Recent Layouts

I haven't posted layouts for a while, so I thought I'd share the work I've done recently...

Camping

We took the kids camping this weekend, and we all had a blast. Aaron and I were kicking ourselves for not going earlier in the summer. There's not going to be another chance to go before the baby comes (3 weeks from Tuesday!!!), so we'll have to wait until next summer. We were worried before we went that the kids would be bored and we'd be having to try to entertain them to entire time, but we shouldn't have. They found so much to keep them busy. We went to a place called Jemez, which is about an hour and a half from where we live, and it's not at all like most of New Mexico. It's at about 7000 ft, and the campsite we were at was surrounded by conifers. There was a pretty little stream running through the campground and a lake and a waterfall close by. The weather was about as perfect as you could ask for: pleasantly warm (but not hot) during the day; just cool enough in the evening that sitting around the fire is nice; and chilly enough in the morning that you want to stay in your sleeping bag, but it's not miserable when you have to get up. We left after work on Friday and got there just in time to set up camp and get dinner going before it got dark. On Saturday we made breakfast in the dutch oven and explored the stream while it was cooking. Later we took a little hike to view the waterfall, and Aaron took Katie the rest of the way to go wading by the falls while Mom and Paul played in the dirt and rocks. We got home just in time to take naps on Saturday afternoon. Everyone was very tired, but very happy. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip:

Etsy

So I feel compelled to introduce you to my latest addiction: Etsy. It's an online marketplace (similar in design to Ebay) where people have storefronts where they sell handmade items. And you can find the cutest, most unique things here. Not only that, but you're supporting small business owners when you purchase from them. I'm warning people now that a lot of Christmas presents will be purchased here. Here's what I just purchased: This is Thatone Bag by Hypernoodle. I love the fabric on this, but my favorite part is the initial. Mine, obviously, has a C. Next purchase: I had fallen in love with this style of wrap since it wraps over both shoulders and around your lower back, so it distributes the weight of the baby much more evenly. It's very versatile and can hold the baby in several different positions. However, it's $90 if it's purchased in the store, and not nearly as cute. I found this one at the Loveyduds store at Etsy, and she also made me a matching nursing cover (obviously it doesn't look quite like the picture below, since that doesn't match). The neckline's adjustable, and I love the fact that there's boning in the neck so you can see the baby without having a blanket over your head. Here are some things I've put on my wishlist... I think Katie would look so adorable in this jacket: I LOVE this costume. It would make the most adorable Halloween costume, and you could do some gorgeous photo shoots with it: How cool are these nerdy nursery flash cards? I would get a kick out of decorating a kids room based on these: I think this necklace is gorgeous. I love the asymmetrical design and the clasp in the front. It reminds me of a necklace I bought for my mom:

Why Having a Minivan is Way Cooler Than You Might Think...

So we finally gave in and got a new car...er...van. The "Sport," as Matt calls it (it's technically the Dodge Intrepid Sport, but it's about as sporty as the space shuttle) just wasn't cutting it anymore. Besides the fact that we'll have kiddo #3 six weeks from today (not that I'm counting), it was unable to make it across town without dying. So after much research, we decided that a minivan was our best option. We seriously looked at the crossover SUVs (apparently they're much cooler, but we don't know a lot about being cool), but we decided they just weren't practical enough. We eventually decided on a 2007 Kia Sedona. And, as dorky as I feel saying it, I LOVE it. First of all, the price was right. And it only had 16,000 miles on it. And the seats are stow-and-go. And it runs. Very nicely. We decided to purchase it at CarMax, and we were very pleased with them. All of their inventory from all of their locations is online, so there's not a need to visit the dealer if you don't want to. But our favorite parts about CarMax is the fact that they have no-haggle pricing and their salespeople don't get paid on commission. That sold us right there. We were originally going to get a white one that was the exact same model, year and mileage, but they sold it the day we were going to finalize. So we had a silver one shipped from Colorado Springs for only $249. I like the silver better, anyway. Now that we have our van, I feel like I've finally come into my own as a true Mormon mom. So, like any good scrapper, I did a layout about it: Here are some other layouts that I've completed recently: