My beautiful New niece Ellie Mae

I took these photos of my new little niece Ellie Mae on Sunday. She was 6 days old. She was so good for the photos awake and asleep. I really enjoyed taking these. I enjoyed posing her and playing with her.

So I have decided that Newborn portraits are my absolute fave to do!! I do enjoy all portrait photography but Newborns are on the top of my list!! They are so new and precious. There is nothing like it, it is like taking pictures of an Angel.

Boating at Strawberry and Starvation

JayLynn & Annabelle in their favorite spot on the boat, they love the very front of the bow.
Eva and I

Savannah and Trin jumped out of the boat to play in the water.

Eva wakeboarding, she did great!

Steve giving Trinity the 411 on wakeboarding before she goes out.

Me

Leandro jumping the wake The kids getting ready to play Trinity, Annabelle, Savannah, JayLynn and Josh

Me

Leandro

Angela (me) wakeboardingDaxton started carving, crossing the wake and tried jumps his SECOND time out!

Trinity got up on the wakeboard her FIRST try, and she stayed up for a while.

Eva the proud mommy of 10 yr. old Trinity up on the wakeboard

We had a fabulous weekend. We went boating this past weekend with our friend Steve. We camped at Strawberry and boted for two days then to Starvation the last day. We had a blast.

Nice 80 degree weather fun!!

Today was so nice!! It only got up to the mid 80's which is cool for July. Me and the girls went to Dixcie's pool today and played for a few hours. We drove there in the Jeep with the top off and it was so nice because usually this time of year it is too hot to ride the Jeep in the middle of the day. This evening Dixcie came over and her Eva and I went for a nice eveing burn and it got chili out.

Not the best picture but hey, it's us on the bikes!!

The basement Bathroom countertop and tile

Well our work is finished downstairs!! Leandro and I have no more work downstairs!! I finished the counter top last night and we sealed the grout this morning. Leandro did such a beautiful job on the tile down there.

I made this counter top the same way I made the kitchen counter only I used different colors and paint techniques.

Eva and I found this nasty ugly bathroom vanity at savers for only $15, I was even skeptical on whether or not we could make it look good!! We put on some raised stencils and painted and glazed it, then we changed out the hardware and pulls and tah dah....it looks FAB!! I wish I had before pics because it was bad!! You wouldn't even believe it was the same cabinet!!

Leandro's beautiful tile work!!

God's country right in our own backyard!

I can't believe we didn't get any pictures of Independence day!! We had a lot of fun! We had a barbecue and lit a ton of fireworks!! Our Culde-sac was booming with the whole neighborhood. I was lighting sparklers for all the kids for at least an hour and a half straight.

The day before yesterday (July 3rd) We went on an beautiful jeep ride up the Timpooneke trail past the Timpooneke trail head for hiking with some friends of ours. It is so amazingly beautiful up there. You drive from the back (East side) of Timpanogos to the front (west side) You can over look the whole Utah Valley from the front side. It is so breathtaking!! These pictures we took don't do the scenery justice!!
We feel so blessed to have all of these beautiful places within minutes of our home. It is only a 15 minute drive to the canyon. I feel bad that I murmured so much about all the June rain but our Mountains are so green now and we really needed the moisture.

Taking our baby sisters out for their 17th birthdays!!

Eva and I took Beth and Koleen to Mimis for their 17th birthday. They are so fun to hang out with. We laughed a lot in the restaraunt. Afterwards we went to the Gateway.

We had a blast, they crack me up. I am so blessed to have the sisters I have :)

Candy Land Parade Float

Me and my sister Eva were asked to help with this parade float for our Church. We can't take credit for the whole thing but we were happy to be a part of it. Lots of hours went into this and lots of people helped out...hours and hours of sculpting chicken wire, doing paper mache, and painting!! The theme is 'If I could I would...Live in Candyland.' It is for the Lehi mini float parade. I'll post more pictures of it after the parade on Saturday. We are so excited to see where it is placed with the judges!! :)

Third Grade Talent show

Savannah played her guitar and sang her very own song that she wrote for the third grade talent show. She did so well!

JayLynn's kindergarten Graduation

We are so proud of JayLynn, she graduated kindergarten with all A's!! She reads very well!! She is so excited for first grade!! They make such a big deal out of it now a days, we are happy for her!! We are excited for both our kids to be in full day school next year!!

Boating

JayLynn was on the molecule tube and got sucked under the water, she got so cold afterwards so she sat on the boat with a blanket on the rest of the day.

We had fun boating last weekend with friends. We got a few good pictures of Leandro wakeboarding, the water was really choppy.

Playing in the dirt....

Eva was helping the neighbor weed and Zac was just right there playing with the trucks in the dirt, little did they realize that he was into the little mud puddle very quietly playing like a good little boy!! He didn't start crying until he realized he couldn't walk because of the inches of caked mud under his shoes!!

Leandro let JayLynn ride on his lap in the Bob cat while he was grading the backyard. More work to do but we should have sod this coming week yay!!

The work Leandro has put into the yard seems endless!! It is a big yard!!

Pet day for JayLynn's kindergarten class

We love our Dog Pulga!! She is part of our family. She is such a good dog, if only she wouldn't run off all over the nieghborhood to bless everyone's lawn!! We have had her for almost 5 years!!

JayLynn was so excited to have her at school to show her class her doggy on pets day!! She would stop talking about it all week!!

Mother's day weekend

We had a blast out in the desert for the weekend. We went out Friday night and came back Sunday afternoon. Tammy and her family hung out with us Friday night and Saturday day. On Mother's day Leandro and the girls got up early and cooked me a nice campout breakfast and Leandro even did the dishes afterwards!! My family is good to me!! :) When we got home we unloaded and showered then we drove out to my Grandma Giles house for her Mother's day party then we went to my Mother's grave.

My girls and I on Mommy's day

Our family riding around doing what we love best!!

Savannah on her 70

JayLynn on her 50

Tammy and I

JayLynn, savannah, Bella and Bryce cooking dogs at the fire

At Grandma Giles' house for mother's day Koleen, Josh and Zac at the grave

My Mother would be proud to see all of her beautiful family gathered together in her memory!! Not everyone was there at the same time but we all felt peace while we were sitting around her headstone together.

Everything but the kitchen sink!! Literally!!

We are done with the kitchen and the family room YAY!! We get the plumbing to the kitchen sink tomorrow!! Then Eva and her kids will have their very own kitchen. We are now working on the bathroom so they will have it all done within a month! Here are the pictures of the main area.

Finishing the countertops!!

Well we priced Formica countertops for the basement and they were pricey!! They wanted $600 dollars for stinkin' formica!!! So I decided we were going to do our own counters!! I loved the look of synthetic concrete counters because your color and style options are endless because you can color them your self!! Leandro built the countertop base with MDF and then we bought a rope molding (the kind for cabinets) and nailed the molding onto the wood. Then I primed the wood with a polymer to seal it. I troweled on a synthetic concrete base caot (scratch coat) then when that was dry I troweled on the smoother top coat. We sanded that down then I painted the counter with a black base coat and then came the marbling and other colors. After the color was done we put a hard epoxy over the top. It will withstand 600 degrees of heat and it is scratch resistant. We love the way it turned out. The pictures do not do it justice!! Here are photos of the process :)

Our Cabinets

These are the before pictures

So we got a total steal on these cabinets on ksl.com for $140 for the whole kithcen !!! We sanded them down and primed them with a barn red primer, then we plastered on these beautiful raised relief fleur de lis' stencils. We then painted the cabinets black and distressed them so you could see some of the red showing through. We then bronze leafed the raised panel part of the cabinets with bronze leafing foil. They turned out absolutely gorgeous!! The pictures don't do them justice they are stunning in person!! I just love ksl!! I just love paint more!!

Easter Message

This message stood out in my heart the most out of all of the Conference talks. It puts everything back into prospective. I love Easter and what it stands for, Most of all I love my Lord and Savior. I am so greatful for his atonement!

Our basement is coming along!!!

We have been super busy with our basement this past week and a half. We are all done with paint and we are now laying the tile!!!! We are so excited.

Eva and I textured the walls and Leandro textured the ceilings. We wanted an old world fresco type look so we did a glaze over it and I am stoked at the way it turned out. We inlayed raised Fleur De Li's' on one accent wall and they really stand out with the wall glaze.

Halo Mural in progress

Our friends, The Adam's family asked us to paint a Halo Mural in their boys room. I thought I would ask my 15 year old brother Spencer to come help me paint it because he is a huge Halo fan and also a genius when it comes to art. He is also making some of his own Halo Master chief stop animation videos. He was thrilled to paint master chief. Well I have been busy so I was able to go over and paint a little of the back ground and sky and just told him he had free reign over master chief. I went to help at JayLynn's school today and came back and he was finished with master chief.....I was amazed!! The boy is so freakin' talented!! We are not done with it yet but I wanted to post the picture of Spencer's Master chief...I am so proud of him...by the way, this is his very first mural work!!!

JayLynn and Annabelle the NOT REALLY twins, Twins

JayLynn ans Anabelle are "Bestest Cousins"...they were born 6 months apart.

JayLynn loves having Annabelle around. It has been a blessing for Annabelle to be around JayLynn so much to help her adjust to her new life here with school, church, new friends etc.. They are like little twins...except they get along better than most twins. They are constantly together, they really keep each other company. They are so cute to listen to while they are together.

Me and Eva always joke about how they were suppose to be twins but God knew that neither of us could handle having both of them so he sent them to me and her! No really though, they love each other so much they really are kindred spirits!

Basement update

The basement is coming along. We have all the sheet rock done now!! We finished the laundry room except for the baseboards and door, but it is all painted and ready.
We will be mudding, taping and texturizing this weekend and throughout the beginning of the week...next will be the paint, then the tile yay!! We will have it done in no time.
We got the most gorgeous tile for the basement for a great deal so it is going to look so nice down there. I'll keep ya posted!!



This is a view standing in the family room looking into the kitchen area Kitchen / Family room

Looking into the family room from the kitchen, you can see the master bedroom door

My hard working Husband!!

Oh yes it is a BIG mess at the moment! It is getting done slowly but surely!
This first photo is Leandro standing in the kitchen area in front of the pantry.

The Laundry room ready for primer

Leandro has been working so hard lately. I am so Thankful for him!! This past month he has had a rough time with work working lots of extra hours. When he is not working he is downstairs working to get the basement closer to getting finished. I am proud of his work. He has done so much.

We are so Thankful for the nieghbors that we have that have helped us so much. We are in debt with them for life! They are always borrowing us their tools and offering to help unload our truck, offering their time and....the list goes on and on!!!

We will keep the basement project posted as we go along. The main area is such a freakin' mess right now...the pics look aweful! The laundry room is ready for primer and paint yay!! We should be completely done with the sheetrock by Saturday. I just have to keep telling myself it will be done soon!!

We Love Mimi's cafe'

We went to Mimi's last night to celebrate my sister Molly's birthday and my sister in law, Megan's birthday. My sisters Amy, Beth, Koleen, Bonnie, Molly and Eva were there along with Chelsea (friend of the family) Megan (my sister in law) and the little guys, Brigham and Zac.

I love going places with my sisters because we become instant nerds together, We really don't care what the world thinks of us!

As you can see from the pictures we really enjoyed ourselves!! The food was great too!!

Zac the Destroyer

I love my little Zac!! He is so cute!! He is always getting into things!! I can't get mad at him because he is so stinkin' cute!

He loves to get in to things!!

We love having him around he has such a sweet spirit!

JayLynn's 6th Birthday party

We were going to celebrate Jaylynn's birthday last weekend but we were all sick. So we did a last minute birthday party with the family here on Sunday night. She wanted a SpongeBob party so my sister Molly made her a crabby patty cake that turned out so cute!! She loved it!! I can't believe my baby is already 6 years old!!