It's About Dang Time

Okay family and friends. I know that you have been asking that I do this, so here it is. I am just going to start with the last couple of months, and go forward.

First picture is of Brooks' first day of preschool. He is loving it. He wants to go everyday, and seems to be catching on rather quickly. Sometimes, Emma gets a little jealous if he learns something first. He can swim without the help of floatation devices, he can whistle, and he is not scared to smack the heck out of bugs. Love the little man!

Next up, Emma lost her first tooth. She came to me conference weekend, and said her tooth was loose. I was really surprised. She wiggled it all day on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night she said that it was bothering her. Cam and I were watching t.v., and out she came with a bloody headband and her tooth in her hand. She got annoyed with her tooth and placed the elastic headband on either side of her tooth, and pulled. She was fine until she saw the blood. She only freaked out a little though, because I was laughing. She got a lot from the tooth fairy, because she was brave. She now has yet another loose tooth on the bottom. Go Emm's!!!

Next, I have expressed to Cameron my desire to get outdoors more. He agreed, and yesterday we went hiking. It was quite the experience. The desert although beautiful after rain, can also be ugly without the rain. It was a really pretty hike though once we gained some altitude. We saw a tarantula, and of course Brooks wanted to kill it. We tried to explain to them, that we were in their house so to speak and to leave them alone. We saw a lot of lizards, and grasshoppers. The kids were exhausted at the end, and the adults didn't fare much better either. We just need to do this more often.

Well, that is about all for now. Just hope that I can keep this up.

Weight Loss

Well, I guess I am doing a weight loss thing with my sisters. I have to post my weight and I am not really sure what else. I am 5'7 and I do weigh 225 pounds. Ouch! I don't really  like admitting that to anyone. When I got married 11 years ago, I weighed 115 pounds. I know I won't get that skinny again, but I am aiming for 140 pounds. I think that is pretty realistic. Here's to hopin' I guess I have to include a photo.

Goodbye little Fudge!

My little sister had a guinea pig go to guinea pig heaven. Made me think of the Saved By The Bell episode. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

This year was pretty fun. Our ward had a huge carnival, games, popcorn, cotton candy, bounce house, and a fun little train to ride. I think everyone had a good time. The only disappointing thing was the food. It was just chips with cheese on top. I promised my Mom that I would post some pictures, so here ya go.

My Hometown

Hey all you Idahoans. I think this video is pretty cool. Check it out!!!   www.greatidahogetaway.org

Finally

Hi,

I know that it has been awhile, but I am back after much prodding from family. We have had a pretty interesting year, and I am not even going to try to catch up on everything. Here is just a breakdown of what we have been up to.

Movie Star In The Making

My sister had her 15 seconds of fame on her local news station. Check out the link to watch. It is the one at the bottom that says Tips on Hiding Holiday Gifts. She is the one that keeps her presents in the rubber maid container. CLICK HERE!

Tutorial Week

Okay Everyone,

One of my friends in Missouri has one of the best blogs ever! She has a knack for writing, and she is a great photographer and super crafty gal. She is having a Tutorial week on her blog that shoes some awesome make it yourself stuff. Right now she is doing a CELEBRATE banner. Check out her blog, and enjoy some "ME" time during the holidays. CLICK HERE!!

Christmas Caper

 So first off, I won't be posting pictures anytime soon. Our digital camera went caput, and it costs more to fix it then it is worth. So at least for the rest of this year unless I scan pictures there will be no pics.  

Thanksgiving was really fun. We had the perfect amount of people, and the food was really good. I was also excited that I didn't have to make it this year. I was in charge of bringing Sweet Potatoes and Pecan Pie. I don't eat those things, and have never made them so I was a little nervous. I used fresh Sweet Potatoes and roasted them until they were tender and the skin just peeled right off. The topping was super yummy.

Before Thanksgiving there was a Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Special. She made her own pie crust and she also made a pecan pie on the show.

So, I copied Martha.

I have never attempted to make my own pie crust, and was excited to try. It ended up being a little dry and when I tried to roll it out it kept falling apart on me. I tried to salvage it, and it looked a little funky when it finally made it in the oven. Good thing is that my Mother-In-Law and my Brother-In-Law's girlfriend couldn't stop eating it. So yeah for me. I also got rave reviews about my sweet potatoes, and pecan pie. Everyone was impressed that I roasted my own potatoes.

 

What did everyone make for their Thanksgiving?

So Cam and I went Christmas shopping on Craigslist this year. Emma wanted a doll house so badly, but those things are SUPER expensive. I was looking through people selling dollhouses and found this. The lady on Craigslist was only selling it for 15 dollars, and it even had some extra dolls and accessories. It is in super great shape, and I think that I hit the jackpot.

We stashed the dollhouse wrapped in a blanket in our closet until we could put it in our attic. Well, I was out and Cam was home with Emma. Emma apparently came downstairs and told Cam that she found a talking dollhouse in our closet. She was so excited for Cam to see it. He told Emma that he had to use the bathroom first. He ran up to the master bath and while he was in there he hid the house up in the attic. When Emma came into the closet and saw that it wasn't there she was super confused. Cam just kept telling her that he didn't see anything, and Emma was so insistent that is was there. After Cam had her thouroughly confused, she had to call me on the phone and tell me what she saw.

I had to think quick, and this is what I told her. "You saw a dollhouse? That must mean you are really special. Santa wasn't sure what you wanted for Christmas so he made the dollhouse appear to see if you would like it and play with it. Since he saw how excited you were, he magically took it back to the workshop so he could make it even prettier and more fun." That must have appeased her, because she now thinks that Santa likes to do magic tricks. I also told her that we had to make sure to write a list and send it to Santa so that he was sure that was what she wanted. Have any of you ever had that happen, and if it did what did you say or do? The last thing I need is my almost 4 year old think that Santa isn't real.

This Christmas is going to be really fun now that Emma really understands who Santa is. Although it does get a little annoying telling her that everyone who has a santa hat on isn't necessarily Santa. Whew! Happy Holidays!

Happy Halloween!

I think that we had a pretty good Halloween this year. Emma really enjoyed watching the Halloween cartoons and reading the Halloween books from the library. She really got it this year.
We had a ward Halloween party on Friday night. It was a fun little shin-dig. They blocked off some streets on our neighborhood. They had fun games in the park, and then they had chili, hot dogs, and cornbread in a little culdesac. Our kids were then able to go Trick-or-Treating at the houses around the area. It was a lot of fun, and it got them prepared for the Saturday night greed fest.
Saturday Emma wanted to go Trick-Or-Treating as soon as she woke up. She was upset that she had to wait until it got dark outside. We finally made it, and we were able to go out with several family and friends. Emma was so excited that she was able to keep up with the brutal pace that the older kids had. About 2 hours into it, she started to slow down and she couldn't hold her bag anymore due to it being so heavily laden with the good stuff. Brooks made it about 40 minutes and then we had a melt down. Too many people, and too much poking and proding him to go the right way. It was a really fun night, and I now know why my Mom never wanted to take us around the neighborhood for hours on end. You were a trooper Mom. I hope that you all had a Happy Halloween, and I hope that you covet my Edward pumpkin.

Freakin Hilarious!

This is so funny, and Brooks is in this exact phase right now. Enjoy!

Anyone want a pumpkin?

Anyone who lives in Arizooney. Superstition Ranch Market has pumpkins on sale 10 cents a pound. Buy up!

Here are some pictures of our summer adventure to the Grand Canyon. There is one picture of Cam and Emma at the Wind Caves, and the rest are at Slide Rock in Sedona. Enjoy. And yes, that look on my face is pure shock. The water was extremely cold! Emma has that scowl on her face because she hated getting cold and wet. She sat there with a towel around her the whole time we were there.

Back In The Swing Of Things

Well after a long hiatus, I have decided that I should get back into things. We have since moved into our condo, and Cameron has started school. It still is darned hot here, and I am excited for the weather to cool down a little. Here are some of the things that we have been up to since we moved back to AZ. I will try to post fun pictures soon.

June was a fun month, because I was finally able to go and see the Grand Canyon. We first drove up to Sedona, and had some fun at Slide Rock. It was very, very cold and I got up the courage to jump off of the rock into the water. My Mother-In-Law also videotaped the expression on all of our faces as we first entered the water and went down the rocks. It was a lot of fun, and the view was great! We then headed out to our campground for the night at Meteor Crater outside of Flagstaff. It was a great campground with lots of room, and a great fire pit. I will have to say though, if we didn't have our kids with us, I would have enjoyed myself thoroughly. The kids did not sleep well due to it being so cold. They finally snuggled in with Cam and I, but the mattress started to lose some air, and I kept falling off the mattress. I finally gave up, and went to go sleep in the pickup truck.

It was a really bad night, but we then packed up and went to the lava tubes. I stayed behind with Brooks, Loa, Whitney and Bailey. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we then officially headed to our campsite at the Grand Canyon. Our campsite was great! We each had our own little pad, and we had some really good food. Due to our rough night prior, we decided to change things up. I slept with Brooks so he would stay warm, and Cam had his own air mattress, and Emma had her own as well. All was good until about 3:00am. Emma decided that she wanted to get up and play. She was shivering the whole time that she was up, and I finally told her that I would take her on a walk and show her how dark it was. We walked for about 200 yards before she decided she wanted to go back to sleep.

The next day was great we walked all around, and it was so beautiful. The squirrels there are not shy in the least bit. We were also able to see some Condors. We then hit a place called the Watchtower. I thought that it had the best views of all. The tower itself was so cool. All in all it was a great trip, and I hope that we can do it again sometime.

The 4th of July was fun, and we had a good day of swimming, eating, and watching the fireworks. It was really low stress this year. We went to Apache Junction High School to watch the fireworks. We got there about a half an hour before it started and we got right in and had a great view! Brooks and Emma were enamored with the show.

We had a good summer. We have had the opportunity to do a lot of swimming and playing on toys inside of the mall. Emma is excited for Halloween, and I hope that she comes to love the holiday as much as I do.

Red White and Blue!

I am sorry for the delay in posting. It hasn't been easy living with the In-Laws. First off, the computer is in their bedroom, so it doesn't make for easy accessibility. I won't be able to post any pictures, because our camera lens got some dirt in it from our camping trip, and so now the shutter won't open. We just need to find the time and or money to take it in and get it fixed. We have been having fun in AZ, and the weather hasn't been too terrible until this last week. We are now officially hitting the 105 and hotter temps, although I will take it over the humidity.

Here is just a little story from my little Emma. I swear the kid is going on 13. So Cam's parents had a free movie weekend with HBO, Starz and Encore. We taped anything we could get our hands on. Anyways, we recorded Ratatouille because Emma had never seen it before. So the movie started, and then after a little dialogue the scene broke and there was a pause before it picked up again. Well, during that pause she turned to Cam and said, "Not bad Dad." She is my little movie critic. Brooks is growing so well, and he can see fragments of the alphabet, he likes to moo like a cow, and he LOVES to be chased. I think the kids are hitting their limit with living and "Grams" and "Papa's" home. Last night Emma was asking me where her bed and toys went. That made me so sad. I know when we will be leaving here, but our kids don't. I tried to explain to Emma on a calendar when we would be finally in our new house. Hopefully it will help to countdown days.

Well that is about all I have for now. Hopefully I can steal a few moments again soon.

Under Construction! Will Post Soon!!

Hey all,

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. You are all probably sick of seeing the twilight spoof on my site. Anyways, I haven't had a lot of time lately due to packing. We are moving to AZ on Thursday, and our plane leaves at a sleepy 6:50 am. I should be pack to posting more soon, but for now here is something to tide you over.



My mom and sisters minus Lyns came out to see me, and we had a blast! My mom was really glad that they Sky Tram was sold out. I don't think she wanted to go up in that thing.


It was soooo windy that day, but I thought we had some fun. My nephew Taggart was such a doll. I loved spending time with him. Good Times.

See ya soon posting from the great ol' state of Arizony.

Totally Funny Spoof Of Twilight!

Loved this.

Sorry for the Delay

Sorry for the delay in posting, and sorry for the length of this post. I think it is interesting but then again, it is my life. So read on my friends, read on. On our anniversary, our computer crashed. The motherboard pretty much fried. We were however able to get a really cheap computer at an auction, and just had someone put in all of our good leftovers into the new computer. It now of course is back up and running. Just a couple of things to sum up the last couple of weeks.

Brooks has learned another word on top of Uh Oh. It is no. Yep no. He just started saying it last night and then again this morning. I can't believe how big he is. He is walking better now, and is content to sit and play for hours. He is also a good eater. For breakfast he usually eats two packets of instant oatmeal, and just today he ate 3 pancakes. I love that he is a good eater most of the time.

Cameron was accepted to Arizona State University. Yipeeeee!!!! We are of course extremely happy. It was the program he wanted plus of course there is the added perk of having Cam's family there. We also will be in a more reasonable driving distance to my family as well. I really miss them. I am also excited for normal malls a Michael's and fabric stores that are on hand. Also I am excited about the fact that I will be able to eat at Wendy's again. Small little thing, but I love that place.

I am going to miss good ol' St. Louis. St. Louis hasn't been that kind to us. The coupe de gras was about two weeks ago when Cameron was severed from his job. He is getting a severance, but it is only until the middle of May. It is funny how life works. We came to St. Louis excited about a new position and the prospect of Cameron climbing the corporate ladder. We had such high hopes and it seems the moment we stepped off of the plane it all fell apart. I am glad however of the decision Cam's made to go back to school. I believe that this is what he needs to be doing. I will miss all of the free things to do here. The zoo, botanical gardens, the parks, the Magic House, etc... I am also going to miss some of the wonderful people that I have gotten to know during my time here. I hope that I will be able to keep in touch with some of them.

I hope to post soon again. These next three weeks are going to be incredibly crazy. I hope that you are all looking forward to Easter. I know I am, and Emma thinks the Easter bunny is like Santa. I guess he is, but it has been interesting telling her about him. Well, I am off to clean my house.

Happy Anniversary Cam!

Well, how do you sum up 9 years of marriage? I am going to try to do a little recap of our Topsy turvy tumultuous marriage so far.

1999
July 22nd-Cameron set his eyes on me for the first time in Chester, Idaho. I am from Sugar City and the population back then was 1,242.

July 26th-First kiss in the parking lot of an apartment complex at Ricks College. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers. The thing was, is that I forgot to put my number on the piece of paper, so Cam thought that I was just a playa'.

August 2nd-I wrote Cam a letter because I hadn't heard from him, and I kind of laid all of my cards out there for him. Oh, and I put my phone number at the end of the letter.

August 5th-Cam called me for the first time.

October 1st-4th-I met Cam's family for the first time, and we got engaged that weekend. Just so everyone is aware, I had only seen Cam one other time prior to this weekend. Can anyone say CRAZY????

December 28th-I moved to Arizona to date Cam. Good idea ya? I moved in with is 81 year old grandmother, and to tell you the truth it didn't go as smoothly as we all hoped.

January 22nd-I moved in with one of my Mother-In-Laws good friends, and they had a daughter that was around my age as well and we became roomies.

March 11th-Sealed for Time and all Eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a balmy 23 degrees, and snowing. After the ceremony, we had some time to kill before the luncheon. So in the spirit of making one of the biggest decisions of your life, we went to the mall with Cam's best friend James and looked at RV's. Now, I don't know about you, but I will do everything in my power to make sure that that never ever happens to my children. What in the world were we thinking? Gotta say though, loved my dress, the cake, Cam's tux, the refreshments (though I don't think we ever had any), and my wonderful, wonderful honeymoon. Thanks Mom and Dad for making it a good day. Also, thanks to Rod and Loa for making it a great day again for the Arizona reception. Loved them both!

Well, since that point we have had financially complicated marriage. I would rather have this trial in life than about a billion others. We will slay this dragon and move on, but I dream of a nice little house with a fenced in yard. Is that too much to ask? Anyways, I love my hubby so, so much and he has been my rock for as long as I can remember. He is a tightwad, he let me cry and vent when we couldn't get pregnant and I had to sit through baby blessing after baby blessing. He has the most amazing rear end! I know, I know. Hey, I have to state the obvious right? He is good with our children, and instills the fear into them that should be there. Who wasn't afraid of their father? He tries so, so hard to be happy with what he does and hopefully in the end it will also bring us some income. I couldn't imagine spending nine years with anyone else, and I will love you for eternity.

Happy Anniversary Cam!



Totally random picture I know, but this just is one of my favorite pictures.

Slamming Saturday

I don't know how many of you watch the Amazing Race, but since we are already into another season, I have to share with you one of my favorite moments of watching the show. Enjoy, and laugh your bum off!