Day 4

"Who among us hasn't envied a cat's ability

to ignore the cares of daily life and to relax completely?"

 -Karen Brademeyer

Day 3

"Look up at the swirling silver-lined clouds in the magnificent blue sky or at the silently blazing stars at midnight. How could indoor art be any more masterfully created than God's museum of nature?"

- Grey Livingston

Day 2

"This generation of youth is going to do deeds never done before. You are going to accomplish the seemingly impossible, because you are on His errand. Your generation will fight the greatest army of satanic hosts ever assembled. You will be severely out numbered. You will need a deep and abiding faith in Christ to survive --- and you will survive!! The Lord and His servants will triumph, we do know that."  -President Spencer W. Kimball

"Put on the whole armor of God -- taking the "shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked"  D&C 27:15-17

A Photo a Day for 100 Days!

My friend Kelly challenged me to do this with her. . . I am doubting myself because I think It will be tough to think creatively and try to come up with something every day; not to mention the days that get so busy the last thing on my mind is pulling out the camera. Nonetheless, it sounded fun and I am up for the challenge.

Day One

And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.

D&C 88:67

Family Night at the Park

We have been enjoying such beautiful spring weather the last several days that we decided to spend our family night outside. The kids had fun running around, blowing bubbles, and climbing rocks. Here are a few pics from our evening at the park.

btw: my face has cleared up very nicely :)

I Want my Zit back!!!

I thought my face was bad last week. Now look at me :( It was brought to my attention that Neosporin might help clear up my blemish a bit quicker; so I applied a generous dose before I went to bed one night last week. The next morning, I noticed I had a little bit of a rash and was a little itchy. I decided that Neosporin probably wasn't the best choice for me. After another day or two of not clearing up, Doug made a call to our family doctor, and the nurse suggested I use Neosporin. So before I went to bed I liberally applied the ointment to my face again. The next morning it was worse than ever. I made an appointment with a Dermatologist and discovered that I had an allergic reaction to Neosporin and had developed a staff infection.  I am now taking an antibiotic and applying an antibiotic ointment. Today it looks just as bad as ever . . . I don't think it is clearing up. How long until I should see improvement? Now my chin is swollen and puffy.  Should it really get worse before it gets better??  Luckily I don't have to perform on American Idol anytime soon:)

Monday Memory

This is the view from my front porch one year ago.  This picture really doesn't do it justice. I miss those mountains and my sweet neighbors. Springtime is beautiful in Utah.

A Great Way to Start the Day

Most mornings I start my day with a bright green fruit drink. I know, to the majority it doesn't look very appetizing. My mom introduced green drinks to our family several years ago. We blend these drinks with a Vita Mix. . . a must have for every kitchen. I use this appliance at least once a day sometimes twice. It is easy to use, has amazing power, and super slick clean up.  In this particular drink I put in the blender, in this order. . .

1 C. water

1 ripe banana

1 ripe pear

big bunch of spinach

frozen fruit (Spectrum blend from costco is my favorite right now)

Blend it all up and enjoy. Fast and easy.  A fantastic and delicious way to get those greens into your kids bodies.

Little Miss Haircut

Gracie was dying to have her hair cut short and kept asking and asking for her Dad to cut it.  I suggested we make an appointment with a hairstylist to have it cut - a short blunt cut can be tricky to do. Grace didn't want to wait and Doug wanted to give it a shot. He did a great job! It ended up being shorter than we had in mind and needed a little evening up in the back. On Monday I took Grace to a stylist to get it evened up, and she commented on what a great cut her Dad gave her. Grace is thrilled with her spring\summer do, and I love short hair on her...it frames her little face so cute.

Sisters

A sister is a gift to the heart,

a friend to the spirit,

a golden thread to the meaning of life.

-Isadora James

I love my girls. They are such sweet sisters, friends, companions, and great examples to their brothers. What a perfect way to start a family.

A Great Day!

Oh, it's a great day, a beautiful day

The kind of day that makes me want to say

I'm glad that I'm alive, I'm happy to be me

And that's the way to be.

This is a little tune among several others that I sing to may little kids as they get up in the morning. One of my favorite times of the day is walking into the room of my rested baby in the morning. Always so happy to see me and me him.  What a gift to be a mom.

Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my last post.  I have the most wonderful family and friends ever. Love you all.

Mitchie's Blanket: Baby gift from Mindie...softest most wonderful blanky ever...and his favorite.

Thanks Mind.

One of those days.

It's just one of those days where I can't stop eating. So what do I do, make cookies. I am failing miserably on the "barrel buster's" challenge that I committed to.  

It's one of those day's I just had to squeeze the crud out of  a too soon to be popped zit on my face and now I have to live with the consequence for at least a week. Why do I ALWAYS do that. Abby says to me this morning before she leaves for school, "Mom, you have a zit".  And I have to reply all irritated, "Thanks Abby, I don't think I need you to point that out for me."  

It's one of those day's where I am thinking about my girlfriends getting together for book club without me. I wish I could be there with them, zit and all. I miss those girls.

We all have days like these, and I am not complaining because after all these are silly little things, it's just one of those days.

A gift for his mother . . .

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. - Audra Foveo

One of the many things I Love about being a mom are these sweet little treats from my kids. Thanks Nathan for brightening my day.

another fun one...

I don't know...this sounds a bit extreme. I really don't think I am this harsh:)

You Are A Gold Girl

You're dependable and hard working. You never miss a deadline - and you're never late. You have a clear sense of right and wrong. You're very detail oriented. You get frustrated when your friends are sloppy - or when they don't follow through. You're on top of things, and you wish that everyone else was!

What Color Girl Are You?

Give it a go! Kind of fun.

80 words

Speed test

Practice, Practice, Practice....

...and maybe someday perfect;)

Doug has asked me to take pictures of the Auction employees which has motivated me to really figure out my lights to get a more consistent product. My friend, Kelly came over yesterday and helped me work through it, and I am feeling more prepared. When Doug came home from work, he agreed to posing for a practice shot.

I couldn't resist snapping a few of the little boys.

Bunnies for Easter

We have three baby bunnies in our family now. Jasper, Rock Star, and Bubbles. The kids are in love with these bunnies and have a hard time leaving them alone for ANY amount of time. Luckily they have a whole week to get their fill in before it is time to head back to school after Spring break. Happy Spring!!

Happy Easter

Panic Attack!!

Nathan turned up missing this afternoon. I was reading with Carter on the couch and Nate kept interrupting so I asked him to wait in his room until I was done helping Carter. Well, about 15 minutes later, It was time to walk Carter out to the bus stop and that's when I couldn't find Nate. I noticed he had opened the garage door and that his bike was parked outside of the neighbor's house in our cul-de-sac. I watched Carter get on the bus, and then began to investigate. I knocked on the neighbor's door, no answer. I began to check the other neighbor's homes, they haven't seen him. So, I check our house again more thoroughly, still no luck. Now I am beginning to panic. I go back to the house where his bike was and this time tried to open the front door, locked. I noticed the back gate was open so I walked in the back yard and couldn't see him back there anywhere. I checked the canal, under our in-ground tramp. Everywhere I can think. He has never hidden from me before and when I call he has always come. It is like him to leave without asking, but he never goes far. It is not like him to hide and fall asleep somewhere. I called Doug at work, he is now headed home to search, all my neighbors are now out looking. Whenever he has taken off he has never left the cul-de-sac, which is why I am really starting to become more and more anxious. I called 911 - a first for me, and now I am giving a description of my son on the phone, terrifying thoughts are going through my mind. The officer arrives and I am visiting with him about Nate, he tells me that 95% of the time, kids are hiding somewhere and to check my house again carefully, so I do. I know he isn't in our home. It has now been an hour, I am trying to hold it together, worrying and praying.  There are police cars patrolling our neighborhood, two officers are now searching the house. About 15 min. later I hear someone say we found him. I race outside an see an officer walking across the street with Nathan in his arms. I start crying, Nathan is crying. We are relieved. Turns out, he went behind the house where I saw the gate open, found an unlocked door went into the empty house (he has a little friend who lives there), and went upstairs and was playing. He was just on his way home.  We had a necessary visit with the police about how we shouldn't take off without talking to our parents. (nothing new for Nate). And I was advised to put magnetic alarms on all my doors so I know when anyone comes or goes.

I am so thankful everything was resolved and Nate is home safe.

First Hair Cut

Mitch's hair was starting to hang in his eyes and beginning to be long in the back.  It was a little sad to see those little hairs fall to the floor. There is something sweet about baby hair. Doug did a nice job giving him a little boy haircut. All of the sudden he looks older :(

Doug going 70's Style

Tonight Doug is going to a business meeting where the theme is 70's.  He wanted to stand out. This is what he came up with. Do you think it'll do the trick?  I can't wait to hear how it goes.

O'ma and O'pa Visit

We just loved having Jay and Kathy visit for several days. How nice it was to visit, do some catching up and just be together. I felt like I was in heaven when Kathy would help the girls with piano, listen to little readers, and practice ABC's so I could get dinner on. And for some reason, they don't complain for her:)

I know you both are so busy and have a lot going on . . . Thank you for coming and please know you are always welcome.

In Honor of Crazy Hair Day at Quail Hollow

We miss these girls!

Grandpa Visits

My Dad was in town on business and stayed with us Friday night. It was a treat to see him and have him stay with us. It is always so nice to have family come for a visit. We look forward to our next visitors later this week. O'ma and O'pa are coming!!!!!

Monday Memory

One of the family vacations we love, is our beach trip to Carpinteria. We don't make it every year because getting a beach site can be tricky - - they fill up fast. This year we got one and we are headed to the beach in August with my family. This is a vacation full of fun, memories, sun, sand, and family. What I love about any family vacation is just being together with the family, these times come far and few between and I look forward to them and treasure them.

Happy Birthday Sissy

Wish we were there to celebrate this special day with you.

Monday Memory

This picture was taken on the 4th of July when Doug and I were engaged. It's a funny thing growing up. When does it happen? For a long time people would see this picture and make a comment about how cute it is, or how we look just the same. But lately, it's "look how young you two look"!  I have decided that it's the magical age of 30 and probably long hair, or in Doug's case any hair at all.  I'm sure it's also a combination of responsibility, experiences, concerns and definitely trying to raise a family. At any rate, I am grateful for where I am  and for all of life that I've enjoyed up to this point. I am living my dream.

A confession . . .

I have received several complimentary comments on the darling pics of my kids on my sidebar. I wish I could take credit for them, but the credit goes to my friend Kelly who took our family pictures last fall for our Christmas card.  I have been so blessed to have met Kelly and to have her as a friend. It is so fun to share a common interest with someone and be able to share information (although I don't have much to offer). Kelly runs her own photography business and has  so much knowledge that she willingly shares with me and answers my many questions. Check out her website at  http://www.kellyphotographyonline.com/  Here are a few more of my fav's.

Monday Memory

The Chicken Place

I will always remember my days of working at Meiers Chicken with fondness. It was so fun to be able to work with my friends and to be a small part of this family business.  I learned so much from the Meier family; their strong work ethic, the beauty of a family working together to make things happen, and hard working kids that rarely complained. No, this definitely was not a glamorous job, I was stinky and soggy when I was done with my shift, but is was a great place to be.

Funny about phone numbers

I don't know why, but I have this weird issue with phone numbers. When Doug and I were engaged and setting up our new phone account, he called me at work and told me what our phone number would be. I quickly told him that the number wouldn't work. We needed an easy number so that when we had kids they would be able to learn it and remember it easily. He laughed at me and called the phone company and got our new number: 944-2443. I loved this phone number. It was a sad day about six months ago when I had to call and discontinue this number because we were moving-it was our number for 10+ years.

I was quite picky about our new number. As a matter of fact, when setting up my new cell phone number, I called back several times until they had one I thought would work. The Verizon people were very patient and spent many minutes on the phone with me going over different numbers. Finally, she said if you hear one you think will work, we will have to snag right away because we may not be able to get it if we wait. Anyway, we did come up with a number that would do, but I really miss 944-2443 and 673-0002. I think these will always be my favorite numbers.