beauty, just to make sure I still wanted it. I did! The thing purred! It was in such great condition with just a few cosmetic improvements needed. We signed all the necessary paperwork and she gave me a folder of all the cars documentation for the last 7 years, plus some from the original owner. We are the third owner. The first owner bought it from a dealer in 1976. The gal that I was buying it from had it bought it from them 7 years ago. We have some awesome original paperwork! We then drove to her mechanic to replace a couple screws that were missing from the sliding door handle and then I was on my way...in my dream car! I have wanted a VW bus for at least 11 years when I test drove one right after high school. I remember wanting one even before that. Unfortunately my conservative father talked me out of it and I've regretted it ever since. Well now I have it! I called KG and told him how in love I was with it and started my road trip home.


Yes, I was being a complete hazard to all others on the road and taking photos while I was driving! But since I was by myself and love photos, someone had to document it! :)

To be continued...

First swim at the Goodsell's

Last Wednesday KG took Flower to the Goodsell's to swim for the afternoon.. I stayed behind so that I could spend the entire day in my office getting it cleaned up and caught up. It felt really good not to have any interruptions and I got a ton of shit done! KG and Flower had a great time as well and here are some photos.


Unfortunately they don't show them swimming since KG so wisely didn't want to get the camera wet. He did say it was overcast as soon as they got in so the water was a bit cold. Even though her lips were purple and she was shivering, KG had to drag her out! They also stayed for dinner and didn't come home till bedtime. It was a very productive night for my office! :)

Monday, July 30, 2007

The kitchen sink sprayer....

...attacked Flower...

...with her daddy's help! :)

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Say Hello to my little friend :)

Yes! This bad boy is mine! More details to come! :)

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Special Order

A friend of mine asked me to make a BSU hat for a baby that was being born. He also decided he wanted one for himself and here they are.
Thanks Andy! :)

Late afternoon nap :)

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Since I'm on the topic.


Let me tell you about crappy customer service. I will never register with Toys 'R' Us or Babies 'R' us again. You cannot return ANYTHING without a receipt. Even if this expensive item, that we don't really need but received as a gift, is in the original box with all the Toys 'R' Us stickers and tags on it! It has the barcode sticker right on it! It's not our fault that the person who gave it to us didn't include a gift receipt, nor did they keep the receipt.
Very Frustrating!

Excellent Customer Service...

...is hard to find these days! Well I found it yesterday. I have a Mac Powerbook and the cord has sucked from the beginning. The first cord was constantly just falling out, therefore the battery was never fully charged. KG went to the MacLife Store on Overland and they hooked him up with a new, supposedly better cord, but only after forking over $80! I guess we shouldn't complain since we didn't have to pay for the computer! The cord wasn't the Mac brand because they said those ones were having issues with sparking. When we brought it home it appeared to solve the problem, until now. It was less then six months ago that he bought it and it too is falling out. Then a few night ago it started sparking! I unplugged it and just let the battery die to avoid damage to my computer. KG had me go in there yesterday but I didn't have a receipt. I was so please when I walked in the store to see a lady standing right there, apparently just waiting for me to come and anxious to help! And they were so busy! Then she couldn't find KG's name in the computer and asked if I was sure he bought it there. Then a manager, who's helping someone else, walks up and sees my cord and says, "go grab her a new one, this is the only place you can get those and just recently lots of people have been having the same issue so the manufacturer was constantly working to improve them. We are so sorry for your inconvenience!" He told her to take the new cord out of the packaging and put my defective cord in there and write defective on the box and we were done! I walked out of there, 5 minutes later, with a brand new cord, and very please with everyone I encountered. They very easily could have turned me away since I didn't have a receipt. But they didn't. Their motto says it all: The Joy is in the Journey. Had I not had my sweet little sidekick next to me I would have browsed a bit because I liked the look of their store and I'll be frequenting it more often for my computer needs. A+ Maclife! Thanks.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

I am in love with...


On our trip to Utah, I fell in love. When I rounded one corner I new I had to have this lovely little stack of fabrics: ,
and these fabulous pillows:
They came home with us.
We also found the perfect addition for our kitchen to make the most of our small space and the perfect size sofa table. Those items did not make it into the car because we didn't have the room. Hopefully my friend Marco will be coming this way soon and he can bring them over for us. If anyone reading this will happen to come to Boise from that area anytime soon, I would love the favor! :)

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Family Reunion #3

Friday morning we were up at the ass crack of dawn. I haven't seen 6:30 am in...well I'm not sure how many years! KG was kind enough to be awake and even kinder to wake us up! Nice guy! He and I had gotten everything packed and in the car the night before, other then what we'd planned to wear that day. We loaded Flower in, made a stop by the parents hotel room to use their bathroom and were on our merry way. We stopped at a cute little town called Panguitch for breakfast.
While we were waiting for our food, Flower insisted on trading shades. I must say, we look pretty cute in each others glasses! It's sad that my glasses fit her and her sunglasses fit me!

After our tummies were full, we were on the road for Glen's Ferry, a nine hour drive. Flower did awesome! I am so proud of her and the fact that she can be a chill little traveler with us! Seriously, the girl rocks! She and I both fell asleep for a couple of hours as soon as we got in the car. Then she woke up and didn't even make a peep. I turned around to see if she was still sleeping and as soon as we made eye contact she gave a chipper, "hi!". She had been awake for a bit! We didn't even take toys for her. We took four books, all of which she hasn't looked at or had read to her yet. That way they'd be new and fun. We only stopped once in 8 1/2 hours and that was because KG was getting drowsy so we traded spots and I drove while he slept. I was devouring a really good book my mom gave me for the trip. When he woke up he read a couple of chapters to me. I love it when he reads to me! :)
We arrived without incident at 3:30 pm, ahead of schedule, in Glen's Ferry. I really love that city, even more so after the drive through town to our camp site. I could see myself living there. Soon we were at the campsite of the Madison reunion.
The guest of honor: Grandma Madison.
This reunion is for my dad's side of the family from his mom, on down, which includes him and his three siblings, all their kids and all their grandkids.
As soon as we got our tent up and got settled, I had requests from my two older nieces and a cousin to paint their nails. After a bit we looked over to find Flower taking shelter from the heat in their dogs kennel!

She was having way to much fun in there!
Soon enough everyone was arriving and it was time to eat. Let the fun begin! :)

All the kids got along great together and played on the lawn. It was so fun to watch the kids of all our cousins that we had so much fun with when we were young, now getting along!

After some mingling we played Family Feud. I believe my Aunt Kris' family won. All I know for sure is that we lost miserably in the first round and I didn't pay close attention after that. Rather, I enjoyed watching the kids! There was activity late into the night. Once the kids were all down for the night, KG and I snagged Brian and Keri to play a game of Treasure Island. We miss the time we used to spend with them and were happy for any chance we got to hang out!

Saturday KG and I woke up thrilled to see that Flower was still in her sleeping bag! Each time we've taken her camping so far, she wakes up around 2:30 am each night crying. Once we put her in our sleeping bags she goes right back to sleep. This is a big milestone! Yay for progress! Most of us spent the day being lazy and trying to move as little as possible in an attempt to stay cool. It was a blistering 107*!
Both my nieces wanted me to do their hair. I did things to both that I've never done before. I think they turned out pretty darn cute! Of course the fact that they are both gorgeous certainly helps! I did two fish-tail braids in my older nieces hair and a wrap around french braid on her younger sister.

There was some really fun activities for the kids including making their own homemade ice cream in plastic baggies and decorating bandannas which they also had family members sign.

After we ate lunch my niece was partaking in dessert. She was eating one of those cupcakes with the nasty, greasy, lard frosting. We had a conversation about not liking it. My sister, who also doesn't like the frosting, walked over and, when they thought I wasn't paying attention, it to my niece and suggested she smear me with it. She always has someone else do her dirty work! ;) Well, I beat her to it and grabbed what was on her plate and that's when the frosting fight began.




I think it's obvious who won this battle. As we were on our way to clean up we decided to put frosting on our lips and give my mom a kiss on each cheek. Mom was squirming, afraid we'd get it on her clothes, and then decided to let loose and grab a handful herself! Unfortunately there are no photos for that one but I will say I didn't come out as well the second time! Let me tell you, that lard frosting is a total pain in the ass to get off everything! We just had to succumb to the fact that we were going to be grease monkeys until we could get showered using some strong soap!
After lunch a sprinkler was set up so that everyone could cool down. Although everyone was having fun, my cousin had the great idea of a slip 'n slide. I put KG to work executing it! The kids had a blast! It was also great entertainment for those of us watching! It was a big hit!

The following slideshow is especially for my cousin Keri! :)


This frog seemed to following my little cousin around the whole weekend!


My nephew ended up staying the night with us that night. Everyone that stayed Saturday had to be out of their spots by noon on Sunday. We all said our good-byes and were on our way home. KG and I weaved our way through the neighborhoods searching for land and homes for sale so we could get an idea of what they sell for.
We really had a great time and I can hardly wait for the next one!
The entire vacation was awesome for us and it was nice to have a full week to spend together as a family!

Let's kick it.

can you dig it?

My photo
i love life. i love my family. i love adventures.

past ramblings

peace out