Pardon My Bragging...

…but my husband is amazing! And so I just have to share why. I often say how grateful I am that Brent is such a handyman. He has saved us so much $$$ over the years by figuring out how to do/fix things on his own. He loves to learn and if he doesn’t know how to do something he finds a way to learn about it and do it. He has learned to do footings, framing, roofing, build decks, tile, paint, do siding, install wood floors, electrical, plumbing, hang, tape, mud & sand sheetrock, put up trim, and pretty much anything it takes to build a house. I am always amazed at his motivation and drive to get things done. He built our house in Millville where we live now (with help from family and friends) while working and going to school full time, re-modeled our trailer house at Bear Lake while getting our new business up and running, built two houses in Cache Valley and two rental cabins at Bear Lake with the Freedom Home Builders business, and is now building another house at Bear Lake for us to rent out or eventually use while we are there in the summers. What a guy!

Here are some shots of Brent working on the tile floor in the kitchen of the house we're building at Bear Lake…

Here are before & after shots of our trailer house @ Bear Lake:

...and that’s just the outside. You should see all of the work he did on the inside! It’s crazy to look at the difference now. Someday I will post those pictures too.

Here are before & after shots of my grandma’s bathroom that we (mostly Brent) recently re-modeled.

Before:

(We had obviously already removed some things,

but you get the picture...it was pretty bad)

After:
Fabulous!
My grandma lives in a really OLD house and her bathroom needed some TLC. She was in the hospital during December dealing with some health problems, so Brent took charge and decided it was a perfect chance to re-do her bathroom while she was out as her Christmas present! Thanks to all those that helped and donated time, money, talents, toilets, vanities, etc! (Parker, Kelby, Jason, Travis, Rich, Jana, Nick, Linsey, Eric, Ryan, Ronda, Mom [Joni], etc.) Please smack me if I forgot to mention you!

Anyway, more boasting about Brent… (sorry, I just can’t help it! He’s too humble so I have to toot his horn for him!) If one of our cars, four wheelers or golf carts have problems he knows/can figure out how to fix it. And if he doesn’t, we are very lucky that my father-in-law, the amazing Loran, teaches auto mechanics at Bridgerland and is willing to help us out!

I have often taken this quality in Brent for granted because that is just how he has always been, but I want him to know how proud I am of him and how grateful I am to be his wife. I really do appreciate all that he does for our family. ‘Good job’ (inside joke) honey, I love you!

December Fun!!!

“BRIDAL” PICTURES:
Our cousin Katie (who took Gavin’s 2 year pictures – see below) started doing photography and she needed some bridal models so that she could build up her portfolio. So, Jaimee and I got to be brides (again!) for a day! It was so fun! I haven’t dressed up all fancy for a long time. Lucky for Jaimee she still had her dress from when she got married, but I had to find one to wear because when Brent and I got married I rented my dress. So Katie’s aunt Stephanie let me wear her dress. It almost fit except for in one area…so I got to add some padding if you know what I mean! Ha ha! Too much information! Here are some of the pictures:

Just a bunch of GOOF BALLS! We had so much fun that day. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thanks girls! I have to tell you the funny story about the "Rental" picture! So Brent knew that I was taking the bridal pictures, but neither he nor I knew exactly where we'd be taking them. So we went into downtown Logan to take a few and we saw the building that said "RENTAL". Katie told me to go pose by it for fun. So I started being a dork and doing funny poses and then I hear someone from the road yell, "Woo hoo Boogins!" I look up and sure enough it was Brent leaning out of his truck window and yelling as he drove by! It was hilarious and quite the coincidence! We were laughing so hard!

(You can check out Katie’s photography web-site at: http://www.milkweedphotography.com/)

CHRISTMAS!
We got invited to go stay at the Hirschi home on Christmas Eve this year so we took them up on the offer! Brian, Jaimee & Spencer also stayed and it was so fun to stay up late in our Christmas PJ’s wrapping presents and then wake up together Christmas morning. I can’t believe we’ve been married for 7 years and we haven’t done that yet! I guess it’s probably because we live so close. Here are a few enjoyable memories from our stay:
- Brent seeing the Black & Decker Junior tool set I bought for Gavin from a distance and thinking it was for him! He said he thought to himself, “Why did Randi buy me those cheap Black & Decker tools? I already have a drill, etc. etc. etc.” Ha ha! We got a good laugh!
- Gavin & Spencer fighting over their toys. Okay, so that wasn’t so enjoyable, but they are so funny because even when Grandma & Grandpa Hirschi pulled out their train gift and they each got one, they still fought over one of them! Boy Jaimee and I are excited for when they grow out of this stage! (Does that ever happen?)
- Waking up to Marcile’s wonderful homemade wheat waffles! Yummy! Those were so good. Gavin even ate one whole waffle. And for him that’s a lot! All of Marcile's cooking was wonderful!
- Brian pulling out Loran's old electric train set from when he was a kid! He and Loran set it up and it was neat to experience that. The kids (and older kids!) sure enjoyed it.

- The Christmas Eve traditions of opening our PJ's, hearing the story of the birth of our Savior, and Grandma Rhea's wonderful "Zipper Boot" story!

- Snow! We were all so happy that it was a beautiful white Christmas!

On Christmas we traveled out to Tremonton for my family party. We had a delicious dinner and then we played our traditional "Left & Right Game". Then we went over to my mom’s house and opened presents and stayed the night there. I’m glad we didn’t have to drive home that night because it was quite the blizzard! Thanks to all of our family for making our Christmas so wonderful!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We had a fun get together at Bear Lake for New Year’s this year. We were going to stay at one of our cabins but they both got rented out, so luckily Brian & Jaimee let us stay at one of their’s instead. Thanks again guys! We ate way too much food, played Rock Band, Sequence, Hand & Foot, etc., watched TV, got in the hot tub, went snowmobiling, and just hung out and enjoyed each other’s company! Thanks to everyone who came and made it so fun!

Incase You're Wondering...

...why I've been so slothful at posting these days,

Two Words: Twilight Series.

Enough said :)

Happy Holidays!

Here are some pictures of what has been going on in our neck of the woods lately!

Gavin is loving having Uncle Travis around! He is his favorite pal. He gets excited to see him and always finds a way to get Uncle Travis to play with him! I am glad he is able to get to know him so well. In the picture on the left they are flipping coins so that they spin on the counter. Gavin could do this all day long and be entertained! Poor Travis! :)

At the beginning of December I was able to watch Spencer for Brian and Jaimee so that they could go to Salt Lake for a weekend get-away! It was fun to have this cute little ball of energy in our house for a few days! He is so cute and it was good to have someone Gavin's size around for him to play with.

On Friday we made a trip out to good old Portage for a family Christmas party with my Grandma Howell's family! It is so good to see everyone, especially since we don't see a lot of them very often. We played basketball, ate a yummy dinner, got a visit from Santa & exchanged gifts. Santa brought Gavin a back pack (I don't know why, but lately he has been obsessed with back packs! And he's 2! I think he's trying to grow up a little too fast.) Inside his back pack was a puzzle (another recent favorite) and one of those Crayola Color Wonder coloring books and markers. Those are fabulous! He has loved coloring with it and mom has loved not having to clean up any mess! What could be better?! And last but certainly not least, the recent snow fall! It has been so fun to see Gavin wake up in the mornings and get so excited to look out the window at all of the snow! He and Brent built a snowman with plungers for arms (as you can see below). Gavin has been so excited to build a snowman and he finally got to do it! And with his favorite person no less! Tonight Brent pulled him on a sled behind the four-wheeler and they had a ball. I even went out to take pictures and jumped on the sled to get in on a little of the action!

That's all for now. Happy Holidays everyone!

Gavin's 2 Year Old Pictures

Our fabulous cousin Katie took Gavin's pictures for his 2 year milestone! You can check out her web-site at http://www.milkweedphotography.com/. She did an awesome job. Thanks Katie!

Such a cheeser...

Just chillin' on the choo choo train tracks, eating my fruit snacks...

Little stud (not sure what he's doing with his lips though!)

Mom had to do a funny dance to get this smile!

I'm 2!

Mom's favorite...

So sweet!

Our Little Boy is 2!

Gavin turned 2 years old on the 21st. It’s hard to believe we have had him for that long! The other night Brent and I were talking about how it doesn’t seem like it’s already been 2 years ago that we were bringing him home from the hospital on Thansgiving day. Time has gone by really fast.

On his birthday we went out to Tremonton and had a party with my family. He had so much fun playing with his cousins and opening presents! Then on Sunday we celebrated all of the November birthdays with the Hirschi Family. Brent's grandma Rhea is turning 94 this month! Happy Birthday Grandma Rhea! We love you!

A few fun things about Gavin:

* Right now his favorite food is hot dogs. Whenever I ask him what he wants to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner his answer is always “Hot Dogs”.
* He is doing really well with the potty training. I am trying not to force the issue and we are taking it slow, but he is doing great! I need to work on my patience a little bit though (he likes to sit on the potty for a LONG time!).
* He is attached to this blanket that my Aunt Tammy made that has airplanes all over it and has fuzzy edges. He calls it his “Ma Mine” (How he says airplane).
* He says Choo Choo Train so cute. It sounds like “Doo Doo Mine”. (Check out the video)
* Some of his favorite things to do: read books, play with Play Doh, jump onto the bean bag or a pile of pillows, play with his cousins, run around the house being a goof ball, help me clean.
* He is such a smart kid! I am amazed everyday at all of the things he can do and remember. He knows his colors and most of the alphabet. He can also count to ten. He is learning so many new words each day and he loves to repeat what everyone else says! We have to be careful what we say around him! :) Lately he has been saying two words together, like: "Fruit Snack", "Cheese Toast", "Yellow Duck", etc.

He is such a sweet & fun little boy and we are so blessed that he is a part of our family. Happy Birthday Gavin! We love you!

November Happenings...

I am trying to get caught up from past pictures so here are a few things that have happened recently. First was the birth of Kaytilane Marhea Isom. Welcome to the world little one! She is adorable! Brent's sister Sandy & her husband Pete are the proud parents. Congratulations guys! This is #5 for their family. Way to go! She is named after her mom, her aunt, her grandma & her great grandma! Sandy's middle name is "Kay" and Pete's sister's name is "Laney" so that's where Kaytilane came from. Her middle name, Mahrea, is after her grandma Marcile and her great grandma Rhea. Very creative family we have! Here are some pictures from when we went to see her in the hospital...

I feel a little weird posting about my own birthday, but I had some quality pictures of my family I wanted to put up, so here ya go! I turned 27 on the 9th. I'm on the downhill slide towards 30. Dang! My family had a fun get together at my mom's house where we enjoyed great company, dinner, cake & ice-cream! Thanks to everyone that came and made my birthday so fabulous! I have the funnest most coolest family ever! Oh yeah, the gorgeous Gerber Daisies are from my cute husband! :)

2008 Family Pictures

We went to a beautiful spot by the Logan River Golf Course to take our family pictures this year. The leaves were so pretty. Wendy and I go walking on a trail there and we've often said, "This would be a good place to take pictures." So we finally did!

A few favorites...

And after taking almost all of our family pictures we finally figured out how to get Gavin to smile...
He would throw a rock in the river and then everybody would clap and so he'd clap and smile and laugh. Too bad we didn't figure that out sooner!