Hayday Of The Gods

Christmas

2011-12-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma Muir's house.

We made gingerbread and sugar cookies for Santa.

The kids got their Christmas Eve jammies.

Addie discovered that Santa ate the cookies and drank his milk on Christmas morning!

Santa even brought her a Lalaloopsy.

Reggie got a racetrack from Santa and loves it.

He had his first candy cane and thought it was delicious.

We spent Christmas morning with Dad and Paula then went up to Grandma Liechty's for the afternoon. Of course I forgot my camera so we have no pictures of that, but it was a nice Christmas day.

I Spy

2011-12-20T14:03:00.002-07:00

This almost seems wrong to post, but it was too funny not to.
Look closely, do you notice something out of place? 2 somethings?
Adelaide came running into the kitchen in her dance clothes with this silly look on her face. I didn't notice at first but then she announced, "look mom, I have boobs!".

Closer to Christmas

2011-12-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

Addie and her kindergarten class sang Christmas songs to us on Friday. It is fun to see her participating in school activities. She seems so grown up.

My dad took Addie to St. George with him Friday night so we took Reggie to the Provo Towne Center mall to ride the train. He loved it.

Then we took him to see the lights at Temple Square. It was beautiful as usual.

We went to the old tabernacle to warm up and found that they were broadcasting a Christmas concert from the new tabernacle. I snapped this picture from where we were sitting, I think it looks awesome.

I can't believe there are only six days until Christmas. This year has gone by so quickly. Adelaide is out of school for two weeks which should be fun. Do you know what I'm excited about? The winter solstice. The shortest day of the year is almost here. This means on to more daylight!

Almost Christmas

2011-12-11T19:50:00.001-07:00

Adelaide is really excited this year.

So excited that she dressed up as Santa at Ma and Pa Idaho's house over Thanksgiving.

We finally got our tree up today. This was the first year Adelaide really wanted to help.

She did an awesome job hanging all of her ornaments from great-grandma Liechty.

Reggie is such a good little helper. He loves to help me do things around the house.

But then there are Christmas ornaments. He likes to destroy them instead.

The tree looks gorgeous and it smells fresh and delicious.

We are finally feeling a little festive around here:)

Peanuts

2011-11-30T15:15:00.001-07:00

Of all things, I was worried that my kids would end up with a horrendous food allergy like to peanuts or shellfish or something like that. You hear stories about kids who can't even go to school because their allergy is so bad. Well... just his luck, Reggie found out he was allergic to peanuts today. He has eaten peanut butter before and he seemed to do fine with it in his belly, but wherever it touched him on his skin he broke out in hives.

I craved peanut butter like no other when I was pregnant with him; I think I ate it almost every day for lunch. Of course I can't help but think that had something to do with it. Oh, I hope not. His doctor said that there is a correlation of other nut allergies with that of peanuts, so he has to stay away from them all. We even have to carry an epi-pen now, just in case.

It's going to be rough because we love peanut butter around here. Poor little nugget. It looks like we're going to have to switch to Biscoff Spread. That stuff is tasty.

A Note

2011-11-17T15:14:00.001-07:00

I saw a mouse in the garage the other day so Davey went to get mousetraps and he took Adelaide with him. She has been fascinated with it ever since. She hasn't seen it but she inspects the traps each day to see if it's been caught. She put this note on the door to the garage today to make sure her friends don't go in... she doesn't want it to get them. The drawing on the left is of one of her friends (a boy), and the one on the right is the mouse. If the mouse really looked like that I wouldn't want it to get me either!

Halloween

2011-11-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Randy and Davey transformed our wagon into the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. It looks awesome doesn't it?

Adelaide and Reggie were Daphne and Fred.

Adam, Jen and their girls came down to trick or treat in our awesome neighborhood. So we added a Tinkerbell, Strawberry Shortcake, and a kitty to the gang.

The older three girls had fun trick or treating. These two mostly had fun playing tug-of-war with a sucker and sitting in the wagon. It was the warmest Halloween I can remember, it was awesome!

Sweet Number Six

2011-10-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby girl turned six on Thursday. I guess that means she's not really my baby anymore doesn't it? Six! Six! Already?

She requested a Jessie (Toy Story) party. So I did my best to round up a party that screamed cowgirl.

She had her first all-friend party on Saturday and I think it was a hit. We had trail mix treat bags, popsicles, and Jessie's hat cupcakes.

The girls decorated paper cowgirl vests with glitter-glue, stickers, and markers.

They raced stick-horses.

Genny and I even got in on the game. Although, I felt I was at a disadvantage because I had to ride side-saddle due to my skirt:)

We're glad Addison could show up at the end (priorities Ethan?) and it turned out to be a wonderful party. It was a beautiful, warm fall day and the kids had a good time. That's all that counts, right?

Happy birthday to my grown-up, beautiful six year old!
We love you Adelaide!

Red Barn

2011-10-11T14:54:00.002-07:00

We try to make it a tradition to go to The Red Barn in Santaquin every year, though some years it hasn't quite worked out. The good news is... we made it this year!

It's such a simple fun thing to do as a family, I love it. This year they had a tractor, a maze, and a hill of hay for the kids to play on while we waited for the wagon to pick us up.

Reggie was fascinated by the tractor and Adelaide loved the maze.

Besides the pumpkins, they have tasty apples, apple cider donuts, squeaky cheese, ice cream, and many other yummy things.

It was a ton of fun and I can't wait for next October:) Well... almost.

Pictures of Late

2011-10-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

I have been a terrible blogger. We are busy, aren't you? Well... here are some pics of the kids just because they are cute.

Adelaide took an intro to Karate class at the rec center. She was awesome and the tiniest one there!

Last days of summer...

We went to St. George last month for Sophie's birthday party. I didn't get many pictures but it was a great party.


The kids rode the merry-go-round and played at the city center splash park.

Anna made this pink horse cake. Isn't it awesome?

Look at that baby bum:)

Wonderful Whirlwind Week of Weddings

2011-09-12T20:56:00.002-07:00

{Mom & Davis}
9~3~11

{Dad & Paula}

9~10~11

How many people can say their parents were married within seven days of each other?

They have each found happiness with someone fantastic and I am thrilled for them both.
Congratulations and best wishes to each of you!

A New Beginning

2011-08-30T20:34:00.001-07:00

Today our little lady started Kindergarten. I think I'm still in denial, it just doesn't feel real. It seems like it was just yesterday that she was toddling around naked with her big belly and cowgirl hat on. Time goes by in a flash, yet sometimes it seems like forever.

I made an early donut run to Daylight Donuts up the road in PG to surprise her for her big day. She had a special place at the table with balloons and her new favorite donut, a chocolate glazed bar.

She was beyond excited to wear her new Pumas (they make her run fast like a cheetah) and we walked to and from school. Davey was able to go into work late and Ma Idaho and aunt Susan were in town and joined us for the walk. Reggie didn't know what to think when we left the school without her.

I'm beyond excited for her, but scared at the same time. It's been almost six years of almost strict parental influence, and now she will be surrounded by so many other kids and teachers who will have a huge impact on her life ( I pray for the best influence possible). I know this is an exciting time and she is going to love it, this reason alone trumps my fears, but what I think I'm getting at is that it's hard to let go. And here's to the beginning of a lot of letting go...

We Made It

2011-08-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

We finally made it through our 7 weeks of hell. I can't sugarcoat it or pretend like it wasn't awful...it was. My anatomy class is finally over. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had. The expectations are unreasonable, the credit you get for the time you are required to put in is not near enough, lab instructors are rude (most but not all), and last but not least, never ever take anatomy at UVU.

On a happier note, we celebrated at Provo Beach Resort with some arcade games and a treat. The stress is finally starting to leave out home and it's time to recuperate. I'm anxious to finally get to know the people in our neighborhood a little better, anxious to see friends, and anxious to spend time with my family that I have so dearly missed.

Oh yes, and now I have finally officially graduated from college:)

Addie's Song

2011-08-08T16:46:00.003-07:00

May caught Adelaide on the front porch today belting out an original song dedicated to her friend, Captain. I think most of the neighborhood heard. This is the only part we got on film.

Some lyrics:

"And my heart,
And your heart,
Hook together,
And we were bestest friends,
In the whole widest world."

"That you and me will be together,
You and me for my life,
That I will miss you Captain."

Ode to a Dog

2011-08-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

It's kind of a sad afternoon around here.
Our dear Captain America has gone to live somewhere else.
No... he is not dead, but some people came to get him today who will hopefully love and care for him and give him more attention than we could give.
He was ours for seven and a half years and he was Addie's best friend.
I'm trying to figure out how you can love and hate a dog so much. He drove me absolutely crazy and I constantly thought about how nice it would be to not have to deal with him wrecking my garden and eating my tomatoes or slobbering all over my clothes and getting hair all over the place.
But then I thought about how sweet he is, how fun it was to take him to the river, how secure I felt having him around, and how Addie loved the crap out of him.

I really just want them to take care of him and I hope that they will treat him well and that he will be happy. Good luck Captain, you will be missed.

4-6 Weeks?

2011-08-04T15:32:00.003-07:00

Little Reggie has been placed on the 30-day Disabled List. He will rehab in Orem before returning to the big leagues.

He bent his leg when he went down some stairs wrong and has two fractures in his left leg. Visits, love, and cards are welcome. He's not so ready for the phone calls yet.

Lately

2011-07-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

I have some catching up to do. Let's start with the end of season t-ball party we had at our house last weekend.

We had a slip and slide, ice cream sandwiches, Davey probably got a concussion by doing a belly flop into the kiddie pool, and ended it all with trophies for the kids.

We had a BBQ at my mom's last Sunday that was quite divine. We had grilled mahi mahi, ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob. The kids played in a kiddie pool out back while the rest of us chit-chatted and relaxed in the air conditioning.

Then... Kip and Britney were married on Wednesday. We took the kids and wandered around temple square in Salt Lake; it was a gorgeous day. I never think to go there in the summer but now I want to do it more often.

Robyn has been in town with the kids for a few weeks escaping the heat of La Quinta, California. They came over this afternoon for some slip and slide fun. The cousins have so much fun together, even when they don't see each other more than once or twice a year.

Life gets back to normal (whatever that means) in 3 weeks. In the meantime, It's been crazy trying to squeeze fun things in here and there. All that matters is that we're managing to do it... we're managing.

Walking

2011-07-10T22:25:00.001-07:00

He has some new tricks up his sleeve.

Flutterbyes

2011-06-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

That's what we used to call them growing up, flutterbyes. My mom gave Adelaide a butterfly garden which is one of the coolest things I've seen. I should have taken pictures of all of the stages, but... I didn't.

The caterpillars come in the mail when they are teeny tiny and new. They get huge in about a weeks time and then they form their pupae, which they remain in for not quite a week. Then one by one they suddenly appear as butterflies! We kept them in the house for five days or so before letting them go. Yesterday we took them outside and one by one they flew away.

It was really fun to see the different stages up close and personal. Adelaide loved it and is already asking for more caterpillars to come in the mail:)

Last Weekend

2011-06-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my dad's brother Robert and his family came to visit. We had the pleasure of hosting my cousin Jonathan, his wife Bethany, and their chillins. We had so much fun reconnecting and getting to know each others family a little better. We had a party at aunt Lucia's on Sunday and enjoyed relaxing and playing the rest of the weekend.

Olivia, Taylor, and Adelaide bathed.

Played outside.

Dom rode Captain.

We played cards.

We also played at the park.

We had such a good time and look forward to hanging out again soon (we hope)!

T Ball

2011-06-12T10:46:00.002-07:00

Adelaide is playing softball this summer. It brings back memories of playing when I was a kid. She looks so cute out there on the big field. She likes it a lot and is a pro hitter. I love the fact that she likes to do so many things. She's awesome.

Hotpots

2011-06-06T22:39:00.004-07:00

Yesterday, Davey and I decided we needed to be at one with nature so we rounded up the children (plus Uncle Randy) and hiked to the hotpots (officially called Fifth Water Waterfalls) up Diamond Fork Canyon. It was gorgeous, hot, and we discovered we are really out of shape. It was fun just the same.

Yes, we saw a snake.

Uncle of the year! He almost carried her the entire way.

And finally... someone seemed to have lost their bathing suit.

We found a list on Utah.com that tells the location, miles, and difficulty of trails all over Utah. We are excited to tackle a bunch of the family-friendly trails this summer.

Give Me S'more!

2011-06-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

My dad came over the other day and said he had a treat for Adelaide.
She loves treats, but I wasn't expecting two huge bags of campfire marshmallows.
Have you guys seen these? They are the most enormous things I've ever seen in my life!
Davey went to the store for some chocolate bars and graham crackers and we made gigantic s'mores.

This girl loves her marshmallows, and I must confess, I love the gigantic s'mores.

They were beyond delicious. So delicious that I had to restrain myself from making another:)

Gymnastics Graduation (for now)

2011-05-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

Adelaide just finished her second year of gymnastics. She had her final show last week and she was amazing. She was able to show us her favorite things and all of the skills she has been working on since January.

She is able to do handstands and cartwheels now on her own and she is so proud. She loves gymnastics but told us she was ready to try something new. She is playing t-ball now and will be taking Karate later this summer or fall. I love that she is eager to try new things and willing to do them. She is growing up so fast and I want to be sure to remember these moments.

Way to go Adelaide!

Wanna Go For A Ride?

2011-05-10T13:24:00.002-07:00

We took advantage of the nice weather last

weekend and unburied our bikes from the garage.

We realized that we had to upgrade our child carrying
capacities seeing as how we now have two children instead of one.

We decided on this one for Adelaide. We have a goal to teach her to ride her bike without training wheels this summer, but realized she would get tuckered out on a long ride. We bought the co-pilot and she loves it.

When Adelaide was little we had a rear bike seat which made it a little tricky to balance and worst of all, her poor face had nothing to see but your backside. We found this kangaroo carrier online and it is awesome. Reggie gets to see everything and it doesn't throw off your balance.

I'm looking forward to biking season! I road my bike to school on Saturday which was fantastic, but it kicked my trash. Hopefully it won't be so bad after a few weeks of practice:)

Celebration Weekend

2011-05-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

We had a few special visitors this week, Wendy, Jacob, and Holden graced us with their presence from the beautiful state of Hawaii. They were able to stay with us for a whole week which was awesome, especially for Holden and Reggie who are only a month a part. They were hilarious together and I'm a little sad that they won't be able to grow up with each other.

Next, we celebrated Reggie's birthday. He turned one on the 26th, which I can't even believe. He is the funniest little boy and I love him so much. I'm so excited that he was finally able to make it to our family because I can't imagine life without him.

I had a lot of fun making his cake so I thought I would post a picture of it. It turned out really cute and it tasted even better. I discovered my new favorite icing in the whole world, marshmallow cream. It's to die for.

This picture speaks for itself. Ma Idaho really wanted to give both boys a bath in the sink at the same time. We all thought it was a hilarious idea, except for Reggie. He wanted no part of it (as you can see) and screamed the whole 2 minutes he was in there. Needless to say, we won't be trying that again.

And then there was graduation. I finally did it! (minus the two classes I have to take this summer). Utah Valley University class of 2011, I can't believe it. I have been working for this for so long, and it's finally here. Another thing that was awesome about it, I was able to graduate along side my aunt Marti (my dad's sister). We were both in Behavioral Science and were able to walk together. It was pretty rad.

My buff family who supported me through it all. We're almost done with every spare moment of my life being devoted to homework!

Last but not least, a video of Reggie attempting his first cupcake ever. I've never seen a boy so sad on his birthday. I think we may have been singing a little too loud for him:)

A What?!

2011-04-25T09:34:00.003-07:00

I had noticed, the last few trips to gymnastics, that Adelaide has started to pay more attention the male counterparts in her class. She seemed to be seeking out their attention. Standing close to them. Batting her eyes. Smiling too big. Flirting? And so after this next conversation, Addie will be pulled from gymnastics at the end of the semester . . . and locked away in a tower. All of a sudden the kings that did that to their daughters don't seem so bad to me . . ..

Tell me what you want.

Dad, I just want a boyfriend all by myself.

Why do you want a boyfriend?

Because I want one.

What do you do with a boyfriend?

I just want him to be handsome and kind to me.

And then what will you guys do together?

Whatever I want.

What does that mean? What are you guys gonna do with a boyfriend?

Just say, "You're handsome and I want you to marry me."

You want to get married?

Yes.

Oh. Where do you want to get married?

At the temple.

Oh. You're very sweet. I love you and I hope you find a boyfriend.

OK.

**sigh**

The Bounty of the Earth

2011-04-22T08:34:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since we've posted, I know. We haven't updated about our new house or what we've been doing. I'm sorry. This will be a little update on the house, though, because I'm going to show you pictures of the yard.

I'm really excited about this yard. Number one, it's smaller. Number two, it has so many goodies growing that I can hardly stand it. I finally went on the rounds to discover what was already planted so I know what to grow in my garden this year.

This is what I found:

I used some of these chives last week, they were delicious! I am excited for when they bloom with their gorgeous purple flowers.

I cannot wait for summer when the peaches will be ripe on the tree. Peaches are my favorite!

I did some digging around to discover what this was... and it's rhubarb! I've never eaten or cooked with rhubarb until this morning. I went and picked some, found a muffin recipe, and baked some up. Delicious! I'm excited about adding this to my repertoire of recipes.

Who doesn't like strawberries? There will be so many and I can't wait. I'm excited to combine them with the rhubarb to make some jam and a pie or two. Yummy.

... and last but not least, raspberries. I could eat them all day, every day, and now I can:) There is a little irrigation ditch that runs in the back of our yard and raspberries grow all the way along it. All I can say is, awesome.

Can you tell I'm excited? I am. This will be a tasty summer and I can't wait to get planting some other goodies. Now, if this weather would just cooperate...

O...R...E...O...

2011-04-03T13:27:00.002-07:00

Fed the kids Oreos today. Not sure why.
Maybe I should save them the trouble,
and just buy them sugar filled lard.

Christmas in March

2011-03-28T16:05:00.001-07:00

My dad gave us quite the little Christmas gift. Bless his goodness, love for his children, and love for the beach... he have us a trip to southern Califor-ni-a. It was such a relaxing trip. We just sat on the beach for 8 days. That's it. Although, Adelaide was lucky and my dad took her to Disneyland with Paula, Anna, Steve, and Sophie.

We were able to see so many distant loved ones on this trip. It was awesome. Robyn came out with the kids for a day. Annie and Adelaide thought it was so cool that they had the same suit.

We had a fire and made smores.

Went to Crescent Bay (my fave).

The tidepools are amazing.

We saw many, many crabs.

Brooke, Brian, Lana, and Braden came down for a day.

Davey and Brian made a baci court in the sand.

Davey read a book.

We strolled along San Clemente Pier.

Gary and Bridgette happened to be on vacation from Maine the same time we were there. It was perfect.

The kids buried Pa in the sand.

Watched movies and ate popcorn.

There was even a night of opening Christmas presents from Pa and Paula.

Reggie loved being held...

and hated the sand.

I love this one.

The beach is the best babysitter.

Kids can play in the sand all day and never get bored.

We were also able to see one of Davey's bestest and oldest friends, Steve Funk and his family. Another friend of his from school, Laura Ek and two of her kids were able to come for a day at the beach as well. It was an amazingly relaxing week and beautiful to say the least.

Thanks dad for Christmas in March, we should do it every year!

Back

2011-03-25T20:45:00.001-07:00

We are back online. Back from California. Back to reality (kind of). Hopefully we can post about our trip soon, or our new house, or something that's been going on lately.

Marketing

2011-03-07T09:58:00.003-07:00

As we are packing the final pieces for our move, Addie has offered us some free advice. She couldn't help but notice all of the nail holes in the wall where pictures and decorations had once hung. She went to Megan and said,

"Mommy, you need command strips. No nail holes. And no damage!"

Thank you commercials. <-That's the LINK.

Moving

2011-02-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

I realize that there has been a lack of blogging around here lately. Sorry. We are in the process of packing and living in complete disarray. It's crazy around here, but give us a couple of weeks and hopefully we can get back to some normalcy. We are moving to Orem so it's not too far, but it's moving an entire house just the same.

8 is Great!

2011-02-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Davey and I arrived miraculously at our eighth wedding anniversary last Tuesday. It was a momentous occasion. So what do you do to celebrate a momentous-miraculous occasion? You leave the kids with Ma, Davis, and Jake (much to their delight), and take off to Salt Lake City on Saturday night.

First, we dined at Ginza (one of our new favorite spots). It was a little surprise dinner Davey put together and it was so much fun! Thanks to those who came and we are sad about those who could not make it. We'll do it again, I promise.

Then we headed off to the hotel, the Grand America hotel that is. We stayed on the 19th floor and the view was absolutely beautiful of the valley. I couldn't get over it.

Beautiful, no?

We ended our celebration with the most amazing Sunday brunch ever! We relaxed, watched T.V., tried to sleep in, and ate until our belly's could take no more. It was an amazing anniversary and I can't wait for next year:)

Hockey!

2011-01-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

We took Reggie to his first Grizzlies game on Saturday. He was awesome, even when the horns were blaring. The Grizz won 3-0.

We enjoyed chicken strips, hot dogs, kettle corn and a snow cone. Reggie had his first taste of snow cone and surprisingly, he didn't love it. Weird.

Oops

2011-01-21T21:11:00.001-07:00

That's what happens when you leave a bag of delicious sweet potato chips next to a nearly nine month old. Oops.

Tiny Dancer

2011-01-17T10:59:00.003-07:00

Adelaide started taking a fairytale dance class this month. I can't even tell you how excited I was when she told me she wanted to take the class. I have dancing in my blood you know and the fact that I may have passed that on makes me giddy.

I never want to be the mother who pushes her kids to do what she did (living vicariously I believe it's called), so I've never forced her into taking dance. She has done gymnastics over the past two years which she has enjoyed, but when her friend Ryley asked her to come to class with her she wanted to go.

It is so fun to watch her have a good time. She loves walking around on her toes, wearing pretty skirts and holding fun props. I hope she loves it, but if she doesn't I hope she finds something that she will love to do and excel at it. Isn't she cute? I know she's the cutest dancer I've ever seen.

Priorities

2011-01-07T12:57:00.004-07:00

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?

I am thinking about calling the cops on Megan.

Quote of the day:
We were having a conversation about me driving in bad weather. And I said that the worst case scenario is I roll the car and she gets our life insurance pay-out. Then she turned to me and said,

"If I cared about that money you'd already be dead."

Nothing about me being fine, safe or living a long life. Instead, a cold, calculated announcement of her plans for me once she decides she needs the money. If I die before I am 60, I am letting you all know now, I want an investigation.

Christmas #2

2011-01-04T22:12:00.005-07:00

Since we spent Christmas in Idaho this year we decided to do a post-Christmas extravaganza with my side of the fam last Tuesday (yes, I'm a bit behind). It was nice because all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas was over so we were able to enjoy a tasty breakfast of German pancakes, bacon, zoom with brown sugar, apples and bananas, and were able to hang out and chill like vills.

Up close and personal Christmas #2:

Now that it is January I will say happy new year! Here's to a good one and let's hope that old Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow this year. I'm ready for spring.

Very Merry Indeed

2010-12-28T15:13:00.005-07:00

This was our year to spend Christmas with Ma and Pa Idaho. We had so much fun and can't believe it's already over!

Christmas Eve was spent eating way too much food and making cookies for Santa. Addie chose gingerbread cookies cut out as dinosaurs and cowboy hats. Who says you have to make them look like little men?

The kids got to open one present before bed.

Pajamas of course!

Christmas morning we were able to open two stockings. One for breakfast with a little box of cereal, donuts, and an orange (a tradition from Davey's childhood), and one from Santa with tons of fun stuff (a tradition from mine).

Then the cousins came over and we were able to open presents. It was awesome that they all happened to get new watches this year. They thought it was pretty cool.

Brandon had a tough time sharing grandma's lap with Reggie. He was not happy with the fact that there was someone else big enough to sit on it. It was pretty funny to watch them figure each other out.

Addie and Brenna had a sleepover Christmas night. They had a fun time but poor Brenna woke up in the night and gave Davey and I the pleasure of cleaning up her puke. Luckily it was due to either too much candy or something she ate, not sickness. It was the perfect way to end a Christmas night (Rick and Jen you owe us).

Beaming With Pride

2010-12-19T15:16:00.006-07:00

Some major accomplishments in our family this month. After a rigid five-day school week, Megan has finally finished another semester at the illustrious UVU. And we expect again that her grades will be the all-vowel combination of grades (A's for those too tired to think). She gives up so much and works so hard for it. We are so proud of her. Just another semester and a half to go for our soon to be college grad! And she's more beautiful every day that passes.

Adelaide advanced in her gymnastics class. She is still loving it, so she will be back at it after the new year. She is loving the balance beam and uneven bars. But the cartwheel is still proving to be her biggest nemesis, but I get a big smile every time I see her try. She is also loving to practice drawing, reading, and writing. This little girl just loves to learn and try new things. She wants her next adventure to be Kung-Fu. We will see how that works out. My goal was to never have a kid that could beat me up . . ..
Reggie? What has Reggie accomplished? Well, he still laughs and smiles at just about everything. He likes all foods and having said foods put into his mouth. He sleeps well enough that we are quietly maintaining a level of sanity. He thinks Adelaide is hilarious, and in him, Megan finally has a mama's boy. But new accomplishments? He still looks like this during belly time and crawling practice. He still goes to the bathroom on himself each day, and saddest of all, in our market and economy, he is still unable to find good employment. But we sure are proud of him for trying!

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-17T22:58:00.005-07:00

We went to eat breakfast with Santa a couple of weeks ago at UVU. The Snow family joined us with their three little girls and we all had a great time.

If you haven't been before I highly recommend it. There are tons of activities for the kids -- making ornaments, advent chains, ice fishing, pin the nose on the reindeer, and of course...Santa's lap.
Adelaide is loving Christmas so much this year. She really understands what's going on and is so excited about everything. Davey and I especially love using, "You better be a good girl or else..." as reinforcement. It must work really well because she has been a fantastic child and wants to make sure she will be getting that purple watch she's been asking for.

A little bird told me that Santa just might be putting one in her stocking. That is...as long as he gets those gingerbread cookies and milk he's been asking for.

A Hot Mess

2010-12-09T21:45:00.003-07:00

We had the privilege of hosting a neighborhood party at our house last weekend. It was so much fun. Although, I don't know if the house had as much fun as we did.

I think every single toy was pulled out and spread across the floor. Snow globes and water balloons were broken, cupcakes smooshed in the carpet, and there was laughter galore. I guess that's what happens when you get approximately 24 children in a 1800 square foot house.

We played holiday Pictionary and exchanged white elephants. Some got "real lucky" with their gifts, if you know what I'm sayin'.

We ate yummy soup, dips, desserts and had an amazing night. Davey said it must have been a hit because we didn't mind cleaning up the mess. Thank you Ashley for hosting it with me and for everyone who made it a great party!

A Day of Thanks

2010-11-28T14:26:00.003-07:00

Thank you to Heidi and Paul for hosting us at your house.
Dinner and dessert couldn't have been better.
It was so fun to hang out and to see Megamind on Thanksgiving night.

Grandma and Leslie, you were masters at cleaning up the kitchen.

Ma loves Reggie.

Adelaide was so excited to play in the first snow of the year.
Paige is her absolute favorite... she LOVES her.

Davey knows how to roll when it snows.
Is someone from California? I think so.

It was a wonderful day and an even more wonderful holiday weekend.
It was a much needed break...now on to Christmas!

TOFW

2010-11-21T23:02:00.003-07:00

(Time Out For Women)

Back in July, my mother-in-law gave me a birthday present. It was to spend a sisters weekend with her at Time Out For Women. It turned out to be a much-needed, fantastic weekend. There were 8 of us in attendance: Mammy (aka Mom Saunders), my four aunts-in-law (Susan, Ann, Jane, Carol), and two awesome cousins-in-law (Holly, Jamie).

Wait, there are ten ladies in the picture...Staci and Heidi (two more cousins-in-law) joined us for dinner on Saturday night at Pagota. It was an awesome bonding mini-vacay that was fun, hilarious, scary, and unfortunately....stinky at times. We spent time at the conference, stuffing out faces, doing skits, hot tubbing, and getting to know each other a little better.

Thank you to the Rose sisters for including me in their sisters weekend and for making me feel like I am a part of the family. I love you guys (scents and all).

Halloween

2010-11-06T20:58:00.002-07:00

Thanks to Megan for bearing a second child so now I get double the candy...
Also looking forward to taxes next year...
:)

Birthdays

2010-11-02T19:19:00.005-07:00

I am finally getting around to posting about the plethora of birthdays we have in October in our family. This includes Adelaide, my sister Anna, my father, Davey's father, and Davey. If you count nieces and nephews, cousins, etc..... you get many, many more.

Adelaide was spoiled and spent her birthday at Sea World. On our way home from California we dropped Anna off a gift of Trader Joe's goodies for her special day. We treated my dad to dinner at Ruby River on his birthday. We had a joint birthday party for Addie and Davey on the 23rd where we presented Davey's dad with his gift. We decided form now on that the kids are going to pick what they want to give their grandfathers for their birthday. Adelaide chose fingernail clippers. Yes, I said it, fingernail clippers. It was very exciting to see the reaction on her grandpas' faces when they opened their gifts:)

I went very domestic this year and made birthday cakes from scratch (this is a big deal for me, ok!)

All Adelaide wanted in the entire world was a unicorn cake with purple frosting. I think it turned out pretty great and she loved it which was all that mattered.

Davey's request was for yellow cake and chocolate frosting. I thought the party hat was a fantastic cake-topper (insert inside joke, hehehe).

Thanks to all of our family members who could make it and thanks for all of the amazing gifts. It was a fantastic day.

P.S. Adelaide gave her daddy fingernail clippers, too:)

Her and Him

2010-10-30T22:00:00.003-07:00

Adelaide 6 months old
Reggie 6 months old

I believe that if we gave Reggie a scowl and darkened his eyes, they would be twins.

Davey, How Was California?

2010-10-27T02:08:00.008-07:00

Thanks to everyone that made our trip possible. I love going home. It will always be a home for me. And so I am grateful to all those who help make this trip such a success.
Thanks to the Soules Family for housing us a night in Victorville and meeting us at Sea World.
Thanks to the Easton Family for hooking us up on a Pre-Disneyland night in Lake Forest.
Thanks to Adelaide for hitting 29 rides at Disneyland and for letting me carry you on my shoulders for at least 11 of those 12 fun hours.
Thanks to the Brown Family for the sweet condo in San Diego for a couple nights and for letting us meet your new beautiful baby girl.
Thanks to Cousin Staci for the plane flight for Megan and Reggie and to Jil for being the airport shuttle.
Thanks to Reggie for being such a good traveling baby.
Thanks Tony and Jay for a great BBQ night and the stroll down adolescence lane.
Thanks to Uncle Newel for awkward hugs and to the Price family for making us feel welcome.
And thank you Salisbury Family for inviting us each year to spend a week with you at the Beach House. Your hospitality is only out-done by your love to ROCK!
PS- If any of you, or your children, suffer from fear of roller coasters, send them my way. This is my 4 year-old at her best. That's right. Big Thunder Mountain 3 times! Only Sleeping Beauty's walk-through castle got as much attention from Adelaide and me. And yes, those two attractions are about as different as it gets. But what do you do when you are the World's Best Dad? (Well, I am at least in the top ten, right?) Edited for your viewing pleasure, Addie's first time on Big Thunder Mountain.

My Big Girl

2010-10-10T21:59:00.004-07:00

This goes out to my best girl ever. She turned 5 on Wednesday and I can't believe it. Five years ago she made me a mother and my life hasn't been the same since. She is amazing, smart, funny, sweet, loving, feisty, beautiful, and the best big sister ever. I'm so thankful that she is my daughter and a part of my life.

Her favorite things are her new unicorn pillow pet, gymnastics, barbies, computer games, cartoons, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, chocolate milk, candy, candy, and more candy. She loves to pick out her own clothes and her brothers clothes as well. She loves being in the bath (sometimes bath time lasts hours), Disneyland, and snuggling with me on the couch.

She can now spell her name, recognize all letters and has an intense desire to read. She loves to sing, make necklaces and bracelets for her friends and cousins, paint her own toenails, get dressed from head to toe in my clothes, and wear my bathrobe when she gets out of the bath.

I write these things mainly so I don't forget the amazing accomplishments she has made in five years time. I love you Adelaide and I hope you had the best birthday ever!

Countdown Is On

2010-10-07T01:27:00.009-07:00

(courtesy 2009)

Poor Megan. October is not her month. Besides having 'oct' for a prefix and being the tenth month of the year; go figure, octopus, octagon, octomom..... (8 anyone?), here are the top three reasons it's hard on her.

1) I talk in my Dracula voice for a good majority of the month.

2) October is the month of her dad's, my dad's, her sister's, our daughter's and her husband's birthday. Not to mention most of my friends growing up had October birthdays too. (Adam, Laura, Jacob, Tony, The United Nations, etc) Don't even get me started on extended family birthdays in October (Hi Nora, and Nora's soon to be new sibling)

3) I get so excited for our annual California road trip that I blog at 3:00AM instead of sleeping.

That's right. It's time.
10 days.
9 nights.

Friday -> Victorville (Like an opening night teaser)
Saturday -> Beach
Sunday -> Church, then Beach (Don't judge, it balances out)
Monday -> Disneyland
Tuesday -> Beach
Wednesday -> Sea World
Thursday -> Beach
Friday -> Beach
Saturday -> Beach
Sunday -> Beach, then cry eight hours back to Utah

I am excited because Adelaide's birthday is on the 13th. So when we leave Friday we will give her her first present. The Unicorn Pillow Pet she has been asking for for over a year now. "PJs fit right inside," she tells me just after the commercial announces that fact.

Then, before Megan and Reggie fly down on Monday night, I will sneak Addie into Disneyland where she will finally be tall enough, using some tricks I've taught her, to ride the bigger rides like Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. She's gonna love it.

Now I know why we had kids. Without Adelaide, I never could have sold Megan on all these things. I am still trying to figure out how to get her to get me a Pillow Pet for MY birthday. Garments fit right inside.

Best Movies Ever

2010-09-24T00:40:00.003-07:00

Now that Adelaide is almost five years old I figure its time to introduce her to movies without Shrek in them. First was The Burbs. She didn't really get it. So I tried The NeverEnding Story. She loved it. She said its one of her favorites. It was rough at parts but she pulled all the way through.

Best Lesson:
It's OK to cry when the Swamp of Sadness consumes Artex.
Or else, you're a total jerk.

PS- She wants a Luck Dragon for Christmas.
PPS- Artex is alive at the end of the movie and it's OK to cry/cheer when you see him then too.

My Poor Heart

2010-09-15T10:32:00.004-07:00

(Feel free to enjoy the WIKI links in the story)
Yesterday morning I drove myself to the ER. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep through the night feeling a tightness and a pain in my chest and shortness of breath. After nearly five hours, I rolled out of bed and got showered up. Then I Laid back down to recover from expending all my strength to just shower and dress myself. After a bowl of Cocoa Puffs (this fact is important) I drove to Orem and checked myself in with an expected lung problem.

First they drew some blood from my apparently over-zealous vein which leaked all over my bed sheets and shirt. Then they did an EKG to check my heart signals. Then I was off for X-rays of my chest. The chest X-ray came back showing swelling around . . . my HEART?

So, next they wheeled in a machine to run an ECHO on my heart. Of course they need me to lay on my side (which kills) and the tech is teaching a newbie how to run the machine (which makes the procedure take twice as long and become almost unbearable).

The ER doctor came back to go over the results. He said,

1. I had serious swelling around the heart.

2. Of the 100 people that come in with this condition, 99 go home, and I was the 1 that needed to stay.

3. The wall movements of my heart were irregular and did not look good.

4. I could be IN or ON THE VERGE of a heart attack.

5. They wanted to do an angiogram to check for blockage and fluid in and around my heart.

Hmm. I'm 31 years old. Never sick. Healthy. Active. Extremely good-looking. None of this made sense. I scrambled for my phone looking for support. I just manage some text messages to Megan, Randy, and Mike and a blubbery barely audible call to my PA brother Jef who works on an open-heart surgery team before they are moving me downstairs and prepping me for my procedure. So now, I'm alone.

In case you are NOT reading the WIKI links (which I have already told you to feel free to read ), an angiogram starts with an incision in your groin so they can access the femoral artery and send a catheter up into your heart to have a look around. Many emergency heart surgeries are performed as a result of angiograms gone wrong, i.e. puncturing the vein and damaging something with the catheter on its way or while it's in your heart.

After they shave my special zone (groin entry, remember?) and dope me up, I find myself in a recovery room. Randy is waiting outside. My chest still hurts and now my leg is sore. They tell me it went well. There was no blockage or build-up of fluid. My blood results show good cholesterol , but high blood sugar (thanks Cocoa Puffs). Mike and Megan show up. I am given some anti-inflammatory and [pain meds.

And now I am home recovering. Still not sure of the cause. They say bacterial and viral infections usually spark something like this. And so here I am, I fought off a heart attack under my own power and I survived Pericarditis. The pain and swelling are slowly going away and I am home recovering.

The only question now is, do I let the hair grow back in awkwardly and uneven, or shave the rest down there and start from scratch?
PS - Happy Birthday Kip.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-07T22:45:00.005-07:00

We had the privilege of having Rick, Jen, the kids, and Ma and Pa Idaho come down for the weekend. We went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden on Saturday, Sunday we went up to Payson Lakes, and Monday to Hogle Zoo.

Cousins are the best.

These girls are two peas in a pod.

We discovered that there are wild Jimmys at the zoo.

We stopped at Hires for burgers (chicken strips for me) after the zoo.

It was a fun weekend! I can't believe we are at the end of summer, it's gone by entirely too fast but this was a great way to send it off:)

Not If I Don't Want To

2010-09-02T12:59:00.005-07:00

Dear Belly-Time,
I'm supposed to be on my belly a little bit each day.
It helps strengthen my arms as I do mini push-ups.
It's supposed to make it so I am not always on my back, as to avoid flat spots on my head.
And it's supposed to strengthen my neck area muscles as I work on lifting my head up to look around.
But, suppose I just tuck my arm under me and lay my head down like this.
Now you're not so smart, are you, belly-time?

Musubi

2010-08-30T14:00:00.004-07:00

I didn't know what spam musubi was until one glorious Sunday afternoon, my brother-in-law Jake brought some over. I've been hooked ever since. The sad part is that Wendy, Jake, and Holden decided it was time to move to Hawaii. Not sad for them I'm sure, but sad for us, but not only because of no more musubi, because of no more them.

Anyway... I was determined to learn how to make it on my own so I rounded up the supplies and dove in. I found a nice little tutorial on you tube which made it extremely easy and they have all of the ingredients (except the Spam) at Chao's on University Avenue in Provo.

I'm not a lover of Spam, but I am a lover of Spam musubi. All it takes is a little nori, rice, spam, furikake, and some soy sauce. I ordered a musubi form online for 3 bucks and I was set. This picture is from my first go at it and I think they turned out pretty good (not as good as Jake's of course) but good still the same. I'm sure I'll get better with practice:)

Weekend of Weekends

2010-08-23T16:48:00.004-07:00

This last weekend was crazy. But it was crazy fun. This summer has been crazy, really. But it has been crazy fun. My BFF Tamsen is getting married in a couple of weeks so this was our weekend to celebrate. Friday night Tams, Mel, and I went up to Park City and played until 2 in the morning. We shopped at the outlets, ate at Wasatch Brewery, and went club hopping on Main Street.

I haven't been dancing for years so it was totally awesome. Although, I did discover that Harry O's isn't the cool place for 20 somethings that it used to be. It's now the cool place for 30 + somethings which is kind of scary. What's really scary is that I now fit in to that category.

When I got home around 3 in the a.m., this is what I discovered. Davey was still awake with four other people at our house playing Halo. I thought he would be tucked in bed trying to catch up on sleep, but no, Halo prevailed.

Then Saturday morning I had to wake up at 7, get ready, and drive to West Weber for Tamsen's bridal shower. I have no pictures, but it was fun as well. It's been great re-connecting with her family and girls I haven't seen in ages.

Then, that night I drove to Salt Lake with my sister Jessie to the Something Corporate concert. It was awesome but I was exhausted. Even the pineapple-red bull concoction I drank at the show couldn't keep me awake enough.

When I arrived home on both Friday and Saturday nights, this was the scene in my bedroom. Adelaide and Reggie had taken over our king size bed. Adelaide had to sleep in it because she is precious and she missed me. Reggie just sleeps in our bed always because we're too lazy to set up the crib. I ended up sleeping on the foot of the bed and Davey brought in Addie's mattress from her room and slept by us on the floor.

It's been a fun-filled crazy summer and it is almost over. School starts for me again on Wednesday and I will be trying to figure out how to balance 2 kiddos, husband, family time, homework, and anything extra-curricular.

Sweet!

Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-19T12:08:00.011-07:00

With Reggie being around, this summer has been a little different from previous summers. Tennis, skateboarding, and biking have taken a seat on the bench for now in exchange for more mellow activities. And with the Dodgers running the other direction from post-season baseball, and football not starting for another month, I've needed a distraction.

Adelaide has introduced me to all of her games she finds and plays on Miniclip on the computer. My biggest accomplishment is passing the 60th Phase on Level 3 of Zoikz.

I even get a lot of support from our occasional late-night Halo tourneys at our house. Even better than winning is watching the looks on all our friends' faces when Megan turns out to be one of the best players. Nothing tops a husband/wife team in a futuristic setting of violence and mayhem.But the weirdest trend so far is my summer reading. My brother Rick got me started with "Lone Survivor" and Randy followed that with "The Electric Church" (not pictured). And Megan has finally got me to read the first two Hunger Games books in the last two weeks. And now I find myself waiting for the third. I'll say they are good (definitely more mellow than my brothers' books - believe it or not), but even better than that, I have found new motivation to read, being so discouraged by all the Harry Potter and Twilight hype (sorry).

Happy Dog Days of Summer.
Sorry to those who thought this was going to be a post about Captain America.

Can You Handle the Heat?

2010-08-16T13:28:00.003-07:00

There has been a little debate going on between Davey and Steve on whether or not St. George is really that hot. Davey says that he doesn't like St. George because it's too hot. The funny thing is that Davey hasn't been to St. George in the summer. So Steve made Davey promise that he would come and visit this summer to see if he could handle the heat. Last weekend we went down so he could fulfill his promise.

Anna and I decided we should do some canning while we were there. I'm going to say it was the ultimate canning marathon. We started at around noon on Saturday afternoon and didn't finish until 1:30 Sunday morning (we did take a 3 hour break in the evening for dinner and swimming). We had a lot of fun, though. We ended up with 7 quarts of marinara sauce, 18 quarts of peaches, and 12 pints of pickles. We vowed that next time we would only tackle one thing at a time, not three. I think that the peaches about killed us (peaches take forever!). So far, the consensus is that the pickles are delicious.

Adelaide and Sophie are becoming such good friends! They had such a great time playing together and get along really well. Cousins are awesome.

We finally got to eat at the Bear Paw which was delicious and the weather really was lovely. I even heard Davey mention that even though it was 106 degrees outside, it is a dry heat so it only felt like 85. Ha, ha! It's what we've been saying all along babe, it's what we've been saying all along.

Thanks for letting us come down guys, it was fun! (Apple pie filling in September Anna?)

Snip Snip

2010-08-12T11:28:00.003-07:00

Reggie has a trademark hairdo. It's one that's pretty hilarious but not very attractive. His hair is finally growing in where he has rubbed it all off and his little Alfalfa-tuft just keeps getting longer. So on Tuesday I decided it had to go.

Before and happy...

After and pretty ticked off...

This was the best picture we could get because he wouldn't hold still. He was very upset about his very first haircut, indeed.

He seems to be doing all right with it now. And he's as handsome as ever.

Price Family Reunion

2010-08-02T20:11:00.005-07:00

We spent the July 24th holiday in Heber at Jan and Lucia's cabin for the 1st official Price family reunion. This is only the half of us. I believe there was a count of around 70 people in the cabin at one given time.

We had an awesome time and it was absolutely gorgeous up there.

We went on walks around the pond.

Met 1st cousins once removed for the very first time and had fun jumping on the bed.

Cousin Eric took the young ones on a trek to build fairy houses (it was a huge hit).

We watched movies.

Ate lunch at the bowling alley.

Received pedicures from Becca.

And in true Price fashion, played games until we couldn't play games any more.

It was so great to see everyone, especially those who live so far away. We look forward to three years down the road when we get to do it again.

Love!

Park City

2010-07-30T08:43:00.004-07:00

I've developed a slight obsession with Park City this summer. In the past month I've been to the outlets three times to shop and once to ride the alpine slide and coaster.

I can't help it. The weather is lovely and it's absolutely gorgeous up there.

A few weeks ago we went up with Jef, Rob, the kids, and Randy. Everyone had an awesome time riding the slides and climbing the wall.

I hope to go one more time this summer before school and cold weather kick in.

And I wanna try the zip line.

Confession

2010-07-26T12:03:00.005-07:00

Dear Megan,

I lied. On Thursday, when I dropped you off at the cabin for your Family Reunion, I told you I had to come back to Provo to go to work.

That's not true.

I went to IKEA.
I brought home some boxes and put together some furniture.
When I finished setting it all up I decided to leave the furniture in our room.
I hope you like it.Happy I-Cannot-Confirm-Or-Deny-It's-Your-30th Birthday.

So Behind

2010-07-15T14:02:00.004-07:00

I am weeks behind on blogging. Let's see if I can finish this post from weeks ago so I can catch up to this week.

We went to temple square a few weeks ago with our summer play group. It was really fun to go in the summer. I usually only think about going there to see the lights at Christmas but it is absolutely beautiful this time of year.

These two are homies.

Mom, Jake, and Sawyer met up with us at the temple and then we headed to the zoo.

I always love the zoo. It's so nice to just wander around and look at the animals you've gotten to know over the years. Zuri the new baby elephant is pretty cute, too.

It was a zooriffic day!

Paul's Dam From on Top

2010-07-10T22:18:00.002-07:00

Pictures & Patriots

2010-07-09T11:40:00.007-07:00

Did you know Pocatello, Idaho has a water park? Neither did we.
And neither does our camera.
But we did show our camera over 100 other things worthy of picturing.
We showed it fireworks in the driveway, picnic lunches, backyard games, tennis, a parade, and paintball guns.
I also took Megan on the Paul's Dam hike in Humphrey. It was my first time in 15 years. Winds were nuts. Cows were irritable. Elk were wary. Fences were barbed. And the sagebrush was thick. But the views were AMAZING! I was just glad I made it back alive. Megan made it back too.
On our last day we visited Yellowstone's Bear World. In the little magazine they give you there, it says you are 60,000 times more likely to die from a bee sting than a bear attack. Although that may be true, I don't remember the last time a bee flew by and I tucked myself into a ball to cover my vitals and played dead. Silly hippies and their ability to distort statistics.

Christmas in July

2010-07-01T12:57:00.004-07:00

While at Park City Adelaide saw a beautiful purple watch she just HAD to have. So we let her call Santa to tell him about it (she loves calling Santa, and sometimes when she is sad she says she misses him).

This letter came in the mail for Adelaide yesterday.

I read it to her last night and then she tucked it into her dresser drawer. Then she had me read it to her again today as she packed it around with her everywhere she went.

Funny how Santa disguised his return address as my parents' in Idaho and even wrote with my mom's same handwriting (even the awkward backwards 'S').

Thanks Santa.

Summer, So Far

2010-06-24T20:38:00.006-07:00

One of the most organized, go-getter ladies in my ward, Jeanette, organized a summer play group for our kids. It's been really fun and it's been good for getting our booties out of the house. So far we have attended the childrens art festival in Springville, played in the sprinklers and made Father's Day crafts, and yesterday we went to Classic Skating. Adelaide absolutely loved it and wants to go back. They are only charging $1 per hour all summer long which will make it really easy. It's really fun to get all the kids together and let them hang out. It doesn't hurt that all of us ladies can sit and chat our hearts out as well.

We've also started to bring back RockBand. We haven't played in a really long time and I figure that now is a good time because I don't have a big old preggers belly anymore. This means I can wear the guitar again:)

Little Reggie has started to do this a whole lot more which makes me totally happy.

We've walked up to the park many times since the weather has started to look up. I love having one just up the street.

Adelaide is riding her bike like a champ. We've moved the training wheels up so we'll see if we can get her riding without them by the end of the year. She did have her first wreck yesterday but she got right back on and rode the rest of the way home. She was a little sad but oh so brave.

And this is just plain cute.

Rules Are For The Weak

2010-06-19T23:11:00.004-07:00

Today's Goal:

Ride the rides at Lagoon.

Today's Obstacle:

"They" mistakenly think Adelaide is too small to ride on some of the rides.

Today's Challenge:

Teach Adelaide how to stand on tip-toes while making it look like she is standing flat-foot.

Today's Result:

Everyone is happy. (Sorry, too tired to figure out how to rotate this....)

Blessing Day

2010-06-06T21:52:00.005-07:00

Davey blessed our little Reggie today and did a wonderful job. The weather was perfect, we were surrounded by friends and family, and we ate delicious food. It's amazing how bringing a new baby into the world can help bring things back into perspective. We love him so much and are thankful (so thankful) he is a part of our family.

It was a beautiful day.

Room Enough For Two

2010-05-30T13:31:00.005-07:00

Humphrey is a middle of nowhere ghost town in the northeast corner of Idaho. My grandfather was raised there along with his ten brothers and sisters. The 800-acre family ranch has been handed down through him and his siblings over the years down to my generation.And Memorial Day weekend is the annual get-together to talk business (the ranch is leased out for cattle grazing), fix fences (not metaphorical), and enjoy the plain sweet company of family you don't otherwise see or know.This year I took my brother Randy and Adelaide. We met my parents and Rick and Jen and their four kids. We stopped in Lima, Montana to visit and clean some headstones. Then it was to Humphrey for hiking, exploring, playing and ranch meetings.I have decided I still love the ranch where we spent every summer vacation of my childhood. I have decided that I want that experience for my children as they grow. I think we will head back to Humphrey this July 4th. And who knows, it might become a July 4th tradition (there's only about a month or so of warmer weather there anyway). So if you ever want to get away from it all, come with us up to Humphrey.

Mini Man

2010-05-28T08:45:00.004-07:00

How?

2010-05-25T18:13:00.001-07:00

I'd like you to meet....
my red-headed(?) son Reggie.

They Make Me Run Fast

2010-05-23T13:24:00.003-07:00

This weekend revolved around surprising Adelaide with a new pair of Skechers. I say that it revolved around it because we drove around everywhere looking for the right size and every store seemed to be out of it.

As some of you know, I had a baby 4 weeks ago. Well, I happened to have my first postpartum breakdown during the whole process of finding these shoes. I was a complete mess beginning Friday and it extended through the majority of Saturday. Everything ticked me off, I mean everything. Now, I am completely aware of how petty most of the things are that irritated me. I know that the things that bugged me would not usually bug me under normal circumstances.

One of these things happened to be those stinking shoes. I must first state that I hate Skechers with a passion. I think they are the tackiest shoes around, especially for little girls. And of course Adelaide wanted the pair I hated most, the ones with graffiti, glitter, and they light up. Normally I would buy them for her and know how awesome I am because she loves them and now she really loves me because of it. I let her dress herself pretty much everyday and laugh at the clothing concoctions she comes up with. I know that these things aren't really a big deal in the long run and that she is so happy because she can make her own choices.

Well, since I don't feel an ounce of normal in my body these days, I was determined that she would not own those shoes and I was taking them back. After all of the heartache and sadness she felt after we left store after store because we couldn't find the right size, they had them at Nordstrom. Davey brought Adelaide home from shopping and she proudly displayed them on her feet; she was so excited to show me. Well what did I do? I made her take them off and I marched them right back to Nordstrom. She was heartbroken. I was enraged (over a combination of things, not just the shoes).

When I got to the store I sat in the kids shoe department by the fish tank and sobbed. I was an absolute mess. In my mind I knew what a horrible mom I was for doing what I did and I knew that under any other circumstances I never would have broken my daughters heart for such a lame reason. Adelaide had wanted those shoes for so long I can't even remember how long she had been asking for them. Every time she saw the commercial on TV she would tell me how much she wanted them because she knew they would make her run fast.

I sat by that fish tank for almost an hour trying to compose myself. I had to talk myself into some sort of reality. I was finally able to take a chill pill and instead of returning them like I was determined to do, I turned around and gave them back to her. I've never seen her so happy, and I was relieved that I still had some sort of rationality left in my body.

She loves them so much she insisted on wearing them to bed last night. And even though everything in my body said no way, she went to bed happy with her shoes on her feet.

Nothing For Me, Thanks

2010-05-06T12:29:00.003-07:00

Now with Reggie warmly accustomed to his post-uterus lifestyle, and Captain America safely home from the animal shelter (ninety-two dollars thank you very much) it's time for some decisions.

One of them needs to get circumcised and the other neutered.Decisions, decisions.

Reggie

2010-04-28T10:08:00.005-07:00

Reggie Price Saunders
Born 26 APR 2010
7 lbs 4 oz / 20 inches
Mommy and baby are doing just fine and are home.
Adelaide loves having her new "baby brother".
Daddy is handsome.

PS- Anyone seen our dog? Captain America was last seen Sunday. If you've seen him or have him let us know. We will bring you his dog house, food and water bowls, and any food we have left. He enjoys walks and swimming, and fetch. Probably needs new shots. Has six years of an un-neutered life style.

39 Weeks, 2 Days

2010-04-23T14:49:00.003-07:00

The next picture you see will be of our little Reggie. If he doesn't come before Monday, that will be the day I'm induced. I can't even believe it. This pregnancy has gone by so fast and it was a piece of cake compared to my pregnancy with Adelaide. I'm hoping the labor and delivery will go as smoothly as it did with her.

We have waited for this day for so long. I can't believe how blessed we are to have a second child, seriously. It isn't something that I take for granted. Adelaide came so easily and was our first pregnancy. Reggie is another story, our second child and 6th pregnancy. I truly can't wait to see him and hold him in my arms and tell him how long we've waited and how hard we tried to get him here. We truly are blessed to have these two children in our lives. Man, am I feeling a bit emotional or what?

It's crazy to look back at where I've come from and where I've ended up. Sometimes I think that I'm not worthy enough to have ended up in such a wonderful place. There really isn't anything more important or better in the world than family. Once again I have to say that I am blessed, so blessed to be where I am today and to have the wonderful opportunities that I have in this life. I am so excited for Monday and excited for the many days to come. Life is good.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-06T21:27:00.004-07:00

We had a great, very busy weekend. First of all, my baby shower was on Saturday and it was awesome! Thanks to mom and Anna for putting it together, I had a fabulous time and received some very needed items for our baby boy. Here's another belly shot for ya'll:

I'm not a fan of games at showers but Anna came up with a super-rad idea for an activity; we made tie-dyed onesies. They were so easy to make and they all turned out so cute. Good job everyone!

Sunday was the annual Liechty Easter Egg Hunt. I feel like I just posted about this last year and now it's time for it again. Crazy!

The kids all had a great time, we loved the company and the food was excellent, of course!

My mom gave Addie and Sophie matching Easter jammies which they loved. They looked adorable as always.

Easter came and went so fast. Now let's hope that the weather looks up and the snow leaves us just as quickly. I'm ready for some sunshine!

Spring!

2010-03-28T18:19:00.005-07:00

Because next Sunday is General Conference and Easter, we realized we had to dress up for Easter today. Adelaide was so excited because she finally got to wear her new orange shoes. We went shopping yesterday for a new dress to match and she was THRILLED to get dressed up for church. I had to take her outside for a photo shoot and this picture was my favorite. She's so pretty:)

It was a gorgeous day and it finally feels like spring. I am such a happy girl.

5 To Go

2010-03-24T08:28:00.001-07:00

It's funny how five weeks can feel like an eternity, yet feel like it's flying by at the same time.

Yee-haw!

2010-03-21T21:28:00.002-07:00

Megan took me and her dad to Toys R Us.

Thanks Megan!

It's Just Weird (a post by davey)

2010-03-16T10:42:00.012-07:00

What have I been up to?
I prefer to lay low, but
I feel lately, that the
World is not going to let me.

First, I found out that my brother has all but driven the government to my doorstep to let them know where I am. I have been off their radar for some time now. But Gary said he was going to China on vacation and wanted to use me as his emergency contact. Come to find out later, when one goes to China, one registers their emergency contact with our federal government. *Blip* Just like that I was back on their radar. Seeing how I have now emerged and the Feds are going to want back taxes, a census report, and other such nonsensical things from me, I might as well give you all full disclosure. (By the way, Gary's trip to China? Mysteriously canceled once my information was received . . ..)Second, with us moving probably this summer and Reggie "Run-Run" just six weeks away, our house is constantly shifting from mess (that's when we pull everything out and go through it and then repack it) to sparkling (that's when we have to show the house to passer-bys).

This is a photo of our old baby things, Addie's old clothes, and some extras that have all been stuffed into our spare unfinished bathroom. (Addie is NOT a part of the things we keep in that storage closet) And all this will be sorted, and set-up or re-stored and cleaned by our next home showing Thursday morning.

Third, still loving working at night and having my sunny days free to play with Adelaide while Megan finishes school, I sometimes get Addie into a good enough disposition to sing me some primary songs. In fact she is so used to singing them with me that when asked in gymnastics this week which song they should sing during one of their games (the usuals include "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "ABCs"), Addie screamed "Child of God".

Did you notice that the media tried to make a big deal about a 4.4 earthquake in Southern California this week? Really? 4.4? Southern California? The only people probably NOT talking about it are Southern Californians. Speaking of the media. Go "google" the video of Meridith (The Today Show) interviewing Kirk Cameron on the death of Corey Haim and watch Kirk's classy no-reaction when Meredith calls him, "Corey". Nice one.

And finally. Megan has six weeks to go. At her last doctor's appointment she finally weighed as much as she did when we got married (no, she wasn't pregnant). Not many people walk into the eighth month of pregnancy thinking, "Wow! NOW maybe I can finally fit into my wedding dress."

So yes, with fake China trips to give my information to the government, a house for sale, a son on the way, a non-earthquake in California, Kirk Cameron being called Corey, and Megan's incredible pregnancy tolerance levels, I am sensing something. I don't know what it is yet. But its going to be weird. And just in case you're not convinced, here's a profile shot of my belly (34 weeks into this pregnancy).

P.S. When I asked my Sunday School class full of 10 year-olds what love is, they responded,

"Lip to lip action."

There and Back Again

2010-03-05T13:58:00.003-07:00

Two weekends ago my dad took Adelaide and I to St. George to visit my sister Anna and her fam. You always imagine that the weather is going to be better than it is up here. That weekend it was not the case. Although, the company was great and it was so nice to hang out.

On our way home we drove through Zion. I only had my phone for pictures so these could have been even better, but I think the snow made everything look gorgeous. I'd never been there this time of year and I must say that I highly recommend it. It was pretty amazing.

I miss you guys.

Photographer in Training

2010-02-23T20:15:00.004-07:00

Last week on a dreary rainy day, we took Adelaide to Cabellas to look at the fish and animals. Adelaide has been obsessed with the camera and decided that she wanted to bring it. We let her go crazy and take pictures of whatever she wanted. Here are some of the results:

She had an awesome time and was so proud of herself. It's so fun to see her get excited and interested in things. I love it.

10 To Go

2010-02-17T09:18:00.003-07:00

30 weeks.
Check out that lovely lady hump.
I think we're going to have a big boy.
...as long as he's healthy he can be ten pounds for all I care. Well, maybe not ten pounds.

Smarty Pants

2010-02-09T20:37:00.002-07:00

I just discovered that Adelaide has figured out how to use photobooth.

Some pictures are kind of creepy.

Others are too cute.
She makes me smile.

Lucky 7

2010-02-01T11:57:00.001-07:00

I am lucky.
We put our house up for sale this last week, and aside from the many death threats from neighbors and friends, I am lucky to have so many close relationships that feel affected by our potential move. Its probably just an across town move but I know I am going to miss some folks. We've lived in this home just over six years. No break-ins, if you don't count the kid that stole our longboards out of our open garage. No fires if we exclude May's cooking experiments. And no floods if we are not considering Addie's sometimes 2 plus hour baths.
I am lucky.
Knowing what we know now about our ability to have children, Adelaide has been the greatest roll of the dice for us. Usually a blessing comes after much hardship. But she came before we even knew how hard it was going to be for us to have children. And so now we realize just how lucky we are to have this little girl. Sure, she thinks she's just another parent like Megan and me, trying our best to raise Captain to be a good dog. But could we have a child between Megan and myself with any less of a personality? And to know that we finally have a second little one ready to come and play with us in just a few months melts my heart.
I am lucky.
And so this is how I reflect on this day. To the day that seven years ago my bride and I entered the temple and walked out husband and wife. And to think that no matter what she tries to pull or how she tries to get out of it, she is mine forever, and I am hers. And so as we go through life's little steps and life's big steps, I am lucky be by her side. She's just as sweet as I need her to be and just as tough as she should be to be able to endure life with me. Many people have asked what that would be like. I'm sure one day she'll publish her memoirs.
"According to tests he IS all there, and yet..."
I am so lucky.
Last night, on our way to the Tree Room at the Sundance Resort for our anniversary dinner, we saw a giant moose stomping around in the snow. Ours was the only car at the time on the winding mountain road. He came down toward us and then had second thoughts and took off into the upper brush so swiftly it left us in awe of the great creature. He was beautiful. Then Megan turned to me and said, "Isn't it a good sign to see a moose?" Yes. Yes it is. I also call it luck.

Arrrr Matey

2010-01-23T20:51:00.004-07:00

We tried out Pirate Island tonight. It wasn't all that bad and the atmosphere was pretty fun.
Adelaide had a blast and now loves her grandpa because he supplied her with many arcade tickets for pirate attire.

I'd say that Davey even got into it.

Basketball Smuggler

2010-01-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

Time for another belly shot. I'm trying to keep better track this time around because I think I only took one picture of my belly when I was pregnant with Adelaide.

This marks 24 weeks, 5 days and counting.
I think I particularly like this picture because of how motherly and homemakerly I look in my pj's. There's nothing much hotter than that. I also like the added touch of the newly folded laundry on the couch.

Doesn't it look like a basketball under my shirt? Ok, maybe a bowling ball? I love it.

A 4 Year-Old's New Year

2010-01-01T01:33:00.006-07:00

Addie had her friend Ava come over tonight so the two of them could ring in the new year together. They munched on sweets, ate each other's dinners, watched Shrek, Wizard of Oz, Robin Hood and Peter Pan. They even set up a nice comfy bed on the couch during movie time. They were talking, screaming, laughing, crying. It was so loud the cops came by. I think. I'm not sure if they actually did or not because it was so loud IN the house I couldn't always hear the doorbell if it had been rung.

11:49pm

12:02am

I just wonder who had to be the one to fall asleep first so the other one could finally get some rest.

Hmm . . ..

CHRISTmas

2009-12-27T23:58:00.005-07:00

We had a really great Christmas this year. I don't know what it was exactly that made it better than other years, but I was happy and that's all that I know. We had a sleepover at our house with Anna, Steve, Sophie, Jessie, and my dad on Christmas eve. We ate too much and stayed up too late, but it was fun.

We made a gingerbread house on Christmas eve.

Adelaide opened her new pj's.

We gave Anna, Steve, and Jessie their dream present. What more could a person want than a zebra striped Snuggie? Unfortunately Anna and Steve will have to learn how to share theirs.

Sophie was a bit sad on Christmas day, not enough sleep I suppose. But, she did manage to sit on her new horse my dad gave her and enjoyed a delicious chocolate.

Addie and baby Pam enjoyed some cereal for breakfast with baby Pam's new high chair.

We spent the rest of the day at my grandma Liechty's house with my mom and the Liechty side of the fam. We had traditional hot cakes and other delicious food and enjoyed everyone's company. It was a really fabulous day. Thanks everyone!

Stumpy's Pounder

2009-12-19T12:17:00.004-07:00

If you are looking for a new Mom and Pop burger joint check out Stumpy's on Center street in Provo. We went there to satisfy Megan's recently surging craving for beef. Megan got the 1/4 pounder, but her dad got the double pictured here.

Believe it not it only took him a few minutes to finish it off.

The good news is he lived. Even more good news is he hasn't had to use the bathroom now for eight days.

Way to go Mike.

The Lights

2009-12-14T08:34:00.004-07:00

We made our annual visit to the lights at Temple Square last night.

It was a perfect night, not too cold. I look forward to this every year. We had a lot of fun.

We met up with Davey's cousins Stacey and Heidi, who we haven't seen for far too long.

Notice Adelaide can't help but "rock and roll" in every picture. I love it.

Are You Ready For This?

2009-12-08T15:55:00.002-07:00

We have the makings of a
Boy!

Would You Like To Hear A Story?

2009-12-02T16:07:00.006-07:00

We have a story, maybe it's more of a secret because some of you don't know. I haven't been the best blogger lately but I did manage to write about gratitude on my other blog. I mention the post on gratitude because being grateful for whatever comes my way has been a huge part of my life. I am not lacking in the gratitude department, no I am not.

Maybe some of you recall this post I wrote just over a year ago (also on my other blog). It was not a pleasant story to write, there was too much heartbreak and sadness going on there. But, I can't deny those feelings of loss and sadness. Since then, I have taken to loving the things that I have in my life, every teeny, tiny thing. I realize just how bad life can actually be and man, I do not have it bad.

We've been busy around here since August. Davey has become a work-aholic so I could quit my job and go back to school full-time. Adelaide is growing at a massive speed, mentally and physically, and we're really just trying to keep up with her. I started school (again) and have tried to give as much time to Adelaide as I can in the midst of homework and not feeling super hot. Why am I not feeling so hot you ask? Well, I think I have something wrong (or right) going on with my stomach. I felt gross, threw up once, have acted pretty witchy, spent hours laying on the couch, and now my stomach is poking out. I think I remember feeling like this about five years ago (but way worse) and six months after that Adelaide was born. Kind of crazy, don't you think?

Davey and I decided to ask the doctor about possible answers to my dilemma. He said that something happened about 19 weeks ago, next week we have to find out something about a boy or a girl, and then on or about April 28th we should have a final answer.

I don't know what could be going on here, what do you think?

New Moon

2009-11-21T13:39:00.006-07:00

I took Megan out on a date this morning. A date in the morning? Yes, a date in the morning. I wanted to surprise her and take her to see the new vampire movie, "New Moon". What husband voluntarily takes his wife to that movie? This one.

But the only way for me to minimize the number of cape-wearing, fanged-teeth, pale-skinned old women in love with and fantasizing about 17 year-old boys is to stay away from any of the local bars. But another good way is to go to any early morning screening of the latest vampire movie, while all the creepy cougars are still at home "putting their faces on".

But I will leave the official movie review for Megan.

What I want to talk about is babysitting. My brothers and Megan's dad are our tag team crew of male chaperons. These three bachelors shoulder the load of tending Adelaide based on whoever is at that time pissing us off the least and doesn't have a date. This morning while Megan's dad is at the temple and Kip is in the middle of his sleeping until one in the afternoon, it fell to Randy.

In all fairness, Addie torments her babysitters. She is a nonstop train of energy, laughs, and games. She is the boss when they show up and both her and the babysitter know it. So when we get home from our outings its always nervous to look around the house searching for survivors, i.e. the babysitters.

This is what we found today.

Addie's room.

The spare bedroom.

Our room.

I found this on Randy's phone.

Addie, her toilet seat, Captain, the bathroom, the toilet.

Thanks anyway Randy.

HOCKEY

2009-11-16T13:38:00.002-07:00

We attended our first Grizzlies game of the year. The shocker was, they actually won. We can't remember the last time we went to see the Grizzlies where they won a game. The fights were awesome too. You know why you go to hockey games, right? The fights. Oh, and the cotton candy, and the kettle corn.

The Two-Wheeler (or 4)

2009-11-09T15:39:00.003-07:00

This video makes me laugh. She loves her new bike so much.
I'm glad the weather has been nice enough that she can ride it.

Halloween

2009-11-02T08:27:00.005-07:00

How many dogs are in this picture?

Friday was our wards trunk or treat. Davey stayed close to the hulk. He was afraid.

We had doughnut eating contests.

Adelaide even played along.

Saturday night we went to the Grandview neighborhood with the Tuellers and the Shupes to trick or treat. I think the kids made out pretty well. It was the first time we took Adelaide trick or treating and she loved it!

Saturday

2009-10-26T07:36:00.004-07:00

Saturday was Davey's birthday. We've had so much cake lately that I decided to make my homemade scrumptious brownies instead. Delicious.
On that same Saturday, Adelaide had a Halloween party at her gym. She was excited to wear her costume (she wears roller skates too).

On that exact same evening, Stacy scored us some tickets to a haunted house.
We enjoyed some sushi, fear, and the delicious brownies.
It was a good day.