Our first home!

Well, after months of nothing I figured I'd better post what our family has been up to. The biggest change was the purchase of our first home!! We are so excited to finally have a home of our own that our family can grow into. We moved in the end of July this year and have been working on it ever since. Jesse even came down for a few weeks to help us install the wood floor. There's still tons to do but we're making progress. Here's a few early pics. Things have even changed since these were taken!

I'm sure I will be posting more as time goes on. Like I said, since these photos were taken, things have changed even more. We have more on the walls and a new furniture set, too. Our next big project is the dining room. Here's what it looks like right now.

Lovely, isn't it? Well, it may not be pretty now but onced we prime and paint it crisp white, add the baseboards and the crown molding and put in a light fixture, it's going to be beautiful! I'm thinking of stenciling the upper panels with this...

It's hard to see because of the lighting and it was done quickly on paper, but you get the idea. I'm still debating whether or not I what to invest the time to do it...anyway...

I'm also working on some curtains and roman shades. Lots to do but it's so exciting! We'll definitely keep the blog updated with all our projects!

The Terrific Two's

Olivia is a sweetheart.

She is great at sharing.

She loves to give hugs and kisses.

She is a doll.

She sings the cutest songs while she's playing

(Some we recognize, others we don't.)

And she's very smart. 

We love her. 

So all of that makes it easier for me when she has sudden meltdowns--

meltdowns that occur for no apparent reason.

Eli's Birthday...I Forgot!

Well, when you're updating 8 months worth of stuff, you're bound to forget something, right? Sorry, Eli!

ELI'S BIRTHDAY


We took Eli to Disneyland for his birthday. It would be his last birthday there for a long time since our passes expired in November and we wouldn't be renewing them for awhile. As a rule in the Boman family, when you go to Disneyland on your birthday, you get to choose all the rides and activities. We had never done the Jedi Training Academy, so that was at the top of Eli's list. They only select a certain number of kids from the crowd. We were thrilled that they chose not only Eli, but Shailey and Isaac as well.

The show was very fun. The kids all got to wear a Jedi robe and train with a real Jedi on how to properly use a lightsaber. And then who should show up? None other than Darth Vader and his goons, of course!

Each kid got a turn battling Darth Vader one on one! Isaac dropped his lightsaber (which was met with taunting from Darth Vader) but he picked it right back up, continued fighting and did very well.

Shailey forgot the fighting sequence altogether. Or maybe after watching the other kids she realized the fighting sequence they were doing clearly wasn't causing Darth's defeat...so she made up her own and went straight for his head! The Jedi assisting her reminded her to "Remember the sequence, young Padawan!" and intervened. :)

When it was Eli's turn, he had a look of determination on face like, "Bring it on, Darth!!" He did very well remembering the fighting sequence they learned.

They all got certificates for completing their training. It was a lot of fun and he had a great birthday!

I'm Still Here!

**WARNING: Extremely long post!! Read at your own risk!!**

After my last post about finishing our TV stand, you probably think I've been glued to the couch, engrossed in shows and movies for the past 8 months. Thankfully, no.  Well, maybe some of the time. But life got pretty busy over the last several months for our family.  Here are the highlights...

MEMORIAL DAY

We enjoyed a little excursion down to San Diego to visit Grandma Berta and Grandpa Mel who were on vacation at Campland by the Bay.  (I am so bummed but I can't seem to find any of the pictures on the computer right now. And blogger won't even let me upload any of the videos either!) We had a pirate treasure hunt complete with a message in a bottle, cryptic clues, mysterious pirate voices, and buried treasure (leave it to Grandma and Grandpa to make this super fun for the kids!)...

... we got to visit the Mormon Battalion (or as the kids called it, "The Mormon Italian") ...

... we played on the beach, roasted hotdogs over the campfire (a big hit with the kids), watched the fireworks from Sea World, and made s'mores ...

... and on our way out, we stopped by the San Diego Temple.  We even got to meet Mitt Romney at church (I guess he was having his own little getaway).

We had so much fun and hope we'll be able to do it again!

ISAAC'S BIRTHDAY

We celebrated Isaac's birthday at Disneyland.  We all had fun that day!

YMCA SOCCER

Shailey, Eli, and Isaac played YMCA soccer together. It was totally crazy to have three kids in soccer at once but they seemed to enjoy it. Eli and Isaac's favorite part about soccer was the tunnel the parents made with their arms at the end of each game for the players to run through ...and the snacks. Awesome. :)

 Olivia just hung out on the sidelines doing this most of the time...

...and this. :)

The games would sometimes last into the evening.

I'll be honest, it was a relief to be done.

DANNY'S BIRTHDAY

This had the potential to be a total blast.  We had dinner at Benihana's and planned to see Sondre Lerche (our favorite musician) at the El Rey Theater. 

Unfortunately, I got food poisoning that evening and had to leave the theater right before he was scheduled to perform.  Ugh.  I still feel awful about it.  We'll have to catch Sondre the next time he's in LA. And I may never eat at Benihana's again.

TRIP TO OREGON

I took an impromptu trip up to Oregon over the summer. It was my first time driving all the way there by myself.  I'm glad we went but I don't look forward to making that drive alone again any time soon! 

We had a lot of fun during our stay playing...

...exploring...

...and just hanging out!

Did I mention Shailey got glasses at the start of summer? Isn't she adorable?

LAS VEGAS

Vegas was fun but after spending a few days near the strip and all the casinos we were happy to get away from it.

We watched volcanoes erupt, fish and sharks swim, fountains dance, discovered the many colors M&Ms come in (and also discovered that Olivia loves M&Ms) and explored mummy tombs (and other museum stuff!) and visited the Las Vegas Temple.

We also spent a lot of time swimming in the pool and overeating at buffets.

THE GRAND CANYON

This was an adventure!  Our entire drive over we watched thunder and lighting storms and prayed the van would make it in one piece.  We got to the campground just before dark and set up our tent.  We all huddled in the tent as the flashlight batteries slowly bagan to die (oh brother). The thunderstorms continued so we sang silly songs at the top of our lungs to keep the kids from getting scared (I'm sure our neighbors in the campsite over HATED us!)  Finally, the kids went to sleep, and luckily we all stayed dry despite a little rain.

Exploring the Grand Canyon the next day was really fun.  It was beautiful and I think I took too many pictures that all look the same so I'll only share a few.

The kids became Junior Park Rangers and received their badges.

And then it was time to leave... and the van wouldn't start!  So we waited for about 45 minutes before we could find someone to give us a jump.  But then they realized that their battery was inaccessible in their car (it was in the back somewhere).  So we found another couple who tried to give us a jump, which they did.  But the car still wouldn't start. Great. So we called AAA.

After awhile the AAA guy came out and messed around with the engine.  We found out it was the starter.  Luckily he got it started for us! (Yay!) We were so worried the car wouldn't start that we left it running the entire way home.  Yup, the whole way.  Food stops? Running. Stops for gas? Running. Bathroom breaks? Running. The car didn't get a break until we pulled into our driveway. Danny was able to take it in to get the starter fixed the next day. Phew! It was quite a trip.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Unfortunately I forgot my camera on the first day (and week...and month...) of school. Shailey is in 3rd grade now with Mr. Reed, Eli is in 2nd grade with Ms. Deutsch, and Isaac started Kindergarten with Mrs. Bain. So far all the kids are doing well and I'm enjoying my time at home with this little gal. :)

HALLOWEEN

We had good fun dressing up for Halloween. Shailey went as Rapunzel, Eli went as Harry Potter, Isaac went as a mummy, and Olivia went as her favorite animal, a kitty.

OLIVIA'S BIRTHDAY

We celebrated Olivia's 2nd birthday at home. She opened a few presents and we all had cupcakes. It was pretty laid back but she had fun!

CHRISTMAS

We took our annual trip up to Oregon for Christmas. We enjoyed spending time with our families. We watched movies, played games, drank a lot of hot chocolate, ate yummy food, looked at Christmas lights and played with uncles, aunts, and cousins...

Shailey found the pickle on the tree so she got to open the first present.

We got to Skype with Ammon again!

After the chaos...

...it's fun to visit but it always feels nice to be back home!

Now that a new year has begun I will try my best to update the family blog more regularly. A lot of my spare time last year was used up with photo sessions and editing. I'm working on managing that a little better this year by doing less shoots so I can spend more time with the kids and actually take pictures of them! :)