4th of July Montage

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We spent the 4th of July in Prescott with the whole Halterman clan. It was my first time attending The World's Oldest Rodeo, eventhough I grew up there. It would have been a lot of fun except for the heat wave which turned the normally cool and pleasant Prescott into an inferno like the Valley.

First Utah Trip--Album

So I tried to post the above album as a regular post, but could only get it to show half of the album. I guess we'll do it like this for now. I don't know of a way to see the pictures any closer, but if you move your mouse over the captions, it magnifies them. It was the best way I could think of to consolidate a lot of pictures from the same trip. I still have several more events to blog about.

8-5-07
I've moved the photo book to the very bottom of the page, so I can add more current entries. If you haven't seen it yet, scroll all the way down by the tickers.

A Real Superhero

Trenton just brought me his Superman pajamas to wear tonight and he had insisted that we check out a Superman book at the library a couple of days ago. I asked him, "Trenton, who is your favorite superhero?" With out hesitating and in a loud voice he exclaimed, "Jesus!"

The LAZY days of summer???

Ahhhhh! The lazy days of summer!

Laying out in the sun, or splashing in the pool....

Making lemonade (or homemade lemon ice cream, in this case)...

Sampling the fruits of the season. Not a care in the world....

I wish we were having that kind of a summer, but it would be more appropriate to title this entry, "The CRAZY days of summer!" Kira starts school in a week and a half, and I feel as if I have barely had time to come up for air. I have tons of fun pictures to share from 3 family reunions (2 of which I had to do a lot of work for), 2 trips to Utah, fun with Grandma while getting our house ready to sell, 4th of July, The World's Oldest Rodeo, meeting new cousins, tons of birthday parties and more. I going to try and post every day or two and see if I can't get caught up, but no promises.

We are still trying to sell our home while meeting with the new builders (design, sales, mortgage, construction, etc.) and contemplating where we will go if we do happen to sell soon. Meanwhile, I am entering my last trimester and remembering what it feels like to have baby up under your ribs, getting Kira ready for a new school (uniform shopping, etc.), and trying to get Trenton potty trained. I want to say that things will slow down once school starts, but didn't I say that about school ending? :-)

FOR SALE!

If someone had told me a month ago that my home would be on the market today, I would have told them that they were crazy and that that would be impossible. Impossible things are happening everyday, thanks largely to angels who mascarade as family members and drop their lives to come to the rescue.

A couple of weeks ago, Barry and I put down earnest money to buy a new home a few miles from here that will be bigger and better for our growing family. The builders were offering some incentives that weekend only, that made this become a realistic option for us. I nearly backed out when the salesman said we would only have a week or two to get our home on the market. In fact, my words to him were something like, "you don't understand, I haven't done housework since I got pregnant!" (Which might be funny if it weren't mostly the truth). Barry thought we could make it happen, and with a tremendous amount of help from his family and some good friends, our house is now listed on the MLS (# 2799699--if anyone is interested). As part of our program, we are having to sell it at a lower price than we had hoped, but hopefully that will ensure a sale in time to satisfy the new builder. Though we have definately outgrown it, I have loved and put a lot of myself into this home. It is kind of bittersweet to sell.

So this is why I haven't posted any of my fun pictures from my Utah trip or the 4th of July, etc. I have posted pictures of most of the rooms in my house. Mostly because they have never all been this clean at the same time before, and I am sure, that some people (like my Mom who was just here during our Hawaii trip) would never believe it is this clean now, with out some photographic evidence. Also for those who have questioned my design taste, you can finally see what the rooms were mostly meant to look like with out all of the clutter.

Downstairs

Kitchen/Dining Room

Living Room

I couldn't get a very good shot of this room with all of the windows, but you get the idea.

Entry/Stairway

(The Nauvoo brick is not supposed to be there) I have read that for staging, it is good to take down a lot of personal pictures, but I wasn't ready to take down my gallery. Hopefully they see it as decor, not just our stuff.

Guest Bathroom

It is hard to take good pictures in such a small space. I bought new white towels for showing this room, so I have to make the kids go upstairs to wash their hands so they don't mess it up. (It is hard to be a nice Mom when you are trying to sell a home).

Backyard
I like what we did with our small backyard. If you are wondering what that structure is in the picture that shows the grass, it is Barry's attempt to give our little garden some partial shade in this infernal summer heat.

Upstairs

The Loft (my nemesis of the whole week). It actually made the MLS listing. Oops, how did that sippy cup get there?




















Master Bedroom (those lights photograph pretty yellow :-/.)





















Master bath (hard to get a good shot in front of the windows)

Kids Room (if I could just get Kira to straighten the pillow on her bed...and yes, she is still in a toddler bed and very content to be there even though she touches head and foot of the bed when she lays straight. That will change in the new house.

Happy Fathers Day! (x 3)

We celebrated Father's Day three times this year. Once the week before with my father-in-law (sorry, Dad, no pics.)

Then on the Wednesday before with Barry, since the kids and I were going to be gone on the actual day.

And then on Father's Day in Utah with my Dad.

Barry and my dad modeling the ties we gave them. They have a picture of the kids all over them.



I am grateful for such great fathers and priesthood holders in my life! You guys are the best!

Kindergarten Graduation

The momentous occasion! I have to announce that Kira graduated first in her kindergarten class. What that really means is that they randomly pulled her diploma out of the basket first and we had to scramble to get our camera ready. But it sounds good, right? :-)

She has enjoyed Faith North and learned lots this year!
Kira's teacher, Miss Megan, and her friend her friend, Bella.



Kira and Halle!

Our baby is A...

- Get Your Own

HAWAII DIARY- Coming Home

At the airport, we first had to send all of our stuff through agricultural inspections, then we were able to check in. This time they asked if I was pregnant, and since I am, would not allow me to sit in an emergency exit aisle. The lady was pretty strict aout it, but took compassion on Barry’s long legs and gave us a seat in the front row of the plane. Our bags were both a little over the weight limit, so we were glad to have the duffle to toss a few more things in. We then proceeded through security where they didn’t like Barry’s ziploc bags full of sand (geologist!). I thought it was because they couldn’t tell what they were, but really it was because it was so dense that they couldn’t see the rest of the things through it.

We had a bit of time and needed food so opted for the sit-down restaurant for our last meal in Hawaii. Food was pretty good, but we started to get nervous when it took a while to come. When we got to the gate, they were actually pre-boarding. We had just enough time to go to the restrooms and then it was time to get on board. We gate-checked Jared’s guitar (hoping it would get less dinged up that way) and settled in for the long flight.

I had the window seat again, because it really helps calm my nerves. We had a full moon which looked beautiful over the ocean. As we flew I could see some of the other islands of Hawaii. I now know we flew right by the island of Molokai (not a lot of lights), near Maui (some pretty happening places on that island) and in the distance could see the big Island. I love this stuff! After we got further out in the ocean, I tried to sleep. I know I dozed a lot, but I also woke a lot, too. I don’t think I could have slept more than 2 hours total. When we flew over California, there was thick cloud cover below, but I could still see the glow of lights beneath the clouds. It was just getting light as we got in to Phoenix. I think we were a little early this time, too. I called my Dad when the plane touched down and had him come to get us.
(Trenton loves his ukulele)


When we got back to the house, I found both children wide awake and already playing games, even though it wasn’t much after 6:00 am. My mom fixed us a nice breakfast (I needed that!) and then they started loading up to go. As excited as the kids were to see us, I think they were much more sad about their Papa and Lita leaving. We gave my parents some edible gifts from Hawaii, and then they were off, just a few minutes before the carpool came to get Kira to take her to school. She was still bawling about her Papa and Lita as she drove to school.

Barry and I took turns napping (he did go into work for a little bit) and trying to recover little by little that day. We are so glad we took advantage of this opportunity to go and see and do things we might never have experienced otherwise! Now back to the adventures of Parenthood!

HAWAII DIARY--May 30--Pt.II--The Black Pearl

After Pearl Harbor, Barry agreed to come with me to consider the pearl necklace, and decided that I should have some nice memento from Hawaii. Jared doesn’t like Waikiki, so he went to a parking lot to read his book and wait for us. The place I had been at the night before in the International Market Place was called Maui Divers Jewelry. There was another store just across the street of the same name, so I thought it would be good to stop in there and see if they had any more options for settings. We were greeted by a saleswoman named Cinderella (it was on her name tag). They did not do the oyster thing in that store, but she quickly ushered us over to the Tahitian Pearl jewelry. It was lovely, large, and expensive. She told us that these particular pearls with the greenish grey huge matched every outfit and looked lovely with my eyes (she may have been right about this) :-). There was one pearl necklace that was not too big and was set beautifully that was a little tempting, but it was 3 or 4 times more expensive than we felt we could go. We told her we needed to look around, but she promised to set it aside for us anyway. We went across the street to the place I had been the night before. The girl I had worked with wasn’t there, but the guy that came to help us, must have been feeling a little more generous, because he was willing to throw in some discounts that she hadn’t. I had liked the least expensive of the white gold settings the night before, but I wasn’t sure I was sold on it. When he told me that the setting was the Maile leaf which is used in Hawaiian wedding leis and other important events—it symbolizes love and honor—I was convinced that this was a good choice, financially and sentimentally. I told him that I wanted a black pearl. He wasn’t sure we would find one in any of the oysters he had available, but I wanted the oyster picking experience anyway. We chose an oyster and found not one, but two pink pearls inside. The pink pearls were pretty, but more gold toned than I liked. He went looking for a black pearl in their reserves and we decided to see if we could buy the pink pearls to save for Kira for when she gets her ears pierced in a few years. He threw them in for free (I think they make all their money on the gold). So I got my black pearl necklace on the maile leaf, and we have some special pearls for Kira for a special occasion. I agonized about this purchase, but am glad that we made the memory and have the jewelry.

(The end result)

Jared met us and took us to the nearest Wal-mart to get the last souvenirs/food stuffs we wanted to take back. We also purchased another duffle bag to carry on, since we were pretty loaded at this point (we had a suitcase half full of Jared and Suzy’s stuff since they are moving back soon, as well as all of our stuff).

Then it was to the airport where we said ALOHA to Jared and thanked him for a great week!