M & Em

2011-07-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

July pictures . . . note the GREEN stuff we are excited about, it's still pretty wet and we're trying to keep it alive, but there you are all the same.

Summer is going great, we loved the Logan fireworks this year. Jacob wasn't so excited about the Diamond Rio concert as he plugged his ears and hid his eyes, but at least he liked the fireworks!

Our new house

2011-02-10T19:43:00.000-08:00

Now that we have been in our house for almost 3 months, it is time to stop procrastinating and post our final pictures. Well, I may have some more pictures in the summer after our lawn and flowerbeds are put in. But here it is, and we love it:

We had a great Christmas with our cute kiddos.

Happy Halloween - - SCARY how fast our house is coming!

2010-10-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

Our house is so close to being done! Tonight (Sunday) we went to go see if we could look at the inside, being the weekend it wasn't filled with workers. The house was locked, so we peeked in and saw that the linoleum is in, and the cabinets, counters and sink are ready to be put in tomorrow. Here's what the outside looks like :

We had a great Halloween. I think I am finally on the fun side of Halloween again. When I was younger it was fun to dress up and go door to door, but then it gets not as fun when you're a "whatever" teenager. HALL-oween at college was fun with the roommates. Now I get to dress up my kids and show them off and see all the kiddies at the door, it's way fun!!! Here are some pictures of my boys in their costumes.

And they had lots of fun looking out the window to see if there were any trick-or-treaters coming.

More house updates

2010-10-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hey! This week they put the siding on our house.

And they painted the inside, but as of last night the doors were taped shut so we couldn't go inside. It's just white, so no big surprises await, but it will be great to be able to go in again so we can see it painted.

Here are a few pictures of us on Saturday, the day before I turned the big 25. Yes, my hair is shorter than I ever remember it. I love it, and I loved my birthday, as always.

Shingles and sheetrock

2010-10-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

Never quite sure who is reading this blog and when, but for whoever is interested, here are the updates on our house! Our newly completed roof . . .

and the inside has dimension now too! Yay for walls so that I can picture more of what it will look like when it is done.

This weekend Marc's parents came to visit. We went to the American West Heritage Center and we all had a lot of fun. I love seeing Jacob with his Grandma and Grandpa.

At first Jacob wasn't so sure about riding the little train,

but after the first ride he was ready to go again!

Parker was happy as ever with a free ride

Yay for wonderful parents who love our kids almost as much as we do.

Wiring, Windows & Wrap, OH MY!

2010-10-03T18:55:00.001-07:00

It's been almost two weeks since I updated this, because all the wiring and ductwork has been going in, and I didn't think it would be too exciting for anyone else to see the wires going here and there. But last Friday while we were in Vernal they put the wrap around the house, which, we think makes it look even more like a house! They also put in the windows and doors.

One more thing, I'm not as crafty as I used to be, mostly because I don't have any good ideas. But I had a friend that came up with this idea and invited me with some other people to come do it. So here it is, I'm very proud of it.

And this one's for Mom, because we know you read this. We always enjoy coming to your home. Thanks for taking good care of us this weekend. You're the best, we love you!

Raise the roof

2010-09-21T20:28:00.001-07:00

All in a day's work - - - Here is what our house looked like yesterday (Monday) . . .

This is today (Tuesday morning) I took the boys over to see the crane lift up the trusses.

And this is later that night after the workers were gone. Wow!!! It already looks like a house!!!

Oh, and here's what it looks like on the inside.

When I went to look at the house tonight, our neighbors were inside looking around. They looked a little sheepish once I showed up since it was our house, ha ha, they are excited to see another house go up too. This is the only house in the neighborhood being built right now. But I was thrilled to meet them, they were very warm and welcoming. Meeting them makes everything feel that much more REAL. Yay!

Raising the walls

2010-09-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, once it gets going it really gets going fast! Here is what our house looked like yesterday . . .

And here's what it looks like today.

I can't believe how fast it goes once they start the framing. I am so excited every time I see it!

How firm our foundation

2010-09-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

It's moving along quickly, I love seeing the changes each time we go to see our lot. They will put the floor in this week and then start on the framing . . .

We also had a lot of fun with my brother David and his wife Karla over Labor Day weekend. Yay for spending time with family

Groundbreaking ceremony

2010-09-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Yay! Kartchner Homes started digging on our house last Thursday, September 1st. I took Jacob and Parker over to our lot to see the tractors. Jacob was so excited to see the backhoe at work--of course, at a distance only. He also got to see a "BIG DUMP TRUCK!" dump some gravel, but jumped about a foot when the back door of the truck slammed shut. I kind of felt like a little kid too, I'm so excited to see them starting on our new house that will hopefully be our home for a long time.

I realized I didn't add last time exactly where our house will be. It's going to be part of the Rose Hill community west of Logan, like west of Icon, Thermo-Fisher. It's a really nice little neighborhood with a park in the middle.

Buying a house . . .

2010-08-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

I don't want to think about how long it has been since I've updated the blog . . . but now I have something big to write about! We are having Kartchner Homes build us a house! It has been a long decision in the making, but we feel great about it and here's why we're so excited:

--4.7 ish interest rate
--free finished basement
--pick our own colors
--completely landscaped front lawn with sprinkler system
--pretty sure we will be moved in by Christmas
--a place to call our own, hopefully for a long time

I hope to put in pictures every few weeks or so. Here is how our house looks right now:

Okay, so it's not much to look at now. They will start digging on Aug 31st and their average finish time is 90 days.

Here are some pictures of other things we have done this summer . . . in no particular order . . .

taking the kids to the park . . .

having my little sister Renae over for a few days . . .

went to my nephew's baptism, this is my older sister Crystal's beautiful family . . .

we went to Toy Story 3 in 3D, and the glasses were Jacob's new favorite toy. This is possibly one of the cutest pictures I've taken . . .

And of course, the 4th of July fireworks . . .

Hope everyone is having THIS much fun this summer.

Some random pics from the last few months

2010-01-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

I am really bad at updating our blog, but for anyone who actually checks this every now and again, here are some pictures from the last couple of months . . .

Parker is doing great, he is a very calm baby and has started sleeping through the night. He was sleeping 5 hours for a while, and then one morning I woke up and realized he had spoiled me with 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! He hasn't done that since then, but I'm not complaining with 6 hours a night.

Jacob loves being a big brother, he gives Parker kisses and likes to stuff the binky into his mouth. What a helper!

This is Jacob Christmas morning. I love it when I get funny pictures like this . . .

And Jacob's surprise from Santa! I think Marc and I were more excited than Jacob was Christmas morning, ha, ha.

We are excited for this next Monday, the 18th, to move to our townhome in Providence. Actually, that's a bit of an understatement. Emily has been so excited she has been packing boxes for a few weeks now. Our days of living in teeny old apartments are almost over. Some great memories, but we are outgrowing our 2-bedroom and are ready to move on! Wish us luck!

Our New Arrival

2009-11-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

Parker Hansen Muir was born yesterday November 20th at 3:15 pm. He was a whopper of a baby at 8 pounds and he was 20 1/2 inches long. Parker came out screaming which lets us know he has a healthy set of lungs. He is a healthy little boy that loves to sleep. He also had nearly as much platinum blond hair like his brother Jacob did. Emily is doing great and she is all smiles. Dad is is tired but happy all the same. Mom and Dad Muir came to visit us at the hospital. Here are some pictures of us in the hospital.

What we are up to

2009-11-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

Just thought we would post a few pictures of what we have been up to lately:

This is one of the only pictures we have taken of Emily pregnant with #2. She is still feeling great most of the time, but feeling especially great that the pregnancy is almost done! We are scheduled to be induced on Friday November 20th and counting down the days until we get to meet this handsome little boy!

This is us at the BYU game on Emily's birthday. We got season tickets this year, since the baby is coming in the middle of the season we can sell the rest of our tickets and make all of our money back! Score! We have loved going to these games together. Emily enjoys them a lot more after asking her wonderful husband to explain the game of football to her. Hee, hee! What a difference!

Jacob is still growing like crazy and gets more and more fun. He tries to imitate the words we say. He learned how to say "mama" and "dada" and tries to say "bubbles" "blocks" and "more." He will be almost 20 months old when the baby is born.

So . . . wish us luck, we will post sometime after the baby comes with pictures of our new addition.

See-lee-ack?

2009-10-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it's been a long time since we have updated our blog. Our biggest update is that we took Marc in to the doctor to see if we could find out why he's been getting sick so often lately. His blood test showed that he has celiac disease, which means that he is intolerant to anything with gluten in it--bread, pasta, just think of anything that has wheat, barley, or rye in it. Celiac is a hereditary disease that can only be treated by following a completely gluten-free diet. As you can imagine, this has been pretty overwhelming to adjust to. There are a lot of gluten-free products out there, but most of them are pretty expensive, so Emily has been getting a lot of help in learning how to make them at home. We are glad to finally know why Marc has been so sick and he has been feeling a lot better since he started to follow this new diet.

Other than that, we are excited that there are less than 7 weeks to go until baby #2 arrives! Emily has been realizing time and time again that it is way different being pregnant the 2nd time around because there is a toddler to take care of on top of feeling like you've swallowed a bowling ball. She hurt her back this week and had to have some help taking care of Jacob while she recovered. Yay for family and friends who are always willing to help.

We also made the switch from a married student ward to a family ward. We loved our student ward and were sad to leave, but we were starting to feel like the "old folks" of the ward and figured it was time to move on. Our new ward is great and they already put Emily in as the Enrichment Leader---or the "weekday Relief Society meeting" leader, or whatever you want to call it.

Marc is enjoying teaching at South Cache, and we are also enjoying the grown up feeling of getting a salary paycheck---but not so much enjoying how much gets taken out for this and that. I guess that's what growing up is all about . . . yikes.

All in all we are doing very well and hope all of you are the same. We check a lot of your blogs even though we don't updated our own very often. Take care, everyone!

Getting more and more fun by the day

2009-08-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Jacob just cracks me up. Last Sunday I made some brownies. When they were just about ready to be taken out of the oven, I called Jacob over so he could "help" me check on them. When he realized the oven was hot, he blew on it and then, all by himself, he opened up the drawer where I keep my hotpads and got out an oven mitt. Then he put it on his hand (or should I say his arm up to his shoulder). Then he got out another oven mitt and put it on his other hand. By this time I am really laughing, but then he started playing peek-a-boo with the mitts on his hands and waving them around. He is just so much fun!

He has also discovered the concept of shoes and not only tries to put his own shoes on, but he also helps Mommy put on her shoes and even tries Daddy's shoes on.

Our last piece of news . . . this is our new set of wheels.

We had been looking into getting a 2nd car for a little while, but then we found that our faithful '02 Corolla has a transmission problem (the only trouble we have ever had with it). So we went ahead with our 2nd car purchase and we are very happy with our '08 Corolla. It is a stick shift, so Marc has been helping me brush up my driving skills. I have only killed it a couple of times. :)

Summer goes by way too fast!

2009-08-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

This summer we have been able to spend a lot of great time with family. This is us at Yellowstone at the beginning of July. This was part of our Parkinson family reunion in Island Park, Idaho. I should have taken more pictures, but . . . I didn't. Anybody have more pictures of our time in Island Park?

I do have some more pictures of Jacob. He loves the fact that he is getting bigger and can climb into all sorts of places, namely

the pantry

kitchen cupboards

and the coffee table.

What a fun little boy!

We have also been having fun with Marc's sister Sherri and her four kids. We only get to see them once a year but every time we do it's a blast! Sherri and I are due within a few days of each other in November. We love the Ziemer's!

Hope everyone is having a great summer, enjoy it while it lasts!

It's a Boy!

2009-07-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yay! We got our ultrasound done this morning and found out we are having another little boy. We are so excited that Jacob will have a little brother. Everything on the ultrasound looked great, the baby is healthy and coming in about 20 weeks! I wanted to post pictures on here, but we didn't get a good shot of his face, the little squirt kept hiding his face with his arm, and he was sucking his thumb with the other hand. What a cutie!

Our summer so far . . .

2009-06-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

I finally downloaded some pictures from our camera today and thought I would post them on here. We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house a few weeks ago, it was absolutely beautiful inside and out (although very windy outside). There were some cute little families with us, teaching their children about the temple. We look forward to doing that someday with Jacob when he is interested in something more than throwing his binky at the tour guide (true story).

Here are some pics of us fishing at the first dam in Logan. Jacob loves looking at the ducks and watching Daddy fish. Emily doesn't have a fishing license yet, so this picture was taken on Free Fishing Day.

We had a reunion with some of Emily's family in Vernal. These are some pictures of our hike near Red Canyon Lodge, it was beautiful there!

Karla, David, Rachel, Daniel, Tyler, Renae, Mom, Dad, Daron, Emily, Marc, Jacob. We had a great time with the family!

Family Pictures

2009-06-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

We got our family pictures taken last week and I thought I would put a few on here. Our photographer loved Jacob because he is so happy!

Jacob has been sick with a viral throat infection the last few days so Marc and I have been learning how to take care of a sick, fever-y baby. :( Jacob was snuggly and just wanted to be held, which was nice because he usually won't stay on our laps for more than two seconds. He started acting more like himself yesterday afternoon so he's all better now--except for one of his molars coming in. One thing after another, huh? Either way we are glad to have our happy Jacob back.

Our first post

2009-06-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hi, friends!
Here's our first post on our blog. Thanks to Sherri for helping us set this up, a reminder that we need to keep in touch better with everyone! Some of you haven't heard our news yet and may be surprised to see the baby countdown on our blog. So. . . Surprise! We are announcing baby #2! I am 16 weeks along, our little one is due on Thanksgiving Day! We heard the heartbeat yesterday, so everything is going just great down there. Today I have felt lots of movement, which is always fun to start feeling.

Another wonderful piece of news is the contract Marc just signed with Cache County School District for next year. We hoped and prayed to stay here in Cache Valley and were thrilled when South Cache 8-9 Grade Center offered him a full-time position teaching Algebra. So congratulations to Marc on graduation and his new job!

We are excited that it is summer and look forward to several family reunions. We were able to see some of my siblings over Memorial Day weekend. I wish I would have thought to take more pictures, but I'm relying on my older sister Crystal's pictures instead. Thanks for remembering, Crystal!

We celebrated Conner's 7th birthday on the 22nd,

and Brooke's and Tyler's 2nd birthday on the 24th. Isn't that red hair amazing? What a cutie!

Our last pictures come from fun in the sun at the park, these were taken just last weekend so those of you who haven't seen Jacob in a while can see just how big and grown up he is! He can wave bye-bye and stick out his tongue at you! (I'm still trying to get a good picture of him doing that)

Welcome to Blogger! We're glad you're here.

2009-05-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Emily,

I am so glad that I was able to help you create your blog! I hope you like it. Feel free to change anything you don't like. I am really excited to be able to see pictures of your family more often. It is hard living far away from family, so I am grateful that we have ways of keeping in touch better, like blogs. Thanks for being so sweet. You are a great wife, mother, sister-in-law and friend. I can't wait to see you guys this summer. And I am so happy for all the success you are having right now. We are truly blessed to have you in our family.

Love,

Sherri