Christmas Eve 2008

Feeling a little too lazy to type out the whole day! Enjoy the pictures!

Fun December stuff...the BIG day not included....

Olivia is loves to practice writing and sounding out words. She wrote me this poem.

I love you mom

be happy in your heart

there is love in hearts

I think she's amazing!

The little sweetie all bundled up for the Zoo Lights! A vendor that Aaron works with takes his group to the Zoo Light every year....and they feed us, too!

Little Miss Emerson ready to roll through the zoo!

My Mr. Sam-man. He's adorably troublesome and sweet and hard headed.

Zoo Lights!!

We did a little FHE Gingerbread Night. No Gospel principles were taught here, although I'm sure we could have talked about how our homes should be sanctuaries from the world....hey, I think I've got something for next year...

Sam's Candyland Masterpiece

OK, so technically it was in November, but Olivia's Kindergarten had a Western Day. They danced in the gym for us with their 3rd grade buddies.

This is Sam sitting next to me playing on his computer. He cracks me up!

Holy in need of an update, Batman!

Wow. I'm behind, I know it. I figure if Amy can jump back on the bandwagon, so can I!!! Let's start off slowly with Thanksgiving....

Wednesday the 26th we packed our car and headed to Utah! We only got about 20 miles into the trip before our car wigged out and we turned around to come home! Thanksgiving Day, bright (or dark) and early (about 3 am) we drove Grandma Great's car to Utah. Sam got car sick from watching the trees go by in the dark and lost what smallish amount he had in his tummy about an hour into it. The kids slept nicely through about Grand Junction and we made it to Payson with just enough time to change out of our traveling clothes and get to dinner!

We had a great time catching up playing with all the cousins for the rest of the day. Then, the sisters got together and planned a wild and crazy day of shopping for the next day! Lindy, Jill, Jennie and I decided to go Walmart to scope things out at about midnight. Lindy and Jill decided to stay all night at the lovely establishment whilst Jennie and I went home to sleep (12:45 am). The rest of the shopping party joined Lindy and Jill at about 4:30-45. We stayed out for the better part of the day! We went from Wallyworld to Shopko to Target to Toys R Us to the mall to Cafe Rio!!! Oh, Cafe Rio, I would go on many a crazy shopping day to enjoy a nice Pork burrito there. I went home to catch some zzzz's whilst the other ladies sallied forth with their elfish behavior. I think that night we went to Twilight, but then again, it could have been Saturday night.

Saturday morning we had a family Christmas Party where we had a knock down drag out Gingerbread House Decorating competition. It was fun! And Santa came. And kids cried. Not Sam though. He was content to avoid eye contact, grab his candy and get out.

So, these are two of the very few pictures I took this weekend. What a bad scrapbooker I am.

We went to church Sunday and drove home on Monday. It was a great, crazy, exhausting trip!

Tag, I'm it!

My li'l sis Jen tagged me. I figure I'd be a nice sis and play along....



8 TV shows I love to watch: lets hope the ones that are no longer 'on the air' count...

1. ER
2. Heroes
3. The Backyardigans...they do have a few catchy tunes, you know.
4. American Idol. I never vote but I get mad when the likes of Sanjaya hang around for so long.
5. Full house. I just love how the nice cozy music comes on when the "learning moment" starts
6. Iron Chef: mostly I thank my lucky stars I'm not a judge so I don't have to eat the stuff.
7. Food Network Challenge, especially the cake ones
8. Ace of Cakes. It's the show I watch with Livs. Dubbed "The Cake Show" by her.



8 Favorite Restaurants



1. Los Hermanos. Oh, Utah, the food there comes in a close second on my list of things I miss the most.
2. Cafe Rio...I need pork. Must have PORK!!!
3. Daily Freeze. I'm a grilled cheese lover. Copying Jen here
4. The Cheesecake Factory. Currently seeking friends for a girls night out here.
5. Red Robin. Two words: Whiskey River...mmmmmm
6. Cafe Mom's....not a true restaurant, but I'd drive 8 hrs both ways to eat there!
7. Ottavio's/Tepenyaki/Glade's/Brand X Oh, Utah food, I will be there in 2 short weeks!
8. LaMar's Doghnut Shop. There are tables there and it thus qualifies as a restaurant. I love eating cinnamon rolls bigger than my head!



8 Things that happened today



1. I'm going to start my day at midnight. I woke up sure I was going to hurl. I didn't, but just as I was drifting off again....Emerson decided to join me in bed
2. Shower. Sam decided he needed one too. There's no talking this boy down in the early morning hours.
3. Dropped Aaron off at work
4. Took Sam to Preschool
5. Dropped books off at the library
6. Went to Target7. Visited a friend and explained to her she ought not use her phone when high on painkillers
8. finished my taxi?chef?mom duties and sat down for a break at the computer!

8 things that I look forward to:

1. THANKSGIVING!!
2. Bedtime
3. Christmas! Shopping and all. I started listening to Christmas music before Halloween!
4. Hearing Sam sing "I Love to See the Temple" So cute!
5. Getting a rockin hair cut from Jen Jen...Razor only, por favor!
6. Getting a few bushy eyebrows waxed by my hot sister. Start the wax a-heatin, sweet cheeks!
7. Twilight. Coming soon to a theater near you!
8. Sister's night out!

8 Things on my wish list:
1. A trip to Disneyland
2. for the votes to be recounted and McCain to be the winner.
3. A hug and a kiss from my kiddos
4. To go on a trip somewhere tropical.
5. My personal Hairstylist to move to Colorady
6. I really want to find my drivers license and gym pass so I can go work out. Where ever they are, they're together!
7. to have a lifetime gift card to Gap.
8. To be gifted a beautiful fully furnished and decorated (to my liking, of course) house with a garden tub, a shower big enough to move in, and a maid.

8 People I tag:Hmmm.. let's go with:
I tag 8 people who want to be tagged. If you haven't already done this, then tag, or not. However you're feeling. I won't be offended, I promise.

Good Gravy! She's alive...and looking a bit off....

Happy Halloween, everyone! I've not been able to do a lot of Internet or computer things lately, so I've been lacking in the updates department. I am here to make amends and beg forgiveness with some darling pictures of a few really cute kids!

Emerson wouldn't stand still for a picture-oh, wait, she just plain doesn't stand still at all! Today during Sacrament she lifted her hand as I was passing the water over her and gave me a nice little shower. Then, my father-in-law said something in his testimony about how he'd forgotten how hard FHE with 3 little ones was. Between the 2 events I had moms and dads alike telling me life would get easier! Hooray for ill behaving children!

Sam. He is such a handsome cowboy! He is really not a scrapbookers child. He never looks directly into the camera. The lady in front of me, Sister Knight, turned around after Sacrament meeting was done and said, "He knows the agenda, doesn't he? He could conduct this meeting!" He's very vocal about when the bread and water should be arriving and just how soon afterwards he should be in Nursery. Do you think it would be wrong to take straight jackets and gags to church??

Olivia as a Pumpkin Fairy. Her whole Kindergarten class went on a parade through all the classrooms to show off their costumes. She is fairly well behaved. Her Primary teacher calls her his rock star because she is so well behaved in his class. She has a desk set up next door at Grandma Great's. They work together, sorting and piling and going through papers. 'GG' loves to have her over because she is such a big helper. Why do children act so different around other people? Olive is a good girl, don't get me wrong...but she very rarely willingly cleans or does whatever I tell her to.

I was thinking of going Goth or Emo....but I ended up Rock Star.

We went bowling after the Trunk or Treat. Aaron dressed up as a dad. Good costume, eh?

Olive and me....Fairy Princess and Scary Fairy.

My boys. I love 'em.

Other stuff worth noting:

We moved. Emerson was an excellent help! I was packing up a box of blankets and Em decided it was an excellent bed. It took a while to convince her otherwise.


Emerson tried to declare that where ever the Nesquik went, so did she. We brought it with us for fear Emers would not like storage.

Sam had Cowboy Day at Miss Patti's. We adore her!

Olivia and her mad drawing skills.

Blessed was the day Grandma Susan pulled out her costume boxes! Emerson had a blast plying in the necklaces.

We switched Olivia's school. She's now in a school that's much closer to me. Emerson doesn't care for the car so much. She screams BLOODY MURDER the whole way home. I am SO looking forward to 8 hours in the car with her come Thanksgiving!!

Is it done yet?? I just like the picture....

My baby is going.....

I had a first with Olivia the other day. The conversation started off the same as many others we've had daily the past couple of years:

Olivia: Mom, can I watch a show?
Me: Sure. Which one do you want to watch?

This is where it gets a little different....

Olivia: How 'bout Hannah Montana or the Cheetah Girls?
Me: *GULP* I'm not sure if that's on right now, let's check....

I swear yesterday all she wanted was Blue's Clues and Animal Planet shows. Just yesterday I tried watching Hannah Montana to see what it was all about. Just yesterday she told me Hannah Montana was boring and she didn't like it so can we please watch Growing Up? But, she wasn't in school then. She was in my little protective bubble....

My brother in law posted this letter on our family site. It still gets me every time I read it. So go ahead, grab a tissue, and (for maybe the first time in your life) consider all the benefits of home schooling.

Dear World:
I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crisp dress ... with two blue eyes ... and a happy laugh that ripples all day long and a flash of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning ... and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Good Bye"... and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in line ... and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears to the sounds of school-bells ... and deadlines ... and she'll learn to giggle ... and gossip ... and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her.

And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in a sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about important things.

Like grades ... and which dress to wear ... and who's best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls.

And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and parent and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ... which is only right. But, no longer will I be the smartest person in the whole world.

Today when that school bell rings for the first time ... she'll learn what it means to be a member of a group. With all it's privileges. And it's disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud. Or kiss dogs. Or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms. Or even watch ants scurry across cracks in the summer sidewalk.

Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to become a woman.

So, World. I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crisp dress ... with two blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long ... and a flash of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

Sniffle, sniffle.

Good Ol' Onion Days

I uploaded these pictures a little while ago, but i have not really been in the mood to blog about them. Don't get me wrong, I had an excellent time....I'm just tired and busy and going crazy and normal stuff like that. Well, on to the good stuff!

The pictures are out of order, sorry, I'm not fixing it! Monday I ran my first 5k. I actually enjoyed myself! I ran it in 30:30. Not too shabby for a running hater. I am already looking forward to running another!

Emerson's first Carnival ride! She loved it! she had the cutest little grin on her face the whole time. When the Merry-Go Round stopped she threw a big ol' kicking, screaming, back arching fit until her obedient father went to get more tickets. then , she clapped and smiled again....for 3 minutes.
Sambo and the twins (Max and Chase) thought they were pretty cool in their big truck. Although, this truck, even if it were to scale, would have nothing on the trucks I see driving around Utah. I wounder how many of the drivers need ladders to get in??

Olivia with two of her favorite reasons to visit Utah, Gracie and Lauren. Megan isn't in this picture, but she absolutely adores her cousins.

He looks like a fire fighter in this picture! But not the kind of fire fighter that poses for those "Hot Fire Fighter" calendars. I don't think I'll recommend this profession to him. I'd rather he not be going into burning buildings. Why tempt fate?

Jen's work had a little shin dig Saturday night. The kiddos loved it. Liv made it about half way up the wall. She thought she was pretty cool!

Olivia and her personal stylist! Thanks for the cute haircuts and fun times, Jennica!

Ahem...."she's a maniac, MANIAC on the floor...and she's diggin' like she's never dug before..." To answer any questions that might be in your heads...Aaron was in charge of both her and the camera. While I am generally not too terribly opposed to my children digging in the dirt, I prefer they don't do it in their cute clothes.

Olivia, and her version of cotton mouth, with my sister in law, Ashley.

We had a great time visiting family. Sure, it got a little (or A LOT) rainy here and there, but I'd run through more torrential down pours in the middle of the Band Concert and Parade to hang out with my family any time!