Mapleton, Ya'll!

Yep, you read right. We are officially Mapletonites, or Mapletonians, or, as we like to call it, country folk. Now that we are out here (like how I use the term 'out here' because we are SO far away from civilization) in south Utah County, we can officially say things like "ya'll" and I can sit in the middle seat in James' truck when we go for a ride, cause that's what a lady does. Us city folk are gettin used to the quiet chirp of crickets and the neigh of horses round these parts...(we really have neighing horses) and reckon we'll settle here for quite a while. Ok, really its not that bad, but it is a little slower and quieter here. In case you haven't picked it up, James and I purchased a HOME in Mapleton just over a month ago. Ok, so a lot of you have been bugging me, and I know since a lot of you are far far away and can't come see it for yourselves, I have decided to post pictures of our new house! It all happened super fast and I feel like I am just now getting my bearings. I have hesitated for a long time to post pictures because it's kinda scary lettin' all the world in on your happy little home. I have not even begun to decorate - yet I have done with what I have right now...so don't judge me. Our home is in a new development - we are currently one of two new homes - soon to be six or seven, so there isn't much but dirt around us. It is 3 bedroom 2 bath, on a .25 acre lot. We have a huge unfinished basement. So far, we are loving having our own place. We are so excited for all of the projects that it has brought along - James is particularly excited about putting in the yard next spring. Our neighbors are awesome - everyone in our new ward has been great. We are so glad to be here and make a home for ourselves! Please come visit, stop by if you're in town, and know that there is always a room for ya'll.

Here is the front of our home.

Great room

Great room / kitchen

Formal living room

Hallway back to bedrooms, laundry/garage & baths

Basement

We have gorgeous mountain views from every window in the house. This is the back porch view

View from the front porch

View from the front porch looking east.

Week in review.... And my rookie post.

This is my fist blog attempt EVER,,,,, Make fun. I DARE YOU :)
So we went to Thanksgiving Point last week...
The night started with so mild heart attack at the scary haunted scary dinosaur ( not pictured ) Cuz I don't get scared and he was dumb anyway :)
then it was of to the races,,, Duck races that is and well me with my lucky hat well you know the out come.... Rick was a worthy opponent but hey you cant beat me when I have my lucky hat on.

Next the girls wanted picture time.. why you ask.. well their girls so we have learned to just not ask... and click the camera. They look cute though don't they.

Then Hayden needed some slide time but got camera shy,,,,
Too much paparazzi I guess.

Then we had to get in Santa chair and just relax for a bit,,,,,
Believe it or not the chair was way comfortable,,,,,

After a Crash on a hay bail and some hot cocoa it was off the dinosaur museum.
How do you like our rendition of Animal Farm :)

Here is April and her pearly Whites....

Back to my roots,,,, give me a spear and a rock and I'm good to go.

Did you really think you would gt out of here with out seeing our doggie.

And this concludes the first annual broadcast of don't laugh at my blogging....

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is James' Birthday! I did a James post a while back about how amazing he is. I still feel that way and more. Click here to read it. Jill also posted about him today. I love this post! It makes me so happy that my family loves him as much as they do. Click here to read it. There are so many things about James that I absolutely adore! These may be silly things, but I find them endearing - like his love for cheesy (I mean cheesy) 80's and 90's music...but he gets so excited about it. He is very appreciative of everything that is done for him. He is thankful for the smallest things such as laundry, a hot meal, or giving him the last bite of ice cream. I love how dedicated he is to his spirituality and his callings. He has my best interests always in mind, and is always looking to the future with a brightness of hope. James is thoughtful, and wise. He has been through a lot and always has great advice to give. He is very optimistic and always looking to serve someone else! I love this day because it is an opportunity to celebrate such an incredible man! MY man, to be exact! He is the best in all he does...he is my best friend, the perfect companion, my HERO! I love you JAMES! Hope your um, er, 29th (yes, that's it!) Birthday is the best ever!

Update, Ya'll!

It's time for an update, ya'll! So much has been going on...SO much to update on, who knows if I'll get through it. We had a Webster family reunion in September in Lakeside, AZ. It was a lot of fun. It was great to be with everyone and eat good food and laugh and hold babies and look at the babies and talk about the babies and feed the babies...and Oh, yeah...

James, my ultra sexy baby holding husband beat Benson in croquet - which many gruelling matches commenced over the weekend, but this one in particular resulted in Benson running in his underwear...Classic Webster, Ya'll!

What is that strange figure running in the woods?

We are excited to make this an annual event. My family is the best, like, seriously - you are jealous because, either A) you aren't them, or B) because they aren't your family - actually, if you know them at all, then you know that you ARE family because we just roll like that.

What's with the Moccasins, Dave?

This one is DELICIOUS, just like his twin brother!

Also in September, our friends Becca & Levi moved to London for a year for grad school. We will miss them very much! Becca and I have been friends since we were 10 years old. I'm so glad she converted to Blogism. If she has time to update her blog with her super busy-foreign-school-doctor becoming-PhD-gonna save the world-super smarty pants life, then there is no reason why I can't start posting on a regular basis. Even if they are super lame posts about Lucy and her newest haircut, RIGHT?!

I made it as small as I could, Becca! Love you!

Blog Neglect!

I'm bad. I'm really bad. But, whatever. I'm updating now...so all three of you that read this blog can be updated on the not-so-exciting life of the Attanasios. HA HA. I actually started this update about mid-August, and it is my mission to get up to date today. I don't know what I wrote - so forgive me if it sounds lame, it will just have to do.

Where to begin? July was filled with preparations for Girl's Camp. For those of you who don't know, I am in the Young Women's presidency in my ward. I haven't been to girls camp in over ten years. I was looking forward to it, but stressing out about all the preparations. I was proud of myself for being as prepared as I was, and I was actually able to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. the night before camp. (That means I wasn't up all night scrambling to be ready at the last minute - a HUGE first for me.) We left for camp on Tuesday, July 22. Why does that date sound so familiar? It was my birthday of course! My darling husband took me to breakfast and gave me a fabulous gift that morning. He knows my unecessary need to carry my world on my shoulder, and he got me a gorgeous handbag! It is brown and has silver embellishments everywhere and a big long strap and the cutest interior. I love it!

Girls Camp was a lot of fun. I had to leave a few days early to travel to Wyoming for the Clegg family reunion. Surprisingly, I didn't want to go home. I had such a great time bonding with the girls and the leaders. They were so much fun, and treated me like a princess on my birthday. I have never had that many birthday songs in my life! I am really glad that I was able to go and have that experience. It brought back so many memories from when I was a girl. It is a great opportunity for the girls and they love it.

I came home from camp Thursday afternoon and we left on Friday morning for Wyoming. We had family stay at our house overnight as a halfway point on Thursday night. We had Aunt Jenny, Jan, Seeta, Judy, Kenzie, Benson, and Courtney all stay. It was so much fun to have them here. We love having family in our home - it makes for more exciting life. We left late Friday morning for Wyoming, and after a few wrong turns - ha ha - we made it to the reunion. We stayed at this little place called the Wolfden Inn in Thayne, Wyoming. We were in these little cabins. James and I and Jenny shared one side of the 'Buffalo Bungalo' with Jill, Kirt & Britney. It was a cute little place. There was a little picnic area and a corral with buffalos in it right outside our door. We had the traditional parade at the reunion. They put Seeta in the golf cart with her accordion and she led the way. I will let the pictures speak for themselves on this one. I dressed up as Abe Lincoln. We went and stayed in Park City with the Petersen's for a couple days and celebrated my birthday. It was really fun and relaxing. I miss them so much...

Jand & Seeta stayed with us for a few days after that and it was a lot of fun having them in our home. We really have enjoyed our summer having family here and spending time with everyone. It has been a party!

August...what happened...?! It came, and it went. There wasn't anything too exciting that happened. We kind of recuperated from the past few weeks of going non-stop. We became completely obsessed with the olympics and tivoed every night and stayed up super late watching it all. We loved Michael Phelps, and hated the judges in the gymnastics. I freaked out seeing the men on the pommell horse...something about that just doesn't look right. James wants our children to be Olympians now...I want them to actually have a life, so we'll see how that turns out.

Throughout the summer the garden has been fabulous. The zucchinis keep getting bigger - like baseball bats - and there are so many tomatoes. If anyone wants some tomatoes, let me know. We have way too many to eat!

We are now into September...Labor Day weekend was rainy and lazy for us. We enjoyed the weather completely and watched movies and slept in. It was great. We are looking forward to some cooler weather and oh yes...Football season has started! The Giants are playing tomorrow night. Big news for us! James' work schedule changed from 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 and later p.m. to 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. We are normal! I do miss our long mornings with yummy breakfasts, but I am loving the time we have together in the evenings now. He usually wasn't getting home before 9 before, so it is super nice to have time together in the evenings. Lucy likes it too. Lucy update? She is the same...just more furry. She is eating everything in sight, and barking ALL the time. She is our baby though, and we love her. She likes to go to the park and is getting used to meeting other dogs. OK - I'm blogging about my dog...get a life!

James and I are happy though. I can say now that we are definitely settled into married life and we love it. I promise promise promise there will be more exciting updates in the very near future!

Garden Update

So, the garden is alive and well. My dad has been watering it and calling me with updates about what is happening with the baby plants. I went and weeded it a few weeks ago. I took some pictures for the blog.

The very first zucchini squash! Isn't it so cute?! I was so excited to see signs of life.

My rows of Walla Walla Onions, Radishes, and Carrots. Beautiful babies, they are.

The first Bell Pepper. It is lovely.

These tomatoes are salmonella FREE.

Lucy always helps me when I go play in the garden. She loves to run around in the back yard and sniff the basil plant.

Remember that little zucchini squash? Well, I picked it last Saturday. I cooked it for James and I on Sunday and it was delicious.

I will continue with updates on the veggies. They are very happy in their soil right now, the tomatoes are budding and we have a lot of peppers. I can't wait for fresh garden salsa!

Summer Update

Well, again, I have neglected the blog...and I'm sure you were all sick of seeing evil Lucy the first thing on my page. We have had a busy but fun summer so far. James' dad, Tony, came to visit just before Father's Day and stayed for a week. We had a great time visiting with him. Troy, Laura-Ann and fam came to our place on Father's Day for dinner. It was a lot of fun! Lucy enjoyed all of the attention she got from the kids. It was a great visit and we look forward to when Tony can come visit again.

Casey and Kenzie came and stayed for 2 1/2 weeks! It was a lot of fun to have them here. We went to the canyon almost every day, played lots of cards, ate good food, enjoyed the Bachelorette series, and late nights. We went to the Manti Pageant and met Sandi and Rick there. We had a lot of fun. We of course ate the local greasy pageant food and had ice cream. We laughed a lot and enjoyed being on Temple grounds. Remember: NO FOOD STUFF on temple grounds during the pageant!

Sandi & Rick

I think James is standing in a hole in this picture. Am I really that tall?!

We also went to Park City and rode the Alpine Slide and went shopping at the outlets. We really enjoyed ourselves. We all found some good deals, and I bought Lucy a hat. There was one point when all of us were in a dressing room giving me very valuable opinions on what shirts I should get. We had dinner at Macaroni Grill where we again made a major scene (well, Case & I) playing pictionary on our table. (I was really excited that Case guessed I was drawing a shoe.)

I really enjoyed having my sisters here! It brought a bit of AZ to me and I was glad that they wanted to stay with us! I am so grateful for family. We are so blessed to have such fabulous amazing people to share this crazy life with. I miss having them here - I get lonely sometimes when its just me and Lucy.