3 years

Three years goes by fast. I love being married to Dustin. I can honestly say that I love being with him more than anyone else. The past 3 years have been so fun- It's weird to think it all started from an incredibly awkward blind date on February 14th, 2006. We were engaged 3 weeks later, married 4 months later, sealed 1 year after that, and truly happy together ever since.

A look back at what we've done together the past 3 years:

Made 1 1/2 babies

Raised 1 kitten

Owned 4 cars

Worked for 7 companies (2 for me, 5 for Dustin)

Read the BofM 6 times

Moved 5 times

Lived in 4 States

Had 4 root canals

Been on 4 vacations (child-less)

Been to 8 temples together

Changed approx. 3,960 diapers

Held 9 church callings, combined

Been apart 78 days

Been together 1,014 days

Dustin is the kindest, most selfless person I know. He rarely says anything negative about anyone. He's easy going and doesn't change around anyone. He's so smart and can remember everything! He has a strong testimoney of the Gospel and is the leader of our home. I love having a worthy Priesthood holder to lead and guide our family. I'm grateful for his strength, optimism, and love. He's very patient with me and says "I love you" to me many times a day. He does the dishes every night and opens the door for me everywhere we go. I knew right away that he was the boy I was going to marry- and I'm grateful that I chose him to be with for Eternity! It's funny looking back to when we were first dating and saying our first "I love you"'s to eachother. It seems that I hardly knew Dustin at all then, but I knew I loved him. I had no idea I could love someone as much as I love Dustin today. Sure, we're technically not newlyweds anymore- but our marriage has only yealded more love and unity as time goes on.

Happy Father's Day

This is what Lillie made for Dustin for Father's Day in Nursery. It's called a "Picnic Pocket" and is filled with 2 juice boxes and 2 rice krispi treats and a little note that Lillie colored. They are suppose to go on a picnic together- such a cute idea!
We've had a really busy Father's Day weekend, not only was it Father's Day, but it was also Dustin's mom's Birthday, and Clark and Kristi's baby's blessing for sweet little Bailey. It was a really really really busy and eventful weekend!

The weekend before my sister Elisha had a BBQ for my dad. I made these sugar cookies. But unfortunatly, didn't get very many pictures of the actual BBQ.

The same weekend my sister Dana, her girls, and my parents came to Jackson for a few days. We went down to Pinedale for one night and stayed with my Aunt Jean and Uncle Emil. All 10 of us squeezed into our tiny 550 sq/ft apartment for the next night- it was really funny and we had nowhere near enough towels.

This is us at our Elder's Quorum activity. It was a tad wet outside, but we had fun! We went to the Castago Wagon Ride and Cookout. We rode real canvas covered wagons pulled by horses and ate steak, potato's, hot dogs, salads, and all the deserts you can think of! They also had a guy there singing old time songs. It was a fun time!

Except Lillie didn't always think it was fun...

For Father's Day, Lillie and I got Dustin some fishing stuff! Dustin inherited an old fly fishing pole from his Great Grandfather and really wanted to start fishing a lot while we're still here in Jackson. He got another fishing pole, tackle box, and all the stuff that goes with it. My Dad took us to a lake near Pinedale. Unfortunaly, none of us caught any fish that day.

We had a good Father's Day celebration the past 2 weekends! Dustin is a really good Father to Lillie. I remember when I was still pregnant with Lillie, Dustin wanted us to have a boy. However, ever since she's been with us, they have been best friends! Lillie is such a daddy's girl. She gets so sad when he leaves and starts laughing and smiling really big when he comes home from work each day. They play together and read lots of books together. Lillie would rather go to Dustin when she's sad than to me, which is really sweet I think. Dustin is the best dad, and I know that Lillie loves him a lot!

Laundry Soap

A lady I know from my online MI Forum told us all how to make your own laundry detergent. She's been making her own for 3 or 4 years because one of her kids gets really bad rashes from detergents that aren't hypoallergenic. Because hypoallergenic laundry detergents are so expensive... she makes her own!
Anyway, I've been making ours from her recipe. I don't really care that if it's hypoallergenic or not, I just love making it and it's way cheaper than even the Kirkland brand!
If you're interested, here's the recipe:
1 bar of soap (hypoallergenic Dove, Dial, Melaleuca platium bar, etc.)
1/2 Cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (found by the fabric softener, about 2-3 dollars for a 3.5 lb box)
1/2 Cup of Oxy Clean (generic works great)
5 gallon bucket
water

Just grate the bar of soap with a cheese grater.
Bring 2-3 cups of water almost to a boil then add the grated soap and stir until it's completely dissolved.
Fill your 5 gallon bucket half way with hot water.
Add hot soap water, 1/2 C washing soda, and 1/2 C of oxy clean and stir for 3 or 4 minutes.
Add more hot water until it reaches near the top.
Stir every 15 minutes for 2 hours.
Voila!

*The soap will thicken as it cools down. I usually make mine at night time, and by the time I wake up it's the perfect, gooey consitancy.

I use about 1 cup of the detergent for a large load of laundry. The soap gets a little goopy, but I read that it gets like that because it has more cleaning agents in it than store-bought soap. It's really cheap to make and cleans your clothes really well... plus it's hypoallergenic!

Break down of costs:
bar of soap 1$
Washing Soda .75
Oxy Clean .25
Total: $1.90 for a 5 gallon bucket (not including the water and time)

Irritated.

So... we got our 'final bill' from Elk Run Apartments. We moved out on April 8th and paid our full months rent for the month of April on April 1st. We were told that we would continue paying the full rent until the apartment was filled, and because we ended our 12 month lease 6 months early, we would not be getting our 300$ deposit back.
WELL.
(breath)
The apartment was filled June 3rd. Instead of paying All of May's rent, and 2 days of June's pro-rated rent ($856.00), we are being charged for the following:
May rent: 799.00
2 days in June: 57.00
Water for May: 36.00
Move-in Discount deductable: 150.00
Early Termination Fee: 499.00
Cleaning Fee: 40.00

For a GRAND TOTAL of: $1581.00
(not to mention the fact that we're already losing our 300$ deductable)

YEAH RIGHT!
First of all, we never had any sort of 'move-in special' when we moved in. Second of all, I'm not paying 36.00 for water from a vacant apartment, especially when all of our utilites combined were only 18 dollars a month.
THIRD: Nowhere in our contract does it ever state ANYTHING about an early termination fee. Even when we've called and asked nobody has ever said anything about it. If it's not in the contract, I'm not paying.
And don't even get me started on the cleaning fee.

Anyway, I wrote a very stern letter stating that I would only pay for the rent, and that they could happily keep our 300$ deductable. So um.. pray we only have to pay $856.00 instead of $1581.00!!

Herbs and such

This is the extent of our garden this year. It's kinda hard when you live in an apartment to find space to grow stuff. I'm growing (LtoR): oregano, cherry tomatos, basil, and a cactus plant. I got the cactus plant for Mother's Day from Julie. That's the easiest one to keep alive. My basil and oregano are doing so well! They've atleast tripled in size since we got them 3 weeks ago.

I also found these hanging baskets for 20$ a piece that I love.

Well, Dustin and I have gotten alot for the baby! I found some insane deals on Gymboree.com and bought about 10 outfits 6-12 month sizes for next Spring and Summer. We also got a few more 0-3 month outfits, bathrobe/washcloths, bibs, pacifiers, a baby book and photo album, burp rags, and a bunch of little blue fuzzy socks. All that's left are white onesie's, a few more 0-6 month size clothes, a few toys, and a crib set. I already have the cribset picked out, it's brown and a combination of blue stripes and polka dots from Target. I'm trying to get all the baby stuff before we move (Aug. 7th) so that when we do move, I won't have to be overly-stressed with unpacking, finding a doctor, registering at a hospital, AND worrying about buying last minute things. It is fun looking at boy stuff for a change!

Dustin's work is going well. He's been rained out for the past week so it's been slow, but nice having him home all the time. He's working hard and learning a lot about erecting a steel building. The company owner (who is also LDS) flew out here to look at the jobsite last week. He always calles Dustin 'Brother Miller.' He should be getting a company truck soon, also. Dustin also started riding his fancy bike again. He goes out for 10 mile rides every once in a while. Dustin also decided he wanted to start fishing and camping a lot while we're still here. There are lots of great places to go fishing, so for an early Father's Day present we went out and bought him a fishing pole with all the stuff that goes with it. He also inherited an ancient fly fishing pole from his Great Grandfather, and he's excited to try out flyfishing!

Lillie babbles. She never stops! She makes up wierd words and wierd sounds and changes the inflation of her voice- we have no idea what she's saying. It's pretty funny! She's also obsessed with the Baby Einstein video "Baby McDonald" and can do all the animal sounds. She's already acting like she's 2, and throws a couple tantrums a day. It's hilarious. Everytime she just throws herself down on the floor and starts kicking and screeming, we just laugh! She's a lot of fun to be around and is becoming more and more independant.

As for me... I'm actually excersizing on a regular basis for the first time in 2 1/2 years! I go running or walking or I ride my bike about 3 or 4 times a week-- and it feels great. I'm also busy finishing up a few quilts right now and I've been experiementing with new recipes the past 2 weeks and love using my homegrown herbs!

We love it in Jackson (except for the fact that there isn't a Target) and are sad we only have 2 months left here.

We're having a....

BOY!!!

We're so excited! We knew we were suppose to have another baby about 7 months ago and it's nice to know that this little guy is suppose to be in our family. The baby weighs 8 oz. and is about 6 inches long. He's healthy and everything seems to be developing as it should. The due date is still October 31st.

We've already received many gifts! Yesterday my sister, Dana gave us a little outfit (very left) and Angie got us another cute outfit (very right). Then later that night Julie suprized us with 3 adorable outfits and a pair of shoes. Everything is so cute and so tiny!

Baby giving us a thumbs-up!

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