Finishing the Basement

Several weekends ago, we went up to Rexburg to help Shad's parents with the process of finishing their basement. The following weekend, they came down to help us with ours. Today, Shad and the boys are up in Rexburg again to help get his parents' basement all sheetrocked. I can't wait for our basement to be all finished... good things come to those who wait, right?

Brett reading a story to Drake and Graham.

The boys watching Shad and Brett dismantle their old chimney. Shad was down in the chimney passing up cinder blocks that he'd knock out. Once he couldn't reach any more...

They moved inside with a sledgehammer. It made a huge mess when it finally fell.

The boys sat and watched the backhoe and the dumptruck the entire time they were outside. They were hauling off the huge piles of dirt and concrete left from the projects.

Matt came over and helped out for a little while too. Here they're roasting hot dogs for lunch.

Back at our place in Chubbuck, this is the wall after the concrete was cut to put in a new window.


The boys thought it was pretty cool having a big hole in the wall.

Grandma Johnson was good to help watch/play with the boys. Graham especially enjoyed her.

Judy did a lot in the way of cleaning, mowing our lawn, etc. Here she's taking a break to watch a video with the boys.

Drake wanted to take several "posing" pictures, so this is one of those.

One of Graham's favorite pasttimes is playing in the dirt, and we have plenty of big piles right now for him to choose from!

As of today, the new windows are in (the two biggest ones, anyway), Shad's at least 1/3 of the way done with taping, and yesterday, Shad got our garden spot completely tilled and partially planted. So many things to do, so little time...

The Beginning of May

We woke up the morning of May 1st... to snow. Welcome to May.

This is just a random shot of the boys using their stool as a table to eat Cheerios.

Drake's preschool group went on their last field trip for this semester to a local pet store called McKee's. It's quite the pet store, complete with animals inside and out, as well as a little playground and a bunch of rides and things to play on.

This is the puppy area.

Trying to be interested in a rabbit.

Outside at the "petting zoo", looking at a pig and her newborn piglets.

Drake with his friends Emma and Noah on one of the rides.

Graham loving life at the top of the slide.

I think Graham is a natural.

The whole group of kids "locked up".

After the pet store, we drove to a nursery in town that was selling hot dogs, soda and ice cream for just $0.25 each, so we all got lunch there.

In case you can't tell, I'm in the mood to just put up a whole bunch of pictures that have been sitting, waiting to be posted. I'm still pregnant, but am hoping to have a baby soon, and it may be a while after that that I make another post, so sorry for the plethora of pictures, but I've got to get it out of my system now. :)

Weekend in Provo

About a month ago, we went down to Provo for Landon Mauler's graduation from BYU. It was fun to get to know Landon's family a little better. We were able to squeeze in several other activities while we were down there too. Below is just a bunch of pictures from that weekend.

"Grammie" holding Graham during Landon's graduation.
I guess the excitement wasn't enough to keep Graham awake.

Melissa and her graduate husband, Landon.


Matt entertaining Graham.


Shad's sister Krystal and her husband Brandon were kind enough to put us up while we were down there. Here, Drake and Graham are watching a cartoon, while their cousin Spencer is still getting used to the idea of someone else in his space.


Landon's family threw Melissa a baby shower the Saturday morning we were there, because she was going to be moving to Arizona soon and they wanted to help her out before then. This is a "diaper cake" that Nelly so beautifully put together.


And this is a blanket pot of washcloth flowers.


My cousin, Rebecca, organized a "mini Pedersen reunion" for anyone that could make it. I think Melissa took these random shots of the get together. It was really fun to see a bunch of cousins that I haven't seen in a while.

I don't think Melissa had seen a camera before...

Drake and Graham crashed in Nathan's and Adrienne's bed at the end of a long weekend, shortly before we left to head back up to Pocatello. It was a fun trip--always nice to hang out with family.

Disc Golf

A while back, the Elder's Quorum in our ward had a disc golf activity. Below you can see how excited Drake was to be out in the cold playing disc golf. His buddy Parker is about to make a nice shot behind him, while Graham is looking on.

Graham with his frisbee.

Graham and his friend Tandy (Parker's sister).

Playing the Piano

Or maybe I should say "Playing ON the Piano". A little while ago, I went to dust the piano, and I found a footprint, in a spot I wouldn't have thought there to be one. If you can see it in the picture, then you may wonder just as much as me how it got there. I didn't see it happen, but the proof is in the dust.

One of the boys favorite things to do is read, either with me or Shad, or just by themselves.

They also enjoy playing in the backyard, and often get a horse to come over from the neighbor's pasture, which they eagerly try to feed twigs and weeds.

Here is the first picture ever taken of me during this pregnancy... at least that you can see I'm pregnant. It was taken just one month ago, and now I only have two weeks left!!

Mother's Day

This was my favorite present this year for Mother's Day--a creation by Drake. I didn't even know he could draw people yet! Although I'm sure you can tell, that's Drake on the left, and me on the right, with a baby inside me (Shad complimented Drake on it's likeness to a real fetus). I asked Drake if I could frame it, but he quickly informed me that he already did put a frame on it, as you can see with the strips of paper.

It was a good Mother's Day. Shad made breakfast for all of us; Graham finally went to nursery for the first time, so Shad and I both got to enjoy Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society; Shad made a delicious chicken dinner; Drake even cleaned up his toys last night without me or Shad asking him to! Happy Mother's Day to all!

House Projects

We continue to make improvements on our home, slowly but surely. A weekend ago, we went up to Rexburg so Shad could help his dad with the process of finishing their basement. Just this weekend, his parents and grandmother came here to help us. Friday night Shad had a choir concert. Saturday, though, was spent entirely on the house, inside and out. We're extremely grateful for all Shad's parents have done to help us out on our home. I haven't taken updated pictures of what was done Saturday, but they'll come soon.

Shad and the boys working together in our backyard.

Shad digging holes to put in bigger windows and window wells in our basement bedrooms.

Drake helping dig.

Drake and Graham playing in a bigger sandbox than they're used to (at Shad's parents' home).

Piles of dirt and huge boulders dug from Shad's parents' place (the basement door is new).

Drake and Graham sharing a carrot, and the swing, with Uncle Matt.

Shad perfecting his first taping/mudding experience.

Late night ice cream run

When we were down in Salt Lake for Conference weekend, we drove down to Provo Saturday night to hang out with my siblings. It turned into a late night for our kids, but it was fun to see my family. Well, at one point I'd mentioned how I'd seen someone come out of Macey's grocery store with a "huge" ice cream cone, so my brother Nathan suggested (several times throughout the night) that we all go there and get ice cream. Eventually, late at night, we did. My brothers, Nathan and Matthew, got the "Kong Cone". The rest of us settled for a little less. Drake and Graham thought it was great to eat ice cream so late at night for no reason at all. It was fun.

Shad, Graham, Nathan, Matt, Landon and Melissa

Nathan and Matt giddy with ice cream
(Adrienne is in the background)

Shad's Birthday

So I realized I never put up pictures from Shad's birthday, which was a month ago, so I'm doing it now. He got mostly tools and stuff for working on the house or outside, which he enjoys doing. We went out to eat with Drake and Graham at an oldies diner, and they got their meals in little cardboard cars. Then we enjoyed some carrot cake and fun at home.

Shad's the only one smiling for the camera... the boys are obviously more interested in the cake.

Here, Shad is doing a "magic" trick with a match and an invisible piece of string. He's amazing! Graham is swiping some frosting while they're not watching.

The boys enjoyed helping Shad open presents. Now Shad is officially one year closer to no longer being in his twenties also. Where does the time go?