We're here!

6/26/09

Well, we moved yesterday. All our stuff is in our new house in Cedar City and we spent the night here. I kept waking up every time I took a deep breath in my sleep and PEW there are still a lot of funky smells hanging around here. I'm stocking up on Febreeze and hoping that the stinky feet minions (that's what it smells like to me) go away soon.

Here's a few pictures of the state of affairs:

Madelyn chilling out the night before the move. She had been rather distraught at all her stuff being packed away, but luckily she still had her snow boots, princess backpack and chair and The Berenstain Bears.

Our home sweet giant empty room, which Kevin and Lori are now free to use for all their dance studio/roller rink needs.

Our stuff...SIGH. The garage is going to take months to sort through.

Our cute little house, which was framed with an enormous double rainbow last night:

(view from the backyard) and we had the most gorgeous sunset:

It was like walking around in a creamsicle

Having gotten the most important things unpacked and running (the computer and internet, namely) Mark decided to take apart the broken XBox 360 he bought off ebay last week for $35. He got it to work and is quite pleased with himself. And Madelyn discovered Angelina Ballerina. We know where our priorities are.

She is so happy to have a bathtub again (and TV, which we didn't have for the past six months). I should mention that we did have a teeny shower, which she had to share with me, and what with my belly and all the toys she'd bring in, it was a tight squeeze, I can tell you. Or she'd just bathe in the kitchen sink. Apparently the shower wasn't small enough.

And lest you think Mark was the only one wasting time, I went ahead and got the baby's room all arranged. It is the only room in the whole house that isn't booby trapped with boxes, and he's not even here to appreciate it! Oh, well. I had to start somewhere.

Soooo...now I guess I should be unpacking the kitchen or something. But I think I'll read a book instead and watch the squirrels in my backyard. I can do whatever I want now, because it's my house. WOO!

P.S. Only 100 days left before the baby comes????!!!!

Happy Father's Day!

6/21/09

Mark and Madelyn, at a few weeks old. January 2005

I know Mark has enjoyed being a father--in fact, if he had a choice, he'd rather be the one to stay home and raise the kids and have me go to work full time. I am so grateful for all he does for our little girl and little boy soon to come. He is an AWESOME dad and I'm glad he takes the time to do fun things with Madelyn. Speaking of...

Hanging out with her pal Rita the SuperModelquin at Old Navy

Today is also Madelyn's half birthday! We usually celebrate it and let her have a treat with a candle to blow out and a couple gifts, but things are in an upheaval with the move so we didn't do anything. We probably will in a week or two--the poor girl was born four days before Christmas so she never really gets a birthday like other kids. I know, she's spoiled. What can I say, becoming parents has turned us both into a couple of softies.

By the way, we (meaning I) extended our move out another week because three days just wasn't long enough for me to pack up the whole house. We closed last Wednesday on our new place and for some crazy reason *certain people* thought we should move immediately. Luckily I have the "pregnant lady with tachycardia" card to play. (I knew that would come in handy someday...) But at least half to two-thirds of our stuff is already moved, so hopefully the rest of it will be a piece of cake. Hey--a girl can dream.

Here we go again...

6/18/09

We are in the throes of moving. Ugh. It has only been six months since we got here, and we knew this would be a temporary stop, but still... (this bears repeating since it's what I say every time we move) it's like getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick. Thanks, Mr. Cullimore, for helping me put the wretchedness into words.

Madelyn instructed us to smile while she took this picture. It doesn't look forced, does it?

There must be something in the air around here, because in this month alone, I'll have had my sister, two of my brother-in-laws, Mark's parents, plus us moving to new places. It's like a Yoder migration.

I confess, some of my chagrin is stemming from the fact that the previous owner of our new house was a single guy who not only had never been introduced to a toilet brush or a vacuum, but kept a SAINT BERNARD INSIDE THE HOUSE.

(random picture--just to illustrate how gigantic these dogs are)

The neighbors tell us that "Mozart" was twice my size, looked like a fur rug, and was rather sickly so he was an inside dog. The carpets are still a mess even after we had them steam cleaned, which also brought out this lovely wet dog smell which has been lingering ever since last Saturday. We've collected a hairball the size of a couple of medium schnauzers. We've had to wash all the walls, and there's a corner in the master bedroom that will never come clean because that's where he slept. My pregnant sensibilities are protesting all this. I am not really a dog person either, so I find it just plain gross.

Progress reports to come...

A Long-Expected Party

Shay and Maria Nielson
June 5th, 2009

6/12/09

A week has passed since the wedding and life has almost gotten back to normal. Maria and Shay are back from their Mexican cruise, have an apartment full of gifts (including enough new kitchen and bathroom stuff to supply them four times over) and I finally sat down to do this marathon post. I'll have to do it in three parts due to the multitude of pictures but hey--an event this long in the making deserves extra coverage. (Did anyone notice my Tolkien reference in my post title? It's the name of the first chapter of The Lord of The Rings. OK, I truly am a dork...)

Here goes nothing... (And I want to you to realize that I am practicing great restraint in not posting all 200 pictures that I took. Really.)

Part 1: The Wedding!

Madelyn (midair, of course) and Nathan were the first to break away from the crowd to greet the new couple

The proud parents
A HUGE thank-you Meg and her friend Veronica for watching the kids during the wedding.

Mark + babies = Love (and our niece Ava is especially lovable)

Maria's best friend and official wedding photographer Sammi. Check out her amazing blog:

http://feelslikehomephotography.blogspot.com/

The magnificent St. George temple

Part II: The decorations
(because I sacrificed so many of my brain cells for this part)

Thanks, Aunt Susie for frosting/decorating the cake
Aunt Susie, Mom and Dad were all wondering why the Social Hall didn't have anywhere for them to take a nap.

Thank-you Lori for making all these adorable fabric polka dots!
Thanks, mom for doing all the refreshments. Yum!
...and thank-you Madelyn for testing out the chocolate fountain and leaving a distinctive Madelyn mess all over the tablecloth and chair.

Part III: The Reception

Ava (and look how cute the daisy wrist corsages turned out!)
Brothers Mark, Tyler and Kevin

Sisters Melissa, Megan, Maria, Monica (with Ava) and Lori (with Hattie). And where was Madelyn?
Yeah, it was a long day for all of us.

With G-ma Murset

The throng has gathered...

Look how cherry red Maria's face is! Priceless!!

Justin must have really wanted that lacy garter...

Yay, Chelsea!

Riding off into the sunset, and the rest of their lives