Luck O' the (Semi) Irish

Our Trip to the "Big City'

2011-03-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to take the kids on a little adventure to Salt Lake. Duffy calls it the "Big City" and was really excited when he found out we would be staying the night there. Just before dinner time we packed up and headed out. Joey and I stay at the Little America every once in a while so that's where we decided to stay with the kids (not to mention they have an indoor/outdoor pool). The first room we checked into was NOT good! It smelled pretty badly and the bathroom was dirty-the last straw was when I was helping Maisy go potty and saw a puddle of urine on the floor :( Normally we stay in the tower but they didn't have any two queen bed rooms so we were trying out the garden rooms, a mistake I won't make again! I called the front desk and got us moved into a single king tower room, I didn't care that we would all have to share a bed, sounded like some good cuddling to me anyway! We had a yummy little dinner at the hotel and then got ready to swim, the kids couldn't wait any longer! The pool was PACKED but we found a little corner and pretty soon it started to clear out, it wasn't bad at all. We had a great time and the water was warm, which was good for me! Maisy got brave and went under a few times and Duffy got really brave and did a front flip off the side of the pool without even telling us he was going to, luckily Joey was waiting to catch him for a normal jump! He was so proud of himself and has been talking about it since we left! Duffy decided to sleep on the little couch in the room and got himself positioned so that he could see the lights of the city as he fell asleep, it was the cutest thing!
The next morning we woke up and ordered room service for breakfast, which I know, we're spoiled but it was so much fun! While we waited the kids mostly hung out on the balcony outside our room and Duffy explained everything to little sister Maisy, telling her not to worry, the balcony was made out of cement "like a sidewalk". He showed her the Trax station and when she asked about some vent holes on the roof below us he said "Those aren't anything to worry about, they've been there for 20 years" :) His new thing is to say something has been there for 20 years or they've been working on something for 20 years, etc. He is such a funny kid and he just loves to teach his sister new things. Maisy stayed in her cute little nightgown until she absolutely had to get dressed, she's just like mommy wanting to stay in pj's all day if possible!
We all had a great time together and it was a wonderful bonding time, away from all the worries of a normal life. I'm so grateful that we can have a great time together and want to enjoy it all before my kids become surly teenagers!

Life as I Know It (Right Now)

2011-02-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, can I just say I'm a little overwhelmed with life right about now? I'm sick of waiting for Shutterfly to give me the credit they were supposed to for the last post (yeah, the one from December 3!) and I don't have any pictures on the computer I am posting from but I feel like I really need to get back into the habit of blogging, pictures or not.
Needless to say we are a busy, busy family right now. This semester in school is the most brutal yet-I am in school 4 days a week, including Mondays when I get to school by 9 am and get out of my last class at 8:30 pm. Yes, it's crazy. No, I didn't have a choice. I'm kind of in an interesting place in school right now. I still have 5 semesters left, including this one so I guess more like 4 1/2, which just about kills me to think about. I've been back in school for just over 5 semesters so I feel like I should be a lot closer to being done, and trust me, I'm ready. I've been killing myself getting straight A's (except two classes) since just after Maisy was born, while taking care of two kids and I am just TIRED.
We are still trying to make our kids' lives an adventure as much as we can so we are still trying to do a lot on weekends, which means we have fun together but that our house is always a disaster because I don't have the time or energy to get it done during the week after coming home from school and getting all of my homework done. Oh well, there are worse things than a messy house I guess, but it still stresses me out. Luckily for me and the kids we have my great family close by so the kids get to have a lot of fun and do a lot of crafts with Auntie A. I'll post pictures from our recent adventures when I can. One thing I don't have pictures from are our pizza parties. Once a week the kids and I have started to have a pizza party while Joey is working or at bowling league (what a geek right?). We pick out a movie and eat pizza on the living room floor. It's been fun for the kids and a relief for me since all I have to do it spread out a blanket on the floor and then throw the plates in the dishwasher when we're done. I know, it's not great for us, but we eat mostly all-natural and organic the rest of the week so I figure one night a week is ok!
It seems a little like Joey and I are living on different schedules right now, which is tough. I am gone Monday night for school and Tuesday night for dance, he usually works late Wednesday nights because it's auction day, and has bowling Thursday, some Fridays things come up too (last night he worked until 11:30). We are both gone during the day obviously so we don't see each other as much as we would like to. I can't complain too much because I have friends whose husbands are deployed, but I don't know how they do it, they are definitely stronger than I am! Anyway, Joey and I always say to each other as we say goodbye: "See you in 20 years" of course, it's a joke but it feels true sometimes. I'm looking forward to our camping adventures this summer, hopefully we can spend a lot more time together!
Like I said, no pics today but I'll try to post some, maybe next weekend if I have a chance again!
P.S. I'll try to change the blog background later today, guess it's not Christmas anymore!

Chrismas Card 1 2010

2010-12-03T16:18:00.001-08:00

Colorful Frames Christmas

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Santa Run 2010

2010-11-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

This weekend was our first Santa Run in Ogden. It was an absolute blast! It was Aimee's first race ever and she did fantastic!!! It was my mom and dad's second 5k (their first was the Turkey Trot last weekend), and it was actually Joey and I's first 5k ever, even though we ran MUCH more than that during the Ragnar in October. There were over 700 people dressed as Santa ready to run! See the starting line!!!

Along the way there were Santa's little helpers handing out cookies and milk, which we didn't take (yuck while running!) but our own little mini-Santa and reindeer really enjoyed (it was their first race too!).

There were a lot of people along the side of the road, some there to support the Santa's and some there waiting for the parade. Duffy thought that we were the parade so he waved to everyone watching the ENTIRE race! It was so cute, 3.1 miles of waving from our own little Santa. They were both such troopers because it was only about 30 degrees out there but they didn't complain one bit! I think we all did really well, my dad finished in about 26 minutes and the rest of us were right behind at about 30 minutes. I'm so thankful to have found a love of running, even though the training is not fun, the races are a really great experience that I am so happy to be able to share with my family, including the kids. I hope that us running can encourage our kids to stay active, since so many kids would rather watch tv or play video games now days!
So, what a great start to our Christmas 2010 season! We can't wait for everything else to come in the next few weeks!!!

Fall Family Pictures

2010-11-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

We haven't done "formal" family pictures other than for Christmas cards for a couple of years now, so this year we made it a point to get them done. We chose the most beautiful fall day in the most beautiful place, Beus Pond. The kids were real troopers and didn't protest too much. I think we got some really great pictures that I will treasure forever! My wonderful sister is the photographer (look at her blog on the right-Junebug Photography), I'm so lucky to have her in my life, she's one of my best friends and the best aunt the kids could ever imagine having! Here are some of my favorites, although there were MANY more!

Create a digital slideshow

Must Love Dogs?

2010-09-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we left for the night to head out to Wendover (not my favorite place by the way). We left our dogs in the back yard along with our friend Justin's dog Tonka. Aimee came by and let the dogs in for the night because both Tonka and Buddy are indoor dogs and we didn't want them barking all night and disturbing our neighbors. Again, I want to clarify they are both indoor dogs and *almost* never cause any problems. This is what we came home to:

The mess you see is the result of a dog with separation anxiety. Tonka has been to our house a lot but always in the backyard so we are assuming he wasn't familiar enough with our house and got stressed. Somehow they removed a child-lock doorknob cover and broke into the bathroom, chewed up bath toys, the toilet brush, a bag of potatoes, the dog dish, a flashlight, and a bottle of sunscreen from the kitchen, and finally an xbox controller, our remote control, and two of our couch cushions. Needless to say we are shopping for a couch this evening. It is NOT even close to salvageable! It's a good thing we won about $1000 last night! And now I get to clean up this gigantic mess.

How Have I Gotten So Far Behind?

2010-09-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

I feel like I just keep repeating myself on saying I will be catching up on blogging, but as I looked through my posts today I realize that I haven't even blogged about either of the kids' birthdays. This really makes me sad because I want to try to document how I felt at each age. I don't even have the pictures from Duffy's birthday on my computer, they're only on Aimee's! Anyway, let me start here: with Syracuse Heritage Days.

We had a great time, as usual, since it's one of our favorite weekends of the year. It seems like the weather is usually really nice and really hot. We all headed to the parade in the morning (except ,of course, Joey-not his type of thing!). Grandma and Grandpa Great were there, Grandma and Papa Bennett, Aimee, Jordan, Carson, Ty, Ashlee, Ryan, and Carter too! We really love parades, and we have a lot of traditions at parades and they kind of all have to do with food . . .hmmm. Anyway Grandma Great brings Doritos and bean dip, EZ Cheese and Saltines, and other yummy treats; and my mom and dad bring donuts, juice, and chocolate milk. The kids love all the off-limit foods they get to eat on parade day. We always get way too much candy and have a great time watching all the hometown floats.
After the parade we headed over to to the little fair they have. We had lunch and SPED through the booths because Maisy's party was later that day and I was nowhere near ready! The kids really wanted to do some rides so we let them go on the big slide with grandpa, it better have been the best slide of their lives because it was $3 EACH!!! What the heck? Anyway, after that we had enough tickets for Duffy to go on one more ride, and he chose the little motorcycles. While all of us were watching the carnival worker strap him in (to make sure he was doing it right!) Maisy decided to release herself from her stroller and take a little walk. Talk about scared, there were a million people there and we didn't have any idea which way she even went. We finally found her behind the "grab a duckie" game thinking it was bath time or something. She was soaked but she really wanted a couple of those ducks!
Next time: the second half of the day, Maisy's birthday

Powell-View 2010

2010-09-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Our group of friends has a yearly tradition of going to Lake Powell at the end of the season. We have been looking forward to this year's trip since we got home last year! Joey and a couple of his friends even bought a houseboat so we wouldn't have to rent one anymore, and so we could actually rent ours out to other groups. First problem-the houseboat repairs weren't going to be done on time so we would be tent camping. Our trip was scheduled for a full week: Sunday through Saturday, and I was SO excited for the break from reality. Out on Lake Powell there are no distractions from just being yourself, no TV's, no cell phone service, etc. I really love the peace and quiet although I worry about my kids while I can't talk to them for that long.
Anyway, Saturday night we were packing and getting ready to go. Joey and Justin ran to the store for a couple of things we forgot earlier that day and blew a brake cylinder on their way home. The parts store was closed already but they, along with our resident mechanic Nate got the wheel off and everything ready to fix it in the morning. Early the next morning they went for the part and three hours, another trip (this time by me) to the parts store for brake fluid, and a whole lot of crap on my driveway later they found out they had been given the wrong part and would have to start all over again. Forget it, we'll take Justin's truck. We should have taken the warning that this trip was not meant to be!
We loaded everything up into Justin's truck and hit the road. We picked up the rest of our group in Salt Lake, grabbed free lunch at Nate's restaurant The Philly, and headed out. About 6 hours later we saw water!!! We were finally there! On the way we named a new national monument though: Wii's Tree's. Our friend Nate saw a group of trees in the distance which he thought meant we were close to Hanksville, we all looked around and could not figure out where the heck he could see the trees. Justin asked if he meant those rocks up ahead, he did. It was so funny, it really thought they were trees.
At the marina we loaded enough camping gear, food, and wake boarding supplies to last 7 people for 7 days into one boat (see picture in the collage). It was absolutely insane. The boat was so full we basically had to sit on each others laps to get to camp. By the time we had gone the 7 miles to the canyon we like to stay in it was pitch black dark. We were using our flashlights to look for places to set up camp. Our perfect spot from last year was taken so we had to move on. We finally found a spot that would work but it meant hauling all of our things up a steep. long, sand hill. It was exhausting just to get the necessities for one night up that hill. As we were unloading a few of us heard a noise that sounded like a small waterfall. We all looked at each other stunned when we figured out the boat had a hole and was taking on water-fast. We had no other choice but to have the four guys turn it around and pick the back up onto the rocks for the night. We didn't finish unloading our things, just what we needed for the night, and figured we would deal with it in the morning.
The next morning our hopes were renewed when Joey offered to rent a boat for the week. We were all in pretty good spirits as four of them took off for the marina to ditch the sinking boat and rent us a new one. Dirk and I stayed back at camp and settled in for a relaxing few hours. I read my book, took a nap, and just enjoyed the sun. As it got hotter and hotter the biting flies got worse and worse. Even insect repellent wouldn't keep them away. I was covered with welts and really, really mad! Oh well, we thought, we will just look for a better campsite when they came back with a rental since we could now look in the day light.
The four came back from the marina in a 20 foot piece of junk boat and broke the news: we would be heading home that day. The rental would cost us $3500 for the rest of the week! What a rip-off, even a houseboat would have been less! We also found out that on their way to the marina the boat was taking in too much water for the bilge pump to keep up with so they had to ditch the rest of our stuff on a random rock AND use the Fatsack pump just to stay afloat. The guys at the repair shop said they didn't even know how they had made it back without sinking the boat.
Three of the guys took a load back and picked up the abandoned supplies from the rock while the other three of us stayed back to finish packing up camp. It was hot, the flies were still biting, and that hill was ridiculous to get down. The sand would go over your feet and burn them as you were trying to haul stuff down. I was even more mad! We were roasting so when we were basically finished packing up and hauling things down to load we decided to go for a swim. We laughed as we said "At least we can say we swam in Powell this year!" As we were enjoying the water we noticed a giant black cloud making its way toward us and we knew we were in trouble. We got out and got the last of our things down the hill, then we huddled under the top from one of our canopies to wait for the storm. It started out with lightning. It was right above us, there was no time between the flash of the lightning and the sound of the thunder. I was terrified, I had never been that close to it before and we had almost nowhere to hide. We huddled to the side of a cliff to keep ourselves as small as possible. Next came the wind and the rain. The wind was blowing rocks into our backs and sand into our eyes, even though we were mostly covered. Joey appeared alone in the rental boat in the midst of complete madness. The metal holding up the bimini top was bent to the breaking point and it was just flapping in the wind. I cannot even describe the rain to give it justice. All I can say was that it was raining so hard that it was running down our faces and into our eyes. We could only see for a few seconds when we wiped our hands across our faces. There was flooding coming down the hill, causing us to fall every time we tried bringing something off the rocks into the boat. I finally gave up and started sliding down on my butt as I was hauling things. It was by far the hardest rain I have ever been in. We loaded what we could and left the rest there, someday someone will find themselves a nice table and a few other things!
With the small boat packed down we got in and put on our life jackets. This was something I had never done before, normally we only wear them when we are on the wake board or tube, but we were so afraid that we were going to capsize in the waves that we wore them from the beginning of this terrible ride. Lake Powell can be a scary place during a storm but we felt that we only had a choice to get ourselves out of it or risk staying in the lightning, soaking wet and exposed. We chose trying to get out of it. The waves were about four feet tall which may not seem like a lot but if we took a wave wrong or for some reason lost power, that boat was so small that we would have capsized, no doubt about it. The lightning was still right above our heads and it was still raining like I've never seen, and it was freezing, we huddled under wet sleeping bags to get warm. I was so afraid that I cried and cried and begged God to let me live because I had two kids at home. Telling the story doesn't do our terror justice but even now as I'm typing this I am fighting back tears thinking of what could have happened. Our kids could have lost both parents in a single second. One beautiful thing we saw on the way back was the flash flooding coming over the cliffs. The water was moving so fast that it was picking up a lot of sand and dumping it into the lake. It looked like red chocolate milk waterfalls.
Finally we got out of the storm right as we reached the marina. I can only imagine what we looked like, shivering and haggard. I couldn't stop shaking and Joey finally broke down after his adrenaline wore off. It really gave us a chance to reflect on life, and about what and WHO were important to us. We loaded up the truck and headed out of town less than 24 hours after we arrived. The upper left hand picture of the four guys, and the two pictures of the boat are some of the only 5 pictures we have of the whole trip to Powell.
On the ride home we decided to borrow a boat and head to Pineview for a few days to try to at least salvage some wake boarding sessions. We stayed at Nate's house that night and headed to Pineview in the morning (Tuesday). While it wasn't Lake Powell and we cut our trip short by another full day, we had fun. We camped on grass instead of rocks, set up lasso golf, and played a lot of Bocce. The first night, the three girls (Emilee had joined us by now) made our very own fire without any help! We had a couple of great days with good weather but of course it couldn't be all good after the luck we had for the week. Wednesday night and Thursday morning it rained and rained and rained. We had all packed for 100 degrees so we froze when it was only about 60 and we were wet. Oh well, we had breakfast at Chris' and put canopies up over the fire and the lasso golf, and kept up on the fun.
We had to wait until about 7 that night to get water good enough for wake boarding. By that time the other two girls had gone home so I was the last one standing which meant I got first dibs on the wake board, fine with me since it was cold already and would only get worse. It was a mistake. I tried to jump off the wake and caught the toe edge of the board which quickly slammed my face onto the water. It felt like hitting concrete, literally. I couldn't turn my board over so I was face down, with just enough strength to hold face out of the water. Joey had to jump in to turn me over and get my board off. My nose was bleeding, my face was swollen, and I had a horrific headache. I rode it out while Joey had a turn but was feeling so terrible I had to have them drop me off at shore, so Joey and I went back to camp. Joey made a fire and started on dinner while I relaxed, a first!
The next morning I had massive bruises on my cheek and jaw, I looked great for a few days! We packed up camp, had a last lasso golf match, and headed home. I was so excited to see the kids again and to sleep in my own, comfortable bed.
This trip was an expensive nightmare, but we will never forget it. All we kept saying was we can't wait until Powell 2011!!!

Maisy's Second Birthday Portraits

2010-08-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to play catch up on my blogging so my posts are going to be nowhere near in order, sorry! These are the portraits my amazing sister/resident photographer Aimee did for Maisy's 2nd birthday. I think they belong in a magazine but maybe I'm a little biased :) You now the drill, click on the collage to see the pictures bigger!

Bear Lake Day Trip

2010-07-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Joey and I decided to take the kids for a ride up to Bear Lake. It's such a pretty drive and the kids slept for a lot of the way so we had a pretty nice ride. Once we got up there we drove out onto the beach and had fun wading around in the cold water. The kids and Joey got all the way in but I stayed shallow enough that the water didn't hit my stomach, it was too cold! The sand was nice and we even made a makeshift sandcastle. The kids thought it was great when Joey dug a moat around it and the water surrounded our castle. We put a big "O" on the front and then we destroyed it. Everyone was pretty cold by then, because of the breeze and the water so we decided to head down the road for a shake. We all split a blueberry shake, which of course the kids loved, Maisy even tried to eat her cup she liked it so much!
On our way back we saw a car stuck in the sand trying desperately to get out. Joey took the next turn and went to their rescue without even thinking twice about it. When he discovered he didn't have his tow ropes he drove down the beach until we saw another truck with a winch. Then he got out and walked around asking everyone he saw if they owned the truck. Finally he found the guy who didn't even speak English and convinced him to follow us down to the car who was stuck. When we got back to them a truck was parked behind them honking at them and telling them to get out of the way, we couldn't believe someone could be so ignorant!!! Anyway Joey and the truck owner got the little car right out of the sand and we all went on our way. It reminded me of how lucky I am to have married someone like my dad who would go out of their way every time to help someone in need. It didn't matter that we were on our way home, that we were all exhausted, or that he had to go up and down the beach to find someone to help. Joey said he just thought of what his dad would think if he hadn't helped and that Joe would have "kicked his butt". I think it's more than that, I think he was raised to help other people just like my dad was, and I know he would always lend a hand. Besides, what goes around comes around, and someday when we need help I know God will make sure that happens.

Pioneer Day

2010-07-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

We had a blast this Pioneer Day! I was really hoping to go camping at my aunt and uncles property which didn't work out but it turned out great! On the 23rd Aimee, the kids, and I ventured out to see if we could find a spot for the parade. We weren't hopeful since people had been setting up for at least 2 days already but we thought we'd try. Driving along Washington we found the ONLY spot on the east side that wasn't roped off and flipped around to get it, we couldn't believe the luck!
The next morning we left at 6:30 to get to our spot and set up. It was a nightmare to get to it since they had Washington closed from 31st-17th and we were set up at 25th, but we managed to snake our way up there anyway. My parents, sister, brother, Grandma, Grandpa, and Jordan's friend Carson were there with us, and it was our first time in 4 years so it was great. When I was a little girl we used to go EVERY year, so I've really missed it. As usual the parade was long, but it was great! The only snag was a family that decided to stand right in front of us so I had to get them to sit down and they took over a huge chunk of our area, but oh well I guess.
After the parade we headed straight to the lake for some fun in the sun. We wake boarded, knee boarded, tubed, and swam. We were on the water about 9 hours, which was a really long time but we had a blast anyway. Duffy wasn't too sure what to think at first and had a hard time swimming in the water but then he warmed right up to it and didn't want to get out! My mom, Aimee, the kids, and I took a ride on the tube which just happened to be Maisy's first time crashing into the water, the waves were just too big for me to hold on with one hand so off we went! She was a little shocked but was just fine after a second! We had so much fun, it was the perfect summer day!

Seattle, Only for the Weekend

2010-07-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Joey's company has been changing out locks for LDS churches all over the place and I was excited but really jealous when he told me that he'd be going to Seattle to do some churches in the area (actually in the Bellevue area). I couldn't even believe it when he somehow worked it out for me to go up with him the weekend before they started, which also happened to be the weekend of our anniversary! I know, this post is about 2 months late. They had a LOT of product that needed to go up as well as a lot of heavy tools so he had decided to drive his truck up there. We dropped Duffy off at school (Aimee would pick him up later) and Maisy with Grandma and headed out. I HATE the drive to Seattle, just like I hate all long drives, only this one happens to be longer. I get carsick and usually have to take a Dramamine which puts me right to sleep. I was pretty proud of myself that I stayed awake the entire ride! While eating at a Denny's in Baker City, Oregon we decided to drive to Portland for the night instead of going up through Yakima. The last minute decision made us both remember our pre-kid, carefree days when we used to make spontaneous travel decisions all the time. It was a beautiful, fun drive into Portland at night and we were even able to say hi to Joey's cousin Kristi who lives there. We stayed in a corner room with floor to ceiling windows and we had a fantastic view of the city and the river.
The next morning we left early and made the 2 hour drive into Seatac. We were staying at the Cedarbrook Lodge in a suite (I got a killer deal online!) and I will never stay anywhere else if I go back. It was an amazing room with a great view of a nature reserve. They have the best customer service and free ice cream, malt balls, etc., what could be better?
Our first day there I kept telling Joey that I needed to meet my friend Crystal downtown for lunch at 1. I said I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant but I had Mapquest directions to get us there. We went all over downtown following the directions and I think he truly thought we were lost for a while there. He was saying, this place must be right on the lake. When we pulled up to Kenmore Air instead of a restaurant I told him "Happy Anniversary!" We weren't really having lunch, I had actually pulled off a surprise for his anniversary present and was taking him on a seaplane tour, which he's always wanted to do. I could tell he was so happy and shocked and excited, it was probably the best present I had ever given him. After the couple who was on the same flight was loaded up the pilot said he could use a copilot and I thought Joey was going to die! He kept asking if it was ok for sure that he didn't sit with me, but why would I be upset that he got to ride in the front seat? I thought it was great! The tour was so amazing, taking off from the water and seeing all the sights of Seattle. We flew right between the tall buildings of downtown and the Space Needle, flew over the sound, saw Bill Gates' house, and a bunch more. It was really the best and smoothest flight I'd ever been on.
For the rest of our weekend we revisited all of our favorite places in the area: we ate at the Fisherman and watched a snowboarding exhibition from our table, which was crazy to see right on the piers of Puget Sound! We hiked to Snoqualmie Falls, where Joey had the biggest breakfast I had ever seen! We visited Pikes Place and bought a beautiful bouquet for $10. We went to the horse races for the first time at Emerald Downs, and hit plenty of Starbucks.
We had our anniversary dinner a day early since I was leaving at 9 that morning, so we got dressed up and went to Maggianos in Bellevue. We sat in a corner by ourselves and had a really nice, romantic Italian dinner.
The whole trip was the perfect way to celebrate our 8th anniversary. We got time to really enjoy just being with each other and doing the things we really love to do.

California Day 7

2010-07-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Finally! I am back to blogging our last day of vacation! I've been in big trouble with my Grandma for not keeping up on the blog, I'm sorry! You know how we are, living every day(if possible) as an adventure and our summer has been super busy and SUPER fun!!! I'll try to blog on those fun times too, eventually! The collage has a ton of pictures from our day so you'll have to click on it for sure to see all of them!

Back to the vacation: Our last day, not counting the travel day home, was in Sea World. We had an absolutely fantastic time! The kids love animals so they were basically in heaven. We got there right as the gates opened and it was such a nice break to be away from the crazy crowds of Disneyland and just walk around Sea World without having to fight off a million people and wait in horrific lines (other than the line to get lunch which was terrible!). Maisy slept through some of it, including Shamu, but that didn't stop her from having a great time either. We saw the dolphins before heading into the Shamu show. Duffy couldn't believe how big Shamu was and thought the huge waves coming over the walls was great! We sat far enough back to not get wet though. Duff touched starfish, bat rays, and anything else they would let him get his hands into. We saw millions of fish and went through the shark tube, the thing Duffy had been looking forward to for months! We got to see an animal show that included dogs, birds, ducks, a pig, and even trained cats, which I didn't think was possible. Obviously the kids loved it!!! Sea World also has an Arctic area where they have beluga whales, huge walruses, penguins, and polar bears. It was so much fun! Aimee got the best picture of the kids in the pretend polar bear den where both of them look like they're running from a real bear, I love it!
The next day we had breakfast and drove around San Diego for just a little bit before dropping off the cars and heading to the airport. The kids slept for most of the flights which was a good thing since we had to change planes in Las Vegas and had a pretty rough flight into Salt Lake, we even missed our landing and had to circle around, it was pretty scary. Overall the vacation was an amazing experience, I'm so grateful that we were all able to do it together. We try to expose our kids to all the great things that life has to offer, big or small and I hope we get to travel to many, many more places over their lifetimes as well as wonder at what we have in our own backyard. Life is truly wonderful for the (Semi) Irish!

California Day 6

2010-06-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Day 6 was our first day in San Diego. We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway from Anaheim to San Diego and were kind of hoping to stop at some amazing beach on our way down, but unfortunately it wasn't going to happen. We actually did stop at an overlook which was really pretty called Dana Point. There were cliffs and beach but it was about a mile walk straight downhill to get to the sand (which meant a mile straight uphill coming back) so we just looked and hit the road. We stayed at the Bahia Resort in San Diego which is right on Mission Bay, it was great! The rooms were kind of old but the grounds were so pretty. They even had two harbor seals that live there. It was also only about a five minute walk to the ocean, which we did almost as soon as we got our things into our room! Joey and Jordan bought boogie boards on the walk down and we borrowed some sand toys from the hotel. The beach was actually pretty crowded but still fun. Duffy was super protective of Maisy and didn't want to let go of her hand so that she wouldn't go into the water. Jordan had to be rescued by a lifeguard because he went out past the break and couldn't get back in but other than that no major events. The kids loved playing in the sand and the guys wore themselves out swimming and boogie boarding. There was a guy next to us sculpting a giant mermaid in the sand, it was really cool. He had to hurry and finish and a bunch of the people at the beach built a little dam because the tide was coming in and was threatening to wash it away, he finished and got a picture just in the nick of time.

California Day 5

2010-06-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

Day five of our trip was our last day in Disneyland. I still wasn't feeling great but decided I couldn't miss a day of Disneyland so away we all went on the shuttle. Finally the group was able to get to Splash Mountain but I didn't feel up to that yet so I stayed with Maisy while everyone else, including Duffy, used fast passes to get on. They had to sneak Duffy past the person who was checking heights because he was like a half an inch too short and he almost got kicked off right at the last minute but somehow got lucky enough to stay on. He loved it! He called it the Winnie the Pooh ride, I guess because of all the bee hives and also because we ran into Tigger and Pooh right after they got off the ride. We hit the fire station and Pirates one more time and headed over to California Adventures. After lunch I decided I could not stay out of bed any longer and unfortunately had to head back to the hotel. Joey came with me and the kids got to stay with my family. I am SO glad they were there!!! They met Goofy, played in the splash pad, went to Midway Mania and won some prizes, and all sorts of other fun stuff. After a few hours sleep Joey and I made it back. That night we went out to Downtown Disney to buy all of souvenirs and ate a healthy dinner of Jamba Juice. I was exhausted from all the days at Disneyland but was definitely sad to leave for the last time, we are already looking forward to our next trip to Disney, hopefully Disneyworld next time! Joey and Jordan stayed until the park closed and got in a LOT of rides that Joey had missed out on while he was sick, so glad he was able to do that. Tomorrow: San Diego!

California Day 4

2010-05-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

*By the way, I've decided to add these collages to the beginnings of all of my vacation posts so that everyone can see some pics from the day I'm talking about. I added them to all the days I've blogged already.
Our third day in Disneyland (4th of vacation) was full of exciting things, we were busy, busy, busy! We decided to use it as our "Magic Morning" which means you can get in an hour before the park opens to hit certain rides. Dumbo was our first stop that morning since it is notorious for having the worst line in the park. The kids absolutely loved it and we got the cutest picture of them with my dad. After a few more rides in Fantasy Land and a couple in Tomorrow Land we finally headed over to the Jungle Cruise. We had been waiting for Joey to feel well enough to be with us for that one. Duffy really loved all the animals and, as usual Maisy slept through the whole thing. On our way over there Duffy even got to ride the fire engine, and since he's obsessed with firemen he thought he was pretty awesome.
Then we headed to Toon Town, which was another of Duffy's favorites. They have all of these interactive things that make noises when you touch them and he had a great time. We went to Goofy's house, met Pluto, and got on Donald's boat.
After that I insisted that we go to Mickey's house, I did NOT want to leave Disneyland without the kids meeting Mickey. He was the one we were talking about for four months after all. The line really wasn't too bad, and the kids' faces were priceless when we walked into the room where Mickey was standing. Duffy seemed kind of in disbelief and Maisy just ran right up to him and didn't want to let go. She just kept hugging and hugging, and when Joey tried to get her to leave Mickey waved him away. It was really a great moment in our vacation because it was just us and Mickey, away from the crowds.
After lunch we were sitting in the sun waiting for my mom and dad when Woody and Jessie walked right up to where we were standing. Another lucky character siting. We got in line and the kids got pictures. Duffy loves Toy Story so he was really happy.
In the hurry to get in line for Woody and Jessie I had left the face sunscreen within Maisy's reach and when I turned around for a minute she decided to eat it. Sounds disgusting right? Her face was hilarious, she didn't know what to think. She just knew she wasn't supposed to be doing it!
Day 3 of Disneyland is also when I got the kids' mouse ear hats. It was the one souvenir I knew I had to have. There are a million choices now for those hats, but I really wanted classics. Duffy got the black and Maisy got the pink. Their names look so cute on the back and the kids look darling with them on. Both of them really love their mouse ear hats, especially Maisy.
After such a long time we decided to leave and relax then have dinner at the hotel. I wasn't feeling quite right but hoped that I just needed to eat. After I ate I decided that was a terrible idea because I ended up having the same thing as Joey. I don't think I've ever felt that sick in my entire life, including morning sickness. I literally couldn't get out of bed at certain points. I still think it's a miracle that no one else ended up with it. I don't know what I would have done if one of the kids had been that sick, I think we would have ended up at the hospital. I'm so grateful they stayed healthy!!!

California Day 3

2010-05-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

We decided to break our Disneyland days in half and take a beach day on our third day in California. Probably not a great decision since it was the worst weather day of our vacation! It rained pretty hard in the morning but stopped by the time we hit Newport Beach. By then it was just cold and REALLY windy. We walked on the beach a little and Duffy waded in the water, then we walked out onto the pier. After that we hit some really cute shops on the beach and then drove along the Pacific Coast Highway past Huntington Beach and over to Long Beach to check out the Queen Mary. They were filming a pilot episode at the Queen Mary and we couldn't believe the amount of wiring, trailers, staff, etc. it took to film one episode! I can't remember the show they were filming :( I'll have to ask my mom who is the queen of remembering useless knowledge!
After our beach adventures we had reservations for dinner at Medieval Times. While we were waiting for the show to start Joey bought both kids battle axes, without my knowledge of course. Maisy's is foam but Duffy's is wood, great decision right? Well no matter what I thought the kids loved them while we were there (I have now hidden them in the top of their closet for safe keeping!). The Master of Ceremonies of the show came by and talked to our kids which Duffy couldn't quite believe since he was dressed in his medieval garb. The MC whipped out his sword to hand to Duffy and Duff jumped back with this look on his face like "Whoa, what the heck?" Joey swears Duff was looking for his "shoot gun". Once he had the sword in his hands he thought he was pretty cool though! We also went into the torture museum, luckily the kids are young enough they didn't know what anything was for, but it was disturbing to me! Some of the things they used to do were indescribable.
Once the show started Duffy was totally serious, I think he was a little worried that it was all real, so we kept explaining that they were pretending and finally he got a little more into it. Our knight was the yellow one but Duffy's favorite color is dark blue so when the blue knight "killed" our yellow knight, our entire section was booing but Duffy said "YES!!!" I can't even remember who won but we had a blast!

Still In Shock

2010-05-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Back in January I filled out an application for a scholarship called the T.H. Bell. You had to write an essay explaining why you should receive it, what your teaching plans were, etc. I've been working really hard to improve my GPA since it tanked when Joe was sick but it's still not quite to the 3.5 you normally have to have in order to receive a scholarship, but I thought "What the heck, I might as well turn in the paperwork!" It had been almost four months and I wasn't really giving it much thought, just assuming the candidates had been chosen already. Last Saturday I went out for the mail and had an envelope from the teaching department. I just got accepted into the program for fall semester so I wondered what else they could possibly need from me, other than I haven't done my criminal background check yet, oops! When I opened it, I read "Congratulations! You have been selected to be a recipient for the Terrel H. Bell . . . " and I just started crying! I guess my 3.44 is good enough for them :) It will cover my tuition and student fees for up to 3 years, which means I will save about $13,000 that I don't have to get student loans for. This is such an incredible relief and blessing for our family. As the title says, I'm still in shock, but I'm extremely happy and pretty proud of myself!

Vacation Post #2

2010-05-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, I knew this is what was going to happen. I knew I was going to get busy and forget to blog about our vacation and then I would start to forget some of the details :( Thank goodness for pictures so I can remember most of it.
Our second day in California was Easter. I had brought bubbles and the kids' Easter baskets from home and figured I would run over to Target for the rest, which of course didn't happen after being up before dawn, on a plane, riding a bus, checking into the hotel, and spending the rest of the day at Disneyland Saturday. Duffy spent the night in my mom and dad's room with Auntie A so luckily I could go down to the hotel store and grab a few things. Duffy had spotted some swimming goggles in the shop on Saturday and said that he wished he had some so of course I got those! Sunday morning I brought the baskets down to my mom and dad's room and told Duffy I had found them. He was pretty excited over the goggles and they both liked the bubbles.
We got them dressed in their darling Easter outfits-Duffy had a cute pair of plaid shorts from Grandma and Maisy had her gorgeous tutu that Aunt Aimee made for her. We had breakfast and went outside where we were surprised with a little egg hunt from the Easter bunny. Grandma and Papa had hidden eggs with $50 for each of my kids and $100 for each of us adult kids so that we could buy whatever souvenirs we wanted. I was shocked and thankful!
Joey was still sick so we planned on starting at California Adventure until he could catch up, but we found out that they didn't open until 10 and we were there at 8 am. We headed over to Disneyland instead where Duffy got to ride his favorite ride-The Matterhorn which he calls the "Bominable Snowman" Maisy and I waited to the side while the rest rode and then I got to go with Duffy by myself, he promised to protect me from the snowman, it was so cute!
After the Teacups we headed to Maisy's favorite ride-It's a Small World. She couldn't get enough of the colors and singing and just kept pointing everything out to us. Another trip to Tarzan's Treehouse while we waited for part of the group to go on Indiana Jones and we were off to California Adventures.
Duffy really loved California Adventures because it has an entire section of Bug's Life rides for kids and of course the 4-D show where you get to wear the bug eyes. After a couple hours there Joey finally got to come meet us since he felt a little better. Duff and Maisy love their daddy very much and were so excited to see him there and tell him about the rides and adventures we had. Grandpa even bought the kids cotton candy before lunch, can you say "spoiled"?
During lunch Maisy got a special performance from the Mariachi band, she looked on in admiration with her face COVERED in macaroni and cheese. It was really sweet. They met Mulan right after lunch too, which both of the kids thought was great, they couldn't stop looking at her. Duffy also met Lightning McQueen on our way over to the other side of the park.
We played at the Redwood Adventure Trail for a long time that day, the kids thought it was great that they could run around without being in a stroller or holding someone's hand. Aimee did not think it was so great going over all the nets 30 feet in the air. This is where we were when the earthquake hit. Aimee thought she felt something but didn't know if it was just because she was so nervous. We had no idea for probably 30 minutes that something had happened. While we were in the Adventure Trail we got to meet Brother Bear and then headed out to hit some rides-that's when we found out about the earthquake.
Disney shut down all of their rides for checks and we were already exhausted at that point so we decided just to head out and get in the pool at the hotel. There was a flood of people leaving and Disney didn't let anyone know when they would reopen the rides, we found out the big rides can take hours and hours to check.
Luckily Duffy's favorite thing on Earth is swimming so he was very excited to go back to the hotel. The kids swam with Daddy for a long time, until Maisy fell asleep on the lounge chairs with me and we finally dragged Duffy out.
More soon!

Vacation Post #1

2010-04-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try really hard to remember all the little things that happened during our vacation so that one day I can look back on this. I don't know how many vacation posts there will be but here's #1.
We have been counting down to this vacation since December and life was a little crazy before we left. Just trying to get ahead on homework, make sure the kids had summery clothes, finding a place for the dog, etc. was a lot of work. Duffy had been saving up change for a few months too and any money he found immediately went into his money jar. Eventually we had to move it into a second jar and even that ended up overflowing into a ziplock bag. We had decided it would be his souvenir money for our Disneyland vacation. The day before we left we went to the bank to cash it in. I truly thought it would be like $50, so when it added up to $204 I was shocked, it's amazing how change can add up! He thought he was awesome! Later that night Duffy got into his Mickey jammies and Maisy into her princess castle jammies, the kids went to bed as usual, they didn't really understand the big week ahead of us. I, on the other hand, slept like it was Christmas Eve-which means didn't really sleep much!
Our flight was at 7:05 am so we figured we needed to leave by 5, meaning I woke up for the last time at about 4 and we got the kids out of bed at about 4:45. We met at my parents' house and rode down together. The ride was an adventure already, they drive an Expedition which has 8 seats, exactly the amount of people going, leaving us little room for luggage (we really didn't want to pay for parking for 2 vehicles!). We went Beverly Hillbilly's style and strapped some up on the roof. The little ones got jammed in every empty crevice of the car! Aimee had to basically sit sideways with the stroller standing up at her feet. We finally left my parents' house about 5:15, running late already. Since Duffy was still half asleep when we left, he hadn't gone to the bathroom and decided around Centerville that he really needed to go, which meant we had to stop right then! Finally we made it to the airport pretty much right at 6, but thought it would be pretty calm in there since it was so early-it wasn't!!! Everyone in Utah was heading to Disneyland for spring break, and the airport was a mad house. We literally RAN through the airport to make it to the gate, it was not pleasant to say the least.
Finally on the plane things calmed down. Duffy was super excited and watched out the window as everything was loaded up and while we took off. He really thought the whole thing was cool. Luckily it was a short flight because Maisy is not a sitting still type of girl and got really restless and grumpy toward the end. This is also when Joey started to get sick, making the flight even more interesting. All of our ears really took a hit on this flight and Duffy was crying that his hurt, it made me feel so bad!
Once we landed we rode a shuttle to Anaheim, Joey was sick the whole time. The first shuttle stop was the Disneyland Hotel and we wanted to get out right then! All the lampposts on the Disney property have the head of Mickey Mouse on them (just in the same metal as the post so they look kind of like silhouettes) and Maisy kept looking at them saying something we just couldn't understand. Finally we figured out she was saying "Toodles" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it was so cute!
We got to the hotel and basically just got changed to go to Disneyland. We were so excited but I felt terrible because Joey was REALLY sick and had been throwing up pretty much non-stop since during our flight. There was no way he could leave the hotel and had to miss the first day at Disneyland. He felt bad too and I think both of us had a little cry about it. By the time we got there Disneyland was CRAZY packed, it was a Saturday after all. We forgot the sunscreen and had to stop for that, then we were so hungry since all we had were airline pretzels up until that point, so we stopped for lunch in Tomorrowland, it was actually pretty good. Finally we got to go on a ride! About a month ago I had asked what ride Duffy wanted to go on first and he thought carefully and finally asked "Is there a Buzz Lightyear?" I told him yes, but didn't give it another thought. Guess what we actually went on first? Buzz Lightyear! I found that pretty funny, it just happened to have a decent line. I think total we only hit 4 rides that day because the lines were so long but it was fun. We did hit Pirates of the Caribbean that day, not Duffy's favorite because of the drops in the dark, but toward the end he was ok and Maisy just rode along like nothing was even happening, she was so good on everything! We went into Tarzan's Treehouse (the first of a few times) and poor Duffy tripped and cut his knee pretty bad. It had gravel and sand all over in it and all I had was a water bottle and wet wipes, and a bandaid that was too small. So we took a trip to first aid. Let me tell you, if you are going to get hurt somewhere, Disneyland is the place to do it! They have regular old doctor's offices in there and the nicest nurses ever! They cleaned it out really well and hooked him up with a bigger bandaid. Bad for Duffy but definitely memorable for our first day!
Ok, that post is long enough, more tomorrow maybe :)

California Pictures!!!

2010-04-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am anxious to post these pictures! I'll have to do the blogging on our trip over the next few days so stay tuned for that. I am warning you, this slideshow is LONG, but it's less than half the pictures we took! We had the best time, I can't believe it's over already!

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A Terrible Blogger

2010-04-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been a terrible blogger recently and to tell you the truth I don't have time to blog today either. We leave for Disneyland and Sea World in two days and I need to get a million things done, including a 14 page paper that is due the Monday we get back. Wish me luck since all of us are also getting sick :( I PROMISE to blog like a mad woman when we get back!

Polar Plunge 2010

2010-02-24T16:16:00.000-08:00

My sister Aimee is going to school to become a special education teacher. She is wonderful with "her kids" that she works with now and is going to be the best special ed teacher ever! She decided to start volunteering for the Special Olympics and when she went to their website she found this Polar Plunge fundraiser they do every year. The goal is to get people to pledge money for you to jump into a frozen lake. Crazy right? So Aimee, Jordan (our brother), and I decided to do it together. We woke up early on a Saturday and got to Deer Creek Reservoir in Heber at 9 am. The temperature gauge on the car said 19 degrees outside and I began to wonder what in the heck we were thinking. Then we walked down to check out what we'd be jumping into. They had cut huge blocks of ice out and had a ladder on the other side of the hole for us to climb out on. The water in the hole was already getting a film of ice on the top. It was really cold already and we were still dry! After registration they had a costume contest, Aimee was Pippi Longstockings, there was a Mr. Clean, a leprechan, a figure skater, and a whole bunch more. Then we all walked down to the hole. There was a big crowd around and they read our names one at a time, taking turns jumping in. It was fantastic cheering everyone on as they took the plunge. I had asked if Aimee, Jordan, and I could go together so finally she called our names and it was our turn. Walking up to the hole together I held my pants up so they wouldn't get wet, don't ask me why, just habit I guess. I could see my parents and Duffy and Maisy on the other side thinking we were nuts. A few seconds later we all jumped in together. It was instantly cold. Imagine thousands of needles poking into your skin, your lungs freezing up, and being barely able to move, it was cold! I didn't go all the way under like Aimee and Jordan did but next year I promise I will. Jordan hit the ladder first (so much for ladies first) and I was saying "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" I was next and got about halfway out before I bailed out onto the ice so Aimee could get on the ladder. I still have a huge bruise on my knee! The hole was not close at all to the trailers where we were getting dressed so we had to run, soaking wet about the length of half a football field to get dressed. There was only one safe place to get onto the boat ramp we had to walk up so there was a huge traffic jam of dry people and I yelled "Seriously?!?" Finally some of them let us through, I was freezing by this point. By the time we got to the trailer my feet literally felt like blocks of ice clumsily tromping along. Once inside the trailer and semi-dry though I was really surprised at how not-cold I was. The whole experience was absolutely amazing and I plan to make it a tradition. There were several special needs kids there and a few even took the plunge, it was great to see them there supporting us. What a life experience, there aren't too many people who can say they have jumped into a frozen lake (on purpose especially). Can't wait until next year!!!

So I Can Look Back and Remember

2010-02-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

Life is stressful right now and the blog's taken a hit. I really enjoyed November I just need to get back into the habit! Anyway, yesterday Duffy had been upstairs playing for a while and when he finally came down he was in a pair of warm-up pants and his Vance Bennett Construction hoodie. As he climbed back over the gate he asked me if I knew why he was in those nice clothes. I said "Why?" and my 3-year-old little boy replied "Cuz I'm taking Sharon out to dinner tonight"! I about died laughing. He was so serious talking about going on a date with his imaginary friend. This kid is going to be a ladies man. He also said they were eating at a restaurant so they didn't have to go to her "dang house". What? Haha.
Maisy's latest obsession is getting completely undressed, diaper and all. In fact I just had to take a break from writing this post to get her dressed again, this time she's not getting out, I put her in some zip-up jammies and she hasn't figured them out yet. I know it won't be long until she does. I remember Duffy going through this stage and me walking into some yucky messes in his room after nap time. I used to have to put him in his zip-up jammies backward so he couldn't get them off, I'm anticipating I'll be doing that with Mais soon too.
Something that's been stressing me lately is waiting to see if we are going to be approved for my dream house. I haven't wanted to post about it because it will truly be a miracle if we get it and I've been working very hard not to get my hopes up, but since this blog is a sort of journal for me I want to look back on this time some day. I'm growing weary of renting and the two bedroom town home we are in now is in no way big enough for the 5 of us (dog included). The house we are looking at is all we'd ever need and since the market is so bad we would be paying about $100,000 less than it was selling for 18 months ago. It was built a year and a half ago but hasn't been lived in so it would be all ours. I'll post details if we get it, no need to do it if we aren't going to end up there. I just want to know one way or another, this waiting is not healthy for me.

Hogle Zoo, A Little Late!

2010-01-05T20:38:00.000-08:00

I just realized that during all the craziness that was the holi-daze I totally forgot to blog about our trip to the zoo in November! We went early in the month, before it got too cold but it was just cool enough that the animals were actually being pretty active. I think it was the best trip to the zoo we've had! We saw so many of the animals roaming around and playing, there wasn't an absurd amount of people there, and it was Maisy's first time (other than in-utero!). Really, I suggest you all go to the zoo in the fall. We walked around, rode the train and the carousel, and had a picnic. Duffy has always loved the zoo and it seems that Maisy does too, she was so cute looking at the monkeys especially. Duffy loved the bears and penguins the most this time I think. I know I always do collages but there are so many cute pictures this post would have gone on forever! Like I've said before, if you want to see them bigger just click somewhere on the collage :)

Morning Cuddles

2009-12-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

This morning both kids were up at six. Usually it's just me and Mais, and she's always a cuddler in the early morning hours, but today it was both. All three of us were snuggled up under a blanket on the couch and Duffy was making his little sister laugh, I almost cried I was so filled with love :) (Sounds corny, I know). Sometimes in life I look around and can't believe how wonderful the little moments are. I know my kids won't always cuddle with me like that and our snuggles will be gone before I know it, so I want to cherish every one of these moments. I didn't get a picture of course, it would have ruined the moment, hope to store that one in my memory. Good morning!

It's Finally Done!

2009-12-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

We've really been slacking in the tree department between my crazy school schedule and Joey being out of town nearly every weekend. We finally got one yesterday and it instantly made our house smell wonderful and then decorated it tonight. Caught it on camera since it's been decorated for about 15 minutes and it's already destroyed :) Here is what it looked like before Maisy got to it:

It's Been A While

2009-12-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

December is super busy this year and I have WAY to many things going on so I've been slacking in the blog department! Last week we took the kids and our nephew Aidan to see Santa and his reindeer at Weber State, they finally sent the pic today. It was a "beef and cheddar" santa but oh well! The line was crazy but the kids were pretty good!

Day 30-Reflections on NaBloPoMo

2009-11-30T21:07:00.000-08:00

Whew, today's the last day of National Blog Posting Month and I have to admit I have mixed feelings about it. It's been a challenge to come up with something to post about everyday but because it was a challenge it kept me current on my blogging. Overall, I know I won't post daily forever but this month has inspired me to treat the blog as more of a journal so that someday I can look back on my daily life while my kids are little. I hope I can keep up better on that, just don't look for something every day :)

Day 29 - My New Favorite Stranger Blog

2009-11-29T20:20:00.000-08:00

I found the best blog today thanks to a playhouse my friend Brooke made (I have already decided to make one for Maisy's birthday). It's all a bunch of homemade stuff for kids that looks like a normal mom could do it, without being a full-on Martha Stewart type. I'm so excited to get started on the quiet books first and then the playhouse! You really should check it out at homemadebyjill.blogspot.com !

Day 28- May I Suggest

2009-11-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

Joey and I had a date last night for the first time in a long time-had a great dinner, got some shopping in, and went to the movies. I've been wanting to see "The Blind Side" since I saw the first trailer for it and I LOVED it! We don't go to movies often but I'm so glad we went to this one. For one thing, I love Sandra Bullock, for another thing this was a great story, and it's a true story. If you want to see a good movie and aren't afraid to cry in public (I was really trying not to!) I suggest you go see this, really, it's not a sports movie or I wouldn't be so excited about it :) Thanks Joey for the great date!

Day 27- A Day Late

2009-11-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 am to go shopping, we stayed out for quite a while and then took a little break, then I went out again with Joey and didn't get done until 9 pm. After that we went to a movie and by the time we got home I was really sick so yeah, I missed a day, sorry! Pretty long day but I did find some great deals! I know I must be crazy because I always HATED working Black Friday but I LOVE shopping Black Friday! I find the crowds hilarious, the women are absolutely crazy and everyone I see has split up from their groups and are talking to each other via cell phone about their finds, I swear they remind me of a bunch of stock brokers from Wall Street! My two biggest successes were at Carters and Kohl's: they have the best deals, seriously! Carters had their whole store at least 50% off and if you shopped before noon you got an additional 10% off plus they had emailed me a coupon for an additional 20% off so we picked up 15 items for $80, that wasn't even anything on out of season clearance, it's all brand new arrivals and CUTE! Kohl's was even better-all their toys were at least 50% off, they had games for $3.99, plus gave us 20% off at the register, my mom got another $10 off, and they give you Kohl's cash so I have $30 to spend there free next week! I love getting good deals!

Day 26- Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-26T18:44:00.000-08:00

Well, the day is nearly over and once again I am immensely grateful for my family. I'm so thankful to my husband for loving me and taking such good care of our little family. He's out of town working so much lately and I know he'd rather not be but he wants to give me every opportunity in the world to do what I want. He's so affectionate and loves me and the kids so much. Thank you Joey! I'm thankful every day for my kids, who make life so enjoyable. It's not always easy to be a full-time mommy but it's a job I wouldn't trade for anything. Duffy is such a smart and cute little boy and he makes me laugh every single day. Maisy is my little princess, she is the sweetest most darling little girl I have ever seen. It's truly been a blessing to be home with them so much (thanks again Joey!). I'm thankful for my parents, sister, brother, and mom2 every one of them has helped me beyond words. They're always there to help me with the kids when I need to go to class or when I just need a break! I'm thankful that we've been fortunate enough to have a nice place to live, plenty of food on the table, and a bright future ahead. I'm thankful for our dog Buddy who keeps me company and makes me feel more safe when Joey has to be gone. I'm thankful for so much more but right now, I'm really thankful that both of my kids are asleep and tomorrow's Black Friday so I'm going to try to get some sleep while I can!

Day 25- Baking Day

2009-11-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

Today I got to spend the day baking with my mom and sister. Everytime we are together, no matter what we are doing, we laugh almost the entire time. Today was no exception! We made apple, lemon meringue, and 2 pumpkin pies. We have never attempted lemon meringue and it is a pretty labor intensive pie, constantly stirring, adding half into the egg yolks, stirring back in, etc, etc, etc. It looks pretty good so I hope it tastes ok! I don't eat lemon desserts and I won't get to go to that family's dinner this year anyway so I guess if it's gross oh well! I know our apple and pumpkin will be good! Anyway, we made a huge mess, made plenty of mistakes, and had a lot of good laughs while doing it. I'm so lucky to have two of my best friends in my immediate family!

Can't wait for tomorrow, I love Thanksgiving. The only bad thing is that when you're married and most of both families live close you have to make a choice on who you are going to see so first we'll have dinner at my Aunt Lisa's (my dad's sister) and then we are going to see Joey's family at his Aunt Leslie's. We'll be missing my mom's side of the family, which I hate to do but unfortunately we can't be two places at once! Luckily we'll see them closer to Christmas.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Day 24- My Kind of Quote

2009-11-24T16:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, seriously, this blogging everyday isn't easy. I've been racking my brain for something to blog about today and can't come up with anything! I did come across this quote though and it is one of my new favorites:

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world," Calvin.

Ha Ha, I love it!

Day 23 - Why I Love My Life

2009-11-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

She was loving my shoes :)

He made this snail out of Play-Doh all by himself. He was so proud of himself and so was I!

*These are both pics from my phone, sorry for the quality!

Day 22-I Totally Jinxed Us

2009-11-22T18:56:00.000-08:00

Just yesterday I was telling my mom and sister that it didn't feel like the holidays to me since it's been such a mild November (ie no snow), well I guess Mother Nature really wanted me to get in to the holiday mood because it suddenly snowed quite a bit! I'm so excited for the holidays and as much as I don't like to be cold or drive in the snow I do REALLY love this time of year. I've got big plans for this year: watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before stuffing myself silly, Black Friday shopping, making the kids stockings (I started those yesterday), gingerbread houses, Christmas cookie day, the festival of trees, making the kids chairs, Temple Square, finals, etc, etc, etc. I can't wait, hope I get it all done!

Day 21-Running Out of Interesting Things to Say

2009-11-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry the blog has been pretty boring the past few days, but just normal life going on, nothing too exciting. One bit of exciting news (for me at least) is that I just finished my last math assignment, EVER!!! (Unless I do something crazy like return for a masters) All we have left in my 1050 class is a quiz, two days of reviews, and the final! I'm sure we will have some sort of small review assignment but I'm not counting it since it won't be new material and I doubt it will be too long. She already said part of it would be correcting the ?'s we've missed on our exams but I've only missed 2 questions total so that will take me about 5 minutes to do. It feels really good to be so close to done with math!

Day 20-I Know What an Idiot Is

2009-11-20T21:19:00.000-08:00

Today's blog is going to be short, again! Aimee and I are just starting Bruno. Today we were in the car and Duffy said "I know what a idoit is", so I said "Oh yeah, what does it mean?", to which he repied, "A crazy driver". HAHAHA I better watch what I say, but at least it's not a swear word I guess :)

Day 19-Thank Goodness for Sisters

2009-11-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

This is my sister Aimee and she's the best! Another example: tonight when I went to school I grabbed my wallet out of the diaper bag and rushed off. On the way there I noticed my low fuel light went on and so I figured I would stop on my way home, I had totally forgotten the only money I had was left in the side pocket of the diaper bag!!! I didn't even have a dollar with me! I called her on my way home and said "It says I have zero miles until I run out of gas!" so she drove 20 minutes to come rescue me! Thank you so much Aimee!!! Lesson of the day: don't separate your money from your wallet, its supposed to be in there!

Day 18-Welcome Baby Carter and Taking Time to Breathe

2009-11-18T19:49:00.000-08:00

First off, want to say congrats to my cousin Ashlee and her husband Ryan who welcomed their first baby into the world today! I don't know much yet, my dad wasn't helpful with all the stats but I do know it was a boy and they named him Carter which I absolutely love! Babies are such a blessing in our lives and being a parent is the hardest, and best, job you could ever have so really, truly, congratulations you guys!
So, today was my big presentation on sex ed in Utah schools, it takes so much preparation to do such a short assignment! We've been working and working on it and it's finally over!!! It went really well and we already got an email saying we got 100% so I'm taking the time to breathe tonight, therefore not blogging about a whole lot:)

Day 17-Kids' Fall Pics

2009-11-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back my wonderful resident photographer/sister took the kids' fall pictures. The kids had a hard time cooperating but we got a couple of good ones! Click on this to see the scrapbook, it's kind of small but you can click on any of the pictures to zoom in.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Day 16-Time for a Name Change

2009-11-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to come up with a new blog name because ours is so boring! So here's what I've come up with: Luck O' the (Semi) Irish. Do you like? I hope so but if not, give me some ideas, I don't have time to be more creative!

Day 15-What? No Tivo?

2009-11-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight this is me:

Just got home about and hour ago and found out my satellite reciever is broken so I'm stuck without TV, and Tivo, for the next few days until we can get a new one! What am I going to do? So here I sit, hubby stuck in Vegas, waiting up until midnight so I can register for classes asap, without anything to watch! Sad times, right?

Day 14- Come Back Fall

2009-11-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

It was INSANELY cold and windy today and as I looked through pictures to figure out what to blog about today I saw this one and wish that weather would come back!!!

Day 13- Tis' the Season

2009-11-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

I know I'm behind everyone else but since I normally don't start my Christmas shopping until Black Friday I was pretty surprised with myself when I bought the first present of the season today. Actually 2 presents: a play-doh machine and a set of army guys. So officially begins the madness of Christmas, I LOVE it!!!

Also just wanted to share a little bit of my day. You know how they say God only gives you what he knows you can handle? Well, I've had a couple of really stressful weeks and was feeling extremely overwhelmed this morning (ie breaking into tears randomly) and just when I thought I was going to break God gave me a pretty good day. Maisy took a 3 and 1/2 hour nap and Duffy was so good while she was asleep that I even got about a 1/2 hour snooze. Duffy has been testing my patience a little lately, right in line with a normal 3 year old, but was really really good today, at least until we went to my parents :) I got some homework done and I think I'll even be asleep before midnight!

Day 12-Daddy's Little Girl

2009-11-12T15:26:00.000-08:00

I absolutely LOVE this picture! Maisy loves her daddy so much, and he's wrapped around her little finger! I have a feeling he is going to be just a little bit overprotective of her as she grows up :)

Day 11-THANK YOU VETERANS

2009-11-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

What more can I say other than Thank You so much to all those who have been willing to sacrifice so much for what the rest of us take for granted every day.

Day 10-Black Island Farms

2009-11-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

This year we finally made it to Black Island Farms before Halloween. It was SO MUCH FUN! They have animals (it's a real farm for the rest of the year), hay and corn mazes, a hayride, and a bunch of giant slides! Duffy navigated our way through one of the big corn mazes, which was an interesting experience, we finally had to start steering him toward the right way when he led us in a couple of circles. On the hayride they take you out to a huge pumpkin patch and you get to choose any one you want, Duffy really enjoyed that too!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

P.S. If this slideshow really works then Smilebox is my new favorite! It's so easy to use and the other programs I've tried have never worked so look for more slideshows in the future!

Day 9-Two Blessed Kids

2009-11-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

This collage is from a trip my kids got to take with my mom, dad, sister, and brother over the summer. It was just a little day trip to Bear Lake but they stopped a couple places along the way. It also gave Joey and I a much-needed date day, we went to Lagoon for the first time in years! Not only am I blessed to have such a wonderful family but my kids are too. It was one of the main reasons we left Seattle, I just couldn't stand the thought of my kids growing up so far from their grandparents that they didn't really know them. My family loves to have fun together and I'm so grateful they are passing that along to my children!

Day 8-Summer Flashback

2009-11-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know us well you know we LOVE to camp! We actually didn't get to go very many times this year but we did have a great time when we got to get out of town. These pictures are from our trip to my aunt and uncle's property above Lava Hot Springs. Duffy had a couple of cousins to play with and Maisy even had her little friend (cousin) Marlee. Duffy had a BLAST, he got to run around everywhere since it's private property, ride on the 4-wheeler, and even paint some rocks and make sand drawings. Maisy's weekend wasn't so much fun, she had to be contained most of the time.
As you can probably tell by this blog, I love to expose my kids to as many things I possibly can, and the great outdoors is a HUGE part of that. It's so much fun to see new things through their eyes.

Day 7- Mommy's Little Helper

2009-11-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, today has been a really long day (I was up at 6 to leave by 7 for a four and a half hour test for starters!) so I'm keeping it short tonight! I wanted to post this picture of Maisy watching intently as I sewed her Halloween costume. She was a good girl during the few weeks it took me and hardly ever touched the sewing table, I must say I was VERY impressed! One night she got up on to the horse and just sat and watched while I worked on it for a while. She was really fascinated by the whole thing. Love this mommy-daughter moment!

Day 6-Halloween Costumes

2009-11-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's taken me so long for these but you know, I had to get the discs from my favorite photog, my sister! These are pics from Gardner Village and Halloween night with the kids, I think the costumes turned out great, if I do say so myself! Duffy was kind of sick so we just went to about 6 houses and headed back to my mom and dad's. It was kind of sad because he went right in and got out of his costume and into his jammies ASAP. I don't blame him for wanting to curl up on the couch though.

Here are the pictures from our night out at the SkyBar later that night. We have the funnest group of friends!

Day 5-Official First Day of School!

2009-11-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

Like the title says, it's official-Duffy started school today! I almost cried but then I thought of how much fun he's going to have and how I can't keep him a baby forever. He was so happy and excited to be there and his teachers report that he was a very good boy. Today they learned about the letter "E", made a pizza with paper and felt pepperonis, sang about going on a turkey hunt, made a picture of a train with cotton ball smoke coming out of it, did puzzles, and I about died when I saw the picture of a robin that he colored with the right colors in the right areas! Everyone who has seen the picture of him so far has commented on how big he looks, and it's true, he has really grown a lot in the past couple of months. I am so grateful that we are able to put him into a great preschool where he can make friends and learn so many things.

Day 4-Doing my Civic Duty

2009-11-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was election day and I really enjoy voting for local leaders and issues, it makes me feel like my vote actually counts for something. I didn't start voting until last year's Presidential election but I was in a Political Science class and really got to thinking about our right to vote. We take for granted that which millions of other people are still dying over today. Women have only been allowed to vote for less than 100 years, yet polls consistently have low turnouts. We have the choice but choose not to vote, what if they were to take that away from us? I bet we wouldn't take it for granted anymore. I know it's too late for this year but I would like to ask anyone who reads this blog to do some research and get out and vote next election day, show your thanks to everyone who fought so hard to make it possible!

Day Three-Missing the First Day of School and Kisses from Mais

2009-11-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Duffy's cough was almost non-existent so I was really holding out hope he could start school today. All through the night I listened and didn't hear anything but early this morning it was back with a vengence :( He was so looking forward to going I felt really bad. This morning was rough because he felt so bad and we had numerous meltdowns, including one because I wouldn't pack a lunchbox for him. I tried to explain he wouldn't be eating lunch at school but he wasn't believing it. At least we got to go up there for a tour and to get his registration forms. We met his teacher Miss Mikelle and a few of his new friends from class. When we pulled up he was really distraught because he didn't have his backpack, I really didn't think he'd need to take one but all of the cute little kids going in had one so next time he will be sure to take it, I guess he needs something to bring home all of his projects! Now we're keeping our fingers crossed for Thursday, I REALLY hope he can go, he's so excited!

Maisy is really into giving kisses right now and last night we were all just sitting around after dinner. Maisy kept going back and forth between Joey and me making her kissy-fishy face to get kisses. It's the cutest thing and it must have gone on for 15 minutes last night, she couldn't get enough.

I PROMISE there are pictures coming, Aimee is making me a disk as we speak, and there's actually so many we have to do 2 discs. I doubt I'll run out of things to blog about this month!

When I Grow Up

2009-11-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

For my second post this month I just wanted to write about my kids current lives (surprise right?). So, here I go:

Duffy is 3 and a half now and is definitely his own little man. His latest things to talk about are all sports, hunting, and what he's going to be when he gets bigger like me. Today he asked me if he could be a police officer and a football player when he gets bigger (his words). I said "Of course, you can be anything you want to be" and he replied, "Thanks". It was so cute. Another thing he asked me today was if he could watch Spongebob when he gets big like me, he's always telling people I don't like him to watch that show, along with any other shows he decides I would think were "bad". The past few days he has had a cough and had a fever for a couple of days (no other symptoms mind you) and has been telling everyone he has the "flus". We were hoping to start him at preschool this week but it looks like it will have to wait until he stops coughing, more to come on that another day.

Maisy turned 16 months yesterday and I can't believe how big and smart she's getting. She has recently started imitating what people say and was so cute on Halloween trying to say "trick or treat". The kids stayed with my parents on Halloween night so we could go out with some friends and they said she INSISTED on going to the door every time there was a group of kids, she even screamed long enough for them to get her out of her high chair to answer the door during dinner. She's used to getting what she wants already, by the way. I would say her favorite thing to do right now, other than eat, is to put on everyone else's shoes. She loves my heels and Duffy's skater shoes most of all, and she has a cute pair of boots that she makes us put on even with her pajamas. She's also gone from having 2 teeth about a month ago to about 10 now, all coming in at the same time. She's really starting to look like a little girl now with all those teeth, skinny legs, and long curly hair. She also likes to say hi to everyone and "thank you" for everything.

My kids are each their own little wonderful person. I really couldn't ask for anything more. I could probably write about them all day but I guess I should get some homework done now :( "See" you all tomorrow!

NaBloPoMo

2009-11-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Just saw my friend Jana's blog and found out it's "NaBloPoMo"-National Blog Posting Month. So, I'm a day behind but who says you have to post once a day, just 30 posts in 30 days right? I'll do two today to catch up. Just want to warn you, since I will be posting that many things, my blog will be a lot like a journal this month but I'm hoping to learn to love the everyday things by posting so often, not just around major events. Stay tuned for all the fun October pictures though, I should have them posted soon!

Maisy's First Haircut

2009-10-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it was only her bangs, but this was still kind of traumatic for me! I don't know why, Duffy's been getting haircuts since he was 3 months old and she's 15 months. Maybe it's because she's my little girl, maybe it's because she might be our last one, either way I had to get over some serious anxiety to get this done. I would have left them long but the girl REFUSES to leave barrettes, bobby pins, bows, headbands, anything in her hair and the bangs kept getting into her eyes. She wasn't too pleased with the situation in the salon but they do look pretty cute now!

A Day at the Park

2009-10-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

My parents decided to buy a baby backpack for Maisy. They found one on KSL so we went to Logan to look at it and ended up buying it. While we were up there we went up Blacksmith Fork Canyon and stopped at Hyrum Park. We tested out the new backpack and played for a while. Maisy loved the backpack and Duffy wouldn't stay in one place long enough to get many pics of him.

Football's Here!

2009-10-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Duffy is obsessed with football! Like father, like son, I guess! He insists that he plays on a team and tells us all the time, "I have to go to my football game". One day I found him in his room with the masking tape and he had taped his own leg like he's seen at uncle Jordan's games!

He loves to go to the Clearfield High football games too. My brother Jordan plays on their team so we go as often as we can, we even went during the snow on Wednesday. Here's a picture of Clearfield's homecoming game, even though you can barely see him, my brother is a lineman #56.

Labor Day in Lake Powell

2009-09-10T09:12:00.001-07:00

Joey and I were invited to spend Labor Day weekend (actually 6 days over Labor Day) in Lake Powell with a bunch of friends. Joey had never been and I hadn't been since I was about 10, so it was almost like my first time too. We all rented a houseboat that was straight out of the 70's and rode lower on the left side, and found a cozy little cove to stay in for the week. My sister, mother-in-law, and parents kept the kids for us, so it was just adults with nothing to worry about! We had a fantastic time!!! Really, for about 99% of the time we just layed around or rode on the boat, I don't think I've been able to relax that much since before I had kids, maybe even before I was married and had a job! You know, sometimes you go on vacation and have so much to do that you never really relax? This was NOT that type of vacation, all I had to worry about was not getting too sunburned and hanging onto the tube for dear life.
We had only met 3 of the 10 people before we went, so I have to admit I was a little nervous that we might not all mesh and we were all sleeping in the same small space, kind of like a reality show! Everyone was so friendly and fun!!! We are all looking forward to next year's trip already!
To sum up the week: there was wakeboarding (a bunch of nasty wipeouts), tubing (5 girls on one tube!), fishing, swimming, eating great, campfires, dance parties, sightseeing, laughing (lots and lots of laughing), studying, nicknaming, eyebrow plucking (Joey included), sunbathing, hiking, photo ops, shaving of heads, bruising, and a whole lot of doing nothing!
Thanks so much to Justin (aka Dagger) for inviting us, our family for keeping the kids, and Jessie (Keg), Emi (Poca), Lynny (Iron Fist), Laura (Delta), Nate (Ham Fried Ri), Jonny (Muscle Hamster), & Malina(D.I.) for making it such a great week!

Fairs and Trains and Swimming, Oh My!

2009-09-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

I've been bad! Has it really been over a month since I last blogged? I can't even believe it, I guess that's what happens when I get ready to go back to school. Hopefully I can be better about it again now that I'm starting to get back into the school routine. As always, we've been doing lots of fun things and I have some pictures of some of those, but not all. These are pictures of us at the Davis County Fair, Roy Aquatic Center, the Frontrunner station, one from Roy Days, and some random fun at home and "Gramma and Papa's". Duffy was in heaven at the Davis County Fair, there was a crocodile show that he watched, rides (he chose the most grown-up one, of course!), and even a TON of soldiers. He just loves anyone in uniform: police officers, firemen, soldiers, etc. He also got to brush and milk a cow, my little farmer boy.
Another pic is of Duffy "hunting" in the backyard with my dad's binoculars. He thinks he's so awesome and big now. It used to be that he was "birdwatching" but now he goes hunting in the "jungle" in their backyard. (Lots of quotes on this post, isn't there, but I love his wording for things!)
One morning I went up to get Maisy out of bed and she had pulled her arm out of her nightgown so she was sporting this one-shoulder look. I just had to take a pic of my little fashionista and she was more than willing to smile for the camera!
We also went on a ride to Ogden and back on the Frontrunner, just something free for us to do since my sister and I have ed-passes. Duffy really enjoys it and the ride was just short enough for Maisy to be pretty good too. I grabbed a couple of quick pics at the station: Maisy in the stroller in her green outfit and Duffy standing up and smiling in the striped polo.
I love my kids so much and love my life staying home with them. I know I've said it before but I just feel so blessed right now!

More Summer-time Fun

2009-08-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

We have such a great time during the summer, I just wanted to post some pictures of our many activities: Fishing at Jensen Park, picking out grandpa's new machine, swimming at grandma and grandpa's, and just hanging out. I just love my kids and can't imagine my life without them! I love to expose them to new things and fall in love with summer all over again through their eyes.

I LOVE Yard Sales!

2009-08-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

I've decided yard sales are a great American pastime. I love to go out on Saturday mornings and see what kind of junk, or treasure, people are trying to sell. This year my family decided to clear out the basement and have a gargantuan yard sale. The kids and I got up at the crack of dawn and headed out to help. We had SO MUCH to unload it was insane! The kids were so good and Maisy cooperated even better than I thought she would, until it started to get really hot and then she had a total meltdown. A lot of people stopped by and my parents got rid of a lot of stuff, so I think it was a success!

Luminaries

2009-08-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

During this year's Syracuse Heritage Days we came across a booth that was recruiting for the Relay for Life that is put together for the American Cancer Society. Unfortunately there was only a week until the deadline to have teams together to actually participate which was definitely not enough time to get one together, so we settled for luminaries this year. These luminaries raise money for cancer research and are also a way to honor those who have fought cancer. One is for my dad who has beat muscle cancer, and one is for my father-in-law who passed away in 2004 from brain cancer. Next year my sister and I are getting a team together, and we can't wait!

Our Big Birthday Girl!

2009-07-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

We had an All-American Girl party for Maisy's first birthday. We went to the park and had burgers, homemade root beer, potato salad (thanks Cody and Erin!), and lots of fun. My sister/party planner was a HUGE help - she made these fantastic little cupcakes I really wanted that were red, white, and blue inside and were frosted with her yummy buttercream frosting and decorated with sprinkles and foam stars(non-edible of course). She also made the most amazing birthday banner that had pictures of Maisy throughout the year and said "Happy Birthday Maisy!" She really is the best aunt ever! I made Maisy a tutu to match her onesie and Aimee and I made red bows which she REFUSED to leave in so she ended up with mad scientist hair for the remainder of the day.
Joey was the activity coordinator for the day :) He brought a basketball for the guys and filled up water balloons for almost the entire afternoon so that the kids could have a blast for about 30 seconds! He pulled the Jeep up and put on some tunes and made the BBQ complete.
Maisy really enjoyed her little red, white, and blue cake once she knew what to do with it. At first she just sat there, which is exactly what Duffy did with his first cake, but then she really dug in. She enjoyed it so much that she even had it in her hair. Actually, she enjoyed it too much because later that night she woke with a killer tummy ache and I had to make an emergency trip to Smith's to grab some gripe water.
Thanks to everyone who came: Grandma and Grandpa Great, Grandma and Papa B, Grandma O, Cody & Erin and the kids: Derek, Cheyenne, Connor, and Rylee(I spell her name wrong I think!), Jeromy, Shari and Shae, and of course our big brother Duffy. I think that's it, hope I didn't miss anyone!

It's Parade Season

2009-07-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Not much to say about this other than we LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to parades and city, county, and state fairs. Especially my sister and I, we go to any one we can find! These are just some pics from Syracuse Heritage Days and Layton Liberty Days, I'm sure there will be more to come, in fact Clinton Days is this weekend, see ya there!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2009-07-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last week my mom was lucky enough to get some free front row seats for a couple of the Raptor's games. They went on Thursday and we got to go on Sunday. The Sunday games start at 4 so it was HOT, HOT, HOT!!! Maisy stayed home because we knew there was no way she would be happy for that long but Duffy got to come with us. He fell asleep on the way there so when the game started he was super grumpy but gradually warmed up to some big smiles. We sat right next to the Raptor's dugout so he thought it was really cool to see all the players walking right past us. Duffy got a little restless halfway into the game so Joey took him back to the playground they have there in the park and when they were back there Joey got a foul ball. Joey got a bunch of the players to sign it after the game and Duffy thinks it's the most amazing thing he's ever had, he constantly wants to know where it is.
I love being at the ball park, it's one of my favorite summer activities, and now it's even better with Duffy being old enough to start enjoying it.

We LOVE East Canyon Resort!

2009-07-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

My parents are members at East Canyon Resort which means you can usually find us up there nearly every weekend from Mother's Day until almost the deer hunt! I could stay up there all summer if it was up to me. There are a couple of pools, mini golf, shuffle board, a cute little store, a playground, and lots of grass and trees to enjoy. I've decided Maisy gets the BEST camping hair I've ever seen (proof in these pics!). Both kids, and even the adults love to swing at the playground, Duffy gets to fish with the guys, throw rocks off the bridge, and we've even had movie night using my dad's projector on the side of the Easy-Up.

Hill Air Force Base Air Show 2009

2009-07-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

We haven't actually been on base during the airshow before so we decided to go this year. Parking was kind of a nightmare, as well as the security checkpoint (try getting through quickly when they have to check everything in your diaper bag: snacks, formula, wet wipes, drinks, etc!), and it was SUPER crowded inside. With all that said we still had a great time, we always do! Duffy loves planes so he was intrigued with all of them, kept saying "There's a soldier!", got some fun toy airplanes (which he's actually playing with right now), and even met Smokey the Bear which I thought was kind of random, but oh well! Maisy fell asleep most of the time, even though the planes were LOUD!!! We left before the Thunderbirds flew but we got up on the roof of my dad's shed and watched from there. We really are lucky to have the opportunity to see these amazing jets and have the base so close to us!

Summer is Great!

2009-07-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Here is another collage of random summertime pictures. We take so many pictures of random things I can't really write a blog on all of them so I'll just bunch them together. Some things here:
Duffy playing with the new beach ball sprinkler, Maisy's first popsicle, Duffy in the hot tub, Maisy's first corn on the cob, the playground, the water table, the pinball table, and some cute black and white pics of the kids!

Slippin' and Slidin'

2009-07-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Joey decided we should buy this slip 'n' slide for Duffy's birthday so a few weeks ago (I'm WAY behind on blogging) we got it out and took it for a test drive. Duffy absolutely loved it. Duffy, Maisy, Aimee and I all tried it out. It wasn't exactly hot that day but we still had fun. In fact, I think we'll get it back out today!

Happy Birthday Maisy Grace!

2009-07-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

Where has the past year gone? I can't believe a year ago we had a brand new baby girl and couldn't imagine how fast her first year would go. She has the cutest little personality, a complete diva, and all girl. It's amazing how fast you can see the difference in your kids, she is a princess, Duffy is our little macho man. Some first year milestones: Maisy sleeps through the night in the room with her big brother, she takes about three steps, climbs up onto anything she can reach, says "Hi", "Bye", "Got", "Dada", "Papa", some form of brother-kind of sounds like "Bubbu", "Mama" (only when she's sad though), and "Baba"; she also signs "more" and "thank you" and shakes her head "no"; she drinks out of a sippy cup, feeds herself small foods, waves hi and bye, claps, and blows kisses. Maisy smiles more than any baby I've known and almost always seems happy, which is a BIG change from when she was a newborn; although she is learning to throw a really good fit!
I feel so blessed to have my little girl, she really does bring such happiness into our family. While I'm sad that she's one already and I feel like I'm going to blink and she'll be 25, I look forward to all the fun times we have ahead.
I love you my little "Lou", thank you for being my daughter.

How Can a Little Boy Make Me Laugh Everyday?

2009-06-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

Duffy is growing up so fast! He says or does something new every day, which usually results in me laughing. Today we were watching my Tivo'd "Secret Life of the American Teenager" and two of the people started kissing, Duffy watched for a second and then turned to me and said "Eww!" I almost fell off the couch laughing! I seriously didn't think they started that until like first grade, boy am I in for it :)

Cooling Off in the Fountains

2009-06-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

We knew it was going to be hot on Wednesday, so we decided to head out to the fountain at the Gateway mall. Duffy hasn't played in them before so he wasn't sure he wanted to get in at first, especially because he wasn't in his swimsuit (I just packed extra clothes). Joey gave him some help getting into it and then he really loved it! Joey took Maisy out for a second too, but mostly she just hung out on the sidelines with me. We had a great time together and can't wait to do it again.

Our Inaugural Boat Trip for 2009

2009-06-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the end of June and we FINALLY got out onto the boat. This year's weather has been crazy! Duffy went out a couple of weeks ago with just my parents but I wasn't there to take pictures and it was too cold to get into the water, so I am calling this our inaugural trip out. It was also Maisy's first time EVER on the boat. She has the cutest little life jacket (which is, of course, the nicest one we've ever owned by the way!) she isn't too fond of it because it barely leaves room for her to see over, but she was a very good girl and LOVED the waves.
Duffy is truly a water lover. Lake, swimming pool, slip and slide, hot tub, bath tub, it doesn't matter as long as it's wet. He's quite the daredevil too so the boat is just a dream come true for him. He loved the tube after we convinced him he wasn't going to fall off, and loved jumping off the back of the boat, as long as someone was in front of him so he could see where they were. Give him a couple more trips and I'm sure he will be the bravest out of all of us.
We all took turns on the tube with Duffy, and my dad and sister Aimee went for a wild ride by themselves, my mom and I were sore just from laughing so hard at them! I have to admit I was a little jealous of the wild ride since I normally really like them but since I was "one-armed" (I have screwed up my right arm somehow and couldn't use it to hold on) I had to settle for a mild ride with Duffy and my sister then mom, and we had a blast, even though it was still pretty cold.
My parent's have had this boat since I was about 9 years old and I have so many fun memories on it. I am so grateful that I can share it with my kids also, thanks mom and dad!

Movie Night

2009-06-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last night Duffy and I decided to throw a movie night for Joey since he had a bad day on Wednesday. We emailed him an invitation and headed to the store to buy a movie ($4 at Wal-Mart for tons of Dad's day movies!) and treats. We had dinner, then got into our pj's and started the movie. We even had an "intermission" to make Jiffy Pop, eat our various candies (Duffy insisted on cotton candy), and have some root beer (water for Duffy, poor kid!). We had a blast!!! Joey and I decided we need to have a weekly family movie night, it was so much fun to get into our jammies early and just sit together for a while without anything else to do. I just can't say enough how much I love my little family!

Random Updates on Life

2009-06-11T10:05:00.001-07:00

First, probably our biggest deal going on right now: our little girl is getting SO BIG! I can't believe she will be a year old in less than 3 weeks! Where has the time gone? These are some pictures of her standing all on her own, she's really quite proud of herself everytime she does, and we are too. This past couple of weeks have been so exciting because she is really starting to do a lot of new things like standing up without holding on to anything, signing "more" when I feed her, she says "Hi" "Bye" "Dada" and "Papa" and I think she tries to say "Duffy" too, but you would NEVER understand it! She claps and tries to imitate other things we are doing and eats a few things by herself. I have been amazed on a daily basis ever since I had Duffy 3 years ago and I am just so lucky to be a mommy, it's so exciting to learn the world all over again through their eyes. (By the way: ignore the mismatched pj's-the night before was a battle and by the time I would have had a chance to change her she was READY to eat and go to sleep, so she wore her daytime shirt to bed!)

Don't you just love a good milk mustache?

I finally found Maisy some biter biscuits, they have been out at both stores here for a while for some strange reason. She loves them! She makes a huge mess but it keeps her happy for a few minutes at least :) Wednesday I found a recipe for homemade teething biscuits though so Duffy and I made some last night and she loves those just as much, which is nice because I know exactly what's in them, plus they cost less than a dollar for a batch of 15! Yay for me ;)

What a cute girl!

I love this picture even though it's not the best quality! It's just a boy and his dog :) Buddy is getting pretty old and crotchety (?) so this picture is no small feat and he got up right after I took it. Duffy just loves Buddy and told me that Buddy was cold and needed a blankie, sometimes he can be really nurturing, and I love that about him: all boy with a few sweet spots!

Joey plays in a softball league on Tuesday nights and it is always the highlight of Duffy's week. He waits and waits to play with Daddy, even though we just watch. This is a pic of him waiting on the bleachers for the game to start, can't you just see the excitement in his face?

Here are the pretty little faces I get to wake up to every morning! I am such a lucky mom, not only to have such healthy, darling children but also to be the one that gets to be with them everyday. One day I'll go back to work but for now I am so grateful to be home with them, I wouldn't want to miss all the new fun things they do every day! The top one I thought was great because her hair is so long in front that it gets crazy and hangs down into her eyes, but I refuse to cut it because she's my baby and I can't stand the thought of cutting her sweet hair!

St. George May 2009

2009-05-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

We went to St. George with our friends Jennie and Brady and their two boys a couple of weeks ago. It was kind of a birthday (Brady's) slash anniversary (ours) trip. We had so much fun in the sun! Most of our time was spent at the pool where Maisy got to show off her very cute first swimsuit, thanks to Grandma O. unfortunately I left her bikini home so Grandma B's swimsuit will have to be in the next batch of swimming pictures. For Brady's birthday we went to Fiesta Fun Center where we rode bumper boats (which squirt at you, hence the funny pic of Joey and Duff), went mini-golfing, played in the arcade, rode go carts, and watched Duffy drive his own taxi! It was really warm and really fun!

More Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

2009-05-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

We are so lucky that my parents live so close! Their yard is pretty much Duffy proof so during warm weather we go over and he loves to play while I get a little break! These are just some random pictures from our fun over there so far this spring. Maisy's first time on the swing, the kids loaded up in the bike trailer (also a first for Maisy), Duffy helping stain the wood for the swingset, and Maisy eating a plastic snake (gross!). As you can see from the top right corner Maisy is standing up to things, and has been for a while. She's even getting brave and letting go for just a second sometimes. She loves to be the VCR, TV, DVD, Wii repair man and that's what she was doing here, it's getting to the point we are constantly moving her away from things she can't touch.

Finally, the Birthday Pictures!

2009-05-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

This year for Duffy's birthday we knew it wasn't going to be great warm weather so we decided to do an indoor birthday, and had a great birthday party at the bowling alley. We invited family and a few of Duffy's friends and their parents (our friends). Even Grandma and Grandpa "Great" came to join in the fun. We bowled, ate pizza, opened presents, played mini golf, and played the arcade games. Duffy even won the jackpot all by himself on one of the games and got over 1,000 tickets! He got a snake, RC car, treats, and a little thing for Maisy with all his tickets. He didn't really know it was a big deal but all of us were excited! He got some great, fun gifts also, thanks everyone! He loves all of them and Grandpa B was even spotted checking out the air compressor he got from Grandma O, he's just a kid at heart. It was a blast and Duffy hasn't stopped talking about it, he keeps asking when he's having another birthday.
One more thing about my big boy being 3: We had been telling him that the "binky fairy" would be coming to take all his pacifiers the night of his birthday, since that's when the dentist said we needed to do it by and I have had too many other things to deal with to do it before (big bed, potty training, etc.) plus it made it kind of a special occasion. So he got a dollar under his pillow for giving all of his binkies to other little boys who needed them (not really, I just threw them away!). He has been struggling a little bit with this, not so much at night, which was the only time he had it, but he steals Maisy's during the day and has been getting in trouble for it. One day my mom and sister were talking to him about being a big boy because he was three and he said to them "I don't want to be 3, take my 3 off of me!" If only it was that easy! I love him more and more every day, he is learning so many new things and is so smart. Again, I can't believe it's been three years but I hope the adventure keeps going just how it has been!

Easter Fun 2009

2009-05-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun with Easter this year since Duffy is getting old enough to really enjoy it and it was Maisy's first! These top pictures are all from the day we colored eggs at Grandma and Grandpa B's house. They bought Duffy a fancy egg tong that was super easy for him to handle so he got to do a lot by himself, which of course makes him happy! Once we were done coloring he ate one and wasn't too sure what to think but he eventually ended up liking them, good thing because we ate them for breakfast for a week! Maisy, again, was smiley and happy and finally fell asleep on Grandpa's chest. It reminds me of a cute picture I have of Duffy doing the same thing, sometimes she really does look like him! Duffy got his Easter present a day early from G-ma and G-pa and he LOVES it! It's Moonsand, which I remember from when I was little (never had it though, have you figured out he's a little spoiled?)! It comes with these dinosaur bones that you get to bury in rocks and pick out with the little pick that came with it, perfect present for a little boy!

Easter morning/day was also so much fun this year. The Easter Bunny brought sand pails as their baskets filled with all sorts of goodies: bug juice, bubbles, etc. for Duffy and a sippy cup, treats, juice, and curlers for Maisy. It was her first morning in curlers so I had to included a few pics of her cute hair. It was so cold that Duffy didn't even get to wear his Easter outfit, but Maisy's was so cute, it's just a little cotton dress and she had baby legs to keep her warm. It was windy out at the park so we fashioned a "bonnet" out of her headband and a burpcloth, turned out pretty cute didn't it! Both kids just loved the park and Duffy did great hunting down the eggs. I love holidays!

Starting to Catch Up

2009-05-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Since it's been so long since a blog with pics I will be catching up on a whole lot of fun! I tried to do slideshows but they won't post so I guess I'll just have to do collages, if you want to see the pics larger just click on the collage, it should work!

These are just some pictures I took on an "Art Adventure" trip I took to Salt Lake with my art class last month. We had a great time and these are some of my favorite pics from the cathedral and library.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2009-04-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

My favorite boy in the whole world is 3 today! I can't even believe it. I was just saying it seems like yesterday that we found out we were having a baby for the first time, how the time flies by! I love you little man, you'll never know how much fun you've made our lives. I love to discover the world for the first time all over again through your eyes, and you've made our lives such an adventure every day! You're the best big brother I could have asked for Maisy to have. I hope you keep your loving, fun attitude forever. I love you!!!

Now That the Weather is Nice . . .

2009-04-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

So now that the weather has warmed up and is so nice, anyone want to come visit me in the wilderness?

I don't know what I was thinking when I registered for school in December. I took 15 credit hours, and not only that but none of them turned out to be "easy" hours: Art (not easy for a left-brained, non-artist such as myself), Math (online!), Political Science(online also), Public Speaking, and Chemistry(did I mention-online?)! At least it's almost over, "only" one final art project to construct, two papers to write, and four final exams to take-all within 4 days!!! Hopefully I can enjoy the summer and have learned my lesson when registering for classes for the fall! Be back from crazy soon.

Stay Tuned

2009-04-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

We have had a few crazy weeks-Las Vegas, Easter, coming up on finals, etc. so as you may have noticed I haven't posted for a while. Not to mention I was without Internet for about a week (somebody's router was interfering with our signal I guess) and I am now way behind! Also, my camera charger is still M.I.A. so all of the pics I have taken lately are on my sister's camera and I don't have them uploaded to my computer yet. As soon as life slows down (might be about 18 years) and I get those pics I promise to do a few posts on our adventures! Coming up on a birthday too, I can't believe my little guy is almost 3! Post to ya soon!

Spring is for Kites

2009-03-27T07:19:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago but I haven't had a chance to get the post done yet :) Duffy hasn't really flown a kite before this year and my fantastic sister took him to buy a kite. Luckily my class got cancelled that night and I got to see him fly it. He loved it so much and is still talking about it. I can't wait until we get another semi-warm, kite-flying day so that Joey can see it too. Of course, Maisy was just her cute little self, smiley and happy.

Not to Brag, Well Maybe

2009-03-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

*Warning:This is a journal post so if you don't want to read my mushy story I suggest you don't read this one :)
Tonight as Joey and I were watching American Idol I had to go get formula right in the middle of the show. When I came back Joey said he had a new song for me. He had this look on his face, and he's usually a very sarcastic person so I said "Great". Then I listened to Anoop and it made me cry. We have heard the song a million times before but hadn't really listened to the lyrics. The song is "You Were Always on My Mind" and the lyrics are as follows:
Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine
If I made you feel second best
Girl I'm so sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Give me, give me one more chance to keep you satisfied, satisfied
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Some of you may know that Joey and I went through some very hard times and it has been a long road back for us, but I am so grateful that I have him in my life.
Joey, I love you more than I can say. You are the only one I could ever be truly happy with. I'm your's forever.

Just FYI

2009-03-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

So-some of you may have noticed that I wrote a little note to Duffy on my last post. Some of my friends and family do a "journal" blog that I have decided to start too, in hybid form. Since I don't write in a regular journal but really want my family to know how much I love them every day I am going to start writing personal notes along with my regular posts. I hope these blogs will last for a LONG time so that one day my kids can read my posts and see how much fun I had with them. Maybe one day I will get a regular journal but until then, this will have to do!

Movin' on Up

2009-03-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

My little kiddos are growing up so fast! This weekend we decided it was time to move Maisy out of our room and into Duffy's-which meant that we needed to get a "big boy bed" for Duffy to sleep in so Maisy could have the crib (we have a crib that converts to a toddler bed which is what he has been sleeping in). We found the cutest twin bed and Duffy just loves it! I haven't done the bedding for it yet so ignore the fact that its just his blankie :) It was in a few pieces (not bad though) so Joey and Duffy got out the tools and put it together. Joey let Duffy push the trigger on the drill and he thought he was so cool putting all the screws in. He thinks he's Handy Manny!

Also, for the last few weeks I have been looking online for cute bedding for Maisy. I have wanted a cute girly bed for her since she was born and am so happy with what I found. Joey didn't really want me to buy new bedding for her, but I couldn't help it! I took one pic of her in the crib her first morning after sleeping there but my camera went dead and I can't find the charger (grr) so there's only one-sorry!

All tucked in for bed

Duffy and "Tonguey" (he named it, by the way)

Duffy and Daddy

Me and my little man, I can't believe it!

Maisy just watched from the floor :)

The first "good morning" in her new bed

Mr. Personality

2009-03-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

Duffy is getting more and more (umm, how do I say it?) Independent lately which can get very frustrating for me and the rest of the family. He has enough attitude for all of us but luckily he is so very cute and is very very funny also! Right now we are trying to potty train (not going very well) and we will be moving him into a big bed so that Maisy can start sleeping in the crib instead of in her bassinet in our room, this should make for some adventures ahead :) I have heard that "3" is the new "2" (you know, terrible) and the closer we get to his birthday the more I believe it. The other day we were at my parent's house and he was on one of his customary rants, my mom was trying to be the peacemaker that she always is and was really trying to calm him down. Well Duffy wasn't having any of that and he told her "No, I'm throwing a fit!!!" It was hard to understand what he was saying but my mom figured it out and asked him if that was really what he was saying and he said "YES!" We all tried really hard not to laugh at him, but how could we not? Duffy, you are such a fantastic little man, I love you more than anything and even though I can get really frustrated now I don't ever want you to change, I can tell you are going to be a great person forever. Love you Mr. Bear!

Today's the Day!

2009-03-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of voting for the face paint contest I told you about in my last post, so again, please go to http://www.kosy.com/pages/safekids_fair/vote1.html# and vote for our favorite dragon number 119 Thanks!

Vote For Me!

2009-03-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

We went to the Safe Kids Fair on Friday and even though it was insanely crowded we had fun. Aimee came with us and the kids love her so it made for a good day. Duffy got his face painted like a Dragon (his choice, and I thought it was perfect!). It's actually for a contest to win a trip to San Diego-the kid that gets the most votes on kosy.com wins so I am shamelessly begging for all of my friends and family to go to kosy.com starting March 4 (Wednesday) and vote for our favorite dragon-I think he will be number 119. The pic on their website won't be as cute because he got all grumpy when the guy was taking his picture, of course!
Also at the fair were a ton of other kid things, snakes, firemen, policemen, toys to play on etc. I think Duffy had a really good time and I got a few cute pictures out of it :)

You Know You're From Utah When:

2009-02-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is long but I was laughing out loud when I read it so I had to post it. You know you are from Utah when:
Green jell-o with carrots mixed in doesn't seem strange.
You can pronounce Tooele.
The U is not just a letter - Neither is the Y.
You have actually eaten funeral potatoes.
You've gotten both heat and frost burns off your car's door handle in the same month.
You are not surprised to hear words like "Darn, Fetch, Flip", "Oh, My Heck" and "Shoot".
Your tulips get snowed on three times after they come up and twice more after they bloom. Hunting season is a school holiday.
The largest liquor store is the state government.
You can go skiing and play golf on the same day.
30% humidity is muggy and almost unbearable.
Somewhere in your family tree is a polygamist.
You know the difference between a 'Steak House' and a 'Stake House'.
The elevation exceeds the population
You've broken down on the highway and somebody stops to help you
You can see the stars at night
You have a bumper sticker that says "Families are Forever."
You were an aunt or uncle before you were three.
Your spouse's mother was pregnant at your wedding.
You have more children than you can find biblical names for.
Your family considers a trip to McDonald'd a night out..
Your first child was conceived on your honeymoon.
You feel guilty when you watch Monday Night Football.
Your kids believe the deer hunt is a national holiday.
You drink Coke from a brown paper bag.
You consider a temple recommend a credit reference.
At least two of your salad bowls are at the homes of neighbors.
You believe that you must be 18 or older to order coffee at a restaurant.
You wonder why fire truck drivers honk when you drive 35 mph in the left lane on the freeway. There is a similarity between a ward basketball game and the L.A. riots.
You think Jack Daniels is a country western singer.
You negotiate prices at a garage sale.
You can make Jell-O salad without the recipe.
You've heard about BYU football in a testimony meeting.
You have two gallons of ice cream in your freezer at all times.
Your father-in-law thinks Ronald Reagan was a liberal.
A member of your family wrote in Lavell Edwards for president in the last election.
Cars in the slow lane are traveling the fastest; cars in the fast lane are traveling the slowest; cars in the middle lanes are always trying to exit.
Sandals are the best-selling shoes.
You have to ask for the uncensored version of "Titanic."
Hotel rooms all have the Book of Mormon.
You buy your wardrobe at the local grocery superstore.
You learn about the Mormon Church by taking history in elementary school.
You live in a state where Democrats always come in third place, unless a zoo animal is running. Then they come in fourth.
You're on your own if you are turning left.
Schools stay open, even if two feet of snow falls overnight, but close for the opening of hunting season.
People wear shorts and T-shirts if the temperature rises above 32 degrees.
There is a church on every corner, but they all teach the same thing.
The most popular public transportation system is a ski lift.
People drive to Idaho (or Arizona) to pick up a gallon of milk so they can play the lottery.
In-state college football rivalries are bigger than the Super Bowl.
Beer drinkers don't shop on Sunday.
You don't have to breathe cigarette smoke until you walk outside a building.
The cost of living rises while your salary drops.
Every driveway has a minivan and a pickup truck.
When you buy a new vehicle, cigarette lighters are optional equipment but gun and ski racks are standard.
Every time a new family moves into your neighborhood, the local elementary school has to hire a new teacher.
Your paycheck has an additional 10 percent deduction.
"Temple recommends" is acceptable identification for cashing a check.
More movies are filmed in your town than in Hollywood.
You've never had a Mormon missionary knock on your door.
Your neighbors complain about where they live, yet refuse to return to the state they moved from.
You make a toast with red punch at your wedding reception.
You have more raw wheat stored than some Third World countries.
Your idea of a good time is playing Pictionary in the cultural hall.
Your idea of a wild party is a six pack of Pepsi and a PG-13 movie.
You and all your friends come to your mother for a haircut in her kitchen.
You measure Kool-Aid by parts per million.
You think "You're a 10 cow wife" is a compliment.
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Utah.

Here's a Preview

2009-02-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

My sister did the kids' pictures the other day and I think they turned out great! I can't wait until they are ready to print (not all the editing is done yet, but we're working on it). In the meantime here are some of my favorites, hope you enjoy them (almost) as much as I do!!!

I am so Interesting, According to Google

2009-02-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

Google really has all of the information you never knew you never knew. Fun when you're messing around, annoying when you are trying to do real research! Anyway, here is the Google search thing I got from Jana and Kara's blogs, you just type your name instead of mine at the beginning of each sentence into a Google search and see what comes up. Completely random nonsense as follows:

Amanda needs . . . to pee.
*Yeah, I always do
Amanda looks like . . . any nerd in high school, but is really cool.
*Do I really?
Amanda says . . . no to Chase
*Something to do with Amanda Bynes, I guess
Amanda does . . . bada$$ hair
*Anyone want a cut?
Amanda hates . . . feet
*Is Google psychic? I really hate feet!
Amanda asks . . . me if she's pretty
*What girl doesn't want to hear she's pretty?
Amanda goes . . . West: A journal of fashion history through paper dolls
*I do love fashion!
Amanda likes . . . to think of herself as a business woman by day, rock star by night
*You know it, thanks to Rock Band
Amanda eats . . . grass a lot
*It's good for you
Amanda wears . . . the girlish frock of yellowed voile with a blue silk sash that she wore on the day she met her husband
*Poetic, and romantic aren't I?

Go ahead and try it out if you want to learn more about yourself :)

My Little "Artist"

2009-02-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

So, can you tell what this is? Nope, not paint, not marker either. It's Mommy's makeup! I was making dinner last night and thought that Duffy was watching his cartoon, but when he came into the kitchen to talk to me I found out he was busy giving himself a make-over with my concealer and mascara. He had it all over his legs and shirt too, good thing it was black! So today I need to go get some new stuff and dang: that stuff ain't cheap!

Maisy's First Pony

2009-01-27T14:34:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, after Maisy's bath I was combing her hair and thought "She might have enough hair for a little ponytail!". So I went to the store and found the cutest little ponytail holders. I took this picture today and I think she looks SO CUTE!!!

Walking with (or at least by) Dinosaurs

2009-01-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

Since Saturday is our "fun day" and it was so rainy, we had to think of something to do indoors (that is also kid friendly) so we went down to the Museum of Natural History at Thanksgiving Point. It is the LARGEST dinosaur museum on Earth, and we had so much FUN! Duffy could barely contain himself and loved playing in the sand, seeing all the bones, and being with some of his favorite people. Maisy would NOT let us keep her in the stroller, as usual, but was a very good girl. I know the kids won't remember these trips in a few years but we really love to take them on every adventure we can and hope we can do it as long as we live (my family still does almost everything together).