Matching game

After making Amber's skirt I decided to make Warren and Garryn ties. I thought it would be cute if they matched, plus I have so much of that material. Anyway after I made the ties for the boys Jayson and Brennon decided they wanted a matching tie also. I was happy to oblige. Devon however didn't want a matching tie. He thought the material was too girly. While I was in the process of making Jayson's tie, Amber thought it would be really cool if I had a matching skirt too. I was planning on making myself a skirt, but the idea of us all matching didn't really appeal to me. Amber was so excited about the idea that I went ahead and did it anyway. I made myself a skirt with the same material. We all went to church with our new clothes, except for Devon. Do you like Brennon's mustache? He keeps licking his upper lip.

Bennon B-day

It was Brennon's birthday last Sunday. We celebrated by having a little party with family.

Julie and TeeJay wrapped their gift and then covered it in packing tape. Jayson enjoyed the challenge of helping Brennon open it.Warren also helped Brennon open his presents, but first he had to strip down to his diaper. Brennon is excited about all the cash he gotGarryn liked all the candy Grandma Tripp gave Brennon

Brennon hid behind his tie while we sang Happy Birthday to him
It was a fun day. We always enjoy when our family comes over to help us celebrate!

Dresser

I posted the before picture of this dresser a long time ago. I didn't think it would take me as long to finish it as it did. The all natural paint remover I applied dried on before I could scrape it down. I think it was too hot of a day. Anyway I ended up sanding the whole piece which took FOREVER. I got really burned out from it and took a long break before starting up again. I finished it up a couple of weeks ago. I am really happy with the end result. I still have somethings I need to do to it. I want to add some dowels in front of the mirror to hang my ribbon collection from; and I need to find my missing knob. I know it is somewhere in my garage. This Anthropologie Armoire was my inspiration for the paint.

Amber's New Skirt

I got this book a few month ago and have been dying to try it out. It shows you how to make your own pattern or you can just sketch your measurement directly on the fabric.


Check out the skirt Amber and I made this past weekend. I made the pattern and the skirt, Amber sewed on the lace and the buttons. I think she did a really nice job. For the fabric we used a duvet cover I bought on sale from Ikea for $5.

Amber is excited to move on to the next skirt. I think I am going to let her do more of the sewing next time. She is really excited to use the sewing machine. I got an old curtain from a yard sale for 50 cents that we are going to use this time. I am all for using cheap fabric to practice with.

Devon's Art

Devon had some of his artwork from a school project displayed in a show for outstanding artwork from high school students in the Chandler School District. We are really proud of him.

Shiner Boy

Look what happened to my poor boy. He was rocking in his booster chair today when it flipped over. He hit his eye on the table on the way down. I feel so bad for him. I think it is going to turn into quite the shiner. Luckily he was strapped into the chair so he didn't hit his head on the ground.

Texas: Austin

We spent our last couple of days in Austin. We really enjoyed it. There is a lot to see. Here a few of the things we did.

We walked up to see the Capital Building. Devon and Brennon went inside. The rest of us sat under a tree to rest for a bit.

We walked up a ton of stairs at Mt. Bonnell to get a view of Town Lake. It was beautiful. Devon brought his binoculars so he could get a closer look.We saw a swimming spring at Zilker Park.
We took a train ride at the park also. Poor Sarah got stung by a bee on her finger, while we waited for our train ride to start.

The wind outside our hotel almost blew Devon away.

We enjoyed some cupcakes at Hey Cupcake.

We had some good grub at Torchy's. They had really good tacos and queso. Devon is still thinking about the fajita taco he had. I didn't try that one but the fried avacado and trailer park tacos were really good.

We also headed over to the flea market at Round Top on Saturday before driving home. We got back home around 8am on Sunday morning. That drive was killer. It seemed like it took us FOREVER to get out of Texas.

Go back and check out my post on Houston. I forgot to post a picture of a man we saw all over Houston carrying a giant cross. Amber pointed it out, and I went and fixed my mistake.

Texas: Brenham

We always enjoy visiting Brenham Texas. We would do it at least once a year when we lived in Houston.

We went to the Blue Bell ice cream factory. My favorite part is when you get a scoop of ice cream at the end.

We went to the Antique Rose Emporium.

The kids enjoyed pulling each other in their wagons.

Devon even shot a movie. Too bad he lost our video camera on our last day in Texas.

Sarah enjoyed taking pictures with her Russian camera.

We also stopped by our favorite spot to climb trees and take pictures in the Blue Bonnets

No stop to Brenham is complete without stopping to eat at Must Be Heaven. The kids loved the food and cardboard cars it came in.

Tune in tomorrow to hear about Austin, our last stop of the trip.

Texas: Houston

We spent a couple of days in Houston. It was fun to see our old stomping ground. We drove around our old neighborhood and around areas I thought were pretty. I really love the area around the Galleria Mall. There are some beautiful neighborhoods. My mom fell in love with the colors on this house and made me take a picture so she could use them on her house in Utah.

It was fun to see our old friends.

I went to dinner with the always beautiful Tamara. This woman is seriously amazing. I wish she lived closer.

I couldn't believe how tall Devon's friend Bryan had gotten

We walked around the LDS temple grounds. It has such a peaceful feeling.

Warren enjoyed bossing Garryn around

We also took a free boat tour, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures. We were kind of bummed about that.

Our next stop was Brenham Texas. I will post about all we did there tomorrow.

UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot to post this picture. Amber is the one who reminded me. We saw this guy pulling his cross on two separate days in two different parts of Houston. We had get a picture of him on the second day.

Texas: San Antonio

We took a road trip to Texas. We left on March 28th and got home the morning of April 5th. I took all the kids and my mom and Sarah came. Jayson had to work so he stayed home. I don't think he liked the idea of being stuck in a van with that many people for that long anyway. The first day we drove to San Antonio and then we spent the next day exploring the city. It was a lot of fun. We woke up and had Texas shaped waffles. It cracks me up how PROUD Texas is of itself. I can't imagine going to hotel here and getting waffles the shape of Arizona.

Our first stop was the Alamo

Devon got to sit with Forest Gump at the wax museum

The Riverwalk is always fun to walk around We took the trolley to the Mexican market area. We were all pretty tired after all that and decided to call it a day. The next day we went to the outlets in San Marcos before heading to Houston. More on our adventures tomorrow.