School

So it has occurred to me that some of you may be interested in what I do on a regular bases. So I have decided to post some pictures of my life at school. I will warn you some of these pictures may be disturbing to old and young audiences (by disturbing I mean embarrassing).

Here are some

of the cardboard models that I worked on for our first project.

We are currently working on a photographers retreat located on Antelope Island. For research on this project we went on a camping trip to Antelope Island as a class.

We have also visited a few construction sites. On Friday we went to a site here on campus. They are currently constructing a new business building. We went to the site and were able to tour the building mid-construction. basically all they have is the basic frame and floors. We went to the top floor (8th story) on a rickety, make shift stair case. Did I mention I am deathly afraid of heights? It was hilarious to watch me climb up and down with all these manly men around staring at me.

This is a light box I constructed for my studio class. I have several pictures of how the light

moves through the box. It's pretty cool ... I promise.

I am posting these latter pictures in dedication to my sister in law Molly, who is not ashamed to post anything.

In order to ease the stress and monotony of life at school occasionally we have themed days. So far we have had "Ugly Sweater Friday" .....

And "Mustache Monday". However, only 3 people participated in Mustache Monday, so it turned into "Angry Eyebrow Monday".

The Long Belated Update

Sorry for the hiatus in our blogging. Life has kept us very busy. I don't know if that is a legitimate excuse but that's my excuse.

As you all know we moved into our house in January. After moving into our new house we set to unpacking and then invited our family and friends over. It is so nice to have space for people to come over. If you had ever been to our

old, dark, dungeon of an apartment you knew that it was near impossible to have any one over, let alone sit, talk and enjoy each others company. We love it!

When spring came we began our yard work (aka the clean-up). However, I also was still attending school (at UVU and U of U) and busily getting my portfolio together to apply for the architectural program.

In late spring Taylor lost his job. This

was devastating to our family, however I was very proud of the way which Taylor handled himself. As many of you know this was not the first time Taylor has lost a job. However, his attitude toward this situation has shown me a total change between how he once was and the man he is today. Shortly after losing his job he received a phone call from a manager of a Big O Tire shop close to where we live. I was at an all time frustration level with the situation, so

this phone call couldn't have come at a better time. He went in to interview and accepted a position as a sales man. He has since been one of their top

sellers. Although he is still not an early bird and does not enjoy the early hours, he continues to amaze me with the positive attitude he has every day.

As summer came, school ended for me. I decided to continue to work part-time in order to spend more time with the girls before school started again. We spent much of the time cleaning, planting, raking, and bagging up the yard. We took many, many truck loads of brush, debris, apples (rotten) and leaves to the dump. At the the beginning of summer/ end of spring we had a last storm that brought down a few tree limbs including a large arm to a tree just south west of our house. Once the clean up was over we began to plant. We planted flowers, bushes and even started a garden. We carved pumpkins from our garden in preparation for Halloween.

In late July I recieved the news that I was accepted into the architectural

program at the University of Utah. This news was great relief. However,

there was much anxiety that came with this news. I had to work out daycare and my work schedule. We had figure out how we were going to survive financially with me only working 2 days a week. Things seemed to fall into place as the summer progressed. Whenever I have doubts I simple look back at how perfectly every thing has worked out and I know this is what I am supposed to be doing right now. Now that I have been in the program for several months I absolutely love it. It's my "family" outside my family. Don't get me wrong it is a LOT of work. The other week I had a project due on a Monday. I was at our studio all Friday night and on Sunday from noon until 5 in the morning. It seems that my days consist of sketching and building models out of cardboard. It is very time consuming but it is definitely worth it. I am learning so much.

The girls have started at a new daycare (preschool) just across the street from my house. I also love this. They drive two hours (more with traffic) everyday with me. We spend time talking, singing, playing game, and I am not going to lie.... there is some

yelling and frustration involved. The girls have gain great friends at their new "school". They have also learned SO much. They have been attending just over 2 months. Already Bailey has learned to to spell and write her name. Jada is in Big girl pants all day. They have centers, recess, story time, nap time, show and tell. I love the structure and learning that occurs.

Here are some pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes. They dressed up on Friday. Their school had a "carnival" Friday night. The girls and I went to their carnival. This consisted of walking from room to room and enjoying in different activities. There was face painting, bean bag toss, a piñata, and so many more. On Saturday we all went out trick or treating. The girls were such troopers. It had rained all day and was so cold. Jada and Taylor made it about 20-30 minutes. Bailey and I went around for about another hour or so. By then Bailey began to complain about her "cold and tired legs".

Earlier this month we also had the first snow of the year. I went into the girls room at 7 am and told Bailey to go look outside. She groggily strolled into the kitchen and looked out the window. She then came running back into her room yelling "there's snow! there's snow! Can we go outside!?!" I have never seen the girls get dressed so fast. Needless to say we made it out of the house in record time.

Taylor says in the picture the girls look like deer caught in head lights.

Our Home Sweet Home

Here is the girls room. Our "Master" Bedroom. The Living Room going into the Kitchen and the Hallway.

The Living Room (Looking in from the Kitchen/ Hallway)

The Kitchen.

The one and only Bath Room.

The Back Entry.

Wow! I didn't realize it had been sooo long since my last post. Many fun, exciting and frustrating things have unraveled in these last months.
So I finished last semester at school passing two classes and failing my calculus class (that's the 'frustrating'). Who would have guessed it? Any ways this has had consequences I had not foreseen, I will not go into that now. Needless to say I am now on my second attempt to pass this dreaded math class. I have never failed a class that I put so much effort into. It makes me sick to think of it.













Anyways on to better news, we spent Christmas with the Willison family this year. Christmas eve we went to my (Emilie's) sister's house. There was food, games, socializing, and much to Taylor's dislike there was probably way to much noise. When we arrived at home we (Bailey and Emilie) hurried and made cookies before Santa showed up and then it was off to bed. Christmas morning was spent in our apartment. We had a big breakfast and then opened presents. Bailey is finally at the age where she is reacting to things. It was histarical to watch her open the presents. Taylor was also caught off gaurd by some of the gifts he recieved. He got the video game "Rock Band" from the girls. It is one of his new favorite toys.

As many (if not all) of you know we have recently purchased a house in Orem, Utah. It was a foreclosed house that we purchased from the bank. We were able to included renovation costs into our mortgage. It was so exciting to purchase this property, have it stripted down and rebuilt before our eyes. The experience of being able to pick carpet, tile, lighting, paint..., for our house that we see our selves having until we were in our thirties... was incredible. It is so calming to know this house/property is ours. We Love It!

Here are some of the "before" pictures of our house. Our Camera has run out of batteries, so the "after" pictures we be posted later.























































































































A little scary, uh?
So this is what Taylor saw when I first brought him to our newly purchased house. I could tell by the look on his face he was a little scared too.

I can't believe that summer is over already. It seems that it has just flown by. Time always seems to slip away and it is gone before we know it.

As fall has begun many new and exciting things have been taking place. Emilie has started school once again. This school year is very busy as she is attending to different schools. She attends one class at U of U in Salt Lake on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and another class at UVU in Orem on Monday and Wednesday nights. She is also taking an online Calculus class. All of this is in preparation to apply for the architectural program at the U of U.

Taylor has finally been able to get another week of vacation this week. He has been able to relax and spend time with his friends. This is a well deserved vacation. Taylor watches the girls Monday and Wednesday nights as well as every weekend when Emilie works. This tends to be very draining on him. It is good to see him be able to relax and decompress.

Bailey is fully potty trained (except for the very rare accident every now and again), so as per our agreement with Bailey she has been able to start dance class. She has been going for a little over a month now and she loves it. She attends dance class with her cousin Nandy. This has worked out great because this means that Bailey is able to car pool with Nandy.

Bailey continues to keep us on our toes. Every once and a while we will be having a conversation while driving and I will end up laughing from her clever comments. the other day we were driving and out of no she begins to yell at me "MOM! Mom, It's the Amegra flag!" I had to ask her a couple of time before I realized she was talking about the American flag that was flying over a restaurant. On other instances Bailey talks about "last morning" this could mean anything from yesterday to last Sunday. Any prior day then today.

Jada is learning more and more words everyday. It's crazy to think how fast she is growing up. Some of her favorite words and Ma, Da (of course), Baiyee (Bailey), shewsh (shoes), baa-oo (bottle), No! (it's always said in that fashion), baa (bath), were you (where are you) but mostly she just screams or cries until we figure out what she wants.

This picture is from one morning that when I went and got her out of bed. I went back into another room and then returned to find her sitting in the bottom drawer in the kitchen. I don't know what she was doing but she was so content. I was laugh so hard.

Viewer Discretion is Advised

It's crazy to think how fast our girls are growing up. Bailey is talking more fluently then ever. The other day we were cleaning up the girls room (a.k.a. I was cleaning up the girls room while the girls were playing and continuing to make messes), when Bailey pointed at a Leapfrog toy and said "Mom that's a planet". She was so confident and she was right too! I was amazed, it was a toy globe of the Earth.

We have recently put our foot down with potty training... (kind of). We have known that Bailey knows how to go "potty". However, she has never had to. Recently we have just put Bailey in big girl pants, period. We started with her wearing big girl pants for the weekends (as she goes to Daycare during the week, and I didn't want her to pee all over someone else floor). After she did good for a few weekends we sent her to Daycare in big girl pants. She is doing great. We had the hardest time getting her to go poo on the potty, but she has gradually gotten it down. The other day she actual went poo at Daycare!!! I was soo excited because this was a huge obstacle for her.

While Bailey is doing great at potty Jada's potty habits are a different story. Whenever Jada goes to sleep she wakes up completely naked. We have tried everything! We have dressed her in onsies, we have put onsies and jammies on, we have put on the tightest clothes we can find. One night when Jada had woken us up in the middle of the night, we walk in to find her naked (again) with a soaked bed (again). Taylor went out to the front room and pulls out the duct tape. We put on her diaper and taped it shut. When we woke up the next morning, to all of our amazement, she still had her diaper on. We thought we had it all figure out, but with Jada we have learned that when we think everything is going the way we think it should Jada has something else in mind. Jada woke me up this morning with her babbles and shrieks. When I walked in the room the smell of poo was undeniable. However, it was not until I truly woke up that I realized that Jada had half her diaper off and poo all over her bed. I am all out of ideas. Until we think of something better we will use diapers, duct tape, onsies, and whatever else we can find.

On a more positive note Jada is walking all over the place. Jada also is starting to learn and understand what we say. "Go get your shoes", Jada will return with the first shoe she can find "shush". It is crazy how fast they learn and grow. Truly every day I am amazed.

A Day to Remember and Make Memories

This Memorial Day I was filled with much gratitude and rememberance. Friday was the one year anniversery of Lucy's passing. For some reason all week I had been thinking about Lucy. I couldn't figure out why she was constantly in my thoughts. One day while I was driving to drop the girls off at daycare, I began to think about Lucy (I can't remember what exactly I was thinking) and began to feel the tears well up in my eyes. I had to fight them back. On Friday Molly and Vic invited us up to Lucy's grave to let go of some pink balloons. We did the same thing right after Lucy had passed away. It was so lovely.

On Monday we all headed to Utah Lake to make some memories of our own. We had a picnic with plenty of food. However, Bailey and Jada were so mesmerized by the lake that they hardly ate anything. The nice weather stayed just long enough for us to have smores and get the jet skis running. It was so nice to be able to enjoy time together.