Well, I am officially recovered from this weekend.  Actually, there wasn’t anything to recover from.  It was great to have so much family and support for Westons blessing.  I actually already finished this entry and my hand hit a button and suddenly my entire entry disappeared into cyberspace.  I had been saving it along the way too.  I have no idea where it went or what happened.  I am slightly distraught though as it represented about an hours worth of work and each minute is precious nowadays.  To start again….

Friday last, folks started to trickle in at the dinner hour.  By Saturday, nearly all the Arnells were in town…minus Gary’s family.  We took advantage of the beautiful and warm weather and took the kids to a nearby park.  After lunch we headed out to the new house.  I was anxious for everyone to see what we have been working on this past year.  The walls are starting to be put up.  It is surreal to see in 3D what I have been seeing on paper for so long.  Progress is fast now that the foundation is laid.  Jeff and the rest of the Logan crew that arrived early that morning met us back at our place and we fed the masses.  Then the younger, hipper, more adventurous crew headed to the strip to see the sites and drop a few quarters.  (Shame, shame, you know your name)  While they were gone I rewarded those that stayed behind with oreo pie. 

Sunday morning we all made it to church with time to spare.  Brian gave Weston a beautiful blessing.  He is officially Weston Burton Anderson.  He was blessed with health…that his body would grow without hinderance or illness…that his mind would be quickened and that he would learn and grow intellectually.  He was blessed to be a peacemaker…to be mindful of others needs…to be a leader among his peers…that he may stand up as an example for others to look to.   He was blessed with a sensitivity to the spirit…to avoid danger and resist temptation…that he may realize the joy that comes from righteous living.   He was blessed to be strong in the gospel, to honor the priesthood, and fullfil all that is required to return to our Heavenly Father.  We feel so blessed to have this little spirit in our family.  He fills a gap we knew needed filling in our family. 

After the meeting we headed back to our house.  By then we had the entire Arnell family here.  It is the first time in we don’t even know how long that we have all been together.  A few grandchildren and spouses have been added since then.  From the Andersons we had Mom and Dad, Adriane (ready to pop with her first baby) and Vito, and a few friends, the Shah family, and Spencer and Meagan Beals.  When all was said and done we enjoyed and fed 35 people in our not so big house.  I was wishing that we had our new place finished so their was room for everyone but no one complained and the food was good.  Maren and Diane helped me out with some soups, salad, and breads.  Folks started to trickle out as the day went on and by evening we had only Mom and Dad Arnell and Julie and her girls left. 

Monday morning the lady folk took advantage of Dad’s willingness to sit with the kidlets and we ran a few more errands.  One of those was to Costco.  I had gone last week and I guess I was frazzled with kids and time restraints and ended up coming home with less than I paid for I also noticed that I hadn’t received credit for the coupons I gave the checker.  By the time I got all the mistakes taken care of I was in the black an extra $50…  A worthwhile trip even if we hadn’t picked up dinner and fruit snacks.    We made it back just in time to get Serra off to school and then the rest of us went to enjoy the gardens and the fountain show at the Bellagio.  I had to go check out the progress at the lot as well.  We sent Dad home with a few of the kids and headed to the outlets for some last minute shopping.  By the time we got home the kids were starving and Jeff and Maren had joined us as well.  We partied  and blew out a candle for Olivia and Maren who have Birthdays this weekend. 

Tuesday the Logan crew left.  I am now preparing us for our trip to Disneyland this coming weekend. 

Auntie Serra  checks out the boy.

The little girls (especially Serra) enamored with the newest family member, Melissa, Davids fiance.

Uncle Dallas and Serra V

The kids brave the elements during lunch time. 

The rest of us crowd indoors.

Daddy gets his first smile.

Sometimes people get too close and I can’t focus so well.

This is a complete group.  Some folks are happier than others.

This was about as good as it got with Rosie not cooperating.

I used to love to comb my dad’s hair…now Serra thinks it’s the thing to do and talks Grandpa into it in the evenings.  Check out the majorly sparkley thing. 

Watching the fountain show. 

Celebrating birthdays a few days early.  Livvy is sure big for “1″

It was a living room picnic.  Grandpa can sleep through anything.

Baby Wes handsome in his blessing duds. 

Too cute to not post.  The light has turned on in Westons eyes this week.  He is responding to us now and we can coax a smile out of him if he is in the right mood. 

On the house front.  The house is nearly completely framed now and on Saturday a giant crane will place the trusses (sp?) in place.  I plan on taking the girls out for the show.  They are working on the sheeting of the outside now.  We will take pictures and post them after our trip to the happy place. 

It’s been a busy week.  I have been busy trying to get ready for a slew of company this weekend.  I have a small window of time in the morning when Weston is sleeping soundly.  Then the rest of the day he doesn’t nap as well for long periods.  So I am like a mad woman from 8-12 in the morning trying to get the bulk of my chores done.  We have fit some fun things in.  Last Saturday we went to the snow.  There is a good sledding spot 30 minutes from our place so Brian and took the kids.   I pulled out my baby front pack and Baby Wes slept the whole time nice and cozy.  The girls had a good time.  Monday we invited Grandma and Grandpa Anderson and went bowling.  Serra loves to bowl ever since we went with Jeff and Maren.  This time Rosie joined in the fun.  Good times.

Serra lost her other bottom tooth while we were out to dinner a few weeks ago.

Sweet cozy baby

Sometimes he sleeps through all the fun…ok..all the time.  We were bowling here.  He was snoozing.

Awesome shoes….Awesome scowl…

The Grandma whom Rosie gets her looks and coloring…but perhaps not her habits. 

I would have bragging rights….except…I used bumpers.  I am not a very good bowler.

Well it was a bit of a downer last week on the project as we ran in to availability issues with my excavation guy as well as more work than anticipated on getting the pad ready for concrete.  We pushed real hard to get things ready for inspection on Friday with hopes of a pass so that we could pour either Saturday or today.  As luck would have it we failed inspection and with the holiday it pushed us back to a Tuesday inspection.  Not a big deal other than just wanting to keep pushing.  Current schedule has us pouring Wednesday, chalk out and get materials dropped Thursday and start framing Friday/Saturday. 

Here’s some pics;

Here’s the shot of the rebar.  The rebar/pad actually passed inspection but the inspector didn’t like how in some areas the dirt on the outside of the footings was too shallow.  Not a big deal at all structurally and something easily taken care of by an engineering letter from Dwaine….but alas…it delayed us.

This is my excavators kid.  His wife just started working an afternoon job so she has had to bring both their kids to the jobsite to hang out with Dad.  I end up “tending” them while their Dad works on my job.  Either way, I wasn’t doing a great job of watching and this kids older sister was pouring fine dirt all over him.  He was covered head to toe…looked like the guy from the movie Powder.  Anyhow, the shot on the right is my plumber running his hand through the kid’s hair and the dust coming off of him “pig-pen” style. 

Somebody has way too much time on their hands…but aren’t these great?  I couldn’t stop laughing.  Looks like something Doug would put together. -B

House update #2;

Well there’s a lot that has happened this week with the house and even though we’ve fallen two days behind my initial schedule I’m still very much encouraged.  All day Friday was a fun day as concrete form boards started getting put up and it’s the first time you get a real good feeling for how the house sits on the lot and the layout.  Here’s a few pictures of the event;

Everything went swimmingly on Saturday including my favorite part of all my jobs; locating the sewer line.  I particularly like doing this as the backhoe usually has to dig down anywhere from 6-10 feet underground and you’re usually on the edge of your seat due to the nearby power/water/gas lines that you don’t want to dig up.  It just feels like real construction to me.  I can’t wait to get some jobs where we can use real heavy duty equipment.  Anyhow…here’s a picture of my good friend and backhoe operator Tim after locating the sewer (it ended up only being 5 feet down and not nearly as exciting to find as some.)

Monday through today (Wednesday) the plumber has been on the job running all of the underground piping and drain lines.  It’s a huge job and I underestimated the time it would take him.  He’s pretty much finished at this point and aside from doing a little backfilling and prepping for the inspection he’s done till after concrete.  I’ve been busy searching high and low for the best deal on windows/doors/concrete/appliances/etc.  I also helped out today by running the underground electrical (in to the hobby room island and the kitchen island).  My plumber in action…hooray!

We should be good to go for all the underground inspections Friday followed by backfilling the plumbing trenches, compacting, finishing the pad prep, and laying out/tying the rebar.  If all goes well we should be ready to pour concrete early next week (hoping for Tuesday but Wednesday/Thursday is more realistic.) Either way it’ll be a great feeling to get out of the dirt!

Diaper changing with an infant boy is quite the adventure.  I would say 9 out 10 times the kid sprays.  The other night was one such time and Rosie had taken up her usual spot right next to me watching the routine.  She got sprayed on her face and arm.  A look of disgust crossed her face and then she said, “OH MAN!  Baby pee pee on me!”  Brian and I were laughing so hard I had a difficult time getting the kids clothes back on.

Well…you all know we are all about pictures and I promised myself when Serra was a baby that I would always try to take as many pictures of the rest of my kids as I did of her.  Well, with digital it has made it all possible.  I would venture a guess that I actually take more now than I did when Serra was a baby.  The skin pictures are of Weston a week ago when he was 2 weeks.  The clothed ones were taken today…3 weeks old.  Doesn’t he just look like a little old man?  He has been sick all week but I think he is making a comeback.  The cold seems to be diminishing slightly.  Keeping my fingers crossed….I will keep him home from church tomorrow. 

Thursday some friends threw us a baby shower.  We have enough clothes to get us through the 1st year.  Almost everyone went with a construction type theme so he will look like Daddy’s little helper. 

He’s got a serious scowl.

Help!  Where’s my neck?

Hey everyone!  Like my pants?  I like to pull them up really high.

We have a swing downstairs and I bought a travel swing for upstairs.  He takes his morning nap in it all swaddled up.  I also broke down and tried a pacifier with him because he thinks he needs to eat 24/7.  He really likes it and it helps especially at night so he will go back to sleep after eating.  My girls never took one and they also hated being swaddled.  He is his own man.