Kitchen!

For the past couple MONTHS our kitchen has been driving me nuts. When we moved in we tried to organize it the best we could but things got put in random places and that has continued for 7 months! I've been saying that I really need to just take everything out and put it all back in again, properly organized, giving everything it's place. It is frustrating when you are cooking and can't find what you need, even though you know it's there somewhere! Last night I had finished preparing dinner and was waiting for Josh to get home and I thought hey, I should start the cupboards! No time like the present, right? So I took EVERYTHING out of the kitchen cupboards (except for one cabinet with the plates and such, that one was ok) and put it all on the floor. After dinner I cleaned them all out then Josh and I put everything away, deciding what we used most and where everything should go. There were a few things we haven't used once since being married so those things got put in the laundry/storage room. I'm amazed at how much room we created! I feel so organized and know that cooking and putting dishes away will be much more enjoyable now! I'm so happy we did it and it makes me wonder why I procrastinated for so long... :)

Date Night with Brandon

Last night Josh and I got to take our nephew Brandon out on a "date" with just him. We love getting together with our little guys and it's so nice to have special time one-on-one with them. Brandon is Lisa and Wes' middle son and will be four on September 10! He is such a joy, this little guy has more energy than anyone I know! He was telling us about his day... he had swimming lessons then helped his Dad at work, seeding the lawn, raking, etc. As he put it "I worked so hard and didn't even get lunch!" Such a funny little guy. Everything Brandon does he does at 150% - he is very passionate and determined. Makes life interesting sometimes :) He has a fantastic memory and doesn't miss a thing that is said or done around him. He is ultra-talented with his sports and loves them all. He adds to much to all our lives and we are so blessed by him! And in addition to all that, he is just so adorable!! :) What can I say, I'm an Auntie who is in love with her nephews!!

:: On our way out for dinner at McDonald's - the one with the PlayPlace of course! ::

:: I told you he was adorable! ::

:: At the park climbing away ::

:: After dropping Brandon off we stopped at my Mom's and two of our other wonderful nephews, Colton and Ethan, were there! Fun night! ::

Pictures

I feel bad that I haven't posted anything for a whole week!! :) Nothing too crazy is happening in our lives right now, although we're always crazy busy! A "Sister's Night" with the girls on Josh's side, my Grandma Eddy's birthday, and a couple of shopping sprees! Josh and I have been looking for a shelf for our living room and found one the other day! I'm proud to say I put it together myself and got it into the right place! We're really happy with our choice - it looks great and makes our place more "homey." Now to decorate it... :) Then I can post pics! In the meantime, here are some random pictures from the past week :)

:: My cousin Nelson with Ethan and Brandon, climbing a tree at my parents house ::

:: Colton enjoying an empty creamer at Red Robin in Bellingham ::

:: My SILs Amy and Niki at "Sisters Night" ::
:: My new SIL Hannah and I at "Sister's Night" ::

:: Flowers from my hubby - he picked out the lilies :) ::

:: My Grandma Eddy on her birthday! ::

:: How can you resist this face? ::

Fun Weekend :)

This was the first weekend in 3 weeks that Josh and I have been home, and I really enjoyed it! On Friday evening we enjoyed a steak dinner at our friend Troy's house, followed by Dairy Queen Blizzards and a movie! Josh and I have been trying to get together with Troy for weeks now, and were really glad it finally worked out! We had a good night of deep conversations, laughs and great food! Thanks Troy :)
On Saturday morning I slept in then walked out of our room to a deliciousbreakfast made by my wonderful husband! Hashbrowns, bacon and an English Muffin with cream cheese and jam (the first time I heard of this combo years ago I thought it was gross - but it's really tastey!) We had a relaxing day watching a bit of TV and had a good long chat :) We headed out to celebrate my cousin Denver's birthday party... but got the wrong time and were an hour and a half early at the restaurant! Since we were only planning on staying for a bit we didn't hang around for the rest of the gang to arrive. Oh well, these things happen! We headed over to Maple Ridge to Niki and Jason's (Josh's sister and her husband) housewarming party! We had a fun evening of celebrating with them and their friends and family in their new house! Congrats Niki and Jason!!
Sunday came along and Josh and I went to CLA, our home church in Langley. We got to sit with Lisa, Wes and all three boys - which always makes for an interesting time! They are seriously the cutest boys ever (along with Colton!), I can't get enough of them! Corban just wanted Josh and apparently said his name last week, clear as a bell :) Josh had plans to meet up with his friends Matt and Josh F. so I got to take Ethan out on a date!! He LOVES Wall-E and everything about the movie and the characters. So although he's already seen the movie twice at the theatre we went again! He was so sweet when I asked him, his whole face lit up and he said "Okay!! That would be great!" So we went on a fun date, just the two of us :) With many promises to Brandon to take him on a date next time, with just him (and probably Uncle Josh since him and Brandon are good buddies). The movie was pretty cute, but I enjoyed Ethan more, watching him and listening to him tell me all about the movie.
Later that night after I had some good cleaning time (I'm so efficient when I'm home by myself!) my Mom came over. So nice to visit with just her and I - I showed her pics and my blog, and our friends' blogs and pics! My Mom left and Josh still wasn't home so I got the notion to bake... some muffins for the morning and snacks - banana chocolate chip - and some cookies - chocolate and butterscotch chip. Made for a very happy husband!! :) And I made lots of batter so we have it ready for a craving or a guest... you should come over!
So overall it was a really nice weekend, a perfect balance of relaxing, time with friends and family, and getting stuff done around the house!
How was your weekend? I hope you had days full of joy!!

:: Wall - E ::

:: Cookies and Muffins ::

:: Josh licking the batter off the beater - because in every man there is a little boy... and they love cookie batter!! ::

Green Lake!

It's become a tradition for our family to camp at Green Lake during the first week of August. My Uncle Gordie and Auntie Sharon bought property on the lake a few years ago and are gracious to invite our whole family up there - even as our family grows by at least one every year! :) They are in the middle of building this beautiful log "cabin" and have spots for RV's in the acre behind the cabin up to the road. We meet there with our cousins and their kids, and this year there were family friend's of my uncle's up there too. All in all there were over 35 of us, 7 RVs, 2 quads, 1 dirtbike, 2 boats and a ton of fun :)

:: The view from the dock - the new cabin! ::

:: My oldest nephew Ethan enjoying his pancake breakfast :::: My youngest nephew Colton also enjoying a pancake ::

:: Corban having a ton of fun in the sand! ::

:: Brandon sitting still for a couple minutes ;) ::

:: My Dad and I on the quad! Fun :) ::

The rest of the family is still there enjoying the sunny weather and good company, but I had to come back to work :( Josh's back injury is still quite bad so he is still off work and starting physio tomorrow. Hopefully he will be feeling better really soon! We had a great weekend away and are very blessed to have such an amazing family!!

Shawna's Challenge!

My friend Shawna started a challenge to post a picture of yourself as you were, in that moment. My first "blogger" challenge, how could I resist? :) So here I am - at work! You will notice the sample boards behind me (I work at a flooring store), my Starbucks that Josh brought to me (what a great hubby!) and my computer... where I do all my "work" ;)

Picture Cube!

Thanks to my dear friend Amanda I now know how to put pictures in a cube! Thanks Amanda!Much easier to post pics that way :) Since I'm at work the only pics I have here to play with are my wedding pics and Summerland ones which I already posted! So here is my first experiment with picture cubes... and a way to share pictures of one of the happiest days of my life!! There was turquoise, flowers, diamonds, snow, candles and of course, LOVE!! :)


(top left) Crystal and Dave, Josh and I took that same picture on Crystal and Dave's wedding day! (top right) 3 of my closest girlfriends - Shawna, Amanda and Crystal (Makena is there too, but we hadn't met her yet ;) They stuck around and helped with picture-taking! Thanks girls!



(top left) Ethan and Brandon are my oldest 2 nephews and Isabella is their friend - so sweet! (bottom left) My beautiful sisters and I! (bottom middle) The Eddy's and Neufeld's combined - there are a lot of us! (bottom right) Josh and his groomsmen, Matt and Chad.

I think I cut some people out of pictures while making the cubes... sorry!

Getting ready the morning of! Such fun :) Don't you just love Ethan's little grin? ;) And Shawna did my hair - she is so talented and fantastic! I was thankful she shared the morning with us.

6 Months!

On July 26 Josh and I celebrated 6 months of being married!! Lately I've been reading, thinking and talking about "celebrations" and how they bring so much meaning to life. I am blessed with so many wonderful people and occassions and I feel it's so important to take note of these things. Life has enough hardships in it - why not take a moment or a weekend and celebrate the good stuff?

Josh and I have hadn't had a chance to go away since our honeymoon because of work schedules. So we were so excited when we found out we could get away for a few days and that it worked out to be over our 6 month "anniversary!!" We were going to go to Kelowna but everything was booked solid. So we found this great resort in Summerland, just 30 minutes away from Kelowna and right on Okanagon Lake (Summerland Waterfront Resort). It was so beautiful there and we were happy being in Summerland - more peaceful and relaxing. We even got upgraded for no extra cost and had a loft room which was fantastic!! We had such an awesome weekend together, so nice to just relax and be in love!! :)

My camera was acting funny and some of our pics turned out fuzzy :( But here are a few!

On our way!!

Taking a picture by the road... Josh timed it for when a semi drove by!

On the walkway/bridge that ran along the lake on our resort

Josh gave me an iPod - a TURQUOISE one!!

And an armband so I can listen to music at the gym :)

On our way out... we were sad to leave!! We had a great vacation :)