The Long and the Short of It

Fishing in 2012

2012-01-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

I was able to capture Drew quietly playing with his fishing puzzle and wanted to share his triumph in fishing by himself. This was the first time he had done it alone! He even caught 2!! :) (Yes, he is wearing underwear. We were attempting potty training...he made progress but I have needed a break.)

Just some shots to share.

Big boy getting bigger with his classic look.

Playing in his tent that he got from his cousins for Christmas.

Christmas

2012-01-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I spent Christmas morning here in Big Sandy, then went to church with my sister an hour away and spent the day with them. It was different having our "own" Christmas, but it was fun! Drew's interest in the presents wasn't much at first, but then once he realized that fun things were waiting for him behind the wrapping he got into it.

"Gotta see if they taste good."

Great Grandma and Grandpa Quinn gave Drew a car (not the one he is holding) and teddy bear and here he is showing his love for it!

"Merry Christmas!!"

Holidaze

2011-12-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY got a tree. We were headed to get a live one and then last minute we decided to get a fake tree. It looks nice and it was fun to have the feeling of Christmas complete in our home.

This would be Drew throwing a fit by the tree because I wouldn't let him hold the camera. Life is so hard for a toddler. :)

The smile came before the shot took.

2011-12-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

Drew loves his books. I was able to capture this funny moment recently, when I was cleaning up the kitchen and he came in to 'read' his book. He is so funny.

Backing up...here was our Thanksgiving Dinner crew. We had 20 people there (including the babies). A good portion of the food came from Mom and Dad's garden!

Smile!

Meal times are either a hit or a flop with Drew, but we can usually rely on him eating a good breakfast.

For the Grandparents :)

2011-11-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

He's such a ham! We LOVE this boy!

Life

2011-11-22T07:05:00.000-08:00

So we continue to adjust living in a remote place, but there are MANY things that are so appealing about living in a small place. The other day driving home from church, we starting driving down the road to our house, and down the way there was a mom pulling her kids on a sled behind her four-wheeler. That immediately put a smile on my face and made me more grateful for living here. The town is just calm, no one is in a rush, and simple pleasures are being experienced. Something else that you could find elsewhere, but still I thought it was nice...my mom went to buy butter on a Tues (thinking the sale was going to end...it was 2.99 rather than 4.30...disadvantage of MT are the insane food prices but no sales tax.:) and at the counter they said, knowing that she lives in the country and may not be in town the rest of the week to shop, that they would give her the additional sale price that would start the next day at 1.99! I thought this was so cool. They know her and her situation and make accommodations out of kindness. Anyway, the point is...I'm adjusting! Still miss my quick runs to Roberts Crafts or to Walmart, but it's okay.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...Andrew continues to love what he does. This is a picture of our old cow barn that has been turned into "The Oil Barn." Andrew gets to come here each day...literally (kind of miss the 5 day work week) and get dirty and manage everything! He and my dad work together, but my dad is helping with decisions and guiding, while Andrew carries it all out. I'm really glad that he enjoys his work. And, a plus is that the business is doing great.

This was just a cool shot from our kitchen window. We live on the 'edge' of town and I think we have a great view of the mountains and well...cows. :)

Drew just keeps getting bigger...of course. He is so funny and fun! He gives sweet kisses, babbles a ton, he loves his books, his blankie, and balls. He makes me giggle each day. He has been going through the stage the last few months of being very clingy to Mom and Dad. He didn't even go to my mom until after a week of living at her house. But now, although we are preferred, he realizes what he was missing out on. He goes to my mom freely now and even has given her lovies (hugs and kisses) and he even went to Adam and got the giggles at just the excitement of being in Adam's arms. (He's a big fan of his uncle.) The last video catches his fun attitude when he needs a nap but has decided that one is all that he needs rather than two. :)

Halloween

2011-11-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

We were excited to have some trick-or-treaters this year (about 14). It's the first time since we have been married. We had my parents over for dinner and I made some sides that were in the holiday spirit.

Dad is modeling my "center piece."

I'm sorry to say that this is as good as we got for a costume this year...Drew sporting his tiger hat. I had other fun ideas in mind to make, but just didn't get around to getting the things that I needed. Something else I kind of feel lame about is that these pictures were taken the morning after Halloween...yesterday was busy. Anyway, so Drew was discovering snow again too. He loved it. Maybe next year I'll have real costumes for the two!

Not Outnumbered

2011-10-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well, we had an ultrasound on Monday and are happy to announce that we are having a baby girl!!! We were both thinking it was going to be a girl, but still felt a little shocked imagining a little girl joining our family! We are really excited for her to come. I'm half way thru the pregnancy and that is always a good thing! :) Just wanted to share the news!

Crafting

2011-10-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

So I have discovered Pinterest, which I'm sure many of you have forever ago...but I FINALLY looked at it and have loved the ideas I have seen. So I got the bug...the crafting bug. Just know that I don't do any sort of craft that takes tremendous amounts of artistic skill...that's why I loved the ones I found...super fast and simple. It's probably a little late to be doing these but I figured I do them anyway, and plus Halloween hasn't past just yet. :)

The pumpkin still needs a ribbon but since I don't have any, and I haven't gone to the town that does sell ribbon...I'm posting it ribbon-less. But imagine a cute green (toward the sage color) ribbon tied at the base of the stick.

These mummies were SO dang easy.

Big Sandy, MT

2011-10-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

The metropolis

Main Street (about 2 blocks)

In college when some would say, "I came from a small town," I usually took the cake on smallest towns. This is Big Sandy. I grew up here and we are living here again. It's a town of about 700 and is 80 miles east of Great Falls (pop. 50,000) and 35 miles West of Havre (pop. about 9000). It's a quiet place with lots of friendly people. We are still adjusting to being so far from bigger cities, but we enjoy our quiet area and we love our house.

The Move

2011-10-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

So moving,,,not my favorite thing I've decided. I feel like this process has been SO long. We lived amongst boxes in Springville for a month while packing up. Then we had to live out of our bags for almost two weeks while we waited for our place to have some maintenance and cleaning done to it. (Thankfully my parents live here so we could stay at their place.) Then we’ve lived amongst boxes here for almost a week while settling in. I do like to organize but I’ve reached my limit.

While we were staying at my parents’, Drew cut another tooth and got Roseola. Needless to say it was a rough week for Drewboy and all involved. But he is back to normal and sure has enjoyed having more space to explore.

How am I adjusting you may be asking (or not)? I think adjustment takes a lot of time. The pattern in my life with big changes usually has been that I am fine for the first little bit and then have my breakdowns after a few weeks or so. That was the case with going off to college, the mission, starting teaching etc. So, I really started to miss my friends and the familiarity of live in UT these last couple of days. This could also be because Andrew went to Europe for business with my dad for a week and I've been without internet and tv. (It's amazing how much I rely on those things.) Life is good though and it's so nice to have my family close.

On a more positive note, there are some fun things that we like about here already. On a Sunday walk, we could hear coyotes yowling as we neared our house (they were quite a few miles away…don’t worry). Also, we really like our house. It’s spacious and it’s on the “edge” of town so we have a great view of the little mountains that are nearby. It’s fun to see the morning sky…we missed out on that for 3 years living in the basement. :)

Don't mind the mess in the pictures...haven't decorated fully yet. :)

The living room by the kitchen is Drew's toy area.

Love this kitchen...lots of counter space and cupboards.

The little nook off from the kitchen.

From the front door...which no one comes to in this area.

Bundle of Fun

2011-09-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

We were waiting in the lobby of Discovery Gateway. Drew thought those things were a blast.

He was gabbing quite a bit, but he slowed down once the camera was on.

His silliness was still caught on tape.

The Latest

2011-09-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

Throughout this summer, we have remained optimistic (for the most part) after many rejections from job inquiries and interviews. About a month ago we reconsidered a business opportunity that we had up in MT with a new business my dad has been developing. In May, after much prayer and consideration, we didn't feel that it was what we were to do, but this second time we felt a lot better and calmer about it. We feel that we have the 'stamp of approval' from up above. Therefore, we are moving Sept 23rd up to Big Sandy, MT. (about 11-12 hours north of here)

We are excited to have a plan and know what we are going to be doing for the next year at least. (We are going to try it for that long and see...) There are many things that we will miss about living here in UT. We love having things so close and convenient, but that just means that we are going to have to plan a little bit more and better than we do know as far as shopping goes. We will miss being so close to the temple, and to other church facilities
.

I will miss 'blending' in. I like just being a number in a sea of people. I like being able to go to the store and not being noticed...nobody really in our business...which tends to happen in a small town. I will miss having the 'arts' so close and living in the hub of where friends and family come or pass through. I am really excited to live so close to my brother during his senior year of high school and be closer to my family in general! There are some big advantages about living in a small town a far as people knowing you for business stuff is great. I'm grateful for the opportunity to live in the 'mission field' again. Random facts of Big Sandy Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam is from there, the world's largest tractor is there (Big Bud), and a friend of mine from hs is in a band Cody Beebe and the Crooks and they are making it big touring all over the country. How's that for claim to fame?

In other news...Drew is going to be a big brother!! In March we are welcoming a new, cute bundle into our family. I'm nervous at times but now I'm more excited. I think it will be great to have them close (19 month apart). I'm excited to have a spring baby. I have been sick again but I'm feeling much better faster than I did with Drew. I'm 14 weeks and this week I had a few days that I didn't even feel pregnant...which is bliss after barfing your brains out for weeks on end. Anyway so we have many new changes coming our way.

AUGUST

2011-09-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

This was Drew's birthday cake! Happy Big 1, Buddy!

Don't look too closely at the cake. :)

I think it was a success.

Sportin' Top Teeth

Mainly for the Grandparents

2011-08-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

So here are some pictures/movies of the fun babe at our house.

In July, we went to the park that is by where we used to live. I loved this picture because this was the slide and almost the same pose that we used for our wedding announcements. :)

He FINALLY started signing back.

He's a genius! :)

He also loves playing ball with us. Of course I missed the beginning part when he was actually playing...but it's still cute. AND you get to see the new trick of sitting up from being on his tummy....finally.

I wanted to put this on here just to show you how he gets "pumping" when he's excited.

July

2011-07-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Man, this summer is flying! We have been gone half of this month and of June as well. We have had a great time traveling though visiting family. We went to California during the last week in June to attend Andrew's niece, Natalia's baptism. It was nice to be there for that sweet experience. Drew was a little overwhelmed with being in a new place and having lots of people around...he and I had plenty of bonding time.
Two weeks later we drove up to MT to attend my grandpa's 90th birthday party. The next day we drove down to the southern part of the state, near West Yellowstone to have a little family reunion with just my siblings and their families. We were there for 5 days and really enjoyed our vacation. We were able to go to see a play in West Yellowstone, visit Virginia City, see Quake Lake, and we went swimming up in Bozeman at their hot springs. Drew loved the water. Unfortunately, our last morning there, Drew had a reaction from eggs. It started with swelling lips and ended in hives. Poor boy. I hope he grows out of this.

First time swimming...loved it!

Cousins picture. Drew was melting down and Charlie is wondering why (and blocking Gwen). We were only missing two cousins from the Long side.

It's been a fun, busy summer, but I'm ready to just stay home for a bit.

Quake Lake near Ennis, MT. This used to be a river until an earthquake hit in the middle of the night causing half of a mountain to crash down and destroy roads and back up the river.

Family Picture on my birthday!

Ol' Blue Turned Red

2011-06-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

So...two days after finishing his antibiotics from being sick in MD, I noticed suspicious bumps on Drew's thumb. Not just any thumb, Ol' Blue. You see, our little boy never did like pacifiers...believe me we tried. Andrew called his source of comfort Ol' Blue since it's trusty. :) ANYWAY we found out that he has a type of staph infection. Luckily it's not that contagious and it's only on his finger. But we were told to wrap Ol' Blue. WHAT?!! Well, the first nap after the wrapping was refused...but he finally got tired enough that he fell asleep later. It was kind of sad to see him try to suck his thumb through the red. After this week, it should all be better.

This is just a pic of his MESS before the wrap. Oh man. And none of his "big" bibs were clean.

Attitude

2011-06-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

We've been traveling fools these last few weeks and will continue to do so throughout July. We went up to Montana around the middle of May. The last week in May my sisters, brother and parents all got together in SLC to see the play Les Miserable. It was really fun because Mom didn't know we girls were all going to be there. We haven't all been together, alone since Adam was two months old.

Holly and I

Mom, Penny, Adam

Allison

Earlier this month we were excited to take a trip to MD to be with Andrew's parents. (I need to upload photos to my computer to add. There were some cute ones.) We spent just over a week there and unfortunately Drew got sick after a couple of days and was sick most of the time. It was too bad because he really wasn't himself at all. It was a blessing though to have him sleeping well at night and he traveled great on the plane.

This was on the way out...he really fought going to sleep...finally he gave in. (So did Mom.)

We went to a minor league baseball game. Unfortunately, there was a rain delay...yet no rain. (strange) Anyway, Mom Long, Drew and I left early because this boy here was SO tired.

One night we were able to go to a nearby park. I think I caught him doing the Funky Chicken.

Drew finally started scooting around. We try to put him up on his knees and show him how to crawl that way, however that is usually followed by a little tantrum. Which leads me to connect to the title of this post:ATTITUDE. Drew is getting an attitude for sure. He throws little tantrums over things that he didn't used to. Oh man. I didn't realize that we would be dealing with this so young. Hopefully, we'll all learn how to deal with this. Anyway, he is still a sweetheart, he's just keeping us all on our toes.

May Excitement

2011-05-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

We discovered that Drew enjoys the swings...especially when he's rested and fed.(Naturally)

We also went to an aquarium and he was a trooper and really got into it.

Drew loves his bath time.

Graduation Day!!

2011-05-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

April 22 was a very eventful day around here. Andrew finished his MBA at BYU!! My parents and his parents came, which was really nice. Drew was a trooper thru the whole thing. I however look quite tired...I was. :) We were all so proud of Andrew (and Jamen) and we are so excited to get started with the next stage in life.

Really happy about it all.

Can't Get Enough

2011-04-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I just love, love being parents to this CUTE, SWEET boy!! He's such a calm kid. Doesn't feel the need to crawl around. He's content playing by himself, watching others and of course, chewing on anything. He cracks me up daily. His latest thing is to play with these plastic buckets we got from my sister. He loves to "talk" into them. He sleeps pretty well at night unless he is going thru a growth spurt which seem to come around more often than I would have thought. Lately he's been taking long morning naps and shorter afternoon and evening naps, but since I am posting this to the world I'm sure that will change starting today.

This video stemmed from one afternoon when I had been feeding him. (at the beginning of March) I had left his side for a little bit and he tried to grab the papers that were next to him. From the couch I called him a little stinker and told him no. He thought that was so funny.

Drew has learned how fun Andrew is. He gets excited when he comes home from school and they have a lot of fun together.

Reading Drew the Ward newsletter. Drew laid there and listened the whole time. :)

Drew is actually smiling sometimes when I'm taking his picture. Maybe he's catching on the concept. :)

We were given these cute shorts that have suspenders sewn onto them. Andrew thought it would be fun to take pictures of Drew in them without his shirt.

The big boy is now 8 months old. I just can't believe it.

Crafting

2011-03-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

My mom was/is an excellent sewer. I just couldn't get into it too much. We made some things together in my early teenage years, and I loved doing that with her. But I didn't have much interest to carry on myself. I have discovered that I love to do little sewing projects that don't take too much time. (However, if I took more time on the projects they might turn out even better.)

My sister-in-law gave me a darling carseat canopy cover for my baby shower, and I decided that I wanted to see if I could make one to give to a couple of friends. So, I studied hers and bought enough fabric for mistakes - which was a good thing. I ended up making two of them. I didn't take a picture of the second one on a carseat...that's why it looks strange, but I loved the colors.

I should have rounded the corners, but I was afraid.

My sister made a cute "tag rag" with ribbons and such. Drew absolutely loves it. So I thought with the extra fabric that I had that I would make something similar. As I searched online, I found a tag ball that was way cute that I wanted to try. Sewing with that fuzzy fabric is hard, but it turned out. I'm just glad no one can see the inside. Next time I won't put as many ribbons on it. I want to make some more balls without the ribbons, varying in size, since we don't have many here to play with.

Honestly, I'm STILL not completely finished with this project. I just need to drill holes and get a ribbon so that it can be hung next Christmas. I have time right?! I saw this on a local tv show and tried it out. I used my mom's Cricut over the holiday to make the fun numbers. I was pleased with how it turned out.

We were in need of a bigger blanket for our growing boy. I made this for him and tried the rounded corners. It wasn't too painful, but once again this fabric is so tricky for me to work with. My embellishment was the zigzag stitch.:)

Thanks for letting me share!

Sitting Tall on His Way to 7 Months

2011-03-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well, once Drew got good at rolling around the room, he got better at sitting up and now he can actually sit for minutes by himself rather than seconds. Today, in fact, I think he realized that he would rather be sitting than laying flat.

Falling backwards seems to hurt more than falling to the side, hence the pillow in the background.

I couldn't help but pull out the camera on this boy. Lately, he has been doing this cute thing with scrunching up his face and breathing loudly through his nose. I caught a glimpse of this on video.

Just love this boy!

Not Just a T-shirt

2011-02-25T14:54:00.000-08:00

So I was watching a local morning tv show where they had a lady showing how to make "no-sew scarves." My friends, she made it from a t-shirt. I watched intently, and wanted to try it desperately. A friend came over and we attempted the craft. We had a good time making fun of ourselves for wearing old t-shirts as an accessory. I was shown how to make little fabric flowers, and I added them onto it. These flowers really are NOT so perfect...don't look to closely. I definitely need to practice more, but I felt very crafty and even wore it out on a date with Andrew that night.

The Big 3-0

2011-02-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

On the 17th of this month, Andrew turned the BIG 3-0!! Say good-bye to the 20s sweets. This is the most festive we get...I was pretty proud of myself. I made us all wear party hats through dinner; even the boy. :)

My Sweet Boy

2011-02-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

So Drew had a minor surgery today on a condition he has had since birth. He was a trooper. We interrupted his night and early morning slumber many times in prep for this, and that is why both mom and babe have LARGE bags under the eyes. The surgery was an hour long and everything went well. We thought he looked so cute in his hospital jammies. He's just a sweetheart!

Jumpin' and Smilin'

2011-02-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

We are so thankful because our friends are letting us borrow their "Jumperoo." Drew likes to be up and in the last couple of weeks he finally figured out how to jump in it. I thought this was so funny. I turned the camera sideways to catch his feet...bad idea for viewing..sorry.

I placed a mirror right next to his jumper and he started smiling at his 'new friend' in the mirror. He's just getting more and more fun!

Better With Age...Phew

2011-02-03T21:46:00.000-08:00

So I experienced something tonight that made me realize that I actually HAVE matured over that last few years...at least since college. I'm playing volleyball on a city league team. I really enjoy the team, although I only knew one person prior to playing. Well, tonight we had a double header. The first team was good, but had some sass, but it wasn't too bad. THEN the next team we played only had four show up but they were great players. During the first game, one player on the other team started getting...energized (talking smack, being cocky etc). It just got worse throughout the whole game. Anyway, I was proud to say that I kept my language clean...even in my mind. [Not always the case earlier in life...sad to say.] She was really getting under my skin, BUT I kept myself in check. I remember when I played flag football in college...I would get so riled up by the other sassy girls, but this time I felt that I was acting more mature than I used to. So this is me patting myself on the back, and relieved that I "grown up." a bit. :]

January

2011-01-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

So I have to admit, when I was going over the calendar for January at the beginning of the month, I was sad that I had "nothing" to look forward to. But we have had a great month. I have gotten into card crafting, and some sewing. I have visited friends, and have been thoroughly entertained by "the boy." I started him on cereal and veggies to see if that would help his hunger. He has really liked it...he's getting so big.

We took Drew to a BYU BB game. It was really fun to go, but Drew was SO tired since we had gotten him up from a nap. He's a trooper.

First rice cereal.

5 months old

Start 'em young

I thought this was so sweet. He's got his legs curled up and his arms folded looking into the mirror.

Our happy boy

I laugh so hard at this picture...I didn't feed him lemons, he was just ticked.

Drew likes to put things on his face and leave it there. He's a ham.

Christmas Time

2011-01-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

The week of Christmas we went up to MT which was great! I was able to see all of my sisters and their families by the time our visit was finished. Drew got to meet all of his cousins. This is Matthew. He is 6 weeks older and such a smiley, happy camper. Drew just couldn't bring himself to smiling.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Quinn with #13 & 14

This is another cousin, Joslyn who is 5 months older. She put her arm around Drew without hesitation.
She's a sweetheart.

Andrew poured Drew's toys all over him...it was a party.

"Playing" in the snow

Grateful for Friends

2011-01-20T20:41:00.000-08:00

As we near the end of Andrew's schooling, I have been thinking about leaving my second home, Utah. I first came to live here in the fall of 2000. Throughout these years I have had siblings down here during 3 of those years, and I have had cousins around here and there too. It was really hard to be away from my home and family, especially in the beginning of my college life, and when I didn't have family here. However, during those tricky, "growing" times, I found wonderful friends. I have great relationships and stay in contact with freshman friends, el. ed. cohorts, roommates, neighbors, colleagues from work, and people from church from various wards. I am blessed with great friends. Often times I feel that my friends know me better than my own family, and I feel that is true since it is during the college years and after that I really "found" myself and developed into the person I am now. I am different than I was in high school, as most people are, but we often don't live with our families during our 'mature' stages. :] I hope this doesn't sound negative toward my family; I love my family. Just saying that I love my friends too!!

Goals

2011-01-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

I confess. I hate making New Year's resolutions. I've never liked it. In church or at school we would have to make goals the first Sunday or school day of the month. I didn't like that because I wasn't motivated by a new year because life and schedules hadn't changed, I was motivated my new situations, such as a new school year, or summertime. Anyway, now as an adult, I feel like each week or day I'm making new goals of reading , cleaning, study, crafting, exercising, cooking etc. Maybe, I'm just a short-term goal kind of person...or maybe... I really do love to be able to cross off items from my checklist, therefore, my goals-of-the-day work for me.

With that being said, I have made some goals recently, but they were before the New Year. :) I am declaring it here to help with my commitment. I want to read through the whole New Testament before the end of the year. Also, I work with the young women at church, and as leaders we are asked to do the personal progress program along with the girls, regardless if you did it as a teenager. I have been working on it a lot since being home with Drew, and I have a goal of finishing it by March.

Disclaimer: I don't think any less of you New Year's Resolution people...just don't make me do it. haha :)

Most at Christmas Time

2010-12-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

This year we opted for the fake tree a friend offered to loan us rather than try to fit a real tree in here again. It's just a 4 footer, but perfect for our space. I was happy because earlier (totally can't remember when...baby brain!) I was able to get my ornaments from my house to have with us now. These ornaments are special to me because the majority of them are from my grandparents that have now been gone since 2002 and 2003. Each year for Christmas, they would give their 17 grandchildren an ornament, usually with our name or the year on it. Many of these ornaments were handmade, either crocheted, wood carved, sewn or some other handiwork. As I put the ornaments on the tree one by one after closely analyzing each one and letting my mind wander back to memories with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Willis, I started to miss them deeper than I have before or at least in a while. I'm not sure if it is because I would love for them to meet my sweet boys or what, but man I had to choke back the tears.

My grandparents both grew up in ID during hard times. My grandpa's mom died days after giving birth to his sister...he was only 2. He was raised by his 4 older brothers and 2 older sisters and father on their farm. He grew up to be a teacher, principal, and finally a professor at MSU Bozeman. My grandma's mother came from England and grew up very proper yet in humble circumstances as well. Great-Grandpa Stan lost the farm during the Great Depressions and honestly I'm not sure what they did to get through. She lost her brother that was about 1 younger than her when she was 12 to appendicitis. She was a stay-at-home mom and taught her children how to cook, sew, play piano, and to be great parents.
They were high school sweethearts.

I remember going to stay at their house by myself a couple of times, and those memories are sweet. They loved to play games, and tell stories. Grandma would always hum a tune while doing the dishes and cleaning up. Grandpa always had a toothpick in his mouth and had a story to tell. They were both really patient in teaching us card games. Grandpa would show tricks with his body: acting like he blew up his bicep while flexing it. He was an avid fisherman. Grandma got really good at Freecell, recording the number of the games that she won. I remember her smell, Avon face lotion that was in a turquoise container. She would let me sit on her lap and we would put our noses together, and tell each other how many eyes we saw. She would play along as I hugged her from behind while she did the dishes, acting as if she didn't know who it was.
My grandpa passed away after 6 years of congestive heart failure. That was really hard although we were mentally prepared. Grandma died after a week of knowing she had leukemia (the kind children get). She made it back to him in time for their anniversary. I was able to be there in Bozeman that last week, and when I said goodbye and told her that I loved her, she still wasn't able to say that she loved me. That was something that was hard for them to say. But I know that she loved me, because for all those years, her actions said it.

The song from Mariah Carey "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)" came into my head while putting the ornaments on the tree. Those words really had a deeper meaning to me than they have before. I like to think that they still share Christmases with us in spirit each year.

Not Much Yet It's So Good

2010-12-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hi there! So life at home has been great, yet I don't have much to report. In the past, I would share (not necessarily on the blog) funny stories from school, coworkers, from my students, or from adventures that Andrew had. I still have things to share (of course) but now they are stories of sleep patterns, diaper blowouts, slobber, smiles, and other new baby skills. I still am amazed at the love that we feel for Drew. It's just amazing that we can love someone so much after being pooped on, spit up on, and being cried at. It's so great to be home with him and to feel of his love now, as he snuggles, smiles, and giggles (sometimes). So when people ask what I've been up to, I always think, "not much, yet it's so good."

Drew really does smile, but I just can't catch it on camera without having it be blurry.

Classic sleep position

Us

2010-10-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Our attempt at trying to be artistic with our family photos. Jamen took them and did a great job. Drew was quite the sport!

Family Photo

2010-10-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

My friend, Debbie, offered to do a photo shot with Drew and us. We loved the pictures and Drew was such a good boy for her. Drew is growing like a weed and beginning to stretch out his naps and night time sleep, which is great! Life is great and we are happy!

Changing

2010-09-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

I am loving being home and taking care of Drew and the house! He's growing and changing, which is so fun to see. He is smiling more, cooing more, and he has grown out of some 0-3 months clothes already...depending on the brand of course. He is still the sweet boy that we brought home. :) Andrew and I have felt the blessing of having Drew in our lives.

TUMMY TIME

Cute outfit from Great Grandma Quinn

Curly when wet!

One Month Old

Sporting the Skateboarding Onsie

Cute boy!

3 month outfit...growing growing!

Real Life Has Begun

2010-09-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Andrew started school this week, so now I feel like I've started "real life" as a stay-at-home mom. I love it. Of course I would love more sleep too, but I am able to sometimes get naps here and there when I make myself. Drew has been such a good baby. He eats great, sleeps great, and is so fun and mellow when he is awake. He is growing, growing. Today he actually smiled after shaking an obnoxious toy and using that silly high voice that we all do. :) My goal is to just enjoy each stage, but I am excited for when he will react more to us. I can't resist taking pictures of him so here are some more.

Mr. Handsome!

2010-08-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

My friend, Debbie, came to take pictures of Drew here in our house.

She did a great job! He looks SO handsome!

Notice the part! :)

Our Little Family

2010-08-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

Drew Maxwell Long joined our family at 10:22 p.m. Friday, August 13th. He weighed 7lbs. 10oz. and was 20.5 in. long. Traits that the doctors and nurses first noticed were his lips, big hands and feet. Also, he has such a mellow personality. Life really has been "easy" with him so far. We had to stay in the hospital for a week so he could receive some antibiotics. The first week of life was rough since we spent it in the hospital, however, I was able to glean A LOT from sitting and talking with the nurses. We are grateful to have him home with us...we just love him so much!

Retirement

2010-08-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

To finish up our adventures in WA...we went on a steam engine train ride

up to a beautiful lake near Mt. Rainier.

We went to the zoo, and saw Cirque Du Soliel in Seattle. One weekend we went to my house in MT for our Homecoming. In our small town this happens every 5 years, during the summer, and it's mainly for the alumi of Big Sandy High School.

This was my dad's class float!

Prego sisters. Holly had her baby the following week.

We've been back in UT for about 3 weeks and have been busy organizing our home to get ready to welcome our little guy. It has been fun to be in this mode of retirement again. We aren't too sure when or if it will happen again for many years. We spend our time reading, cooking, shooting guns, going to garage sales, going to plays, cleaning, and waiting, waiting, waiting for Baby Long to come. I'm trying to keep perspective that there really isn't much time left, and that he has to come out SOME time. My due date is this weekend, but I was told last Wed, by the doc., that i could go anytime. I think that that is one reason whey I've been so impatient the last little bit. We'll make sure to update the blog when there is more exciting news...I'm crossing my fingers for tomorrow. :)

Catching Up

2010-06-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

So now that I have time to do absolutely nothing, I'll post some pictures from before and during our WA excursion. Andrew had this iron-on thing and we decided to make some dope onsies for our babe. He's destined to be a skater...like his dad!

Andrew's thinking about his skater kid.

Andrew left May 3rd for WA and I stayed in Springville to finish teaching. That was the longest we had been apart and it was nice to be reunited Memorial Day weekend.

He was quite inventive while away. We have been looking for a Zune armband for him for a long time. He decided to make his own, out of duct tape. :)

On Memorial Day, we went for a walk down by the capitol building. I wasn't trying to hide my belly, but you can't really tell how big I really am. It also depends on what I'm wearing.

It was windy...obviously.

The next weekend we went up north to visit my sister and her family. My mom and my brother were also there visiting.

Smores anyone?

Posing in Penny's new house and outside her old one.

The Highlander Games were taking place in Ferndale! Good times

Penny and Evan. Mom and Adam in the back.

Cute little Garin!

"What does she do all day while Andrew's at work?" you may be asking. I nap, go on walks, read my scriptures, and John Grisham (currently), and go window shopping or real shopping when I when I have the car.

These are pictures from my walks.

A shot by the community college. I'd say that looks almost fake, which means nice picture!!!

So I saw this sign and it caught my attention...

This must be different than a speed bump.

Nature!

Andrew went on a drive and found a house that is now a museum and was at one time Bing Crosby's grandparents house....that's old.

The Crosbys weren't home...sad!

We found a cool path to walk on. It's just so green and luscious here.

Amor

The poor, little, yellow ducky was caught.

Frogs for Buddy Boy

2010-05-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

So my sweets let me buy a sewing machine! I wanted to send it with him out to WA when he went out there for his internship so that I won't have to take it on the plane when I fly out to meet him at the end of the month. Therefore, I also wanted to bust out a project before he took it. Now my mom is an amazing sewer, and I did a few projects with her growing up but I would consider myself a definite beginner. I wanted to make a baby quilt for our buddy boy and it turned out! Andrew and I are so excited to bring him into our family!

Appreciation

2010-03-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

So, I guess this blog is becoming more of a journal with the last few entries, but it's mine and I can do what I want. :)
Since feeling better (it now being 3 weeks since I last threw up...yes, I'm still on the medicine), I have felt a much increased appreciation for good health and other little things. I am grateful that I don't have to plug my nose, turn my head, and leeeeeeaaaaan in to get something each time I open the fridge. I am grateful that looking at dirty dishes doesn't make me run to the bathroom anymore, that the smell of boiling water doesn't phase me, that I can come home from work, and although hungry and tired, I have enough umph and interest to cook a real meal, serve it, and clean up. I appreciate that I can clean the bathtub, and the rest of the house on that note. I love that I can read a book and not get "motion sickness." I appreciate that food sounds good again and it's not quite as potent. Those are just a few things that I have been thinking of in the last few weeks.
Andrew has been such a wonderful help through these last months! I couldn't ask for a better husband.

Baby Boy

2010-03-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today was a really fun day! During my lunch break Andrew and I went to our 20 week ultrasound appt. The ultrasound was SO cool! I loved seeing the body and the ultrasonographer going over measurement and helping us understand the "salt and pepper" fight on the screen. :) We were very excited when we found out that we will be having a healthy baby boy in Aug. He actually is measuring a week big so we'll see when he ends up coming. Anyway, just want to share with you...I"ll have to scan in some pictures of the ultrasound...they aren't too becoming but just cool. :)

Long Time Gone

2010-02-07T14:20:00.000-08:00

Wow! Here we are in 2010 and beginning the second week of February. I, for one, have been pleased to have the time pass. Although I feel that it is extremely important to enjoy the present, I have been looking forward to moving out of these first weeks/months of pregnancy. I am at week 13 and am feeling loads better than I had. We found out we were expecting the beginning of Dec and right before Christmas break, morning sickness joined my life. I ended up in the ER because of dehydration and now take medicine for the nausea but I've been able to cut back a lot since the first weeks. I would never wish morning sickness on my worst enemy! Andrew, of course, was affected as well by the whole thing and has been such a gem in helping me out. Also, thanks to my friends that have helped with dinners, survival bags, and listening ears, I have made it through. I haven't decided if going to work has helped or hindered...I think it's good for the most part so that I get up and get going. I just wish in fourth grade we could take naps at 1 in the afternoon! :) We heard the heartbeat at 10 weeks and that was a cool experience. Anyway, that explains why I haven't updated this in a while.

We went to MT for Thanksgiving and enjoyed our time up there. Then we stayed here for Christmas because Andrew's family came here.

These pictures are from a "photo shoot" that we had Andrew's twin do for us in order to get a Christmas card picture.

Well, this is just our update and hopefully I'll stay on it a little better! :)

Organzing

2009-11-15T14:44:00.001-08:00

We live a two bedroom apt., one of which is basically just storage. But we decided to buy some great shelves for our food storage so that we could actually see all that we had and to open up the room.
The funniest was that when we were all finished, Andrew's comment was, "It looks like a store, but not for the public."

Hooray for more floor space!

November

2009-11-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends and Family! This year has been going by SO fast. I have a student teacher right now that has been awesome! She is so helpful and let's face it, I love being able to chat with someone all day. I've never liked doing things by myself. Don't get me wrong, of course I like "me" time, and I'm finding that I'm a home-body. But, when it comes to work, I love working with other adults. :)
Most of my life I have had short hair, but with encouragement from Andrew and the girl that cuts my hair, I have been growing it out. So I have the before and after pictures of it. I also got some low lights. We discovered that my hair pulls red so I actually had to go back and get it fixed. The total process from beginning to end was 41/2 hours (over a course of two days). I don't know if it was worth it, but it's done. Good thing hair grows!

I do like to ccok...but not when I'm tired. When I was young, I remember my mom beginning to prepare dinner when I arrived home from school...about 4 o'clock. I've decided that that is a great idea because if you wait when you are hungry you either snack along the way and are full when dinner is ready to be served, or you have cereal. Since getting married, I have tried to make real meals (not cereal or sandwiches). I'm usually tired and starving when I get home from work, so I have found myself making meals that take 30 minutes or less. :) Anyway, so I was proud that I thought of this pizza meal while grocery shopping. I actually have seen these before on bagels and I'm sure that on the muffins too...but I was proud so I wanted to post. Anyway, these little pizzas were cute, fun and a big hit in the Long household.

Fall Break

2009-10-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Over Fall Break I went to WA to visit my sister, Penny. They live in small town north of Bellingham, WA. It was a beautiful time of year to visit! I only got pictures of three of the five kids...I don't know why!! Dang.

This is Evan. He wanted to make his own sandwich. Check out the two items that he put on the bread...mustard and ketchup!! So funny. Penny said that he always chooses that when he is making one himself.

Maggie was sporting a fun hat for "Hat Day."

Brayden isn't the biggest fan of getting his picture taken, but I was able to get him! :)

Streets in Bellingham...Gorgeous!

October Fun

2009-10-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

Andrew was gone to a career fair thing, and so my mom came down from MT to come and visit me! We got crafty after having to attend a Super Saturday that I had to participate in. I'm pretty excited about these new additions to our home. Also, we tried to spice up our entry with corn stalks, pumpkins, and Andrew eating a cookie. My mom and I had a great time. We really didn't do much but we just chatted a ton!! I used to be kind of critical of those who visited their moms often...mainly because I couldn't. But I would love to have mine close enough to visit often.

Andrew, Mom, and I went for a drive up Provo Canyon! We loved the colors, of which are not captured in this picture.

My cute mom!!!

I painted this and added these sticker things.

SALES!!! The day of Halloween, I went into a store here in Springville and saw this dang cute Halloween decoration on sale for 40% off. I was happy to add it to our decor.

Halloween night we went over to some friends house in the ward....everyone and thing was so festive!

The Classroom

2009-10-11T21:17:00.001-07:00

This year has been the most fun teaching so far! The kids are fabulous and I feel that I am more efficient in my planning, teaching, managing, etc. Don't the pictures of the room make you want to come back to fourth grade and enjoy the simple things of life, like learning long division, adding fractions, and about the state of UT?!

Ikea makes it betta

2009-09-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

One trip to Ikea, made our house more homey. It's amazing what fake stuff adds to a place. :)

Camping

2009-09-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day weekend, Andrew and I decided to go camping one night up at Diamond Fork in Spanish Fork Canyon. We were the only campers using tents. I must say that it's great being out in nature like that, but the sounds of a generator echoing throughout camp is quite distracting! :) But I think for the first time ever I wasn't cold during the night in the mountains. Andrew had bought me a new sleeping bag that brought much warmth to my bod. A semi-good-night sleep is much better than a lousy-night's sleep. Andrew definitely took care of me up there. The pictures prove it!

He cooked.

He cleaned.

He made fire.

And he was happy about it!

Now entering...

2009-09-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

So I've never done this before but I'm thinking that this is what is going to help me pass my time while Andrew studies hard! I've often thought about blogging as I often have stories that I feel everyone should hear, but realizing that isn't the case...I just need to spit it out somewhere. Therefore, this new found blog might be a relief to many of you as you can just read up on the little things that happen in my life rather than getting a daily phone call.
After Andrew found out that he got into the MBA program at BYU and after work was done for the school year we played and played. We had a fabulous summer of traveling to CA, MT, and MD. I ate crab for the first time, and Andrew helped with harvest for the first time. Life was so carefree...we really had fun!
I've started my fourth year teaching and I think it's been the best year so far. That could be because I'm free from my masters classes and from other professional trainings that were required by the district in my first three years. Also, not to mention, my fourth graders are fabulous! They are so obedient and just good kids. I don't have any students that seem high-strung or that go looking to cause trouble. Refreshing.
Andrew has been enjoying getting back into school. He stays right on top of his work and is happy to be in classes with is twin brother.

We went to New Jersey with Andrew's parents.

A nice mom...patiently waiting for the ferry.

A nice dad smiling.

We saw fireworks on the beach in Ocean City, MD! It was so fun and gorgeous!

We went to Kalispell, MT for a Quinn Family Reunion.

Flathead Lake, MT

We had some close encounters at the Hogle Zoo.

We enjoyed a trip to the beach in San Fransisco with Andrew's sister Lindsey and her cute family!

We went back up to MT and I had liderhousen cake for my birthday!

Andrew got to practice his shot in the wide open spaces!

We bonded with my cute nephew, Jacob. Andrew is a good bubble blower!