"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift, that's why we call it the present."

Saturday, January 23, 2010

*What Have You Done?"

Some of my sisters have done this on their blogs and I thought it looked fun, if you would like - copy and paste my list, then highlight and bold the ones you have done. Then comment so I know who to check out. FYI This is for both Chris and I.

1. Started your own blog (J)
2. Slept under the stars (C&J)
3. Played in a band (J)
4. Visited Hawaii (C&J)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given to charity (C&J)
7. Been to Disneyland/world (C&J)
8. Climbed a mountain (C&J)
9. Held a praying mantis (J)
10. Sang a solo (J)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (C&J)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (C&J)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (J)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (J)
18. Grown your own vegetables (C&J)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight (C&J)
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (C&J)
24. Built a snow fort (C)
25. Held a lamb (C&J)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (not in Venice...in Jackson Hole:) (C&J)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (C&J)
31. Hit a home run (C)
32. Been on a cruise (C&J)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (J)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community (J)
36. Taught yourself a new language (sign-language when I was 12) (J)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (when we were first married:) (C&J)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (C)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (C&J)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (J)
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (C&J)
46. Been transported in an ambulance (J) When my Mom got in her accident)
47. Had your portrait painted (does chalk count?) (J)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (C&J)
52. Kissed in the rain (C&J)
53. Played in the mud (C&J)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (C&J)
55. Been in a movie (not a movie, a TV series, I was just an extra)(J)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (C&J)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (C&J)
63. Gotten flowers for no reason (J)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (C)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (J)
68. Flown in a helicopter (J) When my Mom was life-flighted
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (J)
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (C&J)
73. Stood in Times Square (J)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (C)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (C&J)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (C&J)
80. Published a book (My blog book counts, right?)(J)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (C&J)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (C&J)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (J)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (C)
88. Had chickenpox (C&J)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (C&J) Jada Pinkett Smith, Martina McBride, Diamond Rio, Dierks Bently (there's more I just cant think right now)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one (C&J)
94. Had a baby (J)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone (C&J)
99. Been stung by a bee (C&J)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

*I am a Child of God*

Cute Story: The other day Hunter and I went downstairs to get some lunch (Skyla was asleep) Once I had made it and we started eating it was kind of quiet and Hunter turns to me and we have the following conversation:

Hunter: "Who are you?"
Mommy: "I'm your Mother"
Hunter: "No, who ARE you?"
Mommy: "I'm your Mommy!"
Hunter: (getting frustrated at this point) NO, NO, NO...WHO ARE YOU?!"
Mommy: (knowing that I'm not giving him the "right" answer says) "Your Friend?"
Hunter: "No Mommy, your a Child of God!"

I guess he really is learning something in Primary after all. (Usually when we come home from church and ask him what he's learned about, he says Santa Clause!)

*Happy Birthday Uncle Cory!*

My cute brother Cory's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and they invited us to Tucanos for his Birthday Dinner. First off, if you haven't been there....you need to, it is INCREDIBLE! Second of all, it's wicked expensive so be prepared! Anyway, we had a blast hanging out with the family (including Kieth and his cute little boy)Thanks again guys for inviting us! We love you!



I cut myself out of this picture because I look like a WHALE!

*Cabin Fun*

Every year after Christmas, my family likes to go up to our cabin until New Years. This year it was our family, Kelly & Jen's family, and Bret & Natalie's family. It was so much fun! The day after we got there is when we got the call that Kaylee Lyn was on her way so there are not many pictures because I took my camera with me to take pictures of the baby. But I did happen to get a couple.Isn't she the cutest little snow bunny you have ever seen?!
When the adults were headed for a snowmobile ride, Grandma and the kids were waving goodbye to us from the top windows. It was so cute!

They took me along so that I could take some awesome pictures of them...problem was...it was BUTT COLD and my camera did not want to cooperate. Frustrating!

Cute Hunter...LOVES the cabin and snowmobiling.
Everybody just hanging out and stuffed to the max! Bret is the most amazing cook and he was in charge of dinner that night...chicken cordon blue and potatoes...my mouth is watering just thinking about it! YUM!
Anyway, we had such a great time and cant wait til next year.:)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

*Kaylee Lyn*





This is my Beautiful niece, Kaylee Lyn. She made her grand entrance three weeks early on the last day of the year (which is also my Grandpa's birthday...kind of awesome) My family had just gone to our cabin the day before and the next morning my Mom yelled "There havin the baby!" We were all so excited. Mom and I rushed to put our stuff together and drove down to be there. We sat outside the door while everything was happening and it was so awesome to hear her cry for the first time. It was also so neat to watch Megan's Mom and Dad (first time grandparents) get so emotional. It was a beautiful day and Megan did awesome. Kaylee is complete perfection and I'm so glad she's here.
Here are a few of the photo's I took:
Aren't they both beautiful!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

*Christmas Overload*

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year! It was fun to see all of the kids wake up and be SOOO excited to go downstairs and see what they got. Hunter asked for a Big Boy Bike, a succor, and a candy cane...of course he got everything he asked for and more. Chris built him and Skyla a beautiful kitchen (the saw broke the day before Christmas so it's not quiet finished) They both got a lot of fun little things.



We woke Skyla up about 1/2 hour after the other kids and she was so happy opening gifts.


When everybody started clearing out we decided to go upstairs to our living room and have another round of gifts, these are the gifts the kids got for each other.Later that day we went over to Provo Town Centre and watched the movie "The Blind Side" and loved it. After that we went to the Festival of Lights. What a wonderful Christmas. I can't believe it has come and gone...here's for next year!:)

*Christmas Eve*

It was sooo fun to be with my whole family. Christmas Eve is usually even bigger than Christmas for us... that's when we have the big family dinner and program. It was a blast this year, we had Grandma and Grandpa Mike come and Lorrin and I 'm so glad they were able to make it!


When dinner was over and cleaned up we had our program. Me and Mom were in charge of the Nativity (we even held practices:) and the kids did such a great job!
Skyla was our little angel.

Sadie Madie played Mary and Hunter played Joseph. Hunter was being shy and reserved and when he says to Mary "Will you marry me?" Nobody could hear him so I whispered in his ear to say it loud so everyone could hear, he yells "MARRY ME!" It was so funny!
At the end of the play the kids sang Silent Night and they did such a good job!
Me, Mom, and Jess sang a song after called "A Baby Changes Everything" and I bawled through it so Jess helped me out. Then it is our tradition to go around the room and tell each other what we were most grateful for that year. It was touching to hear what everybody had to say. When that was done Santa came and gave all of the kids a gift, they all got Christmas PJ's, we got them dressed and took ALL of the kids upstairs to Hunters room where they all slept (except the babies) and they so good and didn't wake up til like 7:00! What a fun Christmas Eve!

*Santa*

My Mom got a call from a lady that was in charge of one of her scholarships and asked if she could come to this little function that had Santa (they were afraid nobody would show up) So we went with her and Sean, Tori, and Averi met us there. Hunter was so excited to finally see the man himself.
These pictures make me laugh...we are totally crowding him.Wow Hunter...can you say Fake Smile!
It was Skyla's bedtime when we got there and it shows. She was a little nervous around Santa but she did just fine.
This picture is Classic!
Look how sweet that little face is...she is completely terrified. What mean parents we all are for making our kids see Santa:)
Safe in her Daddy's arms.They had refreshments and Hunter helped himself and got comfy!

After that we went all around Orem to look at Christmas light...a little disappointing, not many people had lights up this year, but it was still a blast!

*Good Times with Grandma's & Grandpa*

A couple of weeks before Christmas we got the chance to see Chris' parents. They had to come to St. George to take care of a few things and came up North to see us...we were SOO excited! When they walked into the door Skyla was eating and was soo happy to see them...then about 3 minutes later Chris and Hunter walked in and Hunter went crazy! He was totally beside himself, it was so cute!


The night they came is the same night we had our Nielsen Family Group Date and so they watched the kids. They ended up roasting Hot Dogs on the fire and both loved it! Then Hunter showed Grandpa how to play the Wii.
These are out of order but the next day we were all going to go to temple square and meet Jen and James up there but they ended up being so late that Chris and I decided to stay home so that Lala could get a good nights rest, but Hunter was able to go and they said they had a really good time. They didn't get home until around midnight.

That morning was a Ward Christmas Party. We weren't going to go but when we woke up it was like, why not get some free breakfast, you know? Anyway, we ended up having a really fun time.


How cute is this girl! (and her outfit!:)
Hunter went up and sang with the Primary (even though he wasn't technically in Primary)
Not sure why this picture is sideways...weird!
Sunday Morning
Grandma and Grandpa had to head back to St. George after sacrament meeting. We already miss them so much...It's hard when your used to seeing them EVERYDAY to never seeing them...it's really sad! We love you guys and thanks for visiting! After church my kids decided they wanted to wrestle. They are so funny to watch. Hunter is very patient with his little sister and lets her tackle him.

So ticklish!

I had to throw this one in...gosh I love those kids of mine! They both have such personalities!