HAIRCUT

These photos turned out darker on here, but hopefully you can get the idea of my new cut. Here is the before photo. Before the cut, but right after a shower-my hair is wet.Here is the new look. What do you think? I love it. I love having short hair. I've always been scared to cut my hair, but I finally got the courage to do it and I love it. When I go back to have it cut again though I think I want it a little shorter, and I don't want the bangs. I got bangs cut, and I just don't like them...you can't even tell that I have them in these photos though so it is ok for now.

Say say my playmate

So I've been thinking about putting up a post for a little while, but I don't have much to post about. I feel like we've been playing all summer long and my life has been kinda out of order. This morning I realized that this was true...we have been playing all summer long and we have no set schedule (except nap and bed time). I've posted about most of the fun things we've done, but here's whats been happening for the past 3 weeks.

• I've been working out again...I took a long break this spring/summer so it's time to get back at it. I'm going at 5:15am three days a week with a friend to YMCA.
  
• I got a job working at a grocery store as a cashier...yes, I feel like I'm in high school again
  
• Ryan went on his first business trip-I guess he is all grown up now. He got to go to North and South Carolina. He really loved Charleston and keeps saying he wants to move there.
• Ryan's sister Jenny came to be with us for the week Ryan was gone-we LOVED having her with us she helped me out so much!
• Carson completely occupied Jenny's time while she was here by making her tell stories and draw (two things she is AWESOME at) the entire week.
• Halli and I have been playing a lot with her kitchen set she got for her birthday
• We took 2 trips to Oklahoma (to retrieve and return Jenny)
• I've been listening to Catching Fire with all that driving...I'M TOTALLY LOVING the book, and am nervous/excited to see what is going to happen.
• The new Mockingjay book is on it's way to my house, via Amazon, so I can start reading it the moment I finish Catching Fire.
  
• My sister Aubry and hubby Michael came to visit for a couple days. They have to leave this morning, and we are sad to see them go. We always love having them here with us.
  

So with the departure of my sister this morning, our summer will officially be over. I guess it is time to get back on a schedule. So here's to the amazing summer of 2010!!

hot, Hot, HOT

It has been oh so hot here for the past couple of weeks so we haven't been going out going much of anywhere for the past while. I don't even like to go out and get the mail! So we've been enjoying out time inside doing silly things like thisIf we do go outside we stick to keeping in the water which has resulted in this a time or two...

Slow Going

I've been working on some projects, but it has been slow going lately. I've got a lot of plans and ideas, but running low on funds so I'm trying to find inexpensive things to work on..and get creative with my creativity. Here are my latest 2 projects #s 26 and 27
First I made some cupcakes, and a fun lunch for the kids one afternoon. The cupcakes took a while, but they were fun to make and really delicious to eat!
I also made some bracelets for Halli. They were so cute, and she loved them...too bad they were both broken 15 minutes after I put them on her. Hey though, at least I got a photo before they were ruined. I'll just have to put them back together one evening this week while I'm watching Lost. (We've been watching all the seasons so we could watch the final one-we're on 5 now so we're almost there!)I've got 2 more projects that are both half-way completed and will be done in the next couple of days. And another 2 that are in the works of getting started so hopefully I'll be able to stay on top of them.

Other happenings

We've been enjoying life since we've come home from our big trip this summer. Halli and Carson have been much nicer this week after catching up on sleeping and getting back to their regular schedules. They really did pretty good on our vacation too though, but it is always nice to get back in the routine. I went to girls camp with our church for a week 2 weeks ago. I had my friend Kristin braid my hair. I love it! It was so nice to not have to worry about my hair for a week. It kept me a lot cooler too. I think I'll have to have her do this to me once every 6 months or so. It was just a nice break from my hair.
We went on a rafting trip during camp, and it was a blast. These are the fun girls I got to spend the day with. I don't think any of them had paddled a boat before so it was fun to teach them how to control the raft. We only got stuck once!
This was after I took my hair out of the braids, but before I brushed it. It was a good bit bigger after I brushed it.
I'll be making another post soon, but I just needed to play catch up on all these posts. They aren't too exciting...the next ones will be more so-Promise.

Georgia Trip

Here are some of the fun things we did during our stay in Georgia. We had a log of meals together with the family. My parents and little brother were there as well as Carson, Halli, and I. We stayed with my brother and his family for the first couple days of our trip then we switched and stayed with my sister and her family for the last couple days of our stay. It was so fun to see them both and be able to hang out with everyone every day. I wish I lived close to one of my siblings! Halli and Colby checking out the happenings outside.
Carson and Daisy playing

Future plumber.
Getting ready for the fireworks show. This is my dad, sister Dantzel, neice Mara, and brother Ryan. Yes, my brother's name is Ryan, and my husband's name is Ryan, and Aubry's husband Michael-his middle name is Ryan. Pretty popular name for our family.
Enjoying the fireworks
Being scared of the loud noises some of the fireworks make.
My mom bought all the cousins matching shirts. They were going to take some really cute pictures, but Halli wasn't about to let that happen. She refused to cooperate.
My first time eating at Waffle House. It was so tasty...the waffles were delish.
This is Halli's first silly face. I asked her to make a silly face and this is what she did!
My sister Dantzel took us to play at the mall one day during our visit. They had a fun play area and some little fountains in the mall. It was fun to walk around then let the kids play a bit. This is Carson and Halli with their cousins Rachel and Mara.
Carson and his cousin Ben getting along-that didn't happen much on the trip so I had to document it. Boys will be boys I guess.
We had a wonderful visit and enjoyed each day with my family. We just wished Ryan could have been there with us, but he was busy fishing with his dad and uncles out in Utah for the week. That is alright though-he had an awesome time with them as well!

New York City

Finally I am able to sit down and make a post about our fabulous vacation. Here is a photo journal of our trip. Our first stop was Times Square. We got there Tuesday afternoon and walked down to the busy spot in town. We ate lunch down there, went and played around in the huge Toys R Us, went shopping, and then that evening we got to go see Mary Poppins on Broadway-it was SO good! I loved it-the scene changes were amazing, the music was fun, and I of course loved the dancing!

Day two started with a trip to the Statue of Liberty. Before we rode the boat to see the lovely lady we ran into this guy and took some photos with him for a nominal fee :) Halli wasn't so sure about him.


Here's the view while on our boat ride out to the Island. Man I would love to live in this city! We all posed to get some photos in front of the Statue of Liberty. I love this one of Carson and Halli-they aren't fighting! Then we got a family photo with the view of NYC behind us!


Our hotel (Empire Hotel) was right down the street from the LDS temple. We didn't go inside, but we walked passed a bunch...next time we'll have to take some time to go inside! I think it is so amazing that there is a temple in Manhattan!
Mom and Dad walking with Halli-familiar sight on this trip.
We got to go to a Yankees game while we were there. My little brother Ryan is a huge fan, and we had the opportunity to go down to Monument Park and take a look around. It was really fun. A manager of the park gave us a tour around the Park and field-it was really cool!

There were some cool stairs at the Lincoln Center so the kids and I took some fun photos on them. The words on the stairs say Welcome in a bunch of different languages.
This is Ryan and I in the subway. I totally loved the subway...no traffic, fast transportation, and no weather to deal with! If the opportunity ever came we would seriously move to NYC. We loved it, and we can't wait to go back again. Next time Ryan and I will be going by ourselves for a getaway! I'm planning the trip already!
This last photo is Carson helping Halli get around the airport-she was riding on the suitcase.