We're still alive!

I suppose it's time for me to come out from behind my mountain of boxes and make contact with the outside world. :) I can't believe how fast time has flown since I last posted here, sorry about that. But the good news is that we've been real busy just trying to get unpacked, get organized, clean our old place, and feel like we're actually 'home' when we come back to the new house. That is something that will probably take a little time to get used to.

Eli is doing great with the move. We got him a new bed (which I'm still searching for the perfect bedspread for, so no pictures yet, sorry) and he's transitioning fairly well. I think he's still getting used to being in his own big room with a door, heehee. But he does love having room to roam and just play, plus a great backyard and sandbox to keep him occupied.

We haven't gotten TV yet, so things are a little interesting, but I think it's good for us. Although it does make you feel a little more isolated than normal, but we're adapting. Besides, you can get lots of shows online nowadays anyway, right? As long as I can keep up with the Amazing Race, I'm good. :)

Okay, well, I didn't think it would be fair to post again with NO pictures, so here are some recent ones to enjoy. Nathan's birthday was on Sunday and he turned the big 2-8! Wow, he's almost 30! :) We had a fun day together and I surprised him with tickets to see the Smashing Pumpkins, which is something on his life list that he's always wanted to do. I was pretty proud of myself that I could keep the secret from him and that he had NO CLUE that I was even thinking about it. Score. :)

I was just happy to get them both wearing the party hats! :) That's the one good thing about always being behind the camera -- no one can see how I look in a party hat, LOL.



Nathan opening my surprise present. I was so excited to see his excitement! :)
(And you can see our unfinished tile project in the background....don't worry, we're getting it fixed soon, I hope!)



Comprehension.....



We got a great cake from Baskin Robbins and of course Eli had to pick the dinosaur one with the blue and green frostings. Of course. :)



Then later, we made my dad's famous shishkabobs! Yumm-O! We hadn't had those in a while and they were great.



Eli sort of helped, by trying to stay out of the way and just watch while Dada threaded the meat. He did a pretty good job. :)

And don't worry, I'll be posting more soon as we've got Thanksgiving coming up with my best friend and her hubby, and Nathan has this entire week off! So we're looking forward to doing some fun things together as a family. That sure is precious time lately.

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

Hey all, I know I've been MIA for the last week or so. It's for good reason, I promise! :) We're finally moving to our new house tomorrow, and I'm psyched. Last week was all about cleaning and painting, and this week is all about new appliances, new carpet, and packing. So things are moving along nicely, and we're getting ready to head on out.

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has already helped with watching Eli, covering for me in Primary, donating boxes, and using their Tetris-styled mind to help me pack! Throughout this experience (being 7 months pregnant), I've realized that I can't do everything on my own, and I know that we are completely blessed with amazing friends and family who are willing to help us out with whatever we need. So thank you to all of you who have helped so far, and especially those who are going to be helping us tomorrow. We really need it and really appreciate it!! :)

Okay, well, since my blog has been pretty picture-less for a while, I thought I'd share some recent Eli-related goodness. :) He was rough housing with Nathan the other night and this is what happened:

The best part is that he decided that he needed to then go outside and head to the park dressed like this. Don't know why, but I guess the park is better when you've got a shirt over your head! :)



And then you just gotta love this little goofy face. Or at least, I do. :) Maybe I'm biased just a little, lol.

UGH.

Man, we are sick. And I mean the 'lay in bed wishing you could take your head off because it's basically just a big stuffed organ' kind of sick. Eli had it last week, and of course that means Nathan came down with it yesterday, and I developed it last night. Yeehaw. Of all weeks, it had to be this week that we got sick. :(

But we have been downing orange juice and cough drops and hoping that it doesn't last as long as Eli's did. (He's still got a little lingering cough from last week.) So if you feel so inclined, prayers would be great and appreciated.

And yes, we'll still be voting -- that's one job that won't be missed today. :)

Blogging may be taking a ride on the back burner for a little while in the next couple of weeks. We're crazy-busy with packing, moving, cleaning, more packing, more moving, more cleaning, etc.

I'm also trying to figure out the color scheme for every room in our house so that we can paint everything before the new carpet comes in. Yeah, that's a big headache for me because I want the colors to be PERFECT and I'm having a hard time making up my mind. I like having Nathan's help with it, but he definitely has his own opinions about the colors in our house. :) So cute.

So yeah, that's what's going on. If I'm not here a lot, that's why. :) Wish us luck!

And I'll try to post some pictures as the process goes on -- I keep forgetting to take any while we're out there, but I know I will want to have the 'before' pictures to show how far we had to go! :)

PS: Just wanted to also add a little Prop 8 something. Honestly, I will be so glad when this election process is over, and it's decided. I don't know about you, but I am tired of hearing all of the negative ads and just twisted logic that has been splashed around. I found this article on a friend of a friend's blog, and thought it was so poignant to the situation we're in right now. And it explains a lot of why I choose to follow the prophet and listen to his words and counsel.

It's from Neal A. Maxwell's talk, "A More Determined Discipleship" from the Feb. 1979 Ensign.

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions."

"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was,till then, unconscious of itself."

"It may well be that as our time comes to “suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41), some of that special stress will grow out of that portion of discipleship which involves citizenship. Remember, as Nephi and Jacob said, we must learn to endure “the crosses of the world” and yet to despise “the shame of it” (2 Ne. 9: 18; Jacob 1:8). To go on clinging to the iron rod in spite of the mockery and scorn that flow at us from the multitudes in that great and spacious building seen by Father Lehi, which is the “pride of the world” (1 Ne. 11:36)—is to disregard the shame of the world. Parenthetically, why, really why, do the disbelievers who line that spacious building watch so intently what the believers are doing? (See 1 Ne. 8:33.) Surely there must be other things for the scorners to do. Unless deep within their seeming disinterest. … Unless. … "