Thursday, December 11, 2008

Reverse Psychology and Doing It Together

OK--I thought I was patient until I had kids.  My biggest challenge these days is getting Owen ready for school.  He is distracted very easily and I get very frustrated telling him 10 times to get his clothes on.  So I decided NOT to get frustrated and try to get him ready for school in a way that we could both be happy.  So I used reverse psychology.  I told him that I wanted him to listen to me and that I wanted him to stay in his PJs all day--don't get your clothes on at all.  He started giggling and went and got his clothes on BY HIMSELF!  Then I told him that I was disappointed that he disobeyed me and that he needed to listen to me and NOT brush his teeth or comb his hair.  So he giggled and did it all.  IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!  We were both happy and both ready.  He told me, "mom, you're being wierd". 


However, I tried to do it today and he wanted to stay in his pjs.  So I worked calmly on convincing him to put some pajamas clothes on (comfy pants and t-shirt) and then we brushed our teeth and combed our hair-together.  It worked.  I wish I was a little quicker and smarter.  I might have to use a new technique everyday, but it sure saves me a lot of stress and frustration.

Pres. Uchdorf in his talk at the RS broadcast told us we innately needed creativity in our lives and being a mom and nurturing children requires being creative.  So it is!  Good luck to all of you and good luck to me as I try to get Owen dressed and ready for school every day!!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Santa's Nice List

I did this for Owen and he thought it was pretty cool.  He kept asking, how did you do it mom?  If you want to do it for your kids the link is:  Santa's Nice List.


Jared wanted to know if there was one for the Naughty List.  If anyone finds anything, let me know.  It might be some motivation to be GOOD!

Have fun!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving



Happy Thanksgiving to all you friends and family.  I hope you all had a wonderful day.  We had a nice and somewhat relaxing day.  Jared and I hosted the dinner, but all helped with the food.  Jared made the turkey, potatoes and gravy and I whipped out a couple of pies ;).  The kids had so much fun playing together that there was a lot of bribery to get them to eat something!  Football was on and then the day was over.  It seemed to go fast.  But it was nice to have a low-stress holiday.  The second picture is of the boys and their cousin Siatyl (Nash is in the back) watching Kung Fu Panda.  The other pict is the train track we built in the boys' room the other day.  Aidan and Owen have had a lot of fun playing with Thomas, again.  (It's been in the basement)


We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of two little girls (one from Jared's sister and the other from my brother & sister-in-law).  They could be here any day and we are very excited to add girls to the family.  Good luck you two!!  We are excited!!

I am such a pooper and so not into the day(early am)-after-Thanksgiving sales.  We had to take our car into get fixed this morning by nine and that was early enough.  We pretty much have our Christmas figured out and done.  The boys are pretty easy this year.  Thank goodness for that.  Maybe I'll have to sacrifice one day in order to get a great price, but until that day comes, I will enjoy sleeping.  Good luck to you shoppers!!  I hope you get all the super-buys  you need.

Good luck with all your Christmas preparations and hope your holiday season is fabulous!!!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Happy Halloween






Happy (late) Halloween everyone!!!  Hope everyone had a good time.  Ours was a good one.  Owen got to dress up for school and the kindergarteners had a carnival.  He was Dash from the Incredibles, but we couldn't find a Dash costume, so Mr. Incredible had to do. When I asked what he did at his carnival, he just said, "We did fun stuff".  That's about all I can get out of him--no specifics.   No one else could get anything else out of him either, so the kindergarten carnival is a mystery.  I tried all day to get Aidan to put his Thomas the Train costume on so we could go to the store, but he wouldn't do it.  They still gave him candy.  I wanted to get some picts of the boys, so before we went to our neighbors, I fought Aidan to keep his costume on so I could get his picture.  It was a lot of effort, but we got some good pictures.  It's a good thing we went to the neighbors, because no one else came to our neighborhood that night.  They were happy to see the boys. We went to the 'trunk or treat' at our ward building Jared's sister, Tailona, and her stepson, Drake, and thank goodness for that.  Owen was off with his friend and Aidan, I and Drake made our way around while Tai handed out candy.  About halfway through, Aidan figured out what he was supposed to do and he was off.  We had to hurry to keep up.  He had a sucker in one hand and his bucket of candy in the other and he just made his way around to everyone, some two or three times.  They had fun and were excited about all their candy.  Then after we got home, to our suprise, Jared came home shortly after.  It was nice to have him home even if it was for just a short time.  We're glad he made the trek.  He had been in Florida all week for a conference and flew to Vegas that morning and stopped in St. George for about and hour and then was off to see us.   Then later that night we were graced with the presence of my brother, Matthew and his girlfriend, Sheena in their costumes.  They wore these to the USU Basketball game.  They got quite a few stares, but I have to agree, they were pretty good costumes.  Brave, they were.  And that was our Halloween!!  We're doing pretty good with the candy stash and the boys have been pretty good about getting a little here and there and I'm grateful for that.  So here are some picts of everyone for you to enjoy.  Hope your haunting was happy and hope your ready for Thanksgiving soon!!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Sunny St. George

We made it here to St. George--just to visit though. It's been nice to see Jared, friends and enjoy the sun! Thanks to Janet & Savannah Walker who have so graciously let us stay with them. We sure appreciate you guys. I am so excited to move back and excited to be able to see all of my St. George friends again... on a regular basis--I've missed you guys!!!! We'll now miss all you northern people too :( ...man, I just can't have it all, can I?

Our house is still on the market. We're still doing all we can to get it sold. Soon, right? I sure hope so. Take care ya'll and thanks for all your comments and thoughts! LOVE U!!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

7 Years!!!

Jared and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this past (Conference) weekend.  We were so glad that we could be together and celebrated it with a night at the Anniversary Inn.  It was LUXURIOUS!  We stayed in the room called Juliet's Balcony.  It was  beautiful and took you back in time to Romeo and Juliet.  They had a huge tub, beautiful, soft bed, cool shower with a drip head and a couple other shower heads, cheesecake and just quietness!!  It was nice to just be the two of us.  Thanks Tiff and Matt for your help!!!  I am so happy to be married to Jared.  He is always so good to me and loves me no matter what.  We've been through a lot since we were married and I'm glad that it was with him.  Thanks babe, I love you.

We will be coming down to St. George over UEA, so we'll have to stop by and say Hi!  Take care!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Thanks a bunch!

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your love, support, prayers and fasting in our behalf. Thanks to Tiff and Matt for being willing to help, babysit, shop or just talk to me when I need it. My neighbors are so good to let the kids play and to visit with me too. I sure need an adult to chat with or I seem really desperate for conversation. Jared is loving his job and grateful to be back. I am glad to have him happy, but sad that we're so far apart. It's very different not having him around and as always, I took that for granted. Me and the boys are doing good. We have our good and bad days. Aidan tracked mud through the carpet last week--great for house showings! But LUCKILY, it dried, I brushed it, vacuumed it and you can't tell ( or at least I can't see any footprints!) I am learning to love my boys more each day. They are good kids, so different from each other, but I've realized what kind of love they need and how I can better take care of them. It's been a great experience. We've learned to work better together instead of always seeming to butt heads. I love it!

Keep praying for us. We really want to be together and start establishing some roots. I think we will again fast this next Sunday to see if we can't be down there before the holidays start. Who knows, we seem to like to move in November (every time we've moved it's been in November). So maybe this time will be the same.

Take care and LOVE you all!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Jared's last day, Owen's first day

We've been a bit busy with life.  We had many happy travels in August (as listed below) and then after that we began getting ready for Owen to go to Kindergarten.  August 28th was his first day.  He was pretty happy to be able to go to school.  We (I mean, I) had problems trying to find which bus he rode and what times.  It took us until after Labor Day to get it all figured out, plus we even got the buses to stop outside of our neighborhood (a big pat on the back to me) for him and another boy.  He loves to ride the bus with his friends to and from school.  He has a really nice teacher, Ms. Chris and is getting to know the kids in his class fast.  He's learning to write his letters and this week he'll have homework!!  I didn't seem too excited when I told him about it.  He said that it was boring :(  We'll see.  Me and Aidan have been hanging out while he's been gone.  I've been reading books (Sisterhood of the traveling pants series & now I'm on the last book of the Twilight series!!) like crazy.  It's been fun.


Last Friday was Jared's last day at USU.  I think he would have jumped for joy if he really wanted too.  There was so much drama last week that he was so glad to get out.  He's pretty giddy to get to St. George, but sad to leave us to sell the house.  We had a fast yesterday with our families to sell our house.  Thanks for those who participated on our behalf.  Please continue to pray for us, we need your faith!  We've had a couple of showing and tomorrow the realtors in the valley will be coming to preview it.  So we really hope that this will get us some showings.  He will be home this week with us and we hope to get many things done and to spend some time together before he goes.

We are happy for our time here in Logan.  I've learned many things and my testimony has grown.  Our ward has been so friendly and our neighbors great.  We will be sad to leave them.  We are excited to see our friends from St. George and to finally be able to plant our roots.

Thanks for all your love and prayers.  We really do love you and thank you for your support!!  We have the best family and friends in the whole world!!!

Much kisses and hugs!


Sunday, August 17, 2008

BIG NEWS!!!

Our WHOLE family @ Wolf Creek
Tiffany & Matt Hunting

Hello family & friends,

I am sorry it has been so long.  I don't get to the internet enough, but I'm at inlaws and they have it so I'm taking advantage of it.

We are doing well.  August has been a busy month for us.  First we had a reunion at Wolf Creek.  That was a lot of fun.  We stayed in a nice, huge house with all the conveniences.  Two kitchens, lots of bathrooms, rooms, beds, tvs, ping-pong table.  It was like an upgrade from home with an amazing view of the valley.  We did lots of swimming at the pool & went to a great beach at Pineview Reservoir.  We had lots of food to eat (of course) and had fun being together.  My brother brought his Wii and we had too much fun playing it.   There was golfing into the night and day, plus boxing matches between father and son (Owen vs. Jared:  Owen held up a good fight, but in the end was slowly losing and started to cry, so Jared had to let him win ;)  We all want one now!!  Thanks Nat & Bob for your hard work!!

Then the next weekend, my sister Tiffany got married to Matt Hunting.  We are definitely happy to have him.  He's so good to her and a great guy!  If he can survive our family, then we'll keep him!  The Bountiful temple was beautiful and the reception was nice the next day.  Everything worked out good (to the last minute, but good).  It was nice to see many friends and family that I have not seen for a long time.

But all of that is not our big news!!  No, we are not pregnant, I know that's what all of you are thinking!  Our big news is...  we are moving back to ST. GEORGE!!!

Jared has not been pleased with his job and so when his job at Dixie opened up at the beginning of July, he just couldn't pass it up.  It's been a slow process, but this past week, they offered him the job and we have accepted.  He is very excited to be back with Dixie and those he works with there.  They have been rooting for him the whole way.  Jared has always loved St. George and it's where he's been the happiest in his life.

It's more bittersweet for me.  I have a brand new beautiful house, with family and friends so close by.  Plus I really like Logan.   But I also have lots of friends in St. George and I know that I can be happy there too.  Our family is just going to have to make extra efforts to come see us.

I will have to be in Logan until we sell our house, but Jared will start working sometime mid-September or the end of.  He has a place to stay w/o paying rent, so that will help us a ton.  I just hope that we can sell our house soon, so we don't have to be apart at all or very long.  So please pray for us!!

We are excited to go back home, but will miss what we have here in Logan.  We have learned much and hope that this next season of life will be a bit less busy.

We love you all!!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Slacker!

I have so been a slacker, but I am not connected to the worldwide web anymore.  I try to forget about it, but sometimes I wish I still had it.  Maybe some day.  Anyways, we are moved it, not quite settled, but we are really enjoying the space and all the conveniences.  The kids have friends to play with and we do too!!  We have a good ward and work is not that far for Jared.  It's nice to be on the way to settled.  HOpe everyone is having a good summer!  We love you!


PS I couldn't get picts to download.  Next time!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Moving day!!



We went to the Parade of Homes this weekend and saw this beautiful house.  We've decided to sell our other brand new house and buy this one!!  Isn't it pretty?  It's even got a trampoline, & playhouse in the basement.  The kids will have a blast!





Just kidding.  There's no way, even in our dreams, that we could buy that home!!  It is a magnificent home that would be lots of fun for everyone!!  (It would be quite a job to clean!)  

Instead here is our nice, little, (compared to the other one) cute home!  We love it and we're moving in today!  We are very excited to have more room and I am looking forward to my dishwasher, roomy kitchen & my washer and dryer.  Such conveniences that I've missed.  YEEEEAAAAAAAAYYYY!  We made it!

Monday, June 16, 2008




I was supposed to have this up for Father's Day and I forgot that I had done it.  So here it is.  It's my favorite picture of Jared and the boys.  Jared is such a good dad to them and loves them very much.  He helps me out with them and is good to take them when I need a break.  He calls them his "Bestest boys."  It's always special to go with him places because he always gets treats :)  And they get so excited to watch race cars (Nascar) with him.  He is happy to have 2 gr-r-r-r-eat boys and they love their #1 dad!


I also wanted to say that I am grateful for mine and Jared's dad and for my grandpas too.  YOu are all very special to us and we love what you do and how you support and love us.  Happy Father's Day!  We LOVE you!

Quote under "Bestest Boys" says:  "Until you have a son of your own...you will never know the joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son.  You will never know the sense of honor that makes a man want to be more than he is and to pass something good and hopeful into the hands of his son."  Kent Nerburn

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Neighbors & friends


Wow!  It's been awhile.  Nothing great and exciting has gone on.  We've just be waiting for our house to finish and it's like watching paint dry--slow, slow, slow.   We should be moved by the end of the month.  To say I can't wait is quite the understatement!!  I can't wait to have my own kitchen (mostly a dishwasher), my washer and dryer back, my own bedroom and bathroom, my own scrapbook room!!  Can't wait!


We have had some good times here in Aggie Village.  Winter was an experience unlike St. George.  We've had fun being close to my brother and mine and Jared's sisters.  It has been nice to be close to everything, even Jared's work was just a few minutes away.  He loved it!  Our neighbors have put up with us and even been nice.  Even though the spring has been cool, the boys have been able to find some friends to play with.  Most of our neighbors are from out of the country...Sri Lanka and Napal to be exact.  It's been interesting to communicate with, but we've done just fine.  They are cute little kids.  This pict is of the boys and their friends eating popcicles--a universal kid treat!  Smithy (I have no idea about the spelling on either one, but that's how you say their names) is the girl and Lavadoo is the boy.  Lavadoo loves to ride his bike with Owen and they became fast friends, especially when Owen found out the he LOVES Thomas the train just as much as he did.  Smithy is willing to play with anyone, expect maybe Aidan.  He's kind of a bully to her, so I don't blame her.  But they have played together for many hours out back riding bikes, playing in the sand and on the playground.  It's been great.  We will miss them and the instant friends that we've had.  Hopefully we will be able to have lots of fun with our new neighbors this summer and beyond.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Solution for a Cuter Computer


One day I was tired of all my desktop backgrounds.  So I searched the internet for desktop backgrounds.  I wanted one that was kind of scrapbooky ( I hadn't started digi-scrapbooking, yet) and I found this cool website that sends me a new background each month.  Plus I can insert my own picts in the cute layout.  I thought some of you might like it.  It's Scrapbook Dimensions.  Here is a pict of my current June background. It's all cute and makes me happy!  This one I actually tweeked a little.  I added the "remember this" and the other journaling because it was kind of empty on one side and I thought I might turn this into a scrapbook page one day.  Anyways, just something fun I found to make my computer a whole heck of a lot...CUTER!

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Play, play, play




It seems like all we've done this week is play.  We had a great memorial day weekend with Jared's family.  The cousins had so much fun playing together.  It was fun to see everyone and we are so grateful everyone made the effort.


We were at home for a couple of days and then Jann (Jared's sister) invited us to visit with them at their time-share in Bear Lake.  So we went up Wednesday night and stayed over through Thursday.  Jared was glad to have a day off of work.  The kids had fun playing and we had fun relaxing.  It was pretty cool on Thursday, but the kids had fun playing at the park and walking along the beach, playing in the freezing water and sand.  I wish I had had a camera.  Owen was wet from the waist down.

Jared and I also revisited the place we got engaged which was fun to remember.  Then we took the kids swimming at the pool.  It was still cool, but they had fun.   They cried because they had to get out.   And now we've just been playing with Matthew (my brother), whose up for the weekend.  The boys were sad when everyone went home.  And next week they won't know what to do with themselves when we go back to normal.  But we're counting down the days until we move in (even though we don't know the exact date).  Hopefully, VERY soon!

I am so grateful the weather is so nice.   We love that we can go outside and enjoy it.  Happy summer!

Monday, May 26, 2008

In Memory



To me, Memorial Day always meant the end of school and the beginning of summer.  I didn't care much for going to the cemetaries to visit our ancestors.  However, things have changed.  I have lost some very dear relatives that I miss very much.  I am now grateful for the opportunity to remember them, their legacy and to teach my children about these wonderful people.  The most recent that we've lost is Jared's dad, Tom, and my Uncle Clayton Merkley.  I miss that my boys won't get to know their Grandpa Johnson very well and that they won't remember the times they had with him.  He was a generous, kind and loving man.  I am so grateful to have a husband who loves and tries to emulate his father.  My Uncle Clayton was always the life of the party.  He loved to laugh, tease and enjoy life.  We miss him and his laughter very much.  It almost doesn't seem real.  There are many others who have been an influence in my life and I will be eternally gracious of their lives and for their legacy.  I hope I can be worthy to be called their posterity.  We miss you and we love you.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Little Trip






This past week we went to Vernal then on Thursday we went to "A Day Out With Thomas" again.  

We had lots of fun at Grandma's and Grandpa's seeing everyone that was there.  Thanks for coming to see us.  We love being with you all.  The boys haven't known what to do with themselves since we left.  Owen wanted to go see Samantha today and was disappointed when I told him we weren't.  I think they miss the trampoline too.

We also had fun at Thomas.  Aidan was almost beside himself and Owen was just as excited.  They had the best time playing with trains, riding on the train, and playing at the Dairy Keen (train) restaurant.  It's was such a magical day to see and ride a real train pulled by Thomas, see Sir Topham Hatt, and play with so many of their favorite trains.  There was a little drizzle of rain, but it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves.  

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Grateful to be a mom

I did this layout in honor of mother's day.  This picture is probably my favorite so far of me and my boys.  I love being a mom and I love that I get to watch my kids grow.  I love their smiles, their laughs and the joy they find in the very simple things.  I am so grateful to be a mom.


Saturday, May 3, 2008

Aidan's before and after



After 4 months, I finally made it to the Logan temple today.  Hopefully next time it won't be as long.  It was very replenishing and very calm.  I needed it.  There has been a lot on my mind.  So it was nice to have some of that settled and be able to move on with life.


I have been taking care of sick kids this week, again, and now the biggest kid (Jared) has it too.  Owen had an earache on Wednesday night, but woke up that next morning with it gone.  That's never happened before.  I count it as a big blessing--saved us from a trip to the doctor (we don't have very good health insurance).

The big highlight this week was finally giving Aidan a haircut.  Last time we did it in Vernal and Grandpa had to hold a screaming kid.  So this time we set it up right, a movie, the water bottle, and I started with scissors instead of clippers.  He was doing good enough that I just kept cutting.  We even used the clippers. He didn't like it, but we got the job done!  He looks pretty cute.  IT was a big change, but it's grown on us this week.  Totally fits the little tough boy that he is. (If you look hard you can see the big goose-egg and cut on his forehead from contact with the slide.)

I am hoping this week that we will be able to enjoy a week of spring--nice, perfect weather with NO snow!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Heavenly Father's buttons

Today, was a warm, windy, cloudy day.  Perfect for some playtime at the park and to go fly a kite.  So after running a couple of errands, we stopped at the park that will be near our house.  The boys played for a little while and then I got out Owen's kite so he could fly it.  It didn't take long to get it up in the air.  He had fun flying it and running it around.  Except he kept getting near the trees and the wind was kind of crazy which made the kite dive.  I was afraid it was going to get caught and I couldn't get it out.  So I kept telling him to go out further in the grass away from the trees, but in a few minutes he was back near the playground, pavilion and trees.   After telling him for like the fifth time to get away from the trees, I got upset with him.  (I was actually upset about something else and I ended up taking some of it out on Owen.)  Then he accidentally let go of the kite and it started flying away.  He ran as hard as he could to get it back, but wasn't catching up to it.  Luckily, it got caught on top of the restroom shed.  I was still upset at him and shouldn't have been and now it was caught.  He was sad as I tried to get the kite free and I felt bad for getting mad at him.  Then just as I was about to give up and say it was stuck, the wind picked the kite up and I was able to get it free.  At that moment I knew that this was a lesson for me and Heavenly Father helped us.  So later I told Owen that Heavenly Father sent the wind to help us get the kite free and he said, "Oh" like everything came together and he understood.  


When Jared got home, we were telling him about our day.  I asked Owen how we were able to get the kite free and he said, "Heavenly Father pushed the wind button and that's how we got our kite unhooked."

I am surprised every day, these days, the things that Owen understands and learns.  I am learning that this is prime-time teaching and that I had better step up to the plate.  It was really cute and I was impressed with his concept of how things work up there.  Who knows, heaven could have all kinds of buttons that Heavenly Father pushes to help us every day :)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

All girl!


OK, I haven't done much this week or haven't found anything profound to say.  Plus I like the comments that I'm getting for my pages:)  So here is another one.  I don't do very many girlie pages, and I've had these pictures for years.  So without having to go to the scrapbook store and the photo lab, I had to scrap these pictures.  Jann this is for you!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

More Digital...


This is starting to become fun.  There are so many things that I can do!  Thanks for your comments on the last layout.  This one is all from ShabbyPrincess.com.  Thanks for your adorable FREE downloads!  I have a link on the left side, down a ways, for anyone interested.


Happy Green Day!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Dabbling in Digital


It's super late and I should have been in bed like two hours ago, but I've been busy creating my FIRST digital scrapbook page!  I think it turned out good (you tell me).  I have a lot to learn and relearn.  Even Jared had to help me remember Photoshop.  At the Expo, I got a CD full of papers, embellishments and alphas to try out.  I also downloaded a lot tonight from the internet.  But here is my very first page that I created.


It was fun to go to the Expo and I enjoyed looking at everything they had and all the GREAT deals!  I mostly got things for storage in my new scrapbook room.  It might still be a bit eclectic, like I seem to be, but I like the colors.  I hope they work.  It was also nice to scrapbook.  I started on our Disneyland trip.  There were lots of people, but next time it will be lots more fun with someone to go with.  I did have fun visiting with my mom and my sister, Camille, who were in town for the day.

Anyways, here is my creation.  I will post more this week! 

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Birthday and Run



Well first off, yesterday was Jared's birthday.  He's now the big 35!  He thinks he's old, but he's not really.  His work surprised him yesterday with lunch and a party.   They overheard him talking to Owen on the phone, the day before, about his birthday being tomorrow.  Then they stole his phone, got my phone number to call me and confirm.  He didn't think anyone knew, but then started to suspect when surprise meetings popped up and everyone in the office vacated right before noon.  He's too observant.  We showed up for the party afterwards for a little while.  Aidan was going nuts with the Olympus water dispenser, cups were everywhere and he kept pulling the water knobs.  Owen was happy typing away on his computer--"working".  They liked riding the bus to dad's work and back.  Pretty exciting for a 2 and 4 year old.  Then later we had a party with his sister, Tailona, and my sister, Tiffany.  Owen absolutely refused to eat cake until we opened presents.  For his presents, Jared got a two new race cars (one on the cake) and some levi's.  He's old ones have to go!  He had a good day he said.  We love him and are grateful for all he does for our family.  He's a fantastic dad and husband.


The other thing is... I was going to run a 5 k on Tuesday night for A-week.  But the weather turned awful--rain, snow and wind.  SO instead, that night at my fit club, I ran "Michelle's 5k-fun run".  I finished in about 42 minutes and I realized that it's not so fun.  I did good for about 2 miles, but that last mile was pretty tough.  And I am feeling it.  But I was proud of myself for doing it.  I debated because I didn't think I was ready, but I knew if I didn't do it now, then I'd regret it.  I am glad I did.  It's the most I have EVER run in my entire life at one time (as far as I know).  So here I am, 33 and being able to run 3.2 miles.  Not bad, I'd say!  At least for me.  Now the hard part will be keeping it up.  I did realize that running a 5k and a marathon or a half sounds fun, but it's not really my thing.  I'd rather stick to volleyball, aerobics, kickboxing and that kind of thing.  I like that.  Now if I could find somewhere to learn how to ballroom dance...

Have a good weekend!  I'm off to scrap!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Happy, Happy Spring!!



Today it is snowing, AGAIN!  I know it is spring and this is what it does AND I live in Northern Utah now, but yesterday was so nice!!  You could actually feel the sun on your skin.  It's just one of those years...  when I want it to be nice and I just have to wait.  I remember having a year like this my 2nd year in college.  I was so excited to lay out and do fun, spring things and it kept snowing all the way into May.  But it will be nice soon and I'll stop complaining!!

I am excited to go to the Scrapbook USA Expo Friday and Saturday.  I am going by myself, so if anyone is going to be there or wants to be there and wants someone to hang with, then let me know.  All I really want to do is scrapbook and get great deals on stuff.  So I hope that I can do both!!  It will be a nice break.

For those of you interested, one of my roommates from BYU has created a blog on getting organized.  I know I need this in my life.  I mostly lack the know how.  I really need you, Denise, to come and organize my house, mostly my scrapbook stuff.  So if anyone needs some tips or encouragement, I have included a link on my blog under Favorite Links (right side).  I will also make a link right here:  An Organized Hand

Happy Spring!!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

A Warm, Baby Animal Day






Yesterday was FINALLY a beautiful day!!!  So we spent most of it outside.  Our "soon-to-be" neighbors, Tarasha and Taya Haslem,  invited us to go to Baby Animal Days at the American Heritage Center.  Tiffany and Matt (boyfriend) came and hung out with us.  Owen really liked seeing the animals and petting them.  Aidan didn't mind looking, but it took a lot of coaxing to convince him to touch the animals, then he'd touch them for a second.  He liked climbing up on the wood fences and then he'd point at all the different animals and say, "Puppy, ooh (moo)"  I kept telling him the different animals and sounds that we saw, but each new animal was a puppy.  It was cute.  I think he enjoyed most the ride in the wagon, pulled by the tractor.  Every time he saw the tractor, he'd point and say,"tacter, whoa".


They also had some baby turtles that fit right in the palm of their hands.  That's the only thing Aidan held in his hand.  Owen's favorite was the pony ride.  It definitely wasn't long enough, but he loved it.  There were too many people and two tired babies to stand in line again.  We'll have to find a way to get more pony rides in the future.   It was so nice to be outdoors for a few hours.  The kids were so glad to be outside.  They came home with red cheeks and tired eyes.  Even today, Sunday, was very nice.  You could actually feel the warmth of the sun on your skin.  I hope that this is the beginning of many more beautiful, warm days.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

I was wrong...

I had my hopes up to go to the expo this weekend, but it's next.  I was a bit disappointed at that moment, but it's fine, I still get to go!  I just get more time to prepare.


I hope everyone was able to do something fun yesterday.  We went swimming together as a family for FHE and had ice cream afterwards.  The kids loved it.  It was Owen's FHE and he did a great job! ;)

Monday, April 7, 2008

Quiet weekend





This weekend, Owen took a ride with my sister to my mom's house (Vernal).  It was quiet, just what I needed.  Jared didn't even make me cook and we even got to sleep in a little.  Owen had a blast at grandma's playing with them and helping Christopher and Emily build their house.  He loves to help and work.  They gave him a little tool belt.  Pretty nifty!  I told him that it was my scrapbook belt, but he said, "No".


I listened to a little bit of Conference.  I have the hardest time sitting and listening.  Saturday morning I ended up cleaning the bathroom after a little accident.  I caught bits and pieces of the other sessions.  I did sit down and listen to Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk to young mothers.  Something that I sorely needed to hear to fill my bucket and that it did.  I am so grateful to get the Ensign, so I can read and reread it.  I think I need to be more like Mary (from the New Testament) and just sit and listen.

Aidan watched Toy Story and Cars several times this weekend, while we did what we wanted.   I did some scrapbooking...finally!  I had a lot of fun.  I only got 4 pages done, but I take forever to do a page!  It takes me a little while to figure a layout, whether scraplifted or not.  But most of my time is taken on trying to figure out which accents to use and where they need to go.  It just kind of comes after lots of looking and refiguring.  But I'm proud of the pages.  I think they turned out good.  I tried to do some new things on a couple of pages--like have some shape and not just always square and using my own handwriting for title and journaling!  I decided to put them on my blog for you all to see.  This will be the first time I'm published! ! ;)

I  am excited that I get to go to the Scrapbook USA Expo this weekend.  I hope to see lots of stuff and have fun scrapping.  If any of you are going to show up, let me know!  I'd love to see you.  I'll probably be there Friday and Saturday.  Jared took Friday off so I could go.  What a great husband!!  Love you, babe!  Here is the link if anyone is interested:  Scrapbook USA Expo

We should have some more updates on our house.  It got sheet rocked on Friday and Saturday and the brick is waiting to be put up and the siding should be finished.  So look for updates on our house blog:  house blog.

I hope that everyone has a great day today!  Do something fun!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

This one's for you, Russ!

If you don't already know, my husband is a big Nascar fan.  He loves to watch the race every Sunday and sometimes Saturday.  He likes Tony Stewart (Home Depot car), Dale Jarrett (UPS car), Dale Jr. (now that he's not driving the Budweiser car), and Kevin Harvick (Shell car).  I like to watch it with him sometimes.  It usually lulls me into a nice nap on Sunday afternoon.  I still haven't decided on which car and driver I like the best.  I told Jared they really need a Wal-Mart car because that's where most of our money goes!  During the last race, Owen found the McDonald's car and cheers now for it along with the M&M's car.  Aidan loves to play with the race cars and Nascar haulers that Jared bought.  I guess it has turned into a family affair.


So today when I drove by Lowes and saw that the #17 Dewalt (Matt Kenseth) car was there, I had to call and tell him.  Of course, he had to take a lunch break to go see it.  So we picked him up from work and took the boys to see it and take a picture or 10.  They liked it and it was cool to see what the car looks like on the inside.

Jared misses talking Nascar during Sunday School with his Cotton Mill buddies--Russ and Jason.  So after I took this picture, Jared said, "This one's for you, Russ!"

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

What more could a 2 year old want?!




Aidan had a good birthday.  I only got Happy Birthday Aidan! up because I was trying to download a video, but it was taking way too long.   So I don't know if just takes a really long time or there is something wrong.  We had lunch with my brother, my sister and her boyfriend.  Aidan loved his presents--Henry train, Annie and Clarabel trains, Cars shirt, Thomas and Cars books, train balloon, and a Thomas bike.  He can't quite reach the pedals on his bike, but he likes to sit on it and can push himself.  He even tries to carry his trains while on his bike.  We sang Happy Birthday to him and he tried to blow out his candles, but couldn't get enough wind.  Owen helped him out.  Then the fun part was licking the frosting off the candles and then sticking them back in for more frosting.  Hope no one gets sick :D  He was so excited about his trains that he took one bite of his birthday cake and he was done and I don't think he ever got another piece of his cake.  It was a fun day.  He loved his presents and had fun with his family.  What more could a 2 year old want?!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Aidan!!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Bathing in socks & 4 is my lucky #


One of my least favorite things to do as a mom is bath my kids.  It's such a huge undertaking and in addition to making a huge mess it really tests my patience.  I've finally resorted to bathing them separately most of the time just to keep my sanity.  The other night I was trying to get Owen in the bathtub, but Aidan wanted to get in instead and in a hurry to get him in, I stripped him and forgot to take off his socks.  I didn't realize it until Owen and Aidan were laughing loudly about it and I went to check on them.  I had to laugh and then stop Owen from getting some of his socks to bath in.  I did have to take a photo because I thought it was pretty silly and this one says it all.


Owen, my 4 year old, loves being 4.  He even told me that he doesn't want to be 5, he wants to stay 4.  Why not, 4 is a great number?  One day I took him with me to weigh in at Weight Watchers and for fun he stepped on the scale.  And guess how much he weighed?  44lbs.  Then we were visiting my parents and Owen was out helping my brother Christopher who was laminating his table.  He had his measuring tape and measured Owen.  And how tall was he?  44 in.  How often does that happen?  It probably doesn't happen very often.  I thought it was quite a coincidence and will have to document (scrapbook) this event.