My Baby's Room

Here it is: the long awaited pictures of the before and after of baby Ray's room. This room used to be the twin's room when we first moved in, so it was tan with a teddy bear border, which was so hard to take off I would never recommend wall paper to anyone. Then the room turned into a guest room when we moved Enoch and Isaac into a bigger room. So to the boys it is still known as the guest room. I told John that I wanted a light pink room with white bead board. He tried to talk me into something like purple or green, but I said if we are only having one girl it better be a pink room. So he painted the ceiling and the closet white first, then put up the bead board and painted that white. Finally he got to the pink and I think even he enjoyed the color we chose. It's very soft and feminine. Although he'll never admit it, I think John really enjoyed fixing up her room. It helps him prepare for his little baby daughter.

My sister Liz and I just sold our vinyl lettering company, so I printed off a bunch of stickers for Rachel's wall before we sold it. We are naming her Rachel Elizabeth, so the sign has Elizabeth through it if you can't see it in the picture. I also made her some jewelry: binkie holders, anklets and bracelets that are hanging under her name. I found her bedding at Walmart of all places and saved like $100. It's exactly the colors I wanted for her room: pink, dark pink, and lime green. I just bought a new Canon Rebel digital camera so when she comes I can take some pictures of my boys with her and put them in the frames. We are now just anxiously awaiting her arrival. The boys keep telling me to go jump on the trampoline to get her out. She is almost too active at night so I'm savoring the moments that I can sleep. But after this week I will be doing some stair climbing!

Turtle for a Day

The other day John and his sister almost ran over a turtle that was so happily walking across our driveway. They just thought it was a large pinecone, until they saw it's cute little legs moving. John brought it inside and the boys instantly got attached to it. He made sure though that they knew it most likely had an owner. You never see wild turtles here in Utah county. We decided to feed it some chopped up veggies and he ate them right away so we knew it was a pet. He also stuck his head out for the boys to pet which is rare for a wild turtle. There were no postings about a lost turtle, so I sent the boys around to the neighbors to ask if it was theirs and to the boy's great relief, it wasn't any of our neighbors. During the day, Enoch was very nervous at every phone call. He didn't want to admit that he wanted to keep the cute little thing. I don't know anything about the care of turtles, so I googled it and researched for an hour or so. Come to find out he is not a turtle, but a tortoise. The difference is mainly their feet. Turtles feet are webbed and most of them swim. This guys feet are like little elephants and they don't swim. I found out it was an African something or other tortoise. They grow to be around 100 pounds and kids can ride on them. They live over 100 years if properly cared for. I read all about how to care for them and John (not so willingly) made a little habitat for it in a plasic box. The boys were so excited to have a new pet, but John and I were hoping someone would come along and claim him. Come to find out, the next day my friend was posting "lost turtle" signs around the neighborhood. She lives at the top of our street. We are talking like six houses up. How the turtle got clear down to our house I don't know, but we are glad that it belongs to her since she is a good friend and she told the boys they can come and visit "Happy" whenever they want. It is a GIRL tortoise as well, but I was right on the kind of tortoise it is. She got it from her Aunt who's daughter dropped it out of a two story window. She was very happy that we took care of it for a day or so and that she was still alive. My boys get sad when they look at that empty box, but I smile inside knowing that I don't have to be the one to take care of it!

Fossums at Fairview

One of our family traditions is to go up to Fairview every year for the 24th of July festivities. John's parents own a house up there. It is the same house that his Mom was born in! So we go with his family up there to escape the realities of life for a couple days and just relax. It is a small town near Manti in the hills of Utah.

The highlight of going to Fairview every year is the 24th of July parade. You will never see a parade like this! I think the funnest thing is the people watching before and after. There are some interesting fellas that live here!

What is in the Fairview 24the of July parade? Certainly not pioneers or covered wagons. John and I always laugh at what goes by: tractors, demolition derby cars, or just hot rod cars. We even see people on four wheelers. (no offense mom, but we think it's halarious!) It is fun for the kids though since everyone going by throws candy. They don't really watch where they are throwing it, as you can see in the picture where Jake got hit in the head. And everyone throws salt water taffee so the kids are gaurenteed to get cavities!

We celebrate Isaac's birthday every year up in Fairview since his birthday is on the 24th of July. We usally have a celebration up there and then a birthday party for him at home as well. Boy, is he spoiled! He got a Neo shifter toy, batman lego set, toy cars from Japan (thanks to Erika) and money and a pen from Grandma and Grandpa. We all enjoyed his Strawberry cake with gummie worms and loaded sugar frosting. Yum! Isaac was so excited to turn seven and will be going into the first grade. He is very confident since he is the oldest in his class!

The highlight of Isaac's birthday was going fishing in the afternoon with Dad and Grandpa. Although they didn't catch anything, the boys had a ball casting their poles into the lake. That night, Grandpa and Grandma took the boys in the back of their truck to go see the fireworks. They had a ton of fun. John and I enjoyed playing Settlers of Catan with Erika and Cat. It was very relaxing and we decided if we stayed up there more than a couple days we would all gain about ten pounds each. There was lots of yummy food and games- the Fossums favorite thing!

Another Great Reunion

The Anderson family reunion(my mom's side of the family) was held this year at the Aldinger's house in Boise. We had a fun time getting reaquianted with my mom's sissies - Marla and Sherry and their families. Friday night we met at the Chinese Buffet.

The restaraunt had a lot of different types of seafood. Enoch wanted to try the squid but chickened out. He was very enthrawled with the crab legs which were a hot item. Liz and Daniel tried their first sushi and decided to eat it at the same time.

After dinner on Friday night, we went to Marla and Rick's house to hang out in their backyard. They live on an acre out in the country of Boise. It was very beautiful and relaxing. Here is Andy with Ben.

The girls got a picture taken all in white shirts with our necklaces that Marla made for each of us. She spent a lot of time beading and crocheting for us. Another beaded gift were purse charms, shown in the picture below. Can you tell my mom and her sissies are related? They all look like triplets, they even act the same as well! We decided to get a picture of the three girls in my family as well: me, Liz, and Becky.

Aunt Marla and Uncle Rick rented a 15 foot slide for the kids to go down, even the adults benefited from this toy. It was sheer entertainment all day for the kids as the adults basked in the shade. When we left that night, my boys were trying to think of ways to stay longer. They seriously got depressed because they had so much fun!