Our Winter Wonderland

Merry Christmas!

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope you are healthy, happy and feeling the love from your family and friends today. I know I am!

(...and Kudos to my hubby, he did a great job this year. I love my Pearls, babe and I Love You!)

"That's Hot."

So, This is what is left of our four year investment. Melted plastic and charred insulation. Two weeks ago Shawn was at a customer's house, cleaning their carpet when the machine suddenly came to a stop. He went to investigate and found our cleaning van engulfed in flames. Shawn grabbed a garden hose and quickly put out the fire. Thankfully, there were no other casualties. It could have been catastrophic because the van was parked next to other vehicles and the customer's home! I felt numb when Shawn called and told me the news. The rest of the day we felt like we were walking around in a fog. Don't worry about us though, we have full coverage insurance and so far we have been given the impression that we will settle on a fair number.

I'm grateful that my husband wasn't hurt. I'm grateful that I had been able to secure a good job just one week before this incident. Especially when the economy is in the porta-potty and finding a job, (and a decent one) is so difficult. And, I'm grateful that I did most of my Christmas shopping through out the summer!

Tree Scouting

On the search for the perfect Christmas Tree...


Found IT!

Watch out girls, this is Man's work.

Check back soon for pictures of our decorated tree!!!

So Much Going On...

Girls Night Out

My sisters, like every other girl, are addicted to Twilight. My Mom has read all the books and seen the movie, but she won't admit she's addicted too. I went along with them to see the opening of the movie, at midnight. Jeez, ya think I love my sisters? I have just starting reading the first book, and of course, I love it.

We look as white as the vampires in this photo! Right after snapping this picture, (before the previews had even started) the mini-manager came over to threaten to take my camera away from me. What a Goober. She doesn't understand that I must feed my blogging addiction.

I promised Cabin updates, so here we go.

My project. I felt so HGTV-like when I fixed and re-used this chandelier from Habitat for Humanity.

My husband installed a slate entry way. A big thanks to my brother, Jake for donating the materials! (by the way, he does amazing stonework if anyone is interested). The tree came out so the new carpet could be installed. We were greatly blessed to have a friend with Copper Basin Construction. They gave us a smoking deal on the carpet. Thank you so much Linda and Robert!
Still to come...a new door, kitchen counter tops and we are thinking about sanding down and re-staining the cabinets. All materials of course will be scouted out at Habitat for Humanity. What a great find!

The Newest Dunkee...

Luke Patterson and my husband Shawn have been friends for about eight years. They met and worked together at 24 Hour Fitness, both as personal trainers. Luke was baptized on Saturday November 1. 2008, in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. When Shawn joined the church five years ago I remember him telling me that he was so excited to share the gospel and see his friends and family convert. So far, Luke is the first. (And, yes they are standing next to each other. Think...David and Goliath, only instead of a rock at his head, we just dunked him).

Evan's 1st Birthday!

Mowing down his Birthday Cake.

Most of you have heard by now that Evan severely burned his hands on a wood stove. So, as you can see they are wrapped up and protected by his winter gloves. I was so sad that I wouldn't be able to strip him down and give him a piece of cake to go to town on. But, my brave little man made the best of the situation. As I am sure you can imagine, the entire family cracked into hysterics when he used his birthday present to push his cake all around the living room. This game lasted until Grandpa realized that this could (OK, most likely) cause a big slimy chocolaty mess. Party Pooper!

My Favorite Pictures This Week!

Evalie and Tori...Best Friends Forever!
Beauty vrs. Beast, we know who won this wrestling match!

Evalie and Uncle Tanner during Family Home Evening. These guys are inseparable! For the duration of our family scripture time they were in their own little world, reading aloud to themselves. Of course, these scripture stories were of their own creation.

My KidLitts

I have such beautiful children and I am addicted to taking pictures. Can you blame me? So my camera card is full of adorable photos that I want to put on my blog and create a theme around, but that is SO much work and I'm crazy busy right now. So....here's a picture collage of some of my favorite days.

My Monkeys

Remember the phrase: "Take a picture, it will last longer." So True.

Cutest produce in town!

Future Mike Delfino? (Desperate Housewives!!)

Lovin' on the gramps.

Evalie and Grandma sewing her "pink puppy bone" pillow. This girl loves the fabric store.

"Thumbs up for my awesome mommy!"

"What can make me feel this way? My girl, talkin' bout my girl!"

Our Cozy Cabin

Our little cabin is located in Athol, Idaho and sits on five treed acres. Yes, friends we are moving back to Athol. Just when we thought we had escaped. I guess we are just destined to be "Athols". Sorry, I know its a bad joke. I couldn't resist. :-)

Shawn and I are having fun picking out carpeting, paint and lighting fixtures. Tomorrow we are going to stop by Habitat for Humanity and find an inexpensive dining room light chandelier. The large living/dining room is really cool. There is built in shelving. Two walls and the ceiling are rough blue pine. And, all the windows and door ways in the house are trimmed out in rough blue pine as well. In the open doorway you can see part of the kitchen/laundry room. Its small and missing a dishwasher. But, I'm optimistic and I have a plan. I will train my husband to wash, dry and put his dishes away right after using them! Is that even possible...or am I just dreaming? Shawn would tell you that it comes equipped with a "two-handed dish washer, called The Wife."

This is a log that shoots from floor to ceiling in the middle of the room. At first I thought: "OK, this is a decorative feature, but what the heck am I supposed to do about furniture placement?" After our second viewing, and pulling out my measuring tape I figured it out. Now I actually like the tree. It has three small shelves in between the V of the branches that I am going to place candles on.

I am so excited to recruit my husband to put up Christmas lights! Can you imagine how adorable this place will look surrounded by snow and decked out in blinking red and green lights?

Just for the record, this will be our third move in 2008! Crazy. Hopefully some day we will buy a home and put down some roots. Until that day comes, I am going to enjoy our rental adventures.

Date Night

Friday night was date night at O'Malleys! The deep fat fried food was disgusting, the pool table and shuffle board cheap, and free soft-drink refills. We had a blast!



"Woo-hoo!!! Who are those hot blonds?"

Me, Megan and Lauren

After playing with the girls, Shawn declared it was time for a real man's game. Which means no women/cheaters allowed. Sorry babe, how else am I supposed to win... or even finish a game?

Best Buds

Being a Mom is a full time job. It is a very rewarding position and provides the very best benefits available, moments like these...



Puppy (not shown) love and wonder
My Backyardigans!!!
The Next Ultimate Fighters! Yes, my kids watch that w/us and play along with what they see! Other kids will think twice before they mess with my kids on the playground.

"These are a Few of My Favorite Things!

"Bacon and

'matoes, I don't really like those.... Jerky from Deer parts...

and Red Vine mustaches...

Ice Cream at Grandma's with marshmallow cream, these are a few of my favorite things...

When my dad hunts, there' s moose sausage and I'm feeling great!

"I daily remember my favorite things...and then I just ask for more!!!!"

Summer with our Family

Our family had a great summer together this year. We didn't need to go on big trips, or have over the top activities. I have found that there is more joy in just doing the simple things. We loved taking our kids to the county fair, and teaching my daughter that if you stand too close to large horses, they just might try and eat your dad. We only hit the beach a few times, (bathing suits are not my friend!)But, we had an awesome impromptu swim at Coeur d' Alene Lake. Evan was hungry so he did what all little boys do, eat sand! Apparently, this was repulsive to a fellow beach-mom and she freaked out about it. (I think she just had daughters.)
After cleaning him up, he wasn't too happy.

Summer Fun!

My parent's gave Shawn a smoker for his 30th birthday. Finally, he can use the meat grinder I gave him three years ago for Christmas! This has become Daddy & Daughter Time at my house! Evalie has proclaimed herself the honorary meat grinder and Shawn is always trying to come up with the perfect seasoning. I don't like
beef jerky, but it has been great quality time for the two of them...so that makes me happy!
Now that he has mastered the craft of smoking meat...maybe he can master cleaning up the mess? Please? Love you babe!

Current Events

Shawn and I are in the process of selling our carpet cleaning business. (know anyone who would be interested?) We have been running the business since 2005, and its been extremely challenging. However, I am grateful that it has allowed me the opportunity to stay at home with my children. During the tough months I get through knowing that Heavenly Father must be preparing me for whatever is to come in the future...

On that note, Shawn will be testing for the Coeur d' Alene police department on September 15 and then the Seattle police department on October 11. He has also thrown the idea around of testing in Las Vegas and Alaska, if he isn't hired on locally. I think that the stress level of running our own business will be the same caliber as having my husband in law enforcement. I'm so excited for him, it's something he has wanted to do for a long time and I'm finally on board with the decision.

Double Trouble

I was so excited to finally have our family pictures taken...silly me for thinking that my adorable children would actually cooperate. The entire time they were more interested in chasing dogs and running/crawling through the park!

... so we gave them props and that did the trick!
Evalie is high-maintenance...(and I'll admit) just like her mom!