Joseph Evert's Room

I have always loved nautical things, and loved putting together Jojo's room. Many things I have collected from years ago. I hope that it is fun and adventurous for a little boy.

• Fishing net and shells I have had for years. But I think it's perfect.
• The "J" I made when I was pregnant with him. The "J" is rope, and then it has an anchor in the corner.

• Mobile has netting garland gathered up to hopefully portray waves, tied to a metal wire. it has fish, crabs, whales, a boat and an anchor hanging from it. I think it turned out really cute!!
• Stuffed animals I had bought just after my mission. I always thought it would be fun to have them in a boys room. They are from SeaWorld and when you squeeze them, facts and noises come from them.
• The wax pelican/anchor stand Joe bought for Jojo. He was really excited and we both fell in love with it at the store before he was born.

• I made the mast I stained 1x2 pieces of wood, attached a light blue old fitted sheet, tied some rope along the ends, cut up a fishing net to hang down the middle. I love how it turned out! 
• Pelican I bought at a antique show. 
• The quilt was quilted by my mom. It is sailor teddy bears, so cute!! I remembered this fabric from before I was even married and was so excited to ask my mom to make it. She did peekos for the edging, so much love and time spent in making this quilt.

• I also bought two fish at the antique store that I ended up painting, which I think turned out great! I blended the blue and green to try to make them look real. I wish I would have gotten a close up.

• The shelf I bought at a thrift store and stained. Some of the knooks and knacks I have accumulated throughout the years.

• A picture collage of JoJo.

NOTE: that I actually had to take away a book shelf, and this end table out of his room because Addie and Jojo kept trying to climb things. Seriously, if it weren't for kids ruining things, their rooms would be so cute!! LOL, but sadly they both end up having minimal furniture due to safety concerns.

I was trying to show the pelicans a little bit better, so much fun

Adaline Mabel's room

I wanted to capture Addie's room before I packed things up. I really try to decorate it in a way that is fun, happy, and girly.

• The shelf I got at a yard sale while I was pregnant with her. I painted it pink with white polka-dots. I love how it turned out.
• The lamps Joe and I got from a nurse I worked with. I painted them for Addie to make them look like tulips. I was going to do more detail, but she would knock them down, and scrape them against the wall.....so I ended up taking them down, along with a bookshelf. She is always climbing and getting into mischief.
• I made the "A" from buttons when she was born. 

• The floral arrangment is a hanging vase I had for years. I finally put them together in Kaysville. I love how it looks.
• The garden angel I made in Twin Falls and decided it would work perfect in her room.

• Floral mobile I had meant to make since she was born, but never could figure out how to do it. Finally it came together in Kaysville, and again I love how it turned out. I tied various parts of flowers on fishing twine onto a wire wreath, and then had sparkly white toole to hang it from the ceiling. I found some clip butterflies to attach.
• The bunny and two dolls were made by my mom for me when I was little. They were some of my favorites. The tall doll has an embroidered face. She spent so much time making us cute things. I hope Addie enjoys them and shares them with her daughters.

• The pink dress doll in the corner was made by my mom for me too. She is so talented!

• The picture is of garden with bunnies given to Addie from my mom. 
• The owl, pink and blue birds are toll painted by my mom for Addie, I always wanted a garden setting and a tree above Addie's crib. I tape the birds around it. I love how it looks.
• The quilt was given to Addie from my mom. It is a pieced quilt of a Teddy Bear she found. She is putting together a pink quilt of a pioneer girl that she pieced when I was a little girl but never finished. We are excited to put it in Addie's room with it gets finished.

• A collage of pictures of Addie. 
• A frame I used to make a hair clip organizer. Unfortunately we haven't used very many of them. But Addie is starting to enjoy having her hair done, and sometimes leaves a bow in her hair. So I am excited about using these that I made for her.

Anyways, I just enjoy making things for my kids that I hope they will enjoy. As you can tell, I have many keepsakes from my childhood that I have shared with Addie. I love to have things made by my mom and grandmothers, and so maybe they will become heirlooms someday.

July random days of fun, and Jojo is 17 months old

July has just flown by!! With us deciding to possibly move to Portland, we have been busy going through our things, trying to weed out what we no longer need and what we could donate. We have had a couple of days were we went swimming at Seven Peaks or visited Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. 

This is Addie during one of those exhausting days of fun! I couldn't help myself, so cute!

We went to visit my family another time. I had a feeling that things would probably work out in Portland, so I wanted to have one last visit with the kids before we moved away. It is about a 10 1/2 hr drive between Arimo and Portland....doable but not as easy as the 1 1/2 hr drive we've enjoyed living in Kaysville.

Grandpa snuggling with Addie. He also did the same with Jojo, but I think I got a video instead of a picture. Both kids have really enjoyed my parents. They have spent a lot of time with them and feel pretty familiar with them.

Grandma Hebdon has let us borrow Great Great Grandpa Joseph Francis Belnap's rocking horse he made for her children. Both kids really enjoy it, so much that they often fight over it. This is one of those days when Jojo had it all to himself. He loved it!

This is one of our trips to Seven Peaks. Both kiddos are super cute in the swim attire! They enjoyed our pass to this park, but their favorite places to go is in the natural water. I'm not sure if it's because of the chlorine or not. And the cold doesn't scare them either. 

Steven Hebdon Family Reunion and Trip to Portland

I decided to enjoy the Fourth of July with the kids in Idaho with my family. Joe had to work and be on call. But we enjoyed ourselves and the small parade. I really enjoy Arimo and the small town friendliness and feel. They are always doing fun activities for families. Kevin had caught crawdads with his boys and boiled us up a fantastic dinner. 

Stephanie's family and Joe came up Wednesday and we enjoyed time together. We reserved Alexander Reservoir near Soda Springs. We used to go water skiing there growing up. I had almost forgotten how nice it was up there with the trees, and the grass they have by the dam house. It was such a fun experience!! Addie rode the tube with her cousin Jared and giggled most of the time. I decided to give it a run and go with her as well. She is a brave little girl that has a lot of fun with the water. Jojo was having a rough time sleeping at my parent's home and didn't take a nap so he wasn't up for it. But he did have fun playing at the small beach there. I am so glad our kids enjoy the water, even if it's cold. 

Jared Bare

Adam Hebdon 

Brothers Caleb and Benjamin Hebdon

Aimee Bare

Alyssa Bare

Cousins: Jojo and Adam 

Siblings : Alyssa and Jared

Cousins: Jared and Addie

Four Generations: Great Grandma Norma, Jojo, Great Grandpa Clyde, Grandma Linda, Mommy Krystell

G & G Neibaur's boat

Sisters: Alyssa, Jenna, and Aimee

Jojo enjoying his pool time

Cousins: Jared and Adam

Addie enjoying beach time

Jenna Bare

Grandma with her grandkids

After the day, Kevin and his boys gathered up his crawdad traps and we had a boil. So yummy, my favorite is the sausage.

Caleb tasting the crawdad....

Aimee being brave

Addie didn't want to hold the crawdads this year. Haha!

The next day was so cold they decided to wait til afternoon to go to Lava. The Bare's, Hebdon's and grandma went tubed down the Portneuf River. Our family stayed at home so our kids could nap. Too many days in a row with no napping and rough sleeping is hard for our kids. But we went again another weekend with the kids. It was fun!!

Saturday our little family  continued north and visited Portland for the first time. We were excited to see the trees and beauty the area had to offer. Joe kept saying, "It feels like home! I love it, I love the evergreens, it's incredible!" and it really was. I was blown away! I think it's greener and more wild then Seattle. 

We decided to visit Portland because Joe had an interview for an radiology technologist full time weekday position, and I had an interview for an ultrasound 2 day weekday position. The details to our decision will be in another post. 

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! We loved the various parks the city offers. We feel in love with the city, the surrounding areas, the overcast, and green! 

Cathedral Park under St. John's Bridge, it was one of my favorites.

Jojo really enjoyed walking around the paved pathways. It is so hard to believe he had only really been walking for a week or two.

Multnomah Falls, right off of I-84

A letter to my children when they have children of their own...

I want to write this to my children....hopefully they will get some smiles, laughs, and reassurance that we all go through it. I get intimidated being a mother. I do! It's hard not to when I have my mom, that was pretty darn as perfect as they come! And my sister Stephanie, I don't know how she does it all and seems to enjoy every minute of it! And my sister Rachel, who is so patient and mellow about everything. And so I just want to express some of my thoughts and feelings so that my children will hopefully feel like I understand!

**So I would just like to note that the first paragraph was in January!  Lol and I was interrupted and never finished it. **

I have put the kids down for "naptime" and wanted to put updates on the kids, and I realized I never finished this post. And I remember wanting to be positive, funny , and uplifting....but let's be honest....I'm exhausted and envy neighbors and friends who had family close by they could visit and help out, go on dates once a week! Without paying so much for babysitting that you can't afford it.

I am totally being a brat, I know! We spoiled ourselves and we're naughty for going on a Caribbean Cruise in April, and my mom and brother and everyone with them watched both kids for us while we enjoyed ourselves. And not to mention just a couple of days after my dad was hospitalized due to retaining too much fluid! I am incredibly grateful to ALL of my family! They do so much for us. I can't even tell you how much they help us in BIG ways during times of distress such as watching Addie while I was in the hospital recovering from having Joey at the end of February. Assisting me with both kids the first few weeks after having Joey and I had to watch my lifting when Addie was too heavy. Watching both kids in May when I had to train f or a couple of days at the hospital. Watching both kids in October when I had my thyroid cancer removed and recovering from that. The list keeps going, and so I guess one huge lesson I have learned is to not compare ourselves to others. I read somewhere that we are all a hot mess, some just hide it better than others! And to not take things for granted, such as our families. They are the ones the see us at our weakest, ugliest and lowest moments and still love us despite ourselves.

Things seemed so much simpler with just the two of us. But then again, everything has more meaning and depth with children. The plan of happiness, was never easy, but always worth it.