"You know Dasher and............"

We want you to meet "Dasher", the newest addition to the Black family. He was an early Christmas present this year. We found him on Dec. 1st at the Humane society. After looking and looking and looking, we found him and I knew he was ours. They could not hold him for 3 1/2 weeks and we didn't want to move him around from place to place. He just needed to come home. The kids love him and he is such a good dog. He is about 2 years old. He is young, but not too young. He is trained and doesn't have those puppy tendencies to chew things and be wild. He is very calm and very loving. It has been fun to have him around. I admit that I was not a dog lover at all. For years Nathan and the kids have wanted one and I have been the one holding up the show. I admit that I love having this dog around. He is very cute!

Grace loves on this cute dog a little too much sometimes! She loves to sit and lay with him in his bed. I found her reading to him in his bed the other day. She picks him up and carries him around everywhere. Dasher is very patient with her. He has not once nipped at her.

Adam snuggling with Dasher on Christmas eve eve.

The night we brought him home. December 1st
Isn't he sooooo cute?

Ian loves Dasher too. He is always hugging him and telling him that he loves him.

"fix" the food

Okay, I just have to share a cute little Grace phrase that she uses in almost every prayer. Grace will usually say ...."and please bless that mommy can repair the food". I know she is trying to thank the Lord that I have prepared the food, but I have to admit, I hope that the "amens" by the other family members aren't really saying amen to THAT!

I actually can cook everybody! And pretty darn good too! If I do say so myself!

Quick summer wrap up!

Here are just a few more things that you could have found us doing this past summer. We had a great one, although I do have to say I am excited for fall!

Grace and bubbles!

I love that sweet face!

These red barstools make me happy!
These are the barstools I sat on growing up. They have been in my parents garage for years and when they were cleaning things out before they left on their mission, we found them in the pile going to the dump. Nathan thought we should take them and clean them up and use them until we found some we liked. Little did I know that I would be inspired to do something cute with them!

I am so glad Joseph gave me the idea to paint them red! I love them and think they turned out very cute! I figure that I only spent about $8-$10 bucks refinishing them.

Finishing my cute curtains are the next project!





Boys and bugs! Need I say more?

Here are a few shots of the kids playing with the hose. They thought it would be fun to stick in in their shirts and see how long they could take it! They were laughing and screaming from the cold. It was pretty entertaining to watch! Grace was not interested in joining in. She just stood on the outskirts and got sprinkled.

Nice hair!



15 years of marital bliss

This is the little bed and breakfast we stayed in (A Midsummers Inn). We went to the Utah Shakespeare festival in Cedar City for our 15th anniversary this last July. We were able to see 2 plays. We saw "Romeo and Juliet" which was amazing, and we saw another farce called "Noises Off". We had such a great time just visiting in the car to and from and just talking about memories and also plans to better ourselves and talked about the future. I love being married to such a great man. I love him so very much!

This is the "amphitheatre" up at cedar breaks. It was a great hike and beautiful views! The best part, was just being with the one I love!

Ian

Ian turned 7 this past summer. He requested a swimming pool cake. He did take swimming lessons this summer, therefore..... the cake! We made the diving board and the lifeguard stand out of legos (Ian is a lego lover). He added some lego guys swimming in the pool and they are doing all sorts of swimming strokes. As you can see from the cute look on his face, that he did approve of the cake.

The main thing that he wanted was the new Pirates of the Carribean wii lego game and he got it!

This is Ian at our fun ward camp in August.

A big event for Ian this past summer, was the accomplishment of finishing his first chapter book! He has come a long way with his reading over the past several months and we couldn't be more proud of him.

Ian is a wonderful kid! He is an excellent soccer player and is a great brother. He is very creative and spends lots of time with his legos and with his art. He has drawn some pretty awesome pictures and they have hung on our fridge for all to see. He loves playing with his friends and is always on the go! Man I wish I had half of his energy. We love Ian and are so glad he is ours.

Summer Birthday girl

Grace turned 3 in july

We love our sweet girl

When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted to have a picnic at the park. Easy enough for me! We met Nathan downtown on his lunch break and granted her that wish. She wasn't sure she liked the merry go round too much!

She wanted to wear her "Fancy Nancy" pj's G-ma and G-pa Black gave her. She wore them all day and into the next.

She wanted pink, pink and more pink! Cupcakes, frosting and candles. Can I just say I love having a little pink girly girl!

Ian the big bro. had a birthday a few days before Grace, but those pictures are on a cell phone. I will post that next! What cute little buddies.

I love that they are ours! We love them more that we can say!
We have such awesome kids. Oh they are wonderful!. Sigh.......

Grace loves shoes like any girl does, and was excited to get fancy shoes. I love the look on her face in this picture.

Cute dirty summer feet in fancy shoes!

Grace loves wearing dresses and spinning and dancing and reading books and singing. She loves her brothers and loves her friends. Grace loves it when daddy comes home and gets so excited she squeals quite loudly. She loves dad and mom and we love her too. She gives good hugs and is just such a sweet little person. She is constantly talking about when she will go to pre-school and dancing class. She is very social and she is the little mother in her nursery class at church. She is a joy!

Summer 2011 review (part one)

These are the photos from the beginning of the summer. On June 6th we saw my parents off at the MTC in Provo. 8 days later on the 14th they stopped by the house on their way out of town to Nauvoo. We got to spend time giving lots of hugs. It was bittersweet, but more on the sweet side. They were so excited to go and it was fun to feel of their missionary spirit. They are absolutely loving Nauvoo (that is an understatement), and having such wonderful experiences. If you want to keep tabs on them and see some cute pics, go to their blog. You'll find it on my list to the right.

I am sure that Kanon will be taller than G-ma when she gets home!

Do you see any relation with the female genes or what?

Matt and Mary and kids came too

This was a tough one!

I love these people! Who doesn't?

Going......Going.....Gone!!!!

Our little angel Andrew

Happy Birthday Drew...four years of missing you. Had angel food cake in your honor tonight.