Easter 2008

We had a really fun Easter this year.

The day started out with a visit frome the Easter Bunny and Bunny Pancakes by Dad!!

We went to Abu and Papa's and had a yummy barbeque! My Dad is a master barbequer. Alan learned all his tricks from my Dad. So, it was really good food and so fun to see most of the cousins. I love holidays! I guess I just love having an excuse to hang out with family(not that I need an excuse, but it makes it easier). And we have a great family!

Here are a few photos of the kids at the Egg hunt in the backyard and just some cute Easter pics...

I just realized. I didn't take any pics of my kids alone on easter. They all looked so cute, oh well. You get the picture.

Boys Weekend out

Jaxon Driving around by himself!

The boys driving the guys around.

So apparently Jaxon can drive a 4-wheeler all by himself! Alan and his buddy Scott took Jaxon and Tyler down to Moab to go camping, hiking, and 4wheeling. And Jaxon learned how to drive all by himself! I guess he threw himself off one time, but continued to want to drive it afterward.

What a brave boy!!

Jaxon had sooo much fun!

I love that my boys go and do fun stuff like that! It will be even funner when Tyson and Cameron are old enough to go too! Then we can have a girls weekend at home while they are out doing guy things! Of course they came home SUPER dirty, but I guess you win some, you lose some!

Where else can you do this???

Well, I guess Alan has lots of guys weekends away. Here is another one. Where him and his brother Ben went up to Strawberry to go Snomobiling. This is definately a frequent thing. Alan usually goes with Scott and borrows one of his machines, but since Scott didn't go this weekend he had to rent one. Which wouldn't have been so bad until he ran it into a tree!! Don't get me wrong, Alan is a very experienced snomobiler, but accidents happen. He was fine, but $1000 later, I really think we need to buy our own so we don't have to worry about stuff like that!!

A day with my Princess

Back in March we went to see Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes. A date with just me and Cinderella (Hallie). Of course her friend Belle (Sammy) came and her bestest cousin Sleeping Beauty (Deana) too. With Heather and Katie (their Mom's) and of course, my Mom!! It was a great Princess day out. We really had a lot of fun. I think their favorite part was the dragon from Sleeping Beauty who had REAL fire breath!! It was an amazing show and even though we had not so good seats - we still had a great show! And it was fun just spending time with my little princess.

Thanks for making this day possible Abu!! We love you!

I've been tagged...

I was tagged last week, so its about time I actually do it.
This one is short and fun!!

Here are the rules: each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names; then goes to their blog, leaves them a comment by letting them know that they've been tagged and invites them to read your blog.

Here I go...

1. I am totally and completely addicted to SHOPPING! I can't get enough. It's like a drug. I do it when I'm sad, happy, stressed, broke, loaded (which never happens), or anytime I want...
It's kind of like this thing I use to try and make myself feel better - but - as you can probably guess... it does not always work. I usually come home feeling guilty, because I spent way too much. Granted, I think I have gotten better over the years (Alan would probably not agree, but guys don't know everything - do they?). So there you have it - I love to shop, so call me anytime you find a good deal - I'm there!

2. OK, this is a dumb habit or whatever you want to call it - I cannot stand hair on the floor!!!! AAAAAHHHHHH!! It makes me want to scream just thinking about it, and if that hair is wet - its all over - I just wanna puke! So I literally vacuum my bathroom floor everyday after doing my hair so there is no traces of hair. And public locker rooms are totally out - I avoid them like the plague they are so disgusting, especially the Orem Rec Center's locker room - never go there unless you want to step all over wet hair - I about died!

3. I absolutely and uncontrollably LOOOOVE popcorn. I live for it. I have to have it practically everyday. Although, I have now learned to eat it in moderation (yay for me!). I can't resist the smell at the movies. Even if I have decided I won't have any, that deliciously wonderful smell always lures me back in and I cave! What would the world be like without popcorn? I hate to think about it!

4. I am not a morning person! Like Rochelle and Sandee I am not a happy camper if awakened before I am ready. I would so love to stay up late and wake up around eleven or noon, but kids
really put a kink in that equation quick. It's all good, I guess I can sleep in when I'm old...

5. I love doing laundry. I love the smell and having the clothes clean, but I HATE putting it away! Same with the dishwasher. I love cleaning the kitchen and loading it, but I avoid unloading it at all costs - thank heavens for kids chores. So I have piles of clean laundry in my room right now that need to be hung and put away and a dishwasher full of clean dishes, but I am dreading putting it away. I should really just stop procrastinating it - it just makes the piles bigger and makes the task more daunting!

6. I am totally addicted to my DVR and I watch the occasional naughty show, like Lipstick Jungle (its such a good show, naughty, but good). It's the new show with Brooke Shields. Me likey! I'm sad its over right now. It's my dirty little pleasure.
WARNING!!!! This might be too over the top for some readers....
But I am currently addicted to the dumbest show, but I cant get enough. It's called Little People -Big World And yes, its about dwarfs/midgets (whatever you want to call them). It's a reality show on TLC and it just follows them around. I love it - I watch at least one episode every night. This is kind of embarrassing, but I really like that show - I'm a total nerd! I love TLC. They also have this show called Jon and Kate Plus 8. Its about this couple who had twins invitro and then had sextuplets invitro too!!! Can you imagine? I really like that show also. And then there is What Not to Wear. TLC rocks!!!

Alrighty, almost all my blogger buds have been tagged, but I tag: Heidi, Heather, Eliana & Jen

Lets see your lists girlies!

Romantic Anniversary Weekend

The weekend of our anniversary Alan planned an entire two days away and it was extremely romantic. I don't think I will ever be able to top what he had planned. It was so fun and amazing.

We went up Friday afternoon and went shopping at The Gateway. Then we watched a movie in our hotel room (we stayed at the Marriot downtown - and it was very nice). After the movie we got all dolled up and headed to Ruths Chris Steakhouse. Except I didn't know where we were going until we pulled up. And I was extremely excited, because we always hear Sean Hannity talk about how great it is and I wanted to go there.

Well, it was better than great - it was divine - all the way from the appetizers of stuffed mushrooms down to the creme brulee (my favorite). Everything was perfect. We will definitely be going back someday, but probably not very soon since our tip was more than we usually pay for a meal. It was all worth it though, for the experience you know.

Well during dinner Alan pulls out a little black box and I about died!! We had been looking at rings about a month earlier, but they were expensive and I never thought Alan would actually do it. But he did. And he did good it was the perfect ring. I absolutely love it!

Aren't I lucky? I love my man.

Well, we finished off the night with chocolate covered strawberries and Martinelli's brought to our room - super yum.

The next morning we got breakfast in bed. That was my first room service experience and it was totally fun.

Then we headed up to Park City to do some more shopping and watch a movie.

That night we finally went to Pei Wei, which I've been wanting to try forever and it was scrumptious. I will definitely go there again soon - maybe I'll do that for Bunko dinner next time.

Then we headed to a Jazz game - the seats were pretty good too. We had a really good time.

It was the perfect weekend. I don't think I will ever forget it. I love you baby! You rock my world!

We're a little bit nuts-o, but hey - at least we had a good time...

10 years and counting...

March 21st was our ten year wedding anniversary. Looking back over the last ten years makes me realize how much we have changed and grown. Its funny how you think you can never be more in love than the day you get married, but we are more in love now and our love grows deeper year after year. We are both different people than we were when we got married too, but I think we are better people. We grew up together in a sense (as you can tell from the pictures we were practically twelve when we got married). Luckily as we grew, we grew closer and helped shape each others personalities.

We are so happy right now. We are blessed to have four amazing children to share our lives with too, but most of all we are blessed to have each other. Life is good right now. We have so many things to be grateful for.

I thought it would be fun to share some pics of us dating and of our wedding and sealing in the temple.

This is about a month after we met. I was 16 and Alan was 17. He was helping me pack for Germany.

This is that same Summer. His family invited me to go to Lake Powell with them. That's the summer Alan taught me how to knee board and water ski - good times! "Sleeping" out under the stars.

These are dance pictures from my Junior year - Alan's Senior year. The pink dress is Junior Prom...

This was my Senior year Homecoming dance. Alan was already graduated, but he took me anyway. This was our last High School dance.

These are our engagement pictures which Alan's mom took with a disposable camera - we used the black and white one to mail out (this is a bad copy - oh well).

And finally - these are of our wedding day... I cant believe how young we look/are...crazy stuff.

This is a picture from our honeymoon to Las Vegas .We were in front of the dam...

We were so young that we could not rent a car at all when we got there, so we had to take the bus and taxi's everywhere. Good times...

And last, but certainly not least... Our sealing day July 23rd, 1999...

Ten wonderful years and counting...

Chuck-E-Cheese Birthday

The week after Jaxon's Birthday we went out to visit my sista in Colorado. We had oodles and oodles of fun. We had a birthday party for Hallie and Jaxon's birthdays while we were there, because their cousins missed them. SO we bought a cake and headed to chuck-E-cheese.

The kids had a total blast and with the coupons we found it wasn't too expensive.

So here are the pics I promised Caro from the photo booth. Aren't they cute? Don't my girls look more like Carolina than me?? ...

Christian gave Jaxon this really cool Lego Star Wars ship to build and we had a really good time putting it together. And Caro gave us a great tip - super glue the Legos together when you have the finished product or else you have a box full of tiny Legos that you don't know what to do with. But make sure you glue every single piece down, cause I made that mistake and I still find little pieces everywhere. What a fun toy though - Legos are a whole new thing for us and I think they are here to stay.

Isn't that cool? We had a great time at Caro's - I wish we could go more often, but with my husband would be nice...

My big boy is already 5!!!

Jaxon and Best Buddy (Christian)
Nov. 2007
My Jaxon turned five on Friday March 14th, and I can't believe it! He is growing up way too fast!

Birth Announcement

One of my favorite things about Jaxon is that he is such an early riser and likes to get his bed made, practicing and reading done all at the crack of dawn so he can play video games the rest of the day. I just love that he does first things first. He's a great example to me (I like to sleep in as late as I possibly can).

One Year

Another thing I love about JJ is the relationship that he has with his Dad. He loves Dad. Loves to be with Dad, do everything that Dad does etc... It is so cute. They go golfing together, camping, four wheeling, hiking, play baseball together, clean the cars, work in the garage. I love the relationship they have. Maybe I'm a little jealous, but I can't compete with Dad and I'm just glad he can have a relationship like that with his Daddy.

Walking - 14 Months

Jaxon is an awesome reader. I love to watch him grin from ear to ear as he is reading because he knows he is totally "getting it". And its amazing the progress he has made just in this last month. He is also rocking it on the violin. He just passed off all his twinkles and is starting to learn "Lightly Row". He loves to play for us, but does not like us to clap or be "happy" when he is done. It's so funny.

2 years 3 Months

We are so blessed to have Jaxon in our family. He is an amazing little person and we love him so much!!

3 Years - Easter Pics

Jaxon had a little party on his big day with his two cousins that he loves - Chandler and Marcus - and with his little best buddy Jarret Bawden (who has the exact same birthday) and Hallie's boyfriend Ethan Dorny. They had a Wii party with a pinata and then his cousins slept over. He had a great birthday.

4 Years - Boating

Fun Facts about Jaxon:

Favorite Color: All of them, but really I think its blue

Favorite Food: Angel Hair Pasta & Salad

Favorite Treat: Kit Kats

Favorite game: Mario Olympics on the Wii

Favorite Place to Visit: Christian's House & Chuck-E-Cheese

Favorite Superhero: All of them, but really I think its Transformers

Favorite thing to do: Play video games, ride bikes, boating, & anything with Dad

Favorite Restaurant: Brick Oven

5th Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Jaxon James!!!

Finally...

You won't believe it, but it's true. . . We finally closed on our house yesterday!! I am still in shock myself. We've been back and forth so many times, we just couldn't decide if we should or shouldn't. Then in December we got the ball rolling and started using a family friend as the loan officer, well... she was not working out. Let's just say she probably still thinks she's working on our loan - she was soooo slow. So the first of February Caro gave us the number of her loan guy out in Colorado and he was amazing - it was like night and day. He was so quick and upfront. We got it all done within a month and a great interest rate and payment to boot! If anybody needs a loan guy - he's fabulous. They even sent a notary to our house to close! How cool is that?

Anywho, thanks Caro!!

So the house is finally ours. Three years and 7 months later, its ours!

So now come the projects, which I am so excited about. I want to tile the master bath, paint the kids rooms and my room, fix up the basement apartment, get a vinyl fence, elevate the backyard(Alan fights me on this one, but I want it dang it!). Anyways, there are many things that will be underway as soon as Alan finishes school in April!! I can't wait for that moment in our lives!

So I guess we will be here for a while longer, but I do hope to someday settle down in a quiet little town somewhere with my best friend next door. Wouldn't that be perfect?? We can't have everything at once thought, I can be patient - I hope!

As an exciting side note - Alan has accepted an amazing offer from his former employer of 7 years - Ortho Development. Apparently they really wanted him back and he is incredibly excited to go back and be a Hip product Line Manager working in the marketing department. We couldn't be happier. He has been so stressed out lately with his current job and so unhappy. It is good to see him smiling again and with hope in his eyes. He will be starting April 1st and then graduating the end of April - so we really feel like a new and improved chapter of our life is beginning. We are so looking forward to the future.

Bring Your Dad to Dance Week

This week was bring your Dad to dance week at Hallie's studio. So Alan went with Hallie to Mini Ballet! Hallie was so excited to dance with her Daddy! Apparently the Dad's were doing lifts with the girls while they danced to 'Swan Lake' music. That would have been a sight to see!!

This was a day Hallie and Daddy will always remember.

Thanks for taking Hallie babe!

Suzuki Graduation

Summer graduated from Suzuki Book 4 last Saturday! They have these graduations once a year where you can graduate from a book and the kids get a little certificate. It's pretty cool. They play the graduation piece for their book in a big group. Summer played 'Concerto in A Minor-3rd Movement' by Vivaldi. She did great! Afterwards Sandee and I took the kids for milkshakes! It was a great afternoon.

I am so proud of Summer. She is becoming quite the violinist. She can learn a new piece so quickly and it always amazes me at how fast her fingers move. She plays beautifully. I just wish she liked to share her talent more (she's a little shy).

It's really rewarding seeing all of our years of hard work paying off.

Thanks for coming and supporting us as always Abu & Papa!!

The PeePee Crew

Sandee called me last week to tell me that my fabulous friend Kallie was coming up for the weekend, so I invited myself to hang out. I love Kallie to death and I hardly ever get to see her. So, like Sandee said, we put our party hats on and headed out for a night on the town. We had a yummy-yummy dinner and then went and saw 'Step Up 2 - the streets'. It was soooo good and we enjoyed it so much in fact that we thought we would form our own Crew (which I call the PeePee crew, because we had many incidents of peeing and near peeings). We danced in the snow with the car stereo blaring at midnight (a moment that will never be forgotten) and we made up our own moves. There are millions of pictures & video documenting the event, but I will share only a few of my faves (you can see the rest on Sandee's blog).

Thank heavens for great friends. What would I do without them? I seriously felt like a 12 year old girl last night being crazy with my girlfriends. I am so lucky and grateful to have two of the most amazing friends in the world, who I have the best time with everytime we get together.
I love you guys! What a rockin' night out we had.

P.S. I am still the best but shaker ever!!

Are we 12 or what??

Sandee has some serious upper body strength!!