GET TOGETHER!!

Ok. So this is very short notice I know but I just barely got the brilliant idea of posting this on my blog!! Since we got our house we have been wanting to have a "house warming party" but without the house warming gift thing. So we want to invite all of you to our house this Saturday the 28th at 6:30. We will be having a BBQ and we will be providing the meat and stuff. If you could bring a side (salad, chips, drink, dessert) and a lawn chair that would be fabulous!! We would love to see you ALL there!! If you need our address you can email us: mkdraper@gmail.com Hope to see you all very soon!!!

Our Anniversary

Today was our 3 year anniversary!! It was wonderful!! Mike went to work and I stayed home and thought for a few hours what I could do for him. I thought and thought and finally I decided to make a slideshow for him of the past years together! But of course my computer didn't want to cooperate. So I called apple care and a nice guy helped me get it up and running!! I had 30 minutes to put it all together!! Thank goodness for MACs!!! It only took 30 minutes and it put it to music for me and everything! It was great and even made me cry while we were watching it!! I left a mess because I was running late for work and so after work I ran home really fast to pick it up before Mike got home. When I walked in the door it was clean. I thought uhoh! Mike was in the kitchen making a gourmet dinner for us!! He also bought me one of my FAVORITE movies- Enchanted!! We ate dinner and watched that movie!! What a great movie to watch on your anniversary because it talked about having a happily ever after!! Even though Mike, more than likely, will not read this I am so grateful for such a wonderful man!! It has been 3 amazingly wonderful and as Mike put it "so easy" years!! I fall in love with him more and more each day!! I love you so much babe!

I give up!!

That's right. I give up trying to do my own background and I was sick at looking at the plain boring white!! So, I went to good old trusty pyzam and got me a free one!! It will do! I got all my side things erased in the process so if I forgot to add you back onto my list PLEASE let me know!! I don't want to forget anyone!!

Work in progress

Ok. I promise my blog isn't going to be so boring and white forever! I am working on a background and obviously I'm not very good at it.

Ariel

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?
That is funny because it is so true!! Just ask Mike and my family!!!

Dylan's One

Those of you who don't know me very well...I do not have any children of my own!! Although it may seem like I have some dang cute boys, they are not mine. I wish they were but I they are my nephews!! But I love them like they were my own!! Dylan turned one today!! I don't want this little guy to ever grow up!! He is still such a little baby and he enjoys being a baby and is in no hurry to grow up and that makes me happy!! He had a birthday party in Logan and we had so much fun!! There are so many pictures that I had to choose from but I finally chose some of my favorites!! He is so so sweet and loves to be held (most of the time)!! He likes to torment his big brother and then give a smile that melts your heart!! He is so much fun and I love him so much! Happy 1st Birthday Dylan!!

Dylan sure loved his cupcake!! He did not hesitate once with it!! He wanted to touch the fire and ate every last bite!!!

Tyler was such a good helper!! He was not happy that none of the toys were for him though!! Mike had lots of fun playing with Dylan too!!


And I will take this opportunity to put some picts of my other favorite people!! Jen, my dad, and Mike!!! I am so blessed to have great people in my life!!

The Aquarium

On Wednesdays I don't work until 4 so I called Melissa and we decided to go for a picnic and to the aquarium!! We had a fun picnic with sandwiches and watermelon!! I love this time of year because all the fruit!! We went into the aquarium and Tyler loved showing me everything and explaining everything to me!! This was their second time there so he thought he was pretty
smart!! He loved everything and couldn't get enough of it!! He now wants a pet shark!! We had such a fun day!! Dylan had a blast too!! I don't know if he knew what he was looking at all the time!! He loved the jelly fish!! They change the color of lights on them so it looks like they are changing colors and they move so gracefully!! He thought they were pretty neat!

I love these boys so much!!!!! They are two super cute boys and I love them to pieces!! They make me so happy! I love the enthusiasm they have for everything in life!!

Jeff and Kathleen

Well, I have been asked how Jeff, Kathleen, Liam, and Collin are doing since the earthquake in China since they are living in Shanghai. I'm sure you have all heard about the earthquake. It measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, the most severe earthquake in over 25 years. It struck the whole Sichuan area of China-that's big!! Map of China. It hit on May 12th. Just a few details and numbers reported on May 14th:

• Tens of thousands are still missing.
• More than 25,000 people are still buried in the rubble.
• Major phone lines and roads are cut off.
• Millions of homes have been destroyed leaving residents, of whom are still alive, with severe shortage of water, shelter, food, and fuel.
• Thousands of people are still trapped under the rubble and rescuers are using their bare hands to search for survivors.
• Rescue efforts are hampered by rains and road blocks due to fallen boulders and landslides.
• A middle school in Qingchuan County collapsed and many students have been reported dead while close to 1,000 students are still reported buried.
• Death toll tops 70,000.

Also, just a few things about China, they have no architectural laws. You can build anything however you want, as tall as you want, and as unstable as you want. There was tons of flooding caused by the earthquake. So not only was there buildings falling, streets crumbling, but there was major flooding. A earthquake is a very scary thing to be in.
Kathleen said that she could see the tall buildings swaying from her apartment. It was very scary. Liam said that when he dies he doesn't want to live with Jesus, he wants to live with his mom. So cute, but sad to think that death crossed the mind of such a young boy. They are doing fine but still recovering from the scare.
Jeff was traveling when it happened. He was on, I believe it was the 17th floor of a like a 68 story building. It started to move and pictures were flying off the walls and everything going all over the place. He ran down the 17 flights of stairs (running during an earthquake is very very difficult and dangerous because you never know where the ground is going to be once your ready to put another foot down, and many people break legs and bones while trying to run during one) and got to a safe place. He is fine as well and made it back home to his family.
All of China is in mourning and many shops and schools are closed. It will take a while for China and it's people to get back on their feet. Keep them in your prayers. Thank you all for your concern!!

Redken Course

I am so stoked!!! I get to go to a Redken certification course!!! It is a four day thing-2 days this month and 2 days next month!! This month they are going to go over Redken cutting and tools! Next month they are doing color classes!! It is a hands on course and there are only 20 spaces and I get to go!! The school I work for is paying for it- it's quite expensive- they are so great at helping us continue our education!!! I am just so stinking excited!!!! I will be that much closer to being able to be a Redken educator!! That is my plan if I don't have kids soon!!! I am so excited!!! I can't wait!!

Random

So it's just been a while since I've posted anything so I thought I'd just put a few things on that are new until I get more picts taken! So...we love our house!! We love that it is ours and that we can do whatever we want to it!! I love walking through it and looking at everything knowing that it is all ours!!
So, I worked last Saturday and I came home to a freshly cut, weed free yard!!! Mike worked so hard and got it looking great!! While he was working in the yard our neighbor came over and told Mike that our sprinklers are getting her sand box wet... we have a fence so I thought "wow!! that is some good pressure to get the water clear over the fence!!!" So today I turned the sprinklers on. Before we moved in we were told that there was a drip system in the garden areas (close to the sand box). But there isn't, there is just a pipe that comes out of the ground that we can hook a drip system onto. This pipe doesn't have a cap on it, so when I turned the sprinklers on there was a fountain of water coming out!!! I flooded our garden area and the neighbors sand box...oops!!! We'll have to get a cap on that!!!!
I worked in the yard today (and got way sunburned) because their is a very large area for planting bushes and flowers...just too big! So we are going to tear up the cheap black plastic thing that separates the grass from the garden and put grass down. I worked on getting everything level and worked on our actual garden. We are growing strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini!! I love fresh fruits and veggies!! I hope it can grow in our rock infested soil!!!

We are in!!

Here we are!! Finally in our new house! And it's a good thing...my patience was wearing out!! I took these at night so I'll put one of the front of the house another day. And some of the bedrooms I am still painting and getting fixed up. And I can't decide the colors for the bathrooms so, when I make some decisions and get things done I'll post more pictures!! But for now here is our house!!! We love it so much!!
This is the entry!!
This is the living room! We don't have our entertainment center yet so I'm not showing that wall. And not all my pictures are hung up because I just barely bought a stud finder!
Here's the kitchen!! It's so nice to have room to walk around! And we have a nice sized pantry which helps with the space!!
Our dining area! And the door to go to the backyard..which is fully fenced and has a full sprinkler system!!:)
The laundry room!! It's nice to just throw it in and shut the door- it's easier to forget about though!!
Ok- this is Mike's room!! He requested that all these pieces of furniture be in his "study"- which includes a tv with his xbox!! Wonder how much studying he'll get done in here?!!:)
This is the master bedroom! The picture doesn't do it justice! It is huge!!
Same with the walk in closet!! Notice that it's full of Mike's stuff! I have a little bit in the end in the corner down there somewhere!!
And here's the two car garage!! It's so great!! It is protecting my projects I'm working on!!
We love it here!! We have great neighbors who we have met already!! It is such a peaceful and comfortable place!! We are so happy!! Thanks to everyone who helped us out!! We really appreciate it so much!! We will let you all know when we are having our "house warming" party!!!

Getting ready!!

So, I wanted to pack my kitchen but not have to eat out for the next week...so, I pre-made these four meals and froze them!! It worked out fabulously!! It was so nice to have everything ready to go when they said it was time!! I will do this again!!