Update from a lazy blogger

Well between the ear infections (mine, not the kids!) and Easter and Mother's day and every little thing in between I've been a slack blogger. So here are a few pictures to keep you updated.


Here is Hyrum after helping me dye Easter eggs. He had so much fun. I am so glad I've got kids to have fun Holidays with! For some reason when you get older people think we shouldn't party like we did when we were ten. Not I! So thanks kids for giving me an excuse!

The kids and their Easter baskets. Once again, I swear it was so much fun for me to see how much fun they had!
Hyrum loves sunglasses, so he got some in his basket.
Adelaide lookin too cool.

Hyrum turned three on April 17th! I can hardly believe it! Like a bad mother I don't have pictures of him with his cake. His uncle Nolan took some fine pictures of Hyrum being a typical stubborn boy, refusing to blow out his candle. He refused and finally I did it for him, resulting in a meltdown. He's lucky it was his birthday, or that boy would have got a sore butt as a present. Other than that snafu, he had a great time.

The kids had a great May day. First they got to go to their cousin Natalie's Princess Party, then they had more fun at Aunt Marlana's Kentucky Derby Party. Our horse lost, but it was so much fun for all of us. Marlana and I made our own hats, and have determined that shall be our new tradition.

Me posing with my acne, Adelaide with her peaches and cream complexion. Ahhhh jealousy! Cody grew out his hair and beard then took pictures as he trimmed down. Which is your favorite?


Thankfully he got a calling in the Sunday School Presidency, so he looks nice and groomed now. :)
Last but not least, Mother's Day. I told Cody he didn't have to buy me anything but he needed to help out more than normal. I should have been more specific. But anyway, we got a huge chocolate bar in Sacrament meeting and I was in it before I got home. Yum.
Me and my little ones.

A big shout out to John and Wendy for their big move to Ohio and to Mark and Britta for baby Geni!

Apple Valley....we've arrived.

Well we've arrived in Apple Valley! We set up a tramp in the living room to keep the kids from killing themselves while we deal with the millions of projects to be done here. There is enough work to last a lifetime! And to top it off, after being here only two weeks I got called to be in the primary presidency. So I've got plenty to keep me occupied, and haven't found the time to be too lonely. Cody decided to adopt two dogs one day, and hence, I've also had two crazy dogs to add to my list. The brown one is a Belgian shepherd named Shelia, and the black is a bull mastif/labrador mix named Sammie. They are constantly digging out of the yard and running rampant. That is our next thing to work on.

Here is our little home. It looks better from far away. :) The outside is falling apart, but what with Cody and my work, the inside is looking really lovely. I'm super excited for any visitors that want to come. We've got a lot more work to do, but mostly on the exterior of the house. I built a firepit in the backyard and have had lots of fun being a pyro. Hopefully I will have more pictures up soon. Until then, feel free to send me love in the mail!

Update

For Thanksgiving the kids and I went to California and spent some time with the Andreasens. Cody and I went to see a movie to come back to all the kids having conked out.

Adelaide had her 1st birthday. It was a Princess and the Frog theme as a shout out to John. Her cake was super cute.
Here she is being a typical Ballard diet coke fiend.

I was lazy this year and didn't send out Christmas cards... But here is our typically Raggdy Ann Christmas picture.
The tradition lived on with the cute pjs the "reindeer" left for Hyrum and Adelaide.
Stockings
Presents
Aftermath
The day after Christmas, Cody and I got remarried. No big affair, just Uncle Paul and Mom and Daniel. Very very low key. Somebody took this horrible picture of the occasion. Just be happy I'm posting it... It was a long day and I can see my food belly. Yikes... it is worse than I thought.
The following day we took a train ride downtown, which I thought the kids would love. Turns out they liked the first ride, and weren't so happy on the way home (aka naptime).

Well one can only hope it won't take me months to post again. However, I'm moving at the end of the month into a ghetto house, so it is a real possibility it will be awhile. But I'm also posting my new address for you all.
Laura Andreasen
20692 Nisqually Rd.
Apple Valley, CA 92307

H. A .Double L. O. W. Double E N!

This year's creation. Nothing special, but it is such a fun tradition.
Hyrum was a firefighter.... let's just say his outfit was a cheap creation by me. And didn't last long on Halloween.
Adelaide wore Hyrum's six month outfit (at ten months) and had the pants up to her knees. She was a sweet little bee though.
The kids at mom and dad's.
Seeing the witches.

Halloween was fun. I helped plan a party with a relief society sister for those who are less active. We had a lot of families come. Then I forced, yes forced, Hyrum to go down two long streets. He threw a fit every two houses or so, but I persevered! I was proud of myself, because dealing with him makes me want to turn him into a toad sometimes. He ended up with a lot of candy that we will be eating for weeks and weeks.

Mission Reunion and life update.

Yes, I served in the Sydney South Australia Mission. Yes, it was awesome. Yes, it was an amazing experience. And yes, I'm glad it is over. :) Sometimes I miss the wonderful life of missionaries, and then I remember how hard it was. I imagine it is like that when your kids are grown and you are wishing you could go back and have them little again. I had my mission reunion the other day. I only knew six people there. It was sad. And I was the only one with kids... I felt old. I guess that is what reunions do to you. Make you feel old.

As for other news... uh... there is none. Sorry! But I will say that my kids are growing. Adelaide is a crawling machine, and Hyrum is becoming more and more of an active "terrible twos" participator. Kill me now!

I recently pimped my ride. I got limo tint in the back of my car as well as tint in the front and some cool seat covers. I am trying to make my car worthwhile and prevent skin cancer. :) Plus I got sick of stains on my car seats and Hyrum complaining the sun was hot. For anyone who is thinking about tinting, it is a great investment!

The Biggest Decision Ever!

Yes, in case you are wondering, Cody and I have been having "the talk". Well, several talks to be exact. We are deciding if we want to try again. And shortly after he left, I would have given a faster than fast YES! Now, the best I can manage is a cautious maybe. I have honestly forgiven him for the things he has done. Yet somehow that doesn't take away the fear of the future. So does that mean I haven't truly forgiven him? And it is not just me. I know my lovely family was hurt and upset by his actions also. And I'm sure it goes both ways. So how on earth do you even begin to attempt to put this big ole humpty dumpty back together again? For the life of me, I don't know. Do I still love him? Yes. But does love trump everything else? I don't know. If it were just the two of us involved, perhaps it would be easier. But there are children, inlaws, and even cats involved! I know I will never get married again if both parties aren't one billion percent in it for the long haul. Whether or not it is with my ex-husband.

Ok... on a much lighter note, we adopted three little fish named Shera, Xena, and Rainbow Brite. One week later, Shera, the yellow one, died. :( Boo. Another trip to the potty for us. It is down to the last two warriors.

That is all.

Life is happening!

Well folks, after six lovely months of life, Killer has passed away. I knew it was happening, as I could tell the signs and knew he must have been old when I got him. Cause baby, I took great care of that fish! A cleaner aquarium you never did see. Yes, I cried, and yes, I flushed him down the toilet. I felt like a crapper for putting him down one. But I told myself that he wanted one last ride, and it was basically like reading the last rights to flush a fish down the toilet. So good-bye my lovely fish. I never thought I'd love you, but I did.

I recently got a horrible haircut. Why is it that the model always looks better than you? My guess is that the model is 100 times better looking than me, but the hair stylist told me I need to have damaged hair to get that much volume. So that is lame. My hair looked slightly less awful as I did my usual and cut it myself when I got home. But still... I need a paper bag for this thing.

My dates have gone okay. Tyler is a nice boy. I just say boy, cause that is what I think of him as. He seems like a little brother to me. And believe it or not, Ernest is still around. He is growing on me, but I still don't want to marry him. I convinced him to take my friend on a date and so I'm hoping they get distracted with each other. Some how I think I'm going to once again be the Emma of it all.

And the most exciting thing... I got Lasik! Well technically I got PRK, which is the oldest form of it. I wanted to get the new version, but alas, my corneas are shaped funny. Stupid eyes. :( But I saved 600 and had a few days of absolute blindness, but my vision hasn't been this good in soooo long. And it only gets better! I'm grateful that I decided to participate in the clinical study, which saved me a lot of money and so I still have some saved away for a house (haha....a house...) I go to the doctor today to take off my bandage contacts.... so it is all uphill from here! Yeah!