Laura - Dave & Clan

Hellfire

2011-09-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

After over a year of missing all of Dave and Derek's rocket launches, I finally made it out to the "BIG" event. Annually, there is a rocket launch out on the Salt Flats, in July... thus the name Hellfire. It is the coolest place to check out... driving on the road to get out there, you just come to a point where the road ends, and the salt begins, and you just keep on driving (no speed limit!!) a few miles out.

The festivities go for several days, and Dave got out there a few days before me along with Derek, and our neighbors boys. They would sell drinks and shoot rockets (or make rockets) all day long, and then go back to the hotel (Wendover) and eat the buffet (the boys looooved this), and swim.

Here's Derek and Teagan holding up their rockets (look at the big dogs on the left)

Our friend Stacie & her boys

Derek getting ready to launch his rocket (the yellow and blue one).

Dave and Jenna taking a ride out to explore.

Yes, I built a rocket too... it's called Sea Breeze, and it beat out our friend's rocket (beginner's luck).

My loot -- there were guessing games (how many XX are in the jar, etc), and I cleaned house on them. I'm not going to lie, winning and treats are two of my favorite things :)

Out in the middle of NOWHERE, there is an old abandoned piano... There were about 3 keys left on it... all the salt has built up on the sides. It was very cool though...

Me and the little pig (aka Jenna). Do you think her sunglasses are big enough? :)

Jenna, reinventing the Titanic arms on the back of the 4-wheeler.

Despite the heat, we had a blast! We had fun with the kids and our friends. I am excited to go again next year.

Girl's Camp 2011

2011-09-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

In July Hailey and I went up with our ward to girl's camp up in Heber. We had a great time enjoying the beautiful surroundings! In addition to some great spiritual moments, we did a challenge course (you see part of it here), which included jumping off a high platform to zipline. It was awesome! Hay cruised through it - fast!

Here is a group shot -- isn't that gorgeous!!

Hailey and her buds out on the lake, canoeing, they had fun!

What kind of camp would it be without a flag ceremony.

My favorite sign up at Heber Valley, while out on the lake, there is a 2-minute silence for everyone. It's a great moment for reflection, and just enjoying how beautiful it is up there...

I was so happy that I got to be up there with Hailey her first year of camp... hopefully we'll get to do more in the future!

Scofield Tri Recap 2011

2011-07-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

Dave and the little kiddos found me in the transition area before the start and came to give me good luck kisses :)

Amber and me pre-race. Gearing up for a great race day!

heading down to the boat ramp for our swim

In the water, trying to get used to the temp. It was pretty chilly (low 60s), but totally doable.

Right after getting out of the water, heading over to transition for the bike.

Derek & Cambrie (Amber's daughter), in the cheering section during our race :)

Me starting my run. There was the hugest hill out of transition for both the bike and the run. My legs felt pretty much like rubber after hopping off the bike. Thank goodness for the bike/run brick workouts I had put in leading up to the race. It helped a TON!


I DID IT! It felt great to finish my first Olympic triathlon. I was feeling a little nervous before... I knew I'd be able to finish, but I wanted to have a strong race. I had a few malfunctions during the swim... my left goggle kept filling up with water so I had to stop several times to drain it. Dang! Also, my first transition was slower than I'd hoped, the bike ended up alright, but the end of my run just got slow. I was doing great to hold between an 8:15 and 8:30 pace for the first of the run, then got SLOW at the end. My end results were... 10th place of women in the Olympic. I finished the swim in 30:04 which was slower than I had hoped... I felt good in my swim, but wished I had been faster cause I know I am a faster swimmer. The bike I finished in 1:19:32 (averaging 18.7 mph) which I was happy with, because heading out was decent, but when I reached the hill section I was going slow... little legs were tired! Thank goodness for down hill! My run I finished in 55:53, averaging a 9:01 min mile, which I wish was faster, but considering it was the end of the race, i'll take it! Overall, my finish time was 2:50:58. I hope my next one is faster, but this was a great first olympic, really great course!

Amber's my hero! lol... I always tell her she is so hard-core, and she is! She got first in our division and finished at 2:27. I love having a great competitive buddy to help me train, and race with!

And of course my racing wouldn't be complete without my best supporter, Dave :)

I can't figure how to turn this, but we stayed up in Scofield for the weekend with Jon & Amber & their family up at a cabin. We found a zipline off the side of the house. amber gave it a go, but it wasn't equipped for bigger people, lol! The kids however, LOVED it!!!

There was a playground right down the hill, and it had a fun teeter totter on the swingset, it was fun for the kiddos. Derek & Jenna loved it!

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

So mothers day has almost come to an end. I woke up a little after 8:30 to Jenna whispering in my ear that they were making me sausage and bacon. She was very excited about it! I got breakfast in bed of my favorites -- turkey bacon, sausage, french toast and chocolate milk.

For the most part the kids were really well behaved, and spoiled me with a new camera (my old one was beyond it's last leg). I love being a mom -- my kids never cease to amaze me, whether for the good or the bad, they keep me on my toes.

Mother's day wouldn't be complete without at least one meltdown from Derek (we have several each day from Jenna, so they're not as exciting to document)

I'm glad that I have the best Momma in the world. My mom is the epitome of patience, consistency, service, and love. I'm so glad that I have such a terrific example in my life! :)

I left my heart.... in San Francisco

2011-04-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I met up w/ one of my girlfriends from Phoenix for a girls trip to Cali. I was SO long overdue for a getaway... With a few day break between the end of classes and finals for me, I decided that was a perfect time to go do some relaxing and site seeing.

We stayed with one of our cute YW leaders from when we were young, and had a great time catching up!

Day 1: we hit up Union Square in San Fran and did some pretty serious shopping! We hit up tons of stores, got checked out (not in a good way) in Saks Fifth Ave... Nothing to make you feel good like a service person giving you the "you don't belong here" look... We got a kick out of looking at the 3000$ hand bags though! After lots of shopping, we headed to the pier and ate at the Boulevard. It was a delicious (and quite pricey) meal... which is nice to do sometimes.

Day 2: We hung around in San Ramon (where we were staying). I got in my 12 mile run- which was SO hilly- yikes! :) Then we went to lunch at a yummy place with our friend Jen. That night Natalie and I "doubled" with Jen and her husband and went to see Source Code. It was fun to just lounge a little bit without kids or responsibility... sigh.

Day 3: Hooray for Monterrey! We actually drove down to Carmel first, spent a few hours, but were more excited to go to Monterry... and so we went. We hit up the most divine bakery. I ate so many baked goods on this trip (which-for anyone who knows me- are my true weakness). We checked out the cute shops, had gelato, stocked up on yummy stuff from Trader Joes (which I WISH they had here), and ended up hitting some more outlets on our drive back (they had a Pearl iZumi outlet that I was SO excited about!!) We were already late getting back, but we decided to hit up another show, and went to see Soul Surfer...which was good. I will say, that I love Carrie Underwood, but she can't act.. ha!

Day 4: We packed up & headed home. Hooray for old friends, and good getaways to rejuvenate and gear us up for getting back to life.

Sunshine at last!

2011-02-21T17:28:00.000-08:00

The weekend before last, we took a last minute trip down to St. George as a family. I have been HATING the cold and the inversion; so, the trip to warmth was very much needed! We stayed with our great friends for a long weekend. While there, my friends & neighbors Stacie & Denise were there, so we hooked up for a great trail run. Talk about just what I needed! Nothing like a run in the sun (pardon the cheesy rhyme), to lift my spirits! I love St. George!

'Tis the Season

2010-12-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

There are so many things that I just ADORE about this time of year. All of them have to do with being around FAMILY.

We took our annual trip down to Temple Square to see the lights. I LOVE the lights! They are so pretty, and really put me in the Christmas mood. We took TRAX downtown so the kiddos could ride the train. It was convenient to avoid parking, but sure did take a while to get to and from...

Here is a shot of us.

The little buddies, Derek & Hailey

I LOVE this picture of Hailey & her Papa (Dave's dad). Hailey loves spending time with Mimi and Papa :)

One of my favorite traditions is going to see the Forgotten Carols. I love to hear the carols about the Savior, and especially I love feeling the spirit so strong.

At our trip to the mall to see Santa, Jenna & Derek were most excited with the Carousel :)

We hosted my family's Christmas get together this year. We had our traditional Mexican fiesta, rice pudding (Cami- my niece got the almond), our gift exchange (everyone draws a name prior to Christmas, and that's who they give a gift to, AND -- the family nativity. This year, Hailey was Mary, Derek was a wise man, and Jenna was an Angel (She was very sweet, but had moments that were more representative of hell's angels...:))
I love doing the nativity with all the kids, it's so special for them (and us) to take some time to reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ.

THIS, is a captured moment that represents a FAVORITE part of the holiday. I love "catching" my kids doing nice and sweet considerate things for one another without being asked. This morning, I caught Hailey sitting and reading stories to Jenna (Her favorite activity (next to singing)). They sat up there for quite some time, Hailey reading one book after another. It warmed my heart to see the love she has for her little sis.

There are many, many more things I love about this season -- baking, singing (and more singing), visiting with friends old and new, and hearing updates of the lives of people I love.

I hope you all have a very Merry CHRISTmas :)

Awesome Christmas Cards!!

2010-12-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know some of you who already utilize the wonderfully simple way of doing online Christmas cards. In the past I have done all sorts of methods -- made cards, bought cards, had cards printed etc. But this year I am going to use Shutterfly, so I can get all my cards done without having to go ANYWHERE! And better yet -- there is a sweet promo going on right now.

So - if you haven't checked their holiday stuff out -- here are some links to their products:

For Christmas cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

Calendars:
http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars
*** I LOVE doing calendars for family members who are far away, and I include pictures of my kids, so they can look at them all year! You can also put in pictures of people for their birthdays, this is my favorite thing! The relatives LOVE it!

If you're having a Christmas party or event that you want to send out invites to -- they've got those too:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations

This promo they are doing, you get 50 free cards. That about covers the majority of my Christmas cards for the season! I hope you all go check out their website, and score the same awesome deal too! I love a free deal... it's the best kind.

Hurry and check it out, because it is only available for another week or so... here's the link for the promotion :) http://bit.ly/sfly2010
Happy holidays!

Hailey is TWELVE!!

2010-11-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

It's so hard to believe that Hailey has turned 12! She seems so grown up, overnight!
I love many things about Hailey. She has always been very responsible about things - even from a YOUNG age she would set her own alarm clock so she could get up & ready in the morning. She is the craftiest girl I know! Her mind is constantly conjuring up things she can create or invent. Her room is living proof of her creativity :) I'm pretty sure I've heard that the creative type are not the clean & orderly type :). She LOVES music, and is a very talented singer. She also has an amazing ear for music, and has taken up the Ukulele this year, and continues to play the piano by ear well too. She is such a great big sis, and loves to love on her brother & sister. She is sweet (literally) -- because of all the treats she likes to eat! She is a determined gymnast, and has improved so much -- and has been invited to join the competition team! Yay!
Hailey's dislikes are: chores (especially dishes or vacuuming), bedtimes, dinner w/o dessert, being woken up by siblings on weekends.
Likes: Music, treats, playing games, baking, crafting, creating, computer games, hanging with friends, jumping on tramp, and family.

I love having Hailey as my daughter! She has been so wonderful, and it makes me sad to realize that she is growing up, and will be around less and less.
Here's Hailey's friend party :)

The Birthday girl!

Hailey w/ her 2 BFFs, Ashlynn & Megyn

The group -- candying up :)

They spraypainted their hair & did makeup to look like rockers! Then they had a just dance competition. It was VERY funny to watch.

SO terribly behind!! Derek turns 5!

2010-11-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well, to keep current with only being a couple months behind, I have to start doing September's post... yes, I'm a slacker.

SO - DEREK TURNED FIVE!!! I can hardly believe my little guy is so big! He is such a joy in my life. Some thing I love about Derek are:
Him cracking jokes, only not knowing for sure if what he says is funny, so he'll say it, then chuckle and ask "is that funny?" hehe
The "I love you infinity" game we play... whoever says it first each day wins.
Singing & dancing in the car
Watching him geek out to any & all of the Lego games on the Wii
Snuggling with him
Him being my baking buddy -- he's always the one wanting to put in the ingredients and and turn on the mixer
Reading books together
Playing games
Holding his little hand (this is one of my favorite things with my kids, and I know it's going to be gone before I know it -- sniff, sniff)
His smile
His face when he gets sad or disappointed, his eyes get big and tear up immediately and he has a big frown, like his heart has broken
Watching him play with his sisters -- especially when he entertains Jenna
His crane kick & round house
How he always wants to have a friend to play with (talk about social butterfly)

I really could go on and on, but these are just some of the things I love about my Derek, aka: little D, smooshie, shmunkins, Derico Consuelos Gonzolez

Now - onto the pictures.... Every year Dave shoves the cakes in the kids faces. This year, he must have gotten the perfect angle, because it went straight up his nose. I must have captured the incident at the perfect timing, but look how sad the poor guy is!

Pre- cake in the face

Derek was EXTRA excited that he got the two-sided General Grievous light saber for his birthday

D's birthday party w/ friends this year was a star wars theme. They did Jedi training -- so of course, they had to practice with their sabers (swords), and what better way to practice than to have a target (Dave) to go after.

They also did balloon tosses to work on their Jedi coordination... this wasn't quite so successful, but very fun to watch. Derek is so lucky to have so many great buddies so close by to play with!

This is where you'll find me...

2010-10-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Derek and his buddies were playing, so I turned our front room into their fort. As you can see, it was a pretty good size. Well, I have made a command decision to keep the fort up. The fort will now be known as Her Majesty's Getaway.

So -- If you come looking for me, and can't find me... this is where I'll be (just don't tell my kids) :)

Jenna turns TWO!

2010-09-16T20:23:00.001-07:00

First - some of her 2 year old pictures -- Thanks to my sweet friend Brenda for doing such an AMAZING job!!! They turned out absolutely perfect, and totally captured her little personality!

My little Monkey has turned TWO! I can hardly believe that Jenna LaRille is so grown up!
Here's her bday celebration recap....

We celebrated her 'actual' bday just at home -- and she was SO excited to blow out her candle that she singed her bangs over the flame! YIKES!

Breakfast consisted of her favorite -- DONUTS!

She was attacked in the morning with balloons -- The little thing she's holding, Derek had made for her :)

For her birthday with the extended family, I made her cake -- I thought it turned out so cute!!

A couple days before her big day, we went to the children's gardens at Thanksgiving point -- she had a great time playing w/ her siblings.

So I know this post is getting a little lengthy, but I have to mention my notable things about Jenna...
She sings songs constantly, and is totally musical! She has quite the repertoire, and often at night after we've put her to bed, we'll hear her in her bed, singing to herself.
She likes to dance, and has a funny little booty shake.
She is POTTY TRAINED! Yay! She did so good! Occasionally has a few accidents, but overall -- we're thrilled to have her out of diapers
She lives off of fruit, cheese and crackers. She eats next to no meat (minus the occasional chicken nugget)
She loves to be outside, and is often found sprinting down the sidewalk to go to the park and "sween" (aka swing).
Despite our concerns about her lack of verbal communication, she does speak and has a lot to say -- and gets extra ticked off when we can't immediatly interpret her babble.
She can't let family members leave without "kisses and lubs (loves)".

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is -- I'm so glad Jenna is in our family. She is such a doll, and is loved by all of us.

San Diego Catch-up

2010-09-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

I only found half of our pictures from our trip in July to San Diego (Yes, I'm slacking on blogging that much)
On our last full day there - we met up w/ our friends at the beach, it was fun :)
Here's Derek & Tavin buried in the sand

Fuzzy Shamu. Sea World was fun, but not my favorite.

On the deck at our rental - Hailey & derek enjoying a little lounge time

Derek & Jenna got their faces painted at Sea World. Derek is JOKER, and Jenna kept touching her forehead saying "pincess" (i.e. - princess). They both LOVED their looks

Ascent to Mount Olympus - 2010

2010-08-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

This hike has special meaning to our family because my Grandpa was one of the original mountain men who helped mark this trail back in the old days. If you're ever driving along Wasatch Blvd, right in the parking lot at the base of Mt. Olympus is Pete's rock, which climbers from around the valley use as a practice bouldering rock. It's named after my Grandpa Petersen.

That said - the last time I hiked Mt. Olympus I was 10 - yes TEN years old. We hiked it as a family, and I just remember how HOT it was, so I was anxious to have a do-over and not start in the heat of the day.

SO - on July 5, 2010 4:00am - I met up w/ my brothers Steve & Dave and my niece & nephew (Britt & Ben) to begin our hike. It was still rather dark, though there were lovely stars in the sky and a bit of moon, so we needed our headlamps as we began. We took a few refueling stops but mostly kept on treking until we made it to the top. We made it to the summit at 6:30 am, and it was absolutely beautiful!!

Here's Ben, Britt & I taking a brief break.

Me, Dave, Britt, Ben
Me, Britt & Steve

On the way back down, had to hit up the pic w/ the Mount Olympus sign.

Brittanie & I making our way up the last scramble. The last part is all boulders that you have to manuever your way around to make it up to the top. But the top has the most beautiful views, and the old school mail-box that hikers put little notes in. It's really cool.

Twin Peaks in the background on the Southeast side of the mountain

Ben, Britt, Steve & I enjoying our hike well done.

For any of you hikers out there who have not made this hike - I recommend! Your quads will kill (especially if you opt to run down instead of hike/walk) - but it's absolutely beautiful. About 5 or so miles round trip - it's a beauty! Start early though :)

Phoenix Trip

2010-07-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

Blogging catch up...
The end of June, Jenna & I flew down to Phoenix to visit my friend Natalie & her cute family. Originally our plan was to hang out for a few days, then drive back up to Salt Lake with her & her two little ones.

Natalie planned some fun activities for us while we were down there... We hit up Saguaro lake and I had my first venture at wake boarding. It was fun until my foot slipped out & the board hit me in the back of the head -- lol, no major injuries though.

Here's Jenna loving the sunshine!

Here's me & Nat on the boat

All our fun plans changed... Thursday when we were literally loaded in the car & ready to go, we took the kids to get in one more swim so they'd be nice & tuckered out before the drive began... and sneaky Jenna got off of the cool deck area and stepped on a super hot stone. Her little feet blistered up instantly, so we headed to Gilbert hospital. Poor little Jenna was screaming the whole drive, but the hospital staff were SUPER FAST! I was so grateful. They gauzed up her feet and poured lots of sterile water over them, and gave her a shot of morphine. They told me it would take effect right away, but 10 minutes later when they came back in to check on her, she was still crying. I mentioned how I wished the pain meds would kick in faster -- and they said they already had, but that she was probably just in that much pain. :( That broke my heart for her... poor girl!

SO - the Dr's there recommended we go to Maricopa hospital in Phoenix to the burn unit just to be on the safe side. When we got there - they burst her big blisters (more crying), and got her all wrapped up. After picking up her pain Rx, I talked to Dave & could hardly handle the whole ordeal... so, instead of us driving home as was planned, we flew home. I didn't have any idea how Jenna would react to the pain etc, so we opted to fly.

The next day we hit up the burn unit at University hospital, and they were great there as well. I will say, that Jenna is a little trooper, and she did so good! The scrubbing of the feet was- I think - more traumatizing for me than it was for Jenna. I will be scarred a little for life from all this! I am VERY glad that she has been recovering so well. It's been a couple weeks since this happened, and although her little feet are still a little pink & raw, they are by far better!!!

Here's me & Jenna in the first hospital

This was a day later at University hospital. Left foot

Right foot

Saratoga Tri - 2010

2010-06-15T06:18:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I was able to participate in the first Saratoga Springs Triathlon -- it was so fun!! We started out the swim in Utah Lake. I tried not to think too much about the fact that I was swimming in that questionnable water, and just kept kicking. I was in the first wave of swimmers, and I was out of the water pretty early on -- maybe in top 7 or so. It was fun to hop on the bike for the hilly ride down Redwood Road. Amber cruised past me a couple miles into the bike -- little speedster. :) The run was pretty brutal for me as my leg kept cramping. So, my run was slower than I would have like. However, I still ended in a reasonable time -- around 1:27. I ended third in my category and won a whopping prize of 15$ :) Can't beat that!
It was a gorgeous day for a great race w/ friends :)

Kudos to the folks who put it on -- it was SO organized (especially for a first time race), and they had TONS of yummy fruit (and Paradise cookies, lol) at the end. I will definitely make this an annual tradition. Here's some photos...

Do we look HARD-CORE or what? (LOL!)

Comin' into the finish! Getting ready to give high-5's to the kiddos

We started our swim just on the other side of the dock. The kids had fun dangling off the dock after the race. Can you believe how calm that water is?! It was great!

More of St. George

2010-05-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

On our trip to St. George last weekend, we really had a fun time with the kiddos! We played in the pool (mostly Derek & Hailey did), and we went on some hikes with the Fosters. We got to hang out with our friends, Tearsa & Jose while we were down there.

Here's me & the kids on one of our hikes. -- and, Can I just say that I LOVE the weather in St. George? It's so divine!

Amber & I & Jenna in tote (we are totally matching which is funny because it wasn't even planned) :)
Double Trouble

Derek & Hailey taking pictures underneath the blankets, instead of going to bed.

Hailey wearing my bra - LOL!

SPLITS!

@ Tearsa & Jose's they have a huge sand area, Jenna was in HEAVEN! She played so happily in it, making a mess everywhere! (Doesn't she look like a total rag-a-muffin??!)

Me & Tearsa!

Derek preferred the "hot pool" to the regular pool at our hotel. :) Hailey tried everything to bribe him to get into the big pool to play games with her. He would get out for a minute, but always went back.

Hailey & Jenna... Jenna didn't like the water -- it was too chilly for her.

SG Tri 2010

2010-05-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we loaded up the fam, and headed south to St. George for our very first Sprint Triathlon. The weather was absolutely HEAVENLY!! Here's the recap:

Me, outside of the car, getting ready to walk up our gear.

Dave, toting his stuff up to the main area.

Dave & I met up with Amber & Dave to head over to get everything set up. There is quite the art to getting everything set up properly so you can have speedy transitions. Here I am at my little spot (I snagged a great spot on the end of a row).

Amber & I pre-race, feeling the nerves & debating on how many immodiums to take before the race started (laugh if you like, but it's a NECESSITY!) :D

This is one of my favorite pictures... while I was watching Amber's group get ready for the water, there was this old guy in front of me, in his wetsuit with his crack all puckered & hangin out. Crude, I know, but I couldn't resist snapping the shot, so I could bring it home and share it with all of you on my blog - LOL!

Dave - just after crossing the finish line!! I was so proud of him!

Look - they gave us medals & everything, it's official, we really DID IT!! It felt like such an accomplishment. There is such a satisfaction that comes from putting in a lot of time, effort & training to prepare, and be able to meet a goal.

I'm anxious to do another tri in the near future... I've got my sights set on a few. It was fun to do with people I know -- thanks everybody for making it a fun race!!! :)

Would you like a side of sandwich with your mayo??

2010-05-12T11:03:00.001-07:00

When Derek got home from school today, he asked if he could make his own sandwich. I'm always happy to let him make his own food, so I let him.

I got busy making Jenna something to eat, and looked over to behold this...

I'm pretty sure he was double-dipping too.... Now my mayonaise is questionnable... ugh!

What is the deal with kids eating random condiments and such? Derek LOVES mayo. Hailey used to try and sneak finger-fulls of butter or margerine. Thank goodness I have things in my cupboards/kitchen pretty locked down, or there's no telling what Jenna would go after.

Please tell me it is not just my kids that do this.

Am I the only parent of condiment-eating children?

Happenings & Happiness

2010-05-06T09:08:00.001-07:00

Last night Hailey participated in the Hope of America performance down at the Marriott Center in Provo. Her 5th grade -- along with 5th graders from multiple other schools, put on a great showcase! They had very cool musical numbers, and hand movements that really looked AWESOME!! It was hard to believe they only had one day as a dress rehearsal to put it all together with all the kids.

Hailey is in the center section, top red row :) Can you see her? LOL!

I really enjoyed their performance, I love programs that help me reflect on what a GREAT NATION we live in. I am so THANKFUL that despite my agreements/disagreements about our current government, that I am part of a country where I enjoy (and often take for granted) so many freedoms!!

Now -- onto part II. When you were growing up, did your mom or someone in your family make something that was particularly yummy, and that you still have fondness towards as an adult?

WELL -- my mom is/was a master muffin maker. She always was making DELICIOUS muffins. One of my favorites that is SO simple, and so good (especially with some yummy homemade strawberry jam), are the Brown Sugar Muffins.

Here's the recipe, so you can enjoy them too...
1 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 c. margerine (I use the spread kind)
--cream together--
Add in 1 beaten egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
--Dissolve 1 tsp baking soda into 1 T of water --
--Mix all in--
Bake 375 for 15 minutes (press center of muffin to make sure they're done)
makes 24 muffins

....More little hands up to no good

2010-05-04T20:03:00.001-07:00

So just a few hours ago I got done posting about Derek & his mess making. Well -- Jenna has put his laundry piles to shame.

These are two separate incidences. Jenna has discovered the plethora of gadgets and gizmos that exist in Hailey's room. SO - If Hailey happens to leave her door open, Jenna wrecks havoc on her room.

This is from 2 days ago -- Jenna found Hailey's mascara, untwisted the cap (yes, her motor skills are very developed), and put it all over her MOUTH, (it was even in her teeth!!) and then lifted her shirt up, and put it all over her tummy. NAUGHTY JENNA!

WELL - This evening, I was down at the gym, and then waiting for Hailey's gymnastics to get out, and I get a call from Dave. He tells me that when I get home, Jenna has something she needs to tell me. Well, apparently, she sneaked into Hailey's room again while she was playing upstairs, and found a permanent marker.

This is the result (it extends about 4 feet across our wall in the hallway)

After seeing the damage, all I could think was -- DANGIT, WHY DID I EVER THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO INTRODUCE JENNA TO COLORING! She loves it, but apparently hasn't made the connection that the WALL is NOT HER canvas!

....dang little hands...

Ode to Melanie's Post

2010-05-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

Look at that sweet face, and those precious little hands. Well, if you have a child, or know a child -- then you know the DAMAGE that these sweet little hands can do.

My friend Melanie posted about the CONSTANT disaster that exists in our houses because of our little people. Well, Derek is an expert mess maker, and I thought I would share just a taste of the mess that this little one makes.

Here is the entrance to his room -- good thing he is such a good jumper, because you have to jump OVER the big pile of clothes just to get in!

The bed, never made, usually scattered with toys and clothes on top.

And the other view. ALL but maybe 2 of the clothing items on this floor are CLEAN! ARGH!!

But, don't you just love your little mess makers? Dang good thing they can be so tender & sweet, otherwise, it would be tempting to trade them in for a cleaner model :)

Enjoyable moments

2010-04-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

So, despite being crazy busy with school - we've had some nice highlights to keep us all going!

Earlier this month we headed to Grand Junction to see my sister & her family. Actually, Dave went so he & my BIL could go to some hunting shin-dig. Meanwhile, the kids - my sis & I had a great time, watching her boy's games (bball & lacrosse), and Derek & Jenna LOVED jumping with Auntie Mel on the tramp :)

I LOVED this picture of Derek -- Lately, all his pictures are too cheesy, and I FINALLY captured one of his REAL smiles!

Jenna loved Auntie Mel too!
Of course, the typical easter egg dying! We had our niece over so she got to join in on the fun. Hailey & Ariel did blind makeup on each other -- that's what's all over their faces! lol

And, after much anticipation, Derek started SOCCER! He has been SO terribly excited for this! At his first practice, he was all pumped up, telling me he was going to win the practice (even after I explained there wouldn't be another team there). It's fun to see your kids trying new things that they enjoy!

And - he's extra excited because Dave's the coach. :)

Recent events

2010-03-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well, one of my favorite non-holidays came and went -- St. Patty's day of course!! The leprechauns - or leppychauns (as Derek calls them), came and turned our milk green and peed green in the toilets -- they did it because they're sneaky of course!

Since I was gone for breakfast time, Dave held up the tradition of green breakfast!

Jenna has been rather beastly lately -- and ALWAYS is tugging at my leg to be held. Honestly - it drives me crazy. The other night I was trying to make dinner, and she kept tugging, but I had nasty hands and was NOT going to get her -- so she fell on the floor, grabbed her binky and started rubbing her fingers along her eyelashes (which is what she does when she is tired to self-soothe). I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Derek got invited to make and shoot rockets off with the Webelos this past weekend. Derek LOVED spray-painting his own rocket --

On Saturday Dave & Derek were out all day long shooting rockets -- they had a blast (no pun intended). Derek found a little friend out where they were -- it's a lizard! Dave said he almost killed it a couple times due to squishing, but eventually he had to let it go.

Hailey & her friend Ashlynn had a late-night -- I introduced them to the game M.A.S.H. which they played for quite some time, and then we got a redbox movie & I made fruit kabobs & fruit dip. :)

The vain pleadings of the young

2010-03-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

I came home tonight from school to find my mirror covered with Hailey graffiti. She has been asking for a cell phone forEVER. We continue to tell her it ain't gonna happen right now. First, I must say that Hailey doesn't even really like to talk on the phone anyway, but is still begging for a phone. In case you can't read it, here's what it says

PLEASE

Give Hailey a cellphone
Reasons Why - I will do these
Keep her Grades up
Be Helpful
Babysitting for Free
Great Attitude
Won't bug you to buy me things at the store
You can take it for a while if I'm bad.

In addition to her note, she had little papers crammed in at the cracks of the mirror saying "Please buy me a cell phone".

Although her attempts are in vain, she sure gave it a good go. Gotta give her an A for effort :)

A short jaunt...

2010-02-28T19:19:00.001-08:00

Have you ever gotten into a rut, where you just NEEDED to GET OUT!?!

Well, our family has seemed to be running on auto-pilot for a while now. We've been so crazy busy, that we have all only seen each other in passing. SO - to REMEDY this, we decided to get out of the house for the weekend.

So - we made the LONG JOURNEY down to Salt Lake :) LOL~!

We planned some fun activities with the kids. We hit up the Clarke Planetarium, the Children's Discovery Museum, and roamed the Gateway. I love downtown!!

Jenna absolutely love, LOVE, LOVED, the freedom of walking all around! She hardly had us carry her at all -- she booked it everywhere we went!

Luckily - we had some very fun moments down there, to counter the unexpected bickering and whining that came along too (I don't know how they made their way though -- argh!).

Here are the highlights :)

This is the closest Hailey's going to be coming to driving for at least a few more years :)

This was Derek's absolute favorite! He stood in the play store inside the Children's Discovery Museum for the longest time. He'd scan his groceries, then take them back and restock the shelves. It was really cute!

Hailey made an awesome parachute for the little wind-tubes they had.

The best part of this place is that it has something for EVERY age! Jenna had a ball playing with the blocks!

We are alive!

2010-02-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

So after inspiration to get back to blogging, here I am with an update. No pictures for now, since I've taken just a handful of pictures since Christmas. Slacker, I know.

In January I started back to school. Full time. What was I thinking?! After a couple years off, I reevaluated and realized I was only 2 semesters away from finishing my degree in Sociology. SO - after some serious contemplating and some encouragment from Dave I decided to jump in. I am gone all day Monday & Wednesday and half of Friday. Every moment in between is spent either studying, doing laundry or toting kids between activities. Thank goodness for this only being temporary. Thanks to my MIL for her help in watching the kids a couple times during the week to help out!!

Dave & I both signed up for the St. George Tri that is in May. Due to our chaotic schedules we don't get to train much together, but are doing our "things" where we can squeeze it in.

The kids are great! Hailey & Derek are in gymnastics (gyNastics as Derek says) and they both LOVE it! Hailey's still doing the school choir as well. She just finished up the 5th grade science fair. ATTENTION: For anyone who's child has not yet reached 5th grade-- DO NOT, I repeat - DO NOT, procrastinate getting the project/presentation board, oral report and written report until the weekend before it is due. It is NO fun! Luckily we all pitched in, but Hailey did a great job getting all the data together. She analyzed the relationship of temperature and placement in the deflation of balloons. Go Hailey! :)

Jenna is almost officially 18 months old! She has been SO much fun. She sleeps great, loves to eat all day. Among her many healthy options, she is often to be found sitting on the bottom stiar with the box of fruit loops as happy as can be! She loves her brother & sister. She folds her cute arms during prayers, gives many hugs and kisses, brushes her teeth ALL the time, loves to play in the dog's food and water (ew!) and many other little things! She is tons of fun for our whole family.

Dave's staying busy with lots of work! Things have been busy, but good for him over the past few months. We're looking forward to taking a little break once I'm done w/ school & his work has settled down a little. *Dreaming of vacations for now*.

Alright - so on the Valentine's day, I'm pledging my love to my blog, and I promise not to neglect anymore!

But of course that is a distant second to how much I love my sweet Hubby and my kiddos. I'm such a lucky lady to have such a great family!!

Happy Valentines Day all!

December - catching up!

2010-01-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well, these are all sorts of out of order -- backwards really, but here we go.

December was so much fun. We had a great time seeing family & friends, and spending time with them.

We had a great time w/ my family on Christmas eve, doing our traditional mexican fiesta. The story - one year eons ago, my mom was really sick on Christmas eve, so my dad ventured off to find what we were going to eat, and came home with some type of mexican food. Ever since then - we've had a tradition of eating mexican on Christmas eve. So, we enjoyed delicious Cafe rio style burritos & all the fixin's. We did a live nativity, where all the children get to dress up. This year my kids assigned parts were: Jenna - Angel, Derek - Wise man & Hailey - Shepard. They were a good looking group!

Our little family does a tradition of jammies on Christmas eve, so we all got home & opened our jammies. Everyone loved theirs, and I loved mine! That night we had Hailey & Derek sleep in the toy room (with a child knob cover on the door), so no one would sneak out. We left a phone up there for Hailey to call us when they woke up. We called Dave's folks to run right over to watch the opening of the presents. It was GREAT! Santa brought Derek a leapster (which he'd been hoping for for months!) and a scooter. Right after he opened all his gifts, he says "mom, I'm going to go upstairs to play my leapster in my room, come get me when breakfast is ready". He's NEVER gone off to "be alone" -- he LOVES his leapster though!! I made Hailey a rag quilt for Christmas - it was quite a project, but it turned out so cute & she loves it (and will be able to have it forever -- if my stiching holds up). Jenna was entertained to just observe & open her few gifts. Our big family gift (which Dave does each year) was a Wii. We have had lots of fun playing. Derek domintates at sword fighting, Dave at wake boarding, me at frisbee dog & Hailey at Just Dance. It's fun to play as a family - and everyone enjoys it!

Dave's folks & my folks (who were in town this year from az) joined us for brunch - Breakfast casserole (a tradition) and fruit. It was delicious! We just lounged for most of the day, and then had Christmas dinner over w/ Dave's family. We had all sorts of shenanigans over there -- sword fighting w/ all the kids (foam swords) and a hoot & holler band -- everyone had an instrument.

The remainder of December - aka Christmas break, we saw some movies, sledded when there was good snow -- at WAY too much junk, and enjoyed family & friends. We have thorougly enjoyed 2009, and are already running into 2010!~

Dave & his dad playing Just Dance on the wii

Hailey & her new quilt.

Jenna & Grandma!

The wise man, angel & shepard!

December fun so far

2009-12-17T06:52:00.001-08:00

Oh the excitement after the first big snow has fallen. The smell of clean air, the children bundled up from head to toe in bunchy warm clothes, all so they can go out and play.

Well - Hailey decided that instead of me shoveling the drive, I should leave it for her "hill". She created her own launch pad setting the sled at the boarder of the snow, and running from the far side of the garage & jumping onto the sled. She really flew down the driveway. (If you watch the video, you'll get to see Derek participate in the fun as well).

What can be more fun than doing snow angels in the fresh powder? Derek loves making snow angels!

Dave surprised me by getting us tickets to the Phil Vaser concert a couple weeks ago. We had great seats (no one directly in front of us!), and had a blast listening to the music & watching the drunk people dance to country. It was a good time!!

Linda gave the grandkids a little pre-Christmas spoiling. Last Sunday she had over all the grandkids, and made oodles (and I do mean oodles) of candy & holiday treats. Each kid got to bring home a box of goodies to eat, or share w/ friends. She got each of them some goofy glasses for fun - cute, huh? :)

Monday we hit up our annual session of the Forgotten Carols (no pics, dangit). I always love going to this performance, and it really puts me in the Christmas mood. If you haven't seen it - I would HIGHLY recommend. It's become one of my favorite traditions!

Tuesday night we went to Temple Square with Dave's folks, and two of his aunts. It was beautiful & fun to check out all the lights.

Here's Jim w/ his sisters - Helen & Edith. We were so glad they could come up!

A shot of the Salt Lake Temple :)

Me & my little buddy Derek

Yesterday I hit up Gardner Village (one of my favorite spots for all seasons) with Amber, Cambrie & Ethan. Besides Amber realizing she had lost her wallet (which thank goodness was found), we had a nice time. They had all their elves out on display, which the kids always love. And to top it off, it was a pretty nice day - into the 40s!

The stroller babies - checking everything out

more elves

Derek needed to take a picture, so here's Amber & I w/ the elves. Not a bad picture for a 4 year old, eh?

-- And here's the sledding video - check it out :)

Clear Creek

2009-12-05T20:35:00.001-08:00

In Hailey's school district, all 5th graders are able to go to an overnight camp called Clear Creek. I was lucky enough to be able to go up with her as a chaperone. The camp was absolutely beautiful, and the kids (all girls) had a really good time.

Here's Hailey in the very COLD morning en route to breakfast. There is an older couple that work/live up there, and this is the view they have every morning -- getting to watch the sun come up. It's so beautiful!

Hailey and I on our way to the cabin for lights' out (which due to some loud girls, ended up being well past midnight -- on a school night no less).

Hailey & some of her buddies that are in her class scored a great "private" section of the cabin (a separate room w/o a door). Here they working their shenanigans.

There were several stations the girls got to do. Tie dying was just one among the many -- bracelets, picture frames, robot making (out of recylables) in addition to some other team building activities.

Isn't Hailey's tie dye shirt wonderful!?

Hailey & her BFFs getting ready for the skits.

Giving Thanks and Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

The days and weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to be surrounded by friends and family whom I love. This season of the year is my favorite. I am so blessed. Here are just a few of the highlights from the past little bit.

Derek here is loving his little cousin Luke. Despite cheering for opposing teams during the big game - they came together to share their mutual love of one another :)

Don't you wish you were a cougar fan too? Not that I'm really that into football, but that was a good game, and even better that our team won!! Go blue!

Thanksgiving morning my sisters family & I have a tradition of running a turkey trot (to try and balance out the mass consumption of food & goodies). This year we ran the Fleet Feet turkey trot, and it was nice, besides being very chilly!

My B-I-L Bill picked up a puzzle during his routine trip over to Cabellas, and made his own little setup (tablecloth, lamp & all), to do his puzzle work. I ended up getting a little too obsessed with the puzzle. Now, I just need to find more time to finish it :)

The boys (Bill, Steve & Dave) watching the game.

Meanwhile, Derek enjoyed playing Lego Indiana Jones in the front room that had been converted to a projection Xbox 360 haven. He & his cousins couldn't stop giggling - he loved having buddies to play with!

The feast! The culmination of all our hard efforts in the kitchen. It was a lovely meal, and we enjoyed having my sister Christine, Melanie (& fam), and Dave's folks over for the big meal. There's nothing better than being surrounded with family at Thanksgiving.

Earlier in the month some girlfriends & I went to the Christmas show, and had a great time! I'm glad for good girlfriends, they make the day-to-day so much more enjoyable!

In addition to this, there were games played, treats eaten and black friday shopping done. Those pictures will be posted later... Pulling an all nighter of shopping is ridiculous. My sister & niece and I started at 11pm, and ended shortly after 7am. Stores should just open at 8am.... allowing for more sleep :) At least some Christmas shopping was done :)

Halloween festivities

2009-10-31T12:22:00.001-07:00

The cool weather, some moments of snow, colds coming on -- Halloween must be near!!

Well - Halloween was fun this year. Derek & Hailey both did parades at school. Hailey's school goes through the gym, and Derek's goes around the block.

Here's Derek's preschool class along with his jail-bait teacher, Miss Carrie :)

Miss Witchie herself :)

I spent my Halloween morning running my second half marathon, the Halloween Half. It was a beautiful run -- starting up Provo Canyon at Aspen Grove, then ending down at the Riverwoods in Provo. It was a beautiful run, and I ended just 1 minute over my goal time (my finish time was 1:56). Now I'll have to sign up for another one so I can get my goal.

I ran with two of my girlfriends Stacie & Amber. Did I mention the Halloween Half encourages dressing up? We had a good time on our run! We were all "Mrs. Runner Up". Pretty easy costumes to work around our running gear! There were some very interesting costumes! Amber's daughter handed each of us a bouquet of flowers as we were approaching the finish line. It was fun!

In the later afternoon, our ward had a nice Halloween kickoff dinner with delicious soups, bread, dessert, hot cocoa & cider. The kids enjoyed a parade around the park.
Here are my kids, the little witch , the big witch and Buzz Lightyear (who smiles for no one)
This year I made skirts for Jenna & Hailey, and I was pleased at how they turned out! Especially since I don't profess to be a seamstress of any sort!

The little Witchie was my candy helper. Each time the bell would ring she would run to the door with delight!

Derek sorting out his spoils from his trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

Hailey got a ton of treats as well! I'm implementing a 3 day rule. The kids can eat as many treats as they want for 3 days, and then it goes bye-bye. I've heard dentists say it's better to just get it over with, than to let them slowly rot their teeth out. Not all my kids have a zero-cavity track record with the dentist... I won't name names.
So, we'll see how this idea works out!

Hope you all had a fun Halloween, because we sure did!!

We're havin' a party!

2009-10-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

My little Hailey is not so little anymore!! She turned 11 this week. It's hard to believe she is so grown up already. For her bday breakfast, she wanted cake (a girl after my own heart), so I negotiated making "easy cake" - an old family recipe. (sorry pics didn't rotate..)

Her birthday party with friends was a huge success. I had converted an area of our unfinished basement into a glow room, decked out with black lights & glowing paint splattered everywhere. Hailey & all her friends spent most of the night down there with their pizza, snacks, glowsticks etc. They had dance-offs, sing offs and an overall great time. They made masks which were fun to see glow in the black lights... pretty spooky!

Here's the crew...

The birthday girl :)

A small plate of her cupcakes -- cute, eh?

A birthday wouldn't be complete without a cake to the face... I'm pretty sure Dave started this tradition, but the kids get a kick out of it :)

I'm so glad for the young lady Hailey is becoming. She is very sweet, bright, helpful, capable -- and my best helper!! I'm so glad to be her mom!!

Derek turns 4!!

2009-10-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday that Derek was just a little (well, at 8lb 12 oz - not really too "little") bundle of baby! I can't believe how he has grown! He has been such a joy in our family! He is our little comedian! He makes us laugh & tear our hair out!

The only thing better than a birthday celebration this year, was 4 of them!

On Derek's actual birthday we went to the zoo. Mimi (Dave's mom) came along for the fun, and sadly, Hailey had to miss out :(. But as a whole, it was a fantastic day!

One of my favorite places to celebrate is "Blue Plate Diner" in sugarhouse, on 2100E & 2100S. They have the most amazing banana splits! SO - after a nice hot day at the zoo we hit it up. Derek's face says it all...

A reminder, in case we forgot, that "D" is 4 :)

(can you believe how huge that banana split is?? SO tasty!)
Since it was enormous, he decided to share!

Yes, we are a family of Gorillas (minus Hay) :)

On the train... Me w/ Jenna & Linda

D & D. Dave & Derek

Birthday morning - opening presents from Grandma & Grandpa

The "friend" party

What do you get when you combine 13 3 & 4 year olds? A party of course!! It was very busy & a little chaotic, but on the whole, it was a great party!!!

Here's Derek getting presents shoved in his lap to open! Some of the kids wondered why they didn't get to take their gifts home with them. Gotta love kids!! And - thank goodness for a goody bag to send home with them :)

The kids playing the balloon stomp game. Some ended up body slamming the balloons, because they weren't heavy enough to pop the balloons by stomping them :)

The party group

Outdoor games :)

Derek & his big sissy :) Hailey was such a WONDERFUL helper at the party, keeping the kids reigned in and happy!

F-O-U-R

At the family party (we do monthly parties for my family), Derek & his cousin Zack had a great time playing! They also happened to be our September birthdays!

Time to blow out the brownie cakes :)

The "other" family birthday. Derek of course got his head shoved in his cake.... a party isn't a party...

The Cake before being smooshed

Mimi & Papa got Derek a music set- drums, maracas, bells, tambourine etc etc. It's continued to be a hit!

We all love Derek very much, and had a wonderful time celebrating his 4th birthday!

Jenna's 1 year pictures

2009-09-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

Our Jenna's 1 year pictures! ~ Enjoy~

All in a weeks work

2009-09-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

This past week has been great!! Here's the update..

Jenna is WALKING!! On the 6th, she took EIGHT steps!! She's still uncertain about it, but she's so darn cute trying to make her way around!

She has also discovered that the shiny silver thing in the kitchen has stuff in it... the fridge is her new fave place to get into!

My nephew Dash came for a visit from Portland, so we were able to spend some time with him. Derek LOVED having his older "cuz" to play with. We decided to go to Classic Skating with him, and the kids all had a ball. Well, except for Jenna -- at this particular moment. :)
I'm sorry, but no matter how young or old -- EVERYONE gets a grin from winning something from the grabber machines!

Hailey's going to be mortified that I'm posting this, but she struck such a great pose, I couldn't resist!

...arcade games!

This was the first time Derek & Dash had skated, and it was very entertaining to help them around the rink.

I canned peach freezer jam w/ my friend Emily & we had a great time!! Canning projects are ALWAYS better with a friend!

Friday night I decided to take the kids to our local high schools first home football game. We had a fun time. (go thunder!!) Derek was especially excited to be amidst all his friends. Here he is with two of his buddies, Karson & Cambrie. So cute!!

Guilty!! Uh, Guilty pleasures I mean

2009-09-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

So, we all have our "things". You know what I'm talking about, right? Of course you do -- you know, the things we like, but don't like to admit we like too much??

Well friends, I'm going to share my "things" with you.. some my habits, some my guilty pleasures. These may or may not surprise you, but here they are...

DIET COKE: It's my coffee of choice, and I don't know any other effective way of starting my day, than with a nice spicy diet coke!

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES: Most of the time, I really try to eat healthy, but when it comes to yummy breakfast, I CAN NOT pass up buttermilk pancakes -- especially when they're homemade. They are so delicious, and can only become better when smothered with butter and syrup.... It's only like 2000 calories... that's not bad, right?

CAMERA: I try to keep my obsessive picture taking under control, but usually fall victim to what I like to refer to as trigger finger... the finger starts pushing, and just can't stop. I can't get enough of capturing the moment, and then the next moment, and the next....

FACEBOOK: Do you love this website as much as me?? It is so silly in concept... to know when people are eating, mad, exercising, working, listening to music etc etc etc. BUT, that being said, I love it, and I love that it's a free ticket to put in my two-cents on anything! (NOTE: The games on FB are equally enticing... one word... Farmville)

YELLING: Okay, this is one I'm not most proud of, but I'm trying to keep it real. I have an unusual sense of patience. I'm very patient, until I'm NOT. Which means, I go from being rational and understanding to this...

SINGING IN THE CAR: I am a compulsive car-singer. Doesn't matter what genre it is.. Country, Rock, Rap - oh, and I even belt it out to the kids music (doesn't everyone love nursery rhymes and Backyardigans??) And just to take it to a higher level -- I'll dance. Oh yeah, I've got some insane car-dance moves. It's best when someone busts me dancing AND singing... I just figure it made their day :)

Concessions: My favorite part about any movie or sporting event, would definitely be the concessions. My hubby always teases me that it costs more in concessions than for an actual ticket. What can I say, doesn't everyone love a big drink, some popcorn, nachos or a hotdog on occasion and an ice-cream to make watching a game/show more enjoyable? I suggest they do!

STIRRING THE POT: In general, I live a no-drama life. But on occasion, I like to "mix it up", thus, I add to my "THINGS", stirring the pot... Now, I really don't think I'm the only one who does this... push someone's button, get a reaction?? Like I said, it's like a special trinket or treasure, I only take it out on special occasions, but when I do, it's thoroughly enjoyed!

I SHOULD REALLY BE....: Famous words, right? To be followed by... "cleaning the house, doing laundry, making dinner, ta-da-ta-da". Anything productive, but sometimes, don't you just need to VEG?! The smile on this girls face says it all!

SOME OF MY FAVORITES: Everyone has their favorite shows, right? I have a bundle, that I love to unwind to at night. Most of these are MUCH to my hubby's dismay... he keeps himself entertained by commentating on my shows, and he's pretty brutal too -- Like when we're watching Bachelor(ette), More to Love, The Hills, The City... and the following

Hallmark: There never was, nor will there ever be more SAP in a show than on Hallmark movies

PROJECT RUNWAY: I love this show!! There is nothing else out there that is more drama involving scissors, fabric and every sexual orientation. I highly recommend... and sometimes they come up with really crafty stuff. Makes me feel like I could sew anything myself!

HOUSEWIVES OF...: Okay, this one really is aweful, but I just love the drama. There are all sorts of seasons, Orange County, Atlanta, NYC, NJ etc. It's funny to see that people live so ridiculously! Catfights & backstabbing galore!

Now that I've shared some of mine -- I want to know, what are your guilty pleasures????

It's your birthday, shout HOORAY!

2009-09-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

Our lovely Jenna LaRille turned ONE!!

She has been such a joy in our home over the course of the past year. Every stage has been precious to me, and it's been bittersweet to have her hit such a milestone of being 1! Her smiles and giggles, her fury and frustrations have all been wonderful! We love having her in our family, and I can't imagine a more perfect little lady! Here are some shots of her celebrations!

Where, Oh Where has my summer gone??

2009-08-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

We barely had reached full summer mode, yet, it has already come to an end.

Here are some of the highlights of our summer.

Whitney Lake - Camping
Streams were thoroughly enjoyed by the kids!

Whitney Lake was one of my favorite camping locations. It is several miles off of the Mirror Lake Highway - all on a dirt road, but it's SO peaceful, and because of the less-groomed road, there were relatively few campers. We enjoyed fishing & campfire cooking.

One note: If you choose to go up there (yes, even in summer) - bring WARM gear. It was so freezing cold at night, Dave & Derek nearly froze. Luckily, we bundled Jenna sufficiently so she stayed warm. Once morning came, we were awoken by a herd of sheep that had been brought in the nearby hills by their shepherd to graze. It was amazing to see how many SHEEP there were! This is definitely going to be a repeat location for our family!!

Jenna preferred to be fed, and lounge at the same time (Oh No jenna - you CAN'T have my diet coke) :D

The view! Isn't it gorgeous?!

Me & Hay

Dave & Jenna -- and the dog... :o

Fishing!

Jenna & I chose to observe while the rest fished, particularly because I don't care for touching slimy worms.

Hailey LOVED fishing!! She got her own (pink) fishing rod & everything!

Dave - teaching the techniques...

FAMILY VISITS!

My sister Melanie & most of her kids came out during July for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. We enjoyed some extra activities, like visiting "Jump On It". Fun & jumping was had by all!

GO Mel!

My girls!

Nothing like story time w/ Auntie Mel to cement a solid relationship:)

The Temple!

The cousins

I LOVE this temple, it is so beautiful, and we had a great time walking through w/ the kids.

Girl's Camp - 2009

This year I was able to attend girls camp w/ my ward. It was difficult to be away from home (especially the baby) for a week, but it was wonderful to get to know the young ladies better & to spend time w/ them. We were able to stay at the Heber Valley Camp which is a luxurious (for camp) facility!

At the lake, there was this sign posted & I thought it was fitting for our time up there.

The view from the top, after one of our hikes.

The camp had some amazing challenge courses -- this was one of them that any who wanted to participate in could. It was awesome... the rope ladder, the step across & the zip-line down. It was a blast!

Myself & Kathy, our camp director -- paddling around out on the lake.

Playing some games w/ the girls at campfire

Liberty Park

This was one of our favorite summer spots to go. The kids had a great time when we'd go, feeding the ducks, playing in the water or on the playgrounds. I love this park!

PEEK-A-BOO!

Lava Hot Springs, ID

This ended up being one of the funnest trips we've had. We rented a house in Lava Hot Springs w/ Dave's parents, his sister Lisa & her family. It was such a fun town - cute little Main ST w/ lots of quaint shops. Hailey LOVED having freedom to roam the main drag w/ her cousin Dawson. There is a HUGE swimming pool in town w/ lots of diving boards & planks. Dave told Hailey if she jumped off the 30 foot plank he'd give her 20$. Hailey lamented over that, wanting the $$, but being uncertain about the jump. She spent a few hours standing on the planks, walking to the edge & then backing up. Finally, she opted out of it, and decided to enjoy the lower plank (which was still HIGH -- in fact, too high for me to jump off!), the diving boards, the water/climbing wall & the other diving boards. We loved tubing the Portneuf river that goes through town. Besides one capsizing by Dave & Derek (thank-goodness for life jackets on little ones!!), the tubing went without problem. The water was COLD, but very fun -- Perfect for family tubing!! The hot-springs were hot indeed, and felt nice after a long day.
Derek gained a new confidence as he flew into Dad!

My girls!

Me & my honey :)

All geared up for tubing!

Hailey - trying to keep out of the cold water, whenever possible.

Summer's good, summer's fun, next year will be another one.

And with that -- back to the reality of school years & schedules :)

Our fabulous "4th"

2009-07-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July has come and gone again for this year, and we had a terrific time. We did our traditional activites up w/ my brother Steve & my SIL Jenny. They always put on the spread for gatherings, and this was no exception.

The pics are out of order, but in the afternoon of the 4th we had a HUGE bbq of steak, chicken and brats -- SO TASTY -- along with a lovely selection of side dishes.

Hailey decided it would be fun to trip Dave into the kiddie pool...

Dave never gets even, he "gets ahead" -- this was his revenge to Hailey (after dunking her profusely)
Another fun tradion we have is the annual badminton tourney. Here's Dave bowing in defeat to our BIL Bill.

Here's the final two - Steve & Bill (who reigned victorious in the tournament)

Here's a little of my action shot - I really love badminton, it's so fun!

My sister Michele w/ her daughter Amelia & Jenna

Hailey w/ cousins Abbey & Bethany

A bunch of the cousins staying cool in the water

My SIL Jenny, sister Mel, niece Brittanie & Me - enjoying the tournament from the shade!

We hit the Kaysville parade in the morning. Here are my oldest nephews Ben & Matt - notice they are too cool to be up close trying to snag the candy!

Now, here are the serious candy catchers - FRONT ROW!!

Our attempt at a self family-portrait. The timers are always a little tricky!

Handstand competition!! I was totally the winner on this -- Do you like my pointed toes?? That's like an extra 2 points! :)

Dave & Hailey were about a tie

Jenna had a great time w/ all the commotion at the parade

Steve w/ Jon & Eli at the parade

Hailey, Jenna & cousins Abbey & Rachie

After the big 5k race, here's Hailey & I

I totally LOVE the fourth of July, it's such a fun filled time to hang w/ the family, and make new memories.

Radio '09

2009-07-15T16:45:00.001-07:00

Well, the "radio" came to town again, and it was a hit!! Derek was SOOO excited to go!! And by "radio" I really mean RODEO! We went w/ our friends the Fosters and had such a great night!

Derek's FAVORITE part of the night was the motorcycles (how random) that performed in one of the breaks. He LOVED it!

Little D & Big D
Ethan & Cambrie

Me & my little man! (LOVE THE HAT!)

This was his expression when we were driving up to the rodeo grounds! Do you think he was excited?

Our week in Arizona

2009-06-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

We had a marvelous time on our trip down to Az to visit my folks. The kids and I headed down there for a week, and had lots of outings and adventures while we were there. We drove down, stopping through St. George to visit a friend on the way.

While there, we visited Camp Verde - a town about an hour away from my parent's house - my family has a membership to this place called Thousand Trails. It's like a camp community, they are all over, and our family has gone to them since I can remember. The kids had a great time swimming, of course, as well as playing on their playgrounds and in their family centers, playing pool and games.

Jenna loved the pool especially, and squealed with delight each time she would slap the water!

She also enjoyed sitting in the shade after :)
Derek always loves sunbathing. He did have some fun jumping in from the side to Grandma, over and over again - Thanks mom!

Jenna at the park :)

Hailey and Derek setting out on a trek up the driveway from my parent's house. Derek LOVED his walking sticks. My dad has a hiking stick, and so I think that's what spawned his interest. It was cute to see him trying to walk with it. Hailey was so great to take Derek out in search of lizards or chipmunks.

Grandpa took the kids to the fish hatchery

... and to the oldest standing school house in Arizona ( just up the street in Strawberry)

The coolest place we went was to Fossil Creek. It was very nearby my parent's house, but seemed like this hidden oasis in the mountain valley. We got to this place and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! There were two rope swings off a tree that was on the other side of the creek, Hailey & I had fun launching off of it. The water was COLD!!

This is a flash to a different spot - on the Verde river just down from my parents house. The kids both had fun splashing around.

Here's a better shot of fossil creek - it was SO lovely! We could see all the way to the bottom, and there were fish all over in it. Kinda creepy, but very cool!

Hailey at Fossil Creek. It was such a beautiful day!!

It was really nice to go down and spend time puttering around w/ my folks. It was a nice kick-off to summer :)

Ode to a clean room!

2009-06-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

My darling Hailey has SOO many wonderful qualities. She's kind, helpful, smart, fun, silly and so much more. One area she still has room for "improvement" is in her cleaning skills- particularly in her room. Last week I assumed the task of being her room cleaning "helper". AKA - I cracked the whip, and we cleaned Cleaned CLEANED! It took us TWO days. Yes, really - two! After Hailey finally agreeing to remove all of her button, boondoggle, yarn, sticker, rock, coin, bead and other craft projects OUT of her room, and after about 3 bags full of trash, we finished! I had to document this event, because I can reflect back on the good 'ole days of Hailey's room being clean.

I didn't DARE post the before picture - it was OUT OF CONTROL! So - here's Hailey's CLEAN room :) Ahh - so lovely! AND - a place for everything, and everything in it's place!

We rearranged her furniture, which makes her room seem HUGE!
Now, she's got her music niche to groove to her tunes!

Pirates, Carnivals, Cakes & the great outdoors

2009-06-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well, what happens when I don't post for a while is I combine.. so here goes.

The trampoline is a wonderful fun tool at our house. Every day either Dave or I (or both of us) get coerced into jumping w/ one or both big kids. Our biggest bribe with Derek lately is if he is obedient during the day, Dave will jump with him on the tramp, and play pirates -- swords and all. So - Here we are - ALL enjoying the tramp (I'm sure we exceeded the weight limit, but it was worth it!!)

Here's Hailey - sporting her new summer doo -- braids. We both love the freedom of NOT having to do her hair!!

Me & the bug

My favorite Pirate & his shipmates, Hailey & Derek. Notice Dave's the only one w/ the sword?? Are you wondering about the orange bird?? It's called "Wild crazy orange ducky bird". Hailey got it several years ago & it has a squeaker in the beak, which makes it all the more fun. Derek recruited that recently to be part of the sword fighting action.

NEXT UP: THE CARNIVAL -- okay, not a full on one, but it was Pony Express days out in Eagle Mountain, so we went to the festivities which included treats & games for kids, and a performance from Jason Hewlett - an impersonator/comedian.

Here's Hailey - workin' her magic on a gnarly curve ball -- she knocked down all the pins down! Woohoo! (Derek cheated & only got two)

Here is SAD DEREK, not to be confused with his happy counterpart. He got a prize that was a balloon with a rubber band on it, that you blow up & can bang back & forth. Anyway - his popped about 3 minutes after I blew it up for him (and 30 seconds after Hailey's popped). When he gets sad, he gets this frown, and then the tears start. I could almost hear his heart breaking. It was sad...
Me & Dave, hanging out watching the show - it was fun, we just threw down a blanket on the hill, had some dinner & relaxed.

This video is hillarious to me, because most men I know don't LOVE dancing, whereas most women I know seceretly (or openly) WISH they could be on So you think you can dance. So - this video shows that this whole concept begins at a young age. Here you'll hear music in the background & Cambrie dancing to it -- meanwhile, Derek is trying to get Cambrie to come throw frisbees with him. Derek - Get used to it, it won't change... :)

The kids, enjoying their shaved ice

Yesterday Hailey called me upstairs and this is what I saw.... I think Jenna would LOVE having all these friends in her crib with her... doesn't she look thrilled?!?

My dear friend Natalie had a baby shower, and I volunteered to make the cake for it (WITH HELP!). So I spent Monday making cakes, and with the help of my sweet friend Lora (& her dad), they helped me craft this masterpiece. I LOVED how the fondant looked, and it TASTED SO GOOD! Chocolate w/ chocolate marshmallow filling, and Yellow cake w/ raspberry white chocolate. Divine, simply divine...
This summer a bunch of ladies I live near decided we should get whoever wants to go should get together once a week and hit up different parks for lunch with the kids. This week we went to South Fork, up Provo canyon. It was a total HIT. There was a little stream there for the kids to splash around in, and a great grassy picnic area, trails, trees, sticks, dirt -- you know, the stuff kids eat up!

Here Derek got to hold a REAL inch worm. He thought it was SO cool!

While we were up there, we got to celebrate our friend Julie's birthday - HAPPY BDAY JULIE!!

Derek & his friend Karson, playing on the truck by the water

The kiddos playing in the water

Hailey & my friend Melanie's son Austin ended up getting DRENCHED in FREEZING COLD mountain water, but when you're 10, it doesn't phase you for too long :)

We've had a pretty busy, but great start to summer -- More to come :)

The end of the school year

2009-05-30T10:18:00.001-07:00

My how time flies when you have children... The end of the school year has already come & gone... and SUMMER is officially here!

Derek graduated from his first year of pre-school, and thoroughly enjoyed himself each & every day he went! The graduation was adorable, they had a great program w/ songs and mini-speeches.

Here's the graduate!

The graduate & his proud Mama!
Derek & Miss Carrie, his wonderful teacher who we LOVE! Thanks Carrie for a great year!!

After their program they all threw their hats up -- it was exciting for them! :)

Here is Hailey at her field-day, a few days before school got out. I had fun coming to help out! She's here w/ one of her best friends Ashlynn. They are good friends, and even get to share the same birthday! How fun!! :) Goodbye to 4th grade... on to bigger & better things (after summer of course!)

We took the kids up American Fork canyon on Friday after Hailey got out of school (at 9:30!), and enjoyed a mini-hike & a picnic. It was a GORGEOUS day to be up in the mountains.

Jenna had a ball being toted along -- I on the other hand got an added workout! :D

Even the naughty puppy Mandy got to tag along. I might add -- she is NOT a fun passenger on car trips, as she has the WORST gas any creature should! Ugh!!

Derek & Hailey peeking through the trees. Derek was SOOOO excited because he found an "acorn" which we commonly refer to as a pinecone! It was a fun day!!

Date with Derek

2009-05-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've been lagging on getting my posts done, but so goes life. Last weekend I decided to take Derek on a surprise date with mom (and Jenna). He had no idea where we were going, and was VERY EXCITED when we pulled into the zoo. We hit the zoo up early -- right after it opened in the morning, and it was PERFECT! No crowds yet! We got to see their new Madagascar exhibit, which was small, but cool!

I don't know what it is about these water things, but kids LOVE them!!

The bears!! Derek loves that they have a "bath" (aka pool area).

The play area was a huge hit. We probably spent at least an hour here. He LOVED the slides, play area etc!

Derek & Jenna on the train -- he was SO thrilled to be on the train!

I KNOW Derek is my little monkey, and he's working on being as big as a gorilla!

Did you know they have a carousel at the zoo now?? I rode on a otter, and Derek rode on the hippo.

There were tons of exhibits out in the park, and Derek got up close and personal with a PYTHON!!!!
After our jaunt through the zoo, I took Derek to one more surprise place -- The Blue Plate Diner. If you have not been here, it is a hidden treasure in Sugarhouse - on 2100S & 2100E. It is the cutest diner, and they have the BIGGEST banana splits you have EVER seen!

I love that I captured this shot -- he was so excited!!!

Here it is...

Going, going,

GONE!

I love spending time one-on-one with the kids from time to time. Derek had a great day, and I had a great date with my little man!

When you love someone...

2009-05-15T06:18:00.000-07:00

You know that Bryan Adams song?? (I love that song -- it's on my page if you wait and listen long enough...) Well, this post is a shout-out to my sweetie! He's been gone the past couple nights. Usually, when he's gone, I jump into tough, survival mode. But last night, it was dark, and windy, and then I got door-bell ditched. All of those thing started giving me the spooks. Yes, I know I'm a grown woman, but sometimes it happens anyway.

I had all the kids sleeping soundly, but when I finally went to bed, I couldn't. I kept hearing things (imagine door creaking open, and the floor crackling). So - it was late and I decided to call Dave. He was en route, driving from Vegas to a little town outside Phoenix where he was going to crash for the night. He totally humored me by listening to me talk until I wasn't so "scared" and could go to sleep.

Thanks honey -- for being the one I love, and being the one who loves me, and for being my listening ear when it's dark and windy and scary. :)

Perspective from a 3 year old

2009-05-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Derek constantly is cracking us up with the things he says & does. So, I thought I'd do an official blogspot interview with him, so I can always remember.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up.
A: A space ranger

Q: What does mom do all day for work?
A: Exercise

Q: What does Dad do for work?
A: Work on his computer.

Q: What does Hailey do at school?
A: Get out of the bus and go into the school.

Q: Who in our family lives the farthest away?
A: Grandma.

Q: Where does she live?
A: In Arizona

Q: When you are grown, what will you eat?
A: Probably Mac & Cheese, and sometimes Pizza

Q: Will you eat any vegetables?
A: No.

Q: Who will take care of you when you grow up?
A: My kids

Q: How many kids will you have?
A: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,..16,17,18,19,20. I'm going to have 20 kids.

Q: What will their names be?
A: Um, Twinkie, Starwer, 626 (Stitch much?), Easter egg hunt, Ereidik (he just spelled this on out to me), Easter-star, Backyardigans, Banana (as he looks at one on the counter), Cambrie, Releuca (he said, that's buster crab's son). other names to be determined.

Q: What will your kids do for chores?
A: I'm going to have 'em clean up the toy room, clean up the kitchen, clean up the toys, clean up their piggy banks and guitars.

Q: What will you do with your kids for fun?
A: Play games with them, eat food, go to the park, go upstairs and play.

Q: Who will you marry?
A: My kid's mom.

Q: What will your wife be like?
A: like a flower.

Q: Who will be your favorite person when you grow up?
A: My kids, my kids mom.

A successful attempt

2009-05-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I was in Broadbents in Lehi, and this girl there was talking about these "super easy" baby/toddler/little girl skirts she had been making. I had been wanting to attempt making one, although I have no pattern. Anyway -- Here it is!! It's slightly long for Jenna, but we'll just call it super modest -- you can't start to early, right??

Anyway, here it is!!! If you want to try, let me know & I'll share how I did it!!

Isn't it DARLING??!

The Joy of being a mother!

2009-05-10T17:31:00.001-07:00

...Long Post Advisory...

This has been a pretty great week of being a mother!

Thursday was a Stake activity for all girls 8-12 & their mothers. They had a wonderful spa theme. When we arrived at the church, the gym had been transformed into a very "soothing" room. It was filled with scents of lavender, cherry almond, pomegranate and fresh linen. There were little water fountains and small lamps providing a lovely glow. We broke out into groups after a great slide show they put on.

First Hailey & I got to choose our bath salt (the above scents). She chose pomegranate and I chose lavendar. We decided that they smelled really nicely put together, and so we're going to share 50/50! The next station was for the girls to create a time-capsule for when they go to the temple. Each girl got a special letter from the bishop and their primary president, as well as a sheet for the mom to fill in, and a sheet to put their own testimony on. There was a lovely white hankie in there with a paper pinned to it about being able to take that to the temple one day. It was a wonderful idea!

Afterward they had a banana split bar, but after waiting for 20 minutes and not moving, one of our friends Brenda & her daughter Ashlynn came over & suggested we hit up Artic Circle instead. So - we did (I don't think I could have waited any longer for a treat, and neither could Hailey). We had a nice visit with friends while we ate our shakes (oreo for Hailey & brownie cheesecake for me -- I recommend either!).

Here is a shot of my gorgeous Hailey displaying our bath salts -- I can't wait to use mine!

This weekend we hit up the Discovery gardens at Thanksgiving Point. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and we got to see most of the tulips still in bloom.

Here's Dave, Jenna & Derek...
Jenna observing the beauty

It was tricky getting Derek in this position -- he stepped on & almost squished several blossoms -- OOPS!

I had to include this one of me for my Momma -- Love you Mom!

Here's my Mother's Day loot shots, but first a recap of the day.

This morning I awoke to Dave getting up at 6:50 with the baby - YAY!! At around 7:20 he came in with Banana pancakes & OJ for my breakfast! Tasty!! I love breakfast in bed!! I got to open my fun special gifts from the kiddos & eat!

At church the kids sang in Sacrament meeting, which is always so touching & cute. I was happy to watch Hailey & Derek up there!

Anyway - Hailey gave me a lovely bookmark, 6 hug coupons (which I told her I was going to wait to use until she was really mad at me & then cash them in :D, she didn't think that was too funny), a lovely card & a cute silver sunflower necklace. Thanks HAY!!

My necklace that Dave tricked me about not getting!! Thanks honey!! Love it!

My special card from Derek

-- there was a mid fold that said "and grows"... and the full open part...

And, the kisses necklace he made for me at Preschool. I got to wear it proudly at church today, and Derek thought that was fantastic!

Despite challenging ages & stages, I love love LOVE being a mother! The silly, sweet & quirky things my kids do really shape my life to be so great! And, thanks to my sweetie husband for making today so special, and letting me say "but it's mother's day" about a million times to shirk all my responsibilities. He spoiled me with my great banana pancakes & a yummy dinner of grilled chicken, alfredo pasta & salad! Thanks babe!

Thanks to all of you women out there that have helped shape me into a better woman and mother!! I have been blessed with wonderful examples all around me.

Most of all - to my own Mother who has endured more with patience, love, understanding an forgiveness than any other woman I know could. Momma - you are my ultimate hero - thanks for continuing the legacy of amazing women in our family history -- I hope to be half the woman and mother you are!

Hope all you mom's had a great mothers day!!

Sharing my skeletons in the closet... actually in the pantry

2009-05-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

When we originally built our home all those 3 years ago... I was MOST thrilled about the size of our Pantry. I thought it would be a great storage/organization space, in addition to housing our food items. Well, over time, it has become my most EMBARRASSING space! It gets SO cluttered with all sorts of crap. Baskets, toys, misc etc etc.

So - today I with you my embarrassment (knowing that you won't judge me), also known as - The Pantry

Now - to the untrained eye, you would just expect to open the door and see some shelves with food items.

But, in actuality - this is what really lies behind the door.

SCARY!!

Shot 1...

Shots 2 & 3...

...and AFTER. TA-DA!!

It's so REFRESHING to have a place for everything & everything in it's place.

p.s. My final thought is - what the heck was I thinking when I went through my "couponing" phase in buying a bunch of cereal I knew we would never eat. I threw away abou 9 boxes of expired cereal, 4 boxes of expired muffins, 4 boxes of expired brownies (don't ask me how those didn't get used), and myriad other canned items. ...sheesh...

My favorite meal of the day...

2009-05-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to spruce up my breakfast eating, I've found my FAVORITE meal!!

Breakfast & I have always been fond friends, as I adore a good waffle with homemade buttermilk syrup, or crepes, or muffins, or oven pancakes etc etc.

But, in my love of breakfast, I find that I'm not very good at getting a more balanced meal. So -- I share with you my ULTIMATE breakfast!!

A 3-eggwhite omelet with a pinch of mozzerella and freshly ground pepper,

half an avacado w/ some variety of fresh fruit (papaya is my favorite).

Can I just say - eating this meal brings me JOY because it's SOO tasty & it's much more balanced than the "carbs w/ a side of sugary carbs" (don't get me wrong --- I still love it!)

So - if you're in a rut w/ your breakfast -- try it out! I promise, you'll like it!!

Bon appetit~

Random Derek

2009-04-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

Okay - don't miss my post below, but as I was just finishing the last one, Derek says to me - Mom, let's play Candyland, then Dance Dance Bolution (aka REVOLUTION). I told him just a minute (since I'm obviously getting my blogging out for the day), and he says - okay Mom, I'm going to set the timer on my kitchen, and when it beeps then you have to come play.

I love it when they use our "tricks" to get us to do what they want. Very very clever, that little boy of mine :)

A day at the discovery park

2009-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Have you been to the Discovery Park? It's over in Pleasant Grove, and boy oh boy, is it fun! It's a hit for kids of all ages!! Derek, Jenna & I headed over there on Wednesday to have a play date w/ Cambrie, Ethan & Amber. It was a GORGEOUS day. I snapped some really fun pictures of the kiddos.

Here's little D - running around in the castle

I had to include this one, because it seriously looks like she's doing the "talk to the hand". Isn't that funny??

Derek -- looking SOO BIG!!

This was the first time I had done Jenna's hair in these little boufants, and I just adore them. She is such a fun baby, and is getting so big!!

Jenna & Derek - He loves his little sissy!

Why am I feeding you if you're just going to throw up?

2009-04-24T06:37:00.001-07:00

When Jenna was younger, she had acid reflux, so I had to give her Prevacid (miracle drug) every morning so she wouldn't throw up every time she ate. Well, as she got bigger, and since she's started on solids - it's been fine. So, we don't have to give her medicine anymore for it. But - lately, every time I feed her in the morning she throws up --All over me! Dang it. This isn't working out very well for trying to reduce the number of feedings she has in a day, since she gets hungry sooner than I want. Hmmmm, maybe I'll have to go back to Prevacid again?? --ugh

At some point the Christmas obsession is going to HAVE to stop!!

2009-04-23T06:59:00.001-07:00

Late last fall my darling Derek began to be VERY excited about the onset of the Christmas season. Before Thanksgiving had even arrived, he was CONSTANTLY (seriously EVERY conversation) talking about Santa and presents and elves and sleighs etc etc. At that point, it was a little over-kill, but we thought it was cute that he was so excited (especially me, being a Christmas lover).

Well, that spirit of Christmas love turned into Christmas obsession and now I can't get it to stop -- still... Yes, it's APRIL!! Derek's favorite movie is Santa Claus 3 (aka "Santa Claus Jack Frost"). He STILL watches it frequently! This morning over breakfast he sang a lengthy rendition of "You'd better watch out" to Jenna. At bedtime, he asks for Christmas songs (and we have to talk him out of it -- really, it's NOT Christmas time anymore!!).

And - to top it off, his reading recommendations these days are (This is his current list of books checked out from the library):

Do Salamanders Spit

Long Arm, the Adventure of Brachiosaurus

Diary of a Spider

Pumpkin Jack (Uh oh - we're starting to change seasons...)

Santa's Little Helper

Merry Christmas Stinky Face

Wishing you Blessings from A to Z (Christmas themed -- w/ Snowmen)

Christmas Coyote

Can I tell you, the only thing worse than the fact that he INSISTS on checking out these Christmas books is - that he wants me to read them to him every day. I DON"T WANT TO READ CHRISTMAS BOOKS IN APRIL!!

I've tried miscelleneous things to get him pumped up on the current season, or upcoming holidays, but to no avail. Alas, my 3 year old is OBSESSED with Christmas.... it's going to be a long next 8 months. <>

Easter & More

2009-04-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Dave's parents invited Derek to sleep over on Friday night. Of course we snatched up that offer!! While Dave & I drove up to Morgan - had dinner & went to a movie, Derek was having the time of his life!

Derek & Papa have a special bond. Jim likes to tell stories with Derek. They almost always involve a character named "Buster Crab" along with "Sarah Crab", and ever since Derek saw 102 Dalmations, they also include "Cruh-ella The Veal" (aka Cruella Devil). They had a wonderful time reading & telling lots of stories. Then on Saturday morning they headed off to the pet store to try and find a hermit crab for Derek to take home as a pet (which of course would be named Buster). But - they didn't have luck, so Derek decided he wanted a white rat instead. THANKFULLY Jim told him no :) (Sigh!). Anyway, They had a wonderful adventure running into different stores & getting lunch together. THanks to JIm & Linda for being so involved!!

While Derek was off w/ Dave's folks we went down to the Gateway downtown to watch my friends Amber & Stacie finish the Salt Lake half marathon. While wandering around, we bumped into Hailey who was down there also w/ her dad. She ended up running the kids race. As she put it "we were only running for like 2 minutes". True - it was the fastest race I've ever seen! Really - 2 minutes & it was done. Anyway - it was fun to bump into her!! Here she is w/ her dad's girlfriend's kids -

Hailey, Elijah & Allison
Here are the big finishers (Don't they look AMAZING after running 13.1??)
Easter after church we attempted to snap some pictures of the fam :)

Here's Jenna workin' it out on the 4 note piano!!

The whole bunch... it was a bit breezy! Do you like how Derek is sticking his belly out?

Saturday before Easter we met up w/ the Whitings & Fosters to put on our own easter egg hunt at the park. The kids had fun but it was SOO cold & windy! Derek insisted on wearing his chick costume that he wore when he was 18 months old. Don't ask me how on earth he squeezed in -- it was shear determination!

Dying easter eggs! Hailey looking very thoughtful & Derek showing off his new trick - a wink!

Our easter animals - the chick & the bunny!

A closeup of the Easter (Jenna) BUnny!

So Sad!!

2009-04-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well - I must have some crafty bug, because I've just wanted to sit & sew and ignore all my housely duties the past few days. I sewed this dress today (w/o a pattern - my bad!!) for Jenna, but after it was all done, I tried to put her in it, and could only get it over her head & one arm in. It's TOO SMALL!! Dang!

I thought it was too adorable, so if anyone has a 0-3 month old girl that would like a dress -- let me know & it's yours. FIrst come, first serve :)

This is what I get...

2009-04-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had planned to get together with a couple friends to do some crafty stuff. Well - I had the best intentions of getting everything done before hand... Not so much.

Why is it that every time I do some sort of project, my house becomes a total wreck? Here are just a couple glimpses of what DIDN"T get done yesterday... scary laundry room!!

clutter kitchen central
ANd - the best part isn't what you see - it's what the kids were doing while this crafting was going on. Besides the climbing into the window wells, turning on all the sprinklers & just the general kiddish-chaos, when my friend Amber was leaving, we opened the back door to call her daughter in... well, Derek was standing at the bottom of the steps peeing on the grass, and Cambrie was squatting w/ pants down over the grass also peeing. Kids are SO hillarious.
After trying to stop laughing ourselves, we went on to tell them to use the bathroom - not the back yard to go to the bathroom.

Got to love those days where you try to do something out of the normal routine. :D

Conference weekend

2009-04-05T20:33:00.001-07:00

We had a last minute getaway this weekend. We left Friday after school & took the family up to Logan for the night. It was great to get away for a while -- even one day!! We took the kids swimming, watched movies on the wall of our hotel room using a projector (Beverly Hills Chihuahau - Dave's favorite!), ate yummy food & had fun hanging out.

For Derek - the best part was swimming for sure!

Jenna also got to swim -- and isn't her bikini SO cute!? I thought she looked so adorable. Hailey had a great time jumping back & forth between the pool & hot tub -- over & over again!

After the pool - still smiling!
We ate at The Bluebird in Logan, and it's tasty. But, most especially, their dessert is good, and huge & cheap! 3.50 for all the sundaes! Oh, I was happy! I love treats!

So does Hailey!

Derek really just wanted all whipped cream & marshmellow sauce (or as he says -- mushmarlow)

Jenna got to taste and she LOVED it! Yum, Ice cream!

Three bugs in a rug!

Jenna shots

2009-04-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was browsing through my camera getting ready to blog our weekend, and realized I had some cute pictures of Jenna that need to be posted. Here are just a few...

Jenna having some fun time w/ her Mimi

These are my FAVORITE pictures... sacked out in the high-chair!
How cute is this one!? We went to play at my friend Natalie's house & Jenna got to try out the little walker/roller toy. She scooted all around the floor -- backwards :)

TOOTH! (okay, not the best picture -- but it's there!!)

Where preparation & perserverance finally meet their pay-off

2009-03-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

I still remember feeling SO pumped up early last fall when my friend Amber was telling me how great it would be for us to do a half-marathon in Moab. A great way to lose the baby weight for both of us who had just had our babies. We had a few additions from my family who were interested in running too -- my sister Melanie and my niece Britt (who after an injury switched to the 5 mile run along w/ my BIL Bill). Well -- that began our training. Before the end of December I had run about 5 miles at a time -- more than I'd ever done! Since 2009 began, I've devoted two days a week & every Saturday to running. Some runs were better than others, but I did them all. All of this in preparation for race-day, March 21, 2009.

COMPLETION!!! Although it was SOOO HOT, and I was dying, I finished. Not the time I'd dreamed of, but 2 hours & 14 minutes from the start. Amber did so great too -- she found her pace early & split from me & my sister Melanie. Melanie was my big supporter on race day. By mile 10 I was starting to cramp up, but she wouldn't let me walk (had to keep me from locking up). Tough love. It was SO cool to see literally a sea of runners bobbing up and down in front of you as far as the eye could see. I don't know if I'm ready for another half-marathon any time too soon, but I am SO excited that I accomplished what I set out to do.

Here's Melanie & I (Mel in Red shirt & hat)

The whole fam came down to Moab for the big event -- Dave, all the kids, our nephew Dawson & Dave's parents Jim & Linda. We took a tent trailer down & camped out at a great little RV place just out of town. It was SO fun! We loved the place we were at, it had life sized chess & checkers, a pool & hot-tub and horse-shoes. The kids had an absolute blast being able to roam free in the park. Saturday after the race, Jon, Amber, Cambrie & Ethan all came over for a celebratory BBQ. They made the yummiest cobbler (peach & raspberry) for dessert that we continued to enjoy for breakfast the next morning! Cambrie, Derek, Dawson & Hailey got in some good swim time (the little ones, mostly in the hot-tub). The babies were content to just hang-out and play. We were having such a nice time visiting & relaxing that they ended up staying for dinner -- tin-foil dinners (or fire-packets as I've always known them). Yummy!

All in all, it was a really great getaway to be with family & friends, and to finish the race. Hooray!!

Linda was the best helper w/ Jenna (isn't that a Grandma's job??) :)

Amber & Ethan enjoying a nice lounge in the super recliners
Nothing like a spicy diet-coke to rejuvenate you after a nice 13.1 mile run

Dave & Jenna (part of my cheering section at the finish)

The babies!!

Doesn't life-sized Chess look like fun?!

Derek loved playing chess -- he'd actually hop over the pieces as he was taking them. So cute!

Early Sunday morning -- it was beautiful, but a little chilly!

These lounger chairs were the best I've ever sat in -- they were SO comfy!

A beautiful day

2009-03-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I got up early & completed my first (and hopefully last??) 12 mile run. It was a GORGEOUS day! My friend Amber & I started at the top of Suncrest and ran down the backside of the mountain, up to Thanksgiving point, and back to our "stop" point.

Dave was still out of town, so my sister Christine invited us to come spend the day with her. We picked her up & headed down to the Salt Lake library. OK -- for all those who have not been there it's a MUST SEE! The inside is soo amazing! There are darling little shops all along the entry way and it's so HUGE! We took the kids to a puppet show they had put on -- it was really great. THe kids loved it! Afterward, we went to the top of the building and enjoyed a nice walk down the top of the building.

After the library we went to Citris Grill (my new fave!!) and had the yummiest dinner ever! Their food is delicious! I would highly recommend!!

Here's Jenna being my walking partner at the library

Hailey -- what a beautiful girl!

Christine & Derek (he adores his Auntie!)

Don't you just love a bargain???

2009-03-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

I stopped into Kohl's today and they were having the hugest clearance.... Usually I'm lucky if I find one item that I like in the "70-90% off" racks... but I found some awesome deals.... can you guess how much these things were???

$3.60 for the outfit -- capris, shirt & jacket
$1.80 for this darling capri & tank top

Derek wanted to model his deal -- he has been loving "stretchy pants/shorts" - these puppies were only 66 cents!

I LOVE this top - it's for me.... at the bargain price of .....drum roll ----

$1.44

I just had to share all my awesome deals -- they made me SO happy!!

The funny fam :)

2009-02-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hailey has been getting more and MORE into makeup. We had a hayday the other night getting her loaded up on it! If you look closely, you can see one blue eyeshadow, one green, and of course, the big cat eye - eyeliner. She had fun, and enjoyed taking self-portraits... this is one of them.

We took the kids to the Draper temple open-house last week. Here's Dave & Jenna on the bus over there.
Here's Derek... I LOVE this picture. He was SOOOOO excited to go to the temple, and when he found out he got to take a bus up there, he was even MORE excited! He would see pictures in there and keep saying - "Look Mom, it's Jesus", and "Look Mom, Jesus again" and so on... It was really fun to take the kids there. I wish I had a picture of all of us, but it didn't work out...

Jenna has started eating solids. She had been doing great w/ cereal, so I decided to try her out on some veggies. As you can see from her look - she is not quite so into green beans. I've tried several times w/ her, but she just stores them up in her mouth, and then lets them drip out of her mouth. Sweet Potatoes however, she loves!! Yay, for our big girl!

The proof will not set you free

2009-02-09T16:22:00.001-08:00

In our house, Derek is CONSTANTLY the first one up and about. Usually, he'll just go play in the toyroom until someone wakes up to feed him. (And - I might add, we are NOT late sleepers, i'm up by 7:15 -- he's just up MUCH earlier!). But - today, I got up, made his breakfast, and noticed on the kitchen counter, than the mint frosted brownies I'd made last night had been man-handled. Or... as the size of the marks show... Derek-handled.

I of course knew it was him, so I asked him why he got into the brownies. His reply (only one a 3 year old can pull off...) "I really liked them, and they are good". Well - DUH! I know they are good! :) Little stinker... I couldn't be too mad, because he was honest... I just hope next time he doesn't stick his fingers in every square inch of them.

Aren't kids sweet when they're sick??

2009-02-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Derek & I have spent the last week being sick at home, and although it's so sad when kids are sick - they are so sweet! I feel like I have my little lovey 2 year old boy again! He snuggles, hugs, gives kisses, has been SO much nicer to be around! I hope that it won't all fade away as he gets better!

It's funny kids get like that when they're sick!

I've been slacking...

2009-01-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't done a post for so dang long - but we've not been up to too much recently. Just hanging out - ringing in the new year.

Here's little D loving on his little sister!

Hailey - modeling the new skirt that I made her (with the sewing machine she got for Christmas!).
And - the kids enjoying some of the snow that we've gotten recently! I'm sure glad someone is enjoying it - I'm done w/ it already!

Christmas traditions...

2008-12-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

Christmas arrived & flew past in a whirlwind! We had such a great time w/ the kids & seeing family too!

Here are the kids at the end of Christmas - all of them had a great day!

Hailey & her best gift ever - a sewing machine :)
Derek & his RED KITCHEN! WAHOO (Can i just add - assembly was required & took 3 hours!! - that sucker will last for all time!) He loved it though!

Every Christmas eve we get new jammies for everyone in the family - and that is the gift we each open on Christmas eve :) Here we are sporting them :)

Dave's parents came over to enjoy my family tradition of having a mexican fiesta on Christmas eve. We ate yummy mexican food!

This is the second year we went to This is The Place to see the Candlelight Christmas. We had a great time going, and got to see our old neighbor Cliff who works up there - he's a great friend! We all bundled up & had a great time riding the "train" around the park, stopping for dinner & hot cocoa and seeing Santa & the Reindeer of course!

Jenna stayed nice & toasty in her winter gear!

Sunday my family did our Christmas get-together. We did a yummy dinner & the kids performed the nativity. It was super cute. Hailey was an angel & Derek was a wise man (I pieced his outfit together last minute! Turned out pretty funny!)

THe kids had fun visiting w/ the cousins!

Me & my girls! Christine, me, Jenny & Michele

Christine & Jenna :)

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas!

Fun fun!!

2008-12-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

Last week Derek was asking CONSTANTLY for someone to take him to the park, but Dave had the flu, and I wasn't about to take Jenna out into the FREEZING cold, so Dave told Derek that he'd take him on Saturday. Derek was SO excited! They got all bundled up and headed down to the park - sadly this one ball is all they got, since the snow didn't pack down :(, but Dave & Derek had a fun time. So much fun, in fact, that they went back down later in the afternoon to sled. Derek told me all about the "bump" (aka jump) that they went over w/ the sled. It was too cute!

Hailey thought Jenna needed to become a present, so she stuffed her in one of our boxes :) She makes a cute gift!

What have I done?!

2008-12-19T07:24:00.001-08:00

Rules are: Anything you have done has to be in bold. How much have you done?
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (That's where Dave first professed his love for me - ah, romance!)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (Almost had to get an earlier flight to take Hailey home she was being SO naughty!)
8. Climbed a Mountain

9. Held a Praying Mantis ( ew!)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (from the 59th street galleria!)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Been to the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - (Does the one in the Venitian in Vegas count??)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (One day - I will visit Denmark!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (only a few key phrases)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Tied a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Fish count!)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (no way!)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

My little Elves

2008-12-18T07:14:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Snow, Lights & Laughs

2008-12-15T15:41:00.001-08:00

We've had some fun this past weekend, enjoying the holiday stuff :) Yesterday Dave's mom brought over our "package" for the week. It was a cute stocking filled with spring topped headbands (w/ santa, snowmen & reindeer on top). They were for us to wear while we went around looking at lights. WELL ---- We decided to go down to temple square on Sunday night to see the lights, and Dave had the great idea that we should wear our headbands around the square. Okay, so I'm a little self-conscious about things that make me stand out in an unusual way... so this was somewhat EXCRUCIATING! It was fun and the kids got a kick out of it, but I was totally embarrassed, walking around with wobbley santas on my head! A few people commented, others chuckled, others stared...... <> but, it was pretty funny to see the kiddos. Sadly(or fortunately) my camera broke before we could get a family shot. So - you can see how cute Dave, Hailey, Derek & Jenna look w/ their holiday headbands :) (Yes, Jenna is wearing them, under all her layers... )

This one is a little fuzzy since I had to take it w/ Dave's phone.

Derek kept wanting to stick his hands (gloves & all) into the fountains all over the square... He thought it was GREAT fun!
Isn't this one adorable of the kiddos?

Sunday morning after the snow hit, the kids were determined to make a snowman. They got a base done, and had used all the snow up.. so they were out of luck. :)

Although this video is a little dark, you can totally hear Jenna laughing it up - SO FUN!

Hailey's Choir performance

2008-12-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hailey had her first choir performance tonight - they sounded GREAT! They did some Christmas songs, but also a variety of others they had been working on, like "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" :) It was super cute! I'm so glad she wanted to join the choir, because she has such a wonderful voice! Go Hailey!

Holiday fun!

2008-12-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

Dave's mom has been spoiling us this December with fun little surprise packages. Last week she brought miniature christmas trees for each of the kids, each with their own colored bulbs - Pink for Jenna, Purple for Hailey & Blue for Derek. They have loved having their own little trees in their rooms! Tonight - she brought over a care package with some cute snowmen decorations, and then the kids got to cut out some snowflakes, and make some snowflakes out of tortillas (the yummy ones from Costco!) - covered in powdered sugar. THe kids (& us) had a great time!

We had our ward party last week - and the total highlight was SANTA! When he walked in, Derek was standing on Dave's lap waving FURIOUSLY yelling SANTA, SANTA, SANTA Come see me! Come talk to me Santa! It was really cute! He could hardly contain himself to wait in line :) The kids had fun seeing Santa. Derek told him he wanted a red kitchen and lots of stoves.

Look at the excitement! on that face!

Gratitude

2008-11-30T14:52:00.001-08:00

We just returned home after a nice long holiday at my sister Melanie's. We had such a great time! I always love spending Thanksgiving with their family -- as do our kids!

I have so much to be grateful for - wonderful family and friends. Health, the gospel, living in a free country, education... there are SO many things I'm grateful for! Below you'll find a little recap of our trip... I slacked on the pictures, but you'll get the gist.

Here's Hailey & I w/ my neice Abbey after her performance of The Nutcracker. She is SO talented... and so adorable w/ all her animated expessions on-stage :) I was totally cracking up at how expressive she was!

Mel (my sis) Britt & Abbey

Britt & Hailey :)

BLACK FRIDAY!

Okay - I have to elaborate here a little - we totally knocked out a new method for avoiding all chaos in stores on black friday! As soon as we would walk into a store - my mom would immediately go get in the front of the line & let one person in front of her at a time while my sis, niece & I shopped - then, When we were all ready, we just went to the front of the line where she was waiting for us :) So we hit... Kohl's at 4am, Old Navy at 5am (OMGosh! - 50% off all Jeans!! Yay!), Target at 6, and the Mall afterwards (where I got Jenna the CUTEST christmas dress that is White w/ black polka dots!)

I love this tradition of going shopping the day after!

Hailey & Abbey gearing up the "kid" table for Turkey dinner!

My favorite part - Dave & Bill (my BIL) doing the dishes after dinner... also one of my favorite parts of THanksgiving :)

My Nephew Ben playing w/ Derek - arent' they cute guys!?

Brandy & Koby & kids - a family in my sisters ward - came over for dinner - and Brandy made the dang cutest little place setting pieces - Turkeys out of Oreos, candy corn & whoppers :)

My mom & Mel - gearing up for the final touches of food :)

Hailey & Abs were so good at keeping Jenna busy while we were getting the food rolling! Yay for good helpers!

If I can find the pictures from our TUrkey Trot 5k from Thanksgiving morning I will post them - I was pretty tuckered out... only did it in 30.15... definitely not my best time - oh well :) It was a great run, and a great tradition that we do to start off the day! :)

Oh my stinkin' cute!

2008-11-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

Okay - here are Jenna's official 3 month pictures. I can NOT get over how DARLING she is! I love when good pictures just capture how sweet your child really is! Once again - I "heart" Dana Holcomb - she did a great job w/ the pictures ;)

Not to toot my own horn, but... HONK!

2008-11-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

Okay - so today I got my oil changed, and I had a headlight out. They wanted like 25$ just to replace the light. I told him I'd take care of it myself... he looked at me like yeah right.. So - I went & picked up the light... changed it - and.....

...VOILA!... Light's a working :) I love it when mechanics treat women like imbiciles... seriously! Although I prefer not to be a grease monkey - I can figure out a thing or two... :)

Memory Tag :)

2008-11-24T11:40:00.001-08:00

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Jenna - 3 months old!!

2008-11-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that Jenna is already 3 months old! It has FLOWN by! She is getting so big & fun! We love her happy personality! Here are a few shots...

Vampires & Indians

2008-11-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

So tonight was the big night! The Opening of TWILIGHT! Some friends & I decided it would be a great idea to go to the 2:35AM showing. We actually made it a bang of a late night by doing breakfast before hand -so I missed some precious hours of sleep, but it was a great time!

Okay - so I won't make any spoils (but if you already read the book - there aren't any surprises) - but the movie was good! Better than I expected, and I wasn't a big fan of the casting for Edward, but he totally grew on me by the end. So - GO SEE IT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

(Emily, Me, Amber, Danielle & Lora)

Here's my little "Wild Bear" (That's his indian name). Derek got to make his indian garb at preschool & was LOVING (and still is) banging his drums! SO CUTE! Not his most flattering pose, but at least he held still!

Hailey's 4th Grade Program

2008-11-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

Hailey had her 4th grade performance last night - It was called "Utah - this is the place". Each class had a presentation - Hailey's was on the Native Americans in Utah. She is on the second row w/ a blue feather - (third in from the left). She did a great job, and it was really cute!

After each class had performed they did line dancing. It was hillarious because they had a dance partner... i.e. all of these 9 & 10 year olds had to dance w/ someone of the opposite gender. They were all so embarrassed.

Anyway - the videos are a little wobbley because I had to do the videos on my regular camera... but hopefully you can get the jist of it! :)

Such a Mama's boy

2008-11-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

Okay - this is one of those cuter than cute things about Derek! Dave & I took Derek to a movie today, and on our way home we passed the new temple out by Daybreak. He looked over to it and said "can I get married there when I'm bigger?" so I told him he could, and that he could find a girl to marry him... so he paused for a minute then said "Mom, can I marry you?" SOOO CUTE! Dave told him I was already taken, then he asked if he could marry his Auntie Michie (my sister Michele), and I explained that she was already married. THen he asked if he could marry Jenna.

Cute little Derek... I thought that was so darling, it totally melted my heart! What a sweet boy - I'm glad he loves his Mama!