Playing Catch Up

Things are starting to settle down. Life almost feels "normal" again (knock on wood), so I thought I would catch up on posting some pics.

Having fun at Tauphus park (August).

Swimming during Eldon's "Summer Splash" event. (August).

Kind of embarrassing, but...yes, my friends and I were at Barnes & Noble at midnight when Breaking Dawn was released. I laughed so hard that night, fun times. :)

McKyla was so brave for her kindergarten shots! Her pediatrician's office is so cool; each room has a different theme. (August)

Look! Gracie's wearing pink--and loving it as you can tell. (August in the Fieldstone house).

Annalese at her first day of school. Another year with an awesome teacher! (August)

McKyla and Conner lining up for their first day of kindergarten! (August)

Annalese turned 8-years-old and got her ears pierced. (September)

Annalese in her baptism dress. She was baptised on October 11th. Thanks to everyone that was able to come. It really meant a lot to Annalese, and was fun for us.

Gracie and Kaurlie before the baptism.

Going for a 6-wheeler ride with the cousins after the baptism. (Don't try this at home).

Cyndalynn and Senika hanging out.
Baylee girl dancing. Her and McKyla must have changed clothes a thousand times that weekend!

Westin, Annalese, and Justin watching the movie they made with the cousins. It was suppose to be scary, but mostly it was hillarious!

Guess that's it for tonight! More later.

M.I.A.

Haven't posted in a LONG while. Life is just a blur from about the end of July to now. Some how we managed to get moved into the new house. The building inspectors granted us a temporary certificate of occupancy at the very last minute. Thanks to Rob and Annette for their truck and all their help, Brad and Sara for letting us use their awesome trailer, Wayne and Gail for coming back to rescue us, and all those muscle men that stepped in to help.


Signed papers on the loan yesterday. Bit by bit things are falling into place. I love the new house. This feels like a good change. But I have to admit, all this stress just about broke me. Good thing I have an amazing husband willing to hang in there with me. Seriously.


Well, now that things are settling down, I am going to find myself. If I should happen to come by here before I get back, please keep me here until I return. Thanks.

Fun Times In Colorado

I really shouldn't be blogging right now. My mother-in-law took my kids for a few days so they could go to a circus near her house. I am trying to use this time to get things done on the houses, but am feeling less than motivated this morning. Just had to post a few pics and comments on our trip to Denver. It was our Mills Family Christmas in July (getting to hard to travel during the holidays). It was a ton of fun. Sorry for the long posting, but the slide shows don't print out as individual pictures and this is pretty much my journal...so here ya go.

My brother is awesome! He bought each family their own Wii. That's not the only reason he is awesome, but I thought that was pretty generous of him. Anyway, the kids (of all ages) had a blast playing Wii games. Here's Westin and Cannan playing baseball and loving it.

We went to dinner at Casa Bonita Saturday night. I felt pretty special. I got to sit with my nephews at the "boys" table. Eldon sat at the "girls table.'
The kids love Casa Bonita. They have shows where the actors dive off of cliffs into a pool in the middle of the dining area. This is a picture of the cousins waiting for the cliff diving show to begin. (Sorry, no time to photoshop. The white spots are flecs of water from the water fall).
If you look closely you can see the cliff diver diving in front of the lighted water.
The kids loved going through the haunted tunnel. They made me take them over and over. This is McKyla being scared and loving it. There are a lot of fun things for the kids to do there.
Gracie loves to be a little fish. The kids were SOOO happy to get to go swimming all day at a water park.

This crazy picture is of Shawn and Baylie fliping over at the end of one of the slides. The same thing happened to Kevin and Cannan. The kids were so brave!

Grandma and Grandpa were brave, too. No one could believe Mom got Dad to ride down the slides!

Dad and Jake. I caught Dad with his REAL smile on (not his fake picture smile)!
Justing and Westin on one of the slides.
Sunday night we went on a rock hunt to find rocks for the fire pit. Annalese caught a horny toad. Weird little creature (the horny toad I mean).
The kids were pretty impressed with the horny toad. The skits at the camp fire that night were hillarious. I can't wait to watch the video. It was cool because everyone participated.

Wish I got more pictures. My sister planned all sorts of fun games and things. It was a blast! I'll have to steel some pictures from other family members and post again soon. For now, I've got to get to work on my "to do" list!!!

Class Reunion

I feel like the most blessed girl ever. My sweet husband encouraged me to go to my 10-year reunion and offered to stay home with the kids and manage the construction projects. I felt really guilty going, but I am so glad I did! I had such a blast!

Met up with my BBF (best babe forever ;) at the Phoenix airport. So good to see Kami! It was like we'd never been apart--except all the cool things she's accomplished over the years. Anyway, we got to ride up to Snowflake together and her sweet family let me stay with them.

Me and Kami in front of the Snowflake Temple.
So sad the temple was closed (due to the 24th celebrations). Guess it's a good excuse to go back sometime.
Looking at Rena's high school scrapbook at her and Mike's house. LaRen is absolutely gorgeous! She is expecting in about 5 weeks; she looked like this little thing with a fake tummy stuck on her.
Me and Kams at the good ol' Snowflake city ballpark--the place to be on summer nights. Well, that and Ed's IGA. Good times...good times...
LOL! Kami and I ended up being in the Pioneer Days parade. Her brother-in-law needed us to fill in on his float. This is Kami with her cute niece, Emma (she reminds me of Gracie). I missed my kids--even teared up a few times--but it was nice to be able to run around like a teenager again.

Helping Kams get ready after the parade (just like in high school). We went to a reunion picnic and then to see "Joseph and the Amazing Techni-Color Dream Coat".

Me and Vanessa Webb (Rubalcava) and Heather Reidhead (Bryant) at the reunion dinner. So fun to laugh with them! I didn't get to talk to everyone I wanted to, but it was a lot of fun catching up with people. Wish I got more pictures.

Me, Kams & Nessa getting "wild" after the reunion dinner. We almost went over to the Stake Dance next door--but then we thought the better of it and just took Nessa home. I miss going to dances with Vanessa; she rocks!

Me and Kams after church on Sunday. The time went so fast. Didn't get to go see everyone I wanted to, but it was still so fun. Time to go home.

Me at the Show Low airport--it was hilarious. This is the smallest airport I have ever been to. I got "randomly" selected for additional security screening. I said, "I guess it's easier to get randomly selected when there are only three passengers in the airport." I must say, they were very THOROUGH with their screening. :) Then it was time to walk out to the plane.

This is the smallest plane I've been on. There is no door on the cockpit so you can watch the pilots fly the plane. You know it's a bumpy ride when the pilots are holding on to the "oh crap!" handle on the ceiling while their flying the plane! (It really wasn't that bad).

I picked a flight with a lay-over in Denver, so I got to meet up with my sister and her kids for dinner. It was a short visit but SO good to see them any chance I get. Look how cute these kids are.

I drove from the airport in Salt Lake City and got home around 2 a.m. Monday morning. This is what I came home to. My sweet girls made me presents and picked me flowers. Like I said--the most blessed girl ever.

Gets even better. This is a beautiful thing to come home to--empty laundry baskets. I found a note in my bathroom from Eldon. He said he knew it was going to be a rough week (we had a lot to get done before leaving for Colorado). So, he washed all the laundry and cooked eggplant parmesan, sweet and sour chicken, and chicken noodle soup for meals this week! I didn't have to cook all week! Now tell me I'm not the most blessed girl ever :) j/k

Caution: May be inappropriate, but funny.

So we made everyone take naps today and we are AMAZED how much happier we all are. These summer hours are catching up to us. Anyway, thought I would share this conversation Gracie and I just had. Made me laugh!

I'm typing and Gracie is squeezing my ARM singing, "Squishy boobs, squishy boobs!" I'm thinking, o.k. she doesn't know what "boobs" are . . . well aparently she does.

Gracie: "Squishy boobs, squishy boobs!"
Me: "I'll squish your boobs." (a.k.a. "stop squeezing my arm!" I keep typing.)
Gracie: "Don't! I don't have any boobs." (She lifts her shirt and looks at herself.)
Gracie: "Well, I have these ones. But they're like Daddy's boobs." (I start to laugh.)
Gracie: "You don't have boobs like mine. Show me your boobs!"
Me: "Now you do sound like Daddy."

Sneaker Night

Eldon called us from scout camp Friday evening. He was having so much fun. I asked if it was nice to be hanging with some boys for a change (even the dog is a girl at our house). He admitted it was kind of nice. Good thing he couldn't see what we were doing. We were getting all girly!

The girls and I decided to have a "Sneaker Night." That means, "basically what we're gonna' do is dance." (Not a big fan of Vanessa Hudgens, but you can hear the song on my playlist below.)

So, we started the night with some Pizza Hut pizza and strawberry limeades from Sonic. Yum. Then the girls wanted to get "dressed up" in my clothes and put on some make-up before we started our dance-fest. It was all fun at first, then I took some pics and it totally scared me! Annalese looks like she is 18-years-old! (This is what I don't like about Vanessa Hudgens, trying to grow up too soon!).

Yikes! Fortunately the girls decided they weren't ready to grow up. I was talking about how they look too old and Annalese said, "Mom, I don't want to go to college." Then she told McKyla, "I heard you have to leave your mom and dad for all year and you have to live up there. You have to cook and clean all by yourself." McKyla got all worried and said, "Mom I don't ever want to go to college! I want to stay with you!" She insisted we take the make-up off immediately. Of course I want them to go to college some day, but I was glad to wash off the make-up and have my little girls back for now.

Wonderful World of Construction

Just wanted to take a minute to celebrate a few more baby steps towards finishing the new house. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with this house. I hate the constant "to do" lists, the endless decisions, and the continual challenges. I love seeing all that planning and work come together to create something beautiful. It has been fun in that regard--to see what you imagine come to life. Though we often complain about the challenges (sorry), I know we have been blessed. Most things have turned out better than we imagined or hoped. Here's a sneak peak. Remember, we're still under construction...



Stucco and rock are done! I believe they started in March. Should have probably taken 3-4 weeks instead of 3-4 months; but, hey, I think it turned out pretty good.

This is the fireplace in the great room. We wanted it done in this special stone coating (Arcus Stone). We thought we were all set with a contractor to do it; unfortunately he strung us along for weeks and then tripled the price! Yikes. Fortunately, we were blessed to find Southfork Custom Coatings. Jason did a great job at a very reasonable price. So grateful Eldon did the footwork to find him. (The fireplace still needs the decorative faceplate put on in these pics)

Looking down on the greatroom from above. I think Eldon went a little crazy with the trim in this house. We'll never make our money back on it when we sell, but it is really beautiful. It is fun to have tried it this once. Eldon and Dan (our trim guy) came up with some really cool stuff.
This is Eldon's cofford ceiling. Each of the boxes will be lit with rope lighting hidden in the crown molding.

Paneling in the guest room. (Hint, hint. Friends and fam, come stay with us!)

Piano room. (Can't wait to take the white paper off the glass on the doors.)

Darris (our tile setter) and I layed out the travertine for the girls bathroom today. It's kind of different, but I think it's beautiful. Eldon found a wholesaler who sells travertine for about the price of porcelain tile. Score! This is a sneak peak of Annalese's room. She has been wanting a clock for her room for a long time. We have been waiting to find one that will match the colors of her new room (blue and brown). I love the blue we picked, and I found this clock on clearance for $12.50!!!

We'll that's it for now. More later. Posting this has really helped me see how much we have been blessed throughout this project. I feel so unworthy of this house. It's not the biggest or the nicest house around by any means; it's just so much more than I need. I will feel more comfortable when we sell it. But, for now, I am grateful I can be a part of creating it!