Luck O' The Irish

What a fun day we had today. We started the day with everyone wearing green. Then Ry had her field trip to the Syracuse Fire Station. She just loved being with her class, and of course seeing all the cool stuff at the new building. We got to meet the chief, the Fire Marshall, and the other firefighters. We also saw their entertainment room, kitchen, bedrooms, and the 2 garages full of trucks and ambulances. It was so fun to see and learn about the different things they train for.
Then I took the kiddos to Allen Grandmas to have her babysit while I had to go to work. While I was at work, J made the kiddos a fun St. Patty's dinner....green mac and cheese with green milk! The girls absolutely loved it, but Rhett has such OCD he couldn't stand to eat it because of the color. He eventually ate it smothered in ketchup.
We were so slow at work, they forced us out early. My friend wanted to cheer me up, so we went out for a drink. Then I headed home. One block from home I noticed a cop speed up to tailgate me...then pull me over. He said because I had no proof of insurance on my car since Feb 28, which duh I didn't own the car then; Not until March 7. It didn't make sense. He ran my info and came back to say, Sorry, my mistake...your free to go! What a lame excuse. He had no valid reason for chasing me down and stopping me. Maybe he was just bored. Whatever reason, I was not happy about it.
I was so irritated when I got home, but I came home to a great surprise. A "leprechaun" dropped off a fun present for me. A little rainbow book with uplifting thoughts and phrases and folders to keep happy pics in; so when I am feeling down, which seems to be alot lately, I can look in it to cheer myself up. I don't know who my sweet "valentine" and "leprechaun" is/are, though I have an idea, they will not fess up. So I will say, from the bottom of my heart, I truly thank you for always cheering me up and making me feel so loved. =)
And in honor of the Irish...."Erin Go Bragh!"

No Pinching!

Field Trip At The Fire Station




St. Pattys Meal




A cheer-me-up drink...frozen strawberry lemonade

The sweet and thoughtful gift from my "leprechaun"

Talents...

I just needed to post to say thank you to my Mom and Mandee for their wonderful talents and being gracious enough to share them with me. Mom made Kenna's dress for Monica's wedding and its adorable. Its hot pink and has pick-ups on the bottom...every one donned with sparkle beads (It has even inspired the dress for Oaklee's blessing but hers will be white of course) Ry's looks similar though its orange, but I have to say that Mom's version was superb. Her and Kenna will be the prettiest girls around. She also made orange ties for all the brothers, J, Josh, and Derrick, and for the 2 little men, Rhett and Mason. And finally she made Sharon's dress, but its not completely done just yet. We went for the final fitting tonight and it turned out so great. She does the best work around...for miles and miles. I am so lucky to have her love what she does and be willing to do just about anything I need or want.
I wanted to do a shout out for Mandee and her new business, Bloom Creations... www.bloomcreation.blogspot.com She is super talented, affordable, and so fast... feel free to check out her work. She was able to make the 5 orange hair bows for the wedding party and also a pink one for me and adorable clips for Kenna. They turned out so pretty. I also ordered a ton of fun bows and flowers for us. And of course they all turned out great. Everytime I put one in Ry's hair, she spins around and around saying "I am the prettiest princess!" Amazing how bows and flowers make her feel that way, but if thats all it takes, I am happy to do it. So how lucky I am that I have so many talented people in my life who can do such extraordinary work and make me and my fam look so great. Thank you so much for all you do, I am so grateful for yall!!!

PBC's princess dress for the wedding.

The ties...they look so good! And the quality is amazing!

The hair bows for the wedding

All the gorgeous bows and clips Mandee made to make my girls hair so cute!

Say Hello To My Little Friend!

Well it finally happened....
We have been searching the ksl ads, newspapers, autotrader, all dealerships and to no avail we couldn't find a car that could compare to the good one we had...Good exterior and interior, good brand, mechanically sound, low miles, and good gas mileage.
So last Friday we were searching ksl, again, and still nothing new. I just happened to scroll over the pages and found a 2001 Nissan Maxima, I don't know how I hadn't come across it before cause it had been online for a couple weeks. It looked good from the pics, had a good detailed description (everything we wanted in a car), and they lived really close-in Clinton(all the other cars we test drove were in Ogden, Farmington,SLC, and Provo)
So we figured we would give him a call; what could it hurt. He finally called us back that night at 730pm...an older gentleman named Carl. I asked if we could come see the car that night. He said as long as it wasn't too late and that he'd leave the porch light on! We got over there at 830pm. He came outside with his little maglight and showed us all the details of the car. I asked if I could take it for a test drive and he said as long as it was short cause he didn't want to be out too late, he he :) So I took a short drive up and down the street and it was fine by me. I figured this would be our car...it felt right. And he was super nice as we were leaving, really chatty.
So thru the night we prayed about it and felt really good about our decision. I had the inclination to have Justin call him the next afternoon. When he called, he said another guy had just come to see the car and already offered a price for it but Carl said no and countered. The other guy said he'd think about it. Justin just happened to call at that right moment after talking to the other guy and Carl said we could have the car at our asking price....it was meant to be!
The couple bought the car brand new and they have been the only owners. They have had no accidents which means its a clean title. The inside is immaculate other than usual wear and tear over 10 years but the seats are all in super condition; still super soft and no stains (lets hope we can keep it that way). They always kept the car in the garage so the paint looks great. It has super low miles, 100,300. The gas mileage isn't as good cause its a V6 instead of a V4, but its still pretty good and has lots of pep. Also its a 2001, same year as our car was, but a step up from what we had so its a little roomier where we need it...in the front for J's long legs, and in the trunk for all our cargo. And they had put it up for sale the same night as our accident and I just happened to see the ad at the right time, right after they bought their new car so they were anxious to sell it quickly so we got it at the price we needed...just over what the insurance gave us for our car. Also we found out that we are related to Carl's wife...the same line of Merrills! So they were so happy to sell to family.
So today we went to the bank to get the money and take it to Carl's. He signed over his title and we gave him the check. Then J took the car to get it inspected and then licensed while I took the kiddos home. It passed inspection, but when he got to the licensing division in Ogden he couldn't get the plates because his wife didn't sign the title too...only because the title said Carl AND Mary instead of Carl OR Mary. Stupid technicality. So J tried to find her at her work at the many IRS buildings but lost the fight. So he came home and we decided to vacuum and clean out our cars instead and they look very pretty. Carl called us back about 330pm and were able to get his wife to sign the title and J hurried back up to get it licensed before they closed...one minute to spare. So it all worked out great. And I am super glad we finally got a car and I don't have to keep using the truck to drive everywhere with the crazy high gas prices. No more car shopping for awhile! Oh Happy Day!!!

R.I.P.

So the era of my sweet Alli has come to an end. We had bought her from my parents when it was still fairly new. We had no kids when we bought her. So she was with us a long time. She was always very reliable and dependable, I always felt safe driving her around.
We got the call while we were in St. George. Apparently the frame had come completely detached and it would cost too much to realign it, over $5500. So the insurance company declared it a total loss. I know it sounds stupid to be so sad over a car. But it really was a great car. For being so old, it hardly had any problems. We just barely had to put in a new battery. And we kept her in the garage so the paint looked like new. It seems so dumb we didn't get more from the insurance company. Allstate bases its prices on market research rather than book values...LAME! So we had to collect all our belongings, and sign the title over to Allstate. (I did remember to get all my keys this time)
Now we are on the hunt. We have found a few cars, but I'm being told I may be a little too picky. But when you've had such a good car mechanically as well as aesthetically, you want to replace it with the same or better. It's becoming quite the challenge, but I know we will....eventually.