Love...Hate

I'm writing solely based on my love hate relationship with this picture.

I think Grace looks absolutely adorable, but I HATE that she looks so grown up. Where is my little baby going?

Pretty Baby

Gracie has been so cute lately. She is starting to put some words together and use her manners. But I'm afraid she is becoming quite the Diana, with a penchant for cleanliness. For example, she refuses to eat until her bib is on. Once she is done eating and hands are washed, she will find a kitchen towel and wipe the floor under the table saying "EEE Up, EEE Up" (Clean Up, Clean Up). She is adamant about having a bow in her hair at all times. She walks around the house with a blanket around her neck like a boa. At night, she wants me to sing "Pretty Baby" -- which is a little diddy that Grandpa Rammell would sing to babies, it goes "Everybody loves a baby, that's why I'm in love with you, Pretty Baby, Pretty Baby." She loves it. If she cries in the night, I'll go in to find her binkie and she will say "Pretty Baby."

On Sunday, she was suffering with croup and having trouble breathing so we took her into the Dr. They were worried about her O2 levels. She has a lovely habit of holding her breathe when she gets mad, to the point that she gets blue in the face. That didn't help matters. The Dr. was concerned enough to send her to Primary Children's. While there, she was poked and prodded...and held her breath. When the Dr.s cleared out, she was crying the saddest little cry, looked up to me and said, "Daddie, Pretty Baby."

The Stockings Were Hung...

We have finally finished our fireplace. As you can see, the room has drastically changed since we moved in. The first pic was taken from the MLS when we bought the home. Then, wandering in late one day from work, I was met with a pile of artificial rock. According to Diana, she couldn't take it anymore. We got the debris cleared and tile up pretty quick. The delay came with trying to decide on a mantel. We checked out dozens of books from the library without any luck. Diana found this mantel in a magazine. Not a woodworking magazine (a plan would have been nice), but a decorating magazine, and only part of the mantel was showing. So we winged it. We used one sheet of birch plywood, 4 planks of popular and trim (about $100 from the lumber yard). We got the last coat of paint on it this afternoon. We still need to put up base molding in the living room that will run across the front of the mantel. We are also still hunting for the perfect mirror to hang above it. But for now, we're calling it done.

[The stockings and tree skirt are a Diana creation]

Under Construction

Please bear with this temporary delay in blogging as we are currently under construction.

Best Birthday Present Ever!

Sure, my birthday was in June, but it feels like it lasted all summer. Diana completely surprised me with sailing lessons on Utah Lake. It was something I have always wanted to do. It has got to be the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. Now that I have finished the course, I had to tell my sweetheart thank you for such a great gift. If anyone else is interested, here is the website: www.nowbringmethathorizon.com. I can't say enough about the quality of the instruction and the fun I had.

So, who wants to rent a 35-footer to cruise through the Bahamas next summer (Yes, I'm serious).

It's Autumn Time, It's Autumn Time...

Pics of the two things I'm crazy about right now. My kids and the BEAUTIFUL fall colors in our yard. Yep, that's our yard, LOVE IT!

Gracie's Room

The room has been done for awhile, but it took time to get all of the details in place. Her crib is the crib that Diana slept in as a baby. I did the moldings, bead board, crown and window casing. Diana made the pictures, the bird mobile and curtains. When she showed me the fabric for the curtains I told her it would be ugly. Well, I was wrong. The pictures really don't do the curtains justice. Diana also found a dresser and the toy chest on KSL and repainted them. We're missing a picture of the rocking chair in the corner, but you get the idea.

[Diana Edit: The pictures make it look like her room is lime green and orange. It's really a beautiful celery green and melon pink :)]

Canning

Our apple trees were absolutely overflowing and even our childfruitavores couldn't make a dent. So, we decided to can. We picked, peeled, cored, cut, boiled, mashed, spiced and canned about 90lbs of apples last Saturday. The end result was about 12 quarts of pie filling, 12 quarts of applesauce and 12 half-pints of apple butter. It was a lot of work, but actually fun in a weird way. And, the house smelled all apple spicy delicious for about a week.

Piggy Tails

Daddy says my pigtails give me attitude. Mommy says my pigtails are cute and my attitude is from Dad!

Love,

Grace

p.s Sorry Mommy got carried away with the pig tail pictures :)

Capitol Reef

Last weekend, we headed to Capitol Reef National Park with the Johnsons and the Hunters. Capitol Reef is my (Justin) favorite National Park. The Park encompasses a huge area (most of which is inaccessible) but the campgrounds and visitor's center are in a green valley. The valley was home to Fremont Indians who left numerous petroglyphs and evidence of irrigation. Turn-of-the-century pioneers also left petroglyphs and further irrigated the valley. The best part of the park are the numerous orchards, which yield free fruit for visitors.

We had a lot of fun site-seeing and hiking. At night, we had some great meals. We even picked pears to use in a cobbler. Isaac loved playing with friends and visiting the school house, Grace only loved picking and eating pears in the orchard.

Happy Birthday Grace!

Grace is one! I think everyone knows she was our little 'surprise.' I don't know what better surprise a Momma could ask for. She is the happiest baby. Grace makes us smile everyday. She has the fastest army crawl you've ever seen. She dances in a funny bopping way ALL THE TIME.

She says: Daddad, cracker, boom, bubber (brother) and of course uh oh. She likes to squeeze noses, give fives and growl, growl, growl.

She LOVES her big brother. It's funny to watch them after nap time. It's like they're long lost friends reunited after several years. Grace reaches through her crib bars for Isaac and kicks her feet. I pick her up and she begs to get down to give him hugs and then the cutest little fish kisses you've ever seen.

We celebrated Graces birthday last Saturday. Enjoy a few pics of her eating her special cupcake (decorated by Isaac), opening presents and romping in the back yard in her new birthday dress. [Justin edit: Diana made the dress and the bow. Skillz!]

Isaac Says...

Lately it's kind of been a battle getting Isaac to cooperate to get his dirty diapers changed. He runs and hide and such. Yesterday our conversation was this:

Diana: Isaac, get over here so we can get your stinky bum changed.

Isaac: Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, you have to change my stinky bum.

I fell on the ground laughing and Isaac ran away. What a clever little boy.

Lagoon

We finally had a free Saturday and headed over to Lagoon on a whim. Isaac had so, so much fun. He ran from ride to ride for about six hours. When we finally got him buckled in his car seat, he was asleep before our car left the lot. Grace also had lots of fun, she squeeled everytime we passed the carousel. She felt so big riding on those animals. We'll have to do season passes next year when Isaac hits that magical 36" mark.

Fall Afternoons

After dinner, we usually play outside until bedtime. Isaac builds nests for birds and provides water. Grace begs for apples off the tree. Do they really have to grow up?!?

MY IJ Makes Me Smile

Justin's turn:

Diana was singing "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz, which I play all the time on the ukulele for Isaac, when Isaac said "Mom, no singing that, only Dad has a brain."

My IJ Makes Me Smile

Yes, that's what you think it is. A dented bumper and broken tail light on our week old van. I backed into our neighbors car yesterday.

After Justin got home from work we headed to the library. I was feeling pretty bad about wrecking the van. This is the converstation that followed.

Justin teasing Diana about crashing the van.

Diana: I'm just so stupid. I should have been paying closer attention.

Isaac starts to laugh: Mom is stupid!

Justin: No, Mom is not stupid.

Isaac: Yes, Mom said so, so Mom is stupid.

Justin: No, Mom just made a mistake, she isn't stupid.

Isaac: Mom, everyone makes mistakes.

I just started crying. Leave it to Isaac to know the right thing to say when I'm feeling down. Where did he learn 'everyone makes mistakes' from anyway? What a cute kid!

Reunion and More

11-year highschool reunion:

Why 11 year? Because we felt like it, that's why.

I really enjoyed connecting with old friends. For some reason, when you move to Nebraska, you lose track of people. Hopefully now that we are living in Zion we will make good on plans to stay in touch. Diana knows my friends pretty well at this point and had fun chatting the night away. She also looked hella good.

After the reunion we headed to Wyoming where I babysat while Diana partied it up at shower after shower. Grandpa did relieve the babysitting duties by putting Isaac to work on the farm. We have been doing alot of things with levers lately so Isaac was pumped to see a tractor lever in action.

And just because we weren't completely worn out, we hiked Donut Falls last night.

Shadow

A few weekends ago while up in Wyoming, Uncle Wayne saddled some horses for a ride. I say saddled "some" horses instead of "their" horses because I'm not convinced that they actually own them. You see, including dating, I have been going up to Wyoming for seven years and this was the first time on their horses. I often teased my mother-in-law that they merely rented the horses to impress me. I'd just like to say publicly that I am glad they sprang a little extra on that rental so we could ride them.

Isaac was beyond excited for the ride. We spent about a half an hour in the fields before the rain chased us back. Isaac kept telling Shadow to GIDDYUP, which Shadow thankfully ignored. The only trouble was when Isaac picked up that my clicking was code for giddy up. Poor horse didn't know whether to listen to my "whoa" or IJ's click. Apart from being worried on a short gallop, Isaac really enjoyed himself. He has since talked incessently about Shadow to anyone who will listen.

Busy Busy

What a weekend! We're trying to make the most of July 2009 before it ends. We started at Hogle Zoo with BFF's Rachel and Henry. I kept my eye on Henry who kept putting the moves on Gracie. I don't want any funny business until the we sort the dowry out. Anyway, the kids had a great time, even if ours were whiny. Isaac asked for days to see the kangaroo, but the darn thing wasn't out and about. On the ride home, I asked if he had fun, he replied, "didn't even see the kangaroo." He was also disappointed he couldn't kiss a snake, don't ask me where that came from.

Then Justin took off with his brothers and some friends to Causey Reservoir for a quick canoe trip. They canoed to the far side of the lake and camped a night. While there, they did some cliff diving. Brian was the most ambitious, but they all went off the "high one." Trying to make them jealous for leaving early, Randy J. sent the best shot of the bunch on a cliff they missed. Yikes!

Last but not least we made it to the fireworks at Weber State in Ogden (our alma mater). We gave Isaac the full tour and promotional brochure; we hope for the sake of our pocket book he becomes a wildcat. We couldn't believe the scope of campus improvements, its beautiful! For those of you that don't live in Ogden, Weber puts on a symphony by a large pond with cannons out on an island. The lead-in piece to the fireworks is the 1812 Overture, with canons to finish it off. Grandma "Suz" and Brian joined us. Needless to say, our kids have NEVER been up anywhere close to that late.

We may need next weekend to recover!

The Lodge

We spent last weekend in Victor, Idaho at "The Lodge." The Lodge is a huge cabin on one of Great Grandpa Johnson's old farms. He gave the land to his 12 kids and their spouses so that family would have a place to gather. As a kid, I spent at least a week every summer sassing Great Aunts, fishing in creeks, hunting mice and causing trouble with my cousins.

The weekend was full of cool mountain air, sports, greasy hamburgers and screaming kids. There were 10 kids under the age of 5 - Isaac was in heaven. He has begged every day to go back. We all decided that next year needs to include a few extra days. Sorry for the picture overload, but cousins will want to steal pictures!

The great part about The Lodge, but more about our family, is the complete lack of pretension. No one is shy to pick up a guitar and start a song or participate in activities. No one worries about make-up at breakfast or a flawless golf game. Or more likely, we all lack a measure of inhabition that results in our mutual embarassment. I don't really know, but I like it.

Ripeness is All

This is why we LOVE having a garden! I know, there are a lot of pictures here. So, we'll just let them tell the story.

Mmmm...homemade raspberry ice cream!

Peasant or Pioneer Explained

So, I've been trying my hand at sewing cute little girly dresses for Grace. I think they've turned out cute. But, Justin, on numerous occasions, has mentioned that several look like pioneer dresses and Grace is a 'cute little pioneer baby.'

I was starting to get a complex. Perhaps I thought they were cute just because I was the seamstress, but really they were pioneerish. Thank you friends, now we know that not all handmade clothing looks pioneerish. Justin admitted that he's got no clue about the difference between pioneer and peasant, he just liked to push my buttons.

Another Rammell Family feud settled on the blog. THANKS :)

Peasant or Pioneer

Peasant or Pioneer dress?
I just want and/or need your opinions about this dress. Leave a comment. I'll explain later.

4th of July

We spent the 4th in the Uintahs, in a meadow near Middle Beaver. Isaac had an absolute blast riding the 4 wheelers, roasting marshmellows, and going on walks with Uncle Wayne. We did a short hike to a lake where Di perfected her fly cast (she's a natural). We had an afternoon hail storm that brought a river through our tent cutting us a night short and made getting back to the road a little difficult. But no worries, we still had a great time. The best part of the trip for me was the 4 hour nap I took in the tent, joined half-way through by Gracie. The best part of the trip for Di was getting the kids in a post-camp bath.

We unfortunately forgot our camera but the iphone saved the day once again. And as a bonus, the phone records location of the picture by GPS. If you click a picture, the photo location map shows right where it was taken, COOL!

Childproof?

Yeah. Right.

Arches

Proof that we did have some fun...despite the barf.

As Cicero said....

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."




Now if I could just get to building some shelves...

On Notice

I'm talking to you Mr. Quail, with your wife and assorted concubines. I thought when we moved in that quail were charming, giving the place that old country feel and all. And besides ya'll just hung around the creek out back, no trouble at all, or so I thought...

Well, after expending a considerable amount of effort in our garden and beaming with pride at a luscious lettuce patch and sprouting herbs, I found you and your harlots out there gobbling it all up. And now I notice that your family has increased to include 926 small chickies and I worry for the fate of my carrots, radishes, beans, peas, berries, well you get the idea.

As of last night, I replanted my luscious lettuce patch and herb garden. And now you are officially on notice: in 58-74 days I'm going to be hungry and I'm either going to eat a salad out of my garden or grill quail.

Just Because He's Handsome!

Uncle Wayne, thanks for the pictures!

The Great Debate #1

As many of you know, we've started painting and personalizing our house a bit. Graces room was first. I'd LOVE to post pics, but we are kind of stuck. The room is almost done, we just can't decide/agree on window casings. We've come to the conclusion that we like the Craftsman style window casings.

Here's the dilemma. One of us thinks all the window casings in the house need to match and be the same style, the other doesn't. What do you guys think? Vote on the poll in the sidebar and leave comments if you'd like to expound upon your answer.

Moab Trip...Failed

Travelogue

Friday: Isaac whines, and whines, and whines
Sat. a.m.: Hike to Delicate Arch with both kids, Isaac whines
Sat. p.m.: Explore Canyonlands, Isaac whines
Sat. 5:30 p.m. (30 miles from running water): Isaac hurls all over himself and car seat
Sun. 1:30 a.m. (asleep in tent, no running water in campground): Isaac yacks all over his sleeping bag, our sleeping bag, and the tent
Sunday 5:30 A.M.: Home

We apologize to the Johnsons for ditching them in the middle of the night. But busting into your tent with my night-time fro, reiking of twice-baked chicken nuggets, in the middle of the night just didn't seem right. Rain check?

Gracie

My Mommie made me this dress and I'm cute. That's all. 

The Difference Between Boys and Girls...

is that Mom and Gracie want to wear dresses and get their picture taken in front of flowers....



and boys just want to play in the water!

What will he play with next?

I'm sorry you have to listen to my voice, but the video is just too cute.

Another explanation of our blog header

I've tried for two days now to get cute pics of the kids with the awesome flowers in our yard. Isaac would do everything BUT look at me and Grace just turned up her nose because she HATES the grass. So, just a little reminder that not every picture is a cheesy smiling one, but not any less precious.

Our Tender Hearted Little Boy

Yesterday as I was nursing Grace I looked over to see what Isaac was up to. He had a pencil in his hand and was coloring inside the cover of one of Justin's favorite books. I gasped and said, 'Isaac, we don't color in books. You better go tell Dad you're sorry.' Isaac immediately started crying. Not a fit kind of cry, but a broken hearted kind of cry. I told him again he needed to tell Dad he was sorry and he took off running. I assumed he was going to tell Justin he was sorry, but he ran right passed Justin sobbing, 'I going to my room.'

Cute little boy. He hates to disappoint his Dad. He would rather sit in his room for a timeout than own up to what he did. I guess we need to work on apologies, but it seems our timeouts are pretty effective.

Did you know the wise man built his house upon a rocket ship?

That is the Wise Man and the Foolish Man according to Isaac. He makes me laugh.

Gracies Giggles

We often call Grandmas just to let them listen to Graces giggles. But, for the rest of you who haven't received a Grace giggling phone call...

We were playing in the back yard last night. Isaac 'needed' a snack, so I promptly went inside to find one. As I was heading back out I saw and heard this. (listen close at the beginning)



Sorry the clip is so short and I'm talking. I missed a couple minutes of the giggling by the time I got the camera. Hopefully it was enough to make you smile.

Grace is lucky to have such a fun big brother.

Mea Culpa

I realized tonight that we haven't posted a picture of the front of our home.  So ta da.  There is also a shot of the backyard from the other side of the swing set.  We absolutely love the house.  But to be fair, we do miss a few things about apartment living, such as: maintenance free living, getting away with rag tag "decorating" and having a large annonymous dumpster for incriminating evidence. Can we just say how happy we are with overhead lights in every room, bathroom fans that work separately from lights, fenced yards, and absolute silence at night?

And finally, when I got home from work Isaac said, "Dad, come ir, see bout Ike's new bed. Mom maked SORSOR (dinosaur) pillows, yes!"  He has talked non-stop about them ever since.  Thus furthering my personal dream that Isaac become a world-renowned paleontologist. 

Tea Parties

I saw this chart today and have been staring at it ever since: it maps federal spending.  I have heard a lot about tea parties lately (from friends, clients, random people in the elevator) and rather than discuss whether you think that tea parties are totally awesome or just plain silly, I propose the following exercize.  If you want lower government spending (and the lower tax burden that accompanies it) tell me what you'd cut! If you want to raise government spending, tell me what you'd add.

You can zoom in on the chart by clicking here.

Disclaimer: this is not a political blog, this is Diana's cute family blog. Justin just wants to hear what you'd cut or add. If you want to debate/discuss/rant/bellow/belch/or yell about government policy, let us do lunch. 

Easter

We had a happy Easter and hope you did too!  Isaac had a riot searching the house for eggs and even more fun gorging on candy for breakfast. Before heading to church and to Great Grandma's for dinner, we put the kids in their "Easter clothes" and attempted a few pictures.  Grace wasn't having it.  But Isaac was hamming it up, until the batteries died, that is.  

Just for fun we threw in a few other pics.  As you can see, Grace loves to sit on her dad's neck. She then bends forward, grabs cheeks/ears and sucks on the nose.  We call it baby boarding, the newest form of torture.  I did agree to upgrade her diapers to Huggies and to start work on painting her room this weekend, so I guess it worked.

Finally, we have a family meeting.  Sunday mornings are for reading the NY Times, but the kids don't get that.  Grace always steals the paper and Isaac likes to color on it.  So we had a little talk about respecting newspapers.  Isaac just argued that print media was dead and Grace ate the stock quotes. 

House Pics...

...Part one :)

We're starting with the most important part of the house. At least according to Isaac.

Any Guesses?

For anyone who knows anything about our little boy, you know he is very active and LOVES to play outside. We've had to install numerous types of locks on ALL exits of our house. Isaac spends every waking moment trying to escape and begging to go out when he realizes he can't get out himself. Sounds like a puppy, huh?

(our yard isn't trashed with old sinks, we took it out of the play house to clean it up)

Thanks to Uncle Brian for taking the great picture of our little family.

Now, onto the second most important part. MY PIANO. After five long years my piano and I will be in the same dwelling. Kind of strange, but tons of fun! Here are some pics of my HULK of a husband heaving the piano into the house ALL BY HIMSELF. A furniture mover/dolly and I did help a bit, but Justin did 99% of the work.

Until Part Two...

Party On

On Saturday, just before we started loading the truck, another "Notice of Party" appeared on our door from our upstairs neighbors. And so, in the spirit of yellow-legal-pad-paper notices, I taped the following note to their door:

A House, A House!

Finally, finally, finally, the day has come. We closed on a home today. After all the stress and countless Saturday showings, the search is over. 

The Story:  After the last home fell through, we decided to quit wandering around the valley and wait for a rambler to pop up within a few miles of work. Last week (on Monday), Di spotted the "perfect" house and we got a quick showing.  It really was the perfect house.  We put in an offer within an hour of seeing it and we came to terms with the sellers on Tuesday.  Yesterday, our incredible mortgage guy was ready to close so we moved the closing up to today. The sellers are making a herculean effort to move their family so we are waiting until the weekend to move in (they have been really, really great to work with).  Not to worry, we will be good landlords; of course, considering the landlords we have had over the years, "good" is relative.  And, at this time, we would really like to give a shout-out to Uncle Harry and Auntie Nancy for the $8k home buyers credit coming our way next month. Utah stiffed us, their housing stimulus only covers new construction.  

The House:  Rambler in Sandy (about 26th east and 82nd south, just 3 miles from my office), 3k sq. ft., a great yard that backs up to a creek, new furnace/windows/water heater/central air, and an oversized garage.   The house is incredibly clean and well maintained.  Diana has a craft room picked out in the basement and we are in the midst of an intense negotiation over the size of the library (so we move a few walls...big deal, right?).  So now instead of camping trips and the cute doings of our kids our blog will now feature home improvement projects. 

Diana's Mood:  Off the charts.

Pictures to come...

Isaac and His 'bikel'

We've been out of law school for how long now...almost two years! Well, we're still dumpster diving.

Justin took the garbage out one night and came back to the apartment riding this scooter. There were two of them left by the dumpster, so he grabbed one for Isaac. It's in great shape, I think it must have been left in an apartment when someone moved out. 

Justin washed it off and left it in the living room for Isaac to find in the morning. When morning came and Isaac saw the scooter, he immediately skipped the hug Dad and watch Sesame Street routine and went right for the scooter. His eyes lit up like it was Christmas and he exclaimed, "A bikel for Ikes!"

We had to get Isaac some protective gear, which has become a staple of his wardrobe, because riding the 'bikel' in the house is not good enough. He begs everyday to ride it outside. He usually just rides it on our patio and plays the 'help me' game. There is a little hole in the wood on our patio fence. He rides his scooter around, then hops off, runs to the hole in the fence and screams HELP ME! I'm a little worried one day I'll get a knock on the door from the neighbors or child protective services. I'll just have to explain that my two year old has a very healthy imagination. That's why his dinosaur has to ride his 'bikel' too.

TMI

Perhaps this is too much information for our blog. But, it made me laugh so here it goes.

Grace started eating solids right around four months. Since then, she has a little constipation issue. She only has a bowel movement about every five or six days. While this saves us a TON of money on diapers, I'm not sure the mess made by the said bowel movement is worth the money saved.

This afternoon was one of Graces BM days. She was sitting in the Bumbo while Isaac and I ate lunch. When we were finished I picked her up to put her down for a nap. To my surprise there was about two inches of lovely sweet potato colored yuck all up her back. I'm NOT kidding, there was really two inches.

I'm sorry to be so graphic, the funny part is coming.

After I picked her up, I let out a 'WHOA' and told Isaac to come along, we had to change Graces bottom. To which Isaac replied, 'Mom, lucky!'

I think we live a very abundant life. I try to make sure Isaac realizes he is lucky to have all he has. I tell him he's lucky all the time.

Thanks Isaac, for reminding me I'm lucky to have happy, healthy kids. Even if that means cleaning up HUGE messes every five or six days.

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Happy Happy Birthday to our Isaac. He turned 2 today! YIKES! I'm in the same boat as every other parent, he's not supposed to be 2 yet!
We celebrated Isaac's Birthday in Ogden on Saturday with both sets of Grandparents. Isaac got a new tool set/workbench from Mom and Dad, a few cards with candy and money from Great Grandparents, a Barney video and 'treats' from Uncle Ben and Brian, and Geo Trax from both sets of Grandparents. Isaac LOVES them. Unfortunately, so does Justin, who will now spend a large portion of our discretionary income on train tracks.

Isaac didn't know what to think about everyone making a fuss over him and us signing Happy Birthday. His face in the video cracks me up.

We are so lucky to have our happy little Isaac. He is always making us smile and laugh. He's a great little talker, a fantastic vegetable eater, a good sharer, and an awesome big brother.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!

Yep, I'm Lucky!

I've been thinking and thinking for a couple days now of a new March header for our blog and a saying to go on it. The only thing I can think of is how lucky I am to have the family I have. I couldn't ask for a better husband or cuter children. So, you get to look at how lucky I am for the rest of the month :)

I thought I'd post a little bit of what we've been up to. We promise, once we find a house, our blog won't be so boring! Isaac is really into hats of any kind, his bathrobe, eating muffin batter, reading the paper with Dad and having Mom and Dad take naps with him in his bed. Grace is enjoying playing with her 'new' toy, smiling her contagious smile, sucking her thumb and eating anything she can get her hands on. Enjoy!

Mmmm...Granola Bars

Isaac has been an unusually hungry little boy lately. So, when he begged for a granola bar right before dinner I didn't think anything of it and just handed one over. As the cooking routine goes with young children, I was running back and forth between supervising play in the living room and cooking in the kitchen. During one of my trips to the kitchen the living room grew a little too quiet. I left Grace on the floor playing with some toys and Isaac standing a couple feet away with his granola bar. When I returned to the living room Isaac proudly announced, "Mom, Ikes share grola bar if Drace!" Forgive me for not posting or taking any pictures. I was a bit more concerned with getting half a granola bar out of the mouth of my five month old. YIKES! Let's just hope there isn't anything in them Grace is allergic to. Needless to say, Grace spent the rest of dinner prep time in the kitchen with me.

Valentine's Day

Many thanks to my parents who watched the kids while I took my Valentine out cross-country skiing and to a romantic dinner. Needless to say, it has been a long time since we have used our skies. We got to spend a few hours on the trails above Mt. Ogden golf course breathing fresh air and making out in the trees. Afterwards, we went to dinner to the most romantic place possible -- Lee's Mongolian BBQ. I mean, how could one possibly pass up an all-you-can-eat-wok-it-in-your-face BBQ joint on free cheesecake night?

Pockets!

Isaac has really been into his pockets lately. There is no telling what we'll find in them at the end of the day. He has some pants that have fake pockets on the front. So, he tries to find his back pockets. We then end up with all sorts of things down his pants, socks and diapers. It's fun to have something spice up the diaper changing :)


Here's a glimpse into Isaac's day and his pockets. We've got seventy-seven cents, a button, a wooden dowel and half a crayon.

Ouray

So, I have to be in Moab for a District Court hearing on Tuesday, February 17th, the day after President's Day.  And while I'm so very close Ouray, why not ice climb? I WILL IF I CAN FIND A PARTNER -- wanna come?  

P.S. I have enough equipment for two!

Bye Bye Blossom

As if yesterday didn't stink bad enough, now this!

Blossom Dearie, Cult Chanteuse, Dies at 84 (Click for Link to NY Times Story)

Diana and I have been stalking her upcoming tour dates since she took a break in 2006 and were very disappointed last fall when the club she used to sing at closed shop.  

25 Things

So Facebook has a thing going around where you are suppose to list 25 random things about yourself. Diana isn't the type for lists, so I made one for her.

Over the weekend, we had one of Di's old roommates over and I discovered some additional quirkiness I dare not add here. So my question is: anybody else have some random factoid about Diana? Will you post it in the comments?

Here's the list I posted:

1. She eats the same thing no matter where we go out to eat: a fried chicken salad
2. She has a phobia of stickers and will squeal if approached with one
3. She LOVES to sew and constantly has ten projects
4. She has green eyes when she is happy; blue eyes when she is mad
5. She wants to start a Master in Library Science and be a research librarian
6. She is difficult to find gifts for because she never wants anything
7. She has never spent over $25 for a pair of pants
8. She has poor taste in men
9. She taught herself to play piano
10. She has a lovely voice but steadfastly refuses to sing
11. She could never do Atkins because of her love affair with bread
12. Her favorite car is a Subaru Legacy – but NOT the hatchback
13. Her favorite activity is an afternoon walk
14. Her favorite color is yellow
15. She remembers EVERYTHING from her high school and college classes, from human anatomy to physics, often shaming her husband in public
16. She has never had a ticket or been in an accident
17. She growls when upset
18. Small children adore her
19. Her skin will not tan, only burn and freckle
20. She has never dyed her hair
21. She often confuses her right from her left
22. She hates to be discombobulated (her word)
23. She gives great advice
24. She wants a small house and a big, big yard
25. She is always right

Pay It Forward

This is such a fun little game going around. I had to join in. THANKS PMB!!

"The Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it forward". I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and posted out sometime within the next month (I changed that from "year". A year is too long. But it would make the next sentence make more sense). How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive! What you need to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'PAY IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. I'd love for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Pay It Forward recipients."

Have Fun!

House Hunting Stinks

Ok, this house thing is getting REALLY old. Our contract went kaput.

The deal was that the previous owners built a home in Daybreak but couldn't sell their Sandy home. So their contractor bought it from them and we were going to buy it from the contractor. We had worked the contractor into a killer, killer deal. So what's the problem? You can't do an FHA loan on a home bought or sold within the past 90 days, and the contractor closed on the house last Monday. We are pretty adamant about going FHA because it's such a great deal. If we do the same deal on a conventional loan, our payment will be about $300.00 more per month. So, we are back to square one. There is of course the possibility that the house will still be on the market in 90 days.

RAR.

Notice of Party

This is too funny not to share.  

We live below 3 single guys who live to make noise.  If you were pull a Plato and define their very essence, that essence would be noise.  About two months ago at three in morning, the big one and I had a very engaging conversation about the consequences of waking up my children. To avoid more physical confrontation, we just keep Officer Bryant on speed dial.  He has nice calming way of telling them to shut up.  And while they may argue with me, they don't argue with a large mustached man who happens to carry a firearm. 

For the past month, it has been relatively calm.  When Di returned from errands this morning, she found this note on our door.  I think it's a nice gesture.  At least we get some warning and they're making an effort to keep the noise away from the bedrooms and cigarette butts off our patio.  It is a little wierd though, getting a 'Notice of Party' instead of an invitation to party.  I guess this means we shouldn't show up with a plate of cookies and the Settlers of Catan.  

The best part is that our lease is up mid-March, when we will move into our house (just got it tonight, that'll be the next post).  

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures taken a while ago...in November. It was an adventure trying to get Isaac to smile, but I think we got a few good pics.

But, let's be realistic, is that what my family looks like every day? No way! Check out the pic in our new blog header, or this one.

I spend probably seventy percent of my day reading 'stories.' Isaac is a book fanatic. Hmmm, wonder where he got that from. By the looks of it, Grace likes stories too.

So, we've been hassled about giving a Rammell update, and there you have it. I wish there was something more glamorous to share. If Justin and I aren't reading stories or changing diapers, we are looking for houses. No progress on that front, yet. So, really, there's nothing else to update you on.

Don't give up on us. Once the house hunting is over, we'll get back to the Rammell adventures you all look forward to hearing about.

Because You Need A Little Grace In Your Life