More House Pictures

Here are some more pictures of our house. Allison says we're not done decorating yet. Slowly but surely. We don't have a picture of Cora's room yet... coming soon.

Master Bedroom


Master Bath


Master Bath


Bathrooom


Front Entry


Office


Laundry Room


Nook


Kitchen


Living Room


Living Room & Nook


Christmas Lights


The House

Long Time, No Post

We realize that it has been a while since we've updated our blog. We've just been rather busy. We had Christmas in our new home and spent some time with Allison's family. It was great to see Andrew, Daniel, and Michele. We spent a lot time sledding, skiing, shopping, and playing our new Wii. Allison and I even started our own Guitar Hero Band. We are disappointed with how the Cougars ended the football season and we find the Ute's big Sugar Bowl win bitter-sweet.

Cora is growing like a weed. She loves to jump, laugh, talk on my cell phone, play with her baby dolls, sing, dance, and give us kisses. She also loves making trips to the unfinished basement and going up and down the stairs.

As for us, we're just doing the same old stuff. Work is keeping me busy and Cora is keeping Allison busy. We are just glad the holidays are over and that Cora is back to a normal bed time.

Here are some pictures...

Good Morning


Santa Came!


Annual Ferre-Skousen Ginger Bread Houses


Cora performing

MyCanvas

The Generations Network (the company I work for) just launched a new product a few months ago called MyCanvas (www.mycanvas.com). It is a place where you can print photo books, posters, calendars, etc. using your own pictures. It is pretty similar to SnapFish and other services but the quality is much better. Anyways, we're in the process of adding more and more products. For a short time, you can get 20% off your entire order by using the coupon code MCHOLIDAY. Give it a try!

Also, if you're into Family History try going to http://mycanvas.ancestry.com. Here they have additional project types and templates around documenting and preserving your family history research. The same coupon code should work on this site too.

Please ignore the shameless marketing plug for the company I work for... just thought I would pass on a good deal. I really don't care if you buy anything or not.

NKOTB

That's right... we're all moved in. Thanks for everyone who helped us move. We really appreciate it. Everything went so well and we're so excited and grateful to be in our new house. We love it!




We moved in just in time... It snowed 3 days later.

Halloween 2008

We met up with the Ferre family for the 3rd Annual Ferre Skousen pumpkin carving night. Thanks for the fun-filled, pizza-eating, pumpkin-carving night. This year Cora was a lion. She played the part well and even threw in her own sound effects. We went to the ward's Trunk-or-Treat. Cora is a pro and knows exactly what to do. My favorite part was when she took a piece of candy from her basket and put it into another boy's basket. I guess she just wanted to share the sugar. Way to go, Cora!

Seattle Trip

At the beginning of October we went to Seattle for a week. Nate got to attend a Microsoft conference for work and he took me and Cora with him. We decided to stay a few extra days to see the sites.

Seattle is beautiful and it only rained 2 times while we were there. While Nate was
at the conference, Cora and I roamed the streets of downtown Seattle. We walked through Pike's Market a couple of times, visited the local Gap, and found some good places to eat. Anyways here are a few pictures.

In front of Pike's Market... Nate had some good Clam Chowder there for lunch one day.


Cora enjoying the view


The family at the Seattle Aquarium


Enjoying the harbor


We took a little cruise around Elliott Bay


Allison and Cora on the Harbor Cruise

BURNOUT

Cora loves Hot Wheels... they are her favorite toy as of late. For our trip to Seattle we let her pick out a pack of Hot Wheels for her to play with on the plane. She has good taste. She picked the pack with a Mercedes, Porche, RangeRover, and Lexus. She especially loves seeing them crash so we decided to make a BURNOUT video (video game where you get points for causing large accidents). Check it out...



Don't forget... This blog is going private on Wednesday, 15th October. If you would like an invite, send an e-mail to skousenblog@gmail.com. Don't be shy.

Blog IPO (Initial Private Offering)

We have decided to take our blog private rather than public. Please e-mail us at skousenblog@gmail.com to receive an invite. Be sure to tell us who you are too... we may not know you by your sweet16Hottie or StudMuffinCougar email address. We will be making the switch October 15th.

What Up?

It has been a while since we've posted so we will give an update on the most important things (namely Cora).

Cora:


Cora is officially a walker... she has graduated from crawling and is loving her newfound freedom. Church is even more exciting as she has realized she doesn't always need to or want to sit in our laps for 3 hours. Peter & Leah's ward has many more kids than our student ward. Cora loves kids and whispers "Hi" to all the kids in the hallway. Her first love, though, is White Socks. He is the most kind, forgiving, patient cat you will ever meet. Cora wakes up every morning (still half asleep) saying "Cat Cat". Cora is happiest when White Socks is by her side. I have to remind White Socks that she's still daddy's little girl.

Here is a picture of the two love birds:


Nate & Allison:
We're doing well. Allison is enjoying her Nike+ system that hooks up to her iPod. Her favorite part is when Lance Armstrong lets her know her running stats at the end of her run. It is very motivating apparently.

I'm still working at The Generations Network working on awesome projects. I even recruited one of my mission buddies and college roommates (Brandon Camp) to come work with me. Work has been a lot of fun since he joined the team... even though he beats me in foosball tournaments occasionally.

House:
The house is coming along nicely. Here are some of the latest pictures... we don't want to bore you too much with these. These pictures may be more exciting to us than to you.

The front of the house. They just started the stucco...it will not be this color.


Living Room


Back of the house

House Progress

So we broke ground on the house towards the end of July and we're amazed at how much they have completed already. We try to go by the lot once a week to see what they have done and we're usually surprised to see all the progress. We're really excited and can't wait to move in. We'll be moving this next weekend into Peter & Leah's house and staying there until the house is completed in mid November. They are so nice to let us stay in their house while they are staying in some sweet chateau in Italy for several months. Anyways, here are a few pictures...

The Duck Pond

This afternoon we took a little walk to the duck pond. Cora was very excited to see all of the ducks waddling around and swimming in the pond. I gave Cora some pieces of bread to feed the ducks. Cora thought that the bread was for her and she ate every piece that I gave her. Funny. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the event. I am posting some pictures of Cora just because.

We're Building a House

So we have decided to build a house. After much deliberation we finalized everything a few weeks ago and now we're waiting for the permits and we hope to break ground in the next week or two. The house should be finished towards the end of the year. We had a great time picking out all the options including carpet, tile, counter tops, cabinets, brick, stucco, roof, etc, etc, etc. We are really excited and can't wait to see them start construction.

UPDATE: It is in Lehi, near Thanksgiving Point.

This is a house that is just like ours that is finished. Our house will have red brick instead of stone (they say it lasts longer and requires less maintenance) with white trim and a dark roof.

Cora's Photo Shoot

Here is Cora's latest photo shoot. We thought they turned out really well and ended up buying all the photos on CD. We had them taken at Busath/Bounce photography on 500 West 200 North in Provo, UT.

Where is Matt?

I just found out about this guy... Matt. He has traveled around the world and does this dance in front of landmarks and unique places on the earth. For some reason it is really moving. I enjoyed it.

Big Events

Clearly, it has been a while since we've updated and we've had a lot of requests to post the latest news. Since our last post a lot has happened. Here is a laundry list of items:

1. Nate's Birthday
2. Allison's Birthday
3. Nate's Graduation
4. 4 Year Wedding Anniversary
5. House Hunting
6. First trip to the Zoo

Overall, we're doing well and enjoy having Nate come home at 5:30 or 6:00 with no homework or tests to worry about. As some of you may know, he accepted a full time offer at The Generations Network (Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com, etc.). He really likes his job and we're getting used to the idea of staying in Utah.

Cora is growing up so fast. She can now stand up on her own with the help of the couch or any sturdy structure. She is even sleeping better... knock on wood. She always smiles and loves to see other children. She is also a wonderful eater. She loves fruits & vegetables including asparagus, broccoli, carrots, peas, lettuce, pears, apples, bananas, etc. She'll basically eat anything we give her. I wish the same were true for Nate!

We've also begun the house hunt. It is pretty stressful but we hope to be in a home this summer sometime.

We're excited for the Everett Family Reunion this summer where many of my brothers and sisters along with their families will be visiting for week. That will be the highlight of our summer.

Graduation


Oh No!


Cora's first trip to the zoo. She loved the monkeys.


Allison's Birthday. Nate surprised me with a trip to a day spa. It was great!!


Oops...



Cora on the swings... This is almost a daily ritual.


Our latest photo shoot. We'll post more pictures of this later.