Everything Me

What Easter means to us...(part 1)

2010-04-05T12:16:00.004-06:00

caution: Contains lots of pictures!

This Easter has come and gone.

I couldn't help but think about what Easter means to me know. I'll explain.

Last year for Easter, Jordan and I took the kids to one of our favorite places to go and get away from things. It's not far from our house, just about a 45 minute drive, but it's quiet, clean, beautiful, and relaxing. My kids love the carousel and the pool and the resort was having an Easter special. Plus we had a free night stay so it was really a good deal. With it being Easter, they had all kinds of activities for the kids too: miniture golf, life size chess boards, an Easter egg hunt with fun prizes, and the carousel rides were free. I couldn't resist since I was 36 weeks pregnant, couldn't move, couldn't sleep, couldn't be far from home, and just couldn't relax at home.

Little did I know that this was going to mean the world to me a mere 4 days later.

We enjoyed our time at the resort. The kids had fun, Jordan had fun, and so I had fun. We did the hunt, we ate, played, and swam to our hearts content. Saturday night the Easter bunny even payed us a visit. We came home and did the normal Easter thing by visiting the parents and eating at my Aunt's house.

I never blogged about it because I just got busy doing normal everyday things and thought that I would get around to it in a couple of days. I couldn't have been more wrong...

That Thursday is when I had my weekly check-up at the doctors. That Thursday is where my life changed forever. That Thursday is when I learned that the son we had been preparing for would not be coming home with me.

And I guess with all of that, last Easter never got written about.

So this Easter, although it was a very good one, it still makes me ache just a little from the memory that 1 Easter ago is the last time that my family was whole.

Since last Easter was kind of passed over and forgotten, I thought that I'd share the pictures from last years' Easter. Then tomorrow I will write about this Easter.

Dying Easter Eggs

(showing off the dyed eggs and the painted faces*)

*See...Traeden did like the Utes less then a year ago

Easter Bunny and face painting again!*

*proof that Trae also liked the Jazz less then a year ago!

The Carousel

The Easter Egg Hunt

The Hunt results!

the mess the Easter Bunny left!

Lucky #13

2010-03-31T22:55:00.000-06:00

I bet that not many of you can remember what you were doing on March 31, 1997....but I sure can.

I walked into a training class that has pretty much changed my whole life. The story goes like this...

I was 17 years old and attending college classes at SLCC instead of completing my senior year in high school. It's called concurrent enrollment, and I have NEVER regretted my decision to do that. I took college classes that counted towards my high school credit so I pretty much had enough credits to graduate high school early.

I don't remember exactly how it came out, but my neighbor/friend called and said that Delta Air Lines was hiring soon. I filled out the application and she turned it in. 2 days after my 18th birthday, I recieved a call to come in for an interview the next day...so I did.

I walked into the building and up the stairs. They had a long table with someone sitting at it with my application. She asked if there was anything that needed to be changed or added and looked over it one last time. She did mention that on the history section (this application was a freakin' novel), I had not gone back 10 years. I told her because 10 years ago I was in 3rd grade. It didn't matter...I still needed to list my elementary and Jr. High schools (seems pretty silly to me). After on last glance over, she took the application and had me follow into an office.

Some one came in shortly and asked me a few questions. I much have passed that part, cause I was led to another office with a computer. This was for the typing test. I must have passed that too, cause I was once again led to another office with a manager sitting in it. She asked a few more questions and seemed pleased by my answers. She walked me to the top of the stairs and said I'd be hearing from them if there was a job available.

I don't really remember how much time went by, but I did recieve a call asking if I was able to start a training class the first part of May. Thrilled I said absolutely. Another week went by and I was called again. This time I was asked if I could attend the March training class instead of the May one. I worked some things out, and was told that the class would start on March 31st.

So here I am...March 31st...13 years later!

In honor of my 13 year anniversary (which doesn't mean anything to delta-they only care about the anniversaries divisable by 5's), I'd thought I just mention my history with Delta Air Lines.

I started March 31st, 1997. I was hired as an associate (or part-time). I recieved an hourly pay rate and travel passes. In 1999 all associates were converted to 'part-time' and given all the same benefits as the full-time agents.

I started in 'GS' or 'General Sales.' I mostly handled Skymiles questions, reservations, and ticket reissues. After about 5 years I moved departments to OAL or Other Airline Awards. I would book skymile tickets on all of our partner airlines here. I really enjoyed that too. It was always a puzzle to try and find something for someone and I really enjoyed the challenge. Then in Dec. of 2004, Delta was allowing people to transfer to the Airport. I decided to take a chance (I really doubted that I would ever be offered the job) to transfer over to the airport. Well, low and behold, I did get the offer-even though I was 8.5 months pregnant with my daughter. I have been on the ramp loading the planes ever since. And I LOVE it!

And that is my story. Not too bad for someone who just thought I could do the job while I was going to school and maybe take advantage of the benefits alittle too.

I am grateful for all the opportunities that my job has allowed me over the last 13 years. I have taken incredible trips and seen incredible things by working for an airline. I now consider this my career and hope that I'll be there at least another 13 years.

Things that Make Me Smile!

2010-03-26T09:51:00.000-06:00

As I've lived my normal, boring, everyday life over the last couple weeks, I've really taken note on things around me-especially things that make me smile.

Life can so mundane. At least for me it can. I get into the same routines: chores, cleaning (yes I do this once in awhile), carpool, sports, dance, work, etc. that I feel like certain things just pass me by.

Here are just a couple of things that I've noticed lately that make me smile and happy:

Crocheting-this dress is for a friend's new baby. I realized when it was finished that I LOVE to crochet and I LOVE even more the finished products...like this.

Baseball-sounds weird coming from my basketball favoring mouth, but I had so much fun last year watching Traeden get into it and the new season is about to start again...and I can't wait.

Costumes-I bought this dress for Elie in Spain. When I gave it to her she cried. She wanted a soccer jersey like Traeden got. Well, yesterday she wanted to wear this to play in and all the kids wanted it. Now I can't get her to take it off!

Guacamole-bad picture, I know, but I've never been able to achieve prefection when it comes to this dip. And I think that I just did thanks to one of the other basketball dads.

(can you guess which one is Traeden's?)

that's right

this one!

Pinewood Derby-OK...this one really doesn't make me happy. In fact, it's caused a lot of friction around our house. But Last night, at the derby, nothing could make me smile prouder then a boy scout posing with his dad and his car.

Just writing about all this stuff brings a Big Ol' Smile to my Face!

St. Patricks Day 2010 style

2010-03-17T09:52:00.000-06:00

Here is an article that I found about the history of St. Patrick's Day. I for one, never really knew much about today other then to wear green or you'll get pinched.

"St Patrick—Worthy To Be Called A Saint

By: S. Michael Wilcox

The most Irish of Irishmen was not from Ireland. I did not know this just a few short years ago. In truth all I ever knew of Saint Patrick was to wear green to avoid getting pinched on the 17th of March, and far too often I forgot. Yet the irony of Patrick’s birth and life teaches us something of the quality of the human soul and its capacity to forgive, to love, to work God’s wondrous will and bring it to fulfillment. Having learned something of that life each March finds my mind drifting to the Emerald Isle over 1500 years ago when a sixteen year old boy was captured and sold into slavery by Irish pirates…….

Patrick was born on the west coast of England in the early years of the fifth century. He was a Roman Christian, “a simple countryman…a beardless boy,” as he described himself. This was a dangerous time to be alive. Rome was falling and the legions that once protected the civilized life in Britain were leaving, exposing the island to a never ending series of raids. One such attack took the teenaged Patrick from family and friends across the Irish Sea where he pastured flocks on Ireland’s hills in the cold rains and wind of the northern winters. Now the boy, who by his own admission, “did not know the true God…did not keep his precepts” found his only solace in prayer. “I used to pray many times a day,” he wrote. And God, knowing the heart of Patrick, began to mold and shape his instrument for the salvation of souls and the lifting of a country, a whole continent, out of darkness. After six years of misery and slavery, the clay was ready for the Potter’s wheel, and God spoke to Patrick for the first time.

“Your hungers are rewarded. Soon you will depart for your home country. Behold your ship is ready.” With this assurance, not knowing where he was being led, but confident that “the power of God was directing my route,” Patrick ran from his master, crossed Ireland, and found a ship on the southern coast which took him to northern France. Though not yet home, he was free. There followed a perilous journey covering many miles and requiring great faith before he returned at last to a family who thought he was surely dead. Yet one more journey awaited him, one that would encompass the rest of his life.

Barely restored to his family’s embrace, God called and Patrick listened. “In a vision of the night,” he said, “I saw a man coming as if from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: The Voice of the Irish. I seemed at that moment to hear many voices crying as if with one voice: We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.” Others who wrote of Patrick’s call to teach Christianity to the Irish said the voices were the voices of children, those born and yet unborn, thousands of youthful voices crying out for the truths, the parables, the solace, and the hope of Jesus’ life and teachings. “I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more and thus I awoke.”

There followed years of study in the scriptures to prepare himself for the call. In time he was ready and one morning, a small boat with Patrick and a few friends pushed through the waves and sand of the Irish coast, then inland past the forests and rivers, past the meadows and the deep green of the fields, past the rolling hills and into the soul of the Celtic people. Patrick came to Ireland as a boy, a slave, he returned with a forgiving heart, with the love of Christ—and God worked his miracle with this youth, for when he died many years later the voices of the children had been answered. They and their own children for generations, into the last edges of time, would know the gentle God who walked the shores of Galilee, would know that they too held a place in his heart. He sent them Patrick—God’s gift to the Irish and to all of us. In time Irish monks, inspired by the example of their patron saint would spread throughout Western Europe teaching the barbaric tribes who had invaded the old boundaries of the Roman Empire. They, like Patrick, would bring goodness and light, the civilizing force of their knowledge, into a world on the brink of darkness.

“I was like a stone lying in deep mire,” Patrick wrote, “and he that is mighty came, and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high and placed me on the top of the wall. And from there I ought to shout out in gratitude to the Lord for his great favors in this world and forever that the mind of man cannot measure.”

And what is St. Patty's Day without our usual green breakfast:

And Happy Birthday Ann and Kyle!

2010 Style

2010-02-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here's to getting to know me 2010 style!

01. High heels or boots? Boots
02. What time did you get up this morning? 5:30 am and then again at 8.
03. Diamonds or pearls? Both
04. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I don't remember. I think the Princess and the Frog.
05. What is your favorite show? Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters
06. What do you usually have for breakfast? oatmeal or yogurt and an apple or banana.
07. What is your middle name? (I don't have one).
08. What food do you dislike? anything spicy
09. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Any of the NOW cd's or Lady GaGa
10. What characteristich do you despise in others? Liers and arrogance
11. Favorite Clothing? My pajamas
12. Anywhere in the U.S. on vacation, where would you go? Hawaii (adults) or Orlando (with kids) at the Nick hotel
13. Are you an organized person? Only in Chaos.
14. Where would you like to retire to? Where ever could be paid off!
15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My 30th-Jordan put so much effort into a surprize party. That alone showed how much he loved me!
16. What are you going to do when you finish this? Go to bed.
17. Furthest place you are sending this? ?
18. Person you expect to send it back first? ?
19. When is your birthday? - Feb. 21st.
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? A little bit of both. Although in my old age, I think I'm becoming more of a morning person and not so much a night owl.
21. What is your shoe size? 9
22. Do you own any animals? Luke, a Shiz Zhu puppy and Goober, a Beta fish that just won't die!
23. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I'm not pregnant! Just kidding! Not really, I'm a pretty boring person
24. What did you want to be when you were little? A Teacher
25. What is your favorite flower(s)? Gerbra Daisies
26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? I would have to say my kids birthdays April 25th and January 12th. I'm not really looking forward to April 17th-Troys bday.
27. What was the last thing you ate? A crepe (my birthday dessert) at Michelle's house
28. Do you wish upon stars? Of Course
29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? purple
30. How is the weather right now? I don't really know. Probably cold though.
31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mother-in-law
32. Favorite soft drink? Diet Dr. Pepper
33. Favorite restaurant? Depends on my mood...Texas Roadhouse, The Roof, and McGraths sound good.
34. Hair color? Not sure.
35. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Cabbage Patch Dolls
36. Summer or winter? Where did spring and fall go?
37. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla
38. Coffee or tea? Tea...especially Chai.
40. Do you want your friends to email you back? What friends?
41. When was the last time you cried? Just a second ago.
42. What is under your bed? Even I don't really want to know.
43. What did you do last night? dinner and a movie.
44. What are you afraid of? more of my kids dying.
45. Salty or sweet? Both
46. Best quality you have? Don't have any.
47. How many years at your current job? It will be 13 in March-8 in reservation and 5 on the ramp.
48. Favorite day of the week? Wednesdays...It's Jr. Jazz night!
49. Positive or negative? Depends on what the situation is.
50. How many people will you send this to? 1-remember I don't have any friends!
51. How many will respond? ?
52. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Yep.

2010-02-21T21:44:00.001-07:00

It's my birthday...thanks to everyone for all the love. I will write more about it and so what I got a bit later (hopefully tomorrow). I have such wonderful friends!

Wow...It's been awhile

2010-02-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

I was looking at my blog today and thought "Has it really been that long since my last post?" But I guess that dates don't lie! I guess I'll just pick up right where I left off...with my gratitude post that I do at the 1st of the month...

Since my memory is just about shot (really-it is-just ask Jordan), I am going to have to write about the things at this very moment that make me happy. I hardly remember anything that happened in January let alone last week.

1~Texting. I know this one sounds crazy but I'll explain. Traeden downloaded an app for his Ipod the other day. It was a texting app. He said he didn't mean too (I'm still not convinced that that is 100% truth). Anyways, the stupid thing cost me a whole $.99. I thought he was just going to delete it. Then last night he was laying in bed with me watching the Olympics and my phone starts beeping my text tone. I looked at my phone and a big smile came across my face-Trae had texted me 'Hello'. We sat there for a few minutes, only inches apart from one another, texting-laughing-just having a good time. Then this morning at work I got a text bright and early. It brought an instant smile to my face. Now Elison is calling me asking me to put the app on her Ipod (once it's found that is) cause she wants to text too. That one I'm not sure about though but it was still cute how she asked.

2~The Olympics. I love the feeling when the Olympics are in the air. For the most part, the athletes are everday people like you and me that have worked hard and don't get paid millions of dollars. They have inspiring stories to tell. People come together...countries come together...to celebrate and compete. Of course there are always sad stories, like the Georgian Luge rider, that make you wonder if its all worth it. But then you see the athletes standing on the podium, medal in hand, watching their countries flag being raised, their national anthem being played, and shedding a tear or two and it makes me feel good and proud. Heck...it even brings a tear to my eye.

Go USA!

3~Valentines Day. I normally don't really care about this holiday too much. It's just a day to do something a little nicer then we usually do is all, but I was more into it this year then any other year. I'm not sure why either. I got the kids a little something to show my love to them, I planned a nice, fancy dinner that consisted of Maple glazed salmon, asparagas, mashed potatoes, corn, salad, and rolls. But I had no idea what to get my actual Valentine. Then I realized that it was 10 year ago, Febuary 14th, 2000 that we got engaged. So I had my present-a collage of pictures of everything we did that day. Sunday came and was a busy, busy day. We had a homecoming, meetings, treats to deliver, dinner to make, etc., etc. But it all turned out awesome! Everyone loved their presents and the dinner was fabulous. I couldn't ask for a better day!

4~My new calling. This one I was not too excited about. I talked to my husband about this a couple weeks ago too, so it was only fitting the one of the only things I didn't want to do is what I got called to do. I know...bad attitude, right? Here was my explaination...I am currently on the Enrichment commitee and I like it. It pretty flexible, low stress, and fun but I wanted to be challenged and I didn't feel like planning enrichment was challenging enough. I wanted to teach...teach Relief Society...that would be my dream calling. I've never told anyone this before. I wanted those involved to be inspired to make me a teacher. So Sunday morning I got a call from the bishop, I showed up 5 minutes before church started, and he asked if I'd be willing to serve in the relief society. My heart was racing. I didn't know if this was an answer to my prayers or not. I said yes. Then he asked it I would accept the calling as Enrichment commitee co-chair. To be honest my heart sank just a little. I remember the discussion I had with Jordan about it. Then, as quickly as my heart sank, I was uplifted again. And then I felt really guilty for feeling that way. I am truly excited and know that I will most the most of it. I'm excited to just still be in the Relief Society! And I'm elated that I wasn't asked to be a pianist!

5~Basketball. I am so grateful for basketball right now. I was raised to be a Jazz fan. I've always been a Jazz fan and I'll always be a Jazz fan. And this is the time of the season where it starts to get good. Teams go on streaks...the all-star break...trade deadlines...it just seems like everyone steps up their game just a little bit. But now not only do I have a love for the Utah Jazz, but I am having a blast watching Trae play Jr. Jazz. I look forward to Wednesday nights. I think I get more excited then Traeden does. So far they are 5-0. They are undefeated and they are doing awesome. Traeden is just so fun to watch. It makes me forget about all the 'bad' things and just smile for 45 minutes (and I LOVE that feeling).

I hope that this doesn't offend anyone. Some things seem trivial, but I need the trivial things in my life right now. I still have hard days and harder days, but they are getting fewer. These were just a couple of things that made me feel better and brought a smile to my face!

2010-01-22T06:42:00.001-07:00

No more hiding for me. I'm just being anti-social and was having a 'moment' I guess. Anyways, jus an FYI that my private blog has been updated for those that were wondering. TTFN

I'm in hiding

2010-01-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

I've had too weird of a day, heck too weird of a week, so I'm going to hide for a bit. Don't worry-I'll be back hopefully tomorrow or Monday. Till then my friends...TTFN

P.S. I'll still be checking up on you though so know that I am watching!

9 Months ago

2010-01-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

I am really struggling with this post today. I'm thinking that I'll have to write more about it on my private blog then this one. So I'll just post a couple of things about what I'm feeling and going through:

1) January 17th, 2010 marked the 9 month mark since baby Troy was born

2) January 21st, 2010 will be 9 months since I laid my baby to rest

3) I still miss him-bad!

4) Christmas was hard, this is hard, and the pregnancies all around are hard right now.

5) A lot can happen in 9 months!

I don't want this to be some depressing-pity me post, but this is really what is on my mind right now. I'll write more on my personal blog (which is private) so if you are not invited and would like to be, just email me and I'll get you the invite to it. I just don't want to display all my emotions on something so public right now.

Oh, How I LOVE the (Jr.) Jazz

2010-01-15T16:44:00.001-07:00

I decided to devote this post to Traeden and the Jazz. See, the 2 are kind of the same really. Traeden is used to be the biggest Jazz fan of them all. I'll explain:

Way back when...before a guy by the name of LeBron James decided to join the NBA, Traeden LOVED the Jazz. I couldn't have been prouder of the little guy either. We bought him every Jazz jersey, took him to get autographs and meet the players, even painted his room Jazz colors with a big Jazz logo. Now that he's 8 and can form an opinion for himself, he has decided that LeBron and the (Cleveland) Caveliers are much, much cooler. For his birthday he picked out a LeBron jersey and has tried to wear that sucker everyday. If it wasn't for our rule of only 2 jerseys per week and never 2 days in a row, he would too.

So my dad, knowing of Trae's passion for King James, gave Traeden 2 tickets to last nights Utah Jazz vs. Cleveland Cavs. Of course Traeden choose his favorite Jazz buddy-Grandpa-to go to the game with. Well, my dad ended up with all 6 of his tickets so he invited me and Jordan, Grandma Grace, and Aunt Karen to tag along with them. The battle was now on! It was Trae in his Cavs garb and the 5 of us in our Retro Jazz green.

To spare you the details of the the 3.5 hour game, it was a battle. The Jazz never really led but Cleveland never really had a huge lead either. Trae was loving that Cleveland was beating us...until...the Jazz went on a run. It was in the 4th quarter (so it was like 11:15 pm) and the Jazz went on a roll. I was loving it! I looked over at Trae and his head was in his hands and he was crying (sound of my heart breaking inserted here). He was so distraught that he missed the 20-2 run by the Cavs, particularly the run by James himself that gave the Cavs a 4 point lead with 30 seconds left. Well, he came out of his funk and the game came down to the wire. The Jazz ended up winning on a last second, hail Mary 3-point shot, from a rookie that has never made a 3 point bucket in his 5 games as an NBA player. And Traeden went postal. Again, my heart was broke. He cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried somemore.

I am happy to report that he was normal this morning though.

I am also happy to report that he is back to being a Jazz fan now that our only game against King James is over. This is good too because he plays on one awesome Jr. Jazz team!

They had their 1st game last Wednesday. And they kicked some butt too. They were really fun to watch. They stopped counting the score when it was 20 to 2 so I don't know what the final score really was, but they scored way more points then just the 20 they were given credit for.

So, here are all the Jr. Jazz and Jazz pics from the last couple of days. Enjoy!

All about Elison

2010-01-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

I know this week seems like it's all about Elison, and it really is. You see, that's what happens at our house when it's your birthday. It doesn't just last 1 or 2 days...it lasts the whole freakin' week! Unless your Jordan and then you somehow get away with basically a birthday month!

Anyways, yesterday I got the opportunity to go and be a guest speaker at Elie's preschool. They are studying 'People at Work' and yesterday was outside workers. Who better to talk about that then me-right? Well, I was actually quite intimidated by talking to 12 4 and 5 year olds. I didn't know what to say to keep their attention. So I brought some visual aids instead. And since they did Elie's birthday spotlight then too, I just kept her up by me and made her my model.

I brought all my safety equipment and put on her so I could stress the importance of staying safe while outside. It's amazing what some bright yellow ear muffs, a orange safety vest, some knee pads, safety glasses, and some steel-toed shoes can do. The kids were cracking up. And it ended up being a great day for me and for her.

The crown is from her spotlight, but in my opinion, it only adds to the whole effect!

Happy Birthday my Blue-Eyed Girl!

2010-01-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

Today is my only girl's birthday. Today she turns 5. Today I am feeling really, really old.

Elison is 5-years-old today. She has been looking forward to this day for a very, VERY long time. Everyday she reminds me that her birthday is January 12th. She is one smart cookie-I'll tell you. Normally I try to take off my kids birthdays so that I can spend the day with them, but she told me (very matter of factly too) that she wanted to go to school on her birthday, so here I am...at work...wishing I was home to make her a nice breakfast (probably cereal or a bagel) and get her dressed all cute with hair all done up and such, but she told me not too.

In honor of my kids, here is my list of the 5 reasons why Elie makes my life better:

1~She is extremely smart. She knows her ABC's, phone number, birthday, address, and numbers up to 30. On top of that, she has one terrific memory. She is always reminding me of what I said (or promised). Half the time, I don't even remember what I said (or promised).

2~She holds the top score on memory match in my phone. Who would have thought that Elison-a 3 year old at the time-would not only beat everyone that played, but keep the high score for the last 18 months. No matter how hard I try, I just can't beat it and frankly it is a little discouraging sometimes.

3~She is such a 'mother.' It doesn't matter if it is her baby dolls or her little nieces, she is always trying to take care of them. She changes their diapers, feeds them, holds their hands, and always wants to carry them. If my 2 nieces are fighting over a toy, Elie is right there trying to solve the issue (assuming she isn't the one who caused it). And my nieces LOVE her too. I can't walk in the door with them without the 1st question being "Elie?" and once she walks in behind me they get an instant grin on their faces.

4~She keeps me on my toes. I said earlier that she is smart. Too smart really. She is really sneaky sometimes, especially when it comes to her brother. I have to always be aware of what is going on when the 2 of them are together. They will be best of friends and the next second one of them is crying. The other day they were playing and then Traeden started to cry. Well, Elie started to cry almost instantanously. I asked her why she was crying (you always ask the youngest, right?) and Traeden piped right in that Elison pulled his hair. Turns out that she was crying because she didn't want to get in trouble for pulling his hair. Without having to be constantly aware, I think my brain would start to go, so she at least keeps it working most of the time.

and

5~She is my little girl. I've had 3 boys (yes, I just have 1 with me physically). I feel very blessed that she (a girl) is a part of our family. She brings so much flavor and spice to our lives. She loves the girly things, but likes whatever Traeden is doing too, so it makes things really fun. She makes us laugh all the time and brings a smile to my face at least once a day. True, that she also brings lots of frustration, but far more joy. She is so full of life and I absolutely love that about her.

So Elison...Happy Birthday! I love you baby! I wish you a great day today. I will do whatever I can to help that happen too.

P.S. I'll post pictures later tonight of all the birthday celebrations.

My MIL

2010-01-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

(this is the only pic I have of her at the moment)

This one is bittersweet. Today is my Mother-In-Law's birthday. Today she turns 71. Today, despite the fact that I went into shock at 1:30 this morning and threw up at church (after bearing my testimony I might add), I made her dinner.

Why do I do that to myself you ask? Because she's my husbands mother. And I suppose that I'll always have to be grateful to her for that. Without her, Jordan wouldn't be here.

For the close to 10 years that I've been married, she has not made it very easy. She's made my cry. She's made me mad. She's made me very, VERY upset. But I have to keep telling myself that she's family and I need to keep the peace to please my husband. He gets put in awkward situations all the time, and it really isn't fair to him. So I try (keyword here is try) to keep things peaceful-although I don't always succeed.

And so, with keeping with the spirit of listing something that I'm grateful for everyday (more on this later), here it is....

I am grateful for her (I know, did you EVER really think you'd hear me say that?)! And I am grateful for her because she has made me realize what's really important in my life. And she's made my stick-up for what's important too. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one that sticks up to her too. But thats ok with me. That's ok with me because at least someone is doing it.

Grateful for...

2010-01-02T21:52:00.002-07:00

Today I am so grateful for Legos Rock Band. Jordan and Traeden were playing it. Traeden was doing awesome. Jordan not so much. Traeden said "Dad, you sing like an orphan!" I asked Trae "what exactly does and orphan sound like?" He just shruged his shoulders. I asked him if he even knew what and orphan is and his answer was "some kind of animal that can't sing." After I explained that it is actually a child that has been abandoned, he felt really bad for saying that. That still doesn't change the fact that Jordan was pretty bad.

So what happened? I got challenged to a singing contest. Now, most of you know that I can carry a tune about as well as a laughing hyiena, but I can honestly say that

I BEAT HIM!!!!

On the exact same songs at the same level, I beat him hands down. And so...with that...I am grateful for the Lego's Rock Band.

Grate for...

2010-01-01T23:35:00.002-07:00

Today I am grateful for a New Year. I Believe that this will be a positive year for me and my friends and family.

I have a great idea for this year but there will be more on this tomorrow. So stay tuned!

Grateful for...

2009-11-23T23:14:00.003-07:00

I am grateful for my kids.

Today, Traeden had not 1, but 2 teeth pulled and a cavity filled. It must have looked extremely painful cause Elison went up to Traeden and grabbed his hand. She kept giving him small words of encouragement like "hang in there," "you can do it," and "they're almost done."

It was one of the sweetest moments I have witnessed in a long time and I'm glad I got to experience this special bond between my kids today!

Grateful for...

2009-11-22T22:23:00.002-07:00

Today I am grateful that I got my garland up. It's not much, but it's a start!

And yes, I know I missed a day. Dang it...my streak is broken :-(

Grateful for...

2009-11-21T02:57:00.002-07:00

Well, technically it's not today-it's tomorrow. But I'm still going to count this as consecitive blooding cause I am just finishing my day.

Today I am grateful for getting to wear my Twilight shirt-TWICE!

Since it is 3 am though, I'm going to have to elaborate on this later. I just got home and need some sleep!

So TTFN!

2009-11-19T23:17:00.001-07:00

Grateful for...

2009-11-18T22:34:00.002-07:00

Today I am grateful for so many things...but I can only do 1.

I think that I am grateful that I at least had energy yesterday. I didn't get a dang thing done on my house which makes me sad. But I did get to the store to get some things I needed (like dinner for my New Moon party on Friday) and worked on Traeden's fundraiser some more.

So between waking up at 7 am after 5 hours of sleep (did anyone else notice the bright flash around 11 last night?), running errands all day, another doctors appointment (with a shot in my rear end), and walking another couple of miles with 2 kids and a dog in tow (STILL working on getting Trae's money for baseball) I am EXHAUSTED. So I'm calling it a night early. Well, early for me-10:45 pm isn't exactly calling it early, is it?

Grateful for...

2009-11-17T22:49:00.004-07:00

Today I have to say that I am extremely grateful for my energy.

Lets just say that I haven't had too much of it the last couple of months. But with me leaving on vacation next week, I have promised myself that there are things that HAVE to get done.

Here is my list:

1) The kids bedrooms-clean, gone through, and organized.

2) The kids bathroom-organized and cleaned

3) The office-This one needs the most work. It's looked like crap for way too long now.

4) My bedroom

5) My bathroom

6) Christmas decorations-must be up before I leave or they won't get up at all this year.

7) Pack-I can't very well go on vacation without my belongings, right?

#'s 1-5 will take care of my upstairs. Something that really hasn't been done since we've moved into our house almost 5 years ago. And I'm hoping to get these ones done by Saturday so I can do Christmas decorating, pack, and Relief Society stuff Sunday - Thursday next week.

Well, as of right now, here is my list.

1) Bedrooms-Elison's is 99% done (putting away the laundry and a few more of Troys things is all that's left) and Traeden's is 75% done (cleaning out his closet and organizing a few drawers is what's left there)

2) Bathroom-90% done (just needs cleaning).

3) The office-90% done (just a few things that need to go to storage, garbage and the DI pile)-thanks to the ENERGY I had today!

4 and 5 are 0% done. That will be tomorrows chore.

So I am really happy and grateful that I had the ENERGY to get something done today other then my nap!

(I'll post some pics once everything is done...I'm getting excited)

Grateful for...

2009-11-16T21:28:00.002-07:00

Today I am grateful the Traeden didn't have to have his tooth pulled. Next Monday I'll be saying some thing different though.

Grateful for...

2009-11-15T22:30:00.002-07:00

I am grateful that I've blogged 8 days in a row!

Now, goodnight!

Grateful for...

2009-11-14T22:52:00.002-07:00

Go Katie..Go Katie..Go Katie! 7 day in row! I can't believe it! So I'm really motivated now to keep on postin'!

Today was a pretty big day. There is so much that I could write about today, but the thing that sticks out the most is.....

I am so grateful that Football is over!

Yay!

Our routine has been as follows for the last couple of months:

1) wake up

2) eat breakfast (if we're lucky)

3) find Traeden's football stuff

4) get Traeden ready

5) make sure that Traeden is at his game at least 1 hour before the game starts to practice

6) usually we have forgotten something so we have to run back and get it.

7) watch the game

8) clean up after the game

9) stay for the after game team huddle

and

10) travel home with 2 extremely tired kids in tow and our Saturday pretty much shot!

The season actually finished on Halloween, so we've had a couple of weeks now to recover. Don't get me wrong, it was really fun, but it was a BIG commitment for everyone in our family. I was so tired that I actually pulled Elie out of dance for the rest of the year. It has been so nice to not have to worry about practices and games and homework and dinner every single night.

I do have to say that I really miss chatting with all the other parents though. We kind of formed our own little 'sideline family.' And I'm sad that I don't have that anymore!

Although today was the football party and I have to say it was a blast. Most of you will want to stay away from my house for awhile cause if you dare come in, I'll have to show you the awesome video that one of the parents made for all the boys. It was awesome! It was fun to see them all running around playing and just being boys. And out of 22 kids, there was only 1 boy who didn't show up. That, to me, is incredible! Football meant that much to so many of these boys and people that they would all take a Saturday (snowy) morning and spend with us just one last time. It was an awesome party to finish a remarkable season too, but...

I'm still grateful it's over!

Grateful for...

2009-11-13T23:04:00.002-07:00

I am just grateful thy today is over! More on this to follow on another post.

Grateful for..

2009-11-12T22:16:00.003-07:00

Ok-it's 10:15 at night and my teeth are still hurting me. And because of the medications that I've been forcing down me today and the lack of sleep I've had the last 3 days, I am going to make this one short. I was just about in bed, asleep, when I remembered that I hadn't posted yet. And I just HAD to do it. I am proud that I have officially done 4 in a row now. So here it goes....

To make a long story short, I went to the Doctor yesterday and it was there that a new, yet unknown, issue now has to be resolved. Since it was discovered at my neurologist and it doesn't really deal with anything related to the brain, I was referred to my OB.

I called them first thing this morning and tried to explain what was going on, the nurse told me she would talk to the doctor and call me back. Well, she did, about 6 hours later and decided that we had better start with some simple blood tests. Sounded good to me! So I headed to the doctor and then upstairs to the lab.

So, I bet your wondering exactly what is that I'm grateful for...well, here it is...

I am grateful that they finally got some blood after 4 sticks/pokes!

Grateful for...

2009-11-11T16:21:00.011-07:00

Wow...I can't believe that I've been faithful in doing this for 3 days now. That is quite the accomplishment for me.

Anyways, today I am extremely grateful for my friend Kris. Not only is she a wonderful photographer who happens to take wonderful pictures of me and my family, but she a friend of mine too. But there is a story as to why I am so grateful for her today...

You see, right around Halloween was so incredibly busy for me-Traeden had football, Elie had dance and a recital, the Jazz season had started, Jordan had mutual, and there were all kinds of parties going. So with all of that, I really didn't even get around to thinking about costumes. Well, Traeden came in one morning (after playing a night of Rockband Beetles) and stated that he was going to be a Beetle. The first thing that popped into my head was 'why on earth would you want to be an insect?' I couldn't think of any reason, IE. cartoon show, movie, superhero, etc. that was a 8-legged insect. But then he told me one of the Beetle Beetles'. And I began to understand. He was going to as John, Paul, Ringo, or ______ (I can't seem to remember all of them). That was a great idea to me, cause I really didn't need to buy anything for it. He was just going to wear his grey 'baptism' suit and take a guitar with him.

And I was informed by my SIL that Elison was going as Tinkerbell. I tried to talk her out of it, but to no avail. She. Would. Be. Tinkerbell-END OF STORY! But I was informed that my SIL had already bought the costume. So I was home free. Until one day, about a week before Halloween I got a phone call from the SIL asking me what size Elie was. She was at WalMart and all they had were the smaller sizes. What? You mean you don't have a costume? Now I was in panic mode. I checked out a couple stores, but everyone was sold out of the bigger size Tinkerbell costumes. So I jumped online to see what I could find. And lo and behold I checked out the Disney Store and it was the last day to buy with normal shipping to guarantee it by Halloween. FABULOUS! And the costume was only $5 more then WalMart. FABULOUS! And they had matching Tinkerbell shoes and light-up wings (for cheap too). FABULOUS! So away I ordered.

Problems all averted, right? WRONG! Elie had a Halloween party at school which they were supposed to dress up for-only her costume wasn't coming until that day. Luckily I talked her into taking her Cinderella one. 1st problem solved. Friday was her recital (as a scarecrow) and the ward party immediately after (as Tinkerbell). I though she was going to go to the party as Tinkerbell with triangle eyebrows, a brown nose, red circle cheeks, and black lash lines, but at the last minute my dad invited me, Jordan, and Traeden to the Jazz season home opener. So we ditched the party and went to the game-minus Elie-so 2nd problem solved. And Saturday (Halloween day) was Traeden's last football game. But not only did it start at 3 pm, but it was at a field 45 minutes away, and they game started 30 minutes late. So it was going to be difficult to make it back, get the kids dressed up, and be at our neighbor hood soup before trick-or-treating at 5:30. So I dressed Elie up before we left. Yes, she wore her costume to the game. And Trae only took 10 minutes to get dressed. So, 3rd problem solved.

So you can see that it seemed to all work out, right? WRONG! During all of this, I forgot my camera and my phone was dead. So that meant no Halloween pictures of my kids! This is where Kris comes in. She called me a day later and said that she owed me a Halloween session and asked if I wanted to to it still even though Halloween was over. OF COURSE! It was an answer to my prayers. I was so sad that I didn't get pictures and the kids were so tired that we didn't go see everyone like we usually do so others didn't get to see them either. So this literally made my day!

So last Monday we had the pictures done, and I have to say that they are amazing. They are exactly what I would have wanted and exactly what I got. So I am so incredibly grateful for the pictures and for the photographer that took them. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

So here are my favorite ones (all of them are on FB though if you want to see them all)

Grateful for...

2009-11-10T19:41:00.003-07:00

Today I am grateful for my cousin Bryan.

He just graduated from dental school (in NYC) and moved here to find a job. As luck would have it, my aunt sent an email out last week stating that he was officially working here. Well, yesterday Traeden and I had a dentist appointment to have some cavities fixed. I've had them done lots of times, so it was no big deal...or so I thought.

As the Novocaine wore off, I was in so much pain. It eventually got so bad that I started to cry. Which made my head hurt. I took 800 mg ibuprofen, 1000 mg of Tylenol, and a couple other meds to try and stop the pain-but nothing worked. With my injections, I was cautioned to be careful of certain medicines so I didn't want to try anything more without talking to a professional.

It was 6:30 last night and I decided that I needed help. So I decided to call and harass my cousin. I HATE doing that too. I hate using people I know for things, especially after normal business hours. But I was dying (OK, I know I would live), so I called him. He was kind enough to listen to my situation and offer some advise.

Today I am so grateful to him. I am still in a lot of pain-I can't open my mouth that wide and I can't chew anything, but I am doing so much better. And I have him to thank. So

"Thank you Bryan!"

I promise that I won't take advantage of you again-unless I feel like I am going to dye-again!

Grateful for...

2009-11-09T15:40:00.003-07:00

I know I missed my October gratitude post, and I'm a little late getting November's out (obviously), but I decided to change it up a little big this month. Since the whole theme of November is to 'Give thanks' I am going to focus on one thing everyday that I am grateful for. Some may be funny or obvious things, some maybe personal, some could be spiritual, or just plain light-hearted. I hope that I can reflect back on all the posts this month when my spirits are down and realize just how many things I have to be grateful for.

So I'm going to start off the month with Elison. There was so much attention on Traeden with his baseball and football, that she kind of got neglected. She was so excited when she started preschool and dance again. She'd cry on the days that Traeden would go off to school and she wouldn't have it, or she'd cry when I'd drop Trae off at football and she had nowhere to go. I was honestly excited for dance too. She loves it and I love that she loves it. I love her school too. They haven't done recitals around Christmas in the past. They do a Halloween recital and an end of year recital. The Halloween one is so cute. It's mostly all the younger kids and they get to dress up in all kinds of fun costumes with funky make-up. They all have a ball. Plus there isn't the stress and rush with the holidays, so it's really nice for me. This year Elison was a scarecrow and danced to a song from The Wizard of Oz.

It was really cute. The recording is pretty crappy but it gives you the general idea of what she's been practicing for the last couple of months. Here is the video:

Just for Fun Friday

2009-11-06T09:30:00.003-07:00

Hopefully I'm back up (at least for a couple of weeks-more on that later). I've just had trouble sitting down at a computer lately. If I can't do something on my phone then it just doesn't get done. So, I'm starting off easy. I'll start my welcome back with my Just For Fun Friday....

ENJOY!

Cristina Jackson started the day early...

Having set her alarm clock (made in JAPAN) for 6 a.m.

While her coffeepot (made in CHINA) was perking,

she shaved her legs with her electric razor (made in HONG KONG).

She put on a blouse (made in SRI LANKA),

designer jeans (made in SINGAPORE),

and tennis shoes (made in KOREA),

After cooking her breakfast in her new electric skillet (made in INDIA),

she sat down with her calculator (made in MEXICO) to see how much she could spend today.

After setting her watch (make in TAIWAN)

to the radio (made in INDIA),

she got in her car (made in GERMANY),

filled it with gas (from SAUDI ARABIA)

and continued her search for a good paying AMERICAN job.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day,

checking her computer (made in MALAYSIA),

Cristina decided to relax for awhile.

She put on her sandals (made in BRAZIL),

poured herself a glass of wine (made in FRANCE)

and turned on her TV (made in INDONESIA).

And then she wondered why she can't find a good paying job in AMERICA!

Which one?

2009-10-15T08:27:00.005-06:00

I have so many things that need to be said and I have no idea where to begin!

I still have my grateful for list which is 15 day past due, yesterday was Jordan's birthday (and a great day it was), and today is "Lights of Love-Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day." So which one and where do I start?

Hmmm...........hmmm..........(me thinking)..........hmmm.............(still thinking)............hmm............got it (I think)!

Here is my plan

1) I will write about Jordan's birthday here-today.

2) I will write about Lights of Love" on my private blog.

(click here to go right to it-but you do need to be invited, so let me know if you need an invite)

3) I will do my grateful for post tomorrow or Monday.

Sounds like I have a plan (well, for the time being)!

Yesterday, my husband turned 32. I know, old, right? Just kidding. I always try to do something fun/special/exciting for him. We've gone to Denver, Midway, movies, nice resturants, etc. in the past, so to think of something new was hard. It was also hard because there has been a lot (and I mean A LOT) of personal stuff going on in my life so I honestly didn't have the time/energy/will power that I've had in the past to plan something. And normally we both have the day off somehow, so we get the whole day to do stuff. That was not the case yesterday. He had to work for the first time EVER!

So, the day started off just like any other. He got up, got ready for work, left for work. I got up, got the kids ready for school, got me ready, saw Trae off, and took Elie to school. It turns out that he was able to meet for lunch, so I drove down to the mall by his work. We saw his BFF (well, one of them), and then headed to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. His BFF (well, one of them) decided to join us too. It made for a great lunch. I got to see him, got my avocado eggrolls, got a piece of Red Velvet Cheesecake (which I have yet to taste), and got to do a little bit of shopping.

I grabbed a few small 'filler' gifts (something that would make him blush) to give him at dinner and headed home. Once home, I had 45 minutes to get Trae ready for football, Elie ready for dance, deliever them to their destinations, and make sure grandpa knew where and when to pick them up. Just as I was storming out the door, I noticed the toilet hadn't been flushed (something that happens quite frequently around here-I'll blame the kids) so I flushed it. BIG mistake! It was clogged and overflowed EVERYWHERE. I had to leave to get Trae to football in time, so I was not a happy camper doing my taxi duties knowing that I had that to come home too. Oh well, what do you do?

I delivered the kids, cleaned up the toilet mess, and grabbed my husband to drag him to dinner. I arranged all of it-which surprised him abit-so he had no idea where we were going. I decided on Tepanyaki. I also decided to invite his friends. He was very surprised on both. We had a great time with some of his closest friends at a very fun and entertaining resturant. I couldn't have asked for a better night.

Ann eating sushi (for the first time)

Our personal chef

We said good night to our friends and headed off to my parents house to pick up the kiddos. When we got there (shortly after 9 pm), Traeden was passed out on the couch and Elie was hiding from us. I had his birthday cake and he had a couple of presents left from my family and the kids. So we celebrated even more (Trae was still conked out on the couch).

After that, we went home, put the kids to bed, watched a little bit of TV (and there was a little bit of whip cream involved), and feel asleep in each others arms. All in all I think it was one perfect day. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better (I guess I could have done without the toilet problem though)!

4 Letter Words

2009-09-30T08:46:00.003-06:00

Last week, Elie was busy trying to fix her necklace (the cheap plastic beaded kind that you get in the quarter machines). She'd try and fail, try and fail, etc. So she was getting really pretty frustrated with the whole thing. She tried one more time and this time the necklace fell on the floor. She had just about had it at this point, so when the necklace fell-this was her response (and my reaction)...

Elie "D*#@ it!"

Me (shocked) "What did you just say?"

Elie "D#*@ it!"

Me (still shocked) "What did you say (as if I didn't hear it the first time)? Did you just say what I think you said (hoping she doesn't really answer me again)?"

Elie (slightly confused) "D*#@ it...why? Is that bad?"

Me "Elie...you can't say that word!"

Elie (more confused) "Why?"

Me (being the smart a** that I am) "Because it's a four letter word!" Ok, I knew she won't understand that one.

Elie (thinking really hard, head cocked to one side and counting with her fingers while mouthing something) "Well Mom...Elie is a four letter, right? E-L-I-E...see?"

Me "(blank)" Okay, I couldn't come up with a response to that. I was laughing to hard.

Since when did my baby girl so smart that she can stump her mother?

Just and FYI...other four letter words in our house are Trae, Milk (only when it said by Elie), and Luke!

What a day

2009-09-17T07:41:00.006-06:00

I'm not sure what emotions I'm going to experience today, so this will be short and sweet. Today my boy turns 10! Can you believe that I have a 10 year old? If you aren't up to date on this story, then click here to learn. Also, I have a 5 month old today. Too bad he isn't here to celebrate with though. I often wonder, as I read other babies milestones, what Troy would be like today? Unfortunately that is something that will have wait to find out.

Baby Hunter (9/17/99)

Baby Troy (4/17/09)

I'll try to post some updated pictures later. Can't seem to do it from work

Bragging Rights!

2009-09-15T08:14:00.001-06:00

I just picked up a disk full of pictures that my really sweet friend took of my kids. I was so excited to see these images, and I just thought that I would share them because they are just too darn cute not too!

Thanks Jess...your the best! I love them all!

P.S. If anyone is interested in her work, click here and it will take you to her website. She is fabulous and reasonable-can't beat that!

Can You Believe this Guy?!?

2009-09-14T16:39:00.003-06:00

OK, so here is cute little Taylor Swift (at the MTV video music awards) accepting an award for best female video of the year when Kanye West jumped up on stage and did this to her...

<a href="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2009/" target="_blank">Kanye West Storms The VMA Stage</a>

Kanye West Storms The VMA Stage

Seriously? I just wanted to know who asked him who should win. He is such an arrogant, egotistical punk and can't stand it if the spotlight isn't just on him. Beyonce ended up winning for Best Music Video of the Year and allowed Taylor to finish her speech-after Kayne was asked to leave the awards show.

Just for Fun Fridays

2009-09-11T09:44:00.004-06:00

Here we go again....

this one is titled People Who Shop at WalMart!

Are you ready for some football?

2009-09-09T10:37:00.005-06:00

Saturday was Traeden's first official game as a member of the Woods Cross Wildcats Gremlin B team. He was so excited he had a hard time sleeping the night before. He even gave up a trip to Dallas with his dad (to see BYU at the new Cowboy's stadium) to play in his first game.

Last week was a scrimmage game held at Viewmont. After the game, the coaches told all the kids about what to expect (ie what was different) at a 'real' game. Traeden wouldn't shut up about it in the car too. Here is my best impression of Trae after last weeks game:

(you'll have to picture an 8-year-old super excited and talking 90 mph!)

Trae: "Next week is the real game with real refs and the chains and the down thingy that tells you how many more downs you have and yard lines and we are the only ones playing on the field with penalties and blocks and fumbles and touchdowns with extra points and it counts for real but there are no playoffs how cheap is that? It will be just like the pros I think with replays oh mom, do you think we'll have instant replay?"

Me: (laughing) "I don't think so honey."

Trae: (somewhat disappointed) "Why not?"

Me: (realizing I just crushed a 8 year old's heart) "Because they use the television cameras to view the play. There won't be any TV cameras there. I'm sorry!"

Trae: "OK. At least we get to wear our white game jerseys and blue pants with the long white socks and the coaches said that we get to wear our game jerseys to school on Fridays just like the older kids do on the high school team and are you going to come or do you have to work do you think that I'm going to do good a kicker what about a lineman and a flanker......)

Apparently my comment didn't really phase him that much and for that I am grateful.

Trae played Sat. And I'd like to say that he did a great job, but I didn't really see him on the field that much. All the kids kind of blend together and I had a really hard time picking him out unless he was standing right in front of me. With that said-his game was so much fun. I had a great time and look forward to all the others. If anyone is ever interested in coming to one, let me know and I can give you info. We will be traveling down south mostly in a couple of weeks.

Here are some of the pictures that I took to commemorate the First Official Game!

Just for Fun Friday

2009-09-04T05:31:00.011-06:00

Grateful for...

2009-08-31T21:56:00.005-06:00

Wow, has it been a long time or what? I decided to take most of the summer off, and I have to say, that I'm not sad that I did. I have never been off work for a whole summer, so I decided to make the most of it and just didn't worry to much about the internet. I wasn't really on it except to check email and pay some bills. Other then that, I did most of my communication with my phone-which doesn't work with blogs. Anyways, I decided that now was a good time to get back into it (I hope and stick with it) since the summer is winding down, the kids are back to school, and I am now back to work. And what better way then to start with a gratitude post, right?

It is going to be really hard to narrow it down to just 5 things this month. There have been SO many things that I am grateful for in my life right now, but there is always next month!

#1~My talk. Back in July, Jordan and I were asked to speak in our ward. I was terrified to say the least. Because Jordan knows how much I didn't want to do this, he was kind enough to let me pick the topic. So I pick Repentance. That is something that I know very well. As I read different talks, quotes, and books, I forgot just how much is involved with this principle. It was a good reminder, and I am very glad that I had the opportunity to do it.

#2~My dad. this one I know is a repeat, but a girl can never say just how much she loves her daddy, right? We celebrated his birthday a couple of weeks ago and I got some great pictures of him with all his grandkids. As I was looking at all the grandkids standing there with their grandpa, I could tell that they all love him dearly. He his such an awesome grandpa. I don't feel like I spend nearly enough time with him though cause he is always helping someone out. He is the most unselfish man I know and he has and always be a great example for me and my family.

#3~My job. As many of you know (thanks to Facebook)-I went back to work last week. It is a bitter sweet thing for me. I love my kids and I love being home and spending time with them, but I am one of those kinds of people that needs the 'adult' environment too. Many would argue that I work more kids and less with adults, but that's left up to interruption. Regardless, I am grateful that I even have a job. There are so many people that can't even say that. And as an added bonus, I get to work with some great people. It's kicking my butt right now (really, it hurts-BAD), but I'll gradually get back into shape again.

#4~Sports. This summer was so much fun for me. I never really cared for baseball much...that is until Traeden started playing Little League. Then he tried out for the All-Star team and made it. It was so much fun to watch his team learn to play as a team and really kick some booty. Now he is playing football. I'm not really sure how I feel about that one yet. He got hit really hard on Monday and I think he even got a concussion and I'm just not ready for my boy to start getting tackled by people who really mean it. It's still fun to watch though. He gets really excited when he catches a pass or intercepts the ball (which he is the only one on his team to accomplish this so far). I love to see him so passionate about something. By doing football though, he had to give up soccer. That's going to be hard on me. I loved watching his soccer games too. And Elie decided that she had enough of soccer last season so she won't do it again. She is back in dance and loves it. She practiced her handstands and splits all summer. It will be fun to watch both of them mature and grow in areas that they both love and I am excited!

#5~The fact that I was off all summer long! Never before have I had a whole complete summer off. It was great and I loved every single minute of it. I am so glad that I decided to do this-even it was all unpaid. Because of that, we couldn't do everything we wanted to or get passes to certain places, but we really made the most of it. I loved waking up with my kids, getting them breakfast, taking them to cheer camp and basketball or bowling, and playing with them the rest of the day. After all the heartache that my family had experienced, I just felt like my kids needed me around and I am truly grateful for the opportunity that I had to spend as much time with them as possible.

Jordan wakeboarding

So there it is. A nice way to get back into the swing of things, I think. Until next time.....TTFN!

When I Grow Up...

2009-06-26T16:50:00.004-06:00

Elison's dance recital was Wednesday. She's been practicing pretty dang hard for it too. I have to say that she did an awesome job too. All of her practicing seemed to pay off too-she won the 'Most Improved' dancer award. All in all it was a really fun evening, hot, but fun!

Here is her Big Girl dance:

And here is her Pirate dance (tumbling):

My week

2009-06-23T10:16:00.007-06:00

(Elie is 'A Big Girl')

I know that one day is already past, but I thought I should explain myself now instead of later.

This week is packed! I don't know exactly how much more I can fit in it, although I'm sure I'll have to figure it out cause I always forget something. My week is something like this:

Monday: Dance pictures and FHE. Elie had her recital pics yesterday. She's in 2 dances plus that finally so that means 3 costume changes! Not exactly pleasant with 12 4 year olds. Pictures did go ok though.

So today we have a rehearsal. I'm not allowed to be there either. I'm so panicked that I'm going to forget part of a costume or something or that Elie will freak out without me there. And Trae has All-star practice (he made the All-star team!). The rehearsal and practice overlap, so I'm going to have to get creative and figure out how to be 2 places at once!

Tomorrow is the actual recital and baseball practice. Again, both at the same time. Ay! Plus Trae has basketball practice and Elie has cheerleading. I'm ok with everything except the prep that goes into the recital. The hair, make-up and costumes are more then I can handle. Plus it doesn't help that Elie isn't exactly co-operative either.

Thursday is just baseball, so not to much to worry about there. Friday is basketball and cheerleading. Then we have a scrimmage with another All-star team.

Saturday is a busy, busy day. Elie has been invited to 2 birthday parties. Traeden has 1 or 2 baseball games (we won't have a the times or schedule until Thursday). It's my nieces birthday party and a demolition derby that we really want to go to.

How do you choose what to do? I'm already going out of mind just thinking about all this stuff. I'm pretty much going at it alone too cause Jordan has other things that he needs to do. Wish me luck and I hope that I survive!

Just for Fun Friday

2009-06-19T08:24:00.006-06:00

Ok, it's time to start this back up again. I miss it. It's always good to end the week with a little chuckle, isn't it?

These are pretty clever.

Don't rush.
Study each picture and try to determine what it represents,
before looking at the answer below the picture,

Put on your thinking caps.

Assaulted Peanut

Eggplant

Dr. Pepper

Pool Table

Tap Dancers

Card Shark

The King of Pop

I Pod

Gator Aide

Knight-Mare

Hole Milk

Light Beer

So, how'd you do?

Got 'em all?

Champions!

2009-06-16T11:13:00.003-06:00

Meet the 2009 South Davis Baseball

Pinto League Champions!

Never in my life have I seen such a team effort shown by a bunch of 6, 7, and 8 year olds. They were truly amazing to watch and I am so honored that my son was a part of this great team.

They had over 30 practices and games (Trae only missed one practice because he was being baptized that day). They had awesome coaches that worked them hard. But all the hard work paid off.

Congrats!

Kickoff to Summer...

2009-06-15T07:26:00.016-06:00

So, last week was the first week that both my kids were out of school. I was a little nervous because my kids tend to get bored pretty fast. So far, so good though. Here's what's going on in our neck of the woods.

Monday-Pretty boring day. The kids just had some friends over and I just kind of hung out. Elie still had dance, which ends next week with her recital, but other then that, we just hung out at home.

Tuesday-Pretty much the same as Monday except we decided to have and unexpected visitor. My kids came running up to my room screaming "snake, snake. There's a snake in the basement!" So I went to check it out and this is what I saw:

At first I thought it was a garden snake, but it didn't have the stripes going the length of it's body. Then when I tried to catch it, it lunged and hissed at my stick-so not a garden snake! So I called animal control. It turns out it's a Blow snake. Identical to a rattlesnake, but it actually eats them. The only difference is that they don't have the diamond at the end of it's tail. They actually eat Rattlers and mice and such, so they are pretty good to have around, although I'd still rather have it somewhere else then in my basement. Animal Control said that this was the littlest one they've seen and it was probably only about a week old. They also said they lay 25-30 eggs so to keep our eyes open for more.

Wednesday-Pretty casual also. Traeden was supposed to start his baseball playoffs but the game got cancelled because of the rain.

Thursday-We decided to go camping with some of our friends. We headed up the canyon even though there was rain forcasted for all weekend. It turned out to be a beautiful drive because of all the cloud cover and rain. The funniest thing was while I was driving up the long, curvy road with all the big pine trees, Traeden asked if this is where 'Twilight' was filmed. I had to laugh at that. Since it was raining AGAIN, baseball was cancelled again, so we just hung out at the campsite with our friends. It was a very good night. Chipmonk with a hotdog.

Jordan and Traeden

Elie in the rickshaw

Even Edward was there!

Friday-Trae had his first scout camp. It was just a day camp, but none-the-less it was his first scout camp. We had to run him to the site because we were still camping. Then we just spent the morning hanging out and talking over a morning fire. Because of all the rain, Trae had his playoffs tonight, so we picked him up from scout camp, went to baseball, and back up to camp. His games were really exciting. His team won both games, so they are moving up to the finals which are today. Keep your fingers crossed for the Reds' tonight! After the games we drove back up to the campground to finish off a good day with some of our closest friends.

Jordan, Traeden, Grandpa Ray, and Grandma Grace

Trae at catcher

Up to bat

Running into home

Trae at 1st base

Saturday-Last day camping =(. We had a great breakfast and had to pack up and leave. I had a great time with everyone. We had some fun times and good conversations. I hope that we do this again!

Sunday-We added a new member to our gang-meet Luke!

Our kids are so excited to have a puppy. Today is just day 1 and so far they are doing a great job with him. Trae and Elie take him outside all the time to go potty and are doing a great job with all the doggie duties that come with a new puppy. I hope this newness doesn't wear off. They are having a great time playing with him too. Elie won't let him sleep for more then 5 minutes though before she has to hold him again. Poor puppy! We are all pretty excited though. He is so cute.

In the blink of an eye...

2009-06-07T21:50:00.004-06:00

Isn't it amazing how your whole world can change in the blink of an eye?

Today was supposed to be the blessing of our baby Troy and the confirmation of our oldest Traeden.

But that just wasn't in the plans for us.

As I've thought about the last 7 weeks and reflected on my wide range of feelings, I came to a conclusion...This blog is titled everything me because I am the only one that posts on here. I've done my best to try and tell about everything that is going on with me-both good and bad-but feel that this might turn into a Everything Troy blog. And I don't really want that to happen.

So...

As I was looking through all the blogs (yes, I have a total of 5), I noticed that I had started one when I first found out I was pregnant. After the big 20 week ultrasound, it kind of got neglected.

The other day I was noticing it was still active and I thought about what I should do with it. I was about to delete the whole site when it dawned on me...I should keep it and just use it as my Troy journal.

So, I changed the name to Smallest, Wingless (it's on my sidebar). And I am going to keep it private. This blog is not something I want just anybody to be able to access. It will contain things that I don't want to share with people who do not know me. This is a very personal experience for me and I would only like my friends and family to be able to read about my feelings. With that said, if you would like access to this blog, just let me know. I'm not trying to exclude anyone who wants to be a part of this aspect of my life. Just know that this is my online journal. There will be posts when I'm happy and probably more posts when I'm sad (and even some when I'm mad I bet).

So, hopefully this will make it so I write more about my everyday life here and my thoughts and feeling about Troy there. I hope it works!

Grateful for...

2009-06-02T07:53:00.006-06:00

Has another month really come and gone? It feels like I just did a gratitude post-oh wait...I did not 2 weeks ago! So it looks like your just going to have to bear with me through this one...

Needless to say, my emotions have been nothing but a roller coaster during May. We had a really busy month with schools, sports, church, etc. and in a way I'm glad it's over. But that just means that a new month is here to try and pack full of stuff all over again.

Here are the things on my mind that I'm grateful for this month (in no order whatsoever)!

1~The Weather. The weather has been absolutely perfect the last couple of weeks. Lots and lots of sunshine, but without the unbearable heat. There is moisture every so often just to make sure that the grass and the plants get watered too. Trae has been playing baseball a couple of nights a week and the temperature is perfect. I love to go to his games, watch him at bat, and sit in our camping chairs in what is a picture perfect evening. There were nights (not that long ago either) where it was freezing. We'd have to take our blankets to try and retain a little bit of body heat. But not anymore. We pulled our patio furniture out of storage last weekend and I've sat out on our deck every night this last week just soaking in the amazing weather that we're having. The sad part is that it is going to get way to hot before I know it so I want to savor every minute that I can.

2~The Summer movie season. I know this one seems trivial, but it really is a life saver for me. A couple of months ago me and Jordan would have a babysitter and head to dinner and a movie. The problem is that we would finish dinner, run up to the theater to see what was playing, and BLAH...there was nothing that we were even remotely interested in. Now that is NOT the case. Every week it seems like there is another great movie coming out that I really want to see. Here is my list of movies seen and thoroughly enjoyed or that I really want to see in the upcoming months: Star Trek*, Angels& Demons, Terminator Salvation*, Night at the Museum II, Wolverine*, Up, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur, The Proposal, GI Joe, My Sisters Keeper, and maybe even Harry Potter. I've got my summer cut out for me and my movies...

*movies I've seen.

3~Our new BBQ. This is how lame I am...I never got my husband a anniversary present this year. There was so much going on and one thing after another, and...there really isn't any excuse...he got me one and I didn't. So, the other day I was browsing through the ads and came across a great deal for a BBQ. I know it's not a 'name brand' one and it may not even be that good, but it had everything I wanted in one. It is a 4 burner, has a rotisserie attachment, and could be hooked up to a natural gas line (that we just happen to have on our deck.) So far we've really enjoyed it too. We've used it a couple of times just in the last week. I must say that it's nice to heat the BBQ instead of the oven for a change!

4~My 90 day LOA. I wasn't sure (well, I'm still not sure) if I should take the leave of absence (LOA) that was offered me by my work. It's all unpaid and we are still trying to pay off debt, plus my work was like a release to me. So when Delta had to know in 1 day whether I was going to return to work or take the leave, me and Jordan really prayed about it. I wanted to take it and Jordan wanted me to go back. Well, the next day, 30 minutes before I was supposed to bid for my shift, Jordan called and told me that I should take it. At this exact time I was thinking that I should go back. I ended up taking the leave, probably all 90 days of it too. I love being home with the kids and thought that I get to do that all summer, something that I haven't been able to do for a long time, thrills me. Sure, we're going to be poor and limited on what we can do, but I took the leave to be with my kids so that is exactly what I'm going to do!

5~My Patriarchal Blessing. I was given this blessing when I was 14. I probably should have waited to have it, but I just had to have it after we had a lesson on them one week. Lately I have read this over and over and over again. It brings me so much comfort and insight and direction that sometimes it really overwhelms me. Every time I read it I see things in a different view or even for the first time in some light. It brings peace to my mind and soul to know the blessings that I'll receive if I just follow what I'm instructed to do. I do have to admit that sometimes it makes me feel a little guilty too for there are things it tells me to do that I know I'm not doing (or at least not doing them right), but that is why we have them, right? To have something to look to for guidance and direction, to reconfirm what we're doing right and what we could be doing better, and to give us confirmation of what we can achieve-what is promised to us. I hold my very dear to my heart and know that it has helped me in times of tribulations and will help me through out all my future trials.

What do....

2009-05-28T08:58:00.005-06:00

Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Jon Schmidt have in common (besides all being musicians)?

I came across this article as I was doing my normal morning routine. It was titled "Utah artist combines 2 songs to make Youtube magic." So it sparked my interest.

Apparently Jon Schmidt (who I freakin' love) was asked by his daughter to put Taylor Swifts song 'Love Story' on his next album. So he was messing around with the song and slowed the tempo down and realized that it was the 'Viva La Vida' song by Coldplay. So he combined the 2 of them together and this is what you get...

Over 1 million people have viewed this on Youtube over the last 6 weeks. This makes it the 2nd highest music video viewed ever! Schmidt states that Coldplay has given him permission to put this on his next album (due out around August) and Taylor Swift is close to doing the same.

It's a tad long, but well worth your time. It is one of the neatest arrangements I've ever heard. I've had the opportunity to see this guy in concert twice: he was the band that played at our Homecoming my Jr. year in high school and him and Ryan Shupe (another fantastic artist) played at an AGC banquet I attended. I can't wait to download this song so I can listen to it over and over.

My secret place of solace

2009-05-21T21:04:00.007-06:00

I have found a new place for me. It's a place that I can go to and think. It's a place that I can go to a feel peace. I discovered it the other night and I don't have to go very far to get there. As luck would have it, it's located in my own home. This secret place is our nursery.

I know this sounds pretty crazy and some might be wondering if I'm really ok, but let me explain. Since our loss, I have not really gone much into the nursery. To be honest, I don't know if it because it's too painful or because I just rarely need to go in there. I have been in it a couple of time without any problems. I've also been in there and opened the closet doors and just started to bawl when I saw all the clothes that I had bought. It's a darling room, and it really makes me feel bad that it's going unused right now. We've decided that Traeden and Elison are doing so well together that we will keep them together for now. I know that many of our friends have seen it but there are those that have asked for pictures (which is the reason for this post).

Well, the other night I needed to make a pretty big decision, but I needed Jordan's help with it. We were going to talk about it when the kids were asleep and in bed. So once that happened, I went to find Jordan. I thought that he was laying down with the kids, but he wasn't...he was in the nursery reading his scriptures. I thought he felt the same way as me, so I was surprised to see him in there. I think that I was more surprised to see him so relaxed and at peace though. It really opened my eyes to something new. I talked to Jordan for a few minutes, then stopped for just a minute before I left. I was trying to pinpoint exactly what I was feeling. So this morning, while I was alone, I decided to just go and sit in this room. Troy's funeral was exactly a month ago today, so I figured that today would be a good day to sit and reflect. And that's exactly what I did.

I was amazed how my whole attitude has now changed. I really felt calm, relaxed, and at peace. The same as the other night. But most of all, I felt Troy's little spirit there. I could totally be imaging things or looking to far into it, but as long as I feel that way, I'll be spending more time in my new secret place.

So, here are some pictures of my new place of peace:

Grateful for...

2009-05-15T10:12:00.006-06:00

I know that I usually do this the 1st of the month, but I just bring myself to do it. Then I was going to do it for Mothers' Day, and I ended up going out-of-town, so I didn't get around to it. And then I was going to do it on our anniversary (which was Tuesday), and I spent the day with my husband (who surprised me by taking the day off of work) instead of playing around on the Internet. So here it is, Friday, the 15th of the month, and I decided it's better late then never.

It is so hard for me this month to do this. Not really because of Troy, but because there is sooo much that I'm grateful for. It's hard to narrow it down to just 5 things. I have literally witnessed miracle after miracle the last few weeks. I have been touched by so many people and gestures by friends, family, and complete strangers that I have been overwhelmed. So please, if I forget to mention something, I'm sure I'll write about it later.

This month I'm grateful for.....

1~My husband. We celebrated our 9 year anniversary a few days ago. I just can't believe that it has been 9 years. I'm not going to lie and say that it has been 9 years of total bliss, but honestly, it almost has. We've had our differences here and there, but we always seem to work things out. I met Jordan under the oddest circumstances, and yet we are still going strong. My dad commented to me the other day that Me and Jordan have had our share of trying times, and yet we only grow stronger with each one. Things that would have torn others apart have only brought us closer together. Marriage hasn't always been easy, but it always been worth it. I'm so lucky to have found my best friend and that wants to spend time and eternity with me.

2~My family. With everything that happened with baby Troy, my family never left my side. My mom and sister camped out at the hospital with me while I was waiting to deliver. They slept in their clothes that they had on the day before, then, without being asked, they just jumped into action and started to plan the funeral and burial. My dad spent as much time as he could with me in the hospital. If he wasn't there with me and Jordan, then he was off entertaining my kids somewhere. The day I got released, we went to pick the kids up from Grandpa's house and they didn't want to leave. He took such good care of them and I know that my kids just love and adore him. They love to be with their 'Grandpa Butch' and I know that they are in good hands whenever they are with him. My baby brother came to visit me on multiple occasions in the hospital even though it was the middle of finals for him. And my older brother and his wife came to the hospital even though I know that it was really hard for them. My grandparents all showed support too with visits, calls, cards, etc. And my extended family has just been awesome. Everyday I'm getting cards or phone calls from them with their support. I have really learned just how important family is, and I am so glad that I have mine so close to me.

3~My friends. Friendships have been rekindled, created, and enhanced with everything that has happened. I had friends show up at the hospital multiple times even though it was out of the way for them. I've had people send cards that I have never met before. We had so many people show up at the funeral that our chapel was full. People that I don't know and those I didn't know that well have donated money to the memorial fund to help us pay for the gravestone. I've had friends take my kids so that we (Jordan and I) could get stuff done. I've been surrounded by the nicest friends any person could ever ask for. People have done way more for me then I could ever repay back. From all of this too, I've reconnected with friends that I've fallen out of touch with. And several of my relationships with people have grown. I know that I wouldn't be where I am today without the love and support that all these awesome people have shown me the last couple of weeks.

4~My kids. They are what is keeping me going. If it wasn't for soccer games, baseball games, dances lessons, preschool, birthdays, and baptisms, I would be curled up in a ball on my bed loathing in self pity. The other night, Trae said the most beautiful prayer that included Troy in it. Elie likes to talk about the baby or Troy all the time too. The other day, Elie asked me "When are you going to have a real baby?" I told her that Troy was real and she didn't believe me. I love those teaching opportunities. I've watched my kids' testimonies both grow with this experience, and they both understand that we'll see Troy again. Today in Costco, Elie was explaining to a girl that I know that Troy is in heaven and is watching over us and helping us. My heart almost skipped a beat and my eyes got all watery. It was a very proud and touching moment for me to hear her little voice explain all of this. Trae's baseball coach wrote on the back of all the kids' cap TJB (Troy Jordan Boulton) and they end every game with the chant "Troy!" Trae says that he feels like Troy is watching him too. It's amazing to me to really pay attention to what my kids are saying and feeling. I love everything that they are interested in and learning. I just flat out love my kids!

5~The atonement. It brings me so much peace to know that I will see Troy again. I have talked about this over and over again. I would be so sad, upset, resentful, etc. if I didn't have the gospel in my life. Especially the fact that families are together forever and that we will all see Troy again. I know that my baby is up there fighting for us so that we all make it back to the Savior too. My kids really understand this principle too and I'm excited to see how much that means to them too. They have the same peace and comfort that Jordan and I both have because of the atonement.

Well, like I said earlier, there are many, many other things that I'm grateful for and I'll probably never get to expressing them all. I have so many things to be thankful for and this were just a few that have really just stuck out to me over the last month or so.

Traeden's Baptism

2009-05-07T09:09:00.007-06:00

I feel like a complete failure as mother for waiting so long to post about this. I've been a little sad lately and just didn't feel like being on a computer. I can't keep putting stuff off though, cause now I'm up to my eyeballs in stuff that should have been done awhile ago. It's my own fault though. So with out further ado, here is Trae's story...

Since he turned 8 on the 25Th of April. Since that was a Saturday, he was eligible to join scouts which was the following Monday. He loves scouts! I'm just going crazy trying to keep up with it. All the stuff (IE patches, shirts, belts, books, etc.) that you have to buy is very overwhelming. At least he likes it, right?

Well, that following Saturday, May 2ND was our stake baptism. It was a very wet, rainy day, but I didn't really care. It was still a great day. Our baptism started at 10 am and we were there early. Trae looked so good in his baptism suit. So did Jordan for that fact! The stake did a little program before and then all us mom's got to stand up and tell a little bit about our special kids. I was absolutely terrified! There was some shaking and some crying, but I think I held it together pretty good. We were last to use the font, so we got to stay in the same room to do both the baptism and the confirmation. It was awesome! We had so much family and so many friends there to support Trae too. That just added to all of it.

After the confirmation, we went up to our church and had some spaghetti (Trae's favorite). The hit of the afternoon though was the awesome cake that my friend Heather made for Trae. He is seriously one of the biggest Jazz fans around, so she made a Jazz cake for him. Everyone was in awe of the talent of this girl. Thank you Heather, you seriously made his day!

On Sunday, Trae got called up to the stand by the Bishop. He always does this to the new members. He asks them if they want to sit on the stand too for Sacrament meeting. All morning Trae told us he didn't want to sit up there and then when the Bishop called him up and asked him, he said 'Yes' with a big smile on his face. It was a great meeting. There were so many sincere testimonies that were shared and to see Trae sitting up on the stand was awesome.

I am so proud of you, Traeden! You are going to be such a great example to everyone. I love you so much buddy!

My boy is 8! Pics coming soon!

2009-04-28T13:56:00.008-06:00

Saturday was Traeden's birthday. He turned 8 and now I feel really old. Given all the sadness that has been surrounding our family, I really wanted to make this a special day for him. He had made a comment to one of my friends a few days before that he was afraid everyone would forget his birthday too which made me even sadder then I already was. So I was bound and determined to make sure he had a great day.

It started off pouring rain Saturday morning which was very, very bad. You see, he had a soccer game (he never has soccer on Saturdays!) and he was so excited to play a game on his birthday that I started to cry (very easy to do right now) when I woke up and saw all the rain. I though for sure the game would be cancelled even if it wasn't raining because of the field conditions. But the league decided to leave that decision up to the coaches and so they ended up playing. He was glad, but they ended up playing one of the hardest teams. They ended up losing 3-2 but he was still happy that the game didn't get cancelled.

Right after the game we had a few of his friends come over and play some basketball. He was able to get in a couple of 3 on 3 games and a slam dunk contest. There were some pretty awesome dunks too. Kids can be pretty creative. Overall though I think that Traeden had the best dunk-course I'm biased though!

After they were all basketballed out (not really), we took everyone to Tepanyaki. It's a really fun Japanese Steak house where they cook the food in front of you on a big grill. It was me, Jordan, Elie, my dad, Jordan's dad, my grandma, Traeden, and 5 of his friends. All the kids got a riot out to presentation. They thought the parts with the fire were the best. Plus he really, really liked the food.

After dinner, he left with Grandpa Butch for the Jazz game. It was game four of the finals against the Lakers. Since the regular season ends the beginning of April, the Jazz haven't played on his birthday so was super excited about that. And he chose to go with grandpa too. He is pretty much his basketball buddy. Well, the Jazz didn't exactly win, but Traeden was still excited plus grandpa bought him another jersey. This time he got a Paul Milsap jersey. There aren't very many now that he doesn't have

Sunday my sister put together a surprise party for Trae. It was pretty neat. He kept asking when the 'family party' was. My kids are just way to smart now. I had to lie the best I could and told him that Kelly had a present for him and that's why we were going out there. We BBQ'd and had all the family there. It was a good time for all, I think. My sister bought a little slide for my 22 month old niece and all the kids had a great time on it.

Thank you to everyone that was a part of this weekend. Traeden had a great time with all his friends and family. Now it is time to focus on the baptism this Saturday. It's at 10 am and if you'd like to come, just let me know and I'll get you the details.

Troy Jordan Boulton

2009-04-20T09:07:00.004-06:00

Here is the obituary for my precious son. The next couple of days will be trying and rough, but I know that with the Lord's help we will make it through this. Thank you to everyone that has been praying for us and keeping us in their thoughts. We have really felt all the love from around the world by many people.

Troy Jordan Boulton

Troy Jordan Boulton Our Sweet Angel Troy Jordan Boulton, beautiful baby son of Jordan and Katie Larson Boulton, was born and passed away on April 17, 2009. Survived by his parents; sister, Elison and brother Traeden; grandparents, Rich and Jeanenne Larson of Bountiful; Ray and RaNae Boulton of Farmington. Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 11 a.m. at the Springhill Ward Chapel, 35l S. Lofty Lane, N.S.L. Friends may call earlier from 9:45-10:30 a.m. Interment will be at the Bountiful City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Troy J. Boulton Memorial Account at American First Credit Union.

Pregnancy Update

2009-04-13T21:04:00.005-06:00

So, I have a private baby blog that I haven't used since December. Rather then go back to that, I'll just give the update here.

I had my last appointment with the doc last Thursday. The week before that nothing much was really going on. He checked for any progression, and found that the baby has dropped. I'm dilated 1 cm and 30% effaced. So there is progression. the doctor doesn't think that it will be too much longer before baby joins us, but you never know. I was dilated 3 cm and 80% effaced with Elie for almost 3 weeks before she decided to grace up with her presence.

I'm fine with whenever he decides to come-except for the following dates:

Today, April 13th-I just don't want to have a baby on the 13th of any month!April 15th-that would really suck to have a birthday on tax day for the rest of your life. Plus Trae has a dentist appointment to fix an abscess tooth and me and Elie have hair appointments.
April 18th-That's my baby shower that my Aunt and Grandma are giving me. If you didn't get an invite, call me and I'll give you the details if you would like to come (presents aren't necessary either).
April 25th-That is Traeden's 8th birthday and although he thinks it would be cool to share a birthday right now, I can guarantee he won't think that forever. Plus it's kind of a special birthday, so I want it to just be 'his day,' if you know what I mean.

Any other day I completely fine with.

Also, some other things going on with the baby:

*It's still a boy (or so I'm still told)

*We have NOT decided on a name. That is actually a whole other story in and of itself. Believe me-Jordan is really pushing for the name he likes which I really DON'T like!

*My official due date is still May 3rd although most people think I'll have him earlier.

*We have officially finished the nursery. I'll post pics later on the 3 rooms that we painted and redid. Thanks to Ann and her family, it got all finished last week.

I think that answers most of the questions that I've been asked recently. If I've left anything out, please ask again-I have a tendency to forget ALOT of things.

Grateful for...

2009-04-08T20:16:00.003-06:00

Ok, a bit late, but here is April's gratitude post.

This month I am grateful for:

1) My family. Last Saturday was my mom's birthday. As a 'gift' to my family members, I make dinner for everyone instead of actually getting them a gift. So Sunday, after the last session of conference, I had everyone over. I love these get-togethers. I love being with my family. And I love to eat good food. April is a great month for me because I have my SIL and mom's birthday, Easter, and Trae's birthday so I get plenty of family time. My family has always been my favorite people to be around. I remember my dad saying once how special our family was because we are all like best friends. We always inviting a sibling or parent to go on some outing with each other. We are all so supportive of each other and are always willing to help one another out, and I will be forever grateful for each and every one of my family members.

2) My kids. If you've talked to me over the last week or so, this one might surprise you. I've had lots of issues/problems with my kids trying my patience for the last couple of weeks. I have to really ride my 7 year old to get ready EVERY morning. Then I have to deal with my 4 year old and her attitude. There hasn't been a day in the last 17 days that she hasn't cried over something. Usually it has to do with her brother teasing her. Then they talk back, hit, pull hair, etc., etc., which drives me crazy. But every night I think how lucky I am to have them in my life. I know with the baby coming, I haven't been in the bestest of moods either, and I just have to take that into account. I know for as much I have to 'deal' with them, they have to 'deal' with me too. I can not picture my life without them in it.

3) General Conference. When I was a kid, like a teenager, I thought of conference as a vacation from church. I always acted like it was a day that I didn't have to go to church and could just relax for a weekend. Man, how times have changed for me. I now look forward to each and every talk with great anticipation. It's funny too, because I always feel like our leaders are talking just to me. Like they interviewed me or knew what was on my mind or something. I almost wish that conference happened 3 or 4 times a year. This conference was no exception. There were some fantastic talks that I have gone back a couple of times to listen to.

4) My church. Most of you know that I am LDS (a mormon). My son is turning 8 in just a couple of weeks. Besides making me feel really old, it really makes me stop and reflect. There are very few specific days that I can remember in my life and my baptism day is one of those. As I watch and listen to my son and try to explain our religion to him as best I can, I am grateful that I am a member. There have been times in my life when I haven't had the gospel with me, and I compare those times to my life now and see how happy I am and how I'm such a better person with the gospel in my life. And now I get to see that growth with my son and I am so excited.

5) Last but not least, I am just grateful that this pregnancy is almost over! People are always asking me how I'm doing and the question is driving me crazy. I just want to grab that person by the shoulder and say "how do you think I'm doing?" as I'm shaking their shoulders. No, seriously, I am going to make up a shirt that says

'I am feeling

swollen,

bloated,

fat,

pregnant,

sick,

in pain,

tired,

nervous,

scared,

happy,

all of the above.

So you don't have to ask.'

Seriously though, I was told by my doctor last week that I have less then 2 weeks left. Not that I believe that, but that just means that the end is near. And for that I am EXTREMELY grateful!

Well, there I go. Late, but I did it! Hopefully I won't be to drugged up to be on-time next month.

A really good, easy recipe...

2009-04-06T14:30:00.002-06:00

I know that I still have to do a gratitude post, and I'll try to get around to it tomorrow. But until then, I just thought that I would share a recipe. I haven't done that in awhile, so here goes nothing.

Cream Cheese Chicken

1/2 cup butter

1 packet dry Italian dressing mix

8 oz. cream cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

4-6 chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders yesterday)

In a crock pot, melt butter and add Italian dressing mix. Add chicken breasts and cook for 2-3 hours on low. Remove chicken (easier to mix) and add cream cheese and soup. Mix with butter and seasoning. Add chicken and cook for 2 more hours on low.

The mixture can be used as a gravy too. This is really good with mashed potatoes, rice, or over pasta. I made it for my whole family (15 people) yesterday and got rave reviews (unless they were lying to me). This is one that I've pulled out of a cookbook that I have and unfortunately, I don't remember which one so I can't really say where this recipe came from. It is delicious though. Enjoy!

Just For Fun Friday...

2009-04-02T20:55:00.002-06:00

The Flasher...

It's been awhile...

2009-03-31T09:47:00.004-06:00

So I guess I am now the worlds biggest slacker. I have meant to post something in the last 2 weeks, but just really didn't get around to it.

Last Tuesday was our Relief Society Birthday dinner and since I was called to the committee 3 weeks before, it was really busy for me. I have to say though that the night was a huge success. It was one of the most fun activities that I've been too. The food was excellent, the decorations were, but like always, the company was the best.

I must have overdone myself because I woke up Tuesday morning with the worst back pain I have ever had. I tried to go to the store to get milk and ended up leaving in tears because I was in so much pain just walking. So I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday laying down and taking it easy.

I didn't really do much Friday either. Trae did have his first soccer game which I was excited for. They only had half their team show up so they were short handed, but they still one. All 4 of the kids had to play the whole game and they were exhausted, but they won 5-0 even being one man short. It was cold too, but still fun as always.

Then Saturday was pretty busy for us. We had 2 baptisms to attend. I was excited to see how Traeden would react since he will be 8 in just a couple of weeks. He didn't really want to go to the first one. He wanted to go to baseball practice instead, but I pulled my motherly magic (guilt trip and bribery) and he ended up going with us. It was really neat to see his friend get baptised and Traeden start to get excited. We came home, loaded up the car with the food for the next and took off for the 2nd baptism. That one was really neat as well. This family is a close friend of ours and their daughter and Traeden have pretty much grown up together. He got more excited and thanks to the wonderful talk by her grandpa, Traeden understood a little bit better what baptism and the Holy Ghost are all about. After the baptisms, we hung out with the family. The guys all watched cartoons, the kids were playing Funkeys, and me and Ann did a little bit of shopping. All in all it was a great day.

On Sunday though, I started to get the pain in my back again so I stayed home and laid on my bed with a heating pad stuck to my back most of the day. Poor Jordan! He's been working so hard to finish painting the kids bedrooms and I've been no help what-so-ever.

So then yesterday I swore that I was going to get something done and do you think I did? NOPE! I swear, I feel so lazy. I can't even get anything done. I get exhausted just thinking about all the things on my list of things the HAVE to get done before the baby comes. Hopefully I will snap out of this soon and get my lazy butt in gear. I was looking over a checklist of things that I should have ready for the baby and the only thing that I can cross off is the carseat! How pathetic is that! I did order some onesies yesterday so at least I did something. I also found out that my aunt and grandma want to give me a baby shower (I know, I know, it's my 3rd and you aren't supposed to have one for your 3rd) so we did decided a date. It's April 18th around 11 or 11:30 am. So if anyone wants to come you are more then welcome (gifts are not necessary either). Just let me know so I can get all the addresses together.

So here it is today, Tuesday, March 31st at 10 am. I am still in my pj's, my room is still a mess, the laundry still has to be done, the dishes need to be unloaded and loaded, and I have about 50,000 errands that have to be done so wish me luck! I'll see what I can actually accomplish today.

Just For Fun Friday...

2009-03-20T08:20:00.002-06:00

Redneck with a DWI (DUI)!

Our St. Patty's day fun

2009-03-18T11:30:00.003-06:00

This is going to be short, sweet, and to the point.

Because of our little trip, and lots of other things going on around our house, I didn't really plan anything fun and exciting for St. Patricks Day yesterday. So I improvised. Without fail-every morning-Trae has to have toast. He would eat it all day long if I would make it for him that much! Along with his toast comes a glass of OJ. So me-knowing that he always asks for this-put food coloring in the butter and orange juice to make it all green. Something quick and easy. He didn't believe that the leprechans did it, so I had to prove it. I showed him that the butter was normal (that it came from the usual tub) and that it only turned green after I had spread it on his toast. Thank goodness he bought that one, cause I was afraid I would have to show him. Then he asked to see the OJ container. It was all green, but it was the normal orange hue yesterday. He got this weird, confused look on his face, ate and drank, and declared that he liked the green much better then the normal-so of course, Elie had to join in too! Here are the pics for my simple stunt that I just happened to pull of like a pro!

Trae looking confused

Trae eating the food-but very cautiously

Elie joining in the festivities

Special Day...

2009-03-17T07:45:00.003-06:00

Not only is today is St. Patricks Day (so everyone remember to wear green so you don't get pinched), but it is the birthday of 2 of my favorite people-Ann H. and Kyle Korver!

Ann is a great friend of mine. We became really close when our oldest kids were just weeks old. We would sit and chat into wee hours of the morning while our husbands were playing computer games together. Ann came into my life when I needed someone who really understood me and what I was going through. It was a breath of fresh air to find someone that had had similar experiences and that could relate to me so well. We both had to work hard to become who we were and accomplish what we had done.

Ann, you've always been a great friend and I enjoy your friendship more then you will ever know. I envy you for so many reasons that I can't possibly list them all (I did do a post about her last year that you can find here). I love that you are my 'going out to eat' buddy, my 'lets go see this movie' buddy, the 'lets just hang out here and play games' buddy, and the 'I need to vent' buddy. I am grateful that you came into my life and that we have remained friends through all the years. I love you like a sister (actually I don't know if I should really say that!) and hope that you have one great, special day!

The second is Kyle Korver. Last year we got to meet him on his birthday. Can I just tell you how many girls were at the Jazz game holding up signs and wearing T-Shirts that say "Mrs. Korver." Tons! He was an immediate celebrity here in Utah. Honestly, I think my husband gets a little jealous too. Elie is now in LOVE with him, probably more so then me. Every time he checks into a basketball game, Elie screams (literally) "Cute Korver is in! Yay!!!" He seems like a nice, hard-working, honest guy, but I honestly don't really know what he's really like. He is also just a pretty face that I like to tease my husband with! So if I were to actually talk to him today I would wish him a Happy Birthday and tell him that he shares it with one of the greatest women on earth!

Our Little Trip...

2009-03-16T10:43:00.004-06:00

OK, so I'm a little late getting this up here, but better late then never, right?

We took of from our house on Saturday about noon and made it down to St. George around 6 pm. I guess that's what you get when you have to stop 3 times to use the restroom! I tried to be really careful and not drink too much so that I wouldn't have to use the potty more too! Anyways, when we got down there, my grandparents had a nice spaghetti dinner waiting for us. It was pretty good too, but I like Fazoli's anyways. I sat around and talked to my grandparents while Jordan took the kids swimming. They weren't gone for very long though. Apparently the pool wasn't heated so nobody really 'got in.' We put the kids to bed and then went to sleep ourselves.

Sunday, we got up and my Grandma and Grandpa made us a nice breakfast. We were anxious to get on the road to Las Vegas, but stayed and ate lunch with them too. My Grandpa's speciality is steak and it always makes him happy to make it for us, so we let him. It was really yummy too. The kids even ate all of theirs. After we were done eating, we headed out. Las Vegas-here we come!!! We got to Vegas a little after 5, which wasn't good cause all the kids wanted to do was go swimming and the pool closed at 5. So we unloaded all our stuff, and walked around for awhile. It turns out that we weren't staying too far away from M&M World so we made our way over there. It is pretty much a 4 level M&M store. It was huge and the kids wanted everything. We decided to let them each get a ball. Elie chose a soccer ball and Trae picked out a mini basketball. It turned out to be a good decision on our part cause it kept them occupied the whole time. We headed back to the hotel after that cause we were all beat.

Monday we just kind of did our own thing in the morning and hung around. It was nice not having to get everyone ready and out the door on a time limit. We learned that the hotel next to us had just put in a new restaurant and it is one of Jordan's favorites-Baja Fresh-so we ate there for lunch. It was a mistake if you ask me, cause all he did was whine and complain about why they left Utah. Don't get wrong, the food is/was good, but it opened up the emotion scar the Jordan has been festering about them leaving 5 years ago. Anyways, we left and Jordan took the kids swimming for awhile while I took a nap. I really don't have the energy like I had before. When everyone came back, we all got ready cause we took the kids to the Tournament of Kings dinner show. I was a little nervous cause I've never been to one of these before, but it was actually a lot of fun. Elie was scared at first but warmed up once she saw the princesses. Trae was a little bored at first, but once the fighting started he kept saying how cool it was. One of the maidens even came up to Traeden and held out her hand for him to kiss it. He didn't know what to do, so I had to whisper it in his ear. He kissed her hand reluctantly, and then turned bright red and slumped to the back of chair. I was laughing the whole time. We did have a great time though, and the show was well worth it.

Tuesday we just got up, ate breakfast, packed, loaded up, and headed home. It was a long drive all in one day, but we did make it. We were all tired and exhausted when we got home, but relaxed also. All in all it was a great trip and I'm glad that we were able to do it, and do it so cheaply too.

I didn't take too many pics, but here are the ones I did take:

Elie with a 'broken arm' (really it's just the newspaper in a yellow bag)

Elie with another 'broken arm'

Trae and Elie with Mr. Yellow M&M

The gang in front of the statue of Liberty

The kids with Spongebob

More with Spongebob

Even more with Spongebob (somehow I got dragged into this one)

Tournament of Kings

Elie with a 'princess'

Just for Fun Friday

2009-03-13T06:46:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm not saying I agree with this, and I'm saying that I'm not, but it did give me a laugh so I thought I would share......

(you might have to click on the picture to make it better. Only if you can't read it though).

I was going to post about my vacation but......

2009-03-11T21:06:00.007-06:00

I can't find my camera. So once I can find it to get the few pictures that we took off it, then I'll share our trip with everyone. It was good and the weather was great (I heard that we missed a pretty good storm), so until I find that stupid thing, that will have to do.

I do have a couple of other things though to post about. Besides putting my kids to bed way to late and having them extremely ornery this morning, it was a pretty good day. I dropped Elie off at preschool and did my bi-weekly trip to Costco. We ran out of milk right before we left and it is a very bad thing in our house to go with it for any period of time! So I grabbed my milk and a couple things to make for dinner and came home.

I went to check my email and low and behold, my photographer had posted a few of my maternity pics on her blog. Now I can't wait to see the rest of them.

Then, as I was trying to finish up dinner, Elie came running into the kitchen that the door was for me. I asked her who it was, and she said no one was there, but there was something for me. So I went to check on it and low and behold, my very adorable and loving and caring husband had placed my new carseat/stroller on the porch. He had ordered it for me and I had no idea. Really, I had no idea. This is really the first thing (other then a few baby clothes) that we have bought. I guess it is the most important though, right?

So all in all, it was a pretty uneventful but very exciting day for me! I feel so loved! Thanks honey-I love you!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-03-04T15:56:00.008-07:00

OK, I know that I've been lame and haven't really written much in the last 2 weeks, so I thought that I would just give an update on what has happened.

February 21st was my 30th birthday. Since Trae had his final Jr. Jazz game and the fact that I was 30 weeks pregnant, I didn't have any real expectations. We usually go up to Park City for a night, but that just wasn't going to work this time. Plus when the Jazz play on my actual birthday, my dad usually gives me the tickets for that game. It happens every once in awhile, so we decided to just do that instead.

The day started off like almost any other. The kids came in at 8:30 am and jumped on the bed and wished me happy birthday. Then we all got ready to head in for Trae's game. With it being the last one and the fact that his team was undefeated, we really wanted to be there. We were joined by Grandma Grace and Grandpa Butch. It was awesome. Trae played so good and his team won-again. I have to say that it was really fun to watch this team over the last 3 months. And it was really fun to watch Trae. At the first game, him and his friend were the only ones to carry the ball down the court and to shoot or score. But at this last game, it just the opposite. Trae had his moments, but his whole team did. They really worked well as a team and Trae was so excited when other people would make awesome plays or score. I was so proud of him. As the saying goes 'There's no I in team.' The won which made them undefeated for the season. They were all happy about that.

My sister Kelly made it just in time for the handing out of the medals. She was coming to take me to lunch though, not really to watch the game. So after everything was over, me and her headed over to Olive Garden. I had whatever their 'new' dish was and I have to say that it was really, really good. I hope they keep it on the menu. Afterwards, she asked if we could go to Costco, so I called Jordan to make sure that we didn't have any other plans and to get a shopping list. So me and her dinked around Costco for a little while longer. When we finally checked out and made it to my house, my mom's car was in the drive way and all the doors were locked. This was all pretty unusual, but I didn't think that much about it. When Jordan finally unlocked the door, I walked in and saw some streamers hanging in the family room. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to see them or not, so I kind of stalled for a bit. Jordan had to force me into the kitchen where he had arranged for my family and friends to all be there and yell "Surprise!"

So was I surprised? You bet I was. I had no idea that this was coming. Suddenly all of the little (and I mean little) odd things that had happened over the last couple of days were coming together. Not only did Jordan have food all planned and set-up, but he also did what he does best-make up a jeopardy game. I could tell that he put a lot of effort into it too. In fact, he put a lot of effort into the whole thing. It was awesome!

Anyways, to continue on with the celebration, he took me to The Roof for dinner. I LOVE that place, but it's pretty pricey so we only go on special occasions. Then we headed over to the Jazz game. Since Larry H Miller had passed away the day before, I knew it was going to be an emotional game and it was. It was just different then any other game that I've been too. But we won (and it was an important game to win) the Hornets and the Jazz have won every game since. Yea!

Not much happened that following week. I was tired and exhausted and didn't have motivation to do anything, so besides my normal errands that have to get done, I just sat around thinking of all the stuff I should be doing.

Trae did have a shootout competition though in 2/28 so we took him to that. We have never done this before, so we didn't really know what to expect. So we get there and you have to shoot from different spots on the floor and the different spots are worth different points. Everybody got to go twice and they took the better of the 2 scores. There really weren't that many kids there, but the ones that were, were the good ones. Trae ended up winning the competition. He won a T-Shirt-Yea (notice the sarcasm)! It was cool that he won, and again I was so proud of him, but I don't need another lame t-shirt laying around my house. Oh well-at least he feels special!

So there we go-all caught up. Not much has happened this week either. I've made it my goal to go through and thoroughly clean every room in my house. One room per week I figure is an achievable goal. So by the time I'm done with this I will have lots of boys (mostly size 6) clothes and girls (3T, 4T, and 4) clothes to get rid of if anyone wants any. This week is Trae's room and I am almost done with that. Just in time too, cause we are taking the kids down to St. George and Vegas for some R & R this weekend.

Grateful for...

2009-03-02T22:07:00.003-07:00

I can't believe that February is over and March is here. I'm not ready for the Lion, so I'll just pray it stays like a lamb all month. With a new month though comes a new gratitude list. I do have to say that it should be a little more upbeat then last months (at least I hope).

Here are the 5 things that I am grateful for today....

1-My Sunbeams. Most of you know that I got released last week from my Primary calling. I've taught the Sunbeams for the last 15 months (give or take a month or two). This last Sunday was the first time in quite awhile that I was able to go to class and Relief Society, and I have to admit that all I could think about was Primary. I missed it. I mean I really missed it. I missed it all: sharing time, singing time, class, the lessons, but most of all I just missed the kids. It got to be really, really hard to try and keep up with them. But there is definitely a reason that the 3-4 year old's are called Sunbeams-they are just always beaming like the sun.

2-My new calling. The day after I was released from Primary, I was called to be on the Enrichment Committee. 'No problem,' I thought. That should be pretty easy for me right now. What I didn't know is that I'd get thrown into planning the RS Birthday party this month, another activity 2 weeks after I'm due, and another one on my Dads birthday, right before school. At least they have an idea for this months enrichment, but we only have like 3 weeks left to plan everything. I haven't really been on this committee before, and I have a feeling that it is going to be a challenge because I am just not that creative, but I am excited for it. I will be serving with some really neat people. I'll keep you posted on this too in the upcoming months.

3-I am grateful that my hard work and persistence paid off. Right after I posted my last grateful post, I found out that my leave was approved by my work. I learned so many lessons during the 7 weeks that I was working on my case. But most of all, I learned a lot about me. These are lessons that really made me grow as a person and lessons that I will always keep with me.

4-My friends. I have such wonderful friends. I had a lot of facebook, email, and text messages last week wishing me a happy birthday. Everytime I'd get a new one, my smile would get a little bit bigger. So to everyone that took time out of their busy day to send me a birthday wish, I am forever grateful to you. You all helped to make it a great and memorable day.

5-Ok, so this should actually be #1, but because I'm an idiot, I listed last. That does not mean anything though. I am extremely grateful for my wonderful and caring husband. He spent weeks, if not months, planning my birthday. He wanted to make it so special and I have to say hat he succeeded. The pregnancy kind of threw him (us) off track a little bit, but he adjusted just fine. He had the whole day planned out and went to great lengths to make sure that everything was perfect. I plan on writing in detail about this tomorrow, so I'm not saying much now, but all of his stress and late nights and taking mental notes paid off and it was a birthday that I won't be forgetting. I am so grateful that I have him in my life and that he cares for me enough to go through all of that to make me happy. I love you Jordan!

So, there I go. Another month, another gratitude post. These always help me to reflect on the good that came out of the month before, and I really love doing these!

Just For Fun Friday...

2009-02-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Who's the Better Mother???????

Ok, so lately I haven't felt like a good person. I mean, I've felt like I'm a subpar mother, wife, and friend. But I have to say that this email, sent to me by my husband, made me feel alittle better. I guess there is worse then me out there....

The best part of the NBA All-Star weekend!

2009-02-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't follow basketball, I just thought that I would share the best part of the weekend with you. This is Shaq. Shaq is dancing with Jabbawockeez. It was hilarious!

Enjoy!

Disappointed and Discouraged

2009-02-17T14:59:00.003-07:00

This last week has been a tough one. Not because of just one thing, but a combination. I'm not writing this either to get a 'pity me' party going, but to explain where I've been.

Jordan was out of town most of last week. And wouldn't you guess that he left just as Elie got really sick. She started out with a really bad cough (which kept me up most of the nights that Jordan was gone) and ended up throwing up all night Thursday and into Friday. I don't like it when Jordan is gone. The kids LOVE him and they ask every 20 minutes "When is dad coming home?" It made it a very long 3 days. Discouraging!

Next...

With Jordan gone, I thought it would be a good time to get some cleaning done. I just didn't realize how much I have. It was extremely overwhelming. And it got worse when I realized that I just don't have the energy that I used to have either. That meant that I wouldn't be getting done nearly what I had hoped for. To top it all of, I tried to clean/finish my office on Wed. It has been like 6 months since I started it and I was sick and tired of looking at everything, so I tried to finish it. It just about killed me too. I had back pain and sore legs for the rest of the week and it sucked. I can't get out of bed as it is, so imaging how much worse it was with a stiff/sore back and legs. The office still isn't quite finished but it does look alot better. Discouraging and Disappointing!

Next...

Jordan was supposed to coach Trae's Jr. Jazz game on Saturday. The coach was in Disneyland and he was going to be back just in time for the game. I think that Jordan and Trae were really looking forward to it too. Heck, we all were. I love going to the games and to see how proud Trae was to have his dad coaching was really neat. Well, I got a call Friday afternoon informing me that the floor of the rec center had been retiled and the smell was so bad that they were cancelling all the games on Sat. Trae was devastated and Jordan was upset. To top it off, they aren't rescheduling it either. Disappointing!

Next...

Jordan and I have a free night stay up in Midway. We were going to take the kids there for the weekend. It was getting away and a break for all of us without having to travel to far or spend alot of money. To make a long story short, that whole trip fell through. Disappointing!

Next...

Traeden's BFF is getting baptised in Denver in March. We had planned to go there (me and Trae) for it. Trae was so excited that he was going to see his friend and especially to see him baptised. Another friend of mine was also going down for it. So after figuring out her flight info and talking to my friend in Denver, I decided to book actual tickets and not fly standby. It was too important to miss and too inconvenient to be getting there at different times. So I booked the tickets and got all my doctor appointments rescheduled and permission to fly that close to the end of the pregnancy, only to get a call uninviting us. Some one else decided to go, so there wouldn't be enough room for us so me and Trae were told that it wasn't going to work. I lost money on the tickets (although I did get a partial refund) but the worst is that Traeden cried for 2 days. He doesn't really understand why we aren't going anymore and I can't really explain it that good. Disappointing!

This is all just the major stuff. There are/were a million different little things that happened that was just the icing on the cake too. Again, I'm just explaining that with all of this stuff going on, I didn't get on the Internet. I barely checked my email, let alone facebook or blogs. And right now I just don't have much to say. So, I hope to say that I'll be over this funk and back to normal soon, but I just don't know how soon is soon. Thanks for understanding.

Just for Fun Friday

2009-02-13T08:03:00.008-07:00

2In honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow, here are some great moments from kissing history...

What's in a kiss?

A.D. 300 The original Breathalyzer-Roman husbands kissed their wives when they came home from work, not as an ancient version of "Hi, honey; I'm home" but rather to determine whether the missus had been hitting the bottle during the day.

1590's Romeo dies with a kiss-The first known performance of Shakespeare's famous play concludes with the lip-locked demise of two star-crossed lovers.

1763 Kissing gets X-ed-Kissing is first symbolized by the letter x, as in xoxo.

1896 First movie kiss-The first on-screen smooch happened between John Rice and May Irwin in the movie The Kiss. This less-than-a-minute film was shown during the closing scene of the Broadway play The Widow Jones and caused outrage at the time.

1907 Invention of the Hershey's Kiss-It's rumored that the candy was named after the sound the machine made as it dropped the chocolate onto the conveyor belt.

1923 The French kiss catches on-When British and American women got wind of this sensual kissing style, they soon dubbed it the "French kiss," intended as a slander toward their oversexed European sisters. But it didn't take them long to realize that French women were on to something good.

1937 Prince Charming awakens Snow White-Take one princess who's the fairest in the land plus one Prince Charming, and you have the classic Disney love story.

1945 Life magazine sweeps us off our feet-its famous cover photo of a sailor kissing a nurse on the street became an iconic image of true romance.

1990 Most kisses per minute-Alfred Wolfgram kissed 8,001 people in eight hours (that's more than 16 people a minute!) at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

2003 Madonna and Britney smooch-Jaws dropped worldwide as viewers witnessed Madge and Brit's daring kiss at the MTV Video Music Awards.

2004 The world's longest kiss-A couple in Italy, Andrea Sarti and Anna Chen, set the record on Valentine's Day after locking lips for 31 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds. They beat the record held by Americans Rich Langley and Louisa Almedovar, who kissed for 30 hours, 59 minutes in 2001. Andrea required oxygen treatment after the kiss.

2009 You kiss your Valentine-right now! Make a little history of your own.

Just Kidding!

On the road again.

2009-02-11T18:49:00.003-07:00

Jordan is offically in Californina now. He landed about 10 minutes ago and won't be back until late Friday night. So what am I going to do with him gone? Probably go NUTS!

Elie has had a pretty bad cough, so I kept her home with me today. I'm afraid that Trae, or even worse-me, will catch it too. So I'm downing the OJ and loading up on the vitamin C. I barely have enough energy as it is. Jordan usually takes the kids at night so that I get a little bit of a break to sit and put up my swollen feet. So the next 3 nights are going to be tough, but I know I'll manage.

So seriously, what am I going to do?

CLEAN!

Jr. Jazz practice

viewing

funeral

Valentine Party

Birthday party

and

CLEAN!

Although Jordan did make it to downtown today, so I did get to meet him for lunch before his trip. But, being the good wife that I am, I didn't send him away empty handed. I got to give him a big KISS and this...

Now, what a good wife am I?

What kind of Mom...

2009-02-10T14:47:00.003-07:00

What kind of mom let's her kids/son go out looking like this?

ME*!

*I'm the one that did this. Not too bad for my first time!

Proof that hard work pays off!

2009-02-05T17:31:00.007-07:00

My fabulous Uncle S had an opportunity through his work to send his kids a Jazz camp with Ronnie Price and Andre Kirilinko last Tuesday. Since his kids are older, he thought of Traeden and invited him to go. Of course I jumped at the chance. Trae LOVES basketball, especially the Jazz.

So Tuesday I pick him up from school and headed to the Zions Bank Basketball Center (where the Jazz practice). We got there kind of early and it was pretty awkward being there with knowing absolutely no one, but you do what you do to make your kids happy, right? Because Andre had surgery last Friday, Ronnie was the only player to come. Honestly I was a tad disappointed, but quickly got over that once the camp started. As I was sitting in the stands waiting, I was sitting by one of the guys that was helping with the drills and he was talking to one of the event coordinators for the Jazz. She was saying how lucky she was to work for the Jazz organization. Apparently about half of the NBA teams can't get any player on their teams to do any kind of camps, charities, etc. She said that our players usually volunteer to do it and any of them will do it if they are just asked. It made me feel good to have a descent team to represent our area.

At the very beginning they brought Price out and asked him a few questions about his life and playing for the Jazz. Most of it I already knew. He is from Texas but played college at UVU (which I remember), then he played for the Sacramento Kings and is now playing his 2nd year for the Utah Jazz. They asked him about what it's like to play for Jerry Sloan (intimidating at first, but an extremely nice guy) and his teammates (they are all friends). Then they let the kids ask a few questions.

After the questions, Ronnie Price had all the kids (there were only about 30-40) stand up and stretch. Then they broke up into groups and worked at different stations. They had a lay-up, free throw (which was led by Price himself), dribbling, and passing station and they spent about 10-15 minutes at each station. As I watched Trae, I could tell that he was sucking in everything that the people were saying. He was trying really hard and he was having a little fun too.

After all the drills, they all sat down for a longer question and answer period. This is where I learned the most about him. He talked alot about having a dream and what you have to do to achieve that dream. He talked about things that he had to overcome and steps he had to take to do what he really wanted to do and it was amazing just listening to his story. Someone asked about his family. Him and his sister grew up in Texas but would spend his summers with is Paternal Grandmother. This is where my jaw dropped. His grandmother had 21 children (only 14 are currently living) and cared for 52 foster kids along the way. So he said that there were always lots of people around to play basketball and football (his favorite sport). I can only imagine the type of women it takes to take in and care for that many people. And it seems like they all felt loved. What an amazing women!

He seemed like a genuinely nice, hardworking guy and I am so proud that he is playing for my favorite team. Then they took pictures-group and individual-with everyone and Ronnie signed Trae's shirt. He came home and took it right off and told me in his most strict, concerned voice "Don't wash this, K? Promise me?" So what could I do. The shirt is sitting all nicely folded by the fireplace and he won't even let me touch it cause I might lose it.

I know that Trae learned alot going to this fantastic camp. But I learned some too. It was time well spent for both of us and I'm grateful and glad that he/we were able to go. There are very few people that can say that they got to practice on the same court as the Jazz. So Thanks again Uncle S-We owe you big time! Thanks for much for thinking of Trae!

Trae standing by Ronnie (2nd from Price)

Shooting a free throw in front of Price
Traeden doing the lay-up drillsTrae playing a short game after the camp was overTraeden and Ronnie Price

So, does hard work really pay off?

2009-02-04T10:15:00.003-07:00

I kid-you-not, within 3 seconds of posting my gratitude post on Monday, I got a phone call. I looked on the caller-id (another modern-day conveniences that I'm grateful for), and noticed that it was from the disability company. "What now? What more could they possibly want now?" went through my head.

Reluctantly, I answered the phone in a really small voice. I don't know why I did that, just maybe a little apprehensive maybe. To my surprise it was my case manager. Not another nurse or a doctor or the appeals specialist, but Carree, the lady that is the go-between for her company.

"Hello?" I said (remember me in my small voice).

"Is Katie there?" She asked-in her small voice.

"This is she." I replied trying to read into her tone as to whether this call was good of bad. Too bad you can't tell from small voices!

"Katie, this is Carree from Sedgwick. I'm calling about your claim."

Again, "What do they want now?" came barreling through my thoughts.

"And I'm calling with some good news."

My heart is beating faster and faster.

"I'm calling to let you know that your Short-Term Disability claim has been approved."

What? Did my ears just hear that right? I know that with the extra hormones, earwax sometimes can build up in your ears and make it hard for some people to hear things right.

"I'm calling to let you know that your claim has been approved and it has been backdated to Dec. 9th."

My heart literally skipped a beat. Thoughts, feelings, and emotions totally took over my whole body. I was shaking and on the verge of tears all-the-while thinking of all the people that I needed to call with the GREAT news. You would have thought that I had just won an academy award or something. But honestly, I really felt like I had. So much hard work, time, energy, efforts, tears, emotions, etc. went into this that I was overcome in just the 2 minutes that the phone call lasted.

So now I have my insurance back, and I am officially on an approved leave of absence. And I am soooo happy that all I want to do is celebrate!

Yeah for Me!!!!

And tomorrow I'll be posting more about hard work and Ronnie Price's message that he gave to 30 kids last night-including Trae who was lucky enough to attend that event!

Grateful for...

2009-02-02T12:25:00.005-07:00

I can't believe that January has come and gone. All I can say is "Thank Goodness." Needless to say, January was not a very good month for me. And that has made it really difficult to think of things that I am grateful for. I HATE that feeling too. It makes me feel worthless and extremely ungrateful. I probably spent more nights crying myself to sleep then any other time in my life. So with that in mind, please don't judge me too bad for the lack of enthusiasm for everything I am truly grateful for.

1) Tithing. It's easy to pay when you only have one income coming in, but it suck to pay because you only have one income coming in. I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the year that I was going to be a full tithe payer, and so far I am happy to report that I (we) are. I think that this is the only thing that keeps me positive right now. I know that sounds really ironic, but I just feel like if I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing, then I don't need to worry. I will be blessed and therefore taken care of somehow.

2) Modern day conveniences like email, telephones (both home and cell), and fax machines. I've had a lot of running around this past month. I've had to contact person after person after person and if it wasn't for these little things that I don't really think of all the time, it would have made everything that I had to do next to impossible.

3) Sleep. Doesn't it seem like you never really know what you have until it's taken away? I haven't had a good nights sleep in I don't know how long-and I really miss it. Me being so tired (plus the pregnancy) probably had the most to do with all the crying episodes I've had. And the sleep just keeps getting worse. If I'm not waking up to pee, its because the bursitis in my hip is back and makes sleeping and walking extremely painful. Or it's because I swear I'm carrying David Beckum in my belly. I can't go more then 30 minutes without some sort of movement. Or the lack of sleep could be because of stress. I still don't know what is going on with almost everything in my life and I tend to stress over everything. So image what is going through my head at 2 or 3 am about my job, finances, family, insurance, baby, etc. And I wonder why I can't sleep!

4) Insurance. Again, another thing that you take for granted and never really miss until its gone. I received a letter that my insurance was terminated and I can now purchase COBRA a couple of weeks ago. COBRA is too expensive for me to pay for and until I get my disability thing gets worked out, I don't want to sign up for it. But, since it's been cancelled I've had to have 3 prescriptions filled and now Trae has an infection in his tooth so he has to go to the dentist today. Just one of those things that keeps adding to my stress.

5) Prayers. When I'm awake at 3 am, there really isn't much to do. I don't want to turn on the TV cause it will wake up Jordan. I don't want to get out of bed because it will wake up the kids. So most times I just lay there and think. I guess while I'm thinking, I'm praying too. It's almost like I just have a simple conversation with the Lord. It really isn't anything formal, but it's nice to know that I have someone that I can talk to in my head and heart (I'm really not crazy, I don't need to be committed). Sometimes it makes me feel better and sometimes it doesn't, but I have said more prayers last month then I probably said all year and I really feel like that is what keeping it all together for me right now.

So, here it is. This month's gratitude list. It isn't very upbeat or anything to be happy about, but it is things that I am grateful to have or have had in my life. Hopefully next month will be a better one for me!

Just for Fun Friday

2009-01-30T07:51:00.002-07:00

I am still in shock over this one....

My Cute Family

2009-01-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to post any of these, but have since changed my mind. I'm sure that everyone is sick and tired of seeing all the pictures of my kids, but I just can't help it. I am just so dang proud of them!

A week ago, our favorite photographer, Kris, had an event. I wasn't going to do it at first, but then realized it was Elie's birthday and I needed to get her pictures done somewhere. And this was a whole lot cheaper then if I had done it at Kiddie Kandids. So I loaded Trae and Elie in the car and drove down to her house/studio. My mom had given Elie the perfect dress for her birthday picture, so I was pretty excited. I decided too that since Trae was with me, we would have a Valentine's one done of all three of us for Jordan. Here is how they turned out. Absolutely adorable (except for me and the pregnant puffy face syndrome).

Just a little bored...

2009-01-27T11:31:00.005-07:00

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Create your own FACEinHOLE
Create your own FACEinHOLE

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Just For Fun Friday...

2009-01-23T06:43:00.002-07:00

What brought down the plane in the Hudson River??

I guess I should update....

2009-01-21T09:36:00.002-07:00

Not much has happened over the last several days. I've been trying to get over my sinus infection and still trying to work on getting my leave of absence approved. Between those 2 things, it seems like I don't have the time or energy to do anything else.

I swear right now though I'm cursed. With the exception of the baby being healthy (which don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful), I have had a string of bad luck since I left work.

The latest comes in the form of my good friend losing her father to a heart attack. He was a neighbor of mine for years, and I knew the whole family pretty good. We have stayed in touch since we've all gotten married and had kids, as the whole family lives close to me. So Monday night I learned that Mike (the dad) passes away Sunday evening. So I am now going to attend my 2ND funeral in 2 weeks. Both have been for close friends too.

Which made me think yesterday....Does it seem like tragedies are hitting closer to home lately? I'm not sure about any of you, but I feel like I have had much turmoil and sorrow hit so close to home lately, more so then any other time that I can remember. Each night I go to bed grateful for what I have and what I have been given. As it's times like these that really make you realize what you still have left all around you. I also pray that I won't forget this time either. It has made me cherish what time I spend with my loved ones just alittle bit more.

I'm not sure exactly what else is in store for me, and I'm just trying to make through one day at a time, but I do want everyone to know just how thankful I am for all of my blessings. I know that I don't always seem to recognize or appreciate them, but I am slowly beginning to see just how lucky I am. The relationships that I've gained over my life time are priceless and a huge THANK YOU to everyone for helping me become who I am.

Just for Fun Fridays

2009-01-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL???

Try it without looking at the answers......

1) Pick your favorite number between 1-9
2) Multiply by 3 then
3) Add 3, then again Multiply by 3 (I'll wait while you get the calculator....)
4) You'll get a 2 or 3 digit number....
5) Add the digits together

Now Scroll down ................

Now, with that number, see who your ROLE MODEL is from thelist below:

1. Hilliary Clinton

2. Michelle Obama

3. Abraham Lincoln

4. Helen Keller

5. Bill Gates

6. Oprah Winfrey

7. George Clooney

8. Thomas Edison

9. Katie Boulton

10. George W Bush

I know....I just have that effect on people....one day youtoo can be like me.... :-)

I know I know I'm awesome! :)Believe it!........

P.S.: Stop picking different numbers.
I am your idol, just deal with it!!!!

No Rest For the Weary!

2009-01-15T09:15:00.002-07:00

(I don't ever recall my husband taking my picture!)

I know that I stated in my last post that I was going to take the day off.....but that never happened. About 10 minutes after I posted that my mom called and started to really get on my case. It all had to do with my work claim which has been extremely exhausting. I've had to make phone call after phone call, deal with really, REALLY mean people, research, see doctors (I think my doctors office is really getting tired of seeing me around), and gather all my medical records. On top of all of that there are about 15 other 'minor' issues that I'm trying to deal with/handle all at the same time. I had such an emotional overload talking to my mom that I actually hung-up on her and just about had an emotional breakdown. And I have been trying to recover ever since. I still haven't even gotten my prescription filled!

I've cried so much in the last 10 days that Elie sees one little teenie tear and she now brings me a box-not just one-tissue. If I ask her to get me one so that I can blow my nose, she asks automatically "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Even if I'm not crying at all.

There have been a couple 'happy' moments though, so I can't really complain. Yesterday I did get to meet my old teaching companion for breakfast. I was so excited. She's spent the last year or so teaching English to 5-year-olds in Mexico. We met at one of my favorite places to so it was a double bonus for me. And to make the whole event even better, she came with a baby present. My first one. I haven't even bought anything yet for the baby (am I still in denial about the whole thing?). She bought like 4 or 5 cute little boy outfits. I was so surprised and happy. That was so nice of her! I kept the bag in the car with me all day so that everytime I looked at it I'd smile and feel better. Also, our TV is going to be fixed today. Our TV went out about 15 minutes after Elie's party started on Sat. It was a big problem because half of the games had to do with the movie which we were showing when it blew. We adjusted and the party was still a success and we also learned that we have a 5 year warranty so we don't have to pay to fix it. It's just been a hassle to not watch any TV, especially the NFL playoffs and all the Jazz games. So hopefully that issue will be resolved this morning.

On the down side though (isn't there always a down side). I have been dealt with some potentially devastating news. It's one that I'm still trying to figure out and adjust to. It didn't really hit me until like 4 am and I am still in minor shock I think. I don't want to get to in depth right now. And I'm just mentioning this because I am probably going to be alittle flaky for awhile. I just wanted everyone to know that if I don't update my blog or comment on yours I'm not mad. It's not that I'm upset with anyone or trying to prove anything. I'm just dealing with something that is personal and I don't know yet quite how I'm going to react when I fully grasp everything. So please, PLEASE don't think that I'm mad cause I'm not!

Anyway, this is just an update on what is going on. I'll try to post something more positive soon. And the Just For Fun Fridays will be back tomorrow!

And on the 7th day (s)he rested...

2009-01-13T07:50:00.005-07:00

So, it isn't technically the 7th day, but I did get permission from my husband to do nothing today. And I couldn't be happier. He says that I deserve it after putting together 2 fairly big parties, attending a Jr. Jazz game, being sick, and dealing with some major problems all weekend. Not to mention having to put on a happy face for Elie's actual birthday yesterday.

Sunday I completely lost my voice and I just happened to have a doctor appointment yesterday already scheduled. My voice was still gone, so he knew something was wrong when I tried to say that I was doing good and only a whisper came out of my mouth. Besides checking the baby (which is doing really good), he checked my ears, sinuses, and throat. It turns out that I have been dealing with a really bad sinus infection. I have so much mucus draining down my throat, it is smothering my vocal cords. So now I have to go on an antibiotic-which will most likely lead to a yeast infection. Joy!

Anyways, I think Jordan only gave me the day off for 2 reasons. 1) He won't be around to much tonight. He has home teaching, scouts, and then basketball so it will be just me and the kids pretty much all day today. And 2) His work (and their spouses/significant others) are all coming over here on Saturday for his work Christmas party. So that means that I'm the one that has to get everything ready for it. And believe me-I am in no shape to put on another party.

Anyways, before I start my day of nothing (OK, I do have to get my prescription filled but I will be doing that in my slippers and my one-step-above-pj's), I just wanted to mention the other stuff that I did this weekend. I was so focused on Elie and her birthday that I didn't mention some other fun things. First off was Trae's Jr. Jazz game. It was the second game I was able to attend and I had forgotten how much fun they are. The kids at this age are so funny that the games really are entertaining. Traeden scored, but I didn't get any video or pictures of that (hopefully my brother did), but I did a pretty descent clip of him taking the ball down the court.

After the HSM party, Jordan and I got a sitter and went to dinner. It just so happened that my dad, a client of his and my family were all with us. We went to a new restaurant that was fun and the food was pretty good. We went to Tuscano's. It's the Brazilian-type restaurant, but this one had the best food that had at a place like this.

Now, if only I can get my leave approved, out TV repaired and our satellite fixed-I'd be set. It's been a eye opener for us to only have the basic channels and really bad reception, but we are coping pretty good. So wish me well on my day off!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2009-01-12T10:19:00.014-07:00

I can't believe my baby (yes, I can still call her that) is 4 years-old today. I remember giving birth to a little baby that didn't want to come out for the life of her. She said longer then any nurse or doctor in the hospital thought she would, but it was a beautiful moment for me and our family the second she decided to join us. I have always hated January. It is such a depressing month for me. The Christmas hype seems to be put away with the beautiful decorations, it seems colder, snowier, and more dreary then any other month, and it was always inventory and tax season for me-all things I hate. That is until Elison Anna was born. Now I have something to celebrate in a month that is now not my least favorite.

And celebrate we did this weekend. Saturday we threw her a 'friend' birthday with the theme High School Musical (her favorite show/movie). We had like 10 3 and 4 year olds running around, playing game, and eating. Elie scored some really fun presents too. And to my amazement, the party seemed a success too. Well, except for a few problems, but there is always a few problems right?

Then Sunday was our 'family' party. My tradition is to have a huge family dinner for everyone for their birthdays. That is one of my gifts to them. Elie loves noodles, so we did a 'pasghetti' and green bean dinner (2 of her favorite foods). Except for me losing my voice and feeling slightly on the lousy side, it was really fun. There were lots of people, good food (I made it so I can't say there was great food), and even more fun then ever. And she got some really fun things too. I think her favorite present was her new playhouse. She and Trae played house for 3 hours in it last night. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Before I start posting all the pictures, I just wanted to do my tribute to my favorite little girl. Elie, the 4 things that I most love about you is.

1) Your infectious personality. You can make anyone smile and laugh now matter how bad their day is going. You can also make one frustrated just as easily, but it is usually done in such a cute way that I can't stay mad too long.

2) Your genuine concern for others. Needless to say that last week wasn't my best week. I shed lots of tears and got sick just before the weekend. Elie was always there with a tissue in hand for either my stuffy nose or the waterfall that was coming out of my eyes.

3) Your willingness to volunteer. She says every meal prayer at our house. Sometimes there are more then one because someone says it and she throws a fit and says a new one. She actually does this at any time too. Meals, bedtime, church, you name it and she is the first one to volunteer. She does this to help me out with other stuff too like putting dishes away, picking up, etc. I love that she is always (well, most of the time) there and ready to help.

4) The trials that you give me. I know this one sounds crazy, but I have learned alot from Elie. She can be the not-so-pleasant person in our family too. For as much as she is the little angel, she is also the instigator. I have had to learn many things like patience, understanding, how to clean crayon off of walls, how to get nail polish off of the sink, cabinet, door, wall, tile, and towel, and how to parent equally between fighting children. But all of these have been a learning experience for me. I know I'm not the best parent around, but I'm definitely learning. And Elie is a big part of that process for me. Thanks honey, for teaching me things that I might not have learned if you weren't you!

So now some of the pictures from this weekend!

Cheerleading Competition

Musical Basketball

Birthday Cake

Chicken nuggets, Fries, and cake. Yummy!Presents!

Having fun!

Decorated windows (if you can see it)Decorated door and windowTwinkle Town Musical sign up poster (it was even signed by Sharpay)More Cake!

Cake with some friends is always better!Lots and Lots of presents!

Some pretty dresses from Grandma

And Uncle Alex decided to try this one on....

New playhouse...

Happy Anniversary to Me!

2009-01-09T08:58:00.005-07:00

I can't believe that today is my 1-year blogging anniversary! So what am I going to do to celebrate.......pretty much nothing. I have to clean my house and decorate for a High School Musical birthday party that is going to be happening tomorrow afternoon! So far, my day isn't off to a fantastic start either. I just can't seem to get my self motivated to do anything right now. My friend was telling me how other people celebrate on their blogs by picking some of their favorite posts, or by recapping the last year, and some even do give-a-ways; but I don't have a big enough following to give anything away. Besides I feel guilty and end of giving everyone something and right now I am just not in a position to do that. So as a present to me-from all of you-would you please comment and tell me what your favorite post/subject/thing you like about my blog? I have to admit that right now I am a little desperate. I don't have it in me to really do anything, especially blogging.

Thanks to everyone though for all of your support and comments over the last year. This all started as a experiment and turned into a hobby. I have really enjoyed writing about personal and not-so-personal things, and I have loved getting to know people and their lives and families much better over the last year. So Cheers!

I'm happy to report...

2009-01-06T21:38:00.008-07:00

That today was a better day. I woke up to get Trae ready and off to school. And it was surprising easy this time. Normally I have to twist his arm to get ready and then he is still alittle behind. His carpool always has to wait for him to get his socks and shoes on, get his coat, and put everything in his backpack. But today was easy. He did exactly what I asked him too as soon as I asked him and was out the door as soon as they honked.

Then my friend Lindsay called and asked if I wanted to go with her to get a pedicure. Did she really even need to ask? All she had to do was tell where and when! I was nervous though because I did have to take Elie and I wasn't sure how well she would do. Well, I didn't need to be nervous at all. She did awesome. She sat right beside me the whole time and did really well. She got to pick out the color and she was really excited about that.

Then I met Lindsay again for lunch. We went to one of my favorite little spots-Sunshine Cafe. They are just a little (and I mean little) cafe that serves breakfast and lunch and their food is so yummy. I usually get the french toast or the whole-wheat pancakes.

After we finished, me and Elie ran to Target. I read that they were having a big baby clearance, so I wanted to see what they had. I gave away most of my baby stuff because I thought I was done, so there are a couple of things that need to be replaced. They did have alot, but nothing that jumped out at me. I did by a new swing (we've lost that cover for ours) for cheap. But I think I am having buyers remorse. They did have a bunch of clothes for the kids for really cheap, so I bought each of my kids a couple of things that they really wanted.

After Target, I picked up carpool and came home (for about all of 10 minutes). We decided that since it was the anniversary special at Spaghetti Factory, we would go there for dinner. They started the deal at 5 pm and I thought there would be a wait, so I got there a few minutes early and low and behold-I was seated right away. Jordan showed up about 15 minutes after and Lindsay came with her kids right after him. We ordered some cheese bread, our meals (my favorite is the spaghetti with white clam sauce) and then each of the kids a kids meal and our total bill was $14. You can't really beat that! Traeden threw alittle fit because he wanted to go the U of U book store. Apparently he has had a change of heart and is now a U fan and now wants a Brian Johnson jersey. It was not a good time for us to go with the roads snowpacked and the viewing that we wanted to go to, but he didn't understand that.

Then we came home to drop off a car, went to the viewing, and came back home. We decided to see what we could do to clean the house for and hour or so. So me and Jordan packed all the Christmas decorations (I had already taken most of them down) and took them to our storage room. We actually did quite abit, so I can spend what time I have left in the next few days cleaning the house to get ready for Elie's birthday party on Saturday and Sunday.

So it was a pretty darn good day and I can't really complain. There were just a couple of not-so-good things, but nothing that would have ruined my good day. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that this will last the rest of the week.

I just want to thank everyone for your kind comments. It really did help.

UPDATE (1/7): I may have spoken too soon. My morning has started off with a call from my disability people. This is going to be hard and long.

I am so not ready for this...

2009-01-05T11:29:00.004-07:00

As the saying goes "Start the New Year with a bang." And that about sums up what I've been through this last weekend. And is ain't over yet either. I really don't know how I am going to survive this next week. I've already had several melt-downs, so I'm sure there are more to come too.

Here is what HAS happened:

Saturday was my MIL's birthday so we decided to take her to lunch. We didn't do anything special-it was just Subway, but she likes that place so that's where we went. I also printed off an invitation to Elie's birthday party on Sunday for her (she doesn't have Internet). I knew she wouldn't come because she never comes to stuff with other people-particularly my family-are around. But instead of saying that she wouldn't come, she made sure that she mentioned it was just because of my family. Then she decided to elaborate. And she kept going. By this time I was getting really bugged. Then, to top everything off, she decided to go off on handicapped people and how that word should never exist. "People make themselves that way. It's their choice to be handicapped and it's just because they don't want to take care of themselves." she says. Now, if anyone is even remotely aware of what has been going on with my grandpa, they would know that this statement really hit home with me and it REALLY upset me. I totally withdrew and pretty much ignored her the rest of the time. I lost it in the car on the way home too. Jordan leaned over and grabbed my hand and said "Way to be the bigger person though." I am just sick and tired of being the bigger person. She tried to call later to apologize, but I didn't want to talk (afraid that I might not be able to withhold anything this time).

Then Sunday came. We switched to the early church, which is a good thing, but since I haven't been sleeping very good because of a head cold, I didn't get more then 90 minutes of sleep. So we get up and get everyone ready and get to church on-time. We got there just as they announced that my friend from work (and my neighbor) had passed away Saturday night from cancer. It was a real shock to me and I cried through our whole meeting. Just as I'd pull myself together, we would sing a hymn and I would lose it again. Then, since it is the new year, they moved me back to teach the Sunbeams (a whole different, really long story), and they were really difficult. Almost everyone was there too. Then we came home and learned that my in-laws wanted to go and get Chinese food for lunch for my MIL's birthday. I said I didn't want to go, but that option didn't go over too well. So I went, and I tried to stay away because a) I was extremely emotional and b) I was still hurt from Saturday. Well, she made it a point to find me and she did in face apologize, but there was a 'but' in her sentence. She proceeded to tell me that she is right about my family and that she treats me better then them. I told her that they are my family and I love them unconditionally and I always will. And that she doesn't treat me better then them and that I just want to drop it. I didn't want to be the one to blame for ruining dinner this time. She just kept at for about 10 minutes. Finally I just turned my back and walked away and she made some snide remark about how ungrateful I am. Great, so now dinner is totally ruined. I came home, took a nap, and went to my parents house. Nothing else eventful happened yesterday.

Now today. Besides the emotional hangover and the not sleeping, it was another difficult day (so far). I have been off work now for almost a month. And I learned right before Christmas (like the day before) that my short-term disability got denied. Then it got denied again last week. Apparently since I've had a healthy (knock on wood) pregnancy, they feel like there was no reason for my doctor to give me some lifting restrictions (again, another story for another day). So I've been trying to deal with all of that too. So today I went into the Doctors office to try and figure out what we need to do to get it approved. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long, drawn-out process. I guess I'll see what the rest of the day has in store for me.

Rest of the week:

Tomorrow: Viewing, and (had) dinner plans.
Wednesday: Funeral, Elie's spotlight at preschool
Thursday: Basketball practice
Friday: Get everything ready for party, ward temple assignment
Saturday: Jr. Jazz game, Elie's friend party, and I know there was something that night
Sunday: Church, and Elie's family party
Monday: Doctor appointment, Elie's birthday

I just hope that I have the energy to make it through all of this. I am pretty drained and exhausted all ready. I would be doing quite a bit better if I was actually getting some sleep too, but you take what you get, right? This wasn't meant to complain or get pity or anything. But I just had to write down my feelings and hope, that even if it just a small amount, it helps me get past all of this. So far my new year has gotten off to a pretty lousy start. I hope that all of yours has started off better.

Grateful for...(#1)

2009-01-02T12:03:00.006-07:00

I totally meant to do this yesterday, but I was busy bringing in the New Year with a migraine. Fun ain't it! So this got pushed back to today. I am starting off 2009 with a post about what I am most grateful for (again in no particular order):

1-My memories from 2008. I have had some good and not so good memories, but all them put together help define who I am just a little bit. We went through some pretty tough times with work, money, and kids but I feel like I've grown so much from those experiences. Some are continuing over into this year, but I feel like I can handle most of it. I also did some really fun things though. We did lots of things as family, I did lots of 'Girls Nights' but most of all, I got to spend alot of time with my husband and our relationship really grew last year.

2-My new baby. It has taken me a long time to admit this one, and there were many, many prayers involved here. This baby was a surprise to both of us. It took me off guard and threw my whole 10-year-plan out the window. I don't do well with surprises that leave me clueless on what to do either. With each appointment though I get alittle more excited and have finally found peace with the pregnancy. There is a reason that this child is coming, and although I'm not certain what it is right now, I know that the Lord would not give me anything that I can't handle right now.

3-I grateful that the new baby is a boy. I haven't mentioned this on the blog yet. I did put it on my facebook page though. We kind of kept it on the low because we didn't tell our families until Christmas. I have to admit that going into the ultrasound I was really hoping for a girl (just for very small reasons though). And Elie kept telling everyone that it was a girl. So when they told me it was a boy, I was alittle shocked. The more I thought about it though, the more I decided that I can not handle another girl. Elie is more then enough for me. Plus this boy will have lots of friends to grow up with (there are several of my friends/family that are having boys with in weeks of ours).

4-I have to admit too that I'm grateful that the Utes are playing in a national Bowl game-the Sugar Bowl to be exact. Utah (all of the teams here) don't get much attention, so to have one of our local teams-especially one that I route for is awesome. They play tonight so hopefully tomorrow I can say I'm grateful that they won (although it is a long shot).

5-New Years Resolutions. It is always interesting to see what people choose to do and why. I think that it can really help us progress as individuals. This year, my 3 major resolutions are

1) Get and stay organized (I have trouble with this-have my whole life).

2) Set a budget and follow it. A no brainer in this economy.

3) Be a full tithe payer. If I'm being honest-I have always struggled with this,

but I am bound and determined to do my part and to set a good example

for my kids.

As always, the list could go on and on, but I have to limit it somewhere. I hope that everyone is excited about the new upcoming year and all that it has to offer. And I hope that everyone had a great holiday season in 2008!