back to real life...

Brent is back to working
full-days this week.

We've been in heaven
for the past few weeks.

He's had time off and has
only worked half-days.

This week he's super-excited
to be taking a CE Course
(Continuing Education)
that has something (I totally
don't remember the name of it)
to do with Oral Surgery -
his second great love.
(I'm his first love, of course).

But here's what our mornings
have looked like for the
past few weeks:



Is there a better way
to start the day
than with a
MORNING DANCE PARTY?!?!?!!

busy beavers

As Brent would say,
we've been busy beavers.

Each mess we clean up seems
to make a bigger mess.

BUT - we can finally watch TV!

Here's a photo-story of our
latest accomplishment:

We started with a small
hole in the
wall above our fireplace,
and NO mantel.

So Brent made the
hole bigger.
Demo was fun.
And messy.


The kids were
great helpers.

But Cooper didn't like
the noise of the Shop-Vac.

Our wonderful next-door
neighbor does a lot
of work for
"Habitat for Humanity."
He was kind to offer
us the use of his tools.
We only had to rent a
finish nail gun and
buy some wood and
paint and...

Voila!
A hole big enough for an
LCD,
AND a mantel to hang
Christmas Stockings from
(my requirement).



Rather than having cable or satellite,
we bought an internet connectible TV.
We watch Netflix and
listen to Pandora - which I LOVE.
This morning Mercedes put on a
dance-show to our
"Jonas Brothers" channel.

Welcome to Pacey-Con!

OK. So there are many things that I should be doing right now.

I should be feeding Lincoln his breakfast.

I should change Cooper's stinky diaper.

I should convince Mercedes to get off of the couch (where she's currently watching the movie, "Soccer Mom") and make her bed, get dressed, etc.

I should finish cleaning my kitchen before the RS Presidency gets here for my "welcome visit."

I should organize this office.

I should fold the laundry and put another load in the washer.

But instead, I've just been watching this:
If you click on it, you'll be directed to the source and can watch it full-screen.

Pacey-Con with Joshua Jackson from Joshua Jackson

For all of you "once upon a time" Dawson Creek fans, this is hilarious. I admit it: when I was in college, my apartment had a Dawson night for a while. We also had a Gilmore Girls night. And Pacey was Sarah's favorite. I miss those days.

So now I'll go and cross some of those "shoulds" off of my list.

life is good

Wow.

It's been a wild and crazy week for us.

Here's a run-down:

My parents drove us to Washington, and then moved all of our stuff into our house from our storage unit. What's stronger than Superman? 'Cause that's what my dad is. And my mom. I still don't know how they did it.

Grandpa dancing with Lincoln.

After spending a few days in Kurdistan, Brent endured a 25 hour flight and arrived on American soil!!! We got to pick him up on Monday night and it's so great to be together again.

Lincoln just about bit his tongue off. Literally. Poor kid could hardly eat for a few days, plus he had a fever and NO sleep. But he's a trooper and seems to be getting back to his "old-self."

I found Mercedes sitting on the floor in our den crying. In her hand was the note that Grandma wrote to us before returning to Utah.

Grandma and the kids.

I had an ocean view for a few months in Laguna Beach and thought that nothing would top it. I was wrong. This place is AMAZING. It is so beautiful here. AND we have ocean air because we're so close to the Puget Sound. It actually feels a lot like Laguna. Brent and I went running this morning and I was COLD! The neighborhood is quiet and peaceful and beautiful. Tree-lined streets. Three of our neighbors rang our doorbell to welcome us; one gave me a note with ALL of her contact info, including email, one brought yummy fresh cherries, and the other baked cookies. People are so nice and friendly here.


I LOVE my house.

We've been trying to sell some things on craigslist, because our huge furniture just doesn't fit this house. We have about 10 people who want our fridge, but no takers on our sofa and love seat.

Oh - along with moving everything into the house and putting together furniture, my dad also put together all of the IKEA furniture I bought. AND my mom un-packed almost every single box.

Brent went back to work today :(. We missed him.

I'm glad to be in my own home, and I'm OVER THE MOON to be with Brent again, but I miss my mom and dad. Such is life, right?

Now, who wants to come and visit us?

our turn

Steve did it.

Pete did it.

Now its our turn!

I cannot express how happy I am that soon we will be with Brent in our very own home.

We leave tomorrow!