In Memory...

2006

2010

2006

This week we lost Rusty's grandpa "Papa" Earl Beck. We are headed to Colorado for the funeral and then on to Utah for a graveside service. Papa was such a sweet man, and I loved his sense of humor. I am so grateful my kids got to have not just amazing grandparents in their loves but 4 great grandparents as well. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Papa. With his love Audrey "Baum", married 58 years (I think if my math is right), and then this summer at Kaite's wedding, where they got to meet Brenner. And one of many, four generation pictures. I know I have some with Berk in them too, but I didn't have time to hunt for them.

And finally, I am most grateful that this sweet man sealed me to my hubby for Eternity. It will always be my favorite memory of Papa.  Till we meet again!

Here is the obituary-

Earl A. Beck

86 of Littleton died Sunday November 21, 2010 at Littleton Hospital. He was born November 3, 1924 in Provo Utah to Earl A. and Ilene Prince Beck. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the Army Air Corp. He graduated from BYU in 1948 with a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration. He spent the next few years working as an Assistant Park Manager at Bryce Canyon Natl. Park, where he met his wife. He married Audrey Dotson in 1958 in the St. George LDS Temple. He worked for Mountain Bell for over 36 years until his retirement in 1986. He was an active member of the LDS Church, serving in many leadership positions including Bishop and Sealer in the Denver Temple. He is survived by his wife of 58 years; 5 children, Ronald (Robin) Beck, Dr. Russell (Cindi) Beck, Donald (Karen) Beck, Marianne Beck Lewis and Cheryll Beck Hart; 15 grandchildren; 7 great grandchildren; and 3 sisters, Ruth Shoell, Gwen Rowley, and Pearl Heilbut. He is predeceased in death by a granddaughter, Jenifer Carol Beck. Funeral Services will be held Friday November 26, 2010 at 10:00 am at the LDS Church 999 E. Tufts Ave, Englewood, CO 80113. A viewing will be held on Thursday November 25, 2010 from 6-8 pm at the Church. Interment will be in Utah Saturday November 27, 11:00 am at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery.

My Project...

I think I got the 7 year itch with my house. We've been here for almost 8 years now and lately I have a list of projects I want to do that are a mile long. Everything from a remodel, to an addition, to new paint etc etc. So I have to prioritze and I finally got the guts to take on something I've wanted to do for years!

I didn't take any actual BEFORE pictures, but I did take some of my Halloween decor, so that shows the tables in it...

Berk was my big helper. Seriously, his spray painting skills made me nervous. Can I say Future graffiti artist?

And AFTER!  I got the cute over sized crystal knobs from Hobby Lobby, and I used black spray paint to do the tables. I relied heavily on my new favorite blog called All Things Thrifty, and I am so glad I did.

Wah-lah... not bad for 6 cans of primer and about a dozen cans of black spray paint! I did sand at the tables, mostly to get the enormous pencil lines out of them, but nothing major. I haven't decided if I am going to further distress them by sanding the edges down, I am taking opinions however.  Now, I just need to slip cover my couches, since I hate the plaid now, but I love how comfy they are and my living room will feel brand new for less than $200! Score! I did the tall table first to get the feel of the project, and make sure it was really what I wanted, and then I actually did the three other tables all in one day! That was my major motivating factor behind using spray paint!

And yes, my tables are pretty bare, I do have a very hands on toddler, so most of my cutesier things are hiding for now. It makes me very nervous to put up my Christmas Tree... Anywho,  I double dog dare you to refinish something in your house! I mean, who can say no to a double dog dare?

I just took the dare to do a few more small projects : 1. Refinish my bathroom cabinets, my goal is to have them done by January! and 2. Spray paint my pool fence. I mean really, after 8 years it needs some TLC.

Trunk or Treat...

Well, before we could do any candy getting the boys had some games to play in first. The season's are owed their own post, so that will come later. Until then. This is how we spent Saturday afternoon...

 This is his "I don't want to play soccer" face.

 Soccer for Berk- with Rusty as his coach and how great is it that his uniform was Halloween colors???

And Basketball with Brae.

Braden has come leaps and bounds in just a few short weeks! Love that this kid is able to compete in sports!

That night we had our Ward Trunk or Treat. And before we left we took some family photos. So, introducing...
Mario

 Mario & Luigi

 Toad (or Frog Mario if you prefer)

Rusty was Player 1 and I was Player 2. And no, the boys' mustaches did NOT make it to the trunk or treat...

We had a fun time with our ward family, and I only took a few photos and I will save them for later!

Hope you had a great Halloween!

Halloween Week Festivities...

In case you can't tell, October is THAT month in our house. You know, the one where you have eighty-nine billion things that you HAVE to do? So, let me re cap our last week.

We had a little pre-pre-pre Halloween party at the Beck's because Jaci (our niece) wasn't going to be here for Halloween. We got the boys dressed up in costume, they played games like bobbing or apples, eating doughnuts off string and ring toss before trick-or-treating 'round the pool.

 Everyone had fun, and got their apple- even if it meant using their little Mario hands...

 Brenner wasn't sure about the doughnut, until he ate it, and then he was in powdered sugar heaven.

 Our trick-or-treat line...

Brenner still clutching the doughnut, not caring so much about the candy as he did the rocks around the pool.

On Monday night we had our annual Mortensen family Halloween Party out in Queen Creek. We eat dinner, chat, the kids play tons of games, and then everyone gets in a huge circle for the kids to trick-or-treat. It was a beautiful night. The kids had a great time, and came home with tons of candy.

 The eating and chatting part...

 The costume putting on and games part...

 Games, games games. And if you are Brenner, sitting on Pops' head so you can look at the starts and planes.

The trick-or-treating part.  Brenner was a squid this night. Like from the under water levels of Mario.  Even tho he was up hours past bedtime he was such a good sport.

On Tuesday, we met Rusty at Mother Nature's Farm for some pumpkin picking!

We had such a fun time. Braden and Berk were more interested in playing on the big dirt pile than actually doing anything else. But they had fun.  Brenner was in heaven. He walked around saying "ball! Ball! ball!!" about the pumpkins. So cute.

Wednesday was a usually crazy day, and I only mention it, although I have no photos, just to remember how hectic this week was. Both boys had school, followed by scouts for Braden, immediately followed by soccer for Berkley and overlapping by 15 minutes to Braden's basketball practice. Whew. Wednesday's are crazy around here.

Thursday I took a much needed deep breath, and stayed home working on a project. Photos to come soon, since the paint is finally dry and said objects are back in the house!

Friday, Berk had school (which is not the norm) so they could have a Halloween Celebration. Here he is with his cute teacher. Braden had a parade at school but Brenner was napping so we missed it.

That night we went on a double date with our good friends Blake & Addi. We met at Kona Grill, and were happy to introduce them to one of our favorite restaurants and then went to go see their new house!  Rusty and Blake grew up next door to each other and have always been best friends. We are so happy they left San Fran and decided to come back to AZ, and not just anywhere, but in our same community. I love that our boys (6 in all) will grow up together like their Dads did!

Whew, are you tired now too? I gotta take a break and post the actual Halloween stuff later!