Meet Brown Sugar Ulrich

We have officially become a "dog" family this week! It has been so fun for the kids because they have been DYING for a dog. My friend Liz found her, and tried to find her original owners. She put an ad on Craigslist, called the pound...etc, but no one claimed her. She'd been out on her own for a long time, her hair was knotted, and she was filthy. So, Liz cleaned her up and wanted to keep her. Liz already has a dog, and they decided that two dogs was too much. So, we got this DARLING dog for free.

She is so calm with the kids. Londyn keeps laying on her. It's so cute. Sugar just lets them carry her around. I love it.

Funny story though. We got "her" from Liz and Jo (they said she was a girl) well, I took her to get groomed and the groomer said that "she" was actually a "he". So for about 3 hours, we changed his name to Rufus. Well, when I went back to the groomer to pick her up, she said they made a mistake and that Rufus was actually a girl again. Ha ha...so her name was changed back to Sugar.

We decided to name her Sugar because of her fur. The color is a honey/brown sugar color. Lately we've all been calling her Shoogs. What a fun step in our family to finally have a dog!

A few people wanted to see the before and after transformation. Here you go! CRAZY huh! She doesn't even look like the same dog.

My name is Brooke, and I'm a decorating addict.

We are finally making our home OURS! It's so fun to paint walls. I have lived in a "white" town home for 4 years, and I'm so excited to be able to paint. I have to admit, choosing what to do is kind of hard for me since I am a decorating addict. Dan just installed hardware on my cabinets too. Thanks babe.

Here is the wall "before."
Here it is after the orange was complete!

I wanted to add some character, so I painted a few swirls....





Here is the finished product.


Do you like it?

Next project....back splash. :)

Halloween 2009 part 2

Look how huge these pumpkins are! Our pumpkin patterns were too little, so Dan and Mike projected the patterns onto them and outlined them with a sharpie marker. They used power tools to cut through them. They were so thick!
We had our annual pumpkin carving party, and here are a few of the foods. My personal favorite...the kitty litter made by my friend Jo (a plethora of cake, pudding, and tootsie rolls)...doesn't it look real? GROSS! I love it. It was hilarious seeing people's faces as they walked by.
Here are a few pictures of the event. We had a blast! We carved in the garage, and I hope everyone had a good time.
It's so fun to take the kids trick or treating. It is surreal to think that I have kids old enough for this. I don't feel old enough for that! :) Oaklyn was a witch this year, but she wanted to be a "good witch," not a scary witch. Connelly was Batman, and little Londyn was a clown.
Here's the invitation that I designed. Only 364 days before Halloween again!

Halloween 2009, unveiling the pumpkins!

We had a BLAST this year for Halloween. We were surrounded by so many fun family and friends, I don't want it to end!

So, it may take a few posts to get everything documented so bare with me. We carved a total of 52 pumpkins this year, which was just shy of what we did last year. BUT, it was still an awesome display (in my opinion).

Here are a few of my personal favorites of the pumpkins that we carved this year!


Here is a picture of the entire display!
Click on the image to make it bigger! :)

Here are the two "master carvers" of the GINORMOUS pumpkins we got from Uncle Charlie. (however, a few other people helped carve them too). CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW BIG THOSE ARE?
This is Jess, my cute sister in law. She gets the "carver of the year" award!
She carved Wall E, the Cars array with Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Fillmore, and a few more. BLUE ribbons for sure!

8 years!

Don't look close, because we painted our kitchen Saturday and got ready in about 2 minutes to go on our "date." We haven't gotten to hang out like that in a long time. All we did was go to dinner and go shopping. It was great!

Dan and I have been married for 8 years as of Saturday. Wow, time flies. I can honestly remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful, crisp, chilly day in Salt Lake. My nose was even red in some of the pictures because of the chilly air. :)

I remember everyone kept asking me if I was "nervous," and my honest answer was NO. I was just 100% excited. I had a very special spiritual experience when Dan and I started dating, and I knew I would marry him. It took a little longer than I wanted, but I guess that was just a trial of my patience. Ha ha.

Dan is my perfect balance. I joke around with him a lot about being "drama" but the truth is, I couldn't live without all his enthusiasm. He is ALWAYS the first to agree with me when I need back up, and I love how worked up he can get about the "simple" things in life. I love seeing his eyes light up when he gets to go out to eat crab legs, if his "imaginary" football team wins his brother's, or if he gets to go skiing at the lake.

He is everyone's favorite. He can talk to anyone, get along with anyone, and can carry a conversation with a stranger. I love it when someone tells me "what a good guy" I married. I am so proud of him.

He's honestly the best "handy man" I've ever seen. He fixes everything himself from the house projects to the car. What a lucky girl I am.

Isn't he handsome!?!? I love you honey. Thank you for FINALLY proposing after 10 LONG months of dating. Ha ha. I was ready after ummmm about 2 weeks of dating. (No kidding).

I love you.

A grateful, humbling day.

As a wife, you dread certain things. You dread "the worst" things that COULD happen. Well today was one of those infamous days for me. The day when you get "that call." The "I've been in an accident" call.

When he called me, I was instantly spinning. I had missed 7 calls from him in a five minute period. I didn't hear my phone (or it didn't ring because of my crappy service) who knows.

HUMBLING. The word that describes how I feel right now. Instantly a MILLION questions entered my mind.

Are you ok? being the BIGGEST one.

What happened? How fast were you driving? Is our insurance good enough? What does the truck look like? How will we "fend" with one car for a while? How much will the insurance give us? ...etc.

I was proud of Dan for staying completely calm during this whole endeavor. He calmly asked me to call the insurance agent and a tow truck. What the!?!? I'm sure I would not have acted that way if it were me. I'm sure a little swearing MIGHT have taken place, a little crying WOULD have taken place, and I would be an absolute MESS.

Here's the story in a nutshell. Dan went hunting this morning out West of Santa Clara. He was going to go with a friend, but he didn't end up going. So, Dan was alone. He was actually on his way home, when a deer jumped RIGHT out in front of him. He had just turned off of a dirt road onto another dirt road, so he was not driving very fast. He swerved to miss the deer, but since he was on a dirt road, his truck hit the embankment and off it went. He rolled.

Dan had his seatbelt on, and walked away with a few scratches and a sore neck.






Could I care less that this truck is "DEAD?"

NO.

It could have been my husband, and I'm suddenly VERY aware of how precious life is, and how very little something like this truck means to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's a hunk of metal that could be replaced....my husband cannot be replaced. I'm so grateful that I didn't have to think about "that".

On to the fun of insurance calls.

I wanted to post a few pictures mainly for family who wants to see the extent of the damage. Enjoy.

Thank you to all those who have called or texted. We are fine, just a little shaken up.

Crazy 8 sale!

If you know me well, you know I love a good deal. One of my favorite kid's clothing stores (Crazy 8) is having a 50% off sale, so I figured I would share. On top of the awesome clearance deals, you can also get $10.00 off a $30.00 purchase.

So, I ordered Connelly a bunch of summer clothes for next year. I bought 9 items and spent a total of 28.00 (this was grand total...shipping and all). All the items ended up averaging a little over $3.00 each. The clothes at crazy 8 are good quality, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone.

Ok, so hurry....don't miss the deal. Oh, the coupon code for $10.00 off a $30.00 purchase is:
c8rocks.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THEIR SITE!

Our latest and greatest!

I love this picture! Look at those CURLS!
I snapped a few pictures of Londers today, and I can't believe that she will be 2 years old in a month. Whoa, two years sped by! She is growing so fast. Here are a few of her favorite things lately:
-Mamma Mia the movie (she literally screams MIA when she sees the DVD cover!)
-The potty, I can't believe this, but she keeps asking me to go to the potty. Today she peed and pooped in the potty. We'll see if this continues.
-Her Daddy, she asks for him all day and when he finally comes home every day she is in HEAVEN.
-To climb...on EVERYTHING, she has learned to push a bar stool over to what ever she wants in the kitchen.
-Dogs...especially Daisy. (Mike and Jess's dog.) She is in LOVE with dogs.
-PIZZA, she thinks she should get to eat it for EVERY meal.
-To dance. She's a dancin' fool.
-Fits. She is officially into the fit throwing stage of her life. I'm totally bummed, but I have officially awarded her the worst fit thrower in Kohls of all time. I honestly could not BELIEVE how loud she could scream. I can never show my face there again.
-Shoes, she puts on everyone's shoes in the entire household. She loves them.
-ConYEEE...her brother. She eggs him on ALL day. She won't leave him alone.
-Loves to say the animal sounds (especially oink like a pig, but at the end she says E ,I, E, I, O, and starts singing the old McDonald had a farm song)
-MENO...what she calls Nemo.
I think that's about it. I just wanted to document some of her favorites so that I would remember them!

Things are going good at the Ulrich household, other than we've had sick kids over the weekend, and since we didn't know we were sick, I'm sure we gave it to some family that was in town. I knew Oaklyn was acting a little sick, but it didn't hit in full force until Friday night. (The fam came to town Thursday and Friday). What started out being a little sick, escalated into a full-blown fever. So...it hit the two older kids like a train wreck. Poor Connelly puked all Saturday night. Oaklyn seems to be feeling better, and Con's fever has been gone since Sunday. I just feel bad that we had people at our house to share the germs with. I hope everyone is ok.

We took the kids to Staheli Farm the other day to celebrate Fall, and it was sooooo fun. The kids had a blast, and I'm so glad we went. It felt good to get out of the house into the fresh air. Dan carved them a John Deere watermelon to display since they gave us a deal on all our pumpkins this year.
The kids had a blast with their friends Benson and Hiley. Oaklyn was TERRIFIED that we weren't going to find our way out of the corn maze. Wow...she could not relax.

Here is the pumpkin stash for the year!

I think we officially have 50 so far. We are getting really excited to start carving, but we can't start until a few days before Halloween. A few more weeks to go!

It seems crazy that the holidays are right around the corner! Life speeds by when it gets so busy.
One last thing...I HAD to document this because this is literally the first time I have seen Dan mop the floor in years. Yes, I said YEARS. I'm racking my brain to be sure, but really I'm pretty sure that it is true. I was so grateful! To give him a bit of credit...he does help A LOT with dishes and A LOT with laundry. He's just not much of a "floor" kind of guy. So, I had to give him a little shout-out for his effort. Way to go babe...the only problem is that now I know that you know HOW to do it! :)

Baby Steps!

Before:

After:


When we moved in, our lawn was completely dead. We spent all day Saturday cutting out the old, weedy lawn, and prepping the dirt. Today we laid sod. Our neighbors helped us. How nice is that!?!? We were very impressed how willing they were to help us. I'm so excited with the results. Now we can actually walk on the lawn!

Finally got out on the lake!

It is sad to say that yesterday was our first time out on the lake this year, but we finally got there. The kids just LOVE it there. They've been begging us for days.

Look at my sexy husband skiing! Look at his spray!!! I'm very impressed. (Although, he has been complaining of how sore he is ever since yesterday). :)


Connelly was so brave! He skied for the first time with Dan. His little face was so proud of himself at the end. What a little studly boy!


Here is Dan's brother Mikey skiing too. Way to go brotha!


Mike and Jess met us down here to go and as always we had a blast! We wish they lived closer...hint hint! :)

Attention Cedar City Friends!!

Click on the image to enlarge.

My super talented, amazing, and beautiful sister in law is starting her own performing group for kids. It's a singing and dancing group. She's great and I know she'll do a great job. She was a member of Acclamation and has one of the most beautiful singing voices I've ever heard. She's had voice lessons galore and has the expertise to teach your kids GREAT skills and talents. Call her if you're interested! She is starting the group with Michelle Malie (you might know her too!). They are both power-houses in singing!

Pine Valley Sluggers

Dan and I play in a co ed softball league and we have an absolute blast. I remembered my camera tonight, but a few of our players weren't there. :( We really have fun laughing at each other every Wednesday. Fun times.

Are you noxious or nourishing?

A psychologist Carl Rogers classified everyone into two categories: noxious and nourishing. When it comes to relationships, noxious people are those that criticize you. They always point out the negative, and the danger in noxious relationships is that after time, you start believe the criticism. On the other hand, nourishing people point out the positive behavior, build you up, and reward you. These people aren't constantly tearing you down, and the great thing is in that after time, you start believing the positive things they say.

Are you noxious or nourishing in your relationships with others? This is what I got to teach my students today. How we communicate to those we love the most can be great but it can also be destructive. Something to really think about.

Lagoon!

We got to go to Lagoon last weekend, and the kids had a blast! We didn't take Londyn with us because we figured she would get tired and be ornery for the majority of the day. Aunt Bonnie tended her and Londyn seemed to have had a blast! She was so hyper when we went to pick her up! Thank you Bonnie for tending her! You're the best!

Oaklyn and Connelly had been saving in their Lagoon jar for a few months. It's so fun to see their excitement build as the jar climbs closer to the top!

Oaklyn's favorite ride this year was the Tidal Wave, and Connelly liked the new "China" ride.

Dave and Julie and Court and Liz came with us, and we had a great time!

The saving jar has now been transformed into a "pumpkin" saving jar! The kids are obsessed with pumpkins. I wonder where they get it...hmmmmm. Only 49 days til Halloween!

I started teaching at Dixie and things are going well with that. It's a lot of work, but I really enjoy it! Half the battle is getting up early enough to have Oaklyn's hair done and me there by 8:00 am. Early to bed, early to rise...if I could just get the "early to bed" figured out! :)

I have to tell a funny story about Oakers really fast. She got a flier for the Washington City Community center in her backpack yesterday. She honestly thought that meant we were going as soon as she got home from school. I tried to explain to her that it was just an advertisement. Well tonight in her prayers, she said something like this, "Please help us go to the Community Center. Please bless us to go there soon. I think my teacher meant for us to go there on...on...on...Monday." Can you tell she LOVES that place!


We had a funny little thing happen the other day with Londers too. We were at Red Robin for the kid's birthdays and Londyn decides to throw up all over the place. I know you may not believe me, but she throws up on purpose. She did it the week before at Texas Roadhouse. She has done it since she was a baby. For example if she doesn't want to get in bed, she throws up, or if she doesn't want to get in the high chair, she throws up. IT IS SOOOO FRUSTRATING.

Well, I tried to get her into the high chair, and she barfed all over the place. (It happened right when we got there too!) I was so embarrassed, but I'm not kidding, within 30 seconds, there were 3 waiters there handing me washcloths, a garbage can to throw away the napkins, a new Red Robin shirt to put on her..etc. I was so impressed! They even let her keep the t-shirt. (Dan said he wants to throw up next time just to get the t-shirt!) Two thumbs up from me to the St. George Red Robin!

All Things Thrifty Button

Kallie and I have had so much fun launching http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/. We have had a lot of feedback, and we love sharing our ideas for thrifty decorating.

To get the word out about the site, I've added a "grab our button" option to my blog. We would love any help to get the word out, and simply adding the button to your blog would help a lot. So feel free to add our button to your blog (if you want). :)

Thank you for all the nice things you have all said about the site so far!