Footings and Foundation

The footings and foundation are done! Bring on the pics...

Setting the forms
That handsome builder I've been telling you about.

Forms are ready, bring on the cement!

Greg climbed on top of a big dirt pile to take the above aerial shots. While he was up there, he captured this little shot of his "My Little Pony" collection.

Notice this dude--it was an especially chilly day, only about 95 degrees. Good thing he had his hoodie on, complete with straps tied around his chin.

Foundation time

Another chilly August Utah Day, Another hoodie for our buddy.

Check out this cement truck. Its two front wheels were hanging over the edge. SCARY!

Garrett was too busy running and playing in the dirt to cheese it for the camera.

We put Garrett right to work moving pipe. Good boy!

That's all for now. There's all sorts of stuff going on down there now involving big trucks, but I'm not sure what. Greg has told me multiple times, but it goes right over my head. Apparently there's a lot that happens between the foundation and framing. Weird. Good thing I'm not in charge of building the house!

My Kid Would Never Do That...

About half of the members in my family are either teachers or work for the school district, so we went out to eat tonight for a "Mourning Celebration" in honor of school starting tomorrow.

We were done eating and were just visiting and lamenting. Garrett and my niece Gracie were getting a bit antsy, so I took them for a little walk to the front of the restaurant. I was holding Gracie, and Garrett was holding my hand. Everything was going great until Garrett let go of my hand and ran behind the counter leading into the kitchen. A couple of employees tried to grab him, but missed, and I got to him just as he was reaching for a hot pot of coffee warming on a burner underneath the counter. Whew! I can't even imagine what would have happened had I been one second later.

A year or so ago, I probably would have turned my nose up at a mother whose kid got away from her in a restaurant and did something like that. Not any more... These little stinkers are FAST!

It's a good thing he's so cute!

They're Back!!!

My baby brother (who happens to be a whole head taller than me) and his darling wife Chelsea returned home today after spending the summer in Alaska! It was a joyous reunion at the Petersen casa.

Uncle Bretty wasted no time getting the kids all worked up.
Brooklyn was so excited to see her "BFF Chels" again.

Gracie saw the camera and struck a pose. Love this gal!

Brett found this old mask of my dad's that has been giving kids nightmares since about 1970. Of course, it didn't scare Garrett one bit, though. He thought it was funny. Surprise, surprise! (My dad told a story about a time he was in the bishopric and wore the mask to scare the poor gals at Girls' Camp. One of the girls was so scared she cried for literally hours and then had to sleep in the leaders' tent with a leader holding her hand. Good one, Sparky!)

And here is Bretty Boy reuniting with his long-lost mother. He likes to put on this routine about every time he leaves their house, and Greg caught it on camera this time. Nice timing. Mr. Phillips. :)

A few other noteworthy items:

--Garrett the Stinker came walking in yesterday so proud to show me the electrical outlet covers he had managed to pull out all by himself. So much for babyproofing! I'm sure he'll figure out how to get the cupboards open next.

--We attended the Martin Harris Pageant yesterday with Greg's parents, little sister Mal Pal, and his Uncle Gary's family. I forgot my camera, but the pageant was beautiful and very inspiring. We had a great time and are so glad they came!

--Our house is coming right along. We poured the footings last week and the foundation will hopefully be done tomorrow. I will post some pics of the whole process once the foundation is done.

Can't Say I've Ever Been This Excited About a Hole Before...

So let’s be honest—I’m an eternal optimist, but there have been times that even I wasn’t sure this day would ever come, but we broke ground Monday on our very first house! HOORAY!!! We have been married for a little over five years now and have lived in three great apartments, but we have yet to own our own home.

About 3.5 years ago, we were living in a basement apartment in Mapleton. Greg was working in SLC and I was teaching school in Payson. We had bought a building lot shortly after we were married and were planning to build a house in the area. One day Greg said to me, “We should look at buying a lot in your hometown, like maybe we could retire there.” Of course, I was thrilled and thought it sounded like a great idea. We looked at real estate listings online and found one we really liked. We kept our eyes on it and finally decided the market was good and we didn’t really want to live in Mapleton, so we put our first lot up for sale. It sold quickly and we bought the lot in Cache Valley. We figured it was a good investment and starting looking for another lot or house in Southern Utah County.

Through a series of events that I never would have foreseen, Greg got offered a job and we moved to Cache Valley the next Spring. Our plan was to live in my uncle/aunt’s basement for a few months while we built a house. Two glorious years (and 1.5 kids later) we’re still chillin’ in the basement apartment. It seems like every obstacle imaginable delayed us (mostly dealing with water rights/digging a well), but the well is finally dug and we were finally able to break ground!

Here are some pics from the past few days:

Of course, we are so excited to have our very own place (especially with the new addition in February!) Plus, our builder is a major hottie and I have just loved working with him on this project. He is soooo smart and totally great to work with—he said he has built over 100 houses in his career and has never been more excited about a house than this one. In addition to that, he is really funny and is always making me laugh. Garrett absolutely ADORES him and always wants to stay at the job site with him. I have to drag him away kicking and screaming when we leave. I have a feeling we are going to get really close during this project since he is turning so much over to me. It is going to be so much fun! Have I ever mentioned how great it is to be married to a builder?

A Not-So-Typical Day in My Life

Let me give you a little run-down of today's events:

--Had a lovely noontime nap (somewhere in the 2-3 hr. range)
--Woke up and ate some ice cream
--Watched "13 Going on 30" on TV
--Had a bubble bath while eating a rootbeer float bar
--Took a little snooze in the tub (apparently my nap wasn't long enough)
--Couldn't think of anything that sounded great for dinner and didn't feel like cooking anything, so I ordered pizza
--Watched "Legally Blonde" on TV while eating pizza and waiting for my boys to get home

Under normal circumstances, today would have been heavenly. (And it was actually quite nice, in spite of everything.) You may be wondering where Greg and Garrett were to allow me such a peaceful day. No--it wasn't the Father/Son campout--they were in Price at Greg's cousin's wedding. Why didn't I go to the wedding? Well, let me give me you a little rundown of the morning's events.

--Woke up this morning feeling a bit queasy
--Ate some graham crackers trying to settle my stomach (didn't work so well)
--Took a nausea pill
--Barfed in the sink (couldn't make it to the toilet)
--Still feeling like crap, but got ready for the wedding (I really wanted to go)
--Got in the car, not doing so hot
--About one minute away from home and had to barf again (Thank goodness for Ziploc baggies in the glove compartment)
--Greg tells me there's no way I'm making it all the way to Price and brings me home
--I begin the list of previously mentioned activities, starting with the nap and working my way down

Getting suspicious? You should be. Either I have a horrible case of the swine flu, or hmmm....What else could it be? So many options...maybe Garrett can help us out.

Yes, my friends, it's true. I'm what the Bible likes to refer as to "great with child." I'm through the first trimester--about 14 weeks along--and hoping to feel better any day. Rascal #2 will be joining our family sometime around February 3. As you can see from the pictures, Garrett understands completely what this means for him and is so excited he just can't quit talking about it. If only he could talk.... ;) Of course, Greg and I are absolutely thrilled (and slightly nervous/overwhelmed) with the prospect of being parents to two children.

Now there's just one problem...we're going to have to rename our blog!