Happy Retirement Grandpa!

My stepdad is a Flight Engineer on the C-130 airplanes (which really means he sits behind the pilots and makes sure everything goes as planned) Well, he is officially retiring from the Air Force on Thursday and his "Final Flight" was today!

After 26 years of being in the military, moving around the world, flying airplanes the ENTIRE time and turning 44 in September...he's now going to be a "normal person." (aka Civilian)

below is a picture of the airplanes he's spent more than half is life flying:

Once he got off the plane, they had the fire truck there and got his SOAKED!!!!! He was still in his flight suit and everything!
Here's a family pic after they decided he had enough soaking (you'll notice I'm not that close to him...well, I had to go back to work after the event was over and really didn't want to have wet spots all over me!)
Everyone from his squadron was there for the action and congratulated him afterwards.
This is a cute picture that they all signed for him...in his squadron they either fly: C-130s, A-10s, F-16s or the new F-22s so this is a picture of those airplanes.
He enlisted in the military when he was 18 years old and now is going on 44 and has NEVER had to apply for a job or have a real resume or even wear normal clothes to work....WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!!

He's going to take a week off from everything once he retires and then will start his new career in Information Technology with C-130s as a contractor on Hill AFB. HOW EXCITING!

The military has been really good to our entire family...we've traveled the world, never paid for health insurance or housing EVER, and always had an immediate group of friends with each new squadron he joined...although it's been hard on our family and even harder on the family members we've missed while living in different countries, it's a GREAT change and a much needed ending to the many years we've all contributed and sacrificed (in our own ways) to our country.

Cousins!

Scott's older brother lives in Iowa while going to Medical School with his wife and two kids....they are in town for the summer and Carter's LOVING having his only cousins around!

This is Carter and 3 year old Hunter exploring the great outdoors...

This is all three of the boys, Tanner (8 Months) Hunter (3 years and 3 months) and Carter (almost 21 months) We went out for lunch yesterday and they all had a GREAT time!
Later that night we went to Scott's Aunt's house for a firework show...here's cute Carter being quite amazed by the show in the aky!
They had ice cream from Farr's and these really cute mini-sized cones....I think ice cream is Carter new found TREAT!
I just had to put this one in too, we got some family pictures taken in the park earlier that day and here is a candid one of Scott and Carter...

A Much Needed Change...Just in Time!

For those that don't know, I work for a real estate, referral and mortgage company doing a little bit of EVERYTHING for them. Between the three businesses, being the President's Assistant, trying to recruit and managing EVERYTHING on EVERY file that goes through office.....I was a little burnt out at the end of the day. I was at the reception desk so my day would be interrputed on numerous occasions with people coming in, the copier doing it's thing, and the phones for both companies ringing off the hook.

I was trying to fit so much into my part-time hours that I would bring work home with me to get it done without missing more time with Carter and Scott. Well, I came into work on Wednesday, not the least bit excited to begin my day when my boss told me some GREAT NEWS!!!!

I am now the official recruiter for the referral and real estate company! She took everything else off of my plate so that I could focus solely on the recruiting....AND I HAVE MY OWN OFFICE! I now have two things on my plate and I AM LOVING IT!!!!

I just had to share my good news with everyone because I am now less stressed, more energetic, and A LOT more fun to be around!!!!

Carter's Little Friend

A cute mom in our neighborhood needed me to watch her little boy for a couple of hours this morning. Little Mason is 23 months and absolutely had the BEST time at our home! Carter and Mason were so good together I had to get some pictures...

This was the beginning of our "craft project"....although Mason really just wanted to eat the paints instead....
And after a hard couple of hours of playing, I got them both excited to vacuum and "swiffer" for me! How cute is that?

Fat Cats!

This weekend we took Carter to Fat Cats Family Fun Center for the first time now that he can walk and run on his own. We had gone there before, but Cater couldn't even crawl then so he didn't get to enjoy it like he did this time!

If you've never been...you so have to go...it was a BLAST!!!!

This pic is of Carter playing SkeeBall...however he never got the balls actually in the circles...he just threw them up the ramp and they came back to him. As boring as this sounds Carter played for about 15 minutes on one quarter because he never lost the balls!

This is the cute little "Merry Go Round" they have there too! Once his turn was over, there were plenty of other little ones that wanted on so every time I had to get him off, there was a big fit thrown!
And what's a day at Fat Cats without stopping at the Pizza Factory? Carter LOVES their salad bar because they have ALL of his favorites!
This was such a fun time!

Goodbye CRAZINESS....Hello CUTENESS!

My poor son has so much hair it's really not even funny! I feel so bad for him because I KNOW when he grows up he's going to hate me for giving him his massive amount of curls!

Although I thought his hair was cute...it was too young (like a baby) for him and he's growing up now so I thought it was time for a bigger change than just a trim!

I think because he's already had about 5 hair cuts, he's really good now to sit and let you do what you want with his hair. So I really trimmed the sides and back and left the top curly and a longer....he looks like a little boy now!

This is how much hair I cut off this time! And Scott says that I lose a lot of hair :)

It's kind of a sad experience to cut your little boy's hair, but a good one too.

Holiday Recap .....Fun in the SUN!

We has such a crazy weekend...I haven't had any time to post anything about our Father's Day! Scott went with my family to the sand dunes to rise ATV and motorcycles for the day on Sunday while my mom and I stayed at home with Carter and got ready for a fun dinner to celebrate the dads in our lives.

Scott said he had a BLAST!!! My sister was the only one who crashed that day....she's alright but has a pretty bad tire mark on her leg now! Once they came back we had dinner and opened presents. Here are some of the things Scott "scored" on Father's Day...

This is a photo that I photoshopped for Scott of Carter and then created the little phrase just right for the frame...

For those that don't know...Scott has his own business (he's very proud that it's his own LLC company, SS Oil Sales and Service) with Amsoil. I found this jean jacket and ordered the cute little patches for it and ironed them on! So cute...even though he didn't say, I think this was Scott's favorite gift!
Today was such a nice sunny day that I broke out Carter's little pool for the afternoon. Carter and I had a little picnic for lunch and then went swimming and played outside. Poor Carter has allergies like me so both of our eyes are puffy from being outside.
Here's the little man swinging away!
He really wasn't sure what to think about the pool. It was just a nice time to relax, play and catch some rays!

Terrace Days...

The City of Washington Terrace puts on "Terrace Days" every year in the summer. They have all kinds of fun things to do as a family including (my favorite) the BABY CONTEST!!!! Cute Carter is now a seasoned baby in the contest because this was his second, and last, year to participate. They do sucha gerat job...the little ones go up on stage and the MC reads all about them and then you walk away with a bucket full of goodies!

Here are some fun pics of Carter and myself up on stage in front of just about the ENTIRE population of Washington Terrace City!

So, yeh my ENTIRE face is glistening with sweat and my makeup is half gone...let me just tell you that I got off of work about 20 minutes before this contest and still had to get EVERYTHING ready to go and Carter dressed and hair done and fed before we went on stage...so I guess it's not bad for having literally NO time for myself!

This was taken tonight at the firework show Washington Terrace puts on for the finale of Terrace Days. (And once again my makeup is so not there anymore....but I will admit, this sunny weather we're having lately is making my skin nice and tan!)
This is not a great photo but it's one of the fireworks they put on.

A Great Idea for Every Mom!

I had a great idea...okay I had "some" help from my mom who actually bought these things for me for Easter: they are chalk board sheets. They come in the size of a normal sheet of paper and are sticky on one side...you then put them up on the wall or on a board, wherever you want a chalk board. This is a pic of 8 pieces of these chalk board sheets in Carter's playroom.
It's awesome...it erases so easy, Carter can play so well and draw things...he thinks he's so cool drawing on thses sheets!
Next, is an idea I got from a crafting blog. It's seriously the EASIEST to do.
I don't know about everyone else, but Carter LOVES magnets and our fridge was getting so full of different magnets, pictures and drawings that I wanted to move a few of his own magnets somewhere. Well, here's the solution: buy a couple of cookie sheets (I decided on the pizza ones because I thought a round one would be more fun) and then I drilled a hole in it for a spot to put a ribbon through....and you're done!

I got both of these little mini projects done in about 15 minutes, so I thought I'd share how cute, cheap and EASY they were!

A Very Happy Birthday Indeed!

My Birthday has been so much fun, and it's not even over yet! This is the first birthday I've had off since I started working at 16, so I'm enjoying every minute! Yesterday my sute co-workers decorated my desk and made a completely dairy free cake from scratch...just for me, then my little sis came over to spend the night and Scott bought us treats (cream soda, Mike and Ikes and ice cream) so we could, once Carter went to bed, get a sugar high! This morning we woke up and made plans for the day...

Okay so going to the Dinosaur Park sounds like something you would do for Carter's birthday, not mine...however we has so000 much fun! Having a good time, getting some exercise and working on my tan...that's what I call a GREAT time!!!

We had never been to the Dinosaur Park before, so my sister and I decided we'd take Carter for the first time today...the weather was nice and we had a free ticket for Carter...so off we went! Seriously, I LOVE it there. There are so many great spots for some photo ops, plenty to look at and a TON of things for little guys to do.

Here are some pics from our day...(I had some fun with Photoshop beofre posting some of them)

You can't tell but that's Carter in the stroller under the HUGE dino!




We had so much fun...I know Carter and I will definintely have to bring Scott next time we go!

I'm Gettin' Old Everyone! :)

That's right I'm the big 2-3 guys! It feels like I was just turning 20 and now I'm already 23! Honestly, I LOVE being a young mom, at first I was a little skeptical about how I woud do...but I really think I do what I do because of my age!

Above is the GORGEOUS cake my mom and sister baked for me (completely dairy free I might add) and the rest are pics of our day on Sunday celebrating my "gettin old!"

20 Months of Carter!

In this picture, Carter shoved about 6 M&Ms in his mouth and tried to talk on the phone!

My sweet little boy is now 20 MONTHS OLD! It fells like yesterday that I was bringing his 6 lb 7 oz. body home from the hospital! (I know that's a total cliche but it's TRUE!)

Here are 20 things about Carter you might or might not know:



1. His first word (other than names of family members) was CAR!

2. His newest found vocabulary includes: outside, hot, uh-oh, Carter, Mama, Grandma, Grandpa, Dada, no, Ju Ju (for my sister Julia) and there it is

3. He can sign "More" "Done" and "Drink"

4. He NEVER gave kisses as a little baby, now he does!

5. He sits in timeout about twice a week now

6. He knows when he gets out of timeout to give a hug and kiss to say he's sorry

7. He yells at our little Timmy for taking his toys

8. He hasn't had a binkie in almost a week and half

9. He only sits with Scott and watches TV

10. He loves to be outside!

11. He hates his face washed

12. He is getting like 7 teeth simutaneously right now!

13. He loves being naked!

14. He hates putting on shoes!

15. He loves going home and sleeping in his own bed

16. He's getting his very own bedroom built in the basement right now!

17. He loves to shake his bum to "Sexy Can I"

18. He LOVES to play with my blush brush every morning while I put on makeup (is that bad?)

19. He loves bathtime

20. He is an overall fun-loving little boy that has made Scott and I very happy!



We love you Carter Babe!

Tag...

So my cute friend Megan tagged me on this one....

5 Things I was going 10 Years Ago

I was living in Germany

I traveled with my family around Europe

I was planning on being a novelist, so I began writing my first, of many, books

I was 12 and soon to be a TEENAGER!

I was learning how to play the piano

5 Things on My To Do List

Clean the house

Do our laundry

Go through Carter's clothes and "retire" his old clothes

Figure out our schedule for the week

Gather up all binkies around the house and put away FOR GOOD! (It's been almost a week now with NO BINKIE!)

5 Favorite Snacks/Foods

I love Cream Soda

Cotton Candy (I even ghave a cotton candy machine at my house)

California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken Pizza

Mango Sorbet

Mike and Ikes (these seriously brighten my day)

5 Things I would do if I were a Billionaire

I would buy a nice house

Hire a Maid

Pay off everything so we'd be debt free

Put Carter in Private School (Like Challenger or someplace like that)

Scott and I would quit our jobs and travel with our little family anywhere we wanted!

5 Bad Habits

I have a little bit of OCD when it comes to cleaning (ok I'm a freak!)

I say what I'm thinking way to often (sometimes I need to keep my mouth shut)

I have to fluff Carter's pillow every night before he goes to bed because I do the same thing with mine

I bite my nails

In the summer I'm not as hungry because of the heat...so I tend to forget to feed Carter because I'm not hungry.

5 Places I've Lived

Tucson, Arizona (two different times)

Panama City, Panama

Ramstein, Germany

Sembach, Germany

Syracuse, Utah

Clearfield, Utah

Bountiful, Utah

Washington Terrace, Utah

I tag: Annie Morris, Azure Gaskill and Ashley Davis

Good Luck Guys!

Never Before Seen...

Many of you know I have CRAZY hair, it's thick, wavy and there's a TON of it! Here are some "never before seen" photos of my before and after. This is before my hair appointment and after the appointment....everyone should be glad I found a great hair stylist because she does WONDERS to my hair.

I know it's an AMAZING difference! Below are some cute pics of Carter "rockin" out to some tunes....he LOVED that the music came out of the headphones!