Night of Day 1 and Morning of Day 2 - Peterson Reunion

So I didn't go with Brent and the girls camping. I stayed at my sisters with Elsie and my big belly. But I gave instructions to Brent to take our little point and shoot camera and take lots of pictures since I wouldn't be there. So...there were a lot of pictures...Brent gave Madi the camera and said "Mom wants lots of pictures, have fun." But she did get some pretty cool shots!


Later then they are usually up. I think this is about the time they got up the canyon and started setting up camp.

A cute shot with Dad and Cassi
Brent ended up folding the seats down in the Tahoe and sleeping there with the girls.
Bright and early in the morning...
It was very pretty up there
Madi's first fish. When I showed up in the canyon with the rest of the gang, Brent gave Cassi to me and said "She's yours" And left to go back fishing with Madi. Apparently Cassi wasn't too much into the fishing and more into running around. But Madi on the other hand stayed with Dad and fished the whole day and loved every minute of it. I love the relationship that those two have. They are the best of friends.
At the end of the day Brent kept telling the girls that when they are done fishing they would go and jump off the bridge. I am not sure they thought he was serious. We didn't have to talk Cassi into it...she was all for doing it. Madi on the other hand was a little more cautious, as always...but Dad talked her into it and they all jumped into the freezing cold water! When they popped up, the girls thought they were gonna die! But then they saw that Dad had them and knew they were safe.
Then I had my own camera while Brent and Madi were off fishing all day. Elsie was a good little girl and had fun with all her little cousins.

This is when Grandma took all the grand kids (minus Madi, who was fishing) for a nature walk. The kids always love this!
Madi showing me her fish...she was SO proud!
Just a couple shots of the two fishing....I still can't believe he got her to sit and fish all day. She loved every minute of it!

Elsie wasn't too sure about the fish...Brent just caught it and it was still squirming around

Our little family
Cassi playing in the pond
Have I ever mentioned how much Elsie loves buckles...well, she had plenty to keep her busy!
This is Elsie with my sister Emily...Emmy is one of Elsie's most favorite people in the world!

Peterson Family Reunion-Day 1

We drove from Evanston to Utah for my family's 'reunion'. The first day we had plans to spend at the water park...but come to find out...it was the employee day there. So the kids settled with running in the sprinklers and slip-n-slide at my sister Steph's house. (And Elsie was happy to just play with the buckle on the stroller.) After that all the dads went shopping for fishing stuff and camping stuff, cause they were headed, with most the kids, up Payson canyon for camping that night. Brent took Madi and Cassi. They didn't even leave for camping until after 10:00.

Our Evanston Trip

So we made another trip to visit our families this past week. Our trip started off in Evanston...where there is always something fun and exciting to do. I remember when Brent and I started dating and he would take me to visit his family we would always have something fun to do. ALWAYS! When I would get back I would have my family and co-workers always asking me what I got to do this time. A few examples are...de-feathering turkeys, putting up fence, docking the sheep, cutting Chester's toenails...poor little guy...he is a tiny little pony...but hates his nails clipped!!! Well, it's no different now. Now we have the girls to help. This time they had to give antibiotics to the goats. The girls got to man the gates while Brent and his brother gave the medicine to the goats. The girls did a great job. And Brent got pretty bruised up by those goats and their horns!


And Elsie was a good little girl and had fun watching all the action

The girls were a big help at the feed store too. I had to add this picture of them in the truck, well, cause it is cute...but also, Tanger, our dog was in the truck with them right before this picture until he decided he didn't like it...dumb dog jumped out while the truck was moving! He was fine...but he did get tumbled around a lot and got a bloody lip...maybe he will learn.




Elsie got some great practice on all kinds of terrain with her walker. She has gotten so good at getting around! She puts a smile on every one's face!
And the girls get spoiled by Grandma all the time and she gives fun little toys and stuff to them. They are enjoying making plastic bubbles in these pictures. They were a big hit.


Then back to work. I was taking a nap while the girls helped Brent trim down all the lilac bushes, so I don't have picts of that...but they also trimmed up these bushes from around the garage. They did that all by themselves, and did a great job too!

Just a cute shot of Elsie and Tanger walking down the lane.
Catching grasshoppers
The girls were also helpful, as much as they could be, to help dad make new steps for Grandmas porch. But before he got to make the steps he had to fight some bees and bee-hive with a blow-torch in the bush right next to the porch. He said it was pretty cool how fast the hive burned up.

We love to visit Grandma and Grandpa! We always have so much fun!

Good Helpers

So my kids were, well, for lack of a better word, ROTTEN today! We are getting ready to go out of town, and they seem to know when you are trying to get stuff done, and then make it hard for you. Well, today was one of those days...So after dinner I asked if they could just rinse the dishes off for me while I give Elsie a bath. When I came down I was pleasantly surprised to find Cassi on the table, washing it...and Madi under the table, picking up the food that Elsie dropped, and mopping the rest of the floor. They had rinsed the dishes like I asked...and then went beyond and tried to have the whole kitchen clean before I got back downstairs with Elsie. Good work girls! Thanks for knowing when Mom just can't handle anymore naughtiness!!!


And sweet Elsie was, believe it or not, ROTTEN, today too! But in her defense, she is cutting teeth!

Elsie's new chair

First of all...Elsie has been refusing to take her naps the last few days, so she is absolutely exhausted in this picture...but I thought it was so cute. We got her a little booster seat for her to sit at the table instead of in her highchair, and she loves it! She looks so big to me when she is sitting there!
We have also been getting huge amounts of peaches from our tree the last few days! So far we have made peach jam, peach Popsicles, peach smoothie, sliced peaches, peaches-n-cream...I need to learn how to can peaches, I think that would be a good idea!

Back to Projects!

So anyone who knows us well, knows that we do a lot of projects. I have a great way of coming up with projects and my wonderful hubby is so great to put those projects to life! Well, as you can imagine the last few months have been, well, project-less!!! It has been hard for me to go month after month thinking of more stuff I want to do, but not being able to do them. With Brent's shoulder finally doing pretty good, and me emerging from my laying-on-the-couch days of pregnancy...we were ready to tackle some projects!

The first thing was a desk for Madi. Most of my ideas involve refinishing something old. In this case I inherited this desk from a great friend, Elizabeth, who's husband made her throw many treasures away out of their garage...but I am happy to say, I rescued some very cool things. Anyway, I thought this desk had potential...and I knew Madi would love the idea of her own desk.

So this is the before picture...It had drawers too, but they were in really bad shape, I wasn't planning on using any of them.
And After.

The top is a different top that I recycled from an old coffee table, and I sanded it down and white-washed it. Then painted the metal white and Brent fixed up one of the drawers for her pens and pencils and I plan to get some cute baskets or something for the shelves. What do you think? Now I need to find a cool chair to go with it.

Next project...turned out awesome. Brent's Mom has been wanting one of these for a long time. She asked Brent if it would be hard to make...of course not.

So this is how it turned out. We can't wait to take it to her and get it up on her wall!!! It will have a handle, we will just wait until we put it up so we know the best place to put it.
And all opened up. Room for her iron, a spray bottle and what ever else she might need for ironing! (There will be a cover on the board.)
I just loved how it turned out! I had to do a close-up shot so you would see the detail of the bead-board and trim! Isn't he awesome!!!

And I have to say that I think one of my most favorite things to do, ever, is work in the garage with Brent. Sometimes I drive him crazy not knowing which one is the wrench, or where at least ONE of his tape measures are!!! But we really have always worked really well together...and I just wanted him to know that I really enjoy it!

He's still a BOY!!!

So we got another ultrasound today. Last time we went in we took the same VHS tape that the girls ultrasounds are on. When we brought it home...there was no recording of our little boy. So they told me to come back next time and they would record me a disk again.

I have to tell you, more then a few times I thought 'What if the Dr. says that it was just the umbilical cord...that it is really a girl.' I guess I still think it is too good to be true to have our little boy, finally! So I told him to make sure...triple sure that it was a BOY...and he is, still very much a BOY!!!

Little stinker wouldn't get his hands out of his face! Same as last time! He better get used to getting his pictures taken! Oh well, you can see how beautiful, I mean handsome, (I will have to learn to change my lingo so everything isn't so girly) his hands are!

Anyway...still no names for little baby BOY Matthews. His middle name will be Brent, so it has to go with that. Any suggestions???

Elsie Update

Elsie went today for her yearly check-up. She has made such huge leaps since last year. But before I get into all that, here are her stats:

2 Years old

weight- 21 lbs (3% Huge, I know...)

height- 32 1/2 inches (15%)

head circumference- 45 cm (5% itty bitty tiny head)

The new big things Elsie has been working on:

*She is learning better every day how to maneuver around corners and doorways with her pediatric walker.

*She has learned to crawl up and down the stairs. I knew the day would come...but it makes me so nervous.

*Her Physical Therapist has taught her how to put her stool in front of the couch so she can crawl up onto the couch, and then how to slide back down. That has been a fun one for her to learn.

*She has been coming along really good with her speech.

*She is imitating more words that we say, and knows all the signs to communicate with us daily.

*Her favorite words to say right now are bath, pizza, elbow, and her all time favorite DA DA!
*She is very eager when she wakes up to go and say HI to everyone!

*You ask her where the little baby is and she will point to my tummy and then make the sign for baby. So cute!

*She is trying really hard to learn to hold her spoon and fork so she can feed herself. She is doing a great job. She loves doing stuff that makes her feel big!

She is still the happiest little thing in the world.