Can you believe it's been 3 years???

Yesterday was June 16, 2009, and I got to thinking, on June 16, 2006 we took possession of our house! That means we have officially lived here for three years! I can't believe it! So much has happened in that time, changing jobs, deciding Brad should go back to school, medical issues, oh yeah, and having a baby!!! And so much has happened to our house in that time too! We have gotten new toilets, carpeted two bedrooms, gotten new interior doors, installed air conditioning, painted, redecorated, and done TONS of yardwork! And since we plan to be here a long time, I'm sure there will be many more changes along the way! I found some old pictures I took of the house when we were under contract I wanted to post, and I took a nice picture of how the house looks now. I think you will see a bit of a difference!!
This was the garage and part of the yard three years ago. Look how gross the driveway was!!
This is part of the front of the house. That's Brad's parents going in, they came to check it out before we purchased it.
And this is the rest of the front of the house. And in all fairness, I didn't have a very good camera back then!
Now, here is our beautiful house today!! Much better!! We look forward to many more years, changes, and memories here in our home!

Fun at Summerfest

This past weekend was Summerfest and that is something Brad and I have enjoyed every year that we have been together. So after we recovered from the run that morning, we went over with a bunch of friends. It was really fun, despite the mud everywhere from the horrendous rain storm we had that afternoon. Here are some of the highlights.
Daddy and Chasey rode the train!
In this one, Ryan and Klous, Brad and Chasey, and Shauna and Zach are all getting ready to come down the big slide! The kids had so much fun they did it twice!
Doesn't that look like fun!!!!
And here is the whole gang eating dinner before the parade. Carole, Becki and I came over a day early and scouted out a great spot for us on the corner, and except for the rain, it was really a great time. Everybody's in this picture, Carole and Tyler, Ryan, Klous, Aysha and Becki, Shauna and Zach, and Brad and Chasey. Can't wait for next year!!! (We missed you Summer, Lee family, and Hawkes family!!)

Orem Summerfest 5K

Well, last Saturday the 13th, I did my second 5K. And Brad joined us this time so it was his first! I am excited that this is something we are going to share. We have been exercising together more often lately, and he has also given up soda entirely. We are on our way to becoming a healthier family! Anyway, my family (minus my brother this time, he bruised some ribs in a long boarding accident) did it again, both sisters, my dad, Brad and I and Adam's mother in law, Brenda. All of us did better on our times, but my dad and I, we run together, got the most improvment. We did this one in 42:42, down 3 and a half minutes from the Running with Angels 5K, which we did in 46:10!! Yay for us!! And I am proud to say that Brad, on his first, did it in 40:43!! What a stud! Here's a few pictures.
Here's all of us before the race, with an ambulance behind us, it was the Orem Firefighters who sponsored the race. Brad, Lindsay, Sam, my dad, me and Brenda.
Here's the whole family after the run, minus Lindsay's husband Mike, her four kiddos, and Chasey, who went to Grandma and Grandpa Bowen's house for the morning.
Me and my two seeesters, Samantha in the middle and Lindsay on the right.
And here's Brad and I congratulating each other on a job well done!! Looking forward to the next run, the Lavendar Days 5K in Mona, on July 11th!!

I'm a real Mormon mom now!!!

So we got a call on Saturday morning from a friend of ours who works at the car dealership where we have purchased our last 3 cars. He had seen that we only had a year left on our lease (which we hated) and thought maybe he could swing a deal for us to get us out of it. So we spent a bulk of the day down there, test driving and working the numbers. I told him we would only want to do it with certain conditions and they were able to meet all of them. The payment is $60 less than we were paying, the loan is only one year longer than it would have been, and they got us a 5yr/100,000 mile warranty. We ended up coming home with a Chevy Venture minivan that we LOVE!! And even though we won't need the extra space for awhile, (I'm not pregnant :)) we are very excited about it!! Here it is....

Ain't she purty!!
Chasey really likes being so high up....
And he always laughs when we use the automatic sliding door!!

I really love it and I am so happy we made this purchase!!

Toy box doubles as baby storage

My parents gave us a really nice toy box for Christmas. It was so wonderful because up until then my front room looked like a toy factory exploded!! Well, the other day Chasey discovered that the toy box wasn't just for toys!! Chasey's can fit in there as well!!




He was so proud of himself for finding a new, fun place to play!! Such a silly boy!!

Fun...in the sprinkler??

Normally when we are outside playing, Chasey will stay away from the sprinklers because it makes him all flustered and he doesn't know what to do to get away from them if he starts to get wet. That's why I was totally surprised when he totally started playing in one the other day. And may I point out that he was still in his pajamas! But it was so funny and cute, I had to grab the camera!




What a cutie!! And, obviously, I didn't even have to give him a bath that day!!

We officially own Chasey!!

Turns out that when you have a surgery one calendar year, and then a c-section the next and you have to pay two deductibles, you rack up a LOT of medical bills! So we had Chasey on a nice rent-to-own payment plan from the hospital. Well, I am pleased to announce that we wrote the final check yesterday, and we are no longer renting our little boy!! Congrats to us, we finally own him! What a wonderful investment!!

The Caradon Diet

Well, another month started yesterday, and it seemed like as good a time as any to outline my fantastic new diet plan. I am really trying to lose some weight by making some major changes to my lifestyle. In this post I would like to outline my diet to my loyal readers.

Anyone who knows me, knows I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I have also tried just about every weight loss plan out there. I did pills, shakes, Nutri System, Body for Life (lost 30 pounds, put back on about 50), South Beach diet (same results as previously mentioned), Jillian Michaels' work out plan, two versions of at home "Biggest Loser"(I'm out a good bit of money on those) and many others. I've decided that a big part of my problem has been that I started each of these ventures knowing it was a diet, and not a lifestyle change. So that has been my approach this time, to change the way I eat for the rest of my life.

Some of you know that in the beginning of 2007 I decided that as a New Year's Resolution I was going to give up chocolate for the whole year. That was extremely hard for me. I had chocolate in some form or another every day. About 5 months into 2007, as you all know, I found out I was preggers with Chasey, and I continued my quest to finish out the year chocolate free. Then when January 1st, 2008 came around, I decided, why not finish out my pregnancy. Then when Chasey was born, I thought, well he hasn't ever had chocolate in his system yet, so I can't start eating again until after I quit breast feeding. Well, by the time I was done breast feeding, I had gone 18 months without chocolate, and I thought, if I've made it this far, why not just keep going? So, here I am 29 months after I started the no chocolate thing, and I still haven't had ANY!!

Since giving up chocolate was the thing I thought would be the absolute hardest for me to do, I thought, why not add more of my vices to the list. So this is what is now called the Caradon Diet. At the beginning of every month, I give up one more thing, in an attempt to make my eating habits better in general. Starting in December I gave up French fries, in January it was soda (almost as hard as chocolate, by the way), in February it was breaded items, like chicken nuggets, in March it was sugary drinks like juice and lemonade, in April it was cold cereal, and in May it was pastries, including cake, cookies, pie, doughnuts, etc.

Here we are now to June. This will be another really tough one for me. This month I am giving up Dairy products except for Skim Milk and Mozzarella Cheese. Luckily I've had a little practice with this one, because Chasey was lactose intolerant, so I gave up dairy while I breast fed. But this time it is for good. And I know it will be hard. I agree with my friend, Jamie, who says everything is better with cheese, and my whole life I have lived by that. In fact, surely that is a good 50 or 60 of my extra pounds. Cheddar cheese!

So that is it folks, the Caradon Diet. We'll see if it starts to make a difference as I start implementing the exercise program I have in mind this summer. As I lose weight I will let you all know. Stay tuned!!

Baby Steps

A lot of you know I have been overthinking the walking thing when it comes to Chasey, and I have been worried that he hasn't been doing it more since he is almost 16 months old now. A lot of you also have reassured me that he would start when he was ready, and even our doctor told me not to worry, he himself didn't start walking until he was 18 months old. For a few months now though, Chasey has been cruising, walking one handed with daddy, and for about a month, using a walking toy and getting very good. Well, my fears have greatly subsided this week, as he finally started walking across our front room. I realize he still has a ways to go, but he is finally doing it, and as his mommy, I couldn't be prouder!!



Go Chasey Go!! You're doing great, kid!!!

Park City here we come!!

Four years ago, Brad and I got a notice in the mail that one of the Best Westerns in Park City had renovated the hotel and were offering a really cheap rate to get people in the door to check it out. We went for a weekend and fell in love with the hotel. Every year since we have gone back for a weekend in the late Spring, and this year was no exception. Last weekend we went and enjoyed the hotel, our poolside room, our traditional dinner out to Ruby Tuesday's and a day at the outlet mall. Last year when we went, Chasey was still only 4 months old so he enjoyed the pool, but this year he realized it was like a giant bathtub, and he had a blast! I wanted to post a few pool pictures that captured the great time we had!



For those of you who have seen Chase do his trademark "Chasercising" just imagine that move in water! It was hilarious!! I'm surprised he didn't choke on all the water he splashed into his face! As you can see we had a great time, and can't wait to go back next year!!