Vacation and a new addition

Here we are at Kennecott Copper Mine. It was pretty fun actually.
Uh... big tire. Those are the actual size of the tires on the machines that move all the dirt.
Us at the Dinosaur Museum in Lehi, Ut. Pretty neat.
The kids in the dinosaur hole.
Hyrum with grandpa and Willy. So sweet.
He's on a horse. I love that Old Spice commercial, don't you?
We went to the petting zoo at Gardiner Village in Midvale. The kids had so much fun!
Here is a picture of Hobbes, our newest addition. Did we need another cat? No. But look how sweet! Hyrum walks around saying, "I love Hobbes so so much!" My only complaint is he is not litterbox trained, and thus makes me clean up after him on a daily basis. Any suggestions?

My other new addition is my soon to be website socalcoupongals.wordpress.com We are getting rid of the .com soon! Yay! I can honestly say I am super excited having something else to keep me busy and happy. I love shopping and I love saving money. Put the two together and you've got our website! I posted this picture on the socal website but here it is again for you slackers who don't check it.

All of this in one hour, two stores (target and walgreens) and all for under ten bucks. Over 300 dollars worth of stuff! So come check out socalcoupongals.wordpress.com and see how easy and fun it is!

My new obession!

Yes, I know how totally Mormony it sounds, but I am sooo into coupons! I recently went to a relief society night in which they had a couponing class. I took my awesome friend Marlana and we got super into it. So we started a new blog socalcoupongals.wordpress.com that features all the awesome deals you can get. Check it out! And let me know if you are interested in learning more or what awesome deals you get!

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!