Here's a tag I wanted to do...

Tagging is a fun way to get to know people better, but it is also a big weight on my shoulders when someone does tag me. Here is a tag that I actually wanted to do. And to be honest, I wasn't even tagged- is that pathetic? :) Here are some friends that were tagged... Melissa, Chandra and some others that I can't remember.

The point behind this tag is to take your fourth photo folder and the fourth picture in that folder. Here is mine. It was taken December of 2000. I had purchased my first digital camera (a Nikon) in November. Scott and I were dating at the time. Since I didn't have children of my own, I took a lot of pictures of my nephews. It's amazing how much they have grown. You may remember a post I did, back in October. Those two young men barely resemble these adorable little boys.

Since I wasn't tagged, I can't really tag anyone- but if you want to do it, I'd love to see it!

It's time for my Twilight post...

I don't know why I keep waiting to post about the movie. But, I think it's time I post it.

A large group of women from our neighborhood and ward, gathered at Thanksgiving Point for a 12:01 showing of the much awaited movie. Many of the women were all decked out and glittering. The women that put it together were all dressed up in gorgeous long black velvet capes. They also did trivia questions and raffle drawings. I was very impressed with all they did. The theater also went all out for the opening. They had hired actors/models to come and greet the movie goers. I didn't get there in time, nor did I take my camera (shocking- I know!) So, I'll just jump into my review...

I went to the show, expecting it to be a two star show. With that expectation, I was definitely pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as well as I did.

The first scene left me skeptical about how I would like the actress they selected for Bella. By the time she got to Forks, I was liking her. Charlie was not what I expected, but I liked him. Bella's friends were a little too "cool" and "hip" for such a small town.

Now let's talk about the Cullens. UGH- I really struggled with most of them. Emmitt was cast very well, but they made him a little too goofy. Rosalie was far from what I expected. I wanted a tall, super skinny, dark haired elegant beauty- instead we had a bleached blond who wore silly too tight of jeans. I decided to check out the actress- Nikki Reed. In real life, she is strikingly beautiful and fits more what I expected of Rosalie. Alice was fine- but they didn't develop the relationship between her and Bella at all. Jasper- UGH UGH UGH. He was awful. By no means the fighter that I envisioned. Plus, the actor looked like he was constipated the whole movie. I know that he is a troubled soul- but poorly done. In my mind, he should have been a large, intimidating hottie. Someone that his power would actually help on the hunt. Carlisle was fine but his make-up was AWFUL!!! Esme was perfectly cast. (I really miss her TV show- the Ex List).

Now on to Edward. His hair was goofy, he was too hairy for Edward and his animal like stance was silly. The other night he was on Jay Leno, and I have to say that any charm he had was lost in that interview. In the interview he was a freak- really. In the movie Edward and Bella had good chemistry- but not as good as Troy and Gabrielle from HSM. (Sorry, had to throw that in;))

James and Victoria were wonderful!

The last character, I'll give my opinion on is Jacob. Have any of you seen "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl"? It is one of Jade's favorite movies. We've watched it over and over again. Jacob was Shark Boy. The problem was that he seemed too old. But, we'll see how he does in the next movie.

I enjoyed the movie. There was one particular scene that I absolutely gagged at. It almost ruined the whole movie for me. I will just let you see the movie and see if you can figure out which scene it was.

Will I see it again? Absolutely. Do I think Scott should see it? Yes. Am I looking forward to the next movie? For sure.

Who is that at a sewing machine?

When Ivy was born, a friend of mine in Michigan, Ami, gave me an adorable rag quilt. I used to bundle Ivy up in it for church. It's amazing how many compliments I got on that quilt. I absolutely love it and use it to keep myself warm. It is the perfect baby size, but not a great big kid or grown-up size. Kat is having a baby in December and I decided I should give quilting a try. Not real quilting, but rag quilting. My mom and I set out to find some fun flannels that would work with Kat's color choices. The nursery is blue, yellow, red and green. (She made a beautiful crib quilt). We found a lot of really fun flannels and figured out the pattern. I decided to make it 8 squares across and 8 squares down. (The one Ami gave me was 6 x 6- perfect baby size).

I have not sat down at a sewing machine since sewing class in 8th grade (okay, I lied, I helped sew the kids Halloween Monsters). All I remember sewing then, was a pair of pink flowered shorts. They were cute, but by no means well made. I'm not a natural, so it isn't something that I've dedicated much time to. After making Kat's quilt, I just may rethink that. I actually really enjoyed doing it. It was somewhat therapeutic. The old sewing machine (it's my grandma's and she's been gone for 8 years) was a little noisy. I'm going to have to research a bunch of sewing machines to see if I can find one that is a little quieter so that I can sew while Scott and I watch TV.

Here is the final product. It's a great size, and Kat was able to cuddle up in it. A perfect size to grow into!

Jade is asking for one in pink, purple, blue and green. We'll have to see what I can find. Mom started to look for some flannels for me, but they are all pastels. I'm not sure if that is the direction for Jade's- but maybe for Ivy.

Kat and Jon plus kids...

Thanks Kat for letting me take some pictures of your cute little family. It's fun to play around and see what we get.

The kids on Thanksgiving...

Here are a few pictures of the kids. Harrison is often very content to play by himself. Him being by himself is the best way for me to get pictures of him.


The kids had a race. Luke didn't always want to wait til the adult said to go. So, grandpa headed over to be the starting gun. Even then, he still wanted to take off first. The kids had a fun time racing. Ivy even got in on the game.

Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma for hosting Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at my parents...

Thanksgiving is always a wonderful holiday. We get to cook and bake- two of my favorite things to do. We get to spend time with family. We don't have to go to work or school. We get to sleep in. And, this year, the kids stayed at my parent's and we got to go home all by ourselves. (A little insight into what that means for our family- Scott and I watched several of our shows on DVR, slept straight through the night and woke up when we wanted to without one girl on each of my arms. It also meant going to the grocery store and Costco as grown-ups).

I had three food assignments yesterday- pumpkin pie, rolls and seafood cocktail. First thing in the morning, I got up and started the rolls, while they were rising, I made the pies. They were so beautiful, before I put them in the oven. As I was transferring them from the counter top to the oven, I got distracted and splashed pie filling all over the place.

My mom always does an amazing job decorating the table. Below is the table and the buffet.

While we were taking pictures of the little families, we took some of Mom and Dad with the Utah grand kids. It was really too dark, to take without the flash, but I tried it anyway. Harrison wasn't having the best time.

Thanks family for all that you do. I love you and am the most grateful for my family.

Another attempt at some family pictures...

This time, Kat took them. While we were at my parent's for Thanksgiving, we took a few minutes and captured some pictures of our little family and some of just the girls. Thanks Kat.

My Little Family- 6 months later

Some Sundays, once about every 6 months, my little family runs away for a few hours. Every six months we do exactly the same thing. We go up to Daniel's Summit and Strawberry Reservoir and take lots of pictures. Unfortunately we are about a month behind, so it was a little too cold to take as many pictures as we would have liked. Ivy was very cold and sad, so we were quick. Here are a few that turned out.

Luci's 1st Birthday Party

On Sunday we went to our niece's first birthday party. She wasn't so sure about the cake, but she really enjoyed the presents. The pictures are reminiscent of our nephew's birthday.

During the party, Theresa had the kids do a donut bite. They were so cute and the adorable little girl in the center won. Oh, silly me, that would be my daughter.

My Little Fashion Designer

Jade and Ivy have gotten into cutting everything up into pieces. Ivy just cuts them into little tiny pieces. Jade, on the other hand, likes to create clothing. Above, you can see her bracelet, purse and hat. The next morning she made shoes with paper and glue. She made an outfit for Ivy as well, but Ivy cut it up into pieces- cause that's what she does.

Jade's Field Trip to the Gateway Discovery Zone

Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to get to chaperon Jade's field trip. I had 5 kids in my group- Ally, Tyson, Jaxson, Jade and Breyelle. Jade, Tyson and Jaxson are really good friends and the three of them have a lot of fun together- which also means they no longer get to sit together in class. The two girls are very sweet and very calm.

The boys favorite part of the museum was when they got to draw a cartoon. Jade and Ally created one together, Jaxson and Breyelle did one together and Tyson did his own.

The kids got to climb around in a life flight helicopter. And some of them climbed the wall. When we were done with the museum, I asked everyone what their favorite part was. The girls all three said, "All of it!"

I loved getting to see Jade interact with her friends. She was very bubbly and fun.

Sugar Bugs mean funny gas...

Jade cracks me up. I love that she doesn't get scared about things that scare most kids her age. Let's be honest, the dentist scares many adults. She smiled the whole time she was getting drilled. She would laugh and say her mouth was tired. Once she was done getting drilled and filled, she got her prize and was on her way- grinning and rubbing her numb cheek.

Bonderant Performance Driving School....

With my new job, I will be doing customer events. The majority of these events will be in a hotel conference room. Lucky for me, my first event involved a little bit more excitement. I do have to say that I was really impressed with the presentations that I got to watch. We had a lot of excitement concerning the new product announcement. I'm anxious to see how things develop. For the event, we went to the Bondurant Performance Driving School. It was very cool. I do like the sound of a Corvette, but when it comes to handling, I'll stick with our blue car- hands down!

Remember when I was younger and I was a "Bond girl" during Novell's Brainshare at a Compaq party? Well, in my older and more maternal life, this is as close as I will come to being a poster girl. Sad isn't it?

Our nephew, Matthew's birthday party

On November 3rd, 2004 Matthew joined Mike and Kristal's family. Here are some pictures that I took of his birthday excitement.

He was very excited about the gift from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Janet. It got played with the rest of the evening.

The Family Pictures... Finally

I don't love any of these pictures. I do love the girls in all of them. For some reason, the remote makes both of them turn into little hams. The bottom two pictures were "taken" by Ivy. She kept snapping away. The top picture is from the first attempt at getting a family picture. I neglected to take a good look at the background before I set us up. The "witches" in the background is a nice touch. I think we just might have to try again.

Funny Jade...

I love Jade. She makes me laugh all the time. I have taken down my Halloween decorations (shocker, I know- since it is the middle of November!) But, I have not packed them away into their crates. Which means they are all set out on the dining room table. The other morning, Jade called me downstairs to see what she had done. Several years ago, when Ms Ashley was her nanny, they made pumpkins and ghosts with acorns. She thought that this was "SOO CUTE, you have to take a picture!" So, I did and here it is.

The first real snowstorm...

Sometimes it is obvious that I am just not the best mom. Maybe it isn't that I'm a bad mom, just a flexible mom. One who believes that the experience out weighs the possibility of getting sick. Jade wanted to play in the snow. We hadn't had breakfast yet, no baths and we were obviously still in our pj's. Jade just wanted to run to the mailbox and back again. She put on her ballet slippers- so she wasn't barefoot. I let her run to the mailbox and back again. She was cold and wet, but extremely happy.

Ivy had no interest in getting her ballet slippers wet. She was happy to just watch Jade.

Red Ribbon Week- Crazy Hair Day

During Red Ribbon week, Jade's school had a couple special days. Crazy hair day was one, backward clothes day was another. Jade's favorite was crazy hair day for sure. Pretty adorable! And as you can guess, Ivy had to be in on the fancy day too.

Little Ninja Belt Advancement

The day we got home from California was Jade's belt advancement. She got her Orange Strip. Last time Bobby Lawrence held the advancement at their studio. This time, they decided to hold it at the Apollo Dance Club. There were some benefits to the change, but some changes that I really didn't like.

But, what I did like, was that it was really easy to take good pictures.

Throughout the advancement show, she would wave at me and blow kisses in my direction. I love when she knows how proud of her we are. I wish she knew it all the time.

There are times when I wonder if we are doing the right thing, having her in karate and gymnastics. Is it too much for a 5 year old? But, the smile above and here tells me it's a good thing. She is practicing and stretching a lot.

The other day she asked me if we (me, her and Ivy) could start having ballet classes at home. She doesn't want to go to a studio for lessons, but she does want to learn. We tried to do some stretches the other night, unfortunately, my foots not quite ready for ballet lessons- even with my two girls. Hopefully soon.

Disneyland- Day 3

Wednesday was an extra fun day. Asher and Kieran met us. I, stupidly, forgot to charge my battery the night before, and I knew that the girls would be really sad if I couldn't take pictures of them with the characters- so that was all that I took pictures of- CHARACTERS.

The girls have been absolutely addicted to Nightmare Before Christmas for the past month. So when they say Sally and Jack, we had to get pictures with them. Unfortunately, we tried to get a picture with them, but they were going on break when we saw them. We went back after their break and found the line to be really long. We went to stand in it and were told that the end of the line was the last person in line. No pictures with Jack and Sally.

Scott and the girls often skipped around Disneyland. It was very cute. The girls would pose for pictures all the time. Often they would ask for the picture to be taken by little monuments that they liked.

Jade and Ivy really wanted to ride the Indiana Jones ride, but they were just barely too short. Kieran came with us and Grandpa stayed with the little girls. Jade says that she will get to go on Indiana Jones next time we go. Kieran does not want to go again.

After Indiana Jones and the Tiki Room, we headed to see a lot of characters. Jade started collecting autographs on the third day. But she loved it.

After some adorable pictures with characters, we had to take the perfect Halloween Time Disneyland Picture. Unfortunately, the lighting was awful.

But we got a cute one of Ivy by the Halloween lights. And then, we got to take pictures with Pluto.

The girls thought it was pretty adorable the way Pluto signed the autograph book.

Scott, the playful dad and uncle, likes to throw the girls up in the air. They both really like it.

Kieran opted for a more traditional picture- not in the air.

At 6:00, Ivy was asleep, just like the day before. There was no way we could wake her up. We tried, but she was exhausted and still went to bed right when we got home. After a nap, she was a whole new person- all grins.

If you go to Disneyland, and have daughters, be sure and do the Princess Event. They do it twice a day and it is adorable. They teach the kids how to dance like a princess. Once they are done with the instruction, then the Princesses come out and dance with the girls. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella were the princesses that danced with our girls. It was a short activity but definitely worth it.

Time to say good night and goodbye to Disneyland.

So, here it is, nearly a month since our trip to Disneyland. I am ready to go back. I'm thinking we may have to do a trip in January or February. If you ask Ivy, she'll tell you that we are going to Disneyland again tomorrow. I wish she knew something I didn't. Unfortunately, we aren't going--- not yet!

Disneyland - Day 2

I thought I would finally finish posting about California. There will be one more California post after this one.

For day two of our 3 day park hopper pass, we headed over to California Adventure Park. After I checked out my wheelchair and left my crutches with customer services, we headed over to the great big candy corn. There, we got to see our first Disney character of the trip. Goofy created us and allowed for a cute little family portrait.

Disneyland no longer has "Bear Country" but the California Adventure Park has the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Jade had a blast on the swing and climbing through the course.

Jade also loved seeing the bears from "Brother Bear", but Ivy didn't.

Jade loved all of the characters and wanted her picture with each one- even if the character wasn't aware of the cute little Blondie girl posing in front of him.

Our first night in Anaheim, the girls saw some face painters. They kept asking until we let them. They both picked butterflies. Grandpa added 1$ to each of them so that they could have sparkles.

Ivy loved having her face painted, and she loved King Triton's Carousel.

We got to ride with our two little girls. Grandpa did a great job being the photographer for the afternoon.

The girls all had a great time getting pictures taken with the characters.

The day ended with a one very sleepy girl and another little girl with a grin from ear to ear.

It was a great day and "Thank you for visiting!"

Jade's Autumn Photography...

Last Friday, my mom and dad had the Utah grand kids come over for an activity. Each of the kids had their own digital cameras (Ivy and Harrison had to share). They were asked to take pictures of things that they only see in the the fall. She did a fantastic job. Here are her images. -- Enjoy!

From Ivy's camera...

Since Ivy and Harrison shared cameras, I'm not sure if all of these are her images. Obviously, the first one is. The other three, I'm not so sure. But, I like them.

What does a 5 year old do with a camera remote?

Sunday, after church, we (okay I) wanted to take a quick family portrait. I have a tripod and a remote, so it wasn't going to be hard. (I'll post those pictures later and see if any of them are any good). Once we were done, I let Jade "hold" the remote while I unhooked the tripod. Instead she had herself a little photo shoot.

Playdoh on a Saturday is fun

A couple of weekends ago, Scott went 4-wheeling. While he was riding, we played lots of fun things. Ivy's favorite activity is playdoh- any day of the week. I think that if you were to ask her what she wants to do, 90% of the time she would say "play playdoh". So, that is what we did. The girls had a great time. Here is a sampling of the difference in our two girls.

Jade, very carefully, created a snake. At first it was a plain snake but she decided to embellish. Ivy just cuts and cuts and cuts.

Grandma helps make things more festive...

Growing up with my grandparents close by, was awesome! Every holiday we would do a number of arts and crafts. We would paint ceramics, make pipe cleaner wreaths, create witches with readers digests painted black and many other fun activities. I loved what it meant to prepare for the holidays.

My mom has carried on the tradition of arts and crafts with her grand kids. (My cousin Cass, has also continued to this tradition).

This Halloween the kids all got together and made monsters. I was lucky enough to get to do one too.

This year, grandma also made nightgowns for the girls and pj pants for the boys. The girls love them. Ivy asked for a pocket, so the girls each got pockets with cute spiders- made by grandma and stuffed by the girls.

One way to know that you have a 2 year old...

The other day, I was putting something in the backseat of the car. I noticed something in the door handle on Ivy's side. As I looked a little closer, I realized what it was. Can you tell what it is?

The rest of her McDonald's ice cream cone.

Hello? Anyone still there? Sorry to say it's been a while since I have posted. Not for the lack of things to post- simply the lack of time.

The past week and a half has been crazy busy. My job has changed a bit and I'll be transitioning into a new role at the start of the year. In the meantime, I'm doing both of the jobs (and my old job was really more like 4 jobs). As a result of the new job, I will be doing more traveling. Last week I was in Phoenix for a customer event and this week I was in Raleigh.

I still have Disneyland posts to do, karate belt advancement, Halloween arts and crafts, cute stories of the girls and many other things.

Yummy Pizza Rolls

November 1st and Ivy Rose

Ivy has a syndrome called PFAPA. We started her on a vitamin drink back in February. Her episodes got less severe and shorter. In April, we took her off of her seizure medicine. Since then, she has had several extremely mild episodes. Ones that don't upset our day, let a lone our week. On our drive to California, I looked at her and noticed her eyes were kind of droopy and sad. I reached back to feel her forehead. It was the hottest it had been since April. That was on the Friday portion of the drive. Her episode continued until Sunday afternoon. Then the fever broke. Phew. She was healthy for Disneyland.

I took a few pictures of her today. She's healthy, happy and fever free. Which means some cute faces and pretty smiles.

Last Halloween Post...

I know I said I wouldn't do anymore of these picture grids, but I wanted to do a quick "Halloween at my house" post. But I took so many pictures it just didn't make sense to use them all full size. :) My sister's post on her Halloween decorations inspired me.

Our Halloween...

Well, based on the number of posts, you can tell we had quite the day. And I forgot to take pictures at three of the festivities we attended.

Here's a recap of the day...

Got up and got vamped.
Took lots of scary pictures
Went to Jade's Halloween Party
Went to work and the girls had lunch
The girls came up to my work
We Sped to Scott's work
Went to Grandma and Grandpa's early for the party, but had some nice one on one time
Went to the Christensen's ward activity that Cass was in charge of. While we were there, the girls did some trick or trunking, danced the Chicken Dance, learned YMCA and the Hokie Pokie, and joined in their parade
Went home and Kat came by with the boys (Jon counts as one of the boys)
Scott took the girls Trick or Treating and I stayed home to hand out candy
Put the girls in the bath
Went to bed

Talk about scary vampires. I think the teeth were not the best addition. But, for 89 cents, they were probably worth it to her.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN and we'll see you next year!

Jade's school party

Renaissance decided not to do a parade. Instead they had a party for each grade. Jade's class had 7 stations. They did musical chairs, story time, decorated pumpkins, ghost bowling, cookie decorating, Halloween movie, and Halloween bingo. It was fun getting to watch Jade with her friends. Unfortunately, I was pretty busy at the pumpkin station, so I didn't get to watch much. Grandma and Grandpa came by and I let Grandma take my camera around to capture some of the event.

The teachers and their aids were all dressed up like Disney villains. Above is Jade's teacher. Pretty great costumes!

The office on Halloween...

This is the first year that my work has had a real trick or treat party planned. Unfortunately, it conflicted with Scott's. The girls came up to mine, and then we sped down to Scott's. Sadly, everyone at his work was completely out of candy. Except his boss, Rich, and he was kind enough to hid a necklace for each of the girls.


Here are my two girls with Mike's girls. (Mike is who I started working for 3 1/2 years ago). His daughters are 9, 6 and 2. The youngest is 2 weeks older than Ivy.

KISS came to see us on Halloween, with the Village People opening for them. Okay, so KISS is our executive staff and the Village People are all the women on the Inside Sales Team. (I have to point out that Amy, the policeman, wore a completely different outfit for her evening festivities. Her son told her that he though he'd outgrow Halloween before she did. I dare say, he might be right).

Here is another picture of our Executives.