Dozens of Cousins for Sledding and Pizza

For a little holiday festivity, we invited all of Steve's siblings and their children up for a day of pizza and sledding! It added so much joy to our day.

Here's Ethan on his snowboard. He improved so much on it today. He was even traversing jumps by the middle of the day. He sure loves to be outside!


I had to get a picture with my other little snow bunny.
Aunt Lee and Aunt Kathy chatting as they watch the kids having fun. Just waiting for their turn.
All aboard! This is of my kid's favorite things about sledding with their cousins.
Poor Tyler was sick and had to stay home and miss out on the fun. I am amazed at his maturity and how well he handled missing such a fun day. Maybe next year Ty bear.

What Was She Like?

Especially as the Christmas season rolls around, I really want to know: What was she like?

The mother of our Savior.

Mary.

I love the Donny Osmond version of, "Mary, Did You Know?"

I think most of us think about our Heavenly Father when we think of the atonement, because of Jesus' statement: Forgive them Father for they know not what they do."

But seriously, as a mother, how do you handle the atonement?

How do you prepare a child(and yourself) for this? Is it even possible? How do you prepare your child for the harassment, the unbelief, the skepticism, the complete and utter disrespect that is going to come his way?

Has anyone read any good books about Mary, and what she was like?

I have so many weaknesses in my personality. And they all seem to burst when I am with my children. I love my children so much and would give my life for them, but you wouldn't be able to tell that by my gruff manner that I have with them when I am frustrated or angered by their behavior.

So, does anyone know what she was like? And, maybe more importantly, how do I become like her?

Please tell me.

Eenny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

How do you choose???

Me and My Guy





































Aahhh...I'm boy trapped!








Look at my handsome boys!!






















Completely Us!

25 Words: What Would You Say?

Today this story was shared with us during a church lesson:

In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words.

I was asked to consider the 25 words I would write. Here they are.

My wish:

Family: Love, Support and Be Kind to one another.
Strive for: college, mission, temple marriage.
Be: hopeful, full of integrity & laughter, positive.

It's really hard to condense all of those important things into 25 words. But, I loved this assignment. Thanks to our teacher for encouraging me to be reflective on the things I have to be grateful for over this Thanksgiving holiday. There is so much that I have been blessed with: most importantly, the four other people that I share the intimate side of my life with. I know I am not the perfect wife or mother, but I love them deeply and try to improve little by little.

To all of you fellow bloggers out there, I would love to hear what you would say.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

For Fun

One day I received this email from my sister: INSTALLING A HUSBAND

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 20 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as:

• Romance 9.5 and
• Personal Attention 6.5,

and then installed undesirable programs such as

• College Footballl 6.0, NFL 24-7
• LandscapingPro 4.0·
• Major League Baseball 3.0 and
• Golf Clubs 4.1.
  

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs at all, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate.


DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind,

• Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while
• Husband 1.0 is an operating system.
  

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program . These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend:

• Cooking 3.0 and
• Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck Babe!
Tech Support

I thought this was funny and forwarded the email onto Steve, who I was IMing at the time. His very next response was: not laughing.

A few minutes later, this email shows up in my inbox (it was written by Steve):

Dear Tech Support,

I too ran into a similar issue but when I upgraded from Girlfriend Beta to Wife version 1.0. I was excited for it's new features: Cooking, Companionship and Love and are very pleased with this feature set. However, I was not aware that the upgrade would completely wipe out Intimacy 2.1 sp2 and Male Interests 1.0. Wife 1.0 has completely modified the system registry, continually controlling all interfaces.

It also seems that Wife 1.0 is much more of a resource hog than Girlfriend ever was. It has required me to expand memory and system resources to support it's usage. I have also noticed that Wife 1.0 is larger than Girlfriend. The demands of this new version require continual upgrades and much more time and maintenance.

I was not aware when installing Wife 1.0 that it would require so much security protections and come bundled with so many extras. I am still attempting to uninstall Phone Bill 2.1, Mother-in-Law, Photo Gallery, Scrapbook 1 Billion, That Time of the Month 1.2 and it's add-on: Uncontrollable Emotions that were included in this version.

Any suggestions would surely help?

Signed,

Shocked yet Happy

Dear Shocked yet Happy,

Thank you for contacting Tech Support. Due to overwhelming volume of contacts regarding Wife 1.0 and excessive issues we are experience internally from this upgrade, we are unable to respond immediately to your inquiry. We will research your issue and attempt to provide a solution as soon as our engineers figure out how to resolve your Wife 1.0 issues.

Sincerely,

Tech Support

What a clever husband I have who can make me laugh. Thanks Steve for brining the fun into my life. (Not going to get cheesey here.) I love you!

Making My Vote Count

Either way you looked at it, it was going to be a historic event; no matter which party you went to.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 marks the first day that our country has ever had a black President elect. I was caught up in the moment and felt a swell of pride for America. This just proves that America has realized what I have always known and been taught since I was a child: that we are all created equal.

But, as a famous man once said, he should be judged on the content of his character and not the color of his skin. We will see what the next four years holds for our country. You know, change in the wrong direction just takes you further from your goals. I will humbly apologize if I am wrong. Not holding my breath.

To NOTE: the hard question that I wanted asked during the debates: What would you do to restore the trust of the American people and the name of the United States abroad?

Just so you know, I didn't vote for the other guy either.

A few days before the election, a friend sent me an email about the struggle that women in the 1920s went through so that I could cast my vote. I didn't realize all that had happened to them.

And, it really got me to thinking.

My thinking made me realize that I really wanted my vote to count. I didn't want to vote for the "lesser of two evils". So, I exercised my civic duty, and...I wrote in the name of the guy I really wanted. I felt victorious. Even knowing it wouldn't come to pass.

The Birthday Girl

It's making a terrible rattling sound, it's probably a skeleton dancing around.

That was the line from Tyler's school "Spooky Program" on Thursday night.
We carved pumpkins on Wednesday night.
Helped out at Ethan's school party on Friday.

It all led up to this: HALLOWEEN

Little Red Riding Hood. I was so happy with Laney's costume. Aunt Kathy helped me to make it one day at Grandma's house.

Laney liked Trick or Treating, but she LOVED the candy. She wanted to eat it immediately between houses. Who can blame her? We took her around to the houses on the South side of our street. Then she came home to help Dad hand out the candy.

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Tyler and Ethan had a blast with Trick or Treating. They were seriously serious about it. They both wanted to take pillowcases with them. They would run between houses and across the streets. It was so rewarding as I heard their cute little boy voices say "Thank you" when candy was placed in their bags. Even when the cold rain came there were no complaints. They just wanted to keep trudging along. (Disclaimer: Due to the cold rain, I did get the car when they wanted to start visiting friends on the other side of the neighborhood.) Tyler and Ethan came home with a monstrous amount of candy! Halloween success.

The Nice Witch. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. I dressed up as a nice witch with striped tights and everything. For me, it was so much fun to see the boys having fun as they ran from house to house. They worked together as a team deciding which houses to skip and showing each other some of the amazing or scary decorations at the different houses. I really can't believe the amount of candy they come home with!! In my mind, it doesn't fit the ratio to the number of houses we visited. In my mind, it should last months, but I know it won't.

We're Not Robots!

So, I was listening to the radio the other day; the news story being talked about was overweight people. Supposedly, a research study performed at a college institution (don't remember where) says that some people may have a gene that makes us (yes I am lumping myself in this group) not able to taste food as deeply as the person next to us. As a result of this, people with this gene eat more so that they can get the flavor.

Oh come on!! Yet another way to brush off our responsibility, in this case so that being overweight (could add any myriad of behaviors that are now being labeled as an addiction) isn't our fault. Why are people so blind to this fact, that they are abdicating responsibility? We are not robots merely doing mechanical, routine tasks on command. We have a choice here. Is it an easy one? No, not always. I struggle to put that brownie down everyday. But guess what, it is my choice. I have been educated and I have to knowledge to make a healthy choice. Do I always follow it? No, but I am trying to overcome that "natural man." We all have our own individual issues with our own "natural man" to overcome.

I loathe the fact that people are being given a "way out." The problem won't change as long as it happens "to them" instead of "because" of them.

Again, we're not robots. Are you pretending to be a robot somewhere in your life?

Great Friends at Gardner Village

You just gotta love a place that combines photo opportunities with shopping! Today was the perfect day to spend with the Hookes up at Gardner Village. Everyone had a good time and it was a fun way the end the last day of UEA weekend.

Of couse, you can notice Ty's Tom Sayweresque outfit; within 2 minutes of being by the pond he fell in up to his knees. He was a good sport about walking around in the wet clothes and barefoot.

Seven Stitches for My Seven Year-Old

So, did you know that running top speed in a pitch black church hallway can be hazardous to your health? Tyler does now! So does the other kid.

He has seven stitches to prove it.



Last night at dinner Steve told me that he wanted to go watch the BYU game somewhere. Wanting to be the supportive wife, I agreed while realizing that it meant I would need to take the kiddos with me when I went to play volleyball. No problem, they could just play on the stage. Unfortunately, my head wasn't completely in the game because I had forgotten that we weren't playing at our usual building. The building we were playing at didn't have a stage. In fact, there was hardly any room around the court to even stand.

What's a seven year-old to do?

Of course, go play in the pitch black hallway with the other bigger kids. Never mind that you can't see 3 inches in front of you.

Yep, he collided with a 9 year-old in the hallway.

Someone brought him in to me with blood everywhere!

I freaked out!!!

I couldn't find a bathroom. (I didn't know the layout of the church, and with it being pitch black and all...)

A friend stepped up and helped me out and lead me to one.

When the nice man offered to let me use his cell phone, I seriously couldn't remember Steve's cell number. It took me a full minute. Does anyone know, did he get his cell phone back?

Mikki, did I just grab that paper towel out of your hand? Sorry. I wanted to clean up the blood on the floor. Thanks so much for checking on Alayna for me. I felt comforted that she would see a familiar face.

Sandy, a big thank you for finding the bathroom for me...and, letting me take your cell phone...and taking Ethan and Laney back to your house . I knew that they would love being there with your kids, so I didn't need to worry.

Steve, a big thank you to you for taking Ty to the ER. I know the conflicted feelings you were having. I appreciate and recognize this service for me. Tyler was really nervous and I just knew you could hide any fear of the upcoming procedure better than I could. (I still hate needles! I hate them even more when they are for my children.)

Oh yeah, the cutest thing is that when Tyler got home and we took him upstairs to bed, we found Ethan sleeping in Ty's bed. He had been worried about Ty.

Same Thing, Different Perspective

So, we had our first parent/teacher conferences last week.

Luckily for me (and them), Tyler and Ethan are both doing really well in school. Both are doing great in spelling and in reading. Both have tested above the level where they are suppose to be. Great! I love it. And both have behaved admirably at school: neither has been sent to Stop and Think.

Here's the interesting part:

I walked away from one teacher feeling like my son needs to improve so much. Like he was the worst student. She barley, I mean barely, even talked about how well he is doing. Instead the focus was on what he was not doing. And, the fact that a lot of girls like him. I am worried that she will focus so much on what isn't right about how he reads (way too fast) that it is going to turn him off of it.

However, the other teacher was as dream. She informed us that our son was doing well. And, while she did mention some of the things that he had missed, the delivery was so different. It would go something like this: Scrolling through the milestones, he has done spectacular in this, this, this... Oh yeah, he missed this one but most of the kids did. It's no big deal; he'll get it next time.

Boy what a difference.

I generally enjoy parent teacher conferences, but this one was such an eye opener. Perspective is everything.

Oktoberfest 5K for Me

Alternate titles for this post:

My First Official Running Race
Don't Stop, Don't Stop, Don't Stop
How Do I Breathe?
How Am I Ever Going to Run 13 Miles outside?
26:46 minutes of accomplishment



I am so excited to have completed my first official 5K run. I ran with Scott and Brian at Utah Valley University.

I am really excited that the mental side of me prevailed. Because near the end (really close to the end) , I wanted to stop and walk; in fact, I even slowed enough so that I could take one step at a walk. But, I knew if I walked I would be so disappointed with myself. So, in order to keep going, I had to set goals for myself as I looped a large "pond": make it to that tree by the corner, make it to the next angle, the next corner and we are at the home stretch. It worked!! I am very happy with my 26:46. That is faster then I usually do it in the gym.

I really am not an outside runner, so it was a bit challenging with the strong wind, running on the grass with the wholes and soft spots from the rain, and just mental steadfastness. Does anyone know any breathing techniques when the wind is really strong?

So, does this make me an official runner now? I got a t-shirt.

Two Ponies for Laney

One word: Adorable!!

Scrapbook Pages from Me

These are probably my favorite of the bunch. I really like the contrast of the black with the pinks and oranges. I just need to add the journaling on the right hand page (on the left side.) This was Alayna's first birthday.

Princesses (of the beach). This is my other favorite of this bunch. This is from a beach trip last August (07) to say a final farwell to my grandmother.

Halloween Night: Last year's Halloween page. BTW: I made Laney's Pebbles Halloween costume.

ugh, this was a hard one. I tried so many color combos and nothing seemed to be what I liked. But, in the end, I love the brown with the green of the Christmas tree and the boys shirts. I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but the strip of paper has flourishes on it. It is from Creative Memories and was given to me by my sister-in-law.

Running is So Mental!

So, wanna play a mental game?

Forget your ipod. I did. Three miles: check.

His Pain is My Gain!!

Yahoo!!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I owe Steve a big "thank you"; because of him, I am coming to Maine for sure!!

Right now Steve is sitting in the Denver airport waving goodbye to his flight. He was bumped from his flight and given some major incentives. One of which is a voucher for a free flight anywhere in the continental United States. Wahoo! I will be there for sure! I am in!

But because of this, Steve has to sit in the Denver airport for 3 hours more. He will reach Chicago and get to his hotel about 1 a.m. And, then he has to be at the airport around 5:30 a.m. to reach his final flight to Peoria. What a pain; I am so sorry!

I am sooooooo excited that I will be in Maine! That I get to run the race with 5 other family members. It will be something I remember for a long time.

Failure For a Day, Loser for a Life

On the way home from the gym this morning, I was listening to Glenn Beck. I came in midway through a monologue, but I feel like I caught the part I needed to hear. Glenn Beck was talking about people wanting it easy. No one wants to work for anything anymore. Then he segwayed to a man who had known what he wanted to do with his life, even as a little child. He loved candy and wanted to open his own candy shop. He opened one in Pennsylvania. It failed. He tried again in Chicago. He failed. He tried again in New York. He failed. He wanted to give up. After a pep talk from his mom, he decided to try again. This time, because of a lack of money, he decided to try in the country. Which lead to being surrounded by cows. Which made him wonder if milk would make his candy better. It did. And Milton Hershey became a success.

Glenn Beck then went on to talk about failure, and being a failure versus a loser.

I took heart.

You see, yesterday I received and email from my brother's wife, who is also my friend. In the email she was asking if we (my twin and me) wanted to do a 1/2 marathon with her and our cousin. She turns 40 in June of next year and wants to be physically and spiritually better than she is now. Immediately wanting to support her in this goal, I emailed back that I was in.

Immediately, I had "runner's remorse".

Last night and this morning, I have been plagued by doubt about my ability to do this.

I have been running for the past year and am very comfortable with the 3-5 mile range.

13 miles seems so long.

After this morning, I realize it is better to be a failure trying than to be a loser always wondering what if. Wish me luck...I hope I don't die trying.

Go TEAM Cousins!!

Customer Service

It really begs the question: Who are they serving? Is it the company they are working for or is it us the true customers?

I really think its the company they work for!

So, you see, our phone has been partially out of working order since Monday. I can place calls out, but no one can call in. (Actually, its been kind of nice.) However, what if...

On Wednesday, I place the dreaded call to Customer Service. At first, I was happily surprised; I didn't have to go through the myriad of if you want this, then press 1; if you want this, then press 2. I actually reached a person after only pressing 1 once. Yah, that's where any happiness ended. All the person could tell me was that the problem would be fixed within 72 hours. Umm...sorry to tell you, it's already been going on for 72 hours. I know, it was the pat answer they give everyone. And, when I asked her what if it wasn't fixed within 72 hours, then what? Like a rot machine all she could say was: it will be fixed within 72 hours. At this point, and maybe from the beginning, all I wanted her to say was: I am sorry that your phone isn't working. Let's see what is going on. That wasn't going to happen. I know it's not her fault, but she does work for the company that provides my phone service. Or, at least she did.

So, this morning, Saturday, I call again because our phone was still only partially working. This time the guy tells me that they can't guarantee a resolution time. But, hey, they are offering a temporary number. So, I asked the guy: Are you going to, out of your good conscious, give me a credit on my bill? Or do I need to call? No, I needed to contact billing for that. Um...yah...wouldn't want customer service to actually do anything for the customer. Oh ya, and no empathy from him either. I tell you, it really goes a long way. After his lack of empathy, I couldn't handle it anymore. I asked him to cancel our service. He said I needed to email billing for that. I insisted he get me his manager. He insisted he couldn't. I did the unmentionable, and I swore at him. Right before I hung up.

So, it was great glee, when a few moments later, I heard Steve say: No wonder my wife got frustrated with you. Satisfaction. So that guy and girl, now work for the company that used to give us our phone service. Satisfaction.

So, it begs the question: Who does customer service really work for?

Prayers Needed Please

As many of you know, I am the only little bird that has left the nest. All of my family still lives in Maryland, and I live in Utah. Being away from my family is hard. It's hard for me to miss the birthday parties, the swim meets, the Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas mornings and any other fun thing that is going on.

But, it has always been even harder for me not to be there during the hard times. My extended family has gone through some trials: we lost one baby boy way too early; we almost lost another baby boy due to pneumonia; my brother has had many complications because of his diabetes; and we lost a beloved uncle to cancer. And, I have been here. In Utah. 2500 miles away. I have always felt like there was nothing I could do. I hate that helpless feeling!

But, I could always offer my prayers for them.

I don't really know who reads my blog; I assume it's mostly friends and family. So, most of you may know about Austin Shamy already. In case you don't know, he is a darling, 2 year-old who has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. He needs our prayers. I have a strong testimony on prayer. Please, take the time to remember him in your prayers. They will help.

If you are more interested in learning about this journey for this Spiderman loving little boy and his family, click here. Warning, make sure you have a box of Kleenex beside you.

My Heart Will Ache

This post started one day when I walked into my bathroom. Seems ordinary enough. It is.

Except for that it was right after my kiddos had taken a bath. And as always they were playing with bath toys. This time, walking into the bathroom, instead of seeing a "mess" to clean, my heart went right into my throat. I was touched by the toys on the rim of my tub, and the play that must have occured during the bath.

I didn't see it.

I was cooking dinner.

But, I know; I know because I've seen them engaged in this type of play before.

And, I love it.

And, I know that it won't last for much longer. Because, you see, no one responded. No one seems to know how to stop time.

So, this incident started the wheels turning about what else would I miss when my children aren't so little anymore. I could only capture a few on camera. Well, how do you really capture the essence of babies and children on camera? It is and it isn't these specific things, but also what they represent: the creative play, a time of innocence, and especially the pure love. And, so much more.

Here is what I was able to capture:

Pic 1: the toys on the tub as I found them that day.

Pic 2: The play where ordinary objects serve in a different way than intended. For example, Laney's "purse" that she takes with us everywhere. It's really a tooth fairy pillow. Laney's a girly girl and anytime I ask her to get her shoes on she returns with her shoes on and her purse on her arm. Or Tyler's pencils being used as a wand to play Harry Potter.

Pic 3: the size of little hands. I have always loved when my children would place their little hands on the side of my face or rub my arm. And, who can forget the hands under the door. There is just something about those little hands.

Pic 4: We are always finding pictures on our bed from Ethan.

Pic 5: Little panties and little bums. What is it about little bums? Whenever I find myself holding babies, I always pat their bums. And diapers on bums, especially when they start learning to crawl are soooo cute to me.

Pic 6: Tyler is a list guy, just like his dad and grandma. This one made me laugh so hard. He complied a list of pets that don't have fur (due to Steve's allergies.) Then at the bottom he said: Please, I even have names for them. Too cute!

Pic 7: Along with the little hands it's the little feet. Especially the little pitter patter they make as they run and play happily around the house. I will miss this so much!

Pic 8: Laney is such a little mom. She loves her dolls. Espeically "Ca" (short for Jessica) who she got for her birthday. And she loves to put them to sleep anywhere, as long as there are covers! I found these babies in my bed one day and it was so cute to me.

Pic 9: Along with pictures, we find love notes from Ethan. Usually left on our pillows so that we can find them as we are going to bed. I have found too many to count. He is such a such a cuddle bear with a big heart!

The Awesome 80s Prom Party Update

So, I am eating crow.

It was such a fun night!

We had a blast dancing to Push It, Thriller, Like A Virgin, Poison, and many other 80s hits.

The setting was perfect. It was a warehouse very Footloose-esque. Decorated with streamers, lights, confetti stars on the floor and complete with a disco ball. They even had the photography station set up just like prom. We smiled for the camera.

Dressing up was actually so fun for me this time. No really, I mean it. Maybe it was because my boys kept telling me I looked HOT! Or maybe because I am an 80s girl at heart. It brought back so many memories of putting on the blue eye shadow, the side ponytail, and the big earrings. What a blast from the past!

Thanks to our very nice neighbors who happened to be walking by at just the right time to take pictures for us! We appreciated it so much!

Please, Just Kill Me Now!

So, you know how when you are married you do things because it's important to the other person. Well, I definitely earn the gold medal for this. Tomorrow night, I am going there. (arrow pointing to the left). To the Awesome 80s Prom.

I am sure it will be so much fun when I get there. And you know, it's not the night out with people I don't really know that makes me tentative. No, the Lord was kind and gave me a friendly, outgoing personality to take care of that. It's the dressing up part; for some reason, dressing up makes me so uncomfortable.

*Maybe it's because I don't really want to put the money into it, so my "costume" isn't exactly perfect.

*Maybe it's because I am such a bad actress that I don't feel like I can pull off the role.

*Or maybe it's because I am just a freak!

Either way, I get to go on a date and dance with my husband. He is such a great dancer and I don't get to see it very often. So, I am excited for my date tomorrow. And at this prom, there will be no running for the bathroon during the slow dances. It's in our marriage contract that he has to dance with me during the slow songs. After all I am going to "Electric Avenue" for him.

It's Getting Good Reviews!

Fall is my favorite season for lots of reasons: the change of season, the beautiful fall weather, the ensuing birthday and holiday anticiaption, and of course...the new fall television line-up.

And tonight is the night I have been waiting for all summer!! The new show Fringe debuts tonight. There are two reasons I have been waiting for this show: First, it is a JJ Abrahams show. He has created two of my other very favorite TV shows: Alias and Lost. And second, is because of him, the other J.J.:

Bestill my heart.

I saw a preview, and all I can say is get the fire engine hose ready, because girls, he is hot!!!! If you want to know how my husband feels about Joshua Jackson, click here: Yes, He's Mr. McDreamy

Oh yeah, and the preveiw looked amazing.

Are you going to watch?

I Screamed Like a Little Girl!

Yesterday was perfect!

I would like to do it again tomorrow.

We spent our Saturday at Lagoon!

Steve's work decided to provide discount tickets - good anytime through the end of September- instead of throwing a party. I, not liking intense heat, didn't want to go in August. We went yesterday. (Luckily I woke up feeling 100% recovered from my flu bug.)

The weather was perfect.

The kids were happy!

The kids were daring and brave. Even little Alayna went on a few kiddie rides by herself. (BTW- Mom, you can click on the collage to enlarge it.)

But, yesterday was great to me for two reasons: it was a very happy day with my family, and I conquered a fear of mine.

Heights.

I rode...wait for it...The Rocket. Yah, me! I know. Boy was I scared. I had to close my eyes the entire time we were going UP. But I peeked at the top. I wished I hadn't. I left my stomach up there as we descended. Who knew my stomach would stay up there for that long.

Steve observed this little happening while at the park. It makes for a very amusing post. (Did I just say that outloud?)

Yesterday was perfect!

I would like to do it again tomorrow.

Do You Recognize this Number: 1-800-222-1222

I had to call it again yesterday at 5:00 p.m.

I had to call it for the 3rd time on Laney.

Yah, it's Poison Control.

Yesterday, I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and I walked out for a second. Just to check my email. I had none. I walked back into my bathroom and there she was holding the bottle of Visine A.


Did you know that Visine A is one of the worst things a child could injest? That children have died from drinking it? I didn't either. Until last night.

On the surface, I didn't really think that she had drank any. But deep down, I just couldn't be sure. And I just couldn't take that risk not with our caboose, not with our sunshine, and not with our pot at the end of the rainbow.

So, yes, I spent the next 5 hours in the ER. That is the half life of this medicine. Luckily for me, I mean her, all they had to do was monitor her blood pressure, oxygen level and heartrate. No needles. Yahoo! Did you see my cartwheels?

She's fine.

Unfortunately I forgot to grab my camera when I was leaving the house. I wonder what was on my mind...

Does Anyone Know...

... know how to stop time that is.

She's just growing way too fast. And I want to savor every moment. She's our caboose; she's our sunshine; she's our pot at the end of the rainbow.

I know I've said it before, but she just brings so much joy to our family. Before she was born, I wouldn't even have come close to imagining the impact she would have on our family.

Privacy. So, you remember when I posted No More Diaper Duty for Me? Well, it still amazes me that she is potty trained at such a young age. (And even dismays at times because there were many clothes that she couldn't wear like onsies or overalls that zipped up the back that I had bought for her to wear before she was even born.) Well, here we are, 3 months later, and she is doing great. Because she is still so young and small, she needs help being lifted onto the potty (if her stool is in another bathroom in the house). Immediately after I lift her and place her on the toilet, she says, "Privacy. Privacy" It sounds so funny coming from such a little voice. But it begs the question: how many times has she heard me say this.

Sweet Nothings. The term sweet nothings has totally come to life through her. I love when she gets close to my ear and literally whispers sweet nothings (jibberish) into my ear. To keep it going because I love it so much, I usually whisper them back into her ear and then she whispers in my ear again.

I Awake. This is her newest thing. When I get her from her crib in the mornings, she greets me with "I awake!". It started on our St. George trip when we were all sharing one big hotel room together. Now it has translated into naptime and bedtime too. When we go to place her in her bed she says, "I awake!" as if this means she should not be placed in her bed.

Questions Game. This too is one of my favorites. Usually it starts when we are sitting around the table for lunch or dinner. Tyler and Ethan start peppering her with questions to which she always answers yes. Usually the questions start out innoncent enough: Laney, do you like your sandwhich? Laney do you want more milk? Then, bringing on the giggles, it transgresses to these questions: Laney, do you want to eat a frog? Laney do you want to stick your head in the oven? Laney, do you want to live in an igloo?

What Is It about a College Campus that...

makes you feel young?

This morning Laney and I ran an errand at the "Y" (Brigham Young University) for our family. Steve joined the Cosmo (BYU's mascot) Kids' Club so he could get tickets for both football games and basketball games to take the boys too. This is something he has been waiting a long time to do with our boys. Steve's dad took him to several games when he was little and he loved it. (Those are some of his favorite memories of his dad.)

Today I had to switch the vouchers for tickets:

SUCCESS!!!

Okay, all you BYU alumni, here is a little tour for you.

I parked by:

BRICK OVEN! Boy,do they have the best pizza! I went on several dates here. How 'bout you?

Before I even made it up to campus, I had to become "the little engine that could" and traverse this:

Boy was this a work out, especially pushing a stroller. (Why doesn't it look as steep as it really was?)

The first building that I walked by when I got onto campus was this:

And. of course, when you are at BYU, you have to go to:

and as a happy surprise, they now have a BYU Creamery in the CougarEat. Of course, Laney and I had to indulge:

Good until the last bite!!

Before we left campus, we stopped to "smell the roses" and enjoy the beauty of campus:

Here was something new on the road, that I hadn't seen before:

This was painted on the road by the intramural fields.

Our errand tired out Laney so much, that she:

What a sweetie! I am so glad that I have her to be my little companion on these errands. It's so much fun with her.