Laynee Jo @ 7 months old

It has come to my attention that I haven't really posted any pictures of my sweet Laynee! So I took her outside & snapped a few pictures of her today. She is going for a well check on Friday so I will post her standings then! She is probably at least 18 lbs if not more. She is sitting up all by herself & has been for about 2 weeks. She also has 4 teeth now! She still has dark brown hair, I thought it would turn blonde or lighten up but so far she is pretty dark with dark eyebrows & eyelashes & pretty brown eyes! She loves to sit & play with toys already & she just laughs & smiles at everything & everyone. Her favorite person is Garret, she just thinks he is fabulous, in fact he is the reason for most of her great smiles in the pictures. She has several nicknames, Layneebug, Naneebug, Nanee Jo, LJ, and the favorite is Pretty, she will always respond to a huge smile when she hears Pretty! She sleeps 10-12 hours every night (I know...I'm so lucky!) and usually takes a good 2-3 hr nap during the day. She loves rice cereal and pears, so far she isn't a fan of any other baby food but she does love cereal puffs and crackers and of course her bottle! She loves to kick & yell in the bath tub, we always come out soaking wet! There really isn't anything she doesn't like, she is always content as long as someone is around her. Heavenly Father truely blessed us with a perfect last baby! I couldn't possibly love her any more than I do!

School is OUT!!

I'm so excited that school is out & summer can begin! I think we got our summer off to the right start today! Mak & her friends got home we picked Brennen up & went to Peter Piper for lunch & to hang out with friends (me @ Peter Piper with 8 kids...lol!). Then it was back home for a water balloon fight & playing in the water. They had so much fun. I must say that to watch Brennen & his friend Cutter (they will both be 15 this summer) still "play" with their younger siblings was pretty awesome. It was almost as if they were all in grade school again. Is amazing to think my oldest child will be 15 in a month. I'm hoping our summer is filled with more fun & exciting things. I feel like I have been a slacker since we have moved to Buckeye with taking them to do anything, so that is my goal, to try & make some fun memories this summer! We are super excited for our trip that we will be taking in July back to Ohio to see Aunt Lindy & Uncle Adam, Lexi, Nan, & Clint! We leave on July 4th & come home on the 14th! We can't wait! That will be the highlight of our summer I'm sure! So here's to a fantastic 2010 Summer!

Santa Monica Vacation

In April I was able to go on a girls only trip to Santa Monica! It was so much fun, I had a blast & wish I could do that once a month! I went with 3 other girls. Trisha, who I have been friends with since 8th grade, Amy I have known all my life, I remember going to her house when I was in kindergarten, and Kellie who I only met a few weeks before the trip & honestly it felt like I have known her my entire life! Our trip started on a Wednesday night, Todd dropped me off at the freeway to see me off with them! We arrived in Burbank around 1:30am and was off to bed because we needed our beauty sleep for a big day at the Ellen show! We got up the next morning, visited, then got ready, drove for some lunch (it was about noon by this time) we ate at a restaurant near the WB Studios then headed over to check in for the show! After we got our tickets squared away we were told that Jennifer Lopez would be on the show!! We were so excited that it would be someone we liked. I have to say I don't regularly watch Ellen but I was fully aware of the dancing, and let me tell you what...that is all we did for what seemed like hours! Once they finally seated us in the audience it was time to dance and dance and dance some more. By the time she comes out & it is time to really dance you are exhausted! Anyway we totally got lucky because Kellie just happened to be like 8 months pregnant & they told her to sit in the aisle seat, I was next to her, & of course Ellen immediately comes to our row & dances with Kellie & rubs her belly! So yes, I was on tv, for a split second! Jennifer Lopez was just as beautiful in person (well as in person as I will ever get with her!) as she is on the movies & tv. She was fun to watch. The other people on the show that day were Norah Jones, a guy who was voted off American Idol, and a little girl that was on a new movie, can't remember her name. Anyway it was a great show & an awesome time, I would totally do it again! So after the show it was off to Santa Monica to find our hotel. We took a nice long drive down Santa Monica Blvd and enjoyed all the interesting scenery! We stayed at the Sheraton Del Fina, we were in walking distance to the beach. We got settled in then took a walk down to the Santa Monica Pier. We at at the Mexican Food place at the end of the pier, I don't recommend the salad (poor Kellie), anyway it was freezing cold when we came out so we got hot cocoa & walked back to our hotel where we stayed up half the night talking & laughing like a bunch of school girls. The next day we went to the spa for a day of pampering. It was so nice just to go & relax & do what I wanted for a change instead of tending to everyone else's needs! That night we went for sushi and sat on the patio & got to see David & Victoria Beckham! They walked right past us in to the restaurant next door! So that was fun. Then we went & walked around the outdoor mall area & watched the street performers beg for money, then went to the movie & seen Date Night & laughed so hard I cried! Saturday we went to Malibu beach & ate lunch & hung out on the beach for awhile, then we went shopping for the rest of the afternoon. We ended up in some cupcake shop for like 3 hours talking, they probably thought we were nuts, I just think it was amazing I only ate 1 cupcake! Our last night we ate at The Lobster, I had some super yummy salmon & we just enjoyed our last night together. Next morning we had to get ready to head back home, always a bummer to have to leave a fun time, but our families were missing us & I think we were all starting to miss them...a little anyway! All in all it was an amazing trip & I'm so glad to have great friends & especially glad to have a husband who was more than willing to do whatever so I could go & enjoy myself for a few days & have some time off from being mom!

The Rattlesnake

So a few Sundays ago we were driving home from feeding pigs & came upon a rattlesnake in the road. Todd deals with them pretty regularly so he decides to run it over a few times. We randomly had a mop bucket in the back of my yukon so they decide to take it home because it is pretty good size & has 11 buttons on it & that is like a trophy & needed to be cut off. So he gets some tire changing tool & picks the snake up & puts it in the mop bucket, the kids all gather around & he starts stabbing it just to make sure it is dead. I stayed in the car giving my mom a play by play because I happened to be talking to her when we came upon the snake. Todd puts the snake in the back of the car & we drive home. We get home & he dumps the snake out & much to his surprise the stupid thing was still alive and starts striking at him!! (For the record Todd kills rattlesnakes all the time, he isn't a total idiot & doesn't know anything about rattlesnakes, he really thought it was dead!) I'm a little freaked out that we drove home with a rattlesnake alive in the mop bucket, stupid! So he chops its head off & get it to do its last strike & throw the head away. In the meantime he lets the kids handle the snake because it is still moving all over the place headless, it was pretty nasty. All the kids held it including Russ. Garret wasn't going to but they finally talked him in to it. Makenna had the camera & took a bazillion pictures of the nasty thing. After playing with it forever they took it over the fence in to our bishops hay field & coiled it up by a fence post to look like it was alive. Was an eventful Sunday afternoon! The joys of living in the desert farm lands!

Gila Valley Temple Open House

Over the weekend we were able to take the kids to Pima to go to the Gila Valley Temple Open House. It worked out nice that my brother Michael lives there & that we were able to make it a family gathering for the weekend! My parents and brother Pat & his family were all there. So the whole Powers family got to tour the temple together. It was such a neat experience. I had been hoping that my kids would be able to feel the spirit & know the importance of temples. They really enjoyed it, looking around at all the pictures, and the main thing they will probably always remember is the beautiful chandeliers, they just couldn't get over how huge they were & sparkly. I think it was neat for Mak to go in the brides room to see what it looks like. My brothers were teasing Brennen that this would be his only time to go in the brides room. They let just our family go in to the small sealing room & we were able to all look in the never ending mirrors as a family, it was pretty awesome! I'm glad that we were able to take our kids & share the experience & importance of temples with them, I hope it is something they will always remember! And no...I didn't get any pictures, bummer!

Unexpected Problem!

This was after they got all the yucky stuff out.

This was our only huge unexpected problem that came up. Right before we closed on the house we noticed there was some paint that was wet & peeling above the back door. This was during the time we had some major rain storms so we knew immediately we had a leak. As soon as we closed on the house Todd started in on cutting the drywall in that area & we were shocked to find that the leak had been there awhile, the drywall & boards were all covered in mold, ick! So we had to take all of it out & redo the framing & drywall & of course fix the leak in the roof. Once they were done it was good as new!

Before - Family Room

The main color of the house was green. The bead board was cream, my brain had a hard time with the cream & the white baseboards, so we had to change that!

The door that the pathway is leading to is a bathroom & then through the large entryway on the left is the office which is still not done or organized yet.

After - Family Room

We painted the entire house, in the family room we kept the bead board because it went with the look & flow going in to the kitchen area & painted it a darker color for some contrast. We added the chandelier and had to rip out some drywall that wasn't smooth & was bumpy & looked really bad. I'm going to get new blinds eventually.

Kitchen - Before

The wet bar area, the ice maker is now in the empty space there.

Had to say goodbye to that nice red fan!

As you can see changing the color from green to a neutral brown really changed the overall feel of the house. It now feels warm & inviting.

Kitchen - After Shots

The banquet seating area

In the kitchen we didn't have to do a whole lot and I really love my kitchen. We took out the fan & replaced it with a light that I'm not totally in love with, but it works. We took out another fan in the eating area & put in a hanging light. We put the crown moulding on all the cabinets, which really made a difference. Todd put in the reverse osmosis & also hooked up the ice maker which is in a wetbar area between the kitchen & dining room for all our drinking needs! I am going to put in a backsplash, I have all the materials, it just hasn't happened yet and also replace the kitchen faucet. It has one of those huge farmhouse sinks. Everyone thinks it is so cool, I however am not in love with it all that much, I am finally getting used to it though, it looks cool if anything! There is a banquet seating area that I made cushions & pillows for. Some day we will put a table in there. It will have to be custom made though because the size you need is odd to fit the space & a regular table will be to wide & cut in to the walkway.

Makenna's Room

Before - shrek green & turquoise blue

Makenna's new vanity. This is actually her side of a Jack n Jill bathroom, however she refuses to use the rest of it & share with Brennen.

Her new room consists of lots of zebra print

So I got creative & wallpapered the tops of her dresser & nightstand. I was shocked at how fabulous it turned out if I do say so myself!

No more shrek for this girl! She had to have the zebra & cheetah prints & the pinks & blacks. It really does look fantastic. So far every girl who has walked in there loves it!

Extra Bathroom Renovation

Before

After

We redid the hall/extra bath. Took out all the flooring, ripped out the shower walls & put tile down. Put in new lighting. The tub was super nasty & we talked about putting a new tub in but Todd said no way, no new tub, once the tile was done in the shower I was totally bummed I didn't get a new tub, however when I was at Walmart I found the Mr. Clean Bathroom Eraser, what a miracle worker!! There was rust stains & just nastyness in the tub & all of it came off. Saved me quite a bit a money there, thanks Mr. Clean! I still need a nicer mirror. This bathroom is used mainly by Makenna & the little boys.

Laundry Room

After
Before

We had to revamp the laundry room a bit. It was set up for the front loading washer/dryer. I don't have those because Todd refuses to buy them. There was a counter top that was over the top of the front loading, we had to take that counter top out & make a spot for my old school washer/dryer. It turned out nicer than I imagined! There is lots & lots of counter space & cabinets, the picture doesn't do it justice! We still need to get the laundry sink put in. We replaced all the tile in the laundry room too.

More Master Bath Photos

This is the floor of the shower right after they were done grouting it.

This is after the tub was framed in.

This is a circle mosaic on our floor in the center of the bathroom.

This the doorway into the shower.

Master Bathroom - Our Biggest Renovation

This is the shower, it is huge with a large bench inside and was wrapped in the glass blocks that I am not fond of. We ripped out the whole thing & basically started over.
Here is the inside now, no more plastic looking walls & stained bench.

Here is a good shot of what I called the eye soarer glass blocks. I know some people really like that look & it really is costly, but I just wasn't fond of it. If you look you can see that we ripped out all the tile flooring in the bathroom too. We also took out the fan that was in there & just replaced it with a nice updated light.

This is the after of the jetted tub we put in. We still need a cover for the motor in the corner. It looks super nice now that there is a tub there!

Here is the before picture of where the tub is. The previous owners never finished the plumbing or put a tub in. They had a freestanding tub sitting in the corner, but not hooked up, so this is what it looked like. I wasn't very fond of bead board in the bathroom either. The only thing we still have to do is order mirrors, right now we are just using the ones that were in the house when we bought it, but I want something more custom but haven't found anything I love yet. (sorry for the order the pics posted in, backwards of what I wanted!)