Wedding, Halloween, Deer Hunt and Happy Birthday!

Well what a busy couple of weeks we've had! My little sister Nicole got married on October 28th in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and it was a perfect day. She looked beautiful and happy and everyting went really well. I headed up operations over the baking of 600 cupcakes which was A LOT bigger project than I thought it would be but it's over now and I'm glad. :) Nikki and Alex got home from their honeymoon in Mexico yesterday and we went over and watched them open their gifts last night. I didn't get any pictures of the happy couple on the big day but I of course did get pictures of my own cute kids. :)

Canyon and Savanna at the Wedding Reception

Canyon and Savanna on the dance floor. :)

Monday was Halloween and the kids spent the day in their costumes of course, Canyon as the Black Spiderman and Savanna as Tinkerbell. We went trick or treating down main street to all the businesses in American Fork and then we came home and went to a few houses in our neighborhood. Scott didn't make it home from work until about 7:30 so we went to his parent and my parents with out him and then he met us at Grandma Joan's later where we ended the night. They had an awesome day and got tons of candy.

The deer hunt just ended and Scott got this 2 point on the last day of the hunt. He was happy about it and Canyon enjoyed watching the boys hang the deer in Grandpa's shop and then helped him skin it a couple days later. It's now at the butcher being turned into steaks, roasts and jerkey... Not really sure if I'm excited about having all of this meat or not. I have never tried deer meat and I don't really want to. I'll have to find some good flavorful recipes I guess. :(

And last but certainly not least... My wonderful husband turned 27 on Nov. 3rd. We went to cafe rio for dinner where Jason, Sasha and Hunter met us as a surprise and then came back to the house for some Heath Bar Cake. It was a great night!

We love Scott so so so so much and are so happy to have him as a husband and a dad. He's such a great father and husband and works so hard for our family. We love you babe!

Stick On Shoes

It's no surprise that Savanna keeps us on our toes around here. She is such a little character. Yesterday she discovered panitiliners while rummaging through the bathroom cabinets. She then waltzed into the family room wearing her new stick on shoes and looking like this. :)

Cornbelly's 2011

I guess it's a family tradition now since this is our 3rd year going. :) We went to Cornbelly's on Saturday and the kids had a blast. It was surprisingly warm though and really busy probably because of the weather. We were there for 2 hours and didn't even make it through the whole place. Next year we'll try and go on a less busy day. :)

Temple Pictures

Yesterday before church we took the kids to the temple. It was so nice being there with my kids and husband and it made me realize how lucky we are that we can just drive 5 minutes from our house and be at the temple and drive another hour and be at any of 6 others we choose to go to. I love the temple and am so grateful for the blessings we receive from going there. I'm grateful that Scott and I were married in the temple and that our kids are sealed to us forever. I love my forever family!

I Heart Pinterest

Wow, pinterest rocks. Has everyone been having as much fun on pinterest over the last couple of months as I have? It was awesome this month while I was planning a bridal shower for my sister. I got most of my ideas and inspiration on there. Here are a few of my favorite pinterest finds that I've actually tried. :)

I learned how to make these super cute pom balls from this website http://www.thebusybudgetingmama.com/2010/08/diy-tissue-pom-poms.html and they were super easy to make and really cute at my sisters bridal shower.

OH MY GOODNESS... these Ham and Cheese Sliders are soooo good! We served these at the bridal shower and they are wonderul. :) You have to try them. The saue that goes over the top makes them awesome. http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/04/ham-and-cheese-sliders.html

I made this Broccoli Soup on Monday night. Scott worked late so the kids and I ate first. We ate all of it. I actually had to make another batch of soup so that Scott would have some when he got home. It's so good! http://www.mangiodasola.com/2009/11/broccoli-cheddar-soup.html

I made this cake last sunday because I was craving cinnamon rolls but didn't want to put in all the work. It turned out super good and was a big hit with everyone. AND I found a good food blog along with it. BONUS! :) http://www.life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2011/07/cinnamon-roll-cake.html

A couple weeks ago I was feeling ambitious and decided to attempt baking something I've never baked before. Rolls. It was my first time baking rolls and they turned out awesome! They are not texas roadhouse like the recipe says but still really good. :) http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2011/08/texas-roadhouse-rolls-and-cinnamon.html

I found this super cute idea for a Bat Tree for Halloween decorating. Here is my version of what I found. I gathered some dead sticks across the street from my house and spray painted them black. I then put them in a vase and put ribbon around it. I found some plastic bats at target and hung them from the sticks with fishing line. I love how it turned out!

I go through clorox wipes like they're going out of style. On Pinterest I found this idea to convert my emply clorox wipes bottle into a grocery bag holder. I just tore the label off, washed it in the dishwasher and put scrap book paper on it. Ta-da!

I found this cute idea on Pinterest to do leaf pictures with the kids. They had so much fun!

One of my favorites... I saw this on Pinterest and had to make some of my own. They turned out so cute and the kids actually enjoy doing chores so the can move their "to-do's" to "done". Awesome!

First Year of Soccer

Last night was Canyon's first last soccer game. :) It was quite an interesting season. Overall he did pretty good for not having a clue what was going on and just getting out there and playing. I think he found his nitch as goalie... mostly because it made him the least tired. He didn't make any goals but if you ask him he did becuase at half time they would practice kicking the ball into the net. He did pretty good and we are all proud of him and grateful for everyone's support coming out to the games every week. He is already talking about practicing to get ready for next year so he must have liked it a little. :)

Refurbished Thrift Store Frame = Jewelry Holder

Remember this lovely find from last weeks thrift store trip? Well I've been wanting to make a Jewelry Holder for a while now and knew that this would be perfect! Before this my earrings and rings were in the drawer of my vanity and my necklaces were hanging on the door knob of my closet. Not the greatest place because of how accessible they are to my little fashionista 2 year old. :)

I started by taking the whole thing apart, throwing the lovely "starry night cloth sewing thingy" in the trash and choosing a paint color. I decided to go with the color Indian Turquoise because its very lovely. :) It took several coats of paint but covered the gold nicely.

(Everyting I used minus White Spray Paint and Duct Tape.)

I used hot glue to stick the fabric to the styrofoam like so...

And Waalaa, here is the front after I glued the fabric to the styrofoam.

My Husband cut down my wire netting to just the right size to fit the frame for me with wire cutters. Then, I sprayed both sides of the wire netting with wite spray paint to blend into the fabric a little better.

I then stacked all the pieces just so into the frame, slapped a few strips of duct tape on the back to keep it all together, nailed 2 small nails into the sides at the top of the frame for hooks and...

FINISHED! :) And I love it.

First Day of School

Today Canyon started Preschool.

Can he really be this old already!? I love this little guy so so much and I know that he is going be be one of the best and brightest kids in his class. :) He's so excited to go and to learn and to come home and tell me all about it. I can't wait to go pick him up in 5 minutes and hear what he has to say. :)

Thrift Store Finds

Look at these little beauties I picked up from the thrift store today. Stay tuned to find out what I decide to do to them. :)

New Fall Crafts

Last night I spent a couple hours working on a few of my new fall designs and getting ready for the craft show coming up in October. I'm really happy with how they turned out! Here's what I have so far!

Lovin it :)

It's been wonderful so far. Waking up when I want to... well when my kids do but still, no alarm clock. :) Reading a book for the first time in 4 years, spending our days at the Highland splash park and working on my projects. I love it!
My sister was in town last week and went with all of us to Idaho for a family reunion. We had a blast!
Canyon has had 3 soccer games and while the first 2 were a little rough to watch this last one was so much better! He has another one tonight and he's actually excited to go and to "make 16 kicks". That's his goal.
I signed up for the Battlecreek Boutique again and it's in mid October. I'm excited to introduce some new things I've been working on and to actually have time to really get ready for it.
Canyon starts preschool a week from today and we're getting really excited. We have most of his school clothes bought alon with his backpack so he's ready to go. We get to go to back to school night on Thursday. I really can't believe that he is going to be in Kindergarten next year, its crazy how fast time has flown by!

All the cousins eating lunch.

Canyon & Savanna at the Highland Splash Park

Savanna and Canyon at the City of Rocks in Idaho

Savanna being a little artist :)

Freedom!!!!

Yesterday was my first "stay at home mom" day. I don't know if it was becuse I have a giant "to do" list in my phone that is 3 scrolls long or if it was the sense of freedom I was experiencing but... I deep cleaned my room, Canyon's room, Savanna's room, the kitchen and the car. I also tried a new recipe for dinner which turned out to be fabulous and completed two craft projects on my list. It was so awesome!!! Today I am feeling a bit lazier and I'm looking at today's "to-do's" and wondering if I will make it through half of the list. We will see I guess. But I am happy and content and excited to be home. :)

This is my summer wreath that I've been wanting to get to for months and now here we are in the middle of August and I finally got to it! It turned out pretty good though and I'm very happy with it.
Materials: Styrofoam Wreath, Jute Hemp, Felt Flowers

This I've had designed forever and even had the glass and frame bought but finally got the vinyl cut for it yesterday and hung up.

Materials: Frame, Glass, Vinyl

Do you think this would sell? I made one for my mom too and she has 9 people in her family so I know how to customize it per number of people. What do you think?

For those of you who don't already know...

No I'm not pregnant.... :) But, I did quit my job! Its been a long time coming but Scott and I finally made the decision that we are probably ok for me to be a stay at hom mom. :) I'm super excited about it and I hope my kids are too. I gave my work a 2 month notice and now I'm on the home stretch... 3 more weeks! My official last day of work is Friday, August 12th. Just in time for summer to be over I know but just in time for one final summer vacation and then to get Canyon ready to start preschool. I'm excited to spend lots of time with my kiddos and to work on my Etsy shop a little more. I've also taken on a side project to help perfect my cupcake baking skills and you can read all about it on my cupcake blog. :) http://myadventuresincupcakes.blogspot.com/

Also... since I've been neglecting my blog so much this summer... here is a recap in pictures of what we've been up to.

Our visit to the "Up" house in Herriman.

Canyon and Savanna in a hot air balloon at Freedom Festival minutes before the wind blew in and knocked all the balloons over. :)

Orem SummerFest

Catching BlueGills at Nielsen's Grove

Canyon and Michael at Nielsen's Grove

Rachelle, Andrew and Rhys on their Wedding day.

Joseph's last night before the MTC.

Uncle Chris's birthday party.

Hogle Zoo in May.

Eating lunch at This is the place monument.