Sunday=Funday

Today we decided to have a little family fun. We packed a lunch and went to the neighborhood park for a picnic.



We had chicken salad sandwiches, carrot sticks, red grapes, string cheese and brownies, accompanied by everyone's own picks of chips & pop from the CHEV - a quick stop on the way.

Lauren ate brownies...
>
Mira lounged with her Famin' hot Cheetos and A&W root beer....

and Nolan conquered the rock wall! With full bellies and tired bodies, we all went home to top off the afternoon with a nice nap!

Liberty Park

We went to Liberty Park and met my friend Malia and her daughter, Aelyn for some frolicking fun! It was warm enough that, when Nolan saw all other kids playing in the water fountain, I let him join in.

It's so great to be able to get out & enjoy the great spring weather. Thanks, Malia, for suggesting such a fun place! I can't believe what an awesome and HUGE park it is. It has playgrounds, 2 water features, tennis courts, plenty of room to RUN! It's fabulous. If memory serves, it takes up like 4 city blocks. What treasures we have right in out back yard if we're willing to venture out....hopefully this will inspire us to do it more often!

Welcome Zoey!

A BIG family welcome to our newest member, Zoey Lynn. She was a gift from above to my niece, Jessica and the love of her life, Anthony. Congratulations to the proud new parents and my sister, Kim who is now a Grandma!!!

Monkey'n around

Today we went to the Hogle Zoo with Lauren's biology class. I figured it would be great weather and Nolan is big enough to handle the long day now, plus he LOVES animals. So, I volunteered to be a chaperone. The plan was that Lauren would have her girlfriends sign up to be in our group and we'd pal around together....not so much. Before she could even sign up a group of BOYS signed up to be in my group. Me? With 6 teenage boys? Well, it ended up being just Nolan & I for most of the time as they had a scavenger hunt for their assignment t turn in upon arriving back to school. So we....

rode the carusel

chased the peacocks

watched the pregnant elephant eat her lunch

chatted with the giraffes

and waited for the kids to get back on the bus! The monkeys were pretty cool too! All in all, a wonderful day at the zoo :) I'm just glad they didn't try to keep my little "monkey."

Flowers, actually

We've finally planted our annual flowers! Usually it's right after Mothers Day and I can't stand to wait ANY longer. However, THIS year the Utah weather wasn't very cooperative. It took FOR...EV...ER for the cold and rain to go away. But now, it really is perfect! Sunny with highs in the mid 70s to low 80s, sometimes a little thundershower to cool things off in the late afternoon....ahhhh!


So, here are the "before" pictures.

And in about a month or so I will post progress photos for comparison. I know it really doesn't look like much now.....but once they begin to grow and spread out, its gets awesome. Each year we buy too many and it still looks so sparse, at first. But it fills in so nicely. I can't wait for all the colors. This year we also added to yellow calla lillies to the large bed in the yard by the tree. They are so beautiful and bright. And the smell is great! We love to sit out on the front deck in the afternoons with the breeze and the fragrance wafts around...so sweet. This is one of my favorite times of the year :)

Under Construction

Coming soon to a blog near YOU: Rue 39 Design!
http://rue39design.blogspot.com/

As somewhat of an offshoot to my passion for scrapbooking, I will be launching Rue 39 Design. We're shooting for July 1st to be fully functional with the web presence, however we are in business NOW.

Rue 39 design is your source for fine details that will help make your event one to remember. We are a custom design studio that works closely with each client to ensure that the invitations and accompanying products reflect their style and theme of the event.

Rue 39 Design currently offers save-the dates, engagement and wedding announcements, wedding invitations, place cards, menus, programs, thank yous, wedding and baby shower invites, baby announcements, birthday or any occasion party invitations, moving announcements, business and calling cards and MORE. We welcome other ideas not listed here.

In addition to the stationary listed above we can also personalize favors, goodie bags, candies, water bottles, labels, books, etc., We love to provide those little extras to bring together the theme of your event. Please inquire for special details and pricing. Corporate packages also available.

We are already working on projects and samples for the gallery. So keep an eye out for the new site and BIG premiere VERY SOON!

Welcome Simon!!

Simon Samuel

May 14th, 2009

10:34am

7 lbs 3oz

20" long

Announcing the birth of Simon Samuel, son of Gil & Traci Salinas, brother to the adorable Gabriel & Andrew! We're so happy he's healthy and strong. Welcome to the family, Simon!

Tales of a {BOY}

So, should one worry when the 2 year old boy comes out from the hall with a tote bag on one shoulder and a measuring tape in the other? Maybe he's following in the footsteps of Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, Salvatore Ferragamo. In our house, it's probably a result of being surrounded by girls :)

He brings me the measuring tape and says "Mommy, ME!" and holds it up to his arms. He wanted me to measure him. After 20 minutes of measuring various things, here's a partial list:

arms - 14"
head - 20"
waist - 21"
inseam - 13.5"
bellybutton (I wasn't going to say no) - 1/2"
ears - 2 1/4"
eyes - 1 3/8"
foot - 6.5"

It's pretty cute the ideas that run through little minds. I was busy and he wanted to try to relate to me. He went into my craft room and brought out the things he sees me using frequently so we could use them together! Creativity and curiosity are so bountiful with toddlers, maybe it will rub off on me a little! I can only HOPE.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day.....a day that, while rumored to have been created by Hallmark to sell more cards, I'm glad for. Mothers do SO much, give so much, feel so much. There's always those select few who never should've become mothers to begin with, but for the gist of MY post, those are NOT the ones I'm referring to!

I'm talking about the ones like MY mom! The amazing ones who you simply couldn't live without. The ones who love you far more than you could EVER imagine, are there for you NO-matter-what, who are tireless, ageless and manage to accomplish more in a day that anyone else would need a week to come close. And I'm in no way exaggerating :) She's the BEST.

I spent the day with said "Wonderwoman" and gave her this:

She's only been asking me to make her a tote bag for, oh, like a year now. She found the fabric and I ordered it "about" that long ago. Good intentions...ya, ya, ya. SO, in the spirit of the day (and 2 sewing machine needles later) I put plenty of tears, sweat and swear words into this lovely handbag.


The inside lining is pieced using all the colors from the outer fabric, which is laminated for easy cleaning. Lots of pockets for the cell phone, planner, lunch, etc. It's been a LOOOONG time coming so hopefully she'll gets lots of use out of it.

All in all a great day spent with my family. Got to watch the kids plays at Grandma & Papa's house..

.(Nolan on his Quad)

and watched my guys wrestle...

took in lots of good eats and great conversation. The best Mother's day I could have wished for. Thanks to my family AND my mom for everything.

Happy Anniversary

Five years ago today, I married my best friend. In some ways it seems like it FLEW by, yet at the same time it seems like FOR.EV.ER! Mainly because so much has happened in our lives, so much has changed, we as individuals and as a couple have changed. Experiences shape us and how we look at things.

Most couples get married, maybe get a pet while they get to know each other....buy a home, have children, etc. You know, EASE into things. We hit the ground running as I had my girls and Travis had his...Lexxi the Yellow Lab(she truly is one of the children!). For the girls & I we moved to a new state, new home, new family and for Travis he was invaded by females after living alone for 15 years.

Now that we've all learned from our experiences and added 2 NEW family members, I wouldn't trade it for anything! I'd do it all again. We definitely have our ups & downs like any family but this is right where I want to be.

This was one of the things I gave to Travis in commemoration of our day. Kind of like Letterman's top 10 but in my scrappy sort of way!

Top Ten Things I love about you

1. You take pride in ownership

2. Everyday is a new day & a fresh start

3. How you like to paint our nails with designs & bling

4. You totally get unto the Science Channel and believe in aliens

5. That you enjoy grocery shopping with me to see how much we save with coupons

6. When you are patient with my fickle nature

7. How you still ask me out on dates

8. That after 7 years you still blame your farts on the dogs

9. When you daydream about all the "family" things we can do together

10. You are dedicated to everything you undertake

Thank you, Travis for a jam-packed, full of love & adventure 5 years of marriage. Love You!

May KIT OF THE MONTH

Now on Etsy! This month's paper pack is NOW up in my Etsy shop! It's a terrifically designed paper line called Dirty Laundry. They resemble sheets, shirts, dresses, even TIES! Flowers, paisleys, stripes and dots - all distressed and grungy. They are great for ANY occasion, layouts or cards. I've used these myself and LOVE them.

Later today I will be putting up some coordinating embellishments so watch for those too. Meanwhile the Dirty Laundry paper is a steal of a deal! You get 24 patterned papers and 4 solid coordinating sheets....ALL for $9! That's less than $0.33 per sheet! You won't find that anywhere.

Happy Scrapping!

Scrapbook Albums

A while back I mentioned that I was going to be changing out all of my scrapbooks. Probably longer back than I'd like to admit, BUT.....I've started and wanted to share this crazy fast idea with everyone.

My BFF Kelli & I have received all the same goods. We have the We R Memory Keepers classic 3 ring binders in black. They are sleek Italian leather with silver metal corners and silver labels on the binding. These are timeless albums that will look awesome on the shelves! Switching from post bound to 3 ring albums is a big deal and really I didn't think I'd like it. However, there's one BIG advantage....the inserts!

They're the ultimate solution to TWO issues....

1) what to do with all those "extra" pictures that aren't included on the cute layout. If you're like me, you take 437 pictures of any given event and only scrapbook 6-10 of them into a fancy, well thought out layout. Then you have all those others than stack up & collect dust. Well, with the 4x6 photo pages you can put those extras into these pages and have little journaling spots in the extra spaces or whatever you'd like. You can even add rub ons to the outside of the 4x6 pages or hole punch a spot and tie ribbon through it. There's so many additional ways to embellish them without having to feel guilty for not using all the photos in your main layout.

2) If your like me and are "many" years behind in your scrapbooking (vacations EXCLUDED I'm not yet into this century) it can speed up the process IMMENSELY! You can scrap tons of photos way faster because you can use the best ones for select layouts and put the rest in the 4x6 sections and you're good to go. Then once they're in, you can go back anytime to add embellishments. Meanwhile, your caught up & can move forward...on to bigger things! :)

Here's just a few (poorly lit) pics to show an example of my albums. I still have to go back and add embellishments but I'm happy that the pictures are in their home and my albums are filling up quickly...

Another advantage to the 3 ring albums is that you can move things around anytime or anywhere you want. I'm really liking the whole set up! And it's not very expensive either. If you want to look these for yourself, send me a message and I can get the prices and lead time for you right away.

Also, I've added some additional baby items into my Etsy shop...slings, burpies, etc. So feel free to pop over & check it out. http://www.scraphappyutah.etsy.com/

Gone Fishn'

Yesterday Travis took Mira and Nolan fishing. He's been scouting out all the places nearby that stock the ponds. They've even driven by a few times to take a look. So early in the morning they packed up their gear, along with some drinks & snacks, and chose one not too far from our house.

Mira was SOOOOO happy to catch the FIRST ONE! One of two rainbow trout they caught! I think they were having such a good time that they had 4 or 5 that got away. They were snacking and chatting and chasing Nolan around only to find that the fish got away with most of the worm!

It's always GREAT to go fishing and bring lots home for dinner, but having fun & making family memories is really what it's all about. The kids had a blast and hopefully next time I will be able to come along.