It's never too late for Spring Cleaning!

How do you know when it's really time to clean your house?

Well besides the obvious answers like: When the trash start walking it's self out the door. Or, when the stuff in the sink not only looks something like Everest, but it also stinks like the gease trap at McDonalds.

Well, I'm happy to report that since my college days, I've not had a problem with afore mentioned sink and trash problems.

My new and obvious indication that I don't pay as much attention to my house as I should can be found in the window sills.

I should have known something was wrong when Ian announced the other day, "I think my housekeeper is broken."

Ummm, yes, he was referring to ME!

...and lest I forget...my new "BFF of the Week" is Coby!

" I don't know. Something AMAZING I guess!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIFFANY!Tiffany has a way of telling a story that make me start laughing before she's even done telling it. She always entertaining, loveable, and funny. Tiffany is my running buddy. When we get back to the house after our daily runs, our husbands always ask which one we ran more; our LEGS or our MOUTHS! I personally think it's none of their business, they both sound like exersise to me! Given, one might help the hips more than the other, but that's neither here nor there!My BFF Tiffany is SOMETHING AMAZING I GUESS!

GONE FISHIN'

Besides playing soccer, snowboarding, running, reading, and laughing at his own jokes, Ian also enjoys FISHING! He is currently in between semesters and so decided to take a mini vacation up north, to the prettier parts of Michigan, to see what he could catch. His brother flew in from Utah to enjoy this fishing trip with him. Pictured are the salmon we caught during last years trip. I'm hoping he comes home with some big fish, and not just some big fish story!

THE VERY YELLOW KITCHEN!

I need to change the color in my kitchen from
"icey-minty-green"
to something else.
I thought I settled on "belguim waffle".
But it's not looking as "belguim" as I thought!
Instead, it's looking
VERY YELLOW!
Help me people!
What should I do?

GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN

We were inspired to take a day-trip to Grand Haven, one of our favorite places in Michigan. The water of Lake Michigan was perfect...even though we took our day-trip on a Sunday.

On our hour drive to the beach, we drove straight into a huge thunderstorm. By the time we got there, the beach was clear and free of people and the sky was turning a beautiful shade of blue as the remaining clouds disappeared! We felt like we had Lake Michigan to ourselves...for a little while, atleast!

It was very nice to relax and hang out with Ian. Who wouldn't want to hang out with him? He's such a cutie!

Stella is 2!

There is nothing
more precious
than a
2 year old Princess!

Homemade Jelly

Have you ever caught yourself telling little white lies? Just little ones? Well, I've learned that saying "YES" to something that I didn't really want to do is classified as a huge LIE! And it could eventually lead to Compound Lies. I know you know what I'm talking about!

The wonderful lady I share my garden plot with asked if I wanted to finish picking the rest of her currants to make jelly.

"Yes."

Why? Why did I say yes? That means work, time, and energy would be spent on something I didn't really want to do. So then she pressured me until every last currant was off the vine, then, as nice as she is, supplied me with all the tools I would need to make some jelly, clear down to the jars, then sent me on my way with 80 cups of sugar to make jelly!

Well, since I really didn't want to make jelly in the first place, I kinda forgot about the currants and soon they were spoiled, thus rendering them too rotten for jelly. Darn.

But then comes the real issue: When the nice lady corners me at church and asks how the jelly turned out...what am I supposed to say?

Maybe I should just tell her that my homemade jellly was delicious.

WHEN I GROW UP, I WANNA BE JUST LIKE YOU!

Jamie
&
Hallie
Jamie is my awesome friend from my NAU days! She now lives in Washington and I miss the long nights we used to spend together - scrapbooking! Jamies daughter, Hallie, was just a year old when we all moved away. I think I taught her one of her first words. "UP" Now she's all grown up!

"We're on a date, Mallie"

You might call it babysitting. We call it a date!
Friday night is "date night" so Ian and I took our best buddies, Luke and Isaac, on a date to give their mom and dad and new baby Audrey a break.

We loaded them up in the car and took them to our garden and made them weed it for .10 cents a row!

Oh, sorry! That was a bit of my childhood creeping up on me.

We really did take them to our garden where they did some "scoopers", "dumpers" and "digs" in the dirt while I did a bit of weeding. Then we threw some rocks in the river...and at the ducks. We figured out that ducks like bread better than rocks, so we found some bread to throw at the ducks instead. After a quick driveby of McDonalds for some nuggets, we ended up at a playground and played until the sun went night nights.

After strapping Isaac into his carseat (which is actually the drivers seat in a fire truck) he announced very energetically, "We're on a date, Mallie!" I LOVE DATE NIGHT!!!

KNEE HIGH BY THE 4TH OF JULY!

OUR SUMMER GARDEN

WELCOME BABY SISTER

Audrey Irene Robinson

July 6th, 2006 at 1:00 a.m.

7 lbs 1 oz

She has lots of dark hair and big beautiful blue eyes, just like Luke predicted. I guess Isaac was wrong when he said her eyes would be PINK!

Proud parents: Brett and Val

Excited Big Brothers: Luke and Isaac

Best Uncle and Aunt in the World: Ian and Natalie

If your house ever catches on fire...

...I happen to know two really cute FIREMEN who could come and save the day!

BEST BUDDIES!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SUNSHINE!

Mr. Monkey

CORBIN RICH
I just love that little monkey face!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTNI JO!

Happy Birthday to my BFF Brittni Jo!
(and I hope no one gets offended about that BFF part. It's her birthday. I gotta make her feel good!)

I absolutly LOVE my Brittni. It's always a party where ever she goes! One thing is for sure - WE ARE THE TWO FUNNIEST PEOPLE AROUND WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER!

Besides being the BEST MOM IN THE WHOLE WORLD, she has many other talents and skills. For example, we have been known to be on the phone with each other AND instant messaging each other at the same time! Sweet Skills I tell you!

I'm very lucky to know her and have her friendship!
I LOVE YA BRITTNI!

Do you like my jugs?

Ian bought them for me for my birthday.

A Tribute to Fabulous Fathers