The Funnest Toy...

at our house right now is this box!

It is so funny to see that babies and toddlers love boxes and paper more than the gift inside.
However, tweens.... not so much. I wish they would love the i-Pod box more than the i-Pod inside. :)

Happy St Pattys Day!

Hmmm... Can you tell I've been getting a few ideas from Pinterest? :)

101 Things-- #67 Diet and Exercise

So, I'm trying something new. My neighbor pointed out this awesome site for meal planning! I am super excited about it. It is written by a dietitian and nutritionist for families with kids in mind.
I just wanted some new recipes. A few new flavors in the kitchen. A way to make sure we were getting enough of the good stuff.
But... It costs 10 bucks a month. So, I am willing to invest $10 into this experiment. I will try it for one month and see. See if I actually use the recipes. See if the recipes have ingredients I have actually heard of. See if my kids actually eat the meals.
And as a bonus, see if I can lose a few eL Bee's in the process ;)

101 Things-- #13 Only Child Dates

Mike and I try to make it a practice to take the kids on one-on-one dates. We don't have a specific time frame, like once a month, or anything. It usually happens more in the summertime, maybe because we are home a little more. We have gone to movies, seven-peaks, shopping, and others.

Every once in a while, the kids get to do something extraordinary. In June of 2009, Anna got to go with Mike to Arizona. Right next to the Grand Canyon. They spent a weekend herding cattle, riding horses, and camping. An administrator Mike met through Curriculum Advantage, spent their summers there herding the cattle to brand and vaccinate the calves. So Mike and Anna went for a weekend. Kind of like City Slickers :)

Just this last weekend it was Abby's turn. She got to accompany me up to Washington to my brother, Brent's, wedding. Brent and Di got married on A Dock. Abby was the ring-bearer. It was windy (gusts up to 30 mph) and cold (we could see our breath at 2pm) but it was beautiful! It was all very personal and symbolic of them, their lives, and their relationship.

 Doesn't he look like the happiest groom?! So handsome.

It was a happy day. Abby was a great travel companion. I really am grateful to have  a "better glimpse" of who she is. Her cute little personality came right out. I saw her talking and gesturing a lot like me and my mom, too. The plane, hotel, dinners, (Abby falling asleep in the restaurant), farmers market were all very memorable. They really are times to treasure and remember.

500 Places and 101 Things

So, I found these great books on Pinterest (my source for everything fab) and I checked them out from our local library. I need to go buy them now, because I am IN LOVE with them. I just want to dog-ear and highlight  and have them 'til we have done everything in them! (Maybe not the swim with sharks :)
The basic theme that I love about both of the books is making memories. Meaningful, happy memories that will always tie my kids to HOME.
So, I have made a challenge for myself: Go to these places and Do these things, then blog about it!
Some of these Places we have already been to and some of these Things we have already done, so I will include those in the posts, too. The rest I will make a point to do.
The 500 Places are all over the world, (not exactly in the budget right now) so I was thinking I would start with the places around us, branch out to others in the country, then if the opportunity ever arises we can try some of the out-of-country places.

Want to join me?

Back on the Blog-Wagon

 Whew! Its been awhile! Just to give you an idea how long its been, (about 2 1/2 years) a few posts down I posted pics of Anna's 9th birthday. Just on Monday, Abby had her 9th bday! Crazy!

I'm thinking of this post as a way to just get my feet wet. Just get back into it a little. Hopefully it will stick. I really want to make a book of these posts at the end of each year. Since I've also fallen off the scrapbooking band-wagon. It'll be our yearly scrapbook all nicely printed out with no paper scraps or brads to pick up. :)

Anywhoo, the last post mentioned we moved into a new (new to us) house. After two or so years, we've made a few changes to paint, etc. Nothing too adventurous, the kids' rooms, the living room/kitchen, the inside of the pantry. All kinds of fun.

Also, adoption. As of the last post we were still in the application phase. Now my sweet little boy, Ammon (AJ), is ONE!

 AJ just 5 days old. I love that expression babies make.

 And now, AJ at 1. The year seriously flew by!

 He wasn't quite sure what to do with his cupcake. We had a little party for him with our family, and Cathy, Lucy, and Shauna. He pretty much rubbed the cake around, tried a bite, then threw the rest on the floor. But by Abby's bday 3 weeks later, he knew exactly what to do with the cake and ate every. last. bite.

Changes... Sorry, no pics

Well, we just completed our home inspection for the adoption. I was thinking she was going to look through every nook and cranny. I cleaned like CRAZY!!
This morning she comes over and just asks me to take her on a tour, writes a few things down, asks where I keep my cleaning supplies and meds, then DONE. Wow! WAY easier than I thought or was afraid of. And that is good because we will be doing it all again in about a month because...


We just (really JUST) bought a house!! Yay! We saw it last Monday and signed on it on Friday. FAST! We are excited about it. It does mean a change of schools (not 'til next year) and change of wards and change of friends, etc. I'll post pics when we get in. :)

As far as the adoption process, if anyone cares, we now just have to do our Dr. visits, write our birth-parent letter (intimidating) and put together a picture collage of our fam, then we can be approved!! :) Then I guess we just wait. or look. or tell people. or something. or wait longer. or something.

The first day of school...

was actually a week ago. But I am just now getting around to posting their pics.
Both of the girls L.O.V.E. their teachers. It makes me happy when they are happy to go to school. Although, I'll have to admit that it has been awfully quiet around the house with just me and Aaron. The days suddenly seem much longer than they did this summer.

Abby getting ready for her first day in first grade!! She said she was tired at lunch time and then there was still MORE school. She is getting used to it now. I love a toothless grin!

Anna heading in to her first day of fourth grade! She has some of her good friends in her class this year and they are all sitting by each other, which makes it very fun. On the second day of school, she told Mike that she was "chatty." Mike was saying something like she shouldn't really be so chatty on only the second day of school.

She replied, "Well, Mom was." True!! But if you want to stay sitting by your friends, you probably shouldn't follow my example.

I love how you can see her cute dimple in this picture. So fun.

It's midnight

My kids are asleep and I am not tired enough to sleep, so I'm on the computer.
I love to tuck my kids in at night, after they have fallen asleep. Sometimes I just lay close to them for a minute. Just to be near them when they are in their beds, quiet, still, sleeping, dreaming.
I think it is then that you can more clearly see your hopes and dreams for them, for their future.

Anna is 9

I can't believe my Anna is nine! {gasp} She actually turned nine July 3, but I am just now getting around to posting her birthday post. :)

Nine things I love about Anna:
1. She has a contagious laugh and brings a lot of joy into our home
2. She laughs a lot
3. She is a deep thinker
4. She has insights on things that are far beyond her years
5. She is so good
6. She is a great example to her younger sister and brother
7. I love it when she reads to Aaron
8. She catches on very quickly to anything she tries, from music to sports
9. She tells some pretty funny jokes

We finally had her friend birthday party on the 25th of July. It was kind of a beach/water theme party. They played a lot of water games in our backyard. They made a jar with the layered colored sand and beach-like ice cream treat for dessert. Anna wanted that instead of a cake. And that was SO fine with me. :)

Happy Birthday my sweet Anna, I am so grateful for you!

I {heart} friends!

I know I should be working on the MOUNTAIN of paper work for the adoption, but here I am reading your blogs and posting on mine. There are times when I feel very motivated to get it done, and then there are times (like now) that it is a bit overwhelming, so I avoid it and pledge to get back to it later (like tomorrow).

I have had such a blast reconnecting with friends lately!! Mike had an appointment in St George, so we went down and the Whittles met us up there. Fun!

We all had a good time seeing each other, and the SUN!

A few days later, I got together with my good friends and college roomies, Whitney and Shannon. So much fun girls~thanks!

Then Carol came to town! So much fun! The kids might have thought we were trying to kill them by taking them on a little hike, but we had fun and got some good pics!
Seeing my friends refreshes my soul! I am not kidding! I am so grateful for good friends! Thanks girls!
And last but not least, in the tradition of "hot rocks" we made "prayer rocks as a family. There is a cute poem about putting it under your pillow so it will remind you at night, then on the floor so you'll stub your toe and remind you in the morning. That's obviously not how it really goes, one day I'll find it and post it. It is a cute poem in real life. So far they have served as a good little reminder.

Hello. . .is anybody out there?

It has been SO LONG since my last post that I am seriously doubting if anyone checks this any more. I've been a bad blogger lately. Once a month? What's up with that?

Anyway, I'll just hit a few of the highlights from the last month or so.

I ran my very first 5k. I'm the one with the blue hoodie around my waist. It was fun and I was VERY relieved to see that there was a good group behind me. Besides tripping, I think coming in last was my biggest fear. I've heard people say that races are addicting and THEY ARE! Not so much for the running, but for the PRIZES!! I won a flash light! Doesn't get much better than that! ;)

Just last Thursday, Anna got braces! Can you believe it? It makes her look older, I think. She has been pretty sore as her mouth gets used to them. They look cute on her, and she might as well have them while she thinks they are cool, instead of later when she doesn't want them anymore. She really needed them, there was NO room for a tooth that needed to come in, so they put them on her now. They said that she may need them later, too. We'll just have to wait and see. I think she looks cute, older, but very cute.

And I guess with this post I'm making this public. We are trying to adopt. We feel very strongly that there is another little one to come to our family and my body just isn't up to the challenge. We are still in the "approval" stage. Our references are IN, fingerprints DONE, couple visit COMPLETE, now we have to continue to do our part to finish the huge MOUNTAIN of paper work, then the home visit and other things. It seems this stage of the process will never end, but it must at some point because others have their profiles online.

I have to admit that sometimes I go online to check out our "competition." They aren't really our competition, but you know what I mean. I do feel like if we are chosen at all it will be because Heavenly Father led that birth family to us. It seems like with all the other wonderful families out there trying to adopt, it will be a miracle if we are chosen. Sometimes I am nervous that maybe we won't be. Keep us in your prayers, and I'll keep you posted. . .

Catching Up

I haven't posted a REAL post in a long time, so I will try to catch up. This will probably be a long post. . .sorry.
We went to WA for Spring Break and had a GREAT time seeing family, friends, the zoo, and the Puget Sound. The kids had plenty of Easter Egg Hunts. It was very fun.
My mom, brother and the kids at Hartstine Island, where we go every time we are in WA.


We got home just in time to go to my nephew, Brandon's, homecoming.

Shauna had all her 6 kids and grand-kids there.


Then I bought myself an early Mothers' Day/Birthday present. . .a running stroller.

I L.O.V.E. it! Aaron loves it, too. Well, until we get about half way done then he is DONE. Mike went running with me this morning and when Aaron was wanting out, Mike found a worm for him to play with. . .whatever makes him happy so we can get home.


Then, sadly Grandpa Gygi died. It was bitter-sweet. He was 96 and in the very end he wasn't doing well. We miss him dearly, but rejoice that now he can hear, walk with out falling, and is reunited with loved ones.

Sweet Grandma Gygi. His funeral was beautiful.

Aaron and Lucy sneaking a keep-sake from the casket. I am so sad also because something was wrong with my memory card and so many of the pictures came out "damaged" or "un-readable". I will finish editing what I do have and get it to the rest of the fam asap. :)


Anna had her first Pinewood Derby. The boys invited the girls to the race (or maybe the girls just invited themselves, I'm not sure.)

Anna's car is the pencil, it was pretty fast. She didn't place, but she did get the prize for Most Original. It was a fun night. Quite intense for some of the kids.


Women's Conference was so fun. Good classes, good food, but the best part was seeing good friends again.

I spoke with Brad Wilcox (I'm his #1 fan! ), sat near Elder Holland at Training Table, and became very "line savvy."


And FINALLY, I am so happy that I'm starting to see some evidence of Spring in my yard! Yay!

He's Baaaaaaack!

Aaron in his cute undies! FINALLY done with diapers! YAY!!

2 funny things were said this morning:

Abby to Aaron: Did you sleep in your shirt?

Aaron in a grumpy voice: No I slept in my bed!

Mike had a minute where he couldn't remember the name of our land lord. So he just said out loud: What is the name of our land lord?!
Abby: Ummm, Jesus?

This post is for you Jill.;)

Our nephew Brandon just got off his mission from Chile! It was so good to see him! 2 years is a long time but it went by so quickly!

One less

Tooth! Abby lost a tooth while eating a little KFC. We actually thought she swallowed it. . . until we found it on the floor. Tooth #3 for her. She looks so cute with a hole on top. I can't wait until she loses the other one, I love that look! It just reminds me of childhood.

Dancing through life. . .

I guess that's what we've been doing this month. I don't know where the time has gone! Feb. has been a busy month, but busy doing what. . .I'm not sure. Lots of stuff, I just can't put my finger on it.





Definitely one of the highlights for our whole family was going thru the open house of the Draper temple. It is one of the new "smaller temples". Absolutely beautiful! Anna wanted to wear her baptism dress, so she would be dressed all in white. After seeing the temple Anna said, "I want to be married here." Every mother's dream! It really was a great spiritual experience.
I have been trying to keep up with my photo a day for "project 365," so I guess I'll include a few of those. Just as a reminder to me, I guess, that I have done something.






The End. :)