St. Thomas: Day 1

My husband earned a highly coveted spot in the winners circle for his performance with sales and customer service with Time Warner Cable. This years trip was to St. Thomas. West coast employees left a day earlier than the rest of the group because we were traveling such a far distance. We stayed over in Miami and then left Wednesday morning for St. Thomas.
When we first got there we went straight down to the beach. It was amazing! The view from our room was breathtaking! We were staying at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef at Morningstar. Snorkel equipment was available for free to hotel guests so we explored the rocks, coral and fish.
Later that night the company had a welcome dinner and cocktail party. Carnival is currently going on there so that was the theme of the party. It was so exciting!

Kids Bathroom Organization

The kids bathroom was driving me crazy! We had two baskets on the counter that held everything from hair clips to deodorant. Also the toothpaste was always a problem. Some kids couldn't get it out of the tube and then it would be all over the place. About a month ago we got a toothpaste dispenser and while it puts too much toothpaste on the toothbrush all the kids can work it an no one has to ask for help!
To handle all the counter top clutter, I got an over the door shoe rack and put it on the back of the door. All of the kids bathroom supplies go in there.

The different shampoos that were in the shower were also driving me crazy. We got some on sale that were "special" and there were so many bottles in there at once! Also, two of the kids have trouble getting the shampoo out of the bottle and all the kids have trouble with quantity! I bought a shampoo dispenser with three sections: shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Now all they have to do us push a button! I bought everything at Bed, Bath and Beyond with coupons!
The kids have always had color coded towels so that it cuts down on the amount of laundry I do. I used to have their matching hand towel on the hook above their towel but it made it too hard to get their towel down. Now their hand towels rotate out on the hook next to the sink.
Just thought I would share because I am so happy with the new organization in here!

Big Morongo Preserve In Yucca Valley

We went up to Yucca Valley a few weeks ago. It was more fun than I was expecting for sure! The preserve was beautiful! There were lots of birds and a creek also. We don't often come across a creek in the desert, so when we do it is exciting! It was truly gorgeous and we really enjoyed ourselves. We will definitely be going back up there.

The Grand Canyon Day 1 (7/28/11)

After driving through Sedona we continued on to our final destination. It was definitely a long journey but we had plenty of activities to keep the kiddos entertained. It was late afternoon when we finally got to our campsite and after reading the maps and papers they gave us when we checked in, we decided go see the sunset at the canyon. We set our stuff up quickly and rushed over to catch our first glimpse. On our way there we saw three giant elks hanging out near the road. That was really cool to see! When we arrived at the canyon, it was amazing! While we were waiting for the sun to set it started to rain- we weren’t ready for that! So I ran back to the car to get jackets and umbrellas. By the time I got back the rain was over. Sounds like what would happen where we live! The kids were pretty impressed with how big the canyon was. Grandma was not impressed with how close the children were getting to the railing though! It was a good sneak preview to the hiking and sightseeing that would occur the next day.

 

Sedona

After leaving Beaver Creek we drove through Sedona. Oh.My.Goodness. It is so beautiful there. I took a million pictures through the car window. We contemplated stopping for more than a potty break but just couldn’t make it work with having to check in at the Grand Canyon. I am always so disappointed looking at the pictures because it does not do it justice! I think I need a better camera! (Hint, hint honey.)

Redecorating

I have not been blogging because I have been redecorating. We took a trip to Ikea which started it all! The cover of their catalog reads “A home doesn’t have to be big, just smart” and it got me thinking. Why do I have so many large pieces of furniture? Are they really doing that much for our lives to take up that much space. Then I took my friend Kelly to Ikea and it was over! The day after we got back she looked through the catalog and declared that we should sell our stuff at a garage sale at my house…tomorrow. Well, sounds good. We sold some big furniture pieces which then created a decorating fund to be used to purchase the things we wanted. Our husbands are happy because we aren’t spending their hard earned money. On our 3rd trip to Ikea in 11 days (It’s 1hour and 30 mins away) I was able to get a few things that I felt we needed first. Like a toy bin for the kids toys. We got the “Trofast” system and I love it! We also bought a lamp for the living room (because I sold ours at the garage sale) and a dining room lamp (because ours broke) oh and dishes (because I sold all those at the garage sale too!)

When Brad was putting up the dining room light it wasn’t staying up and it is because the piece that holds it up was broken. That meant another trip to Ikea so 4th trip in 14 days. Brad was not so happy to be spending every day off driving to Ikea. But all is well now, they took back the light no problem and we won’t be gong out there for a while.

The next thing I did was paint the entry. It has been deep red for a few years and I have been really sick of it but just haven’t gotten around to changing it. Well I went for it. I have a few decorating blogs I have been following and I decided to go much lighter in there.

Before

After

It is called seashore fog and it is a pale, pale blue. I am still looking for a shelf with hooks for the one wall and that shelf will make it look a lot more decorated and functional. Another thing I did in here was scrub the grout with oxyclean. It looks so much better. I found the little table at a garage sale for $2. It is rickety but it looks cute. It was a horrible brown and I painted it white. It is good for now.

I will still be posting the pictures of the Grand Canyon and more decorating pics. (including the table saga, yes a saga. We currently have our 4th table in less than a year)

Links to some of the blogs that inspire me:

Our Vintage Home Love (She built her dining room table and other stuff. Beautiful home)

Home and Harmony (I am copying her dining chair slipcover style)

Vintage simple home (I love these shelves and hooks)

Miss Mustard Seed (How to make slipcovers and lots more)

The lettered cottage (Great idea on how to change stock kitchen cabinets to make them look custom)

Crisp Interiors (I love her “family rules” and her home is beautiful and she is a believer in Jesus)

Shopping Candy for my first home (Her house is amazing and I have been following her for a while. It is so calm and peaceful)

First Stop on Grand Canyon Trip…

…Beaver Creek. We drove over to Avondale, AZ which is right outside of Phoenix. Then went straight up Near Lake Montezuma. It was a beautiful campground at Beaver Creek. It was kind of warm when we got there so we quickly set up the tent and then went swimming in the creek. I was quite nervous about my feet touching the bottom of the creek and then another mom of four kids suggested wearing my flip flops. Thank you to her! I was able to really enjoy myself. Our sweet dog Sadie even came swimming. It was soooo cute. We have only had her since March and we have never seen her swim-she loved the water! The Munchkin preferred to sit on a rock with his feet in the water tossing rocks in. The other two boys enjoyed building up the dam with more rocks and the Princess was just enjoying the water and made a new friend as usual. We had a wonderful time.

When it was time to exit the water we started making dinner and that is when Grandma Ginger and Grandpa Johnny came. We were informed by the camp host that a mountain lion and her cub and skunks had been seen around the campsites recently and to look out for them. Well after dinner we made s’mores and were just finished brushing our teeth when Grandma walked around the car and saw a skunk. Everyone was excited and wanted to see it. Then Brad looked out a little further and saw something crouching down behind a bush like it was ready to pounce. He quickly ordered us into the tent and we watched through the windows with flashlights as skunks (3 I think) and then the mountain lion cub came nonchalantly looking for food at our campsite.

I didn’t feel afraid until I went out of the tent to grab some things we left out. Three of us went out. Grandpa, Brad and I . Brad told me to keep the light shining to the left and he would keep and light shining to the right. As I am looking to the left I turn back to look at Brad and he left me! He was across the way shining the light for Grandpa. I got so scared I quickly grabbed whatever I could and rushed back into the tent. Ummmm, thanks babe for leaving me. All night we could here animals creeping around the tent and everyone now and then one of us would sit up and shine a light out the window.  It was sure exciting and the kids thought it was awesome!! You wouldn’t believe how many pictures I tried to take of our little visitors but not even one turned out!

Our Gigantic 10 person tent we purchased at Wal-Mart for $115. Best purchase ever! Especially since Brad forgot to bring the extra tent for Grandma and Grandpa. We all wouldn’t have fit in the old tent!

The Prince jumping off the awesome rock area