Home Tour: Kitchen Photo Gallery Wall

Finally!  Finally!  Finally!  

In our kitchen there was a big empty wall.

We didn't want to purchase more furniture 

(because who knows if it will fit in a future home down the road)

and we didn't want to leave it blank.

So, we filled it with these Ikea frames. 

We (mostly Cason) hung them and the empty frames hung on our wall for a good six months.

We couldn't decide what to put in them. Family photos? Pattern designs? etc.

But I am so glad we decided to put some of our favorite family pictures in them. 

It adds so much to the kitchen.

(Thanks to my brother.in.law Jeff who printed them for us!!)

  

Stayed tuned for more of our home tour.

(mostly for my fam, since they don't get to see it, but you can enjoy it too. :) )

Monday Night Family Outing

Every year in Grand Rapids, they host an art event called Art Prize. 

Many people submit their work and the public votes.  

The winner gets the worlds largest art prize of $250,000.

On Monday night, Millie and I met Cason after work downtown.  

We ate PB&J's for dinner in the Rosa Parks Circle and then walked around town looking at the amazing art.  

Mad.  Probably because I wasn't feeding her an apple fast enough. :)

Here are a few of the pieces we saw. 

-Gerald R. Ford: statue made out of fiberglass, resin and bronze

-Reflection of a fallen soldier (looking at this one almost made me cry)

-Under Construction: construction workers spray painted bronze

-eye picture: made out of many little pictures.  When you step back you see the eye.

It was a great night to get out on the town and see such amazing talent. 

Hope you had a good Monday night family night too. :)

A Few Favorites

This little lady is at such a fun stage.  She understands just about everything, can say a few words and tries to say words that we tell her to.  She folds her arms when we say a prayer, and her primary form of transportation is wobbling around walking.  Except when we're outside.  She won't walk.  We have to hold her.  Weird.  She's obsessed with babies, the swings, dogs, and Cason.  She doesn't much care for me when he's around. :)  And she's also obsessed with, her newest favorite thing, going down the slide.  I lifted her up and down, up and down on that slide and my arms were sore the next day.  

She also knows most of her body parts.  

It's my favorite! 

Here's a video of her showing a few.

I have about 50 videos but she'll never do them all for me on camera. 

She knows what I'm doing I guess.

So here's a little glimpse of what she can do.

Naptime Spying

When Millie went down for her second nap today, (yes, she is still taking two.  I'm too nervous to switch to one) she didn't fall right to sleep.  Instead, she stood in her crib and dilly dallied.  No crying.  Whining.  Or fussing.  Just a few chatty words here and there and that was it.  I went to peek on her through the crack in the door and this is what I saw: 

 

Finally, after a few minutes and a quick diaper change, she was out.

I love watching her.  She is just precious.  

Queen of the House

This little lady thinks she owns the place!

She throws pillows off the couch, and climbs all over it.  

She also thinks that every single cupboard and drawer is okay to get into.  No matter how many times I tell her, or say no no no, or take her away from it, she still goes back and snoops through everything.  My house is pretty much a disaster most of the time.  I can't stop her!  Once I do, she's onto the next thing.  

She can also be a very good helper.  She's obsessed with the dishwasher.  Every time we empty it, she takes out the dishes and hands them to us.  I can't wait till she can empty the dishwasher on her own. That's the one and only reason I want her to grow.  :) 

She thinks everything is hers, which she has every right to think, since she is the only child for now.  

She can own the place.  Cason and I don't mind.  And it's quite entertaining when she's not making a mess!  

Love this girl!

Saturday Beach

I know, beach pictures are pretty much the same, but I had to document our last full Saturday of summer.

Kinda weird, but here in our town, EVERYTHING shuts down the day after Labor Day.

They know best though, because it does start to get chilly.

(Good thing our local ice cream shop is still open till October. 

And the Farmer's Market too!  Gotta love those honeycrisps...new post at a later date!)

We ventured down to the beach for our last beach day before it gets cold.

Hardly anyone was there, and it was quite an overcast day. 

But we had fun, nonetheless.

Millie loves/loved it.  

I didn't even have time to put her swimsuit on she was so anxious to dig in. 

We bagged the suit because she was covered from head to toe in sand.

She took a little snooze while Cason and I relaxed and enjoyed the small waves rolling in.

We're heading to Olive Garden (random. All you can eat pasta, salad and breadsticks!) tonight, 

and we'll be watching the BYU game tomorrow night!

Have a great weekend!

Labor Day

On Labor Day this year, Cason really wanted to go golfing.  

So Millie and I decided to tag a long.

Millie and I drove the cart around from hole to hole.

Millie loved to play with the golf balls.

They were just her size.

She got a little bored, so we put her in the cart basket. 

She loved it, and played in there for majority of the time.

Watching Dad play...

While we were on the course, we saw some geese.

So, naturally Cason and Millie chased them.

She loved it!

We finished our day off with a yummy BBQ at a friends,

and homemade raspberry ice cream at home.

It was a nice day without much laboring!

Happy Weekend

Is this thing still on?  

We're still here and are excited for the weekend.  

We loved this short week.  

Can't wait to spend some time together as a family.  

Cason's been crazy busy with work, so it'll be nice to enjoy a little time with him.  

Millie sure misses him! (as do I!)  

This little peanut is sick sick sick.  

Sick fever like I've never felt before.  

Poor girl.  

Sick babies are no fun, except they do love to snuggle any chance they get! 

I LOVE it!  

Especially with this girl.  

She's been sleeping like crazy today.    

I love this little one!

Have a great weekend!

We'll be nursing Millie back to health and hopefully attending a football game.