Saturday Fun

It's been a pretty successful Saturday thus far. We went to Kimber's house this morning to get all of Doug's stuff that he had in the basement. We also brought home two beds. We brought Doug's old bunk bed and a twin for Sophia. This house is filling up quickly! Sophia took a great long nap in her new bed this afternoon and we hope she'll continue to like it. This afternoon we had our first snow of the season. I took a picture but I'm not sure how well it turned out. Oh well. We're now off to watch the BYU game and RS broadcast. Have a great day!
Here's our little ski bum getting ready to hit the slopes! Sophia loves to put these glasses on. When ever she puts them on she gets so proud of her self and runs to us saying "Hey! Look at me!" It's pretty cute.
I had Doug take this picture because I'm not wearing any maternity clothes in this picture. Either I was still really fat before I was pregnant or I'm able to really stretch some of my clothes.
Here's proof of our first snow!
Here's Stinkers new bed. I don't know why but she has to sleep with the four little guys sitting on the pillow. I'm not sure how she picked each of them but she knows when one is missing and must have them all when she sleeps. What a funny kid!

Cluster of Crocus!

We went out to put the edging on the flower bed on the other side of our house and I found this little cluster of crocus! It was such a fun surprise! It was like a little last taste of summer. Enjoy!


Here's Sophia standing by the finished edging. I'm glad to have this project out of the way!

Christmas a Little Early

So I found this idea in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine from last year. They used them as mantle hangings. I decided to use them for ornaments for our tree. I created the patterns myself and then stitched them and ironed them onto felt. Our tree kind of has a red and white Scandinavian theme going on and I thought these would go along nicely. We'll see how it turns out. I'll be sure to post a pic of the adorned tree in a few months. For now, you just get ornaments.

Will the real Joanna please stand up?

Okay, so I don't know what it is with me lately but I've run into some identity issues. I think it's because our ward had an Enrichment night the other night about identity theft and I thought, "yeah that's interesting and good to know but like that'd ever happen to me." Well guess what? It did! Aside from Comcast insisting that my name is Julianna Walkins (I'm pretty sure they've fixed it by now) and getting numerous amounts of junk mail in that name, I also had a little issue come up yesterday. My medicaid case worker called to have me verify employment at Johnson Tire Co. Unfortunately, I've never worked there. Fortunately, my social security number has. That was great news. She told me that it really was a benefit for me because it means that I'll get more benefits when I'm retired. Oh goody! Does that make sense to anyone else? Anyway, I've since reported it to the FTC, all three credit bureaus, and I've filled out a police report. Apparently those are all the things you're supposed to do if you're ever a victim of identity theft (and don't say that you never will be because then you'll be next!). Anyway, hopefully nothing to serious will come from this. I'll keep you posted.

Promised Pictures

Here's the pictures from my flower beds as well as a few others from the weekend. I know the flower beds don't look so impressive right now but if you had seen what was there before....or just wait till the Spring when they'll be blooming! (hopefully). I transplanted the bushes that were there into the pots and planted a number of things in the bed. We'll see if something grows in the rocky soil. I also put in the scalloped curbing/edging on the one bed all by myself. We're trying to decide if the other one needs it as well. Any suggestions? Anyway, enjoy the pics!




Doug took this picture when he was out hunting this weekend. It was taken just outside of the Indian reservation. Good thing they weren't caught!

No I am not trying to show off my pregnant belly in this picture. I found this shirt in an old box my parents had in their storage unit. I think it was a nightgown my parents brought back from Hawaii when I was a little girl. Anyway, I put in on just for kicks one night and was helping Sophia in the bath. She looked up at me and said, "Oh! Cute shirt mom! It has flowers!" I thought that was pretty cute. I love that she never notices a thing I wear but when I'm wearing a bright shirt with flowers on it, I get complimented. What a funny kid.

This picture was taken on the way home from a baby blessing this weekend. Apparently that was one good cookie that knocked her right out!

Let there be flowers....and popcorn

Today has been a pretty eventful Saturday thus far. Doug left yesterday to go Elk hunting with his brother and so Sophia and I have been hanging out together ever since. This morning we woke up bright and early and got started on our flower beds. It was quite the project. We first had to rip out a few small bushes and then remove a ton of wood chips and gravel. I kind of just raked them off to the side and am going to let Doug deal with them later. Then we put in some concrete edging and filled it all in with top and potting soil. Then we planted 60 tulip and daffodil bulbs, a rose of sharon bush, and a bunch of pansies. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to see if it will all come up in the spring! I wanted to put in peonies too but nobody will have more of them until the spring so we'll have to wait. I was pretty proud of all I accomplished. I'll post pictures later because Doug took the camera hunting.

While I was out doing all of this Sophia was running wild in the house watching her "penguin movie" (Happy Feet) and eating popcorn. When I came in to check on her she said "He mom, look at me!" Usually when she says this she has completely undressed herself so I wasn't really paying attention. Anyway, I turned around just in time to see her shove a popcorn kernel up her nose. I immediately freaked out and ran for a pair of tweezers. I was unsuccessful at recovering the kernel so I called her pediatrician. Luckily they were open today so I ran her in and the doc got it out. Luckily it really wasn't in there too far and he only charged me for a regular visit instead of a removal which would have been $200. $200 to take something out of a kids nose? Give me a break. Anyway, it was her first visit to her new doctor down here and fortunately he was really nice.

Anyway, that about sums it up for the adventures of Sophia and her mom for one day. Hope you're all well!

Fun and Games

We have been up to some pretty fun things lately. Sophia has had a really good time coloring on her walls (thank goodness for magic erasers) and the table and chairs in her room. She's only done it twice so far and we're hoping that our last chat about it will put an end to it.



Yesterday we had a nice relaxing Sunday at home. Doug got so bored that he created a fun track to send croquet balls down. It was a pretty good time had by all.
Aside from all of this fun we were productive around the house on Saturday and got the shed attached to our house completely cleaned out and painted. It's nice to have it functional. Doug and his brother JD also got started on the trees. Enjoy the pics and videos!


Ball Track 1 from jmwilkins10 and Vimeo.


Ball Track 2 from jmwilkins10 and Vimeo.

When life hands you acorns....

...make an acorn wreath! So we love our new house and all and we even love the gigantic oak tree in the front. Unfortunately, we do not love the abundant amount of acorns it produces.
We cleaned them up on Saturday and Doug said, "isn't there something you can make out of these?" Then my friend Lauren came over on Saturday and saw the mess and also commented that I could probably make something out of them. So I decided to go a little Martha and I created a wreath out of a few of them. I think it turned out pretty cute.
The day after we swept them up we had just as many on the ground and realized that it was a total waste to clean them up everyday so we're just going to let it go for awhile. In the meantime, if anyone is in need of a load of acorns, I know where you can get some! We're hoping to get the "mature trees" on our yard a little bit under control this fall so hopefully we won't have as many acorns next year!

Sophia Says a Prayer

Tonight I hear Sophia say a prayer all by herself for the first time. Apparently she's done this for Doug repeatedly but I'd never heard it. I thought it was so sweet. Here's what it was:
Heavenly Father,
thank you leaves,
thank you dad,
thank you mom,
thank you stars,
thank you egg (leg),
thank you bear,
name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I am still amazed by how much she's growing up each day! She is definitely turning into a little girl.

We had a great day today enjoying the last day of summer. We had a fun time at the Onion Days parade and definitely got our fill of taffy and tootsie rolls. It was great. Doug starts school tomorrow and is looking forward to his last 2 semesters! We can't wait till he's done!

Lovin' life in Payson

Things are great down here in the good old town of Payson. We got our first edition of the Payson Chronicle last week and I was just dying at one of the submissions. They have a whole section dedicated to posting announcements for your child's first birthday. Some of the names were killing me, Scottlyn, Kayzden, etc. But the picture of little Brooklyn Makai totally took the cake! I am so glad that here in Payson we are supporting the right to bear arms. What a cute little sharpshooter! Anyway, if that's not enough to make you all want to pack up and move here I saw a woman riding a lawnmower down the street the other day talking on her cell phone. It was such a classic moment and I was so sad I didn't get to the camera quick enough. We truly are loving it down here and have enjoyed Golden Onion Days this weekend. It's "Utah's largest Labor Day Celebration" you know! We're hoping to hit the grand parade and the Carni tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

We had a fun night with friends last night and Sophia was definitely grateful for all the time she had to spend at Will's house (or "Wheels on the Bus" as she kept calling him). The picture below is of the two friends sharing a hug. I'm pretty sure this one was taken after she'd whacked him with something for the fifth time and was apologizing yet again. I'm also posting a picture of the fancy hair she had yesterday. Surprisingly enough, it really didn't take me to long. Hope you're all well!