What you wish for

So we've been getting some rain the last couple days. Yesterday morning, though, it was kind of sunny in the morning & I was wondering where the supposed storm had gone. It clouded up during the afternoon & was sprinkling when Ammon got home just after 3:00. It continued to get heavier until we could hear it pounding on the roof, even with the TV on. Then, I went to let Jack out in the backyard & when I opened the door, the water was at least 1/2 inch deep on our patio. I told Ammon & he headed outside to check things out. I guess our two inch drain pipe that lets water drain from the back yard into the front yard wasn't up to the task of releasing all that water. So, Ammon dug the drainage trench a little bigger (noticing along the way that once the trench hits the end of our front yard, it just turns to head into our neighbor's yard. bummer for them, right?) & things got a little better. Then, the rain started coming down even harder (how is that possible!) & he decided to just enlarge the hole where the water escapes. He & Jack got soaked outside & finally came in at least half an hour later. Apparently that was the key, because our yard drained fine, & our house is still standing & quite dry this morning. With all the rain & the power flicking on & off, it made for a fun evening. How's the weather where you are?

Another Scrapbook Page

Snuggle Bug

Another Page (are you sick of them yet?)

Eagle Scout & Thanksgiving

Another Wedding Page

Wedding Pages

These are my most recent scrapbook pages, using pictures from my sister's wedding. Most of the pictures were taken by my brother-in-law. Check out his pictures here.

Sharon's Blessing Day

Christmas Pages

I just finished some Christmas scrapbook pages & thought I would share. We had a nice Christmas at home & with some friends. It's so nice to be home again & even better to have Sharon with us & doing so well. Thank you for all of your prayers & support. We couldn't have done it without you! Have a happy new year!

Digital Scrapbooking Supplies

I've had a few people asking recently about the digital scrapbooking supplies that I use to make my scrapbook pages. The way I do things really doesn't tend to take a whole lot less time than regular scrapbooking, because that's the way I like to do it. I've seen other people who also do digital scrapbooking, but keep it much simpler. It's really up to you as to how complicated you want to make it. Blurb, the book printing website I'll be using, has a free program download that has templates & guides to help you create your photo book, which makes things really easy. Just do what you know you have time for, or else you won't get anything done for being overwhelmed by everything.

I've gotten the majority of my papers & embellishments from Shabby Princess. The kits are really nice. They also have supplies you can buy, but I usually just use whatever I can find for free. I also found a website that sends a daily email with a free download and the things they send aren't too bad. It's digital scrapbook experts and you just have to sign up for the free daily emails. Another place I get a few things is designer digitals. You have to register on the site to get the freebies, but they have new papers & embellishments every few days and it's free to sign up. I actually just found another site that has free downloads today: peppermint creative. I really just find the things I use by searching Google for digital scrapbooking freebies.

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements as my editing program. I basically just open up one of the scrapbook papers, add my pictures & elements, then save it as a jpg file, which can then be printed as a photo, or added to my photo book. There are other programs (my Mom uses one called Picture It) that you can also use, but I've found that Elements is so much better than any of the photo programs that came installed on my computer. I got mine on Amazon for a much better price than they have in stores.

Eventually, when I have enough pages done, I will have them printed into a book. I will use Blurb, which has a free scrapbooking program you can download to your computer and then order the book from the website. They have really reasonable prices. There are so many different ways of doing things, though. Let me know if you'd like any help getting started! Good luck!

Great Deal

I just discovered a new website today! I am working on a project & wanted to get some 12x12 scrapbook pages printed. Well, I know that Walmart will print them if you go online, but you can only do it using their premade templates that you just drop your pictures into. I personally think they aren't the prettiest things, & they definitely don't work for what I'm doing. So, I started looking around online & found a place that will print my own designs in a 12x12 format for just $1.99! It's called Scrapbooks Please and I'm hoping that the prints I've ordered turn out nicely. I'll let you know how they look once they arrive.

In Grandpa's Arms

This picture was taken at my sister's wedding last weekend.
I love it!

Meghan Herbert

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Jordan Herbert, married January 2nd, 2010! This is our family being very excited about their marriage! =)

Happy Holidays

Hopefully I'll be getting these into the mail soon. My Adobe Photoshop Elements came in the mail today, so I was finally able to create some Christmas cards using it on our new computer! Joy!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyon! I know I'm a few days late, but it's still December, so I think I'm ok. I will be sending out our Christmas cards soon, since we were just barely able to take our family pictures. I wanted to wait until Sharon was out of the hospital, and it seemed to be a great time to do it on Christmas day. We were also able to get some fun pictures of Sharon, including the one of her in Ammon's stocking.
We had a quiet Christmas this year. We've celebrated past Christmases with my family, but since Sharon had just gotten out of the hospital we didn't really feel like driving down again. Ammon and I played Santa for each other's stockings and got lots of fun goodies. My Christmas present came a little early when we bought a new computer, which I just love! It is so much faster, sharper, bigger, and awesome than our sad, old laptop. I got Ammon a new pocketknife and a variety of cheeses. I was so grateful that my mom sparked this idea because it was great! Every time we go to the store you can find Ammon browsing the specialty cheese section, trying to bring himself to pay the extra money to try a different cheese. I got an assortment so that he could try some he'd never had, and also got a cheese slicer (which we didn't have before) and some crackers. It was great and he's been enjoying it!
We had a nice Christmas! And I hope you did as well!
We were also able to spend some time with some friends of ours, who had invited us over for dinner. We had a very tasty meal, made much more enjoyable by the chattering of their two-year-old and then watched some home videos and read Luke 2. Once Sharon had spit up all over their couch we headed home to watch a movie and go to bed.
Sharon is doing so well! She has a dr. appt. today and will get weighed again, so I'll let you all know what she's up to afterward. Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's time...

to elf yourself.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Our Christmas Gift

I just wanted to share some pictures of Sharon that I took on Sunday. I think the huge flower is so fun, even if it is ginormous! I think she looks so cute with it!
She is getting so big and has so much personality! We love her so much!

She's finally out!

I love this picture that Mom took of Sharon and I at the hospital with the Christmas tree in the background!

We "nested" at this hospital on Wednesday night. Nesting means that we stayed the whole night with Sharon & did all of her cares and feedings by ourselves. If we needed help we could ask our nurse, but everything went fine. We didn't get much sleep because the "beds" we had were just chairs that fold out into beds and they were extremely uncomfortable. We got a nice surprise just before going to the hospital on Wednesday when we were told that we would be taking her home on Thursday instead of Friday. The picture above shows us getting all ready for Sharon's first car ride as we left the hospital.
We had to go up to Kingman the same day so that we could get her to the pediatrician on Friday and also pick up her meds. It's amazing how much better things are when you have a few hours of sleep.
Sharon likes this sling that I got with a gift card. She fell asleep quickly once I got her all settled into it. I sure am glad that my mom was able to come to Kingman with us, because she was a lifesaver! Sharon loves her grandma!
So she is officially 6 lbs 7 oz naked, and in good health according to the ped. We are so grateful to have her home & are quickly settling in to parenthood. She is such a little dumpling & is such a good baby. Even when she is fussy, once you fix the problem she settles right down. Hopefully things continue to go that way!
Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers through this whole journey. I know that the prayers have been heard and answered in Sharon's behalf & that all the little miracles we experienced were due to those prayers. We are so thankful that she's been allowed to stay & that we have such a precious gift in our lives!

New Update on Sharon

Here's the video slideshow that I made of Sharon to show at my baby shower. It really shows how much she's grown!
Sharon is doing so well now! They took her off oxygen two days ago and she's been doing wonderfully! She also pulled out her feeding tube a few days ago, so they decided to see if she would take everything from the bottle. She has been so far, and hasn't been having nearly as much trouble with it as she had been. She is up to 6 lbs 5 oz now and is really looking like a regular newborn baby. She is such a sweet baby & pretty stubborn. She always seems to be totally asleep while we feed her, and once we are done she is always totally awake. She loves to listen to Mommy singing and even likes it when Dad sings, too. If all continues to go as it has been, she may be coming home by the end of next week. Here's hoping that everything continues to go well!