Easter Baskets!

The Easter Bunny came today while we were at church. It's amazing how he knows who has 9 AM church! Ivy was tickled with everything she got. Jade, on the other hand, had issues with almost everything- except her scriptures. (Our ward is asking all primary children to bring their scriptures.) The girls were beautiful today at church and thank you Cass for letting my girls have the flower girl dresses after your girls outgrew them. It was fun getting to see my girls look as beautiful as our flower girls did.

Here they are...

Speaking in Sacrament Meeting! YIKES!

So here I am, working on my talk for sacrament meeting. Suffering from a migraine and only wanting to sleep. I'm feeling extremely overwhelmed to be the Easter program. As I look back on my life in the church, speaking has never been something that stressed me out. Teaching always seemed to be a breeze. So why am I having such a hard time now? Well, I figured it out. Speaking in church or teaching are not like riding a bike. It's been almost 5 years since we last spoke in church. We were asked to speak in church in Michigan, but it was for two weeks after I was to be back in Utah. So we didn't have to speak that time. Then we were in the condo ward, where we never really got involved. We knew it was super temporary- so no sacrament talks there. Now, we've been in our ward for a year and we aren't going anywhere, so they got us. Now, if we'd been teaching during that 5 year, this wouldn't be as big of a deal. Unfortunately, it's been 3 years since I've had a calling. Last summer I went to the bishop and asked for a calling, but apparently there just isn't the right one for me, right now. Maybe it's because I'm a workaholic and a mom. Who knows, but either way, this talk is STRESSING ME OUT!!!!! I've got 7 minutes written and 6 more to go.

"Crafternoon" at Aunt Kat's with Grandma

Today she had Jade over to do a cute craft with the boys

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Easter Eggs and Silly Grins

The dying of the eggs

The eggs are all decorated and the girls are happy that Kim helped them get ready for Easter.

The proud (silly grinned) showing of the eggs

The final product.

Finally, it's not too cold for the park

On Wednesday, while Scott and I were enjoying ourselves at the concert, Kim stayed with the kids. They went to the park and had an absolute blast. Jade did fall off her bike and had to get a bandaid- which meant Ivy had to get one too. The girls are being so adorable with the spring weather. Its great because it is actually wearing them out by bedtime.

Jade's lip

On Thursday April 11th, Jade will have her "bubble" removed. They will have to put her out on a general anesthetic to cut it out. Then she'll have stitches for 2 weeks, that we'll have to be very careful about not biting.

Here's a little background from Wikipedia on what her "bubble" is...

"An oral mucocele is a swelling of connective tissue consisting of collected mucin from a ruptured salivary gland duct, which is usually caused by local trauma. The mucocele is a bluish translucent color, and is more commonly found in children and young adults."


Sometimes a mucocele will go away on its own. Unfortunately it's been almost 4 months for Jade's and if they haven't gone away by then, they probably won't on their own. Well, there you have it. Mucocele- because we don't do any "normal" ailments.

Date Night at Brainshare

Last night Scott and I went on a real date. We went with a group from our ward- the Jardines, the Hawkins and the Wasdans (Scott, am I spelling that wrong?). We started out at Z'tejas. It was just okay, but a little louder than we had hoped and not great food. Then we went to the Brainshare conference.

Frank was HILARIOUS! By the way, he's much larger in real life than he looks in this picture. Part of his act he laid down on the ground and talked with his hand. It was so funny. He does a great job on impressions but the floor was my favorite part.

After Frank, the headliners came out. Collective Soul. They started out a little weak. Okay really weak. You couldn't understand the singer and his hair was covering up his face. But then, they played a song everyone recognized and it was as if a different band was on stage. Did you know that "hollywood" from American Idol is their song? It was really fun, and the girls wanted to get up and dance, but the support from the guys just wasn't there, so we sat at danced in our seats.

We really enjoyed the group. I felt really old when the band referred to 1994 and we all talked about where we were in '94. Scott and I were the oldest by 6 and 7 years. The funny thing is that we've also been married the shortest time. :) Hopefully we really will do more with these couples.

Spring has Sprung!

Okay, maybe it hasn't quite "sprung" since long sleeves and leggings are still needed. But the girls are so excited to be outside rolling and playing in the grass. Now we just need a fence and a swing set and we'll be good to go for the summer.

I'm really getting excited to plant trees, shrubs and flowers. Spring Fever has definitely hit!

HAPPY 37th BIRTHDAY DAD!

Two cute girls made fantastic cards and an adorable cake. Jade insisted on a chocolate cake. Too bad Dad likes yellow better. :)

Boarding- sort of

Lucky Scott got to go Snowboarding today. So he finally invested in his own board. The boots Ivy is wearing aren't the ones he kept. But she was so darn adorable in them, that I had to take several pictures.

Hopefully Scott is being safe and having a great time.

Doesn't Ivy make a cute boarder?

Scott's Family Party

Scott turned 37 this past week. For his birthday he got a guitar (wireless for the XBox360), a RockBand shirt, Recycled Gift wrap and the Mormon Bathroom Companion. Okay, I don't remember for sure what it is called- but you get the idea. His girls gave him some really spiffy brown shoes. He's going to look pretty hot wearing his RockBand shirt playing his wireless guitar while Ivy pounds on the drums and Jade sings, "In Bloom" by Nirvana. I think I'll get my camera out for that party!

He had a very nice and big party. Because of John Larsen's death, all of Aunt Carole's family was in town. They all joined us for Corned Beef and Cabbage. It was a pleasant evening.

Ms Ashley's baby, Jackson

Ashley Swogger came by for a visit the other day. We finally got to meet her parents. They are such a neat couple and did a great job of raising our old nanny. The girls were thrilled to see Ashley and Jade had a kick holding a baby. Ivy was in the middle of an episode and she is extremely shy- so she was quiet and mellow.
Jackson is adorable and such a cute little squirt.

Waiting for Spring

Based on the outfit, you can guess that Ivy is ready for Spring. Too bad it is still cold and she had to wear leggings :)

The Online Resume

I read a really interesting article today (as I waited for an hour for Jade's doctor's appointment). It was about the new online resume that you don't really think of as a resume. Fortunately my "online resume" is perfect. The article was all about MySpace and Facebook pages. It said that if you are on MySpace, chances are your future employer is as well. It also talks about how a future employer will google your name before extending an offer. It used actual examples of how people did not get an offer because their MySpace account showed them doing obnoxious things or talking negatively about previous bosses. You wouldn't think about your personal page making you lose a job!
So, I googled my name. I found my "LinkedIn" profile and that's all. I think that that is just sad. It means I have done nothing impressive or noteworthy. Maybe one day I'll be listed as the mother of Jade Sanford- star gymnast or mother of Ivy Sanford- winner of American Idol. Okay, maybe not :)
Until then, I guess I am glad that my "online resume" won't keep me from getting a job. But it also won't help me get a job. Good thing I already have a really good one!

The sweetest thing ever....

This morning Jade asked me why I work. I replied with, "I work so that we have money for you to do lots of fun things. The money I make goes towards your gymnastics, karate, preschool and other fun things. Saturday we couldn't have all gone skiing if I didn't work. All of those things cost money." She said, "Mommy, I'll give you my money." I told her that that was very sweet but that she needs to save her money for something special. She said, "I want to give you all of my money. Come on Mom. Lets go get my money." We went into her room and dumped out her piggy bank. We started to count it. She has saved $11. I told her that she needs to keep saving her money and that we could go and buy something special. "No, Mom, I want you to have it." Near tears, I had to explain to her that that is a very sweet thing to want, but her money is hers and that she hasn't saved enough to buy a barbie, let alone take the three of us skiing again. She said that was okay but if I needed it, I could still have it.

I am so proud of what a sweetheart she has become.

Oh the differences!

Some can do somersaults


While others can play the drums!


It's so much fun how different our two girls are. Jade could do somersaults by the time she could walk. Ivy is still working on it. I'm only guessing here, but I think Ivy will be more musically inclined than her big sister. ;)

The Littles do the Zoo.

While one girl was skiing the other was playing with Grandpa and Grandma. According to Ivy the Giraffes were the best part. They had a wonderful time, and fortunately, the storm held out for them as well.


We have multiple versions of this picture of Grandpa. Some are with four grandkids, others are with two, and others are with more. But, this is the only one where one of them is worried that Grandma is not coming with them.

Drinking juice boxes is apparently a very entertaining thing to do at the zoo.

Oh the characters of these two. Ivy likes to think that she is in charge of everything. She scolded Harrison for jumping in the mud. Little Miss Bossy. I might have to find the "little miss" books that Kat and I had when we were little.

It looks to me like one of them is telling a pretty interesting story. I'm sure it's about the elephant or the giraffe.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for taking Ivy so that we could ski with Jade. Both girls had a great day and neither felt left out.