Erik, Jenn, Tyler & Mason

I'm going to start blogging again! Stay tuned!

Ok so it's been exactly 6 months since I've blogged (and 6 months since I got a Facebook account...coincidence, I think not....). Tyler turned 2 on February 13, 2011. I can't believe how fast he's grown. He is such a joy and so wonderful. It's been a lot of fun to be his mom so far. He can already count to 10 with no help (and can count to 5 in Spanish), he's learning his colors, letters, and even sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Erik and me last night before bed. We are so blessed to have such a cute, happy, smart boy. This week has been SO crazy! Monday was a holiday so we all stayed home. We were dog-sitting this week for a friend and got to play with little Noodles all day long. We laid low and didn't get much done, it was a perfect end to the 3 day weekend. Tuesday and Wednesday went by with a blur. Lots of work, lots of play, and even fit in time to visit with friends. Wednesday night Erik was told to expect an official job offer from Microso...

Every time Tyler wears his sunglasses and Daddy's hat he says, "Cool!" Tyler came home from daycare with his first "tattoo" yesterday. His favorite activity with Mommy. Under construction First time in a booster seat--no more high chair! First time on a merry-go-round--he wasn't sure he liked it. Never too cool for green star sunglasses! Reading the Bible with Daddy Yes I made the mistake of putting the high chair right in front of my white curtains. Never again. :)

Every day when I look at Tyler I see parts of Sarah. You can't sit there and tell me these pictures of Sarah don't remind you of certain faces Tyler makes! I hope he always reminds me of her.

We love summer because we get to can fresh peaches and tomatoes! We canned 50 lbs. of fruit when we got back from Utah. Also, Erik is working on putting in new floors in our kitchen and dining room. As soon as that's done we can finally have our carpet installed! I will post before, during and after pictures later this week! On a sad note, we were very sorry to have lost Grandpa this past week but we know he is with Heavenly Father and that knowledge brings relief to our sadness. We love Grandpa very much and we miss him already.

Grandpa's Obituary

I wanted to post some recent pictures of Tyler because I haven't posted in awhile. Maybe this will get me back into the routine!! His favorite thing to do is go upside down. If he could, he would stay that way! We tried drinking from a cup with no lid. As you can see he had more fun tossing the water up in the air than he did drinking it. This is his new favorite toy. It was $1 at Target. Gotta love it the Japanese ambulance! Tyler recently started knocking on every door he sees, even the sliding glass door. We're learning our ABC's!

I guess I never posted that I ran an entire half marathon without stopping. My posterity will want to know that. Ok let's remember I had just run 13.2 miles--cuteness was out the window.

We had to sneak in to take this during nap time last week. Any resemblance? He loves to sit in his "big boy" chair. Fourth of July BBQ (on the 3rd of July) in 60 degree windy weather (which is why he has a sweatshirt on).

Besides teaching junior primary sharing time and senior primary sharing time tomorrow I'm also giving a talk in Sacrament. I've pretty much lost my voice from being so sick we'll have to pray that I can actually speak tomorrow. Here it is, hot off the presses, my Fathers Day talk BEFORE it is available to the public! Click here to view my talk

My jeep broke down yesterday while I was alone driving to Renton to close a sale. We aren't sure what's wrong with it but we're just grateful it was a fairly uneventful problem. It was a blessing that I was able to steer it out of the way of traffic by myself and that Erik was able to leave work and come help me try to start it. We ended up having to get a tow truck but it was free because our insurance covered it. Hopefully Erik can fix it and it won't cost too much to do. The good news is, I hopped in Erik's Jeep when he got there and closed the sale (Pizza Time in Renton, my third Pizza time this week!). So things are looking up at least!

Ok I am finally ready to put the first round of before and after pictures of the inside of our house. There are many more to come as we have been very busy doing remodeling and paiting and decorating but at least now I can put SOMETHING up. The picture (above) is what the family room looked like when we bought the house. Peach paint, orange bricks and wood paneling behind the TV. This is the same place with a fresh coat of paint on the wall. I ended up changing my mind though so don't get too attached to that color. Here is a picture of the family room and dining room the day we moved in. Here is the entry way which was colorless and the door had a flimsy border and needed to be painted. The picture (above) is Erik ripping out the same orange bricks that were on the fireplace from the entry way floor. You can see that I had painted the entry way as well. Here is the finished entry way. We put new baseboards, new floor, new paint and new trim around the door. You may also notice ...

I decided to only let my friends and family read my blog. I'm sick of getting random Chinese characters as comments. So that's why you got an invitation to read my blog, because you are my friend or my family. :) PS If I forgot anyone let me know, I'm sure I did.

It's beautiful to see Heavenly Father's hand in my life. He blesses me when I need it most and it humbles me to know He cares enough about me to help me with my petty little life when there are so many other important things He could be doing. Case and point: I've been having a rough day today. Found out some bad news today--nothing too serious, but enough to ruin my day and make me worry a little bit about the certainty of the future. Just when I was wallowing in my despair and worrying, He sent me a couple little blessings that made today brighter and helped me see the future can be good regardless of the bad things that might come up in life here and there. I think He's trying to show me the Eternal Perspective. I have been really worried lately with concerns about what I should do in certain areas in my life and when I took my concerns to God in prayer I got the distinct feeling that everything will be okay if we just pay our tithing and choose the right. It was e...

selling insurance ain't easy.

I haven't had a lot of time to blog or sociailize lately (who knew owning your own business could take up so much TIME!?!?!) but I am still around! Some updates so you can keep in the loop on the Miles fam: Erik rototilled our garden yesterday (he also rototilled our Comcast cable:) Acupuncture doesn't seem to be working on my migraines I'm going out to meet with Papa Murphy's owners tomorrow for commercial insurance (wish me luck) I got my hair highlighted by Heidi Dueck and it looks super cute We're heading to Utah Fri - Mon to visit Grandpa who is still in the hospital but hopefully getting out soon

Weren't those Winco coupons awesome? I saved $22 at Winco yesterday on stuff I buy every week and it got me in a good couponing mood so I went to Albertsons and saved $19! Then I sent Erik to Walmart to save $15!!! Couponing is fun. I feel like a superhero when I get home and see how much I got for how little.