Goodbye my Olympic Friends!

I have sincerely enjoyed every minute of the Olympic games this year. The Chinese did a fabulous job sponsoring it. At least from everything I saw! That "Bird's Nest" was awesome and the "Water Cube"! I want to swim there!! I have watched the Olympics with my family as a youth and now as an adult with my kids. It always fills me with amazement. I look at their determination, their drive, their passion. I see their muscular bodies pushed to their limits. I love all the little side stories where you get to hear about the circumstances that brought them to these Olympic games. If I were a teary woman, I'd have shed quite a few this time around. It was amazing to watch, again. It always is and I love every minute of it. The Olympic anthem always fills my heart with such joy. I will miss staying up late to see Phelps, Johnson, May and Treanor... a million others... My favorite events this year were the Beach Volleyball, Gymnastics, Swimming and Diving. I think some small part of me always wishes I could have been an Olympic athlete. How cool would that be? My body will appreciate the extra sleep I can get now that I won't be staying up soooo late to see the events! I say a fond farewell to these amazing athletes.... I'll see you again: on billboards, cereal boxes, commercials, and magazine covers. Go make your millions. You earned it!

Is she deaf?!

It was a good day. Chris and I took a nice long bike ride this morning after putting the kids on the bus. We rode down some sandy backroad trails and then on the road back up into our neighborhood. I was dying! I hate how quickly you lose that feeling of fitness after being semi-inactive for a little while. It takes so long to get up to a good level and such a short time to lose it. Man! Anyways, after that, we went and ate lunch with the kids at their school. They tell us everyday how wonderful the food is there! We ate with them and it really wasn't too bad! They actually season the food here! Today's special was Taco Pizza and these yummy peanutty caramel cheerio bars. Mmmmm. Not bad. Jilli loves the chocolate milk! She always gets a cute little brown milk mustache. After lunching with the kids, we drove to the clinic to get hearing and vision screenings (a requirement here!) and get their immunizations updated on the state forms. It turns out that both Jess and Miah needed a second Chicken pox vaccine... ugh! Good thing Chris was there!!! Jeremiah did great but Jessica freaked out! Chris, the nurse and I had to hold her down while she was stuck with the shot. It was all over in less than a minute but Jess really thought the world was ending or something... Silly kid!!! I don't know why she can't just be cool with stuff! Jillian was very worried about Jess. It was just dumb. You would think she'd grow out of this whole freak-out thing... We stopped at the PX on the way home for some ice cream and I shopped around while they ate - avoidance is a great diet! I found some shirts on clearance and a new book to read. It was awesome. We drove home and got all the schoolwork done so the kids could go and play in the backyard. They invited some neighbors over to jump on the trampoline and soon ALL the neighborhood kids were over and their moms... So, I had to go out and be social. I guess I missed the good part though! I was inside cleaning up a big poopy explosion that Jillian blessed me with - can't wait till that girl catches the vision of potty training!! I went out and heard that one little girl in the neighborhood came out to play without her mom's permission. She is a very precocious little girl with way too much energy. Her mom began calling for her. My kids just watched this girl completely ignore her mother calling her with astonishment. One of the other moms was telling me that Jess turned to her and asked, "Is she deaf?" Jess just couldn't believe that she wasn't listening to her mom!! It gave them all a good laugh since they all know how crazy that little girl is. I guess there are lots of stories to tell about that little girl and her mother.... more for another day! I just loved that my kids were so shocked and amazed that this little girl didn't want to go and see what her mother needed! That wouldn't fly around here!! We live in a pretty close knit neighborhood and I'm pretty excited that the mom's are so hands on and watch their children so well. It's quite a change from our crazy old neighborhood! I don't miss that part at all!
I think I may go take some tylenol for my poor head... I'm getting pounded by some serious Guitar Hero. Chris and Matt Holmes are rocking out!! We have Matt for the night! Yay! Chris has a playmate! Well, I'm going to go crash on my bed with a book and some earplugs!! Ta ta!

Favorite Photos...

I finally got the photos downloaded from my camera! These are some of my favorites. (For more... again, family blog).


Monica came to visit me on Saturday!! She and the girls stayed overnight here with us and we had the best time. She was so awesome to come down here and be our first visitor!! We went and got pedicures and manicures, shopped at Bath and Body Works, laughed, ate boiled peanuts and laughed some more! We ate at a local restaurant that was AMAZING - (the Mellow Mushroom!!) and I hope she comes again soon so we can go grab some more delicious Hummus dip there! MMMMMM. Thank you Monica for coming to see us!!! You ROCK!

Chris brought me these gorgeous roses one day when I had nearly finished unpacking. He is such a sweetie! They totally made my day. Aren't you jealous!??


This photo is of 4 of my friends whom I left behind... Rose, Jessica, (me), Marcia and Marcie. Marcie sponsored a "Blue Without You" party for us one day for lunch. We got to eat some delicious food and chat with our friends. We miss you all so very much!!

This photo is of Jilli. We were walking up to the River Walk and we walked past this locked gate. Jilli thought this was the entrance and she was totally upset that we couldn't go in because she had been talking about going there all morning! She looked so cute standing there, rattling the knob... I just had to snap a photo!

Getting pulled over...

I know it's been a while.... (If you want to read about what I've been up to with the move - head over to my family blog!)
Ok. This morning, I woke up and got the kids up and ready for school. We loaded Jilli in the stroller and walked over to the bus stop. It usually comes around 7:48. At 8:00 I began to worry that it wasn't coming. We started to walk in the direction of the school and saw it coming down the street. Thinking we wouldn't make it back to our stop, we walked down to the next one at the corner of our street. The kids got on the bus and I stayed to chat with the other moms who live in our culdesac. They were going to walk together, so I joined them. We walked down the North Range Road. It starts out with a steep hill and there is no sidewalk (of course!) We walked facing traffic and when cars would come we'd step off to the side into the grass or sand. About 3 minutes down the hill, we were pulled over by a police car. Yep. We started laughing, and heard him say, "that we couldn't walk on this street!" Great. So. We turned around and started back up the hill. About 2 minutes later, he pulled up behind us again. We started getting worried that he had heard our jokes about getting a ticket for walking and was really going to give us one!! Instead, he said, "He was mistaken. We can walk on that road as long as we don't walk at night (this was at 8 am!!) and as long as we get off the road for coming cars (duh!!)" SO!!! We turned around and continued on our walk, laughing and joking about our great luck at getting pulled over twice by a police officer as we walked down the street!!! It was an awesome walk with 2 huge hills (hee hee!!) and about 4 miles long. I was sweating and loving it since I haven't been getting my exercise in with all that's been going on. No worries!! I'm getting back into the swing of things!
Chris is out back with the kids putting up the trampoline. I took some pictures... but can't download them yet. Hopefully Chris can hook me up with Picasa tonight. We get sort of distracted by the Olympics every night!! GO USA!!! Chris is such a great dad! He helped the kids with their homework after school. I get so annoyed with them when they can't follow the directions and just get it done... They have a lot of homework now too and it's really pretty hard stuff! Grrrr! It's funny, I'm sitting here typing this and listening to Dr. Phil while I wait for the local news to come on. It's a show on mothers who don't want to be mothers anymore... Talk about lame! These women are struggling so much with their divine role. I can't help but think - Where are their husbands?? They all say that they wish they could get a break and find a hobby that could take them away from their kids so they could get recharged... I am so lucky that Chris is so good at giving me that break! From the minute he gets home from work, he's the man. The kids go right to him for everything. I get to relax and make dinner, blog like I am now, watch TV... It's great! He takes care of the bedtime routine too and that is such a help. I love that he's such a hands-on dad. I know I'm very lucky! Love you Chris!!! I felt so bad for those poor mothers on TV who feel so overwhelmed. I know I have had times like that. When Jilli was born I didn't think I would survive having three children! My sweet sister is feeling some of that as she figures out how to juggle her new little one and the other older two! Hang in there Beck!! I definitely think that having a hobby and a hubby who cares are the two things that keep me sane as a mom.

Memories...

Here is fun game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if we haven't known each other for long, just anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. Its actually pretty funny. If you post I'll assume you're playing and come to your blog and leave a memory!! On your mark... get set.... blog your memories!!

My Wordle!

I took some quotes from Pride and Prejudice and put them in at Wordle! It was a lot of fun and you should all go and try it!!

Ahhhh. The Smell of Cardboard in the Morning!!

I woke up this morning to the lovely aroma of cardboard wafting through my home.... YUCK! Chris is lucky his allergies prevent him from smelling it. It was a bit odd getting up and maneuvering around boxes to get to the bathroom. For a moment I forgot where I was! 

The big truck is parked in front of our house, making it difficult for all of our neighbors to get down the street in their cars... Oh well, it won't be long now! I am again sitting here in my little corner of chaos surfing the internet and listening to the bantering music of Tom and Jerry at my feet as Jilli and Mi watch the classic cartoon. It is still so entertaining after all these years!

I am amazed at all the things I have seen and read on the internet. You can find anything and everything on here! I could never be bored again! It is quite uncomfortable sitting here today though. I'm missing my comfy computer chair! Perching on a bar stool does nothing for your back and booty...

We played the Wii Fit last night as a family... even Jilli!! It was so fun! Chris is the best at it... of course and he had a Wii Fit "age" that was actually younger than his true age!! Go Chris! The rest of us had ages well over our real age. Even Jilli! It was hilarious because she came up at age 14!! We had a good laugh over that! I guess she really needs to work on her fitness!

We went out to eat at our favorite restaurant one last time... We LOVE Logan's Roadhouse and the last time we were there Miah colored one of their coloring sheets and left it to be judged in the contest... Well, he WON!! He won a free kids meal! Yay! So, this time, Jess, Jilli and Miah colored like crazy on the contest sheets in hopes that they would win another free meal coupon! Luckily, they have a Logan's near our new home! The biggest reason we love this place is the peanuts - and you can throw the shells on the FLOOR! It's a big deal to my kids cause I'm such a clean freak! The food is great too though! They serve these really yummy rolls and butter... mmmmmmmmm. Ok. It must be getting close to lunch time, I'm getting hungry! Guess I'll go find some munchies!! I may be back later... 

Moving Day!

I'm sitting here watching my movers pack up all our belongings. Man, we have a lot of stuff! It's amazing to me how many things we accumulate as we go through this world. Most of it we could live without too. I have the essentials separated out so we can tow them in a Uhaul and that is pretty much all I really care about. I guess I care about my dear Hubby and the kids too. They're the most important. Moving really opens your eyes to what is REALLY important in your life. Although I don't recommend it!
Chris is chatting with them. He always talks with everyone. Jeremiah is a lot like him - easily making friends with just about anyone. It is so nice having him here to help out! We stayed up till 3 am finishing up stuff and playing our new Wii Fit!!! Yeah! We finally got one! We've been trying since May to find one. Every time we go to Walmart or Target, Chris walks straight to the electronics desk and asks if they have one. Yesterday, we ran to Walmart to grab a few things and he walked back to the electronics desk. I left him to go find the goods... I guess he asked a woman at the counter and she told him that she didn't think so... Then he saw the guy there that he usually asks and he said that they did!! (Dumb girl was probably saving it for herself - which may be contributing to the lack of them in the area...) He texted me a few minutes later saying that he had a Wii Fit! I didn't believe him (if you know my husband, you wouldn't either!!) but he came up behind me a few minutes later with a huge grin and a Wii Fit!!!! Yay!! We didn't get a chance to try it out until about 2 am... but it is awesome and I'm so excited to have my own little personal fitness helper! My man delivers! (He told me to say that...) It is amazing to me how hard it has been to find a stinkin' Wii Fit! Why can't they just fill the stores with them? Instead, they are being sold on Ebay for twice what you can pick them up for in the store. It's not like Nintendo is seeing the profits from those sales... Pretty lame. Oh well. At least we finally got one!! yee hee!!
The movers come in tomorrow to load up the truck and then we'll be here in this empty house for a few days before we head on down to our new home. I am hopeful that we will like our new digs and that we will have good neighbors. I know the kids are excited to make some new friends and start school there. I hate leaving all my dear friends here who have helped me through so much... but I guess it's easier now that we live in a time with emails and cell phones! I may even send some snail mail out to them!! I love getting mail and sending mail is almost as fun - especially when I hand made the card!!
The kids are playing at our friends home today. They have a little kitty named Walt and Jilli calls him Wall-E (his other name). It is so cute to hear her say "Waaaaalllleeeee". She just cracks me up. Jeremiah and Jilli got to go and play at another friend's home yesterday and really enjoyed that. They are just so bored here and I won't let them touch anything.... so THANKS to those sweet friends who are willing to take my bored children in!!
I think I'm going to need a nap today. I don't think I've stayed up till 3am for about 15 years.... and it is not a very smart thing to do the night before a move starts.... wow. Bring on the caffeine!! I'll post as I can...

Link Me!!

I know a lot of  you have a link to this blog on your blogs! Yeah! I hope you know I have  a "Family" blog also and it has a lot more pictures of the fam and snippets from our daily grind... It may be a bit more interesting to most of you who are just looking for updates on our little family! If you'd like to link to that as well... the address is: www.helloluggage.blogspot.com!! Thanks!!

Getting Love in the Mail

I love to get things in the mail. I love emails full of news, wedding and birth announcements, but I especially love cards and packages!!! Today my kids came running to me with two packages from my dear sister-in-law, Angela. She had filled them to the brim with so many fun things! She put tons of travel games and books, little doodads and doomahickies that kids just LOVE, water balloons, pencils, water guns, and lots of candy!! She always sends us the most amazing stuff!! It was awesome to feel the love oozing from the packages.
My dear sister, Rebecca, sends me a card every month, no matter what is going on in her life. I always feel so loved when I go out to the mailbox and see her name in the upper left of a little envelope. She also sends us packages full of lovin' goodness on occasion. She is so crafty and usually includes a bunch of cute paper craft samples and ideas that she has tried out lately. I have used her ideas on more than one occasion and it makes me feel so much closer to her when I get little cute things from her.
I don't know if they know how much it means to get LOVE in the mail... but I'm going to make sure they know it!!

I dare you...

I dare you to go to this website and push the button... Hee heee heeeheheheheh....
I did and I couldn't stop!!!

Moving

We are moving. Moving. Moving. I don't want to move. Move. Move. It seems that there is a never-ending list of things to do to get ready to move and I just don't want to do them. I don't want to leave my friends and my home here. We have been here for three and a half years... We have made so many wonderful friends. My home is just so - with everything where I want it. I am just being a dork today and having a blah blah blah moment. I know there are many positives to our move... but it seems at the moment that there are far more negatives. Ugh. I will enjoy the clean slate that our new place will offer. I like to decorate our walls and arrange furniture and organize things... it's so fun for me. I will make new friends and keep all my old ones... but I will just miss the physical contact with my friends here - my sisters from other mothers! I will miss seeing them at church and at the store. I will miss eating out with them. I guess I could become a whole new woman there and no one would ever guess! I could talk with a british accent - just for fun! I could wear all black and sit in the corner and be mysterious or wear all pink and blow bubbles while chomping a huge wad of pink gum! Wouldn't that be fun!? Hee hee!! I know how to get around here. I will miss being able to drive somewhere without consulting a map! I have a lot of things shooting around in my brain today... I will miss stamping with my Club women and enjoying the food and company we shared. I couldn't have asked for a better group of women to hang out with! I have been soooo very blessed here. I hope that I will be blessed with good friends and fun in our new home.... Ahhhhhhhh. Moving.

Mission: Impossible....

I really enjoyed the article that I posted about below. She touched on some very valid points. I was totally unaware of the whole issue with Sister Beck's talk from last October's General Conference. I personally LOVED her talk. I thought is was great. I think that people were too easily offended by her comments about perfection. Obviously NONE of us will reach perfection in this life!!! It is "mission: IMPOSSIBLE" and we need tech support from our Savior to get through!!! 'Mothers who know', to me, means mothers who have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have a testimony, you want to do all of the things she spoke about to the best of your abilities!! How can you be offended when a sister stands up and gives us a standard to strive for? It made me want to be "mother who knows"! I felt bad that it had upset some women in the church enough that they got together and put their signatures to a "revised" edition of her speech. I just think that is lame... sorry if you put your name on it! But, you totally read too much into her words if you did!! Bottom line... strive to be your BEST and be a good example of a Woman of God!! Best is totally relative too. What is a Best for one is not necessarily a Best for me and I know that our Father in Heaven knows when we are giving our all. I don't do my very best every day... some days I just don't and it's all good. I try again the next day! Trying counts I think.
I am such a big fan of Sheri Dew. I have heard her speak many times and have a lot of her books. She just has an awesome way with words and she just fills them with the Spirit. I was so happy to be linked to her latest talk. I love all the things she had to say. I love that she is so encouraging and so empowering. I felt so motivated to do and be better after reading it. I hope that all of you who read it felt that way too. I think that we should always strive to be better. Who in this world doesn't need to be striving to be better!!? I know I have a long way to go... and I hear that Mission: Impossible music playing as I go.... Hee hee!

An Awesome Post for You to Read!!

I just read the  most awesome post and I just had to link you all to it!! Go here and read it!! It will take you a while, but it's sooooo worth it! Awesome! Tell me what you think!! I'm still reading it and will post later with my thoughts on the topic... hee hee!

Visited!

I was visited by my Visiting Teachers today! They stayed and chatted with me for nearly an hour. They commented on how darling my kids were and shared the monthly message with me. It was a beautiful message about our divine heritage. It is always good to hear the sweet thoughts that are a part of that little message each time. My favorite quote that she shared was from President Gordon B. Hinckley, "Our bodies are sacred. They were created in the image of God. They are marvelous, the crowning creation of Deity. No camera has ever matched the wonder of the human eye. No pump was ever built that could run so long and carry such heavy duty as the human heart. The ear and the brain constitute a miracle. . . . These, with others of our parts and organs, represent the divine, omnipotent genius of God" ("Be Ye Clean," Ensign, May 1996, 48). I love that thought!! Our bodies truly are miraculous in every way! How blessed we are.

It always amazes me how hard it is to get out and do visiting teaching each month. I have been the Visiting Teaching Coordinator for a long while now and the numbers for our ward are just so very sad each month! It reminds me of that little Primary song:

It shouldn't be hard to sit very still And think about Jesus, his cross on the hill, And all that he suffered and did for me; It shouldn't be hard to sit quietly. It shouldn't be hard, even though I am small, To think about Jesus, not hard at all.

I think of the miles He walked in the dust, And children he helped to love and to trust; It shouldn't be hard to sit tall in my seat, To listen politely, to quiet my feet. It shouldn't be hard, even though I am small, To think about Jesus, not hard at all.

Why can't we find the time in our busy lives and schedules to get out and visit with the sisters on our lists? It is not very hard and I know it is one way that we can be Christ's hands here on this earth. We must do it!! I love doing it and I haven't missed much in the 3 and a half years we have lived here. Being in a military ward, we are constantly changing the assignments... it makes it really difficult, but I have somehow found a way. I'm not the perfect Visiting Teacher... but I at least try to get in contact with my sisters each month.

I haven't been regularly visited until recently and it is amazing what regular visits can do for me! I don't have many needs. My home is well kept, my children well behaved, my health is good. I just sincerely look forward to talking! Actually having a captive audience in my home once a month is GREAT! Of course, I'm a much better listener than a talker... but it still fills my cup. I really look forward to those visits. If you haven't done your visiting teaching for July... GET OUT THERE AND DO IT!!

Lil' Miss

Don't you just wish you had this much sass!! Love her!!

10 Years Ago... a tag for you!

Ten years ago...
I was 22, newly married, newly mommied and living in Logan, Utah! I think I spent my days feeding Jess, changing Jess, feeding Jess, watching TV while feeding Jess, making food for Chris, feeding Jess... You know the drill!
Five Things on my TO DO List...
1-Make a hair appointment (still trying to decide if I want color again... or just a trim!)
2-Purchase 3 new blinds at Picerne (to replace some broken ones.)
3-Make potato salad, marinate chicken and bake cookies for tonight (having friends over!)
4-Add some more songs to my Playlist player...
5-Read an article my dad sent me entitled, "A Sense of the Sacred".
If I were a Billionaire...
Chris would leave the military. We would open up a Computer business/ Bookstore and work at it for FUN! I would buy a gorgeous eco-friendly home with CASH in Colorado! I would pay off ALL our debts and buy a Ford Mustang... and a Mini Cooper... and a Treadmill and a Wii Fit... and and and. I think I would pay off my parent's house, Chris' parent's house, my Grandma's house... I would go back to school and save money for the kids' missions and college. We would take that trip to Disney World we wanted... 6 times!! Heck, we might as well buy a condo there! We'd go to Portugal, England, Spain, France, Germany, Japan.... I hope I never become a billionaire - it's too much work thinking about how to spend it all!!!
Three bad habits I have...
I run my fingers through my hair all the time... and by doing this, I catch all the loose hairs and pull them out. I've done it since I was a kid... I try really hard not to do it now because it bothers Chris to find hair all around.
I can't ever relax if my house isn't just so. I think this is bad because of the relaxing part... not the cleaning part.
I start too many books at a time and sometimes never get around to finishing them!
Places I have lived...
Springville, Logan and Brigham City, UT
Richmond, TX (for a month)
Hepzibah, GA
Jobs I've had...
Pizza Hut cook
Copy chick (at a local copy shop)
Bookstore clerk (at a little shop in Springville)
Microchip tester
Clerk at Deseret Book
Stampin' Up! Demonstrator
Things Most People Don't Know about Me...
I am terrified of heights and falling and spiders. My dream job would be to be a Librarian. I know... but I LOVE organizing things and reading and the smell of books and the quiet... Ahhhhh! I have never been outside the United States. Ever. Not even Mexico or Canada. I don't like water unless it's 5 feet deep or less... I never take baths. Who wants to sit there in hot water and look at their own body! Ugh! Showers only for me! I love exclamation points!! And ellipsis... I collect lip-gloss and pens. I love frogs. I owned one once and his name was Denzel. He was so cute! Except for the part where I had to feed him LIVE crickets!

OK... so now I've done it! Let's see all of you do it too!!! Can't wait to read yours!

Keeping It Real!

I was tagged by Nicole ( http://sohfam.wordpress.com/ )to do this great little post! There was no cleaning in the taking of these pictures... No cheating here! I woke up early this morning (6:45!) to the dulcet tunes of the 82nd Choir being blasted over the loudspeakers.... grrrrr. Since I was up, I decided to do this post... Enjoy!

My Fridge

My Sink

A toilet

My bed... It's habit for me to make it right when I get up...

I tag... Monica, Daisy and Sugar!!!

Keeping It Real... continued!

Place I would like to go on Vacation.... Anyplace with Mountains!! (I think this is in Canada...)

What my kids are doing.... ahhhhh! Peaceful!

Self Portrait

Favorite Pair(s) of Shoes

My Closet... I love my big blue stability ball... but I hate that the kids play with it...
Yes.... I have lots of clothes!

Check This Out!!

My sister- in- law sent me a link to check out this great new airline!!!
Tell me what you think!! Hee hee!