The Tall and Short of it

Random May pics

2010-08-01T21:33:00.006-05:00

Here are some awesome buddies!

For Activity Days, a program for girls 8-11 in our church, we had a mother daughter picnic. It was so much fun! We played some cute games then all the girls laid under blankets and the moms had to figure out which legs/feet were their daughters!

More awesome buddies!! This was taken shortly before the Schmidts left...

More awesome buddies!!! ( Man May sure was filled with great friends!!) Anne invited us to go to the zoo with her boys! We had fun, it was HOT but fun!

Here is Mrs. Moore giving Lou a squeeze at the awards ceremony at school.

Mrs. Garcia and Emmie. Emmie is in the dual language program at her school. Mrs. was one of two wonderful teachers she had!!

Here is the other awesome teacher, Mrs. Moore!

On to Kenna's awards ceremony. Ms. Butler handing her the Principal's award!!

Kenna and her teacher Ms. Moreno

Lake Powell

2010-08-01T20:21:00.007-05:00

Witkamp Family!
Mark, Mitch, Michael, Ang, Matt Eves, Kendyll E., Marci E.,Marie, Karla & Matthew
Kenna, Emmie, Baylee, Gail, Jaden E., Pete & Tanner E.

Both Kenna & Emmie made it up in the kiddie water ski! They did great!

Bay LOVED getting sunscreen put on every few hours!!!

Kenna, Baylee & Tanner.

Kenna, Jaden and Emmie.

This was the awesome houseboat we lived on for 6 days.

Check out these cute cousins!Grandma Gail and Emm.

The Barn Cake

2010-05-11T21:00:00.006-05:00

I found this post as a draft... This is the cute cake I made for Bay's birthday(in May!!)

Just Dance

2010-05-11T20:43:00.003-05:00

This game is so much fun! The girls are really good!

My garden!

2010-05-11T20:09:00.003-05:00

For many years I have wanted to make/build a box garden. Well, with inspiration from Goodlife, I did it! I even made the box! The girls LOVE this! I am happy because they will be watering it EVERY day this HOT summer! Who knew how exciting growing a garden would be?? This picture was taken on April 10th. I switched some plants around. I also have three tomato plants on our front porch along with Cilantro. April 27

The little extra box is red onions. The far right four squares has two types of tomatoes. The next two are cucumbers and the far left front is watermelon (I am not sure this plant will survive??) and behind that yellow onions.

May 11

My poor little watermelon is still not doing so great but isn't dead!

Bay and a buddy!

2010-04-26T14:42:00.004-05:00

This is the outfit she started with today. She has now changed two more times!

The hair cut....Since Baylee is totally into hair right now, she thought she would brush Blythe's hair because she thought it was messy. Don't worry Blythe, the scissors are outta reach!

so I won't forget

2010-04-25T21:16:00.009-05:00

I decided to do a cute hair style. It took WAY too long! I only did this once!

One minute the two of them looked just like this, the next minute they wanted to strangle each other!

Hey blue eyes!Oh our little Bay Bay. One day we were shopping at Albertsons and Bay saw a "baby" she was probably three also just smaller. Bay mentioned how messy her hair was. It was pretty messy, she probably just woke up from a nap. Well, one Wednesday night while the girls and daddy were sitting around the table working on Kenna's PACE research project Baylee decided to cut her hair. In the morning they informed me of the cut. I asked Bay where she cut her hair. She showed me the side. It was cute tapered, didn't look bad. I thought we were in the clear but NO. I was in the bathroom and noticed a big chunk of hair in the trash. I wondered how there was that much hair from the side!! Then I was brushing her hair and saw where the chunk came from!!!! Right in the middle! I asked her why she cut it and she, with the same look of disgust I saw in Albertsons, she said cuz it messy mama. She really thought it looked cute now. It is growing and looking more not so cute. Oh well, there isn't much I can do...

Bay LOVES this book, can you tell?

I love this pic! Two super cute girlies!

Elder Josie, Sam, and the girls! They really got close to him!! He is missed!

They also got really close to Elder Priest! We miss him as well!

Emmie was jump roping and landed on her face. OUCH!!!

Tracy suggested I start taking pictures of Bay's interesting outfits. This one isn't bad!
This was taken in mid March. It wasn't cold. She loves these boots! I just don't want to fight the fight. I NEVER win! I will keep posting the interesting outfits! Oh and she almost always has skirts with leggings!

Happy, happy birthday Kenna dear!

2010-03-23T21:36:00.004-05:00

Our first born is 9 today! This pic was taken around 7am! (notice how we are all dressed and ready to go?) ugggggg! I really enjoyed last week! Anyway, look how beautiful they are! =) I can't believe it was nine years ago we were in the hospital in Silver City NM!

I love Kenna for the following reasons:

she's beautiful
smart, very smart
kind
selfless
loving
wise
full of faith
looks for good in others
intuitive
self confident
great at jump roping
loves the outdoors
loves to read
is understanding
loves her family
is a great student
tall
silly
is patient with me
has a beautiful smile
she's a wonderful big sister
she's VERY compassionate
always thinking of others
a little shy

I love you Kenna!!!!! Glad you had a great birthday!!!!!

Recognition night

2010-03-19T01:41:00.003-05:00

Last Friday night we got to see what the wonderful little 8-11 year old girls in our ward are up to! Each one on them added something special to the program. Tumbling, art, playing piano, jump roping, skits, cooking, violin playing were only a few of their talents. They had a great time!!

Koko and K(Goodlife's daughter) performed a skit about Holly and Anna. A missionary and a convert soon to be missionary. It was great! Between Goodlife being in Drama and me just being dramatic, these two might have a chance in acting! lol

I am so thankful that I have a program like this available for my daughters! I am thankful for their leaders!! The girls are taught so many lessons in many different areas of life.

Spring Break '10

2010-03-18T23:54:00.007-05:00

My grandma Sally came down to play with us this week!!

We started off the week with a fun game of put put golf.

They sure are checkin out the hole!!

This is what Bay's second shot looked like. On every hole. She put the ball centimeters away from the hole then put her club right behind it then quickly but steadily set up to push the ball in.

This picture sort of sums up out golf outing!

On Wednesday we went down to the Fort Worth Stockyards. It was a lot of fun. The girls wanted to ride horses! Grandma Sally really wanted them to have the opportunity to ride horses. So here they are! They all LOVED it! Bay was really mad that she didn't get to ride all by herself! Koko road Dylan, Lou road Jojo and Bay was on April.

The Stockyards usually have extra fun stuff during spring break. They had a petting zoo set up. I thought this picture was interesting!

I felt really bad for these poor animals! They had a very small area fenced in! There were a ton of little petting zoo animals. Then they added in a bunch of people. It was probably a 15x15ish space. You know, looking at this picture I only see one animal! HaHaHaHa! I was taking this picture from the edge of the fence! They needed to do a little crowd control inside! Oh well...the girls loved it! It was cute!

Today we went to Castle Park in Benbrook. It was awesome! I have only been there once before. This time it was crazy busy! (not as bad as inside the petting zoo, but close!)

I am so thankful for my grandma! I am thankful for her health! I am thankful we are important to her!! =)

We have had a great time! Look at these three beautiful girls! awwwww

funnies

2010-03-10T23:19:00.003-06:00

It has been a long time since our last post!! WOW!
I have cute random things people around me have said!

Bay says 'huge much' but really means whole bunch!

me: "Mathew, are you diggin for gold?"
Mathew: "NO, boogers!"

When I asked Bay who my friends are, she said a few names then said Young Women's. lol in that specific case YW meant Julia & Jennifer. Sometimes it means mutual other times it means the girls. Can I just say that I love my calling!!!

When watching TLC "A baby story" (btw I have not watched much TV lately and when I catch a glimpse, its usually iCarly or some Disney Princess movie! I was cleaning my room/bathroom and wanted some background noise and the girls were in their toy room! ) I noticed Lou is in the room really, really watching! She said, "it's coming out in a different spot" I asked her where she thought it, the baby, came out of. She said her belly button. Trying to hold it together I simply said maybe her belly button is really low. hahaha

Mathew: "My grandma is ....different." It was so freaking funny! He did a sort of flick of the wrist when he said different! I think he was sayin that she was a different grandma, not Bay's grandma.

dang...
there were so many more. I just can't think of them right now. Oh well, I'll add more later.

Fire, promptings and new friends!

2010-01-18T21:58:00.003-06:00

I just want to point out that I do not share this experience to boast or puff myself up!! Only to inspire and encourage you!

On Jan 12^th I was coming home from the gym. Turning into our neighbor hood and saw thick black smoke. I had a strong prompting to go check it out. I thought that was kinda silly because we live in a huge neighborhood and someone should have been on top of this! I kept going in the direction of the smoke. I didn’t hear any sirens. I began to wonder if anyone was inside the house, were they safe. A young man and I pulled up to the burning house at about the same time. He was already calling 911 and pounding on the door. No one came. The fire was coming from the back of the house on the side where the gate was. Between the two of us, we were pretty much non stop pounding and ringing the doorbell. We then went from neighbor to neighbor knocking to see if they knew who lived there and if they had their number. Looking back, we, the young man and I, didn’t think for a second that they might not be home! Finally, right before the fire trucks got there the owner came to the door. Shocked, he asked what was going on!! We exclaimed that his house was on fire. We all ran in. I kept asking if she had any kids. She sort of paused then said that she was out back! WHAT??? Lou, the dog, was out back!! We really couldn't get to her. He ran to the back of the house opened the door and the smoke came pouring into the house! His wife was really scared. Their back door is by the pantry and the pantry by her closet. She could see and smell the smoke and she totally freaked out. She started collecting precious jewelry. I told her I would get that and she should put on a shirt! Poor girl was just in her bra. Then we started getting as much out of the house as we could. Her home looked like a model home! I wondered if they really LIVED there! Tori, you would be proud! Anyway, there was a second of panic. I almost froze. What do I grab? What if this was my house? We ended up only having time to get a few special blankets, jewelry, pics and computers. We put as much as we could into my van. They soon were able to get Lou. I got to hang out with him. Lou is a pit bull. I know that if they are raised correctly, they can be great dogs! But I was asked to hold Lou’s collar which was around her thick neck! I was a little more afraid of her than running in and out of a burning house! She was scared but stayed right by me! The lady kept hugging me thanking me. Telling me she knew there were angels on earth. Right then I had another strong prompting to give her a Book of Mormon. All three of them were safe. There was damage to the back wall. Mostly smoke damage inside. As we were pulling away from their home, Bay kept asking me if my friends were ok. I am sure Bay got the impression we were friends because she couldn’t stop hugging me! I was happy to be hugged and give her the support she needed right then! I tried to reassure that my friends were safe, even Lou the dog! I told her the firemen came and put the fire out! Ok mama!

I happened to tell a couple of friends about my prompting to give “my friends” a BOM. The next day she asked if I had done it yet. Nope, not yet. I still really had a strong impression it needed to be done! I tried to make cookies Wed night, but that was a flop. Stupid baking soda! Well, at least I tried! I didn’t dare take them flat cookies. Later that night another friend asked If I had done it yet. It was still a big fat no!! I explained the cookie situation and she quickly said that she had cookie dough in her frig and I could come pick it up after going to the gym. That brought another silly thought. Who can keep cookie dough in the frig for that long?? She said she had made the dough earlier that week. But she displayed self control and gave me that dough. Many hours of the day passed. The big girls had just come home from school. I was so tired and asked them to wake me up at 4:15. They did but I kept telling them 15 more minutes! When I could finally wake up it was 5:00. I went to the frig to get something quick for diner; I had a stake auxiliary training at the stake center which is about 20 min away in good traffic. As soon as I opened the frig door and saw the cookie dough staring right at me, I felt this huge feeling of disappointment! I felt like Heavenly Father was so sad I had not done this yet! He had given me every opportunity and I did not do my part. So I pulled out the cookie dough and a baking sheet and turned on the oven. Then I sat down to type the letter. I just talked about how I was prompted to check on her. This is one way God shows us He loves us. I also told her that I didn’t think of myself as an angel, but a tool of the Lord. So I went to print then sighed and clicked cancel. I hadn’t added anything about the BOM. So I added that we believe in the Bible and BOM. We read and study from each set of scripture to learn more about our Savior and how to be more like Him. I then added she could call me anytime and I would share more about this wonderful book! This was hard because I didn't want to leave our names but wanted to so she would have the opportunity to call. When Koko saw what I was doing, she sat down and wrote her own little note! It was so special! We had our BOM, card, letter, cookies, & dog treat for Lou, the dog and off we went. By then it was 6:00 and we had not eaten! We drive up to their house and Bay rang the bell. Then, again a few seconds later. I thought to myself that I had at least tried. Just as I was going to put the items by her door I asked Bay to ring it one more time. Then the door opened. Tears were flowing down “my friends” cheeks and she said she had been looking for us! They had been driving up and down the streets of our neighborhood! She was so happy to have found us!! I wish we would have had the time to stay. Bay was happy to see the fire gone and our friends were just fine! It felt so good to do the right thing. It took a LOT for me to listen! It was amazing that I made it to my meeting on time with no traffic! Those of you who know 820, just might believe that was a miracle in itself!!! When President Hadley addressed us, he asked us to have courage. Go and do the hard things. I was so glad I had listened to the promptings and not have to feel the guilt and disappointment!

On Sunday, I got a call from her!!! I was so dang excited to hear her voice!!!!! I thought she was calling to find out all there was to know about our church! She was calling to see if we were home so they could drop something off. I was out visiting teaching but told her Michael and the girls were home. I called Michael to give him a heads up. All he said was “there’s blood everywhere, gotta go” then click!! Oh boy! I really wasn’t worried about that! They ended up coming right then! They could see that it was bad timing and just left the gifts. She also wrote a letter to me. It basically said that she respected us for giving her “the book” but they only believed in the Bible. Then she invited us to go to her church!!

We have planted the seed hopefully! She didn’t return “the book”. I hope it will sit as a reminder to her of God’s love for all of us!

Another cool part of this story it that last night Koko and I were working on things in her Faith in God book. We were discussing the Holy Ghost. It was a perfect teaching moment. I asked her what she thought would have happened if I didn’t listen to the first prompting. We discussed that others would have helped her and maybe there could have been more damage to her home. Then I told her had I not listened to the first prompting, I would never have gotten the second! The second prompting was the most important! I might have missed the opportunity to help “our friends” know about the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ!!

I tell this story not to brag or try to make myself look better or anything of that sort. In fact, I was very humbled! It's embarrassing to have had that many promptings and help and still not follow thrugh!!!

So if you receive a prompting, no matter how small or silly it may be, act on it!!! You never know what the next prompting may be!

Cool new look!

2010-01-03T20:52:00.002-06:00

I LOVE to find cute handouts for my Young Women lessons! I had been searching on different YW blogs and came across instructions on how to make my own handouts! I really wish I had not learned this, one could spend a TON of time doing this!!! Anyway, the trick is to save a blog background as a picture. Then insert it into a program such as Word add a text box with super cute font and voila!!

Tonight I came across www.hotbliggityblog.com. They have super cute backgrounds!!! I just had to change our blog lay out!!

I need to do MAJOR catch up post. I am working on this!! I got a new camera for Christmas and I am trying to learn it! A girl can only do so much at a time! =)

An elf named Joy!

2009-12-07T15:54:00.003-06:00

You guys are NEVER going to believe what happened after school today!!!!! Mommy was on the computer and the girls were putting away backpacks. All of the sudden the doorbell rings. When we opened the door there was a little elf and an envelope on the porch!!! There were no cars around and no one was at the door, just her!!!!!!!
We quickly opened the letter. It said that her name was Joy and she was sent by Santa himself to our house! She is watching all of us and will report her findings to Santa! The note said we could talk to her and leave notes with her. She will get them all to Santa. She does not like loud or angry voices. She is happy to be assigned to our house. She knows we love each other and how excited we are to celebrate Christmas.
Also, she knows we will celebrate with the love of Jesus Christ in our hearts because that is our gift to Him on his Birthday!
Joy is not allowed to talk or move while we are awake. She can only use Santa's magic in the middle of the night.
WOW!! This is so exciting!
An actual live Elf in our house!!!!! I sure hope she will be able to report that we have been nice NOT naughty!!!!!

Lou 6th Birthday!

2009-12-06T21:46:00.009-06:00

Happy Birthday Lou Lou! I am so grateful for your loving, fun personality!! Thank you for your light you shine in my life!!

These pics are from her party on Saturday. We came up with the idea of making Graham cracker houses. I gave each girl their own bowl of candy a huge amount of thick yummy frosting, a plastic knife and some crackers. It was a little hard for their little hands. Half way through I decided to just have them decorate the crackers like cookies. They LOVED it!

Marcia--this one is for you! =)

I couldn't decide if I should have cake also. The decision was very easy seeing the piles of sugar!!! So I put a candle on top of Mount Peppermint!

Lou opened her presents and then we played a couple of games. Last was Disney Singit. It was so cute!

Random December stuff

2009-12-06T20:11:00.005-06:00

Our YW went caroling with the Highland Station Ward the same day it snowed for the first time! Burr Freezy. BUT is was awesome!!! It was so much fun! Imagine 30ish beautiful young women singing to you!!

This is kinda funny. . . I took this picture on the 4th! Awesome!

Who needs a baby to pester??? Bay has Suki!

Poor dogie, she takes it like a champ.

Let it Snow!

2009-12-02T11:08:00.002-06:00

It's snowing!!!!!
Since that last time we had a snow day, Koko was so disappointed she had to go this morning! Only in TX!!
Bay really didn't like it! She ran back into the house and cuddled up with a blankie on the couch.

WOW! Great deals!

2009-11-10T21:01:00.004-06:00

K so I am so excited!!!
What do you think the total cost would be for the following?????
4 6 packs Ozarka water
5 bags of Nestle morsels
2 boxes of Puffs tissue
2 packages of Cascade action packs
1 26 load of Tide w/ bleach
1 box hot coco mix
1 bag frosted mini wheat's
1 gallon of milk
1 20 oz coke zero
2 bottles of cream of tartar
1 oregano leaves
6 packs of gravy mix
2 12 pack of root beer
1 24 pack of dt dr pepper
10 cups of dannon yogurt
1 doz eggs
2 4packs of fresh croissants
4 boxes of Croissant hot pockets
2 Loreal mascara
1 Loreal eyeshadow
4 bottles of Pantene shampoo
2 boxes of popcorn
2 Caramello
1 Almond Joy
2 double newspapers
(The receipt is 4 YES FOUR feet long!!!)
So what do you think the total is???????
. . . . . . . . . .
guess. . .
. . .
I saved a total of $97.95!!!!!!!

Well the total was $77.72

The total would have been $175.67!!!! That's a lot of money saved! I saved more than I spent!
Shout out to Ruth Garrett!!!! Check out http://groceriesdirtcheap.com/ ! This is how I save so much! Thanks Ruth! ! !

I have not made the time to coupon shop the past couple of months. This makes up for all of the missed deals! I am not one of those coupon shoppers that buys anything just because it was on sale. The only time I do this is when the items are free. Take the six packages of gravy mix for example. I have never made gravy! I don't know who to make gravy. I know Michael has but I thought he made it with juices from meat????? Who knows! Anyway, if anyone needs gravy mix, come on over! !
These are items I buy all the time, even the brand name items!!!! I am just so excited I can hardly stand it!!!

Hawaii 2009 Re-Cap -- Better Late Than Never!!

2009-11-08T19:11:00.001-06:00

So Embarrassing

2009-11-02T22:33:00.004-06:00

So I had the most embarrassing thing happen today! We were at gymnastics. Bay had to potty and I asked Koko to take her. They came running back through the gym. Bay was standing in the middle of the mat behind the vault (which was in front of ALL THE PARENTS). Bay pulls her pants down. Not just the cute leggings she had on, but the Tinkerbell panties as well! I am trying to help her pull them back up, stand up, and RUN out of the gym! I could hear all the giggles on my way out! I asked her what the heck she was doing and she said, "Koko no do it, I do it." She has been on this independent kick. If someone does it first and she wanted to, she will undo then do! She will shut a door just to open it again, silliness! Obviously Koko had pulled up those Tinks and she wanted to do it all by herself.

A Wonderful Birthday!

2009-11-02T21:32:00.002-06:00

The day started with the early morning birthday calls. Yes mom, you were the first. :)I talked with my dear husband who informed me that I had a card and something edible on his desk. He also informed me that he was sorry he was not here and he would make it up to me on Friday!Then enjoyed a great workout. Talked/TXT with friends. Had a few hours to myself! Goodlife took me to Olive Garden and we filled up on a bunch of bread sticks, salad, yummy 5 cheese ziti and of course cake!! When the girls got home from school they were quickly kidnapped! They returned demanding I closed my eyes. They ran upstairs and returned several minutes with a bag full of wrapped items! I unwrapped four candles, a pink picture frame, butterfly necklace and earring set, as Almond Joy candy bar, package of scrapbook paper, and a little can of Pepsi lip balm. It was awesome! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful, thoughtful, selfless and cute elf as a friend. THANK YOU!
I will go to bed with a smile! Who couldn't smile with all the love and support form her friends and family?? I am one lucky girl!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T16:19:00.005-06:00

Aloha!

2009-10-11T01:26:00.013-05:00

Here are just a few pictures from Hawaii!!!!

We are staying on Oahu. It is so beautiful! Our condo is right on the beach. We had a great day yesterday at the Polynesian Cultural Center. This first pic is of our little cove. As you can see, there are not many people at all!!! SOOO NICE!

The rest of these are out of order so just enjoy!

Just because he loves me

2009-09-19T11:22:00.001-05:00

Random Fun Times! AND my testimony!. . .

2009-09-13T19:09:00.004-05:00

Will she fit??

She sure does!

Koko discovered a new talent! Lou learned she had it too!

The girls and I had so much fun this night! We sat around the table for about an hour making funny faces! I am learning. Learning that it is okay to have fun and do stuff outta order! We had just finished eating and should have been brushing out teeth and putting jamies on. I look back and see all of the fun times I have MISSED because of my schedule!! Those times I will never get back! So now all I can do is make sure I don't miss the times ahead! Maybe I will discover more weird, kinda freaky, talents my beautiful daughters have!

I feel a strong nudge to bear my testimony. . . I know that we all have a loving Father in Heaven who loves each one of us. He knows us, He know we are all different. He knows we make mistakes and He still loves us. His Son, Jesus Christ attoned for my sins. I can be forgiven because of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith saw that same Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! Joseph Smith is a Prophet. We have a living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson! Heavenly Father knows it is sometimes hard to make good choices and live in accordance with His Son, Jesus Christ. He has given us living prophets to help us in our days and in our time!!! President Monson is not some random guy. He doesn't live his life serving others just because. He was chosen by our Heavenly Father! He is here to help us! We need to and should listen to what he has to say. What he says is directly from our Heavenly Father! I know that Heavenly Father has given Michael and I three beautiful daughters to rear in this life. He did not send them to us so that we could "rule over" or be in charge of, but to help them learn. I love Michael so much and I am so thankful we can work together to live together for all eternity. I love my daughters. I am thankful for each one of them. I also know that we need to help each other on our road back to our Heavenly Family! We need to find the good in all. I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, those of you who don't know a lot about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints just ask!!

I had a great opportunity, over a bad hair cut, to share with some other good people about my church. I am not sure what religion the guy was but he was amazed at how much we had in common!! He and the hair stylists had no idea there were Mormons around here! Once they got over the fact that I was an actual Mormon and was married to one man and that man was only married to me, we had a great time talking!

Oh and this reminds me of something funny! Our ward recently had a Primary activity (for kids). The kids were answering questions from "investigators". One of them asked how many members were in our church. Koko piped up and said that there are so many we had to get rid of some of them ! We had just had a ward split! Poor girl was soooooo embarrassed! She knew what she was trying to say, it just didn't come out exactly how others could understand! Funny, I have the same problem!!

I love my family!!!!!!

I am a SLACKER!!!!

2009-09-13T18:02:00.006-05:00

I'm sorry my dear Michael! Happy Belated Birthday!

Michael made the best cake ever! It's even better than. . .

YES He made it!! Not cuz I asked him to but because he is a way better cook than I am! Plus, he likes to cook!

This is what happens when I try to cook from scratch! DON'T ASK!!!!!!!

ahhhhhhh, blogs

2009-09-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

I have missed my blogger world! Who gave me the silly idea to check out fb??????? I feel like a trader! I have to say I am thankful for fb, I have caught up with a lot of old friends BUT. . . This is way better and personal! I love you my blogger friends!

My Lou Lou!

2009-08-25T20:22:00.002-05:00

Lou lost her second ever tooth on the first day of kindergarten!!!!! It's a good thing her top two teeth are not loose yet!!!
Koko's orthodontist has commented on how much room Lou has in her mouth as apposed to how little room Koko has! (we have started the beginning stages of braces with Koko! They put spacers on the inside of her lower bite!!)

First Day of School!!

2009-08-25T19:58:00.002-05:00

Look at our beautiful daughters!!! They are growing up. . . so fast! Koko is heading to third grade with Ms. Moreno. Lou is starting kindergarten with Ms. Moore! They both have had a great first two days of school! What will the two most stubborn members of this house do together all day????????

While we were walking back to the van Monday, Bay looked up and said, where we go mama???
I explained to her what was going on, she just replied with, huh!

It was so cute, today when leaving the gym she said, "No Woo Woo!" I actually think she thought we had left her at the gym! I asked her where Lou Lou was and then she remembered she wasn't really with us and was at school!

I love all three of my beautiful daughters! I love how different they are! I know I am blessed to have them in my life!

Pleassssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeee

2009-08-25T19:54:00.002-05:00

If any of you have an ounce of love for your dear Bay, DO NOT GIVE HER ANYMORE MAKEUP!

I am so sick of the gooooooooo. But she does look pretty cute. . .

Fishing

2009-08-25T19:36:00.003-05:00

While in Sterling, we went to this cute little stocked pond. The girls love to fish as do I. I just hate touching the fish! lol . . . I am getting braver and I hope to take the girls fishing here very soon. (I hesitate because there are a lot of catfish here and I will not touch that kinda fish!!) We were getting ready to do because we were not getting any bites. Koko was messing around with her pole, which still had a hook on it, and caught a fish! It totally surprised her! Who would have thought that after spending a whole 15 minutes "fishing" with bait on our hooks she would catch one without bait?? I think it was a sunfish and I think they are a little spike. She had a little help, from Grandpa Tim, taking that little guy off but she did it!
By the way, the definition of fishing in my book is casting out a couple of times, act a little patient, then when nothing is quickly caught, go home!! The girls and I are on the same page when it comes to "fishing"!!

Logan County Fair

2009-08-24T19:46:00.006-05:00

If you have ever lived in a small town you might actually feel the excitement of these pictures! I have great memories of the Logan County Fair/parade and this time of year! When I was in middle school and in high school, my Grandma Sally and grandad use to take my brother and I to Fort Collins to shop for school clothes! This time of year meant that gymnastics was starting, well I guess it never really did stop, but the high school season started up! Practice, school, work repeat a million times!! I thought I was busy and had it so bad back then! I think gymnastics practice could be compared to getting three children, GIRLS, up, fed, lunches packed, groomed, pictures taken and to school which took 15 minuets today just to get there then another 3 to walk to the front doors! Yes it was a mess and the road is still under construction! Get Lou to her class then drag Bay upstairs to Koko's class. Then I had to make my way back downstairs through the people traffic and back home! Then go back to the school later in the afternoon and do it all over again, in reverse order!

Anyway back to the fair. . .

My dad owns a tractor repair and dealer shop, AGteck. My mom has really wanted him to put some tractors in the parade for many years now, great advertising! All it took was having his three girls be on a tractor in the parade!! They weren't actually on a tractor but on a hummmmm big powerful golf cart/4wheeler! They had a blast!

Here is a little explanation of this pretty picture! They have this ride called The Ring of Fire. I almost can't even say it let alone type it! Basically it is a gigantic ring that you go around and around in then back wards around and around. We walk up to The Ring of Fire and Lou says she wants to go on it. Koko was a little more apprehensive. It usually is the other way around. So I jumped all over the chance to get Lou on that ring!! It was pretty fun and she loved it. I get out and get my bearings and Koko really wants to go. See, we went in the afternoon and there was no line. That meant she wanted to go NOW. I asked her if I could have a minute (I actually could have used 20). She was sooooo upset and just had to go right then. Off we went on the ring. She also loved it. By the time I got off that stupid ring I was sooo sick/dizzy/woozy.

We needed to go home for a little while and told the girls one more ride. They wanted to go on the tilt a whirl. Bay couldn't ride without an adult, so guess who had to go??? ME. I think the picture totally explains enough. By the way it took a good hour and a half to feel "normal" again. Oh and the Ring of Fire was the only ride Bay really wanted to go on. She screamed when we told her she couldn't do it! We even walked her up to the line an the nice carney told her she wasn't tall enough! I know she would have loved it!! If only she were a little taller. She LOVED the other rides!

SISTERS RULE!!!!

2009-08-09T19:53:00.001-05:00

Thanks for the great pictures Grandma!

KOKO

2009-08-02T15:17:00.003-05:00

MY KOKO IS HOME!!!!!
She had a great time, but I am so happy she is home!
Her return home was a little bitter sweet.
She is having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to the fact that she is NOT an only child!! This is a trip she will remember for the rest of her life! Thank you Pete and Gail for this wonderful time you have spent with her!

Lou pulled out her first tooth!

2009-08-02T15:11:00.005-05:00

This little bunny tooth, as she describes, has been hanging on my a thread for the last week or so! I really can't believe it stayed in this long. The girls were dancing and she got bonked! I asked her to show me. It was bleeding pretty good. She reached in and pulled it right out!

She is so cute! I love her so much!!! I just can't help but giggle when she is around! She is exactly what I need!

Bow Studio!

2009-08-02T15:00:00.003-05:00

This was my official bow making studio! It was so much fun. I wish I would have had more time or made more time!

It seemed like I made a lot more bows than this!!

It was nice to actually clean up after I was done! Koko did need a bed to sleep in! That was a huge motivator.

Lou's photos!

2009-08-02T14:45:00.003-05:00

The girls LOVE to take pictures! It is neat to look at things from their perspective! I was trying hard to hide. It didn't work!

Yes I am a dork!

Helping a friend!

2009-07-30T17:55:00.002-05:00

This was way too cute!!

SLACKER!

2009-07-30T17:04:00.007-05:00

Fourth of July!
Bay was so scared!!!! She hated the noise!! It started out ok but quickly moved to not so ok!!

I love this shot of KoKo !!

It seems that the bus ride is always the best part!

These two buddies LOVED the ride!

Ward split/changes!

2009-07-19T13:38:00.004-05:00

Today was a big day in the Saginaw ward! We have new ward boundaries. Well not new, I guess, but shrunk boundaries!!! This change is good, it means more members are moving around here and more people are joining our church!! Over the past month or so I have had two people ask what church I go to. When I told them The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon church, they were surprised. They didn't know there were any Mormons around here! In my conversation with both of these people, they discovered that we have a lot in common and we believe in many of the same Gospel principles. And they were reassured that Mormon men only have one wife! Sorry "Big Love" viewers, NOT REAL!!!! It's ok J, you can keep giving me a hard time!!

Bed Bugs

2009-07-16T14:56:00.003-05:00

Since Koko and Michael were both gone, I thought it would be fun to have Lou sleep in my bed. This means I was being a big scaredy pants and I wanted Lou with me! Yeah because a cute little girl is going to protect me from the big bad wolf! I know, it is pretty pathetic, but as we were shutting the blinds Lou wanted me to shut the one in the kitchen. She said she saw eyes looking at her. It was probably her reflection looking at her! Then she went on and on and on how our house had been broken into and there were footprints by our back door. . . Bay ended up with us. This is so dang cute. I took this pic after I had been out of bed for an hour or so. See it wasn't so cute when I was in the middle of this pile! Needless to day, I didn't get a good night's sleep Monday night!

My daughter ROCKS!!

2009-07-16T14:21:00.003-05:00

I so wish we could have been there in person to see this and to ride with her!! Koko left on Sunday to spend some time with Michael's parents. (the grand kids get to go on a trip with them when they turn 8!) They spent a few days at Lake Powell. They are back in Heber and will set off to St. George this weekend then to Vegas and last on to San Diego. She has a very special surprise waiting for her!! Can't wait for that!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-22T11:01:00.001-05:00

If you read Michael’s post in May, you all know that I will never be able to one up that post! That was amazing! But I do want to share with all of you my love for him!

I feel so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man! He is so loving and compassionate. Michael is also very patient; one would have to be to live with me! His quiet confidence gives me so much strength. Michael loves his Heavenly Father. He studies to learn and grow closer to Him. He was the one that introduced me to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is because of him that I am where I am today.

Michael works hard to support his family. His job is pretty stressful but he does it. He is the best daddy in the whole world. Our girls adore him. He loves spending time with them, especially goofing around with them. They are very important to him.

Michael loves me very much! Just as I am the center of his universe, he is the center of mine! He always makes me feel special, beautiful and important! Even with all of my flaws, he loves me.

Don’t be fooled by his size and serious look. He is like a great big teddy bear. He has a huge heart. Michael is so dang funny. He always makes me giggle. He is just a big goofball!

He is pretty dang sexy. He has a rockin’ bod also!! He has a great sense of style. He is the one that helps me look good!

Family is very important to Michael. He loves his family so much! He not only treasures his side, but my side of the family also. He has a very special bond with his brothers and sisters.

Michael teaches me so many things. He has taught me that sometimes silence is a good thing. The world around us is so noisy that silence is good. This means that sometimes I need to just stop talking! (I am still working on this!)

I love you so very much Michael! Thank you for helping me be a better mother, sister, daughter, friend, wife and most importantly daughter of our Heavenly Father. I am so lucky to say that we will be together forever. Thank you for loving me and living with me. Thank you for being such a wonderful daddy. I can not think of a better companion for me!

Happy Father’s Day!

Stereotyped......So Stereotypical

2009-06-14T19:48:00.003-05:00

Allow me to paint the picture that reflects the title. To be STEREOTYPED is sometimes a good thing but most of the time a bad thing. Stereotyping is just a word that helps justify and make kind the phrase "to judge". So bear with me as I relay the events that lead up to this story.

Angela and I work out at 24 Hour fitness. Like most gyms, a long line of treadmills span the wall in nicely positioned rows. Each consisting of 10 to 15 treadmills in a single line. At any given time you will spot the short, tall, skinny, fat, big boned, athletic, and not so athletic attempting the rhythmic walking or running balancing act known as the treadmill dance. It takes effort to walk or run in a straight line on most treadmills. It takes even more effort not to watch your feet the whole time to make sure you don't look drunk, but with all of the TVs surrounding the treadmill area, it is a common occurrence. Thank goodness most treadmills have hand rails! Most of the time you wait in line to get on one of the treadmills. This night was not in the norm. Upon arriving at the gym I noticed that the far row was completely empty. I was excited knowing that being alone meant that others did not have to see me, the giant, trying to take small strides as to remain upright on the moving belt. Full strides for this GIGANTORE means a swift and abrupt ride straight into the back wall. So I chose one of the treadmills right in the middle. After about 20 minutes and enough time to work up a good sweat I noticed that I was surrounded by women! A guys dream right? Just wait....it gets better! The treadmills next to me were full and I was the only guy. This is where the story begins.......

Soon after noticing that I was not alone, a strong smell stung my nose! This smell alone triggered dry heaves and convulsions in my lower abdomen. As time passed the smell relinquished its grasp on my senses and I was able to refocus on finishing my workout. Then POW, BANG, BOOM...there it is again. This time the "I Smell Pooo" look was all over my face. As I looked to my left and then to my right each of them had the look of innocence on their faces. I wanted to scream....."PUT A CORK IN IT", "STOP THE TRUMPET CHEEKS", "WHO'S GOT THE BUFFALO BUTT", but used better judgement and tried to remain calm. Let me remind you....I was the only male in this section of the gym. So as this smell began to make my eyes water and nose run, I noticed that as people walked past this section of treadmills they too got the "I Smell Pooo" look. Then THEY WOULD LOOK RIGHT AT ME and would walk away shaking their heads. ARE YOU SERIOUS? What the H...E...Double hockey sticks is going on? By this time I probably looked green as I tried to run with my shirt over my nose! Ducking and blowing away little fart fairies as they shot the latest PooPerfume up my nostrils. This continued for several Fart Bombs, Blue Darts, Natural Gas outbursts, Hershey squirts, whatever you want to call them. Out of 20+ people that walked passed our beloved STINKY section of treadmills that night, about 19 of them looked at me with disgust in their eyes!

DUDE, first of all, if a guy produces that kind of e-flatulate, THEY CALL IT! That kind of STANK needs recognition and an award! Second, it is probably not the guy that is green, with watery eyes, runny nose, and shirt over his face. That tells me right there that the sewage smell did not come from his sphincter. Voluntary or involuntary that did not come from him! Lastly, you look for the Poo Captain which is probably the one that looks like she doesn't smell anything....GUILTY as charged!!!!!!! Sentenced to Stereotyping of the extreme. But because I was a guy....AND ONLY A GUY WOULD DO THAT KIND OF THING....I was guilty before proven innocent and stereotyped as the one that needed a colon cleansing!!!! As my workout ended, and I felt as if I wiped my nose with used toilet paper, I walked out of the gym thankful for the fresh air outside.

Laughing to myself all the way home, I relayed the story to Angela. She could not stop laughing. So hard that she almost wet herself! SO, hopefully this brought some humor and enjoyment to your day or night. Here are some of the signs that should be posted by the treadmill section.

Family blogs

2009-06-14T16:17:00.002-05:00

I have spent the past hour or so adding family member to our blog list! It is so neat to have a look inside their lives!

Traffic

2009-05-28T12:57:00.002-05:00

I thought the traffic in Fort Worth! This was around 3:00 in the afternoon!!!

Newport Beach Temple

2009-05-28T12:41:00.004-05:00

Michael and I discovered this beautiful temple looking for a gas station.

Fun Times!

2009-05-28T00:55:00.004-05:00

K so, Matthew and Karla had to be in LA today. This was perfect because Michael and I had to be here also! Michael has early meetings here! We were all pretty hungry so we headed out for some chow. We weren't sure which way to head, so I asked the front desk guy. He handed me a map of some local restaurants. They asked which way to turn to get to where we wanted to go. I told them to hang on for a second while I found my spot on the map. I turned the map around so I could tell them to turn right or left. I had a plan of where we could go.

I have to turn the map facing whichever way we are going. North is not up if you are going east. It makes total sense to me! If you tell them to turn west and they don't know which way is west, it help to turn the map to you can tell them right or left. Apparently that is pretty funny!

They were laughing so hard that I quit the navigator post and handed the map to Matthew. It was even way more funny because he didn't know where I wanted us to go! Amongst all the laughter, we decided to go to Cheesecake Factory. Because it was not on our map, Michael looked it up on his handy dandy GPS. Well, that took us to what must have been an office building for TCCF. The funny part about this, Karla mentioned that we were silly for following a machine! It was pretty stupid! They selected a new location and off we headed. Again, we were not directed to the correct place. We were around a large mall and thought we were close. So we circled the mall and Karla finally told Matthew to call them to get specific directions. WE MADE IT!!!! It was yummy. I always, yes always get the Lula salad. I decided to live on the wild side and tried the meatloaf. It wasn't great! It came with corn succotash. I had no idea what it was, but it was pretty yummy. It is a mix of corn and a lot of other veggies, I think. I think it's probably good that I didn't know what all was in it! The others loved their dishes. But you can guess what I will be ordering next time I go!!!!!

We have had a fun time with Matthew and Karla! We will miss you guys!
Just keep your elbows in Matthew!!!!!

I am thankful for. . .

2009-05-28T00:42:00.003-05:00

Grandparents!
Michael and I are so lucky. We are able to go on fantastic, kid free, trips because of grandparents!
Thank you so much!

San Diego Temple

2009-05-27T11:55:00.008-05:00

Cali!

2009-05-24T15:30:00.004-05:00

So Michael and I are on a wonderful vacation!! We are in San Diego right now! It is so nice to be able to do whatever we want whenever we want!
On Friday we hung out at the beach, had a nice picnic(which we froze!!!) then caught a flick (Night at the Museum), Sat was spent at the pool then back to the movies! Today we went to church with Matthew and Karla. And there you have it! An up to date report of our vaca!

I was talking to Goodlife yesterday telling her how dang cold it gets here at night, she had to laugh at me because I am Texanized!!!!! I forget that in the rest of the world, it actually cools down at night!

10 Years Together!!!!

2009-05-10T20:08:00.001-05:00

My Angela! 10 Wonderful Years!!!

2009-05-10T19:39:00.002-05:00

I would like to take a moment to share with you what makes my wife so special. Maybe even some embarrassing moments...But Hey...After 10 years of marriage to my beautiful Angela it would not be right if I couldn't still make her blush!! What are husbands for?

Angela is a great mother who strives for harmony in our home. She is kind and loving to the point of tears most of the time. She is involved and in control! (Imagine That!) She is a wonderful example to our daughters.

Angela is beautiful. She may call me a hopeless romantic, but that is far from the truth because I have her. She is my best friend and my loving companion. She is my world, my queen, my eternal companion.

Angela is a wonderful friend. If you are so blessed to be considered by her as a friend, you are the luckiest person in the world. She will do anything for you and will very rarely say "No" to anything you ask for or need help with. But on the other hand if you make her mad....WATCH OUT!!!!...Just ask the guy who ran at her in the van with golf clubs in hand!!!

They should name at least 1 hurricane a year after her! (Yes, I am Random Man!) Catch my drift?

Angela has a beautiful smile!

Angela has a ROCKIN' body! Booya....I am a guy!

Angela is very spiritual. She impresses me constantly on how in tune with divine guidance she is. She listens and does the things that she needs to do daily to entice spiritual guidance. She is driven to do what is right.

Before we started dating Angela needed help with her car. She asked if I could help, which of course I could not turn down. After the problem was fixed she looked at me and said, "I will love you forever!" Did she know at that time that I was a car guy?

She has a cute laugh. I can also make goose bumps appear on 1 side of her body at a time while the other side stays unaffected. I have the key!!!

I have to tell you this. On our very first "Official" date we drove to Denver to watch the show STOMP. We had a great time and enjoyed the show. On the way back we were talking and Angela had her feet up on the dash! Suddenly she sneezed....but at the same time something unexpected creeped out with it!!! YES, can you believe that she let one RIP on our first date??!!! I tried to play it off because I didn't want to embarrass her...but I guess now I am spilling the beans! Ha Ha get it?!!

Angela, I Love You. I am grateful that we found each other. I am thankful that you love me back. We have been through a lot together...good times, bad times, scary times, fun times, uncertain times...but it has all been worth every second. I have watched you blossom as a woman, mother, friend, daughter of God, and companion. I am humbled and honored to be the one by your side, holding your hand on this wonderful journey. I can't wait for the next 10 years!!! I LOVE YOU....Michael

Flower girls!

2009-05-10T08:58:00.001-05:00

Because he loves me!

2009-05-10T08:48:00.004-05:00

I have the best husband in the world! I was having a very bad. Sometimes he just doesn't know what to do for me. Frankly I don't know what I need most of the time!

This time he knew exactly what to do!

Happy Brithday Bay!

2009-05-10T08:29:00.003-05:00

Bay is 3!

Bay brings our family so much joy! She is either temper tantrum don't go near her, or she is just so cute you can't get enough of her! She is talking a little more! She started speech this past week at the school. The only bad thing about this is she won't have service during the summer. We have looked into private therapy and holy cow, it is so expensive! The initial is around $550 and $78 per hour after that! In addition to this, she will start her allergy shots next week. For them to mix the serum it is $220 and $20 for each shot. She will get 2 per week! It's a good thing we love her so much! I wonder if I could pay with my good looks??

One happy little girl!

2009-05-02T16:00:00.003-05:00

Ever wonder what happens if you give an eight year old a laptop?

Papa Pete had a small laptop. He had gotten another one from work. When they were here in March, KoKo couldn't stop taking about the cute small laptop! Well, Papa Pete just had to give it to her. She was so excited! I took some other pictures but they were so blurry. She was just that excited. Michael is busy putting "daddy controls" on it! She is most excited about being able to practice her spelling words on her computer. Then Papa said she now had to email her grandmas and grandpas! That just put her over the top! She will soon have her own email address! I think we might check it before she does!

Pete had business meetings in Dallas thurs/fri this week. He offered that he would take care of the girls if Michael and I wanted to have a night alone! With absolutely NO hesitations we went. We stayed in a Marriott by the Grapevine Mills Mall! They went to Monsters vs Aliens. Then had a great date with Papa!!

Thank you so much Pete! We needed that. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family! We know we are so blessed! Koko's teacher mentioned that we see our family more than she sees hers. Our family is mostly in Colorado and Utah with some in Cali. Her family lives about two hours away!

To all of our family, WE LOVE YOU!

These are the times we will remember!

2009-05-02T15:34:00.003-05:00

Usually my favorite part of going to Cabela's is the fudge. Not this time! When we were going in it was sprinkling a little. Well when we walked out the front doors it wasn't so much sprinkling any more. It was raining! Not just raining, but pouring! We all looked at Michael and he kinda laughed! I decided that we should all just run to the van together. Koko and I were the only ones who liked that idea. But we did it anyway. If you have not been to Cabela's before the parking lot is HUGE and we usually have to park towards the back. Michael was caring Bay. She may look slim but she weighs a TON! We laughed the whole time. It was so much fun! I was behind Lou and she just happened to hit ALL of the bigger puddles. I still can't stop laughing about it!

We forever will remember this day!

Her is a picture when we got home. We were a little more dry and don't look as much like wet dogs, but still cute!

Jack Johnson

2009-04-23T22:38:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_BoZ_Qdyl0

This is for you Jason!!

Party Time!

2009-04-17T23:19:00.004-05:00

Tonight Koko had her birthday party. Yes, it is a little late but this was the first weekend that was open. First her baptism, then conference then Easter. . .

The girls had a blast!

They made their own pizza, played games and ate cake and ice cream! Sounds like a great party to me!! It was a slumber party. One kiddo stayed the night and the rest went home around 10 p.m.

The great hunt!

2009-04-17T22:51:00.003-05:00

Silly little girls + flower!

2009-04-17T22:25:00.002-05:00

Just in case you couldn't tell, they are tigers!

For such cute girls they sure do look ferocious!!

These are Koko's beautiful flowers. Goodlife's family gave them to her for her baptism.

General Conference!

2009-04-17T22:10:00.002-05:00

April fourth and fifth was General Conference for our church. I was so excited this year! I was able to go to the temple Friday night and really be prepared to hear the council of our living Apostles and Prophets! I am so grateful that we can get instruction and be uplifted through them from our Father in Heaven. I printed out some activities for the girls.

bugz

2009-04-02T20:57:00.005-05:00

Koko performed in a play tonight! It was called bugz! They were the cutest little bugs you ever will see! She did a great job! She was a firefly. I think there were six or so. They wore all white and had neon green ummmm things tied on their wrists. When their song came on they turned on a black light and dimmed the other lights. It looked so cool! Because the average second grader is about a foot and a half shorter than Koko, I was a little hard to hear her sing. She had a duet on one of the verses! She said it was so hard to bend down to try to sing in the microphone and wave her firefly arms!

So the pictures are pretty crappy! I am so sad! I used Michael's digital camera because it can recorded longer that mine can. Evidently you have to use a tripod with it! If there is any movement at all the picture looks blurry! Bay was totally freaked out by all the people. I was so thankful our dear friends came with us! Good life was able to take over on some pics while I was dealing with my dear sweet little darling angel of a two year old!

I can't even use the "wonderful" video capability of the stinkin camera! My computer won't play them! Real nice. I am sure that it is an operator error and when Michael gets home he will touch one button and the video will magically appear!

Picture update!

2009-04-02T12:57:00.005-05:00

Pics from when my parents came.

Pics of girls and Great Grandma Sally. KOKO's baptism day!

Let's try this again! But first a side note!

2009-04-01T00:22:00.009-05:00

Some of you might be wondering what the heck is going on with me right now! I am wondering that myself! I have been treated for OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, depression and now more recently the past year anxiety. The more stress I have, the worse these things get. Plus, I seem to have a cycle, or my brain chemicals do. Last January and February I had my time of sleeping all night, waking up enough to get Koko off to school and the other two breakfast and a movie on, then sleeping for most of the day. Lou got pretty good at learning the remote control and changing DVDs! Well, I made it through that period!
After seeing the Psychiatrist biweekly, she is getting to know me pretty well. After going in Monday she started asking a lot of questions. Then she had me fill out a questioner on Adult ADD or ADHD. Needless to say, I got a 100%. She could see some of the symptoms. She noticed I always rub my fingernails and cuticles (goodlife totally notices it) I don't even realize I am doing it, I talk a lot and sometimes say random awkward things, get off track easily, have her repeat things. . . and so on. These are fairly normal things but when you put them all together with other symptoms it make complete sense! She really thinks that I have been miss diagnosed with OCD. See many of the symptoms overlap. The reasons for doing things that seem OCDish are completely different. Like doing things in a certain order; OCD way you just have to do it in that order, ADD way you have to do it in order or you will forget. Then if you don't do them in order your world falls apart because you just can't remember! The anxiety increases then you get angry at your 2 yr old because you can't remember if you washed her hair or not. When it would be totally rational to wash her hair (maybe again), but you just freeze! You get more and more angry and anxious and tension builds in the house. So now the depression is in full force. When I forget, can't find, or get distracted I just cry! My world stops and I just cry. Today I made it until about 5:00 (5:00p.m. lol-yes, sometimes I didn't make it til 5:00 a.m.!) with out crying! I kind of lost it a little after that, but it is progress! It wasn't as bad as the past while! I was pretty good at hiding it but not so much lately!
You know its bad when your dad and mom fly here in about two days notice!! I was so thankful for them making that sacrificing. It was so hard for them to go! sniff sniff... Then Grandma Sally came. That has been planned for about a year! Again it was so hard for her to go. more sniff sniff sniff... Then Pete, Gail and Marie came. Again the depart was not so good. It sucks because when I was not able to function, they could step in. I know, I know some of you are thinking I totally could have called you. It isn't so easy asking someone to come take care of your family because you can't. You know, in the middle of this I didn't even know what I needed! Sometimes, well most of time I just want to run away. I just can't take care of the girls or my husband. Others could do it so much better. Just to make things clear, I didn't want to die or anything, just go away. Sleep or whatever in a hotel.
Since a house can't function like this, somethings gotta give. Hence the many visits to the Psych. BTW, I really like this doctor! She is great. A friend from church informed me about her. I am so thankful she shared this info! I could totally hang out with her yet she is assertive and remembers she is the DR.!! Many times it takes a little (or a lot) of time to get on the right track with behavioral therapy and medicine. I have been taking Prozac for about 5 years now. After this discovery Monday, I won't be taking it anymore! I am on different medicine now. The good news is that I hopefully won't have to take them long term. We just have to get the depression and this vicious cycle under control. Some may disagree with medicine. That's ok! This is too far out of control not to get that kind of help! I hope that explains a little. I do not share this to get sympathy or for others to feel sorry for me, just give an explanation!
Back to Koko! lol
I can't believe she is 8 and Baptised! I am proud of her making the decision. She is so smart. She is so in tune with the spirit. Maybe it is because she has had to grow up so quickly because of her lack of a stable mother?? That part is going to change!
Lou was so excited for her. It was so neat to watch her watch Koko!
Oh and guess what, she even recited the scripture we have been challenged to memorize by our stake. If the children do this they get to sign a beautiful picture frame given to our stake. To get to sign, they can recite it to a member of our ward Primary presidency. She asked if that counted! I totally think so! Especially since the stake pres. was there herself! It really doesn't surprise me she memorized the scripture, it totally was surprising she was able to recite it in front of all those people.
You go girl!

Koko's Baptism!

2009-03-31T21:15:00.003-05:00

Yeah Koko!! We are so proud of her! So the first thing she said was, "I'm mmm mm soo o o o colddd dd d!" then she said, "I'm so glad I did it!" BTW it was so cold there!I was freezing with a coat!
Ok so I have one very mad 2 year old. . . gotta go.

Bay's sinus surgery

2009-03-26T13:14:00.003-05:00

Today Bay had sinus surgery! We hope this will be the end to her chronic sinus and ear infections!
She is doing great! Everything went well! The doctor said she had to do a little more drilling than she anticipated. There was not that much bleeding. She woke up very quickly! No major problems! She had to have a little oxygen but I think that is fairly common. She is now watching Snow Buddies, her favorite movie! We can't wait for Space Buddies to come out on DVD!
We are so thankful for the outcome today!

Happy 8th Birthday Koko!

2009-03-26T13:06:00.002-05:00

Eight years old! Yeah Koko!
I can't tell you how proud of her we are! Koko is such a smart, beautiful, helpful girl! We are lucky to have her in our family!!
On Saturday she has chosen to be baptized!! You are all welcome to come! She is so excited!
Daddy and I love you so much Koko!

Mom to the rescue!

2009-03-06T07:41:00.002-06:00

My mom is going to come rescue me this weekend! I feel so loved! I can actually say, for the first time, she is coming to see me not just the girls! They happen not to agree with me! They had pretty good deals on air fair and I needed it!
THANK YOU MOM! Can't wait til tonight! Knowing that you will be here soon has really kept me afloat this week, along with some GREAT friends!
I am one lucky girl!

Cutie Pie!

2009-03-06T07:34:00.002-06:00

Bay was talking to her grandma Jill and Papa Tim. We had taken off the band aid, I bet it hurt! There was a lot of hair on the band aid from her hairline!
She is just so cute! Oh and she was enjoying a cookie as well!

No question who gets mother of the year award!

2009-03-03T19:23:00.003-06:00

There is no question that I will receive the mother of the year award!
So Bay and I were so exited that we were going to run to Albertson's together, just the two of us. She was so excited that she ran down the slanted driveway, tripped and hit her head on the edge of the van door. She hit hard then screamed and laid face first on the cement. I scooped her up and there was blood EVERYWHERE! When I pick her up what does she do? She plants her head into my neck! She wouldn't let me look but I could feel the blood! I ran into the house and told, maybe screamed for Michael. After our medical history, I totally panicked! Michael ran downstairs and went into action trying to see how bad it really was. It was pretty bad! We knew we had to take her in to some sort of urgent care. Michael is getting his shoes on and I tell the girls to go to a neighbors house. They were totally freaked out because I was totally freaked out and there was blood all over Bay and myself! I made sure they made it to the neighbors and off we went. It happened to be rush hour! We decided to go to a near urgent care instead of the Cook's children's hospital. There was only one other patient in the building and a doctor was in the front office when we came in! It freaked us, maybe just me, out when he hesitated when we asked if he could take care of her. Meaning we might have to go to the ER anyway for a head injury! After looking at her he was confident she would be alright after a few stitches. The staff was great there! I was nervous about not going to a peds. place but they were great!
It was way too cute, they were stitching her up and she started yelling pee pee. I told her to wait one second and she could go on the potty. She said tay! It melted the nurses hearts! I told her that if she went potty it was ok. (She was sitting on Michael's lap!!!!)
Four stitches later and a huge band aid with an additional Aerial band aid we are all fixed up! The cut is on her forehead above her right eye. She had a red mark on her check and her eye is already swollen! The actual cut is about 3/4 on an inch long.
As if I have not had my fill of doctors! At least this one was nice! He wants to see her on Thursday for a checkup then in 5 days to take out the stitches. I guess it isn't so much as seeing the doctors as it is the time! I wonder how many hours I have spent in a doctors office just since Jan. first? Hum. . . At least these many experiences I have had really help me know what I do and DO NOT want in a doctor!
My brother suggested not taking Lou and Bay out in public together! Thanks for the support Jason! I can't wait til you have kids! By the way, for those of you who do not know my little bro, he was totally joking, sort of!!!!!
Anyway, you can post your vote for me for the award on a comment!

Recipe Book NOT Pile!!

2009-03-03T14:30:00.004-06:00

Thanks to some great advice from a dear friend, my recipes are a little more organized! We have been talking about organization, or the lack of in my home! She suggested starting with something easy and quick like putting recipes in binder. Isn't it beautiful!

Thanks Good Life for the great advice! You are awesome!

Doctors

2009-03-02T17:24:00.002-06:00

So little Bay and I went to another ENT today, Dr. Fewins. She is going to have to have sinus surgery! Our regular ENT, Dr. Burkett can't perform the type of surgery she needs. His neck gives him trouble, he is getting a little older but we still love and respect him! So he sent us to this young lad. This guy is really young! He looks really young too! He is like Dougie Hauser! It is actually the doctor who did Michael's sinus surgery about a year and a half ago. Michael thought he was a little arrogant but good. Well today he asked me a couple of questions about Bay then said that it was absurd to do this type of sinus surgery on a two year old child. I fought back the tears at this point. Then the nurse interrupted and said he had a call. He came back after about five minutes or so. Seemed like forever! He did apologize then again said that he would never do this surgery on Bay! I couldn't fight the tears any longer. He said to remember that Bay is probably in a lot of pain. He asked if I have ever had a sinus infection. I said sniff sniff, I have one right now!! I know she feels like crap that's why I am here! A million thoughts were going through my head! I asked him what the next step was then! He said we needed to go to an allergist. Well we went to him, Dr. Roberts, about two weeks ago. He wanted for us to use this nose spray and come back in a couple of months, the meds take that long to work!! The allergist wanted also to see what the ENT said after the Cat Scan. After I told him that he kinda just sat there. He did look in her ears and said that the tubes needed to be replaced, they were blocked and not functioning properly. Dr. Burkett also said that needed to be done! He asked why he hadn't done this. Well he wanted Bay to only have one surgery, the tubes along with sinuses! Not do back to back surgeries! He said oh yeah. Then he wrote the name of his children's ENT on a piece of paper with his sloppy doctor handwriting! No phone number or address just the name. He did tell me that it would be a long drive! So I am thinking Plano or something??
Dr. Burkett's office is in the same building so I went there when done. Gabby, his wonderful nurse Bay loves was there. I knew Burkett was on Vacation. She calmed me down! She thought that I should see him on Thursday when he returns. She thinks he might replace the tubes and do a sinus rinse. This would buy her some time for the allergist to work his magic. She will probably have to have shots for a while!
So my problem was not what Dr. Fewins said it was how he said it! Different doctors have different limits! I respect that! Just don't be a BUTT about it!

Spicy Peanut Chicken Pasta

2009-03-02T17:08:00.002-06:00

So I have had a copy of this recipe for some time. I got it out of a book from the teen section in the Saginaw Library. The cookbook was called "Clueless in the Kitchen". It was a good thing Bay went tearing through the teen section or I would have never found this wonderful book. It is perfect for one like me who is well clueless in the kitchen!! lol! Hey Nikko or Good Life, I didn't even have to call either one of you two while preparing this dish! Yeah me, I cooked out of a teen cookbook! It has been a little bit of a long day for me today. (I will vent about that in a sec.!) The recipe sounds so good. It smelled very good also. Too bad it didn't taste as good! Most of the time I would have been so disappointed. Not today though! I actually cooked and had fun doing it! I think that this might have been one of the more advanced recipes if you ask me!! Asian food isn't my favorite anyway, unless it is Honey Seared CHICKEN form Pei Wei. I created something tonight that looked and smelled really good! I also had FUN while doing it! In case you were wondering, the girls didn't like it either! Koko ate most of it! I must admit that it tasted a lot better the warmer it was! I think it would have been a little bit better if it would have been spicier?!

Can I have more time??

2009-02-22T18:47:00.006-06:00

Where does the time go??
It seems so long since I have been on here! How fun!! Well, we have been pretty busy! My mom came down here in the beginning of this month. She helped out a lot!! She painted our bathroom downstairs and helped out with pulling things together in Koko's room! I am so thankful for her! She helped out so much! This trip was actually just to help me out!! Thanks for coming mom!

I am the room mom for Koko's class. It is so much fun, a lot of work but fun! I help out in the class once a week. Sometimes I do crafts with the kids and sometimes just do filing for Mrs. Bradshaw. If I don't do the filing, Koko does it!! I have been busy planning and getting items for her class valentine's day party . It was a lot of fun!! We decorated sugar cookies, ate goodies and played a fun game.
On the 14th Lou broke her ankle! The ER dr put her in on crutches and a little walking cast/boot. On Tuesday they put a bright pink cast on! She missed the last step on the stairs in our house. The Orthopedic said she probably landed on the side of her foot, OUCH!!!! She is doing good now. Oh and the Ortho dr said it was ridiculous to have a child, a tall five year old child, on crutches! So those are out of the picture! She will have the cast on for 3 weeks then a walking cast on for another three! Lou says it is all better now and she should get the hard cast off!

Here I am busy sewing some stuff for the new room!

The room is almost finished!! I only have a few more things to put up. There is a cork board that is going at the head of her bed and a few framed pics!! Koko is so excited! She LOVES it!

Our little Bay decided it was time to be a big girl! This is her potty sticker page! Each time she pees on the potty she gets a sticker. If she poops she gets two. She has done a great job! She will usually just go with out telling anyone. In public she tells us that she has to go! We made it the whole day today in panties!! When we use to ask her if she is a baby or a big girl she would say BABY! Now she says she is a big girl!!

We have been to several doctors with Bay. The ENT referred us to an allergist and set up a Cat Scan of her sinuses. He says that she will need surgery. The xray showed that her sinuses were completely filled with something. We need to find out what! We will have a clearer picture of what is going on after the CT. She has chronic ear and sinus infections! She has been on several different antibiotics continually since December! They have to sedate her for the CT, so please say a little prayer for her. It is scheduled for Wed. I will keep you all updated!

Sleep?

2009-01-21T22:22:00.004-06:00

Why in the heck do I have such a hard time simply going to bed? I didn't sleep well at all last night. Bay woke up all through the night screaming for daddy!! He is on a trip! :( I was ready for bed around 7:30!! Why didn't I just go to bed? I just had to watch House I had DVR-ed from Monday. Yeah I used my recordificator!! I LOVE those Dish commercials. Anyway, then I had to make some bows for the girls! Well I wanted to look online for new ideas. I did make a pair of bows! AND found cute ideas but I am frustrated about being cold and sleepy! So then I had had to vent to you! It would have taken to long to call fam and friends so I thought I would hit you all at once with a one time story!
I forgot how lonely it is when Michael is gone! He had been home for almost 2 months! We all miss him so much! I think Suki even misses him!! He left on Tuesday and comes home tomorrow. Not a long trip, but it still sucks! My point to this was that Michael was not home to vent to!!
Ok well, do you think I have ADD?? Am I normal? LOL!! Don't answer mom! I get one idea in my head and then it snowballs to this! I know, maybe it is the lack of sleep causing this?!?!?!
Done venting. . . goodnight!

This is what happens when. . .

2009-01-15T20:07:00.007-06:00

when a 7 year old gets her own bedroom!

mommy takes a shower!

These are Bay's clothes. All of them, piled on her bed.

Here is her empty dresser!

Here is our bookshelf. A lot can happen in about 10 minutes!

Being a DORK!

2009-01-08T22:36:00.002-06:00

When I went back and read my post, I was thinking that sometimes maybe I should just NOT! I must say I thought for a second about what Sandra thought about me! I love to laugh and smile! In the past, I have focused on the negative. It is NOT fun! I love being a dork! It is fun. I am happy with that part of me!

The world is so serious why not laugh a little? I could have just told Sandra that I like salad. But then I wouldn't have been able to make myself laugh! I was hoping to make her laugh too, or at least smile! Plus, my focus is on the positive of that event, not that I waited in line for about 10 min or that the lady in front of me had a basket full of stuff in the 20 items or less line! I even had to stop and think a minute to remember what wasn't as pleasant as it could have been!

Funnies!

2009-01-08T22:20:00.002-06:00

I have not posted in so long!!!! I really wanted to say something with out being here for an hour or more!! So a couple of days ago I was at Wal-Mart. I was getting a "bunch" of salad. There was a deal on Fresh Express bags for $.97!!! Great deal. The cashier, Sandra, was pretty grumpy! She really did not want to be there! I tried to chat with her while waiting in line, but with not much success! When I showed her the ad to price match, it kind of made her a little more grumpy! Plus she kept screwing up having to delete then re-ring the bags! Sandra said, "what are you going to do with all of this salad anyway?" I quickly replied that my husband and I have turned over a new leaf! She looked up at me like I was the biggest dork in the whole world! I have to say that I thought it was pretty funny! I even giggled a little out loud.
Did I make you giggle?? Just a little??

Question!

2008-12-22T19:25:00.002-06:00

OK, so I am wondering how you would act if people approached you in the same fashion in public with not so nice comments about your hubby's height? Please give me some advice! I would love some new funny lines to say!
I, sometimes just smile, say 6'11" and walk away. I know this may be the more Christlike response, but I have several opportunities each outing to practice. I love to say something funny back to them, but they don't think it is so funny when a question is asked of them! When people comment about his feet, size 16, I don't ask how big their booty is! Sometimes I ask how short they are. When one kid, around 16ish, wanted to take a pic of Michael with his cell, I told him to go check out the Mavs website! The funny part is that he really believed me!
My favorite questions are from cute girls asking him where he gets his clothes because their "boyfriends" are just about the same size and they can't find clothes for them! I just smile my prettiest smile!
It is funny because our girls are noticing and asking why people ask daddy how tall he is ALL OF THE TIME!
For those of you whom have ever asked us how tall he is, don't be worried or nervous! We don't mind as much if you are nice about it! The ones that annoy us the most are those who follow us around the store for 30 min trying to get courage to ask! Or those that come up and interrupt, especially if we are with a sales person or eating!
Swearing, pointing, laughing hysterically, screaming across the store, or not respecting personal space are not ways to behave!

Christmas Spirit...Circus Act...Wanna Fight!!!!???

2008-12-21T22:54:00.003-06:00

Interesting Title? What you do think it means? Angela told me that I could vent. I shouldn't be so confused about it, I should be used to it, but this experience entered uncharted waters for me. Never before has it happened like this.....do I got you hooked??? Well....as we look into the life and times of the "Circus Freak" known as Michael, we see an odd occurence......ANYWAY!!!

While shopping on Saturday morning for Angela's last present (I will with-hold where it was in fear of Angela guessing what I got her)I was minding my own business. While looking at some "product" on the shelf, it felt as if someone was standing back to back with me???? For me though, it felt like someone was rubbing up on my BOO-TAY...this due to my rear end being to some peoples shoulder level. After a brief moment of utter confusion, I turned around to see a "SHORT" person trying to stand back to back with me, WITHOUT ASKING, while motioning and "pssssstting" to her husband to look. AS IF I COULDN'T FEEL YOU ALL OVER ME LADY!!!! I must have had the "I smell Poo Poo" look on my face as I said, "Excuse me Mam", because right after I said this, her husband stepped up to me and asked very aggressivley if I had a problem. WHAT HAPPENED TO PERSONAL SPACE????? DUDE!! Due to my confused state of mind, I just stared at the dude. He wanted to fight me because his wife was encrotching on my space. What am I a Circus Freak...hence the title. What is it that brings out the worst in people during this time of the year? I was feeling peaceful and calm, minding my own business. Until at this moment in time when Mini-Me wanted to show how much testosterone he had flowing through his tiny little body. AND I DID NOTHING!!!! So with a raised heart rate and urge to go "Small People Tipping" I walked away and got in line to pay for..............HA HA, you thought I was gonna slip and tell you.....NOT!

What would happen if I went up to someone that was Vertically Challenged and patted them on the head, and said "Oh, aren't you so cute, how short are you???" Doesn't seem right does it? I would hope not!! Maybe I should just keep a tape measure in my pocket and take it out and measure them on the spot to make sure they are short! "Yep, just as I thought, you go to my knee!"

I shouldn't allow something like this to bother me....but for some reason it did! Why? I have weird things happen to me every day I am in public...this was no exception to the rule. Maybe because this Masculine of a Dude took it from good 'Ol fun to personal!

All the fun we had in Utah!!!

2008-12-18T19:24:00.004-06:00

SURPRISE!

2008-12-17T19:54:00.004-06:00

Yes I did it again! I love it!! It only takes two seconds to do! Michael thinks I am going through a mid-life crisis! Marcia, you were right! I should have just went short in the first place!
BTW- I have NEVER taken so many pictures of myself in the mirror in my whole life as I have in these past three weeks!

More decorations

2008-12-14T19:52:00.004-06:00

I guess it has been a couple of weeks since we put up the tree?! Well, I just finished decorating the rest of the house! The girls were so excited! Last year I had purchased lots of stuff when it was probably 90% off! I had gotten the girls mini trees. They decorated them tonight.

I can't believe I have a 7 year old, a five year old and a 2 year old!! It is so neat that we get to do stuff like this! It is so much fun!

Tonight reminded me of the scriptures which tell us to be childlike! Kids have fun. Sometimes as adults we forget to do this. We get so caught up with everything that HAS to be done, we forget to schedule in fun! The home is the place where kids should have the best time ever. My goal this week is going to create just that environment! I am going to have a structured, safe, FUN place for them to dwell! Because I am not so good at doing this, please ask me how I am doing! Check up on me, remind me of my goal! I wonder if more fun will = more peace?? I guess I will find out! I sure do hope so.

Three Christmas Bells!

2008-12-14T19:40:00.003-06:00

It is a tradition that Grandma Gail gets the girls new Christmas dresses every year. I typically don't like it when siblings are dressed alike. But, I LOVE it when they match at Christmas! I know I am a goof ball! I can make an exception one day out of the year.

It's beginning to look a lot like. . .

2008-12-05T21:37:00.004-06:00

We usually decorate our home the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year my parents and bro came to town. There were too many fun things to do with them so we started decorating on the 4th. Bay had a ball!! I don't know why but it was a lot harder to get the stuff out this year. Last year we didn't even decorate because we were on the cruise and in Cali!

I love the Christmas season. People seem to be a little more nice and happy. Or maybe it is just my outlook? All I know is that I love it!

WoW! I just LOOKED at the calendar and only 20 more days til Christmas!!! I realize it is Dec. 5th, but! I have a lot to do! I need to do cards, finish decorating, do scrapbook page. . . I better get going!

Happy 5th Birthday Lou Lou!

2008-12-05T20:18:00.006-06:00

Our little Lou Lou is five!! We had a great day! She had our babysitting co-op friends here so we had a little party! They had chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting and fairy dust (pink sprinkles)! We played an interactive Candy Land game. It had mixed reviews! I know Lou had a great day! After eating yummy Happy Meals from McDonald's, which they NEVER get!, we came home and ate cake! After having two cupcakes today, Lou didn't eat much cake tonight!!

Lou has a wonderful happy, free spirit about her! You can't be around her very long and not smile! I really think she radiates joy! Marcia, if you ever need to borrow her to spread joy just let me know!! : )

Lou is a very smart, healthy, beautiful little girl! I love you so much Lou Lou!! I know our family is so blessed to have you with us!

I DID IT! Well Alison did!!!

2008-11-21T09:40:00.004-06:00

So I did it! I got my hair cut! I really like it! It is going to have to take some getting use to. I thought about going shorter??!! I have asked the kids what they think, it is pretty unanimous! They think I look like a boy! Good thing I wear makeup! Koko thinks I look like a girl in a rock band that says bad words?? I guess that is her definition as funky? BAD rocker chick is not what I was going for. Maybe she was thinking of Pink? Anyway here are the pics!

These are from yesterday. The funky rocker chick!

Fresh out of the shower.

Did it with my fingers!

This one I did it a little moose and hairspray. Took all of 2 minutes!

Hair Cut

2008-11-20T09:15:00.003-06:00

Here we are back to this hair cut decision!! I LOVE the shorter cuts but I am starting to freak out a little! AHHHHHHH! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I got my hair cut on Oct 8! It seems like my hair is sooo long now! I will post a picture tonight!!! All this excitement! I better be careful now that I am 30! I have to worry about those heart problems! I think the hardest part about this is that I HATE suspense and waiting! It is 9:15 and I have til 1:30!! Oh boy!

Here We Are Together, Together, Together

2008-11-16T19:18:00.010-06:00

Our family is back together!! It is so exciting! It is so nice for all of us to be home!! Here are several pics of our time in Utah!

We celebrated my birthday at the Cheesecake Factory! Uncle Mitch, 23, on the left and Uncle Mark, 28, on the right. They are both super cute and available!! Just leave a comment if you are interested!! I will pass on your info!! LOL!

The girls and Aunt Marci! Oh P.S. she is about 4.5 months pregnant!!! Yes she is one of those! They are expecting a GIRL!

Uncle Mark dresses up like and gorilla. Gail took the older kids and I out to "look at the stars" he tried to scare us by running, like and ape, up to us! Lou was so freaked out! It was pretty funny!

Aunt Marie(Arrrrr Pirate), Jaden(Superman), Lou (Super Girl), Bay (Wonder Woman) & Tanner (Batman). In Marci's neighborhood in St. George, they were handing out full sized candy bars!!

Yes I put this picture in just for Michael, like father like son!!

It was so cold!! We got some pretty good pictures though!

You can see it a little, but the whole underneath part of Bay's top lip was purple! She jumped off of a bench thinking she could fly. Much to her surprise, she landed on her face. OUCH!

One night we made pizza. It was a lot of fun.

I am so glad Gail got this picture! I love to see these two having fun TOGETHER!

Craft time with Gaga Gail and Papa Pete.

Cousins!! Jaden, 5, and Tanner, 3, belong to Michael's youngest sister, Marci and her hubby Matt.
We all had so much fun. It was really hard for Michael to leave his family in Heber City! Especially his bro Mark! He loves all of his family so much, as do I! I think we are both at a point in our lives when we really want and need to be closer to family! If we lived in the SLC area we would be a lot closer to my family too!! Seven hours as apposed to fourteen! We will see what happens??!! It would be SOOOOO hard for me to leave this ward. Since Michael is gone so much, the ward has been my family! They love us and take good care of us!

MOM--don't freak out thinking we are going to move next week!! I think it would take a while for everything to fall into place.

We don't feel it is time just yet!

Family!

2008-11-06T20:34:00.002-06:00

I am so thankful for my family!! I am so blessed!
I get to see Michael and the younger two girls tomorrow!! I can't wait. I miss them so much! It has been so much fun but pretty lonely also!
My room is all put back together and I am totally finished with my bathroom! It is a really pretty gray/green color! It has been a lot of work moving furniture and "stuff", trimming, painting then putting all the stuff back! But it is done!!

The BIG 30!

2008-11-02T20:58:00.004-06:00

Well today is my 30th Birthday! Holy crap I am OLD! Why is it that 30 is soo much older than 29? It is strange! I got the wonderful calls from family and friends today! It was a little hard with Michael and the other girls not being here! But who steps in to save the day? That's right my fantastic ward family! Especially my best friends! One of them, who is not a blogger but needs to be and does not have a "top secret code name" so I will not name her, gave me my gift yesterday! She is just as bad at surprises as I am!!

Good Life came over today to bring me my gift. It was so wonderful! She had some of my friends write a little note on what they liked about me. It was soooooooo cool! Can I just say that I have the most loving, kind friends in the whole world!! I hope you know that as much as Michael is gone, I COULD NOT get by without you!

Anyway, she put each one of the notes inside of a balloon and numbered them. I got to pop them one by one! There were a lot of them to pop!!!!! What a perfect gift!

She also got me this cute little snow globe with 2 women in it, one blond and one brown hair. It has a beautiful quote about friends on it. I am so blessed! I am so thankful for MY FRIENDS!

One Child??

2008-11-02T20:48:00.003-06:00

On Thursday Michael took the younger to with him to Utah. They are going to hang out with Grandma and Aunt Marie while he does the business man thing! They went to St. George Friday to spend time with Jaden and Tanner, their cousins! They had a blast! Bay was wonder woman and Lou was Super Girl! Jaden was super man and Tan Tan was spider man, I think. They were one big super hero group! Koko and I fly out on Friday the 7Th!! This is my third day with only Koko! So weird! I do miss them but it has been so nice to get to spend so much time with just Kenna! We have been busy and have been having a lot of fun!

Yesterday we started painting my bedroom.

What color does this look like to you????

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T20:37:00.003-06:00

Friday I got to go to a pumpkin patch with Koko and her class. It was a lot of fun. The place was, I think, Country Critters. I was impressed! They had two different bounce houses, hay ride, games, place to pick pumpkin then decorate it. . .

Halloween night was fun also! Koko and I went to our Ward Trunk or treat then in our neighborhood.
She was a Queen. If you mistake her for a princess she will correct you!! She is growing up! Look how beautiful she is. This is her spooky face!

A Great Friend & Zoo Fun

2008-10-09T19:03:00.011-05:00

Today a dear friend, TXMommy, so generously offered to take Lou and Bay to the zoo so that I could work. At first I thought she might be nuts for offering to take two extra children especially a very strong willed 2 yr old!!. I realized that she is just a great friend!!! It meant so much to me that she would offer to do this! She is so patient, easy going, loving, generous, beautiful, especially her eyes!, wise and a wonderful example to us all!! I am so blessed to have a friend like her!

The girls had a great time! I asked Lou is there were any pictures taken and she said no! So when I got the email with pictures attached from Too Many I was so excited! Kathy and her two cuties also went. I hope they had as much fun as these three! I really wanted to go, but sometimes work comes before play!! Plus, I really enjoy my job!

This is Lou's friend Lu, TXMommy youngest!! They are only about 1.5 years apart!! Our Lou is getting VERY tall!! So cute if I must say so myself!! These two spend a lot of time together in our babysitting coop. They are getting to be pretty good buddies!
They look so happy!
Thank you so much Too Many for taking my children with you!
Here are three more pics Kathy sent to me! Thanks Kathy!!

To cut or not to cut????

2008-10-07T20:11:00.003-05:00

Should I cut my hair short?????
These are the cuts I like. I really really want to go very short like this top picture!!

I like the bottom one but I am a tucker!! I hate hair around my face!! For some reason right now I can't stand it to touch my face!!!!! All of the hairstyles similar to this, which I love!!, drive me nuts! Maybe some day!

I will probably go with the one in the middle. That way if I hate it, it won't be too hard to grow it! Once I go above the ears it seems to take much longer to grow out. We will see.

Our Girls!

2008-10-07T18:09:00.009-05:00

I have really been trying to spend more quality time with the girls. Really interacting with them. Yesterday we played out front on our bikes. It was fun! Bay loved being pulled by Suki!. She put Suki's leash on her handle bars and Suki would run down the sidewalk. Koko is working so hard on riding her bike with no training wheels. Last week when trying, she ran into a car parked on the side of the street!! It totally pushed the bumper up! The owner didn't mind too much! We thought we were going to have to file a claim to get it fixed! Would that go under auto or home owners insurance?? Today we made bats and ghosts to hang from our tree. This was a great project for all three girls! Bay was great at wadding up the tissue paper! Koko and Lou made a bat and ghost all by themselves!! They look great in our tree!

They look so peaceful!

General Conference

2008-10-05T20:46:00.005-05:00

Yesterday and today have been so spiritually uplifting! At 11 & 3 (central time) both today and yesterday we got to hear from the General Authorities from our church. We have this opportunity every October and May. I just am thankful that we have help in our time! The subjects range from marriage to prayer to self reliance. So much info. We not only watched it, but DVR-ed it. In Nov. it will come out in print. The music is always so beautiful! Yesterday in the afternoon session they had a children's choir singing all the songs. It was cool. The girls loved it!
I have actually had a really neat spiritual experience this weekend!! Last night I had a very overwhelming thought/feeling about a friend. I was prompted to share my thoughts with this friend. I actually listened, with a little help! It was very hard to do this, but I did. Today one of the talks was on those same exact thoughts I shared with this person!! I knew right then why I needed to tell this person!! I guess the moral of this story is to always follow prompting of the Spirit!! A lot of the time we may not see why we were prompted or the end result, but Heavenly Father has His reasons and His plans. Each one of us is an instrument! Who knows when we can be someones angel like Elder Holland talked about!! Each one of us are needed! We are all special. We need to remember that! So today we can all start fresh. Be happy, and don't worry about the promptings we didn't listen to. If it is a prompting we can still act on, do it! If not, just keep looking forward!!!
I feel as though I need to add this part. Obviously we are not prompted by our Father in Heaven to do things that are bad or wrong! So for those of you whom I do not know or may not know about my religion, please do not go do something wrong and say you were prompted by God to do it!!!!
I am so thankful for all of my people (thank you Meridith and Christina) ; ) who help me be a better person! A person more like our Savior, Jesus Christ! I love all of you!!
Have a Great Day!!!

You Know Your Tall When....

2008-09-29T14:40:00.008-05:00

NOTE: If you are easily offended, please stop reading now and consult your "I am Short Guide" by Napolean for Positive Reinforcement.

You Know Your Tall When...

While using the public restroom, somebody asks over the stall door..."Why are you standing on the toilet seat?"

People refer to you as the "Jolly Green Giant". Most of the time I am not Jolly let alone Green so what is the deal? How would you like it if I refered to you as one of the 7 Dwarfs, Santa's Elf, a Munchkin from Munchkin Land, or an Oompa Loompa?

While walking down a hotel hallway an instant puff of air freshener coats the side of your face with fresh lemon scent. What are the odds of me walking past an automatic air freshener and having it TAG my face perfectly? I did smell good the rest of the evening.

You remove hair and a chunk of skin on the top of your head from a fire sprinkler nozzle located on the ceiling.

Most showers hit you in the mid stomach area.

You can't push on the gas pedal and steer the car at the same time due to the lack of leg room (compact cars). Upon arriving at the National Rental Facility in Chicago, in which all cars in the lot where "compact" in size, I proceeded to try and sit in each one. The purpose of this was to see which one I would fit into the best and be able to drive safely. Near the end of my Sitting Spree I noticed that 8 rental facility workers were pointing and laughing histerically at my situation! Luckily I didn't crash on this trip. Maybe the next time someone comes upto me in the grocery store and asks for my help getting something off the top shelf, I will just point and start laughing histerically!!!!!

While putting on your shirt in the morning, the ceiling fan proceeds to play the drums with your forearm.

Hallway EXIT signs become "You are Tall" reminders. Right now I have knocked down 4 exits signs with my forehead. Mainly in Hotel hallways....Sorry Marriott.

You buy a T-Shirt that says....."Keep Staring....I might do a Trick!!!" Yes this is borderline Klampity and a bit RedNeck-ish, but it gets the point across!!

Clothes at the Big & Tall stores don't even fit! They should rename these stores "Big & Fat".
Birds use the top of your head for target practice.
You frequently clear the path of spider webs and cobwebs with your hair.
People ask if they can use you for Shade.
Your wife has to stand on a chair to give you a hug or look you in the eyes.
People start guessing how tall you are. I hear "What are you 6'2"...6'3" all of the time!!!!
You have to play LIMBO with the top of door ways. I walked through a 9 foot doorway and out of habit ducked my head. The person behind me asked why I ducked my head through the door. THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can lock the passenger door from the driver's seat without moving.
You don't fit in the Dentist chair!
You cannot stand straight up in most parking garages.
You are referred to as a Tree, Giraffe, Totem Pole, Ladder....you get my drift. Again, maybe I should start likening these short people to chihuahua's, step stools, or ants. My guess is that they wouldn't appreciate that.
By the way.....SHOUTING....."Hows the weather up there!!!".....is NOT a proper conversation piece.
Your extra pair of shoes takes up 50% of your luggage.
That darn "Watch your Head" Fairy follows you around. One day I will catch that little bugger!
You look in the mirror in the morning and all you see is your torso.
Persons you are aquainted with point out that if they are ever caught in a lightning storm with you that you will be the first one struck! Better yet, I will just grab you, put you on my shoulders....that way, we both go down!
You don't fit into airline lavatories.
People trip over your feet while you are sitting down in normal sitting position. It's not done on purpose, you just need to navigate yourself around my feet (My personal space is a little bit more than standard). Would reflector strips or strobe lights on my shoes help???
You are randomly given a description of what a person is wearing, and asked if you can spot them in a crowd.
You make most people feel short when they are around you. In my book, you are short, so get used to it!!!!
YES, It's called "Napolean Syndrome" or "Short Man's Syndrome". I am sooo sorry that YOUR parents gave you YOUR short genes...It is not my fault...Drop your anger towards me...and get over it!!!! You should have eaten your vegetables and Wheaties!!
When Grocery Store Callout Tags or Isle Violators SLAP you in the face!! There is a good reason why I stand in the middle of the isle. The least amount of bodily harm can occur there.
Room service leaves you a polite note asking you not to untuck the sheets at the foot of the bed. HELLO!!! I DON'T FIT IN YOUR BED! What do you want me to do? Cut off my feet above the ankles?!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!
The doctors office measuring device (on the scale) does not go past 6'8" and the nurse has to ask you how tall you are.
People ask you what they can do, or what their sons can do, to be as tall as you! Um...let me see....send them to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and have them stretched out on the Taffy Puller!!! Like genes have absolutely nothing to do with it!!! NOTE to Self...If your Mom and Dad are short, you have a pretty good chance of being short yourself!!!
The first words out of strangers mouths are...."You're Tall"! DUH!!! REALLY!!! That's what people keep telling me! Golly Gee Wickers...you are the first person to point that out! Thanks!!!
You are asked if you can give up a couple of inches, so the short person can be taller! The answer is.....NO!!! Go buy some shoes that make you taller or hang around people shorter than you!!!

Again....This is for humor, but is very real and are situations that I deal with on a daily basis. If I did any of the following to all the short people out there, I would not have any friends first off, and I would probably get into a lot of fist fights. ENJOY!!!!