Sarah comes home!

Last weekend my step-sister Sarah came home from her mission! She was serving in Spokane, WA. Brynne and I made some signs for her and then we all headed up the airport to greet her off the plane!

Popper & Dayton modeling the sign Brynne made. I think it turned out AWESOME! 

Lizzy, Joey and a friend of Sarah's from her mission modeling the sign I made. We had everyone sign it! 

Brynne and Kaycee waiting so patiently for Sarah to get off the plane

There she is! 

Mass hugs! 

Hugging Rick, my stepdad 

Hugging my mom 

Hugging Brynne and meeting Kaycee 

All of Sarah's sisters. She has 1 sister, 3 half sisters and 4 step sisters. 

Lizzy was the first to greet her - she nearly ran up the escalator to hug her! The only other missionary experience I have was when my brother in law Clint came home so it was really fun getting to enjoy the experience again. No one else in my family has ever brought home a missionary so Jake and I were the "experts" on where to stand and what to expect and stuff.

After we took pictures, we drove back to Eagle Mountain and she was released by our Stake President at our Stake Center. We had a big dinner for her the next night with yummy BBQ and hearing her tell some of her favorite missionary stories. She started school yesterday at UVU so she jumped RIGHT back into "regular" life. Her homecoming talk is at the end of September so be looking for another blog post!

Welcome home Sarah, we couldn't be more proud of you and your example!

Kaycee's 1st Football Game

Last weekend we took Kaycee to her first sporting event. Of course, it had to be a football game! I've always been adamant I didn't want to take little kids to sporting events because they're expensive and if we have to leave everyone ends up upset and stressed because we wasted money. Well, not if it's a local high school game! My sister is a cheerleader for West Lake High School so we HAD to go support her plus we get to watch a football game!

My mom got Kaycee this adorable onesie when I was pregnant and it fits her GREAT now! Because we've been experiencing some wet weather, we made sure to bundle her up good, hence her cute hat!

Love that ruffle bum so dang much!

We got to the game and it was POURING so we decided to wait in the car until right before the game started. Brynne came and sat in our car with us and we ended up in the car waiting for over an hour because of lightning delays. Kaycee did so good waiting in the car!

An hour later then expected, we finally got to go in and they started the game! 

Bundled baby in the Bjorn

There was lightning strikes again a few minutes into the game so after 10 plays they canceled the game until the next day. We were bummed but it ended up being free and Kaycee did AWESOME so it was a super great experience! Can't wait to try taking her to a longer game! 

Jeannene graduates high school

A few weeks ago, Jeannene graduated from high school! I know I already posted pictures from her college graduation at UVU when she got her associates, but she's so cool she graduated twice and that deserves another blog post!



Cap and gown!

Selfies with Jake

Rick wanted to photo bomb

The whole family. Kaycee was there, she was just asleep in her stroller behind us

Sisters!

Our reactions to her graduating. I love Brynne's face haha

Girls and mom

We can't always be serious

The girls with dad

Had to get a picture {ish} with Kaycee!

I'm so proud of Jeannene for all she has done to graduate - at the end she was a credit or half a credit or something short and she completed a packet in 2 days to graduate! Good job Roo - we love you!

Jeannene Graduates from UVU

Last weekend, my sister Jeannene graduated from UVU with her associates! She's 18 & technically hasn't graduated from high school yet, but she has her associates. AMAZING right?! The graduation was set for 8 AM, and because we didn't have much notice before hand, Jake wasn't able to make it but Kayc & I got up early and were able to go, and I am so glad we did!!

I had been worried Kayc would have a hard time sitting still for that long - I pictured it being just like church but she did great. She fussed for a few minutes at the beginning of the commencement and I just rocked her in the back of the auditorium until she fell asleep and she slept through the whole rest of the ceremony!

This was the first time Poppa {my grandpa} met Kaycee!! He was adorable with her - just touching her little hands & feet and talking to her. It was super cute!

Kisses from Poppa

I love her face haha! 

Getting her diploma

Sleepy girl

Poppa drove in from California for her graduation & Kaycee's blessing - worked out great that they were the same weekend! 

Jeannene & Kayc

Jon & Kaycee

I love his face!

Jeannene & her boyfriend Jon - we like him lots :) 

Another picture of Poppa & Jeannene

All of us outside - it was a GORGEOUS day! 

Our family that was able to come - Brynne & Blake had work, and Popper was super behind in one of her classes and couldn't miss :( 

Outside picture of Roo & Poppa

My mom, Jeannene & Rick 

Kayc did not want to smile!

Sisters!

I love our faces :)

She felt the urge to get in the water, and was surprised how deep & cold it was! 

Freezing!

Rick modeling for us :)

The cute graduate! 

Playing outside while Jeannene was taking pictures with her friends 

I left Kaycee's car seat in the car because I was worried about having to lug stuff everywhere - my arms got quite the workout from carrying her but I think it went so great because she was in my arms! She fell asleep as we finished pictures and slept on me while we walked back to the car. 

My gorgeous sister! 

Way to go, Jeannene!! That's an amazing accomplishment and we are all very proud of you!!

Let there be polka dots!

Well, we finally started working on your our princess's room!  I had decided a long time ago I just wanted to paint one wall, but I wasn't sure what color I wanted to paint it. I was leaning towards chevron, that zig zag pattern that is so popular right now, until I thought about just how popular it is... Ten to one, it won't be all that cool in 5 years, and I don't want to have to repaint her room unless she wants it done different. I found a website that has stencil's in all different patterns, and found one in polka dots. I LOVE polka dots, and they are timeless, so that's what we went with!

Saturday morning, my sisters came over to help us. Before they got there I took some "before" pictures of just how awesome her room looked and then straightened it up a bit.

View from the door looking right, next to the lamp is her closet doors

The wall we will be adding polka dots to

The other blank wall

Her door and closet doors. And her big brother, all ready to help

I threw away a few coupon things I didn't think I would use, organized the diapers in the closet, and then piled most of the stuff, like the boppy, carseat warmer, crib mattress etc. in her room. We ended up giving her crib away to someone on KSL, so that was taken from the room as well. Brynne & Popper got there a few hours before my mom & Jeannene, so they got started right away.

The wall just before we started painting

The stencil up, ready for the first roll of paint!

Painting the first stencil

It didn't work all that well, but Brynne got a wet rag and fixed each and every circle. They figured out what they could do differently for the next time, and started again!

2nd time went much better!

Max supervising his sisters room painting

Once they started getting the hang of it, it went super fast!

Popper took over when Brynne had to leave for Devin's endowment session

Showing off her mad painting skills...

Did it perfect - not a single circle needed a touch up! She was shocked haha

Jeannene helping/supervising Popper's paint job

She really did such a good job!

Doing the last section after a pizza break. They lined up perfectly with where the wall ended!

Popper was so focused - she really did such an amazing job!

Me with the finished wall. Absolutely LOVE it!

It looks perfect!!

After we were done painting the wall, Popper & Jake brought up Jake's old dresser from the basement for Kaycee to use. It's the dresser we used when we first got married too, so this dresser has a lot of history in our family. I had wanted to paint it until Jake mentioned he wanted to keep it the original color because of memories sake. So instead of painting it, we are just going to change the handles on it.

Popper also volunteered to paint the shelf for us! She primed it first and did an awesome job. She ended up leaving before she was able to paint it, but it's primed and ready for painting. We are going to have her paint it pink, the same shade as the polka dots. Can't wait!

Cleaning the shelf so she can prime it {with Max supervising}

She was hyper haha

She came over a few days later to paint it pink - I snapped a picture of it with just the primer before she finished painting it, hence her change of clothes

The next morning, I walked past Kaycee's room and just got the hugest smile. I love that it's starting to look like a room. Even though the only furniture is her dresser, it's nice having all the other mess cleaned out. And I am SOOO in love with the polka dot wall! It couldn't have turned out any better. And I feel like I can be super proud and love it and rave about it and have it not be vain since I'm not the one who did it. My sisters are seriously AWESOME!

Next is to get her crib, and to buy her curtains & the fabric for her crib skirt. Jamie Peterson in our ward is going to make the crib skirt for me as soon as I pick the fabric. Searching for a crib I like as we speak - hoping to find one soon!

Here's another few ideas I like for her room: I found this gem at Hobby Lobby - can't wait to buy it and bring it home for her room. You hang bows on the ribbons - cute way to hang the bows huh?!

Saw this awesome idea on Pinterest - need to find a cool jar that I can use because I love this idea!

Love how her room is coming along - can't wait to show you more pictures as we progress!