Another Anniversary

Today is our 17th wedding anniversary! We were married on what turned out to be a very beautiful day - even though it had rained the days before and after! We were married at 9:50 in the morning in the Salt Lake Temple. After our ceremony (and 2 hours worth of pictures) we had our luncheon at the Lion House. It was such a beautiful day. I love you Dave and I can't imagine my life without you!

Newest Additions

Tonight for family night we went and new supplies for the bunnies. We have 9 of them now!
That's right. We originally thought we had 3 new bunnies, but it turns out that there's 5!

They really are the cutest things ever!

Talbie gets upset every time we tell her that we have to sell them or give them away when they're ready. Our rabbit pen won't hold 9 big bunnies - and they grow fast! They will be ready for new homes in about 3 weeks if there is anyone interested out there!

Guess What We Have?

On Saturday we did a ton of yard work. We were feeding the bunnies and Dave looked inside the "dog house" we have in their cage and there was a HUGE nest. We have 3 new baby bunnies. They haven't left the nest yet but in a couple of weeks they should be "out and about" so if you're in the market for a new pet - let us know. They really do make GREAT pets :)

Getting to Know Me...

I have seen this done on other blogs and it was on Jessie's today and I wanted to give it a go. Jessie started 20 years ago but since I'm so old, I'm going to start 35 years ago!

35 years ago I...
1) was 4 years old living in Boise, ID and I started taking dancing lessons from my grandma
2) had 2 little brothers, ages 2 and 1
3) started reading "Dick and Jane" books and I've loved them ever since.

30 years ago I...
1) was 9 years old and in the 3rd grade
2) I started the 3rd grade at ANOTHER different school. I went to a different school for kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade.
3) We moved into the yellow house on Summerwind Dr. in Boise and I LOVE that house.

25 years ago I...
1) was 14 and in the 8th grade at Lowell Scott Jr. High
2) had one entire wall of my room plastered with Duran Duran pictures from magazines!
3) started taking Driver's Ed because you could get your license in Idaho at age 14. I didn't end up getting mine until I was 15.

20 years ago I...
1) was 19 and graduated from high school. Started my freshman year at BYU
2) had the best year of my life meeting new friends at Deseret Towers. I still love these friends to this day!
3) was working at First Security Bank as loan processor. I had that job for 6 years (17 to 23) until I had Maddie.

15 years ago I...
1) was married (our 17 yr anniversary is on the 30th!) with a little baby.
2) I quit my job and became a full time mom.
3) we moved into Dave's parent's basement apartment in Heber so Dave could go to the Police Academy, work full time, and work on his Criminal Justice degree.

10 years ago I...
1) was living in this same house I'm in now (we moved here 12 years ago).
2) had Maddie and Talbie and was probably pregnant with Bronson
3) was a busy mom who never thought she'd get to leave the house. Now I'm an even busier mom who would LOVE to stay home!

5 years ago I...
1) had my last baby and she was a year old.
2) we got a dog - Zoey - who we still love!
3) went to Disney World with Dave and the kids (and Brittany's family) for the first time. Dave's first time to any Disneyland attraction!

1 year ago I...
1) was doing pretty much the same things I'm doing now
2) started my blog!
3) was really stressed out about Dave's employment and his new business.

This year I...
1) went on my first cruise with my husband, siblings, and parents
2) am not as stressed about Dave's business
3) am a year older :(

Yesterday I...
1) why is it easier to remember 35 years ago than yesterday?
2) ran a million errands
3) ran more errands

Today I...
1) took Zoey to the groomers
2) picked up Maddie for lunch because her friends were gone and she didn't want to spend lunch alone
3) helped Maddie get all her dance costumes together, took Talbie to violin, visited my sick neighbor and brought her lunch, picked up Talbie from school and drove her to acting, sent Bronson to piano, picked up Talbie, picked up Bronson, made arrangements for my dad to pick up Maddie because Dave's gone, have to get ready for a Stake meeting in 30 minutes. Basically - MORE ERRANDS!

Tomorrow I...
1) don't have much on the calendar in the morning so I want to go to the temple
2) Maddie, Talbie, Brittany, and I are going to the Orem High Dance Company Concert
3) need to clean bathrooms but I really don't want to!

Next year I...
1) will have a 16 year old - GIRL (YIKES!)
2) will have another driver in the family (YEAH!)
3) will love this little family of mine even more!!!

Thanks Jessie for the great idea. I encourage all of you to do this. It really gets the memories flowing!

Little Orphan Emmie

These pictures don't do it justice - but Emmie LIVES outside whenever the weather is nice. She was FILTHY yesterday afternoon when she finally came inside. Click for close up - you'll see what I mean :)

And the Winner is...

Last night was the ever popular "Pinewood Derby!" This is such a great time for Bronson (and Dave!) They worked hard on the car (Dave a little more than Bronson), and it was a winner! This was Bronson's second year to compete in the race and he got 2nd place. Last year, his first year, he was 3rd. Next year may be our year :)

Here's a little video snipet of one of his winning races...





The Winners!

New Wall Hanging

I finished my other project! I have this giant wall above my kitchen table and I haven't been able to come up with something that fits there. After we painted I wanted to put this wall hanging together and I think it turned out very well! Thanks Dave for all your "handyman" skills!

So Lady-Like

This is what Maddie and Maddie look when they eat! When they turn 16 I doubt they will get asked out much :)

Our New Kitchen

Our kitchen has really been driving me crazy. I've had the bug to change something and since I already have new appliances, painting was the next step. For those of you that know me, when I get something in my head - I can't rest until it's done.

We got home from our trip and that night I started taking things down from above my cabinets and washing them. The next morning I went and bought paint, and by 4:00 that day it was done!

A look at the kitchen before we started painting

The process begins. Emmie was scraping off paint that dropped on the floor

Maddie was a huge help and is a lot like her mother - she works fast!

Emmie helping with the pantry door

My OCD kicked in and I had to clean and paint up above everything because it was so discusting!

The final product...

Everything is so clean and warm feeling now and we love it! Now all I need is granite countertops and I'm set!

I have big plans for this huge wall above the table but that's still not finished. More to come later

Surprise!

Surprise - I'm not a "private blog" anymore. I have had so many people have hard time getting on to read it (if they don't have a blog or gmail account etc.) and it's been really bugging me. I also knew that if a long lost friend came across my blog, they'd have no way to contact me and tell me to "add" them.

Anyway - I just ran into my dearest friend, Jill at Target. She told me how her blog used to be private and had the same problems. I didn't realize that in the "set up" section of your blog you can make it so your blog doesn't show up on most google search engines. That was my biggest concern. Now when some one finds me through a friend of a friend of a friend - we can stay in touch.

So - sorry for the month of hassle and it should be easier to get onto the blog now.

Thanks for being patient!!

Jill - lets do lunch Wednesday - I'll email you

Also - stay tuned tomorrow for final "before" and "after" pictures of our kitchen that we just did a "make over" on!!

More Spring Break

This picture should have gone with my last post. It's some of Bronson's wounds from the hike! He was quite pleased with them :)

Goofing off in the elevator. Notice Emmie's curler. If you're ever at our house in the morning, this is what she looks like. Brittany is usually the one that pulls it out of her hair when they all head to her house for the bus stop and we've forgotten it's in there!

Us in front of the St. George Temple. This is the temple that Dave's parents were sealed in and we just happened to be there on April 15th - their wedding anniversary. That made it neat.

A close up!

The kids at the Visitor's Center

We took a tour of Brigham Young's St. George home

Waiting for the tour to start

Outside the house with the missionary who gave us th tour

The parlor of the house. This was such a thrill for me. I could tour old homes all day!

We're Back!

Well, we're back from our short - but VERY FUN - trip to St. George. The weather was SO nice there and we were actually HOT a few times. We drove out of town yesterday when the weather was 87 and we drove into our driveway with it being 36. Quite a difference!

The minute the kids got to the hotel they wanted to swim! They did a lot of swimming.

These pictures were taken at "Snow Canyon." It's BEAUTIFUL there and we were able to get out of the car and hike around.

Dave and I - notice my great hiking shoes! I was still able to do it because it wasn't too steep.

Emmie getting a boost! It's one of the ONLY "boosts" she got. Soon after this she was saying, "I CAN DO IT!" She was quite a little mountain goat and nothing stopped her!

Bronson was in Heaven. He would have stayed there all day. He couldn't get enough.

Me with the kids


Bronson was dying to hike the tallest mountain we saw. You can kind of see them starting out in this picture.


My little "house plant" - Talbie - decided that she wasn't up for hiking the mountain. I stayed behind with her. This is her trying to get the sand out of her shoes.


They made it to the top!

I'll post more later about our trip. I've got to go start some laundry!

Spring Break!

We are heading to St. George in the morning for Spring Break! The kids act like we're going to Disneyland - they're so excited. That shows you that we don't leave town very often!

We'll be back late Wednesday with new posts and fun pictures. Also - a remodel is the works so stayed tuned for that!!!

Enjoy the next couple of posts and enjoy your week!

Violin Recital and Blog Anniversary!

Talbie had her violin Spring Recital tonight. She did a great job playing her piece that she'd worked so hard on - more importantly - I survived accompanying them on the piano! Our camera battery died right after we got there but at least we got one picture!! Way to go Talbie!

As I was starting to post this - it hit me that I blogged the recital last year. I checked and sure enough - it was my first blog post. MY BLOG IS ONE YEAR OLD!! I'm excited that I've stuck to it for so long - and even more excited that I enjoy it so much.

If you go back and look at that post, you will notice Emmie in the recital. She had just started but she doesn't take violin lessons anymore. We decided t take a break and wait a year or so until it comes a little easier to her and it doesn't frustrate her so much!

You may recognize the dress from our Easter pictures. It was Maddie's Easter dress. I bought it for her - without her being with me and WITHOUT her permission. She of course hated it (she's so weird) and so it's now Talbie's. I pinned the skirt to fit her an viola! A new outfit! Talbie has an amazing wardrobe because I've learned the hard way and bought MANY things for Maddie that didn't meet with her approval and they go straight to Talbie! Bless you Talbie for being such a sweet, and easy child!

Maddie's Dance

A couple of weeks ago Maddie got to attend a Prom! Her friend, Carlie goes to a private school and they let their students that are 14 & 15 go to prom (without dates) along with the kids that went with dates. Maddie had a great time with Carlie and her friends. Here are a few pictures her mom took (Barb) as they got ready. Thanks Barb!

Maddie and Carlie getting ready



The girls - all ready to go!

Being silly!

**Also - a huge thank you to Megan (my neice) for letting her borrow your beautiful dress! Maddie is lucky to have 2 older cousins who have dozens of dresses we can borrow when we won't want to buy a dress for every single dance!

Next year Maddie will be 16 and will get to go to Prom with a date. That's too weird for me to think about!

Looks Like We're Going!

Miley Cyrus (a.k.a Hannah Montana) is coming to the "Stadium of Fire" this 4th of July! This caused quite an uproar for Utah County and the tickets sold out in a matter of minutes.

Talbie is always saying "I don't understand why everyone likes Miley Cyrus so much!" We love the Hannah Montana Disney show - but Talbie has always acted pretty `blase' about it. Well, my dad called us yesterday from Vegas and said he got 8 tickets for the show. He knows some "uppity ups" and gives support to the Freedom Festival so he was able to score some tickets. He even has 2 tickets to the pre-show event with Miley.

Anyway - this means that my family is getting 2 tickets (better than none). Maddie has been to the "Stadium of Fire" before but Talbie hasn't had the chance. I told her about it (thinking she really wouldn't care) and she FREAKED! She said, "Oh my gosh! Wait until I tell my friends! They will be so excited!" I guess she really DOES like Miley Cyrus! I was thrilled she was so excited. Thanks dad! It will be a fun show!!

Brittany's Party

Last night - the girls got together and we celebrated Brittany's birthday. It was a riot! Brittany received a coordinating outfit of a boa, cute apron, and designer gloves! It was perfect. To top the evening off, Sommer had a cake made with a "priceless" picture of Brittany on it. It was a great night of friends and fun. Thanks everyone!