The Means Spill the Beans

We have a new blog!

2010-10-08T17:36:00.002-06:00

I have switched over to a Wordpress blog. You can find us at http://www.meansfamilyblog.com

To update your subscriptions, use this link... "http://meansfamilyblog.com/feed"

Lake Powell!

2009-06-24T17:36:00.004-06:00

Look Ma, I'm bloggin!

I thought I would post a few pictures from our fun vacation to Lake Powell. We met our good friends the Husteads at the Wahweap Marina at 9:00 Friday morning. That was after we were all up all night packing and driving. Once we got there, we weighed down the boats to the maximum capacity and headed out to look for somewhere to camp. We drove around trying to find the perfect campsite that was sheltered from the wind and was away from the open water. We found an awesome spot that had a houseboat right around the corner so we thought we would look some more. 3 hours later we realized that the original spot was the perfect spot and we went back there. Thankfully no one had set up camp there yet. The moms got dropped off with the "stuff" and the guys headed back to the marina to pick up more of our stuff. It is amazing how much you think you need when you are camping with no water, no toilets, no nothing in the middle of nowhere. We enjoyed every minute of it though and I surprised my self by being able to stand not having any sort of bathrooms or water.

Things we learned:

Red ant bites hurt!
The best way to kill red ants is to pour gasoline on the sand and burn them.
Gasoline burns for a really long time.
If you light a lantern at night, every gnat in the whole state will come to check it out.
It stinks when gnats touch the lantern and burn.
The docks at Dangling Rope Marina half-way up the lake will burn your feet and leave blisters if you don't wear shoes.
The ice cream at the previously mentioned marina was delicious and perfect to cool everyone off.
Every boat will break at least one thing when you are 50 lake miles away from help.
It is a very good idea to have someone that knows everything about boats camping with you (thanks again Jason!)
You won't have enough time to do everything.
You will want to go back the second you leave. That place is amazing.

After we left Lake Powell we decided to drive through Zion National Park to get back to the freeway. We just didn't realize that it would cost so much to do so. It costs $25 to enter the park. We also didn't realize that if you pull a boat trailer through the park they charge you an extra $15 because they have to completely shut down the tunnel to allow you to go through one-way. Despite that, it was beautiful. We hope to go back and actually take the tour up Zion canyon. All we did was drive by.... We bought the National Parks Pass after seeing those two charges so look for a lot of traveling in the next year to our national parks!

Here are some pictures:

At Zion... waiting for the rangers to close the tunnel so we can go through
The boys tubing
I love this picture... finding a crack in the sheer walls to back a boat into
Rainbow Bridge... we boated all the way up there to find out the docks were farther away from the bridge than we thought.
The only family pic we took... on the docks at Rainbow Bridge
I'm going to miss this view!

Long time no blog

2009-03-20T14:40:00.003-06:00

I have been a blog slacker! I don't really have much news to post though... Abby celebrated her 2nd birthday a few weeks ago and we had a little party for her. Anna is busy with preschool and dance still and loves all of the friends she is making. Alli is busy with dance as we are entering the performing season. Justin has been busy with Scouts and recently passed off his Wolf badge. Now it is on to the Bear den. Chris and I are eagerly awaiting the return of summer so we can get back out on the water. Here are a few pictures from the other day of the girls playing in the warm weather we had this week. Justin was off biking around the neighborhood with friends so I didn't get him...
Also I wanted to remind anyone who is interested, I am doing spring mini-sessions right now... Check out the details on my photography blog ...And, just because I'm happy for the warmer weather, I'll also include 5 full-res files for any readers of my family blog...

Not too shabby at the School Spelling Bee!

2009-02-10T14:53:00.002-07:00

Justin competed in the school spelling bee today and walked away with 3rd place! Not too shabby considering he is in 3rd grade and competed against 4th and 5th graders also. He ended up getting out after the 2nd round after mispelling "diatribe". Then there were only 2 kids left who took first and second place. Then they called back up the 7 that were left before that to duel it out for 3rd place. After one more round, it was down to him and a fifth grade girl. They spelled back and forth for almost 20 minutes before she missed "achievement". Justin correctly spelled it and then spelled "lettuce" to win that round. Some other words that I remember he correctly spelled were: safari, excise, hawkeye, femininity, prescription, and exuberate. We have decided that he definitely has a gift for spelling and are glad that he loves it so much!

Some pictures: (Sorry, taken with my cell phone... I forgot the camera!!)
Before the bee... pretty nervous!

Fighting for 3rd place...

New Photography Blog!

2009-02-02T19:18:00.004-07:00

Well, I have worked super hard on getting a new blog installed to my website and it is finally up and running...

Visit http://www.meansalot.com/blog

And update your bookmarks. I just posted some newborn pictures I was able to take over the weekend... I love newborns!

As promised... Blake and Miranda

2009-01-27T19:44:00.006-07:00

I had the opportunity to shoot the Country Superstars Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert at the trade show I photographed... Here are a few of the hundreds of photos I took. All of these were shot with my new camera and available light (no flash).

Long time no blog

2009-01-15T17:36:00.003-07:00

It has been a very long time since I have blogged last. I think this past month has been the busiest month of my life. We had friends come and stay over new years, I went out of town for 5 days for business, and I had surgery yesterday. I have a ton of pictures to post and hope to get caught up while I recover and am stuck in bed. For now though, here are a few pics of Anna and Abby that I took on Monday with the lens I rented for the trade show I attended. I love this lens and hope to own it before the end of the year! The coats were Christmas gifts from grandma...

By the way, I really shouldn't be blogging while on pain meds... Excuse any and all typos and anything that doesn't make sense!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T10:17:00.002-07:00

I have been a bad, bad blogger! This month has been so extremely busy for us. I have been doing work for an organization that oversees all of the archery business in the U.S. Archery Trade Association (ATA) I haven't had time to really do anything else! Some highlights from the month:

1. Chris shot an elk... our freezer will be well stocked for a very long time!

2. Anna had her first dance performance (and Alli had 3 different occasions she danced this month)

3. I have been asked to attend the ATA tradeshow in 2 weeks to photograph it and I am super stoked because Blake Shelton will be performing and I get to be the photographer!

4. I got a new camera (due to the aforementioned job)... my dream camera... and I am going to have to learn to use it really quick!

5. I also got studio lighting equipment and I am excited to get a studio set up in my house. (We never use the formal dining room anyways... might as well make it useable space!)

6. Christmas is here and this is the first year in a long time that I will not be making homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning... frozen Rhodes rolls will have to do because I just don't have time this year.

We are looking forward to having old friends come and stay with us next week. There should be plenty of snow for you Linze!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Disneyland

2008-11-26T12:36:00.004-07:00

We had the opportunity to go to Disneyland for the past two days with the kiddos. It was a lot of fun but extremely tiring!

Some highlights of the trip:

1. Waiting for 2 hours to take pictures with the princesses only to find out that Cinderella left 3 minutes before we got to the front of the line (She is the only one we wanted to see). Anna was SO disappointed! She didn't want to take pictures with any princess after hearing about Cinderella. Here are the pics we did get...

What a long wait!

Anna wouldn't take a pic with Jasmine

We got her to stand by Ariel but she was mad...

She was finally OK with a picture with Belle

2. Alli and Justin were both tall enough to ride every ride. It was so fun to go on all of the "scary" rides with my kids and experience Alli's first time riding roller coasters. She loved them! Her favorites were Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. She didn't care for the Tower of Terror but did say she wanted to try it again next time.

3. Rain... the weather forecast called for rain starting early Tuesday but thankfully it held off until we were leaving the park at 9:00 that night.

4. The dog... Roxy got to go to Disneyland too. She stayed at the Disneyland Kennel Club. It is a great service that Disneyland offers that you can board your dog in a kennel right outside the main entrance. We were able to go and walk er a few times throughout the day and I actually think she enjoyed it because she had a cage right in the front window where she could "people watch" all day long.

5. Sleepy kids... Anna got carried out of the park both nights. Once she falls asleep nothing will wake her. We carried her from stroller to shuttle bus to the hotel and put her in bed without her even waking up once.

6. Yummy food! We love going to the Rainforest Cafe and there is one at Disneyland. We were able to celebrate Chris's dad's birthday and our sis-in-law Jessica's birthday there. (They have the same birthday!)

Overall it was a good time for everyone!

Sneak Peek

2008-11-08T22:06:00.003-07:00

Here is a sneak peek of our family pictures! I was able to swap photo sessions with another photographer. We decided we wanted to process our own pictures so here is her photography with my processing on it.

I am saving my favorites for our Christmas Cards but here are 3 that I have done so far.

Snow!

2008-11-05T10:01:00.002-07:00

Although it came a little later this year than we are used to, we got our first "real" snow last night. Anna and Abby were so excited to go play in it that they decided to go out bare foot (in pajamas) while I was showering. I had to hurry and throw some clothes on to go rescue my daughters who were crying outside because they were cold. Once everyone was dressed we went out to play and boy were they happy!

Better late than never... Happy Halloween!

2008-11-04T17:26:00.003-07:00

I am a serious slacker on getting this post out. But... Happy Halloween... 4 days late. I once again made the kids costumes this year and I once again wondered why I did it. We went to buy the kids costumes but I am too cheap to pay $30-40 each for "Made in China" stuff that will just fall apart. So, I spent less than $10 each and made them. All of the girls were fairies and Justin was a Jedi fighter. On Halloween night, we went to the church "Trunk or Treat" and got tons of candy. Then I let Justin and Alli go around the neighborhood. We only had three groups of people come to our door for candy (due to the trunk or treat, no one went out real trick or treating). Needless to say, we have a ton of leftover candy and I'm ready to throw it all away!

Here are a few pictures:

One of my faeries

2008-10-24T19:14:00.003-06:00

This year the girls are all being faeries (I love that spelling of it...). Alli had a Halloween party tonight at a friend's house so I had to hurry and finish her costume. Once she was all dressed up I, of course, took her next door to get a few pictures of her. Hopefully I can get the other two costumes finished in the next few days!

My daughters...

2008-10-10T08:42:00.006-06:00

Chris took Justin out of school early yesterday to go fishing so I had the girls to myself all afternoon. Since we are headed into winter I thought it would be a good idea to get their pictures taken. We headed over to my new favorite spot and started taking pictures. We got cut short though because right after we showed up four other families showed up to have their pictures take as well. Here is what I got so far...

This one of Alli and Anna didn't turn out as planned. Anna was getting cold so she just wasn't feeling the photo shoot anymore. Alli wouldn't sit on the ground because there were rotten apples (but not where I wanted her to sit). I think I will head back there and try and get all the kids in the apple grove.

Just one more

2008-10-07T14:58:00.001-06:00

... of Justin the other day. I decided to try a texture on this one...

My son

2008-10-06T11:47:00.003-06:00

Justin got a new beanie over the weekend and wanted me to take some pictures of him wearing it. Justin found a really neat old barn/shed that is going to be torn down so we snapped some shots there. I guess now that he is 8 (and is missing teeth), he has decided that he is "too cool" to smile. I like how they turned out despite the seriousness.

Gardening...

2008-10-03T09:32:00.003-06:00

The time has come to tear out the garden. We could get snow this weekend so the growing season has ended. I sure have learned a lot... like to start stuff outside as soon as possible and use the little mini-greenhouse things. And I have learned that you can never have too many cherry tomatoes when you have two girls named Anna and Abby. And that little Jack Russell Terriers named Roxy LOVE to eat peas in the pod and will go over and bite them off the vine whenever no one is looking and eats so many that she gets sick and throws up nasty green slime... But, most of all, learned something very important...

There is such a thing as WHITE CARROTS! Who knew? (and how did I end up planting some?)

A tag...

2008-10-01T18:45:00.002-06:00

10 years ago I:

1. graduated from high school
2. was starting my freshman year at BYU
3. met the most awesome friends a girl could have at 144 M Smith Hall
4. met and flirted with my hubby
5. learned to snowboard while flirting with my future hubby

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. get all my work done for my various side jobs
2. Make homemade French bread and split pea and barley soup
3. laundry (like every other day)
4. finish editing the multitudes of pictures and work on getting them to the people
5. is it too early to put the kids to bed

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. unbaked cookie dough
2. brownie batter
3. Chocotoff and Cote d'or (Belgian chocolates)
4. Leonidas (better than Godiva)
5. I love me some chips and roasted tomato salsa

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. pay off our mortgage
2. pay off student loans
3. invest the rest
4. ok... maybe take a vacation too
5. and... splurge on a new camera and some nice glass for it

5 places I have lived:
1. Duluth, MN
2. Brea and Escondido, CA
3. Tampa, FL
4. Provo/Salt Lake City/West Jordan, UT
5. Heber

Five jobs I have had:
1. JC Penney-- Young Mens dept and Shoes
2. I was a clown and did face painting (for a temp job)
3. Receptionist
4. Still run my own business
5. Best Job of All-- Mommy

I tag... Anyone with enough time to fill this out (or who would rather do anything than what they should be doing at the moment!)

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 or more people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

It finally happened...

2008-09-29T17:26:00.004-06:00

Being a mom to 4 kids you would think that I have seen it all when it comes to kids and the crazy things they do. There is one thing that I have never experienced before that happened to Abby the other day. We dropped Anna off at preschool and when we got home, Abby went straight upstairs. I had a few phone calls to make and when I was finished I realized Abby was being awful quiet. I went upstairs to find this...

I finally had a kid fall asleep on the floor. At 9:15 in the morning no less...

Saturday Fun

2008-09-20T20:31:00.003-06:00

We decided to go for a drive up Guardsman Pass to scout for deer for Chris's hunt coming up next week. Unfortunately it started raining as we were making the drive up the mountain. We changed course and drove down through Deer Valley and decided to see if Olympic Park was open. Unfortunately the alpine slide and zipline were closed due to rain but we sure lucked out on our timing of going to the visitor's center. The Chinese National Aerial Team was practicing in the splash pool at the time and we got to see quite the show of some awesome ski jumping.

This is the scaled down ski jump that they launch off of...

Here is one of their best guys. I was able to take 6 pictures within 2 seconds and then composed them all together to see the whole jump he did...

We watched for quite a while and then decided to go inside the museum since it started raining pretty hard. Here is Alli running the Olympic torch...

Then she passed it off to Justin...

Then the kids decided to take on the 4 man bobsled...

We plan on going back next week when Chris's parents, brother, and Belgian aunt and uncle are here. Hopefully the fun stuff will be open and we can get our thrills in. Someday I plan on spending the money to ride the bobsled too...

Avast me mateys!

2008-09-19T13:44:00.002-06:00

Ahoy! Me thinks it be mighty important to inform me lassies 'bout me favorite land lubber holly day.

Would ye like ta join me and unleash yer inner pirate?

Fer yer pirate pleasure...

Me pirate name:
Cheatin' Helga Scarr

Me pirate ship:
The Awful Knave of the Sargasso Sea

Them lovely names were bestowed by the wunders of the internet... Argh!

My new love

2008-09-17T19:05:00.002-06:00

Homemade Pesto Pizza! I start with a delicious whole wheat crust, add pesto sauce and pizza cheese, and then I top it with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden. Finally I add a little extra kick... feta cheese. Pure yumminess!

Finally!

2008-09-17T19:02:00.003-06:00

Justin sure loses his teeth slowly! I was the same way though. I remember needing to have a lot of my teeth pulled since they did not want to come out on their own. He finally lost his first "front tooth" (on the top). He has been waiting for it for so long that he wanted me to be sure and take a picture of him missing his front tooth.

New blog...

2008-09-16T12:18:00.003-06:00

I started a new blog just for my photography now that I am taking pictures of people besides my own family...

Check it out! (It is not finished yet though!)

meansalot.blogspot.com

Marshmallow Mateys

2008-09-11T11:47:00.004-06:00

While I was at the gym the other night, Chris had to make some phone calls to set up appointments. Abby decided that since mom was gone and dad was distracted, she would go into the pantry and have a snack. She only likes the marshmallows in the cereal so she dumped out a good sized pile on the carpet and sorted through them to get her prize. This is how Chris found her once he realized that she was being too quiet...

And I have to give kudos to Chris for figuring out how to take a picture with my camera. It was still set on manual and he took a few pictures fiddling with the settings until he got one to be bright enough.

Abby at Old Town

2008-09-10T14:31:00.009-06:00

While Anna was at Dance today, Abby and I took the opportunity to go over and check out the cute little "Heber Old Town". They have some awesome old buildings painted in funky colors. Unfortunately, it is hard to get an 18 month-old's attention when you have a camera in front of your face. I was able to get a few keepers though...

This last one is Abby practicing for America's Next Top Model... these are her "fierce" eyes...

Goodnight, Sleep Tight

2008-09-08T15:36:00.003-06:00

Due to the freezing/near freezing temperatures in the wee hours of the morning, I will be tucking my vegetables in with a nice blanket at night in order to hopefully extend our growing season... oh the fun of gardening in the mountains!

My little Anna

2008-09-08T15:30:00.003-06:00

Anna has been patiently waiting for her dance clothes/shoes to arrive in the mail. We ordered them 2 weeks ago but it took until today for it to arrive. She was so excited to try them on but not so excited to have me take a picture of her. It is so fun to watch her grow and do things that Alli gets to do. She is in a Creative Movement class and has already begun practicing for the Christmas Recital. I'm eager to see how she acts on stage!

My little Abby

2008-08-30T09:45:00.002-06:00

I think I finally figured out how to take some pictures of Abby without her turning around and running away. Step 1: Sit her in a lawn chair while she watches her siblings play. Step 2: Put a cute little hat on her that I got at Swiss Days. We will continue to work on Step 3: Look at the camera!

3 down, 1 to go...

2008-08-29T12:15:00.003-06:00

Today was Anna's first day of Preschool. We wrestled over the idea of sending her to preschool since she is only 3 and I never sent Justin and Alli to preschool. But, after the last week and a half of having her home with me while the older two were at school, I changed my mind. I signed her up to do the "creative corner" one day a week at the dance studio as well as a mid-week dance class. Hopefully this will help her to get more socialized and have an opportunity to get her creative juices flowing! Here is a snapshot I took of her as I was dropping her off. She was so excited to have a "brown" baby. She wants me to get her one just like it! :)

After I dropped Anna off, Abby and I headed over to Swiss Days. It was pure madness! I think there are more and more people every year. I had a hard time pushing the stroller through the crowd so we didn't stay long this time. I saw what I wanted to see, ate a delicious scone, and heard the yodelers so I was happy.

What's for dinner?

2008-08-26T15:00:00.002-06:00

All the hard work in the garden is finally paying off... I just went outside and harvested all these yummies! I think we will be having a squash/zucchini/pea stir-fry with a salad and salsa with that pepper and those jalapenos.

Wedding (Part Deux)

2008-08-25T08:50:00.002-06:00

On Saturday we drove up to Idaho Falls for the second part of Jonny and Jessica's wedding. Jessica is from Idaho Falls so her parents had a backyard reception for them. Their backyard was amazing. I would love to have 10 acres and have animals. They had 13 cows (7 moms and 6 babies) a few llamas, and chickens, ducks, peacocks... I had a fun time taking pictures of the kids running around all dressed up. My girls were the "flower girls" and they loved dressing up as princesses and wearing flowers in their hair.

Abby kept grabbing blades of grass and rubbing them on her eyes. I think she liked tickling her eyelashes with them...

They had these awesome suckers that the kids just loved...

Finally Abby got tired...

We are still recuperating from the trip... we drove there, stayed for the reception, and drove home. 3 hours each way with Abby who likes to scream in the car.

The rest of the pictures are on my Flickr.

Wedding Weekend

2008-08-17T18:41:00.004-06:00

Chris and I had the opportunity to fly to San Diego for Chris's brother's wedding on Friday. They were married in the San Diego Temple and it was a beautiful ceremony. Their reception was held at Santaluz and Chris's mom did a great job organizing it all. I had the opportunity to help take wedding pictures at the Temple and at the beach. Here are a few that I have edited so far...

I think that's enough for here... The rest can be found on my Flickr...

Congratulations Jonny and Jessica!

Look mom...

2008-08-13T12:06:00.002-06:00

I caught a butterfly! I should be cleaning and getting ready to leave tomorrow but instead I am sitting and playing in Photoshop... I am the worst procrastinator ever!

It finally came...

2008-08-12T00:10:00.004-06:00

When I bought my first DSLR camera last November, I really didn't know too much about what I was getting myself into. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong camera. It was a great learning camera and I have loved using it but it has limitations that were driving me crazy. So... I upgraded and I love my new camera! It showed up at 6:00 this evening (UPS sure was late!) and I painfully had to wait for the battery to charge. I was able to go out and snap a few shots of Anna and Abby before the sun went down... Please ignore the food on their faces and the hat on Abby... she found it outside and wanted to wear it!

Beautiful day in the valley...

2008-08-06T14:11:00.004-06:00

We have gotten so lucky to have a few days of overcast skies! For the entire month of July I don't think we saw a single cloud. I took the opportunity to go take some pictures of the kids so that I could try out my new lens. We headed over to the train tracks in Midway and I wanted to get some pictures of the kids on the train tracks but... unfortunately, we went at the wrong time...
So... we took some pictures by the old barn. Justin was suffering from swollen eyes due to allergies so we let him slide this time...

I love this one of all the kids but Alli wouldn't sit up more so we could see her... Once I told her to sit up more, Abby got up and walked away so this is all I have...

Time to go home... Abby didn't want anything to do with pictures. I will get some good ones of her when I have someone there to help me!

Wasatch County Fair Time

2008-07-31T16:35:00.006-06:00

It's Fair Days here in Heber and the kids and I went over to play for a few hours. It was so darn hot outside that we opted not to buy the "all access" wristband and instead just go on a few rides this time. The first one the kids wanted to do was the boat ride... Justin and Alli got bored really quickly but the younger 2 girls had a good time.
Then Justin and Alli wanted to ride the swings. Unfortunately Anna wasn't tall enough.

Anna wanted to show me the duckies... too bad for her I refuse to fork out the dough to "win" one of those prizes...

Since she was too small to ride the swings, she used her tickets to drive this car... For some reason she wanted to sit in the back seat.

Finally they went down the giant slide... wheeee! But wait? Where is Anna?

Yup, she was back at the top, too scared to go down. I had to climb up there and ride down with her. All of the other kids in line were really nice though and tried helping her to go down.

We then went to the exhibits and saw all of the things people had submitted. I think I will submit a few things next year. Baked goods? Home grown produce? Photos? Clothes I make the girls? The options are endless! We are going to go back tomorrow (if the kids cooperate) to see the livestock entries and we will go watch the parade on Saturday!

Fun weekend with old friends

2008-07-27T17:34:00.004-06:00

Beckie's family came and stayed with us this weekend and we had a great time. They drove up from San Diego and got here at about 8:00 on Friday night. After the kids got their wiggles out we burned through a Costco box of fireworks in the back yard while the kids played with sparklers.

Here are the kids begging for sparklers and pop-its...
I couldn't resist this pic of catching Abby at the right moment...
After fireworks, we headed back inside and the kids started playing Wii... I don't think Jack liked Alli so much...

We finally got the kids to bed at about 1:30 am and the adults stayed up playing Wii and games until 3:30 am. Unfortunately Abby woke everyone up at 7:00 am so we were running on no sleep for a long day ahead...

After getting everybody ready, we headed off for the lake to do some tubing and wakeboarding. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and Beckie's camera battery died but we were able to get a few pictures before her battery died and we used Crhis's cell phone for a few others...

Here is our brave Alli trying to convince the other kids to jump in the water...

Here is Kaylin and Justin riding on the tube. Justin told me today that Kaylin said he was her new boyfriend... :)

And the picture you've all been waiting for... I dragged Beckie out on the tube and we had a great time. She was hanging on for dear life at the end but thankfully Chris was nice and didn't try and throw us off.
Once we were done at the lake we went home and had some yummy fish tacos. played some more and put the kids to bed. We were exhausted so we played Wii again for a little while and went to bed ourselves.

They headed out of here this morning for their long drive to Denver... We had a great time though and the kids are already asking when they are going to come back!

Reunion Weekend

2008-07-22T13:00:00.003-06:00

Chris and I flew down to San Diego on Saturday morning so that I could attend my high school reunion. We had a great time catching up with my old friends that I haven't seen in 10 years. The reunion itself was not that great but we had tons of fun going to dinner beforehand with Linze and Beckie and their husbands. We ate at a restaurant in Seaport Village overlooking the bay and had a good time catching up. After dinner we said goodbye to James and Beckie since they weren't going to the actual reunion and headed over to Westin where the reunion was being held. We showed up a little late since we were at dinner for so long and missed the group picture and the awards. I won an award for "Most Kids" which I thought was pretty funny!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera so this is the only picture I have courtesy of Linze...

On Sunday Chris and I spent the day walking around Old Town and relaxing. The weather was absolutely perfect. 70 degrees and sunny. We keep wondering why we moved from there...

She smiled for me!

2008-07-15T15:46:00.003-06:00

Anna refuses to look at the camera, much less smile. I was so happy to finally get one of her "kind-of" smiling and looking at the camera.

Thankful Thursday

2008-07-10T12:05:00.003-06:00

It is Thursday again so I will list 5 things I am thankful for this week...

1. "This is the freshest lettuce I've ever tasted," said Justin after we cut our first harvest of lettuce from our garden. It was delicious! I am thankful that our garden is actually growing things that are edible after all the work we've put in to it.

2. My high school reunion is next weekend on the 19th in San Diego. I am thankful that my husband agreed to let me buy plane tickets last minute so that we could go to it.

3. I am extremely thankful that my mom agreed to watch my kids for the weekend while we go on our mini-vacation to San Diego.

4. I am thankful that Chris has been working so hard to get the weeds pulled in our yard. The yard looks 1000 times better than it did a few weeks ago. I am also thankful that he doesn't expect me to be working along side him all the time since I have 4 kids to be taking care of.

5. Finally, I am thankful for secondary irrigation water. We haven't had rain in over a month. I'm glad we only have to pay $14 a month to drench our yard and garden in water whenever we want to. I couldn't imagine what our water bill would be without it!

Fourth of July Weekend

2008-07-07T14:45:00.003-06:00

We had Chris's parents in town for the Fourth and we had a nice weekend. On Friday we went to Park City and saw Wall-E with the kids. Let me say I loved the movie. It had a more "political" message and it was totally a message that I agreed with. It was nice going to Park City since the theater was empty. We pretty much had the theater to ourselves on a holiday. Afterwards, we went to Cafe Rio (there's one there now!) and did some shopping. Then we came home and had a barbecue that evening. Then we got the blankets and chairs out and had some root beer floats while sitting in the grass watching the fireworks from Midway and the shows all of our neighbors were putting on. Then we let the kids play with sparklers and pop-its before heading to bed. We really wanted to take the boat out this weekend but unfortunately we can't get it out right now since we had a huge pile of bark delivered and they dropped it off on the driveway right in front of the boat. On Saturday we worked in the yard a ton and got a lot of horrible weeds pulled. We laid down landscape fabric and put bark down on all the flower bed areas that got over run with noxious weeds. We still have a lot more areas to do though and the pile of bark remains blocking the boat. Then we had a yummy barbecue for dinner with Mahi Mahi fish tacos. Later we had smores while playing a game of Scrabble. (I won!)

Here is Anna doing her typical pose while I tried to get a picture of her wearing her 4th of July skirt...

Here is my attempt at getting Abby to sit still for 2 seconds to take her picture...
Fun with sparklers... Can you tell what it spells?
More fun with sparklers...

Got Spaghetti?

2008-07-01T14:58:00.003-06:00

It's easy to forget until it is too late why a 15 month old shouldn't feed herself spaghetti...

Alli's Birthday Party

2008-06-26T08:46:00.004-06:00

I'm a little late in posting this... Alli had her birthday party with friends last Friday. We did a Pink Poodle in Paris theme and all of the girls had a great time. It took me a couple of day to get ready for the party... I had to make 40 poodle fur cuffs for the girls hands and feet, 10 sets of puppy ears, Alli's birthday dress, cupcakes, food, arrange the games and crafts, stuff a pinata... Thankfully everything got done just in the nick of time.

Alli wanted a real cake for her actual birthday so we made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Alli decorated the cake herself. If you look on the bottom she didn't know how to do it until she finally let mom help a little.

For her party she wanted pink cupcakes so she could use the cupcake stand that I bought for Abby's birthday... She didn't ask to help frost them again.

We made pink poodle purses, played a few games, ate dinner, ate cupcakes, had a relay race with doggie bones, and hit the pinata...

Then it was present time and time for the girls to go home. I didn't realize until after a few girls left that I didn't get a picture of all of the girls together... (it sure was fun cleaning up the mess that the party created!)

Happy Birthday Allison!

2008-06-18T15:11:00.002-06:00

Our sweet Allison turns six today! It is hard to believe that it has been six years since we welcomed our first little girl into our lives. She is such a caring girl. Chris and I cannot believe the amount of compassion she shows towards everyone she comes in contact with. She is pure girl-- she loves wearing dresses, having her hair done, having her nails painted, and doing everything that little girls do. The only sad part about her turning six is that she is now 10 years away from dating age... Chris better get his shotgun ready!

(this is the "are we done yet? pose)

We are having her birthday party on Friday and she cannot wait!

Thankful Thursday

2008-06-12T16:07:00.001-06:00

I saw this on another blog and thought I would post it too...

It's time for Thankful Thursday! List 5 things you are thankful for this week.

1. I am thankful that my one and only son is so excited to be a cub scout. We finally went and bought his shirt from the scout office so he is official now...

2. Even though I love where we live, I can't stand the lack of shopping here. I am thankful that the canyon is so beautiful this time of year so it makes the 45 minute drive to Costco tolerable.

3. I am thankful that I did not crash while trying to take a picture of the canyon with my cell phone.

4. I am thankful that Abby has finally given me a reason to go and buy her some shoes. Before this week, all the shoes did were help to keep her feet warm.

5. I am thankful that my sweet little Alli turns 6 next week and that we get to have her first "friends" birthday party. She wants a "Pink Poodle" theme and I am thankful that Oriental Trading Company carries a lot of poodle "stuff."

She is finally walking!

2008-06-11T09:07:00.006-06:00

All of my girls have been "late" walkers. Alli and Anna both walked at 16 months and Abby just started walking right after she turned 15 months. She still prefers crawling but is getting up and walking more and more... especially when she is playing outside.
I have been trying to learn to use my camera better. I am now trying to shoot on manual mode all of the time but it takes quite a while to learn how to do it! I really wish I would have paid more attention in the photography class I took in college. We learned about aperture and shutter speed and the bracketing for them but I didn't pay much attention since my camera I was using also had an Auto switch. Here I was trying to avoid a shadow on her face since the sun was to the left...
Here I was trying to properly expose Anna's face with the sun directly behind her... She gives me the funniest faces and poses whenever I get the camera out...Then Justin and Alli wanted me to take a picture of the butterfly they caught. They had the sun directly shining in their face so I was trying to avoid overexposing their faces and creating shadows on their faces.
This is how the "Auto" setting took the picture... see the importance of using manual settings?
On one final note... these pictures were taken yesterday afternoon. It was beautiful outside... It is snowing right now.... on the 11th of June... pretty much everything in my garden died. Time to start all over again...

Baseball Season

2008-06-03T09:33:00.003-06:00

Justin started baseball yesterday after taking 2 years off from it. He is on the Mariners this year and was pretty bummed that he didn't get the Padres. He was so nervous for his first "at bat"...He lined up to take a swing at it...
He hit it! It was a line drive to third base...
Which allowed him to easily get on first base!
We have games every Monday and Wednesday night for a few weeks...

Maybe she is teething?

2008-06-03T09:27:00.003-06:00

First she started with her thumb...Then she munched on lip gloss...
And when the lip gloss wasn't working, she moved on to the next best thing...

Congratulations Jonny and Jessica!

2008-05-31T18:03:00.004-06:00

Chris's only brother Jonny proposed to his girlfriend this morning during a sunrise hike to the top of a waterfall. I am going to have a new sister-in-law. They are planning on getting married August 15th in San Diego. We are so excited for them!
This is a picture I snagged off of Facebook of the two of them at the San Diego Zoo...

Whew....

2008-05-31T17:49:00.004-06:00

We have been so busy the past 2 weeks! Our little Justin was baptized today and we are so proud of him to make this choice. He was really nervous leading up to today since in our church we baptize by full immersion and he was afraid of having his dad push him under the water. Everything went over really well though and it was a really special day. Of course when I wanted to take pictures the battery on my camera died (you think I would be better prepared). We did get one picture beforehand on Chris's cell phone but I don't have it uploaded yet. After the baptism we had over 50 people over to our house for a luncheon and we had a great time.

It sure was busy leading up to today. As I have mentioned before, I decided to redecorate the living/dining room and I needed to have it done before today. So I spent the past week and a half painting, sewing and cleaning up the painting and sewing. It is not completely done yet but hopefully I will get it done in the next few days and then I will post pictures.

On Tuesday Justin came home from riding his bike with a mouth full of blood and a bloody arm and leg. He had fallen off of his bike and hit his mouth on the edge of the handlebars. We took him to the dentist and got an x-ray and found out what had happened. All of his baby teeth on the top are ready to fall out any day and the handlebar shoved one of his baby teeth up into his gum and it is sitting on top of the permanent tooth that is ready to come in. The dentist (who is also our neighbor) said to just leave it alone and it will fall out when his permanent tooth comes in... OUCH! The poor thing had a swollen lip and mouth all week. Thankfully the swelling went down before today so everyone didn't have to see him like that.

On Thursday Justin had his first Pinewood Derby for Scouts. Chris and I both had no idea the amount of time that goes into making a derby car and getting it ready to race. Unfortunately Chris has been slammed with work and church lately so I ended up doing most of the car from painting to drilling extra weight into it to sanding and balancing the tires. The long hours paid off though... he got second in every heat that was run... not bad for a bunch of complete rookies! Next year we will start a few weeks before the derby and not a few days before.

Now I will spend tonight and tomorrow recuperating from the marathon week before baseball starts on Monday and dance starts again on Tuesday. It never ends!

Abby is figuring things out

2008-05-21T09:35:00.002-06:00

Abby is getting smarter every day. This morning she got a hold of one of the nunchuks from the Wii that the kids left out. She took off with it around the corner and I followed her. I was able to snap a few shots of what she thought you were supposed to do with it.

And... yes, I did end up painting the room blue. It looks really bright in these pictures but it is a softer blue in real life. I will post pictures once I get the fabric I ordered and get curtains and pillows made. Chris is still skeptical of the blue but I like it-- it is a very "happy" room now.

Dance-o-rama Weekend!

2008-05-19T09:27:00.002-06:00

It was time for Spring Recital for Alli this weekend and it used up our whole weekend! On Friday night I took her to dress rehearsal at the Eccles Center in Park City (where they have the Sundance Awards). Then on Saturday she performed in the "Peter Pan" show at 2:30. In Peter Pan she was a raccoon and did a fun jazz number. She did great! Then we hung out in Park City for a few hours and then it we had to go back for the 6:30 show where she danced with her competition team for the last time. Alli is happy to not have to do the Princess dance ever again. Now this week (Monday through Wednesday) she has auditions for next years competition team. Sorry there are no photos... I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera so I couldn't take any pics. So, we have audtions this week as well as the last week of school, Justin's baptism on the 31st, and Justin starting baseball next week. Busy times ahead!

Opinions needed...

2008-05-14T09:52:00.003-06:00

We finally got our drywall repaired after the magical one year mark of being in our house. Now I can paint and decorate! It has been driving me crazy having walls all the same color. The first room I want to do is the living room/dining room. I'm thinking of doing blue, black and white sort of like this...

We already have white furniture in there...

I have so many little "knick nack" things that I want to get rid of from the last house that I no longer like. I'm just worried that I will hate the blue in a year and want to start all over again... hmmm...

Birthday Weekend

2008-05-13T10:16:00.004-06:00

What a whirlwind weekend! Remind me again why I had 2 kids a day apart from each other? We started the festivities on Friday night with a family trip to Upchuck Your Cheese (AKA Chuck E Cheese) where the kids had a grand old time putting tokens into machines... We spent $30 to get enough tickets for the kids to get $5 worth of junk. Yeah, we know we are dumb. Then, on Saturday, we had Justin's birthday party. Here in our small town, there is really only one place to have a birthday party--the ancient bowling alley. Justin loves bowling so he was all for it. I decided it would be fun to make a bowling ball cake. Yup, the ball is made of cake. I got this cool pan from Wilton that makes a "sports ball cake." I tried to set it on top of another cake using dowels to support the ball but the ball was just too heavy.

By the time we got to the bowling alley, it was about ready to fall off and roll away. Remind me to never again try and do a tiered cake when I have to drive it somewhere. It was quite the adventure getting there without the ball ending up in my lap.

He loved it though and all of his friends fought over getting the top half of the sphere or the bottom half.
For his birthday we got him camo and a camel pak so that he can go hunting with dad. Here he is modeling his new gear while holding one of the elk sheds he found with Chris last week. (Don't ask me why they are in the house... they are nasty!)

On Saturday night we went with my parents to Loco Lizard in Park City for some good Mexican food to celebrate the birthdays and Mother's Day. Then on Sunday, we had Anna's birthday. She has wanted a Cinderella cake for a few months now so I made sure she got what she wanted. By the time it was ready to decorate, I was burned out on cake making after the 2 hours it took for Justin's cake. I did a quickie job on hers and she thought it was "magical."

We tried to take a picture of all of us but Anna was more interested in licking the frosting off of the Barbie cake topper. She got new Cinderella shoes, Cinderella Polly Pockets, a Cinderella Barbie, a Cinderella dress... notice the trend here?

What a long weekend! It was a lot of fun though and Justin is already planning his birthday for next year!

Anna's Birthday Pictures

2008-05-09T15:05:00.003-06:00

I took Anna's Birthday pictures this afternoon with her wearing the dress I made her. I've started making each of my girls a dress for their birthday according to what "theme" their birthday is... Obviously Anna is obsessed with Cinderella and blue stuff right now.

I tried out a "vintage" wash on this one...

Big Blue Eyes!

Anna is 3 on Sunday!

2008-05-08T15:02:00.002-06:00

May 11, 2005 we welcomed our little Anna Marie into our family. Here is a slideshow of her first 3 years... Her Birthday picture will be up soon. Also watch for Justin's 8 year old slideshow soon as well.

Finally got a picture of them

2008-05-07T21:51:00.003-06:00

For the past few weeks we have seen deer tracks in our back yard and seen the "sign" that they were there (no those aren't black seeds!) We have also seen a buck and 2 does feeding in the pasture of the house behind us (the one with the horribly loud whiny dog). Well, tonight after the kids and I got home from church, we saw our friends in our backyard and in the neighbor's back yard. They were feasting on alfalfa that grows in our neighbor's unfinished yard. Sorry for the reflection on the picture. I didn't dare open the door or use the flash since I didn't want to scare them off. Now we are going to have to figure out how to fence in our garden so that it doesn't become deer food one night.

Starting Seeds

2008-04-28T16:55:00.003-06:00

I received my order of seeds from Bountiful Gardens-- www.bountifulgardens.org and got them planted in my kitchen.

Chris built me some garden boxes over the weekend and we will work on leveling them and filling them with some good dirt between now and Memorial Day. We cannot plant anything outside until then since we have a danger of frost until May 31st. He still needs to build 2 more but we got 3 done to start... (ignore the nasty lot next door that STILL hasn't sold... once we get someone living there we can put up a fence!)

Hopefully we will have some delicious organic fruits and veggies by the end of the summer!

Crazy Spring Weather

2008-04-18T09:35:00.004-06:00

Here is what it looked like on Monday... It was 73 degrees and HOT! The kids were playing on the swingset that Chris finished over the weekend (It has been sitting in boxes under 3 feet of snow since Christmas).

Alli and her friend decided to swing bare foot...

Justin and his friends were playing "poison ball" on the trampoline...

But, unfortunately our teaser of summer only lasted one day... Here is the swingset on Tuesday, getting buried under snow again... We are so ready for this LONG winter to be over!!

Locks of Love

2008-04-12T17:47:00.002-06:00

Our sweet little Alli's dance teacher (our next door neighbor) told all of the little girls in her class about Locks of Love since she donated her hair to it. Alli came home and told me that she wanted to give her hair to the little girls that are sick too. I was surprised at first since we all love Alli's hair long and she has let it grow since she was a baby. (She has only had 1 haircut before). She really wanted to cut her hair short though so I made the appointment and we went and did it this morning.

Here is her hair this morning before we left....

Here is the lady cutting off the 10 inch long ponytail...

Here is Alli in disbelief that her hair was all gone...

I also cut my hair today and so we both have short a-line cuts now for summer. Anna is jealous of hte short hair so I will be taking her in next week to get hers cut as well...

Roxy is confused...

2008-04-07T13:50:00.000-06:00

Roxy cannot figure out where Rosy is... She has been running around
the house crying all day. Everytime we let her out she runs to their
kennel and frantically looks around. It is going to take a while for
Roxy to get over losing her friend. The kids are doing well though.
Justin has been writing letters to Rosy in his journal and Alli has
been drawing pictures. When Anna woke up yesterday, she came
downstairs and said, "We need to go get Rosy at the creek... We left
her there." She doesn't quite understand what happened.

Sad day....

2008-04-05T17:16:00.003-06:00

Chris took the dogs for a walk this morning to their favorite spot... a new development up the street that has roads but no houses. Along the side of the development is a creek that the dogs had a great time running through and chasing ducks, rabbits, and even a few deer. Rosy started chasing after a deer and ran clear across the development right into the path of a pick-up truck. Sadly she didn't make it and we lost our dear Rosy this morning. We are all heartbroken including Roxy who lost her best friend this morning. The kids are very sad and went and helped dad bury Rosy by the creek that she loved so much. I never knew it would be so hard to lose a pet... Give all of your doggies and kitties a little love tonight because you just never know when their time is up....

We really aren't moving... APRIL FOOLS

2008-04-02T12:48:00.001-06:00

Yeah, that was a joke! We love it here in Heber and will not be leaving anytime soon!

We're moving!

2008-04-01T09:45:00.002-06:00

Craziness!! We are moving back to San Diego! Chris got a call from someone he used to work with when we lived there and wants him to work for him! We have decided that it is too good of an opportunity to pass up! Now we need to figure out how to sell our house here and find something there....

Bomb Threat????

2008-03-26T15:09:00.003-06:00

When I went to pick up Justin and Alli from school today there were a bunch of cops blocking the entrances to the school. I asked one of the officers what was going on and they told me to go to the park down the street to get my kids. I had no idea what was happening. Once I got to the park, I asked one of the teachers directing traffic what was going on and she said that there was a bomb threat and the school was evacuated. I parked and got Abby and Anna out (they both had no shoes on) and set off to find my kids. There were a lot of scared kids all over the place and luckily I found Justin and Alli pretty quickly and left. This kind of stuff is just sick... Whoever thinks that it is ok to do stuff like this to kids is just the worst low-life ever. (I am being nice in what I have to say about it...) The school handled the evacuation very well and kept the kids entertained for over an hour until parents arrived. Alli broke down into tears when we got home because she was worried that I wouldn't find her. I feel so bad that my kids had to go through that!

Link to news story...

Easter Sunday

2008-03-24T11:39:00.003-06:00

We took a few pictures really quick after church on Easter Sunday... we used the timer on the camera and Anna kept trying to run away... We went with the "green theme" this year... please excuse my hair... I ran out of time getting the girls ready for church and didn't have time to get my own hair done...

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T14:55:00.004-06:00

How do you have a City Easter Egg Hunt when there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground? You hold it in the indoor rodeo arena of course!

Anna was really excited!

They all got a bunch of loot and were really happy. The funniest thing from the day was that when we got home Justin told us that there were even real carrots there too. We looked in his bag and sure enough, he had 3 dirt covered baby carrots in there. I guess he didn't quite understand that the arena was used for horses and those were left over from giving the horses treats... He was pretty embarrassed!

Abby in her crib

2008-03-18T12:45:00.005-06:00

I decided to take some pictures this morning of Abby in her crib since I don't think I have any pictures of any of my kids in the crib... sad huh?

Unwanted Visitor

2008-03-15T14:22:00.004-06:00

Chris let the dogs out to go potty really late a few nights ago and had an unexpected surprise. Right next to our front door in my flower bed was a nice buck deer. The dogs chased it off but he was puzzled why it had come so close to our house. The next day we realized why...

See the deer foot prints? That darn deer was eating my tulips! They have just barely started to come up and the deer could smell them. I don't know how many he ate but I am really mad about it. I never knew that tulip bulbs were like candy to deer. We'll see how many actually come in now....

Abby's Birthday

2008-03-15T14:06:00.004-06:00

We had a fun time celebrating Abby's First Birthday... Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Her CUPCAKE Cake

Eying the goodies...

She's One!
She first thought it belonged in her hair...

Then she figured out how to eat it...

Happy Birthday Abby!

2008-03-05T08:48:00.002-07:00

Since I won't have time to post this tomorrow because of the funeral, I am posting this a day early...
Happy First Birthday Abigail! It is amazing to think that a whole year has already gone by since I gave birth to my last baby. It is hard to believe that we will never again have a newborn around. Abby is the greatest little girl and we are so glad to have her in our family.

Remembering Opa

2008-03-02T08:20:00.005-07:00

Yesterday morning my grandpa (Opa) passed away. A few years ago he got really sick and beat all the odds to get healthy again. He told my mom that if he got better he wanted to move to Utah (from California) and live with her. Thankfully he got to have his wish come true. We were very fortunate to have the few extra years with Opa and will miss him terribly. We know he is in a better place and we are glad that we do not have to see him suffer anymore. He was a great man and he will be really missed by everyone.

Opa's Obituary in the Salt Lake Tribune

She Crawls!

2008-02-28T15:49:00.002-07:00

I am happy to report that our little Abby has decided to finally crawl exactly one week before her first birthday! It has actually been really nice that she hasn't been mobile yet since we have not had to baby-proof anything. Now we have to figure out how to baby-proof the wood burning fireplace and the stairs to the basement. Does anyone have any ideas on how to put a baby gate up and attach it to a railing? Or how to keep a baby from crawling into the fireplace?

Christmas lights follow-up

2008-02-25T09:37:00.002-07:00

Back when I posted about Christmas lights I mentioned that we would be taking the lights down on New Years.... That was a lie... they are still up and will be there until spring when the snow melts. Our poor deer family has probably suffocated by now since it has been buried under 5 feet of snow for the past 2 months. We still have angel lady standing in our yard and a knocked over Christmas tree in the grass. I at least took the wreaths off of the garage lights a few days ago but I think our neighbors think we are crazy. Chris won't get up and take the lights down though. Maybe if the snow melts enough one day I will be brave and do it.... or maybe not...

Where has the past year gone?

2008-02-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast Abby is growing up! She will be 1 in less than a month. Today while I was trying to feed her some strawberry oatmeal, she grabbed the spoon and insisted on doing it herself. She made a huge mess but was so excited to be able to put the spoon into the bowl and feed herself. She still isn't crawling (or walking) but all the girls have been late crawlers/walkers. She is trying though and can sure get around quickly in her walker.

Cabin Fever!

2008-01-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am really getting sick of the snow. It snows EVERY day! The snow is 3 feet deep in our back yard because none of the snow has melted since before Thanksgiving. Spring cannot come quick enough!

New Job for Chris

2008-01-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Chris has accepted a new job at a company nearby. He will be working for a t.v. show production company ... as their Corporate Controller/CFO. He is going to miss all of the friends he has at now at work but is looking forward to this new position with a fun and exciting company. After all, he will be working for a company that produces fishing and hunting shows-- his two favorite pastimes.

TONS OF SNOW!

2008-01-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

We have gotten a lot of snow over the past week with more forecast in the next few days. We have snow mounds that are as tall as I am! Chris is sick of shoveling and snowblowing but I love it and secretly hope for more and more....

Christmas Morning

2008-01-08T10:55:00.001-07:00

On Christmas Morning, we had Chris's parents and brother over for breakfast. We had fresh cinnamon rolls and egg casserole.

The kids had a visit from Santa Claus who spoiled them way too much as usual...

Anna got a Pink Kitchen that she loves and some Littlest Pet Shop toys

Justin got some binoculars, a digital camera, some Game Boy games....

And a .22 Rifle!

He has been wanting to replace his BB Gun with a real gun for the past year. Now Justin and Chris can go and shoot "pot guts" and rabbits. When he is 10 he will take Hunter's Ed and go deer hunting with dad.

Alli got a TON of Littlest Pet Shop toys and a pink digital camera. She also got a few new outfits.

All Abby cared about was playing with the paper...

Better late than never--CHRISTMAS

2008-01-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind on posting pictures from Christmas... We had a good Christmas up in the mountains. On Christmas Eve I had my family over for dinner and presents. It was the first time I have hosted a Christmas dinner and it was a lot of fun.

I have posted just a couple of random shots from Christmas Eve. Since I was worrying about getting all of the food ready I didn't have time to take very many pics...

I've been Tagged...

2007-12-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

What is his name? Tisstafer
How long have you been married? 8 LONG years! :)
How long did you date? a year
How old is he? 27... He's youger
Who eats more? Definitely him
Who said "I love you" first? I think it was a mutual thing
Who is taller? He is 6'1" and I'm 5'3"
Who sings better? He refuses to sing unless he is butchering kids songs... so I'll have to say I do
Who is smarter? He will say me but I have a very short term memory... I would study for a test the night before... ace it and then forget what I just took a test on
Whose temper is worse? His... I never get mad
Who does the laundry? I do although he has started doing his own lately... He's sick of his clothes being mixed with kids clothes
Who does the dishes? I do... he is supposed to on the weekend but he usually saves them until Monday morning and I have to do them.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Looking from the foot of the bed, I do
Who pays the bills? I do... he has no idea what or when anything is due
Who mows the lawn? Him... I don't even know how to start the lawnmower
Who cooks dinner? I do... He cooks breakfast
Who drives when you are together? He does... he says my driving makes him carsick
Who is more stubborn? He is
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Neither... we are never wrong :)
Who proposed? He did... of course
Who has more friends? Me.
Who has more siblings? I do
Who wears the pants in the family? We both wear pants unless I am wearing capris or a skirt. My kids all wear pants too...

If I tagged you... you have to fill it out as well!

Christmas lights

2007-12-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

I can thank my mom for my fascination with lots of lights on the house. This year we didn't put too much up since it was SO cold when we were trying to get them up. I still have 3 boxes full of lights that are all tangled up and I didn't want to untangle them out in the cold. I think we'll see how it goes this year trying to get the lights taken down when it is only 2 degrees out after New Years and decide if we will do more next year...

Allison's Dance Performances

2007-12-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Alli dances and is loving it! She is on the 5 year-old dance team and loves performing. Last weekend she performed at a Christmas carnival and this weekend she performed at a Christmas Benefit Concert.

In her first dance she danced with her Jazz class to "Little St. Nick". They used surf boards as props...

Her dance team performs a routine to "When you're a Princess". She didn't want mom taking her picture but I did anyways...

They use these blue chairs as props and we have to haul them around to every performance.

Anna can't wait to be 3 so that she can go to dance as well. The owner of the studio (who is also Alli's teacher) lives next door and we joke that we will be paying her mortgage soon since we have 3 girls that will be dancing there...

Saturday Breakfast

2007-12-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday Chris likes to make a big breakfast for the kids. They love helping dad make pancakes and "hot eggs with cheese". Chris has always been a big fan of a "He-man" breakfast and loves to be able to pass the tradition on to the kiddos.

Alli is busy mixing the eggs for scrambled eggs

Anna is mixing pancakes and is trying to be as serious as she can for a picture

Justin gets to help cook the eggs since only "big kids" can work by the fire...

Abby is wondering why she doesn't get "hot eggs and cheese" (she did eat a pancake though.... actually she ate 3 pancakes and had the runs the rest of the day...)

Kids in their Christmas Sweaters

2007-12-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Every year I like to buy matching Christmas outfits for the kids. This year I decided to just buy sweaters since they can wear them past Christmas. Since we have 3 girls, I have 4 Christmas dresses that fit Abby, and 3 dresses that fit Anna. I didn't see the need to buy even more dresses for them. I just love these sweaters from the Children's place... don't you?

New Pictures of the Girls...

2007-11-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

It was the perfect lighting in our dining room today to take some new pictures of the girls... Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T14:38:00.001-06:00

Happy Halloween! I am finally starting my blog that I signed up for months ago... It is Halloween and I actually have a free minute since I made ALL of the kids take a nap. We stayed up late watching Haunted Mansion last night but the kids still thought it would be a good idea to wake up before the crack of dawn. I threatened them with no trick or treating unless they all took a good nap this afternoon. Justin and Alli have been off of school the past 3 days for teacher conferences so I haven't had a break at all. This year all of the kids wanted to be pirates. Justin still had his costume that I made him last year and he wanted to wear it again since "I wore it in Lehi and no one in Heber has seen it..." I made costumes for the girls that all match since they wanted to be "girl pirates". They all have a pirate corset (which they complained was uncomfortable LOL), a pirate princess tutu, and a peasant shirt-dress. I saw costumes like these selling on eBay for well over a hundred dollars apiece but I was able to make 3 of them for about $20. We have trunk or treat at our ward tonight at 5:30 and then we will go to all of our new friends' houses after that.