Rhett and Link and Buffalo Park

Thursday morning, March 10th, I got a call around 7:20 a.m. from Amy (my sister-in-law). She called to tell me that Rhett and Link (our family's favorite internetainers) were on their Mythical Beast Road Trip, where they would be greeting people. One of their scheduled stops just happened to be here in Flagstaff, at a local truck stop, that very morning at 8:00 a.m. Well the only truck stop I could think of is the one just five minutes down the road from us, right next to the Little America Hotel. Sure enough that was the one!

Just to give you a brief background about Rhett and Link, if you don't already know, they are hilarious! We discovered them over a year ago and we've been cracking up ever since. We love that they are so clean (no worries watching their videos with the kids) and hilarious at the same time. My twins love their "Backwards Pillow" video and beg to watch it over and over each day. If you haven't seen any of their videos I would highly recommend it. They have two You Tube channels. I would start off with their "Epic Rap Battle" video. It's one of my favorites!

Anyway, despite the fact that I was in the middle of the "morning rush", and had to get Abby to school around 8:30, and knew there was no way I was making it into the shower before leaving or even having time to put on a little makeup before heading out, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I knew my twins would love to see the "Pillow Guys". So after one attempt of driving to the truck stop (after dropping Abby off at school), thinking they were gone, driving home, calling Amy, having her talk me into driving back to the truck stop, we lucked out! It was after 9:00 a.m., and I was sure they would have been gone, but we caught them just as they were getting ready to pack up. They were so nice! Upon seeing them, Liam suddenly became extremely shy and would not come out from behind my back. Matthew was his normal self, shy as always. So it was all up to Justin. He, thankfully, was "Mister Friendly". It was a fun experience and I'm so glad Amy happened to be watching them that morning.

Liam would not look up! Such a funny kid!

This past Sunday was so beautiful we just had to get out. We discovered the Buffalo Park, not far from us, which has a two mile trail. It was so much fun to be out on a leisurely walk on such a beautiful day. We love Flagstaff! Here's some pics from our little outing.

P.S. I do have some videos to post but for some reason they wouldn't play once I had them downloaded. I'll have to figure out what's going on. Hopefully the next post.

Bedtime Videos

Sorry, I know the quality on these is not that great. I was filming in the boys room at night. Not the greatest lighting. Wade bought a new camera as a family Christmas gift. So nice to have a camera that takes pics as well as video.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star


Monkey Boy

The Nutcracker and an Old/New Table

I've been trying to upload some bedtime videos of the twins but it is taking FOREVER!! I'll try a little bit later.

Abby and I went with some girls from church to see The Nutcracker this past Saturday. So much fun! This was Abby's second time seeing it. The first was a couple years ago and was the full ballet. This was a much shorter version but still a lot of fun!


The orchestra for The Nutcracker was performed by the Lollipop Orchestra of Flagstaff. Afterwards they gave out lollipops to all the children.


It's snowing today! :)

We just got this table off craigslist!:) For months I have been wanting a new table and chairs (mainly chairs). Our old chairs were so rickety. We were down to four out of six that were still in useable condition but close to retirement days. Wade had talked about making me a farmhouse table but there was still the problem of finding sturdy chairs. I found this set on Craigslist for $250.00 and was thrilled! The color is definitely not my favorite, but I love it's country charm. My plan is to paint it (maybe an antique white) at some point in the near future but for now it serves it's purpose and is definitely a far sturdier table than it's predecessor.

'Tis the Season!

Thanksgiving turned out to be a day to lounge around this year. We had thought of inviting some friends over but then the cold season hit our family and we didn't think anyone would appreciate the gift of illness this holiday season. I have to say when you do Thanksgiving just as a family it's a lot less stressful - not quite as fun but definitely less stress. Abby spent a good part of the day looking at everyone's blogs and trying her best to comment on them. We created her a blog as well. It's called Abby's Castle. You'll find it in my Family Blogs. She would love comments from you. I think that's her favorite part. She checks often. (Seriously, quite a bit.:)) I wish I could say I took some pictures on Thanksgiving Day but the only picture I took was of the table setting which Wade so kindly surprised me with. I think he did a wonderful job decorating with the autumn crafts I made recently. I love that he lit a candle to add to the ambiance. It didn't stay lit long. Once the boys woke up from their nap that was the end of that.

We set up our Christmas tree on Saturday. We thought it best to go really simple on the tree decorations this year (nothing breakable, not with the twins around). My mom had given me some of Grandma Boomer's old ornaments to add to our own. The kids loved them and had a fun time decorating!

Grandma's Ornaments

The kids love to clump all the ornaments into one section. We had to do a little tweaking when it was all done.

This right here is the reason the bottom half of our tree is now bare.

Matthew's new favorite food is peanut butter on a spoon. You can hear him "mmmm"ing as he licks it up.

Aim, this is for you. It's not a great picture of the stitchery I came up with but you get the idea. Wade made the frame for me and I painted and distressed it. I really wish I had done the large words "human" and "spiritual" in a darker thread. Oh well, lesson learned.

I found this shutter at a thrift store several weeks ago. I've been wanting one for a while. (That, and an old window frame if anyone comes across one.) Now I'm trying to decide if I should paint it. Wade likes it the way it is but I'm not sure I do. I've seen a lot of good ideas out there. I'd love to know what you guys think. Happy Holidays! :)

Three Birthdays in Seven Days!

All three boys had their birthdays this month. Liam turned four on Nov. 13th and Justin and Matthew both turned two on Nov. 19th. Their birthdays were pretty uneventful seeing as they all had yucky colds (add on ear infections for the twins). They seemed to have fun for the most part despite not feeling well. I sure love these boys! They bring us so much joy! It's hard to believe time has flown by so quickly.

This picture captures Liam's quirky personality perfectly! These two pictures are of him attempting to hold up four fingers to show how old he is.

When asking Liam what he wanted for his birthday, the only thing he would say was "a red XBOX 360 controller." We've got to help this boy find some other interests.
A rare picture of Matthew smiling without a pacifier in his mouth. (Please ignore the dirty highchair.)
Can you say PIZZA?
Abby and Liam took over when it came to blowing out the candles. I was going to have the boys redo it but Wade wasn't to interested in having sick germs all over the cake.
Justin and Matthew love making music. Their favorite video is Stomp. We thought a drum and other instruments would be perfect.


Matthew loves to build with blocks and stack anything he can find. He loves taking things in and out of their containers. He's a great helper when it comes time for cleaning up.

Once a Princess Always a Princess

This was Abby's sixth Halloween. For four of those she has gone as a princess. I really tried to get her to go as something new this year. For a while it seemed as though she was all up for going as a cat. That fell through. Then she agreed to go as a witch. That fell through as well. She just loves dressing up and looking beautiful. Don't we all.

Liam as Indiana Jones.

Our ward's Trunk or Treat Party was at Foxglenn Park this year. It was awfully cold and windy. Wade hunkered down in the trunk with a warm blanket and passed out the candy while I braved the elements and walked around with the kids. Lucky duck! It was difficult to get any pictures of Justin and Matthew that didn't involve crying, runny noses, and pacifiers. Matthew went as Superman and Justin as a glow in the dark skeleton.

I had some book pages left over from past projects and came up with this small wreath to make. I feel the need to craft and these wreaths are quick and easy.
My attempt at some fall pumpkins inspired by Amy and Laurel's creations.

Loco for Book Wreaths!

With half a book of unused pages left from my last book wreath project just waiting to be turned into art I decided to attempt a different style this go around. I've been spending my evenings searching book wreaths on Google images. This Victorian style isn't my favorite but I've had the center pictures since before Wade and I were married. I think my mom picked them up from a garage sale. I've been hanging on to them thinking I could do something with them and so I thought this project would be a perfect fit. I'm thinking of hanging them in our half bath (not a lot of moisture) where I have a Victorian picture already hanging. These wreaths were fun to make and took a whole lot less time. If you google book wreaths you'll come up with loads of images and some tutorials. You tube has several tutorials as well. For this project I watched a tutorial by Jenna DeAngeles. For the book wreath I posted on my last blog I went to http://summerstead.blogspot.com/2010/02/book-wreath-tutorial-and-tip.html. I guarantee you this isn't the last vintage book craft you'll be seeing from me. I love books and now for so many more reasons!

P.S. Sorry about the glare and I will try to put together a list of directions for the coat rack I made (Thanks Jennifer!). It was super simple (hence the reason I attempted it). :)