2008 - I'm drawing a Blank?

Today we all went out to play in the snow - the sun was shining so brightly we could hardly see where we were going. The kids even had to take off their coats, because it was so nice and warm.

As I look back on the year, I am truly glad that I started a blog, because I can't remember anything. I can blame part of my memory loss on the decrease in brain activity (see my friends post Mommy Brain ), but I also know that it is important to write things down because it's impossible to remember what was going on a whole year ago. Plus I find that I take way more pictures than I used to - in case I need them for blogging purposes.

The Year In Review:

January brings memories of snow, snow, snow.

February brings memories of snow, snow, snow.

March - hmmm still snow? Jonathon turned 11 - what did we do for his birthday?

April - Did the snow melt yet?

Now it gets sort of easier, because I entered the world of blogging. However, I have tried to think of some things that have not already been posted so as not to be redundant.

May - We decided that our family was slightly lopsided and we needed one more to even it out. Thomas turned 9 - we must not have very exciting birthdays, because again, I don't remember what we did.

June - Poof - We're expecting! Henry's had his first birthday - It made me sad that he was growing up. Because gas prices were so high, we decied to trade in our Tahoe for a Minivan. Although loading and unloading the kids is so much easier in the van, I really do miss my Tahoe this winter as I fishtail through the streets of unplowed snow.

July - This was a big month. I had to tell my parents that we were thinking about moving and that I was pregnant (not fun). I decided to wait a month to tell them about the baby. We celebrated Libby's 5th birthday during a visit to Bear Lake. We invited over the cousins and had cupcakes with purple frosting (I didn't post pictures in July, because the kids made a huge mess with the purple frosting and I was annoyed about it.) But I do remember it!

August - I turned 34, wow how time flies! School started, and I was amazed at how long Henry would sleep without the other monkeys around.

September - Hannah turned 7, even she can't remember what we did for her birthday. We started to wonder if moving was really a good idea - Not like we had to worry, no one came to look at the house all month.

October - We gave up on the thought of selling our house. In four months we had only four people come to look at it. Steve turned 35 - I will always remember this birthday and the re-birthday that we had a few days later. (It's a long story)

November - It only snowed once, and didn't stay. The weather was beautiful all month long. We had really good food for Thanksgiving - we think that the combination of Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Corn and Homemade Rolls can't be beat.

December - We got most of our shopping done early and were not stressed at all during the month. Steve worked from home quite a bit, because we did finally get snow and it made his commute difficult. We very much enjoyed Christmas and I am waiting patiently for school to start again. I will add one more note just so I won't ever forget: I feel like I'm going to pop open, and I am not due for two more months.

Happy New Year
Best Wishes for 2009

Is it too much to ask?

I'm not sure how to go about getting all 5 of them to look at the camera and smile nicely all at the same time. There is always one kid who messes it up. I'm not looking for perfection - it's never going to happen, especially when we add another. I only wish I didn't have to take 30 shots just to get one that is acceptable.

Christmas 2008

Christmas Eve - I'm not sure what was so funny?



The boys each got their own Cell Phones

The girls got a little Kitchen
They are making pies and cakes for me.

Henry loves his walking dragon . . .



His big noisy tonka truck . . .

and his new clothes!

We all love Rock Band 2

Who doesn't love pie?
Real pie - not from the little kitchen.

It's Christmas Eve - yay!

We have had an enjoyable
Holiday Season
and we hope all of you have a
Wonderful Christmas Day!

Thanks to anyone who brought by
goodies and such
Each knock at the door was such a
nice surprise

Bathroom Project

Last month, Steve decided that our bathroom was boring and needed some help. Without letting me in on the plan, he went to the hardware store and picked out a color scheme. He then started shopping online for bathroom accessories. He had everything all picked out, and was going to surprise me.

There was only one problem, I never go anywhere. And by suggesting that I take a trip to my mom's house for the weekend, he aroused my suspicions and then decided that he should let me in on the secret. After all, it's my bathroom too. I'm glad he did, because I like to be involved in the interior design aspect of my house.

We spent a whole weekend painting and putting up bead board, installing new fixtures and plumbing and shopping for matching accessories. We got almost everything done. I have been waiting for the final touches to get finished up to post the before and after pictures. Three weeks later, and the final touches are still not done. For example we have no window coverings. We have gone to Home Depot 4 times, and we keep forgetting to measure the window.

Since I put up Christmas decorations on my blog today, I decided I needed to post something for everyone to read. So I have taken pictures of the 90% finished bathroom. We are very happy with it and I have forgotten what it was even like before.

Bathroom Before - Blah!

Bathroom After - Hooray!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for our Family and our Friends.

We are thankful that we are all healthy.

We are thankful that we have food to put on the table.

We are thankful that we live in a great neighborhood.

We are thankful for beautiful weather.
      (even if it's not snowing)

We are thankful for the blessings that we enjoy daily.

New Haircuts!

Hannah wanted to get her hair cut short,
so I took the girls and Henry to get haircuts.

You can't tell that Henry got his cut, but he had a
wicked mullet in the back that we had to get rid of.

They look so much better when a professional gives
them cuts instead of me. It makes such a difference.

BRING IT ON!

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Who doesn't love winter?

It's my favorite season by far.

We got our first big snow last night
I woke up in such a good mood.

I had to find the camera and start taking
pictures before it was even light out.

Checklist Item: Put the patio chairs and table away
Oops forgot!

It's a good thing that Steve is working from home today!

Yesterday this was my flower garden.

I do feel bad for the flowers that are still blooming.

The sad thing is that the snow is all melting
right now and will be gone soon.
It's a good thing that winter is just begining.

Glad it's finally over!

I am not a big fan of Halloween

So I am very glad that the weekend is over. However, we did get something amazing accomplished so it wasn't a total waste.

Friday: Here they are all dressed up.

Jonathon is some character from Aragon, but I can never remember who. Thomas is what we call a Skeletal Horror. Hannah is Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, and Libby is Mariposa, from the Barbie movie.

Steve wanted to take the kids out this year, and Jonathon decided he was to old to go Trick or Treating, so he stayed home and handed out candy (a decision he later regretted when he had to beg the others to share with him). I really didn't have to do much - it was quite relaxing. Henry was mad, because we would not let him sit and eat the whole bowl of candy like he wanted to. I didn't feel like finding a costume for him, He can go next year.

For Halloween night, we watched "The Black Hole". Steve remembered it as being kind of spooky and scary, so he though it would make for a good Halloween movie. The kids enjoyed it, but in my opinion, it was pretty hokey - special effects from 30 years ago are hilarious.

Saturday: We cleaned out the Garage - WOW!
We put if off for way too long. There was a couple of years of STUFF just piled up in there. We were not worried about it, because we figured it would all get taken care of when we moved.
NOW THAT WE HAVE DECIDED NOT TO MOVE
I am not going to spend the winter digging my car out of the driveway every morning. So we got to work, and it only took us a few hours. I wish I would have gotten a before picture to post - so everyone could see how bad it really was.

Here is how it looks now - my car fits!
If we can find a place for the bikes to go,
Steve will be able to fit his car in too!

I am so excited!

One last memorable moment from this weekend.

Saturday night we finally got the kids to bed
Hannah decided to sleep with a Green Glow Stick
I was going to take it away, but I thought that she would be fine.

WRONG!

For some reason, she decided that if she chewed on the glow stick, it would glow brighter. NOPE - it just broke open all over the place, it got in her mouth and she spit it all over. She was very distraught and told us that we needed to call poison control.

We thought is was pretty funny, because when we went in to see what all of the fuss was about, she was sitting in a mess of glowing green and her mouth was oozing glow in the dark goo. Again, wish I would have taken a picture - it was better than the special effects of "The Black Hole"!

The Final Pumkin Phase: Jack-O-Lanterns!

We carved pumpkins on Saturday

The weekend was warm, so they already look pretty wilted.

The three on the bottom are the ones from the garden.

I am so glad that some of them actually made it.

I had to get the two on the top from the store.

I'm not sure if I will plant pumkins next year.

It is so easy to go and pick them out at the store.

They take up way too much room in the garden.

How long does it take to drive to Phoenix?

We just got back from a quick trip down to Phoenix. We have pretty much been in the car since Wednesday. Six hours to Vegas - Stay the night at my Sisters house - Get up early - Six more hours to Phoenix - Delighful visit with Steve's family on Thursday and Friday - Back in the car to Vegas on Saturday - Home Sunday.

I wish that we all could have big comfy car seats like Henry.

As crazy at it was to sit there for hours on end doing nothing, I have to say that my kids were pretty well behaved for most of the trip. We did find out that Henry can scream louder than the girls when he wants more cookies. Also, Dramamine is a great drug not only for quelling that nausiating car sickness, but for mellowing out your hyper 7 year old.

The highlight of our trip happened when Steve was so anxious to finally get out of the car that he jumped the curb in the Hotel parking lot and popped our front right tire. He claims that he didn't see that the curb jutted out, but I wonder if he thought that the bushes were planted in the asphalt? As annoyed as I was about the whole thing, I just had to be thankful that it didn't blow while we were in the middle of nowhere.

If you have never made the drive, you are missing out on some beautiful scenery - also, some of the ugliest desert landscapes ever. I was not very good at taking photos along the way. Mostly because Steve didn't really feel like stopping very often to take pictures of sage brush. I don't think it would have made a difference, because most of the pictures I did take just don't look that great. Some things just need to be seen in person.

One of my happiest moment on the way home was this sight

YAY! we're almost home

How nice it is to be home and sleep in my own bed, and not have to worry about the kids breaking something at someone elses house, and not have to go anywhere in the car for a long long time.

High Five!

I can't really tell what anything else is in this picture,

but I can see a definite HIGH FIVE from this little guy.

Looks like the same make and model as all of the other babies

Now What?

WHAT A MESS!
I'm not sure if I really want to clean it up.
Would it be better to do it now, or wait until spring?
It's ok, don't answer that - I know we will wait until spring.

Also is it normal to have a bunch of tomatoes that never get ripe?
There are tons of green ones.

This morning I trudged through the snow and picked

the only 3 pumpkins that survived the frost.
I guess we will have to buy a couple more from the store.


All in all I would have to say that we did well for our first garden.
I hope the white pumkins look really cool when they are carved.
Also. I hope the greenish one turnes all the way orange.

So . . . What is it?

Crazy Hair Day

Tuesday was Crazy Hair Day at school.

So I am very glad that I decided to find the camera chargers, because we had quite a bit of fun creating crazy hairdoos. I even tried to give Henry a crazy do, but I don't know if it really worked.

(I do have to say that I didn't just have to find the chargers, but I also had to find the cable that connects the camera to the computer. Most people would keep all of their camera accesories in the same place, but not us. I am still looking for the things that go to our other more compact camera so I can start using it. Then after all of that I had to download the drivers to the camera so that my computer could communicate with the camera. It was an all day process.)


Anyway . . . . here are the Crazy Kids!

I will do a better job, I will, I will!

It has been so fun to discover so many new blogs over the last couple of weeks. I find it enjoyable to see what other people have to write about. However, it has made me feel sort of boring. I have been trying to think of something to blog about for a few days now, but I am short on ideas.

My days are pretty much the same. I am mostly stuck at home, because Henry takes both a morning and afternoon nap. This is not a complaint - I like nap time and I like staying home. This is just the reason why my life is a little dull.

Also, the batteries in both of my cameras are out of juice. Well, you might ask, why I don't just recharge them? Because I don't want to go and look for the chargers. This would also be one of the reasons that I have not posted anything recently. I must admit though, I don't really think that there have been many missed photo opps. (Henry Napping, Me Napping, The kids fighting)

But, today I have made a resolution to find the camera chargers and start taking pictures of everything. (Hopefully I will not feel the need to post all of them!) I will try to find interesting things from my day to tell the world about. Ok, maybe not the world, but think I have some readers all the way in Florida!

So, don't give up on me. I will try to post something more than once a month, I promise.


P.S. I have to give a BIG GIANT THANKS to Steve - who DECLARED WAR on the massive ammounts of LAUNDRY this weekend, and got all of it washed. I even pitched in and we got it folded and put away too. Now how exciting is that? Maybe I should have saved that for it's very own post.

Henry Says . . .

Henry basically copieswhoever is talking to him,but these are the words thathe actually communicates with.

Mommy, Daddy, Libby, Apple, Nana, Cookie, Poopie, Hungy, Night Night, Out, Play, Ok, Hi, Bye Bye, See Ya, Owie, Bum Bum, Whoa, Yeah, Uh Oh, Toesies and last, but not leastYankees!

How Many Years Ago........?

I have not had anything to blog about for a couple of weeks. Since the kids have gone back to school, things have been pretty slow around here. So I thought I would do this tag that my friend Jill passed on.

20 Years Ago

1. I was just starting the 9th grade at Rich High School in Randolph Utah. We had to go to Randolph, even though I lived in Laketown. The bus ride was an hour each way.
2. I had a bad perm and braces on my teeth.
3. In the spring when the snow thawed our basement flooded all the way up to the main floor, and my parents were out of town, and I was the only one home.

10 Years Ago

1. Jonathon was 1 year old.
2. We had just bought our first house, and were trying to get the hang of being homeowners.
3. I was pregnant with Thomas and decided to quit my job at Blockbuster Video, because I worked with a bunch of teenagers and every day at work was very dramatic.

5 Years Ago

1. We had just moved into our second house 1 day before Libby was born.
2. Steve only worked 5 min away and came home for lunch sometimes and got home at 5:05pm. 3. I got called to be on the Enrichment committee - one of my favorite callings!

3 Years Ago

1. Steve got transfered back to The Big City, but we loved it here so much that we decided to commute.
2. Our ward boundries changed, and everyone got new callings - except me!
3. Then I got put into scouts, and have been there ever since.

1 Year Ago

1. Henry was just a baby!
2. We took a trip to Germany to see Steve's Grandma - We had so much fun, I want to go back.
3. We finally finished two rooms down in the basement - then we sent the boys down there and we don't even miss them.

This Year So Far

1. We had so much snow that I could not see Libby when she was walking down the sidewalk.
2. We traded in our Tahoe for a Mini Van! We did it to save on gas, but now I love it!
3. I created a blog page to document the things that we are up to. See other posts for the rest of the year.

Today

1. Our next door neighbors gave us a pile of gravel rocks to put in our parking strip, and another neighbor showed up with a tractor to dig out the dirt and put the rocks in. I love our ward, and we will be very sad to leave it.
2. I hate laundry and I am never going to ever get caught up on it.
3. Still can't get through the day without falling asleep at the computer.

Tomorrow

1. I have to drive to the Scout Store and pick up pins and badges for the scouts because we have Pack Meeting.
2. Our theme for the month is all about Buddies, so for the snack I am going to make Muddy Buddies.
3. I will still try to make a dent in the massive piles of laundry around my house.

Next Year.......

1. I will again have a new baby.
2. Maybe we will be living in a brand new house in Florida with a swimming pool.
3. I might be done with the laundry!

If you feel inspired to do this tag, you should. It is really fun.

Wow - Off to Kindergarten!

It was Libby's first day of Kindergarten yesterday. I can't believe it! I was supprised that it wasn't a sad thing for me to drop her off. She headed onto the playground and found her friends, and she didn't even care about me. I was glad that she was comfortable though, so I didn't have to pry her away from me and send her off crying. I hope she keeps on liking it.

Just In Case You Hadn't Heard . . .

NUMBER 6 IS ON THE WAY! Yes, I might be insane, but our little Henry is going to need a little pal to hang around with. So everyone think Boy, Boy, Boy - and I will just hope for a healthy happy baby.

And for those of you who actually read this
here are the 3 questions I hate the most
When are you due? February 28th.
This is especially annoying towards the end, because you have to answer it at least 100 times a day, and it just reminds you that you are never going to have the baby, NEVER!

Do you know what you are having? Not right now, but I will let you know as soon as I know.
It's not that I don't love to talk with people, I do. But this question leads to the exact same conversation every time. Did you want a boy/girl? How many other kids do you have? Are they excited? Blah Blah Blah - I know, I'm mean, but most people are just asking to be nice, and I'd rather talk about other things.

Do you have any names picked out? Nope, we never name them until we see them.
This one because no one actually believes us when we say we have not picked out any names. We throw names around, we definitely rule names out, and we think about family names, but we do not come up with a final name until the day the baby is born.

I have seriously thought about having a shirts made with answers to these pertinent questions so that people will not need to ask them.

Garden Update

I picked the first two Zucchini's of the season yesterday. I was very proud - although, I've heard that it's not much of a challenge to grow massive amounts of them.



The pumpkins are taking over - I hope they don't need to grow for very much longer, or they will have to find room outside of the garden box.

The first thing that grew in the garden were 2 tomatoes. I bought tomatoes because I wanted to have some to make salsa and tomato sauce. We don't really like just plain tomatoes. However, I have been waiting forever for the first red tomato to make a BLT. It takes forever for them to get ripe!


And last of all, the strawberries - let me just tell you that BIRDS LOVE STRAWBERRIES! We have not been able to pick even one yet, because the birds get them before they are ripe. I have not made an effort to find a way to keep the birds out. I think I need to put some type of screen or net over the berries so the birds can not get them.

Home for Sale!

It's official! We have decided to move to Florida, and our house is up for sale. So if you know anyone who is looking to buy in Heber City, send them our way.

We are excited about moving and looking forward to a new adventure. However, we are not excited about packing or cleaning.

We are sad about leaving behind all of our friends and family. I don't think that we will be going anywhere for a while, but I am sure that one day a family will come by and decide that this is the house for them. I hope!

Henry's First Birthday!

Well, it was a couple of weeks ago, but I just now found the cable to get pics from my camera. Wow the last year has gone by extremely fast. I always wonder why the 9 months that it takes to get them here seems like an eternity, but the first year - whoosh!

Since he is kid #5, we have pretty much dispensed with Big 1st Birthday Celebrations. In my opinion, it so doesn't matter - he has no clue, and will never remember or even care what we did for his first birthday. (I do realize that I might regret this attitude later.)

So we gave him some unwrapped presents, and I made cupcakes. He loved it!