Home Sweet Home

4th Of July! By J ustin Last 4th of July we were in Show Low and went to the parade. I thought it would be fun for the kids to be in the parade rather than sitting watching and eating tons of candy. Later on I found out that the huge Ellsworth reunion (only happens once a decade, always held in Show Low, and celebrates all of the descendants of Audra's great great grandfather Edmund Lovell Ellsworth, the captain of the first handcart company to cross the plains. He also had 42 children from four wives (his first wife/sweetheart being the oldest child of Brigham Young - who sent him from Utah to settle in Arizona), and was jailed for nearly a year in Yuma on polygamy charges - all this part added by Audra ) would be going on over the 4th of July weekend this year. The Ellsworth clan was going to march in the parade as well. I apologize for the parenthesis within a parenthesis and for the paragraph within the parenthesis within my sentence-editor's inserts. Audra gets after me be...

So these past few weeks we've enjoyed our newfound freedom in the evenings since we aren't working on the basement. We've been catching up on our shows, gone to the cabin, and even went and played some racquetball. We spent some time with Justin's family before Jeff, Leza and their kids left for three years to finish residency in Gainesville, FL. They were here in AZ (Tucson) for a year of residency but unfortunately we didn't get to see them much because Justin spent 6.5 months of that year in Georgia and we've been super busy on projects since we've all been home. Here's a pic of them together, I'm sure Justin wishes they had more time to be closer. Before we all started having kids and before they went away to med. school in DC, the four of us used to vacation a lot together, mostly in Rocky Point, Mex. We have lots of fun memories but unfortunately we haven't gotten the chance to make many new ones in the last few years. We keep praying that ...

Brighton vs. the chair Two stitches later, the chair is declared the winner! He's happy today though :) He was a brave kid when getting his first set of stitches. If he is anything like his Dad, he will have several more opportunities to receive them.

You can pay $12/yr and have a membership to JibJab where you can make the funniest cards and videos using pictures of your friends and family. We got a good laugh out of these (funniest thing with the kids is that when Adaira started watching the one below, she said "Where did I get that dress?") Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab! Here's another hilarious one, you have to know the relationship that Justin & my mom have to truly laugh at it (they are always messing with each other, Justin is the loving thorn in her side!) Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

SOOOOOO....... Where to start? We have been so busy the last few months! I started working part time again (8-10hrs/wk) at LDS Family Services doing the adoption work that I love, and Justin is busy loving his new job. After the day shift of work and kids, we started the night shift of home improvement. Literally almost every night our schedule was eat dinner, put kids to bed, and work on the basement until about midnight. It's still not totally done and we have a few things to troubleshoot, but it's done enough for Frances to move in and for us to take breather! Here are a few pics: The flourescent lighting in this picture make the walls look olive, but they aren't. The picture below (with flash) shows the true color. It was so dusty since we swept just before taking pictures.  Bathroom #1 Bathroom #2 (part of it anyway) We have a glass door at the bottom of the stairs (Justin is sitting on stairs here) that we can lock to keep the living quarters separate. -------...

If Adaira's new attitude could be described by a single picture: "Smile Adaira...Come on Adaira, SMILE! Adaira...smile please? Oh forget it!" I don't know what happened to my incredibly sweet baby girl, she turned into this sassy, back talking, do exactly opposite of everything I want her to do child. We certainly still love our little girl, but DANG she makes it difficult sometimes. This picture was just too funny after the fact because it is SO representative of her current attitude. Crossing our fingers that it's just a phase!

We've Been Busy... The last two months have been nonstop work for Justin and I. The final month in Georgia we agreed to finish the basement to rent it out for a few years to my friend Frances (we aren't using it anyway since it isn't finished, so why not finish it and rent it and have it paid for?). I got the framers, plumbers and electricians going before Justin got home, and once he got home he helped finish things up to get ready for drywall. We had a week break waiting for drywall/texture to be done but since then it has consumed all our free time and weekends. We are so excited to be almost done! Paint is done (other than touch ups which I'll do in a few days after all doors are installed), doors are all almost in, fans, lights, etc. are in. Carpet is coming late next week and Justin will be working on finishing up the kitchen/bathroom plumbing next week, WOO HOO! Then we can have our lives back, until the next project that is...  This is the open room after comi...

Fun boy cousins! Dale will never be short of little boy cousins to play with at family parties! Within six months of Dale's birth he had FOUR other boy cousins born, two on my side and two on Justin's side. Fun times! Here is Dale with his cousin Xander on the left(Jeff & Leza's newest) and Lucas on the right (Trent and Lindsey's first).

When Brighton Gets the Camera.... It's so funny what children like to do when they think no one else is watching! I often find very random photos on our camera when it has slipped out of my hands for a few moments. Brighton came up to me and asked me how to use the timer, and then he did it himself to show off his karate pose. I love this kid.

  Everyone tells us that Brighton looks like Justin and Adaira looks like me, but really I think it's just the opposite. I see so many of Owens features in Adaira and Ellsworth features in both my boys. Gosh as I look through my pictures as a child it also helps with this comparison given that my mom didn't bother to buy me many GIRL clothes and with the mullet I look like a boy anyway! Me at 5 years old (with chicken pox) & Brighton at 6 years old. This is another one from 3rd grade. This is probably the most attractive childhood picture I have given that my hair is actually done and the mullet is gone. Hey I still had a little bit of my "back to school" perm left in this one! Me at about 18mo-2yrs old loving my two little fingers, Dale is quite a bit younger than I was in my pics but I think he's an Ellsworth! I also had to add all these cute pictures we took of Brighton and Adaira last Sunday. They both looked so handsome together and we are so bl...