Well, laugh

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T11:10:00.000-06:00

We got our Halloween on Friday morning because the girls had their school party.

Here is the elegant Isobel in her cape...

and FANGS!

Mild-mannered Eva...

or LITTLE DEVIL?

(By the way, she did the mustache and goatee because of Francis on Pee Wee's Big Adventure)

This is the shirt I am wearing today. I thought it would go well with Isobel's costume :)

(On Saturday, I dressed up as Maw Maw from Raising Hope)

We are getting moved into our house more and more. Bryce told me that he wouldn't move the cedar chest again (because it's SO heavy). So last night I took out half of it's contents and moved it myself. You can see where I slid it across the carpet. I get the late night busies when I look around my house and think of all that needs to be done. This morning, before I started working, I hemmed 5 curtains and hung them. Basically my life consists of: little sleep, trying to put things away and clean up, trying to fit in some work, and being kinda snippy. Hopefully the snippy will wear off.

I am SO looking forward to a little me time in Utah in 17 days! :)

Little things

2011-09-30T18:34:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture journal of the last couple months - not really in chronological order.

Beware of graphic pictures of Eva's gums ;)

Eva had me pull out her front tooth.

And had to show you all the "hole".

Few weeks later SHE pulled out the other one at school. Can you tell she's excited?

Here they come!

Isobel asked me to highlight her hair.

It turned out great! (if I do say so myself ;)

Eva got left in the bath a little ...

a LOT too long!

I had to get "31 flavors" for my 31st birthday :)

(the cones on top are Bryce's, Eva's, and Isobel's favorites - I got the whole cake ;)

My family gave me hot curlers for my birthday so I tried 'em out. Look at all that hair!

Oh, and on a side note: we are buying a house next week ;)

Happy Birthday Eva! (and school fun)

2011-05-09T21:12:00.000-06:00

Here is the apron I made from a pattern I found online - with modifications.

Find the pattern HERE

Isobel and I picked out the fabric - the apron was her idea. Ya, it's reversible.

Eva wearing the apron on her birthday. She picked fudge-cicles as her treat - see it on her face?

It was crazy hair day at school last week. Isobel really worked hard on picking the RIGHT crazy hair. The girls had to get up early to tell me what they wanted. I think they look cute :)

Isobel had a choir concert and 3rd grade music performance ON Eva's birthday. I tried to up load the video of her singing La Bamba - but it didn't work. Maybe I can get it on facebook...

Anyway - fun, BUSY week.

Weekend of Firsts

2011-04-26T23:07:00.002-06:00

Guest blogger Share here. Just thought I'd update some of the pics I took from my weekend a couple weeks ago.

Bryce ran his first half marathon (the Albuquerque Half) on April 16th and completed it in a fantastic 2:04:22! He was a little worried about his knee, when it started to give him real pain a couple days before the race...but after much heat, ice and ibuprofen, that knee was able to pull thru and go the distance. Way to go Bryce, I know Bets is very proud of you!

Another first....Eva's bangs were tickling her nostrils, so Bettie got up the courage to give her first cut. I'd say she did a pretty bang up job. Of course, it's hard for Eva to not be cute...so what can you do.

what to do if you think it takes too long to shower

2011-04-04T20:41:00.001-06:00

Cut your hair!

Isobel and I have been arguing alot about her showering. Turns out, she hates washing her hair.

I suggested she cut it. She had two requirements:

1) It had to be shorter - therefore easier to wash and brush

2) She wanted to be able to tuck it behind her ears

The answer: an A-Line. $18 and an hour later, I had one happy girl.

(Oh, and she happily took a shower when she got home :D)

What it's like having 6 kids...

2011-03-22T22:05:00.001-06:00

Well, I don't REALLY know - but we did have 6 kids here over the weekend. Gordon and Katie got to go to New Orleans for something or other and we got to watch their kids. Lily and Eve stayed with friends Sunday night and Monday night because they have school to go to. I will say that I was amazed to get all the kids to church on time and looking good. Not all of us got baths - so I'm sure that's why :)

You have to wash a lot of dishes when you have 8 people in the house. We ran the dishwasher at least daily - just to have enough for each meal. No wonder Mom owns so many sets of dishes ;)

Here are some of the cute things:

Grant wearing Isobel's fake glasses around

Abigail asking Bryce to make pancakes with her for lunch

Love the aprons!

Abigail running up to us saying, "I love you!" and giving a hug.

Watching Lily take care of her baby brother. And him signing "drink" to her. (I never could get him to sign for me - must be because I'm a stranger - or I'm stranger...)

Some things I forgot about having a toddler in the house:

1. Things disappear. Little hands pick them up and wander and put them down. It's like a mini Bryce - but when he puts things down it's at least at my eye level ;) Point is - I've lost my workout DVD and my cover for my IPOD...

2. If something stinks, it needs changing. We all have gas now and then - so Isobel and Eva kept asking Bryce if he was stinky - no - it was Grant. Bryce did ALL the dirty work. Good man.

3. Communication is the key. When my girls are crying - they can tell me why. Even if it's illogical - which it usually is with us girls - they can tell me what the deal is. With a toddler, they just cry and you guess - usually incorrectly - at what they might want. I guess it's easier with your own kids.

4. Someone has to be home with the kids. Karen called to ask me to go to Kohl's and I said I had to wait til Bryce got back from running...right...someone needs to be with the kids.

5. Ground up food in the carpet. Cheerios, crackers, you name it. If it fell to the floor in the kitchen and you didn't sweep it up, chances are, it will make it's way (in tiny hands) to the living room and there stay.

I'm sure there are many more things that I've already forgotten - these are the most noticable ones. I really did enjoy having G's kids here - and sending them back home tonight. Some of the little cute moments made me miss having little babies...and then I'd smell a diaper or listen to whinning...

I love my daughters and I am loving the stage of life they are in. I think that each stage is like that. Comes with some really sweet things and some really stinky things. That's how we get through life, right? We try to focus on the things we are grateful for, and we will enjoy each stage. Thanks for the lesson, kids! Love you!

Spring Break

2011-03-22T21:45:00.000-06:00

Some people on the Santa Fe school board thought that it would be good to have spring break March 7-11. I am guessing it's so people can get away from the Juniper/Cedar allergies. I did. We went to Las Vegas, NV - Bryce had a training for FedEx and I wanted to hang out with Susan :D Normally, we go camping in Moab for spring break, but it early March - you can bet it will snow. So we stayed south. The weather was wonderful, the activities were enjoyable, and the company was fabulous! Don't know why I didn't take pictures...hmm. Susan?

We got to have dinner at my cousin Vanessa's house - Yum - thank you! And we even got a suprise sleepover with Lantz and Thessa on their way north. Not to mention all of Susan's family coming for the baptism. So many people to see - it was almost like visiting Utah :D

We decided to take more time on the drive home. We stopped on the new bridge by the Hoover Dam and walked across. The sun was starting to get lower and it made fun shadows.

Here's Bryce looking over...carefully. It's really far down.

Isobel's enjoying it - or is just cute ;)

Bryce is explaing to Eva how the Dam works and she is asking questions.

I wanted a picture of everyone with the dam - but the girls couldn't climb on the railing when we were closer to the middle of the bridge - too scary (for Bryce).

Aren't we CUTE?!

Then Eva insisted on taking a picture of us - well, it was really windy. No, my teeth are not brown, that's my hair in my mouth. Lovely.

The rest of the way home was fun, too. We stayed at a hotel with a pool because the girls wanted to swim and there weren't any pools open in LV. Then we drove the loop around Sunset Crater Volcano and Waputki National Monuments. We stopped to have a picnic lunch at Walnut Canyon National Monument. Then we drove down to Holbrook to drive up through the Petrified Forest National Park. We went on the "Long Logs" trail - which is said to be the most concentrated petrified wood in the park - and did the 1/2 mile loop hike. (Our annual National Park pass expires in April - so we tried to make the most of it ;) Then we stopped in Gallup for dinner and drove on home.

It was a great break from work, school, and allergies. Thanks, Susan, for entertaining us!

Happy Anniversary -ish! :D

2011-03-22T21:22:00.000-06:00

Happy "we've-been-married-for-11-years" Day!

It was funny, because one day, Karen was given free daffodils at the grocery store and HAD to give them to me, since I love them so. Well, they were on my desk and I noticed this wedding pic of us and so I put them together. I don't know if you know this - or remember - but I brought Bryce daffodils when we first started dating. He put them in a little water cup and carried them around campus all day. They were so bright and yellow. They are one of the first flowers in the spring and I love that they are so bright - promising sunny days after the dreary winter months. So we had daffodils for our wedding flowers - and daisies - obviously.

On Tues March 1st - our kinda anniversary - Bryce stopped at the store on his way home and asked me to go out to the car to help bring in some of the stuff. There was a bunch of daisies and phish food sitting on the seat. :) I love daisies - hence the signature. One of our dates in college consisited of us buying phish food at Smith's, getting plastic spoons from the food place, and sitting out on the bench in front of the store eating ice cream. Yum! So I put these flowers by our engagement picture - see the daisies in the pic?

Then we tried to get Isobel to take a quick pic of us reinacting the engagement pic. Mistake. She couldn't hold it down long enough to flash, she got Harry Potter in the background, and my butt. All I wanted was our torsos. Anyway, by the time she got a half-decent picture taken, Bryce was done. I practically had to twist his arm just to get a couple shots at it. He hates having his picture taken.

Anyway, here we are - 11 years later and still pretty darn cute ;)

Next year we get a REAL anninversary!

Feb 29, 2012 = Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

Isobel is an "APRIL"zing speller!

2010-12-15T16:03:00.001-07:00

When ever I tell Isobel that she's amazing - she says, "no I'm not, Eva's aMAYzing - I'm an APRILzing." Little sassy, eh? Well, whatever she is - she's fabulous! We've been studying for the spelling bee every spare minute since we found out about the bee last week. Isobel really suprised me how well she could spell some of these big words - some of which I couldn't even pronounce. There were many she struggled with, but she kept working at it - with her daddy's help - and she improved. So, today was the big spelling bee at the school. I had a work appointment and Eva was sick so we couldn't figure out how we'd get there - but I pushed my appointment back and we brought Eva with us anyway. All my work stuff moved out of my way so I could stay for the entire thing.

Isobel was #5 of 26 kids - third through fifth grade - to get up to spell. She was SO cute sitting there. She would smile at people, give the other kids high-fives when they got out, and try to spell all the words (which I signed to her to stop doing - I love communicating across the room ;). When she would get up in line to wait for her turn, she would turn circles, dance a bit, and smile at everyone. After the first round, she was one of 10 kids left. Then she was one of five kids. Out of nowhere there were only 2 girls left: Isobel and a really tall 5th grade girl. (Isobel is in 3rd grade - if you didn't know.) The two of them where neck and neck - taking turns spelling word after word. It was intense, I tell you. I seriously had butterflies in my stomach. Oh, and Isobel's teacher couldn't believe that Isobel wasn't writing the words down - she would just do it in her head. (the other girl wrote them all down first) Then the other girl spelled a word wrong but was still in - then Isobel spelled one right and missed the next one. It could have gone on forever. Then, when the other girl messed up again and Isobel spelled a word right - SHE WON! (Karen got it all on video - maybe I'll get it on here if anyone is interested.) I couldn't believe it! She did so well and was so cute. I'm so proud of her and all the hard work she put into it!

Doesn't she look proud of herself? She got a trophy and everything! Now...we have the county spelling bee to study for on January 26th - just after getting back from Utah. I'm sure when we visit - she'll be asking many of you to quiz her - I hope you will :)

On a side note, I've been doing some decorating. This is BIG for me. I never decorate and I'm kinda affraid to do it. But here are the new additions to my entry way and livingroom. I hope you like them as much as I do :)

I had to leave the TV in this picture to show how big these pictures are - they're as big as the TV! 16x20 big faces of my beautiful girls :D

The Latest

2010-12-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun Thanksgiving with G & KT's family and Karen & Kyle's family. Isobel decided to make a robot body from a box. After everyone left, she took a nap in it :) Guess she was worn out, too.

Eva lost another tooth - finally! This was hangin on forever and she finally let me pull it.

The biggest news to the girls, they got their ears pierced on Saturday. It was funny because we had planned to spend the day chopping down a tree but Bryce forgot to get a permit AND Eva kept protesting. "I don't want to hurt nature!" Bryce was sure she must have heard that at school but she denies it :) Our day was open and Lily had just gotten her ears pierced so we were talking about it. I told Isobel a couple years ago that she could get it done when she was 8 years old. She said I scared her when I explained how it was done. So I re-explained it and that she would be fine if she wanted to do it - she likes shots afterall. So then we thought it might be fun for them to do it the same day - Isobel was ok with sharing the experience with Eva. Then on a whim I texted Karen to see if she and Courtney wanted to join. So we made our way to Claire's in the mall.

Pre-peircing purple dot.

Post-peircing saphire. (I love that she picked my birthstone. I, too, think it is a great one :)

Eva was next and READY.

Oh, and she loves her little blue daisy earrings!

Courtney decided she wanted to do it and then was super scared. (That is why Karen thought watching my girls brave it first would help. Courtney HATES shots.) After the girls were done. So cute!

While in Claire's, I couldn't help but try on my own accessory :) No, I didn't buy it.

That's the biggest news of the last week or so. We are getting super excited for family to come visit before Christmas! Then we'll be off to Utah for a week in January. So many fun things to look forward to. :)

My New Camera!

2010-11-01T21:55:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to me! Colette got me a super cute orange camera for my birthday - so I can finally take pictures that don't have a pink border. Here is a visual of what's been happening :)
(Note: our pictures in Tucson are on Facebook - and pictures of my trip to Forks, WA.)

Eva dressed herself ;) I think it's SO funny that she pulls her pants up so high!

She asked me to pull out her first tooth! She was so sad it didn't fall out it Tucson with everyone around.

She dressed up like pizza for the school Halloween party. She wore a red shirt and tan pants - sauce and crust. (I got this for $4 at Old Navy in Tucson - thanks for shopping with me girls!) But she had to be something else for the Halloween party at the church - she didn't like being called "pizza girl" all day.

Here we are - ready for the party. Eva is a ballerina cat, Isobel is Pocahontas, and I am...can you guess?

Here's a clue - I'm not a princess. Please try to guess first - I wonder how smart you are.

Look at my beautiful girls! They found a caterpillar to play with and wanted their picture with it - of course!

So, how do you like my new camera?

Eva catches up

2010-08-28T08:57:00.000-06:00

Eva could not be long out done by her sister. (That and Eva had a really crappy old plastic-wheeled bike that both Isobel and Eva rode when they were little.)

So just six days later, we got Eva a bike and taught her to ride - in just about as much time as it took Isobel to learn.

(The video is a bit shakey because I was trying to stay close to her so you could see.)

By the end of about an hour Eva was already figuring out how to get herself started.

As you can see, she is SO PROUD of herself! (as she should be)

My kids are growing up...

2010-08-23T17:17:00.001-06:00

Isobel has had this bike for years (we bought it before we left Logan).

Saturday, she was tall enough (and determined) to ride it. It only took a few tries.

(By the way - I hate uploading videos. So, one of them should work-they're the same.)

Isobel and Eva started school today. Eva got a shock when she found out that she has the same teacher and classroom as last year! But she was assured that this WAS in fact, FIRST GRADE.

(Eva has a funny face because she's tickling Isobel' neck.)

Well, they might not seem like BIG/TALL kids, but they are growing up. Even if Courtney is a good head taller than Isobel - and yet the same age - they are getting bigger.

I sure do love these girls.

School clothes

2010-08-07T10:11:00.002-06:00

Eva and I went shopping for school clothes yesterday. They have to wear uniforms here in Santa Fe. As she was trying on a polo shirt, she said, "I LOVE collars on shirts because it's like, MORE SHIRT - AND YOU CAN FOLD IT!"

I'm glad she's excited to wear uniforms again ;)

Our "Date" to the Valle

2010-07-16T16:29:00.000-06:00

So, Bryce and I took a drive last Saturday up to "The Valle" aka Valle Vidal. I had never been up there but heard that it was beautiful. We were driving along after seening the camp host and just finding our way back home. It had rained a bit and then...we saw the END of the rainbow!

Can you see where it comes down to the ground? It was hard to capture on camera - but there it is. They were right, the Valle IS beautiful!

It was so bright. I couldn't believe how lovely it all was.

Bryce and I had to get back to try to see the whole thing at once, but this was as good as I got.

Can you see the double rainbow?

I am very grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who shows his love for us in many ways - but especially in the beautiful things of this world. He wanted me to see this and know I'm loved. It's been very nice to spend this time with my husband - though I miss my girls SO much!

Pinkish hair

2010-06-05T11:59:00.004-06:00

I have lost some interest in posting. I don't know why. I think it may be because I'm not sure anyone really cares to see my blog and it seems like too much work. But, I wanted you to see some of the changes going on around here.

Now I remember why I don't like to do this. It gives me fits when I try to upload pictures and that eats up all my time. Argh.

Well, I added one pic before it decided to not do ANY more pics. Here's Eva's faded pink hair as of this morning. Sheesh.

stop-sign-red hair

2010-05-04T21:29:00.004-06:00

Eva asked for ONE thing for her birthday...stop-sign-red hair. Here's her happy "justcoloredmyhair" face. Then enjoy the process in pictures :)

It was super fun. She was so happy about it all night. Per her request, we went to McD's and invited some good friends and then went to BR. She then said she wanted a "6" candle and asked us to ask Karen if she had one - she did. Amazing. So we went over to the Sheffers and sang to her. What a fun girl.

Happy Birthday, Eva Ruthie! We love you :D

She's Crafty!

2010-03-20T21:34:00.003-06:00

I woke up this morning feelin' crafty. I really wanted to make something. So...I started looking at fabric I have and I noticed a quilt top made of ties. Ooooh. So then I googled how to make a skirt out of neckties and raided Bryces ties - with his permission of course. And this is what I got:
Front View:Back View:Me trying on the finished product just after running:

And this is how it hangs. So cute, fun, random, and CRAFTY!

Special thanks to Lantz, (Elder) Blake Thomas, and of course, my Bryce. Without you, none of this would have been possible :)

Videos ;)

2010-03-15T22:30:00.003-06:00

So, apparently when they updated the new blogger editor, they left off the video icon button. Oops. I had to switch back to the "old" version to upload videos.

So here is Isobel being the Big Bad Wolf in her play...AND raving about grinding wheat. (Sorry about filming sideways...and my camera is dying so the color has issues.)

I AM THE Mormon Mom

2010-03-15T21:55:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling super domestic.

On Thursday, Isobel and I went shopping to buy fabric so I could make her a dress for her baptism next month. She picked one of the dress patterns I had, she picked the perfect fabric, and helped me take out pins. I finished the dress Friday. (She wants it to be a suprise so I can't post a picture of it until after her baptism. Be patient.)

I made strawberry Jell-o (with peaches in it) to go with dinner last night.

Tonight we had Family Home Evening (which we haven't had for a while) and I was in charge of the activity. I told the girls it was a suprise. When it was time I said, "we're gonna grind wheat!" They looked at me in disbelief. "It's gonna be fun!" I said. So I got out the new grinder I got for Christmas in 2008 (that was still unopened) and cut open a bag of wheat. Once we started grinding, the girls were having so much fun! Bryce asked how much flour we needed for bread or something. I had just seen a recipe in The Friend for simple cookies with cranberries in them (which I happened to have) and so we made those. Isobel RAVED about the grinding "activity" - she had to do an infomercial on camera. (Which, by the way, if anyone knows how to upload videos, PLEASE tell me. There used to be a button here on blogger but now there isn't. I need help. I've got great video of Isobel in her play, too.)

The cookies were a bit gritty because the wheat wasn't really fine, but they taste good and they have WHOLE WHEAT in them :) ...that and a cube of butter. ;)

February - where did it go?

2010-03-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Bryce turned 35, Isobel performed as the Big Bad Wolf in her class play of Little Red Riding Hood, and we celebrated 10 years of marriage. Whew! Busy month.

New Glasses

2010-02-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

I know - I post about my glasses breaking in November and hardly anything since. So it's obviously a big deal that I finally got new glasses. I took some pics of myself today just for you, Colette :)

And the side view...

They are brown this time around - but really dark brown. And yes, the sides do have a little round hole with a little bling in it. The sides also have cut out circles. Isobel said, "Oh, Mom! They are perfect for you!"

"Why, Isobel?"

"Because you love circles!"

"How do you know?"

"Because you like to pick paper with circles on it."

"It's true. I do love circles. Thanks, Isobel!"

I love Utah in the Wintertime

2010-01-29T18:16:00.001-07:00

The third week of January is quite the vacation for us. Bryce HAS to go to the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake every year. Therefore, we have to take a week off and go play with him :)

What a fun, busy time we had. Friday night/Saturday morning we arrived at Lara's at 2am to find beds made and mints on our pillows :). Saturday I spent with Lara, Sharece, and Lisa while Bryce went backcountry skiing with Vince and cousins. Saturday night we made it to Ma and Pa's in Idaho. Sunday we ate super good food at Ma and Pa's with Shonda and Craig - thanks for bringing your games! Monday we went to the infamous Arctic Circle, Ma and I went shopping a little, and then we headed to Hyrum to see some more Petersens. Tuesday we went for a hike in the snow and Polly and I did a bit of shopping. Wednesday I went snowboarding in TONS of powder with Michelle at Powder Mountain. I must admit, Utah truely has THE GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH! It was heavenly! (Bryce was across the canyon at Snow Basin trying out new gear.) Thursday Ken, Bryce, and I went to the OR show all day. Boy did I get the hook up on loot. I think I'm getting better at this. Oh, and for added fun, I bought a Go Girl. (If you are embarassed by feminine products, don't click on the link. But don't worry, it's not graphic.) I am totally excited to try it out. Thursday night I went to play with Share, Irene, and friends. (See Share's blog for details.) I stayed with Share Thursday night and Friday and Bryce went back to be with the girls and his family. On Friday, we shopped, ate at In-N-Out, and just had as much fun as we always do together. Oh, and she made me go to Boot Camp class with her - it was so hard. I was so proud of myself for being able to do as much as I did. Did I mention that I still couldn't walk from snowboarding? The squats were killing me! Saturday Share and I had the girls while Bryce went Skiing with Vince again. We went to Chick-fil-a and I ran into Brandy and Kathy - so random and fun. We went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and got to see Lisa for dinner and Sub Zero. (Share has a post on this too.) We got up early Sunday and stopped by Lara's on the way out (thanks for the sandwiches!) and stopped at a church in Price. We made it home by 10 pm - a sight better than 2 am :)

Random good news - my kids only missed 2 days of school the whole week. Monday was a holiday, Tuesday ended up being a snow day, and Friday was a teacher inservice. Sweet!

So - between working like crazy to be able to take 2 weeks off for Christmas, then having just two weeks after to catch up on work that was 2 months behind, THEN being off again for a week - I'm finally getting into some kind of groove. AND the good news is that I FINALLY got some new glasses this week :D

Christmas Past

2010-01-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning Isobel woke up at like 1:30am to go to the bathroom and came running in - "Santa's been here!" "Too bad, it's too early to be up for the day - go back to bed."

This is what our house looked like Christmas morning. I woke up at like 6 for some reason and had to wait for the girls to wake up. I sat in my office waiting to see movement in the girls' room ;) Ya, Bryce teased me for being a little girl who is too excited to sleep. (At first he thought I woke up because I heard the girls.)

The girls were happy to be awake and opening presents.

And now I know you are dying to know what I got in that huge box by the couch. Bryce did another BIG surprise (like my birthday bike last year). Here's the beauty:

I just had to try it out - and it worked - cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookies - yum!

Just a few days after Christmas, Mom and Dad came for a visit for their anniversary and some killer burgers at Bobcat Bite :) See how happy my kids are to see them!

We had fun with G, KT, Hannah, and Will on Christmas evening/night. They came back up for New Year's and we played games and went sledding. Overall, it was a lovely holiday and I don't want to admit it's so far gone. Maybe that's why my tree is still up...

Tragedy!

2009-11-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

This morning I was cleaning my glasses and...

NO!!!

I have had these glasses for 8 years and the prescription is still perfect. Guess the frames couldn't hold out. The big bummer is that my insurance won't cover glasses until January...
I'm wearing contacts. My eyes are dry. My vision is a bit blurry (like this picture). My contacts have never been as good as my glasses.

Isobel was so sad for me when she saw them after school -"It'll be okay, Sweetie --whoa. I sound like I'm your mother -heh."

Super glue didn't work. I am seriously considering some masking tape.
Wish I could call Hermione to fix them - repairo!

Happy Halloween! (Day 31)

2009-11-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

Isobel decided ages ago to dress as Princess Mononoke and I decided to go with one of my old costumes -Captain Underpants! Eva was an elephant at school but decided to be Piglet for Halloween. Aren't we so cute?

(I had to take the picture myself on the timer because Bryce was driving back from AZ with G.)

Several people seemed quite moved by my costume - one woman had to take a picture with her phone - one feld inclined to give me a wedgie - it was mentioned in Sunday School the next day - and when I taught Relief Society, one of the sisters told me she can't look at me the same way. Right on!

Apparently the other best costume was Captain Jack Sparrow - I guess the Captain thing was a good idea ;)

It was great - he had the swagger and everything.

We had ZERO trick-or-treaters - good thing we gave out candy at the trunk-or-treat at the church. Did I mention there was a carnival at the church? Anyway - we still have tons of candy. Dangit!

Hope your Halloween was fun, too!

Week 4

2009-10-31T07:23:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I lied about doing 8 days this week. I decided to do Halloween as it's own post because it's easy. So, here we go. Day 24: We kinda just hung out on Saturday, can you tell?

Day 25: We had the Sheffers and the Jensens over for dinner and games. I love it when we get to use the whole big table. I love this table. (We don't have enough matching chairs - good thing we still have a few nasty gold ones ;)

Day 26: We woke up Monday to snow. This was my first view of it. Beautiful!

Day 27: Bryce and I went to see Built to Spill. It was so fun - and cold. It was a indoor venue so I assumed it would be warm. We left our coats in the car. They had a "no re-entry" policy. Good thing I was wearing long sleeves at least - I was still cold.

Day 28: I love good sweaters. It's hard to take a picutre of yourself in a sweater without looking chubby. Oh, well. I love the bright orange stripes and the long sleeves. It's super fuzzy and warm.

Day 29: Share recommended Bleak House ages ago...I was putting it off because it's very long - but it's split into episodes. Bryce and I started watching and had to keep watching thru 4 episodes until it was 12:30 and we HAD to go to bed. Oh, man. It's good. Check it out on Netflix instant play. You won't be sorry.

Day 30: Last night we carved pumpkins with our friends the Summerfields. Isobel and Eva drew the faces on and Erica and I cut them out. (Isobel's pumpkin has 3 faces - hers is the little one)

We've had a fun week and fun plans for tonight! I'll show you pics of our costumes and such later.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Week 3

2009-10-23T09:35:00.004-06:00

This week has 8 days in celebration of the Sheffer's new Beatles Rock band Wii game :D Day 16 - Bryce was so kind to help me load my stuff in the car - but he accidently caught his eye on the corner of the door. Love hurts.

Day 17 - Saturday I got up early with a list of things to do. On the top of the list was to hang a curtain on the front window. The one I bought was too big and too dark. So I found some scraps and sewed this one. I had about 5 inches of thread left on the bobin when I was done. Whew!

Day 18 - Happy Birthday, Kyle! We played games with the Sheffers.

Day 19 - Monday Karen watched the girls while I went to class. Bryce was camping. The girls LOVED Beatles rock band. Isobel got pretty good. Eva loved singing Yellow Submarine ;)

Day 20 - Tuesday I drove to Las Vegas, NM. I am loving the fall colors - tho I miss Sardine Canyon.

Day 21 - I drove north again. I was snowing this morning. This mountain was still getting hit. I can't wait for snow!

Day 22 - Karen won this and shared it with me. Took me 2 hours to get it downloaded. I need to get my computer updated and cleaned up.

Day 23 - Look what Karen did to my hair! It was her first time coloring and it was fun to have a change. I hate the growing out phase.

Next week will be eight days, too. Can you hardly wait? I wonder what I'll have pictures of...road, car, tree, kids...I'm so predictable :)

Week 2

2009-10-16T09:27:00.004-06:00

Alright. I have tried twice to post this and blogger was having issues. SO sorry it's late - and not particularly accurate - but here was my second week of picture taking.Day 8 - I had to sneak away Thursay evening to see if they had some super fun running shorts at the Nike outlet - oh yes they did!Day 9 - I stopped by Target with Karen and I found this bag I had been eyeing for a while - now on clearance for $2.50 - wahoo! Bryce asked me, "how many bags do you have?" Don't ask.
Day 10 - we got up super early to warm our breakfast burritos (yum) and head for the ABQ International Balloon Fiesta. It was so packed. I vote not going on Saturday again (unless one of you come to visit and that is the only day you can come). It was a beautiful, cold morning. Perfect for balloons!

Day 11 - Sunday we got up early and drove home to go to church. But isn't sleeping Grant so cute? And I LOVE that chair!

Day 12 - Monday the girls were off so we took Colette and Dathan to Bandelier. Eva drew this great picture in the dirt of her standing next to the ladders. LOVE IT!

Day 13 - Tuesday I took Colette to see my scrapbook stuff at Karen's. She loved this one :D
Day 14 - I drove around for work and looked at the lovely trees. (This pic I actually took at Bandelier - but who cares, right?)

Day 15 - I drove up north for work. I saw many beautiful rocks. (Tho this one was taken a few days before ;)

Another good week. I like this game - even if I forget some of the days :)

Picture-A-Day: Week 1

2009-10-08T15:22:00.006-06:00

So I am doing this challenge Share suggested and taking a picture a day for the month of October. I've been slacking at posting them because I thought maybe I wouldn't. Then I thought, "why the heck not." So here is my first week. Day 1: It was so chilly October first that my wool socks were not warm enough to keep my toes toasty on their own - I needed my slippers. (Bryce gave them to my our first Christmas ;)

Day 2: Karen helped me solve my big office problem. I get pop-up sticky notes from my work, but I didn't have a way to help me know which end was sticky. I often wrote on them upside-down. I presented the problem to Karen and she had this ready solution. We made a dispenser. (And I spent lots of time at an office store this day ;)

Day 3: I cleaned my kitchen. It was such a mess I would get ill just walking into the room. You know when it gets to that TOO OVERWHELMING point and you just avoid it. That was me. Bryce left at 6:30am and I couldn't go back to sleep - so I cleaned all morning before conference.

(I ended up spending the rest of the day at Karen's making scrappy stuff - but I couldn't put all those pictures up. I was most proud of my kitchen. I cleaned the girls' bathroom, too.)

Day 4: We went to Albuquerque to watch conference with G's family and Mom. During the break, we walked to the temple and I took this pick with my phone. It was windy but nice.

Day 5: I left at the butt-crack-of-dawn to drive to Clayton - 3 1/2 hours from Santa Fe. Honestly, this is dawn. Lovely.

Day 6: I drove to Maxwell - it's 2 1/2 hours away. It was chilly and I drove a lot. This is the view of Wagon Mound I took while driving. Can you see the covered wagon?

Day 7: I went to Coyote - 2 hours away. Yes, I drive ALOT - incase you didn't already know. On the way I was taking pictures of the beautiful red rocks, yellow trees, and blue sky with big fluffy white clouds. I was taken by how beautiful it was. Then after visiting the family - I drove past their home. It burned down a couple weeks ago. They had been building it for 2 years, moved in all their stuff, and then lost it all. This picture reminds me of all I have to be grateful for.

I am liking this project. Thanks, Share. It is good for me to be on the look out for beauty/blessings everyday (and to document them).

Sew, Sew, Suck Your Toe

2009-10-07T23:01:00.003-06:00

Argh. I'm tired and this isn't working right. So this is a short post. Period.

When Devin came to visit - most of us got sick - not Devin's fault, of course ;) So when the rest of the family went to Carlsbad to see the bats, I stayed home and sewed.

Here is my super cute (and easy) skirt. It's white eyelet with black lining.And my terribly cute pj's with blue and green big buttons on a brown background. How me is this material? And how me are these expressions? My face is all red from the tissues...I'm so cute.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-09-16T12:04:00.002-06:00

Gosh! I'm 29!!! Hehehe. I got some fun presents from my friends. I had a little party at Karen's (thanks so much, you are the best!) with some friends. We made cards and ate cottage cakes (which are super yummy pancakes with cottage cheese in them - Karen has the recipe on her food blog) with Nutella and many other yummy things on them. So fattening! :D Then later that night Bryce and Eva made me my favorite...

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!!

Bryce made the little heart in the crust - he loves me!!!

We also had fried Ice Cream and yummy dinner. I am so spoiled!

On Sunday we played games and missed Gordon's family (they were a little busy with a new baby - and me with a cough - lame).

Anyway - the day was great - I love celebrating myself! :) Really, I love a party and people don't throw enough of them - so I have to come up with reasons to celebrate. Yeah, I'm 29!

All About Eva

2009-09-11T15:50:00.002-06:00

Eva and I got to do our first school "art" project. It was supposed to be a circle map "all about me" of things Eva loves. I didn't have big enough paper to do a circle...so this is what we did.
Doesn't she look happy? :D I love this girl.

She picked the things she loves and took pictures of them (and I printed a few extra pictures of her doing things she loves). It was so fun to watch her pick something and take the picture. Here are a couple up-close pictures of the project.

I had lots of fun! Thanks, Eva, for letting me do this with you!

(And thanks, Karen, for the paper ;)

Really? Already? (Sigh)

2009-09-03T20:09:00.005-06:00

My baby started Kindergarten on Monday - Eva, not Bryce ;)

Doesnt' she look grown up in her uniform? She was up and ready to go to school by like 7:05am (Eva is NOT my morning girl) and said she couldn't wait around for the bus to come at 7:35 - they would have to walk :) So we all walked to school on Monday.

Isobel started school last Wednesday - isn't she cute?The pigtails were just a coincidence - but the backpacks I got last fall on clearance at Target for like $3.75 - wahoo! They were happy to have matching packs.

I don't know about you guys, but have you noticed how ornery kids are after the first few days of school? Eva went from hanging out with Daddy ALL Day to Class ALL day - she is pretty grumpy. She came into my office and put on my graduation cap and made this face when I wanted to take a picture:
Notice how she had to get those tights and shoes off as soon as she got home?

So we walked the girls to school and as we got in the kindergarten hallway - I told Eva where we were and she said, "Bye, Mom!" and let go of my hand. :) I told her I was walking her to class. (We took this picture in the morning and she was waving to Bryce who was making faces at her thru the window.)
Oh, that little face! She can't be so grown up yet.

I have to admit, as Bryce and I left Eva and school and started walking back home, I did get a few tears in my eyes (and held back the rest). I wasn't sad for Isobel to start school - she was just SO ready and I was excited for her. I am excited for Eva, but I'm not ready for her to be that old yet. I guess I am a "normal" mom ;) People have told me how they cried when their kids went to school or whatever and I just couldn't imagine it. Now I get it. It's hard to let your baby go. I won't get a chance to do this again - or have her home again - or be more in charge of the kinds of things she is exposed to. I'm trusting her to the school for most of the day. I am not ready for her to be so grown up. I thought I was a year ago when we were talking about it - but now I want to hold on to her longer.

I love my little girls.

Very Large Array and Pie Town, NM

2009-08-01T18:43:00.004-06:00

I am sure some of you have seen Katie's blog posts about the Very Large Array. Well, when Bryce and Polly came to visit, we drove down to southern NM near Silver City and we stopped at the Very Large Array on the way. (We also went to the Catwalk that Katie talks about.) Anyway, it was cool and I took a few pictures.

We also stopped in Pie Town, NM to eat lunch and PIE. When we saw the signs for it, we decided that we could make that stop "on the way" down south. I ate almond creme pie, Bryce had NM apple (which had green chili and pinon in it, of course), Polly had pinon pie, and I think Bryce Sr had triple berry or something. It was worth the stop, but I have to say that my strawberry rhubarb pie is better. ;)

Random Santa Fe Pics

2009-08-01T18:26:00.006-06:00

My phone is broken and I have to get a replacement - it should come in the mail next week. However, I don't have a memory card and had to email my pics to myself. Therefore, I have a new group of random pics to share :)

This picture is of an old machine they used to use to give "permanents" - you know, the crazy curly hair. This machine has all these wires and you clamp them onto the curlers and send electricity down to your hair and basically fry it into curling. Looks like a torture device. (I found this in the Clayton, NM museum - who says you can't find treasure everywhere:) These next few pictures I took while I was training in February. I have to say, I love this trail and I love New Mexico clouds! Beautiful!

Anyone wanna come visit and go for a run?

Another favorite place of ours is the kids museum. I took this picture just the other day when my friend LeAnn came to visit. I love this girl.
Here is a couple of super cute pics of the girls with Bryce. It was just a couple days after Bryce's birthday - I'm sure they wanted to remind them how much they love him.

Hope you enjoyed your random tour of my phone pictures and have a superb day!

Absolutely ZERO Desire...

2009-07-01T18:14:00.003-06:00

Share tagged me to list ten things that I have absolutely ZERO desire to do/be/try. Here goes:

1) Run a Marathon (Don't get me wrong, I had zero desire to even run a year ago, but a marathon still seems overkill. Nope, no desire here.)

2) Try alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or even coffee (I know some people like the smell of coffee or think it might be fun to try this stuff, not me. Never been appealing.)

3) Make quilts (I like to sew and Share makes some killer quilts, but I just am not drawn to it.)

4) Eat Onions (I know, people tease me for not really being allergic to onions, but they give me killer stomach issues AND they are gross. No thank you.)

5) Eat Donuts (Maybe I'm reaching here, but I really am not tempted by donuts. They smell pretty good, but they always make me feel awful. So fatty and so yeasty. I'll pass.)

6) Get a Manicure (I like pedicures - I have cute feet - but I don't care to have fancy nails. And fake nails - yikes. I like my nails the way they are and I can do them myself.)

7) Eat Sushi (I don't care for fish - in any form - but I'll try it if pressed. Raw fish - GAG!)

8) Be in the Army (I am glad that people are willing to do it, but I don't see why anyone would want to.)

9) Watch any of the Spiderman movies (Bryce and several of his family members went to see the first movie and HATED it - a very diverse group of people and tastes I might add. They were all shocked that so many people liked them. I'm opting out of that experience.)

10) Own a dog or cat (I have a good excuse - I'm allergic - but I really don't care for them anyway. Isobel told us a while back that she wanted to move to Idaho so she can get a driver's license when she is 15 and move out and get a dog. Hmmm)

I tag anyone who wants to play - you can leave the list in the comments. Come on, you know you want to come up with a list ;)

Missing My Cute Girls

2009-06-24T08:36:00.004-06:00

The other day I missed a phone call from my mom. I got a call a little bit later from my husband telling me the jist of why she called. Isobel wanted to buy some glasses like mine at the dollar store and my mom wanted to get them for her. They were the lowest power possible for reading glasses and so Bryce said it was fine. When I had a minute between appointments, I called my mom to ask her why she called. She said, "Oh, well, I talked to Bryce and we got it all worked out." Obviously my mom is afraid of me. So I let her off the hook and told her that I already talked to Bryce. I told her that although the glasses themselves are fine, I would prefer her to not use the lenses. Bryce has perfect vision and he doesn't understand what it's like for those of us who don't. I very nicely asked her to take out the lenses. When my dad got home, he took them out...and emailed me this picture:

What do you think? Does she look like me?

When I called Isobel that night, she said, "Do you have $35?" I asked her why. She said, "To put some plain glass lenses in these frames." I had to tell her that if she needed glasses, our insurance would pay for most of it, so I couldn't spend $35 on plain glass. I'm so not fun.

When I talked to Eva, I asked her about her day and was getting a little motherly. I said, "Eva, It's almost 10 o'clock, shouldn't you be getting ready for bed?"

Then I (teasingly) asked, "Did you eat all your vegetables today?"

"No. Grammy doesn't have any vegetables."

"Oh, no! I guess she'll have to go buy some at the grocery store."

"No. She only has $2."

Poor mom felt like she really had to explain herself for that! (Mom's been out of town for a couple weeks) But I just thought it was so funny! I'm sure Mom told the girls she only had $2 because they went to the dollar store and they could only each get one thing :)

Thanks, Mom for having fun with my kids! I sure miss those girls.

(Please check out Share's blog for a cute story about Eva and her "birthmarks".)

...now it is our favorite time...

2009-06-17T16:30:00.003-06:00

Signing Time! Rachel Coleman came to NMSD last week and Isobel and I got to go see her. She talked about her experiences: being a mom to Leah and Lucy, how Signing Time got started and why, and she performed some songs. She asked for kids to volunteer to sign with her -- you guessed it - Isobel's hand went up each time. Isobel even got to sign on stage with her for 2 songs! Isobel was so happy that she got to use some of her signs and she got to hug Rachel. She even said she wanted to move to wherever Rachel lives because she is so nice.

Is anyone else amazed at how short she is? :)

Sweet Prayer

2009-06-02T21:23:00.003-06:00

Ok - I don't know about you, but I tend to have a very negative memory. I need to work on remembering more of the good moments with my kids instead of the blaringly-loud bad moments. Here is my attempt to remember one such moment that just happened.

Isobel and I were having a discussion about thinking possitively and also trying not to feel isolated when surrounded by people who have different standards. Then I asked her to say the prayer. She didn't feel like she could. So I told her how much I appreciate her prayers and how thoughtful they are. Eva piped in, "Me? You like my prayers?"
"I love your prayers, too."
"But you were talking to Isobel, right?"
"That's right. Would you like to say the prayer tonight?"
"Ya!"
She then proceeded to be thankful for the day and that she wouldn't have any bad dreams...
"And if I do have bad dreams, let me run to my mom's room. And bless that we can be a good family. And that we can be nice. ..."

It was a very sweet prayer.

(I might add that last night she had a bad dream and ran into my room. After about an hour of me not sleeping anymore and her very much asleep on me, Bryce took her back to her room.)

I will miss moments like that. The prayers, the snuggles in the middle of the night (although rather annoying in the half-asleep state), the well wishes as they drop me off at work, the hug requests, the story requests...

Yesterday I was home with just Isobel for a few hours until Bryce and Eva got back from the campgrounds. She said, "I love having time with just you."

Remind me to take more of that time when I get rushed and busy with work and all the other distractions. I want to remember the sweet (and silly) things my children do and say.

Eva Ruthie Tootie-toot

2009-05-09T17:42:00.004-06:00

That is what Isobel lovingly calls Eva...

Eva turned 5 on Monday! Holy cow - does that make me old? Bryce and I pretty much let Eva have free reign on her big day - since it's the last birthday she has at home - next year she'll be in school on her birthday. We asked her if she wanted to go to lunch and she said she wanted to go to Bobcat Bite. It's a great hamburger joint, but we asked what she liked there and she said "hot chocolate and fries." Well, if that was her only request, we could go somewhere else. So we went to Denny's but their hot chocolate machine was broken! So we went across the street to Village Inn. Here Eva is - happy as a clam - with her hot chocolate :)

It's a crappy picture because I took it with my phone and she doesn't hold still well :) I wish you could see her outfit. She is wearing this tye-dyed shirt, a plaid patchwork skirt, and two-tone checkered pants - wow!

That afternoon, for her birthday party, we had 10 little girls over to dress up, dance ballet, paint pictures, have snacks and cake. All her choosing. The girls and I (and Karen - thanks for joining me:) danced to Josh Groban for a long time. It was great! At the end, when I was SO ready for the parents to pick up the kids, I decided to let the kids go crazy and we listened to the Twilight soundtrack (thanks Share). They totally loved it! I was exhausted and needed a time-out when we got home, but the girls (mainly Eva) had a great time - so it was worth it. Good thing birthdays are only once a year!

It's funny, now that Eva is 5, she will do her own seatbelt and wipe-flush-wash her hands. Yeah!

Here are some of my favorite things that Eva says lately:

HEY! There's a ROAD-RAILER train! (It's called the Rail-Runner, but it has a picture of a road runner - very confusing)

Mom, you and I are twins - only, your hair is stuck to your head and mine hangs down a little bit.

Mom, I'm going to be hot if I wear a short-sleeved OR long-sleeved shirt.

Eva: How do I look today? Mom: Cute. Eva: Mom, you are supposed to say it like "Eva, that's SO cute!" Mom: Oh, (giggle) sorry. Eva, you are SO cute!

I am sure there are way more - but that is all I can think of at the moment. Please feel free to leave some of your favorite Eva quotes in the comments - she'll love reading them!

WE LOVE YOU, EVA!!

Western Regional EI Conference FUN!

2009-05-01T20:41:00.004-06:00

So I spent 4 days in Colorado Springs for a conference. I'd never been there before so we made the most of it. I stayed in a resort with my supervisor, Kristi. When we arrived on Wednesday, we did some research to find out how we wanted to spend our evenings and getting out to move around.
The first evening we found a great creperie and I ate a crepe filled with ham, swiss, and spinach. MMM...
The next night we invited our group from NM to go to Garden of the Gods and hike around. All these ladies are SO fun! We ran around and looked at the huge, fin-like red rock formations with Pike's Peak in the background. Seriously, check out the site - you won't believe these rocks.

We had planned to all go out for Stacy's and Kristi's birthday dinner - but there was a little miscommunication. Apparently there was more than one Macaroni Grill and their car followed the GPS and we followed our own knowledge. We found the right one - they found the one that was closed. Oops. It was a fun to have dinner with my friend Paula from Utah :)

We had to book it out of our last session on Friday to get to Seven Falls before they closed the gate at 5:15pm. We climbed 224 stairs up the side of the falls (that you can see in the picture) and then down and went up the 170-something steps to the better view. Kristi took pics of us and sent them to our husbands - how sweet is that? I guess I should have looked cuter for Bryce ;)

Then Kristi, Sally Ann, and I went to this restaurant with food from Nepal (that we saw around the corner from the creperie). The food on the far left corner was mine:) I had mango chicken and bread with cherries, cashews, and coconut - oh man - it was awesome.

Across the street was a store with clothes from India and Nepal. Sally Ann and Kristi loved dressing me up in this crazy wrap-around skirt/dress thing. Kristi didn't have Barbies, so she was acting out on me. I'm used to it - Share loves to dress me up. Oh - and I did buy the skirt.

Kristi and I had a great visit on the way home and I finally finished listening to Inkheart (I left Santa Fe with only like 1 chapter left and an 8 hour drive ahead of me...I'm telling you, we had a good visit:)

All in all, it was great to have such fun people around and to get out and see some beautiful things. AND eat killer food! I didn't even mention the food at the conference - too much great food all day. I think I need to start running again ;)

The SLC Half Marathon

2009-05-01T20:29:00.003-06:00

Most of you who have been dying to know how the half marathon went have either already talked to me or seen Share's blog. If you want to know and see some good pictures, check out her post - it's killer.

THE BIG RACE

Our outfits were so fun and although I wanted to die the last couple miles, I felt really good once I was done. Now Share is trying to convince me to run in the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay next year. Anyone who's up for a crazy long run thru the mountains of Utah - check it out and let us know if you're in ;)

Sisters in (the other) SF

2009-03-10T20:04:00.007-06:00

A few months ago, at Bunco, our friend, Angie, told us about her and Sara planning a trip to San Francisco the middle of February. They were planning to go see Wicked and play for the weekend. Angie has a house there and said there was room for anyone who wanted to come. I made it my goal to convince Karen to go with me - since they were leaving the weekend after Karen's BIG birthday ;) (Don't worry - I'll never tell your age;)

Once we finally decided and started making plans - it was looking better and better. About a month before we left - at Bunco again - we were talking to Debbie about it and she was in! We all rode together to the airport - already starting to laugh a lot and tease eachother incessantly. Here we are - waiting for our flight - trying our hand at being serious instead of silly. No luck. (Angie, Me, Debbie, and Karen) We gave up at the normalcy and went for the fun! This was the start of a glorious tradition of behind pictures - most of them starring me. (Sara is by Angie - don't you love my luggage?)We arrived late in the evening Thursday and met Sara's friend Shonny at the airport. With all 6 of us, we had to rent a mini van - which didn't fit in the garage. We went to bed after admiring the house and choosing bed buddies. I got Karen - of course - and hoped I wouldn't accidently cuddle with her. Thank goodness we had a king size mattress :) In the morning we found out why Angie got this place - look at the view! (Taken from the roof - note the Golden Gate Bridge in the top right corner.)We were only blocks from the wharf and Ghirardelli Square - where we had to buy lots of chocolate and ice cream. We walked down Lombard Street, enjoyed sour dough bread, went to the aquarium and wax museum, played at Musee Mecanique, saw silver men "statues", shopped for stoopidneers, and laughed way too much!

(Here we are on the Wharf - near where we watched a man "hiding" behind bushes and scaring people :)Debbie and I are very good at being sea stars - I think we could pass as their twins - what do you think?Here I am at the wax museum with Beetlejuice - aren't we cute together?

At the wax museum, they had an electric chair for you to try out. I did it first, and then insisted that everyone else try it. The lights flash and sparks fly and then - cold air shoots up your bum. Can't you tell by Karen's reaction? That was unexpected :)Here Karen is getting beat by an arm wrestling machine - the one in Princess Diaries - I lost, too. That man was TOUGH!What trip is complete without a photo booth picture? I love Karen's face in the first one. Personally, I like the second one the best. Please note Debbie's name tag. She found it on the ground on the pier. It says "Dr. Vandersheldon" and she wore it ALL day. I mean, if she put on her sweatshirt, she took off the name tag and replaced it on the sweatshirt. She wanted everyone to be sure of who she was. (Although she could never remember the name right:)Don't these "sun glasses" look great with my sweater? Dang, I'm cute!We sat by a drag queen on the bus - who complimented Karen's eyes - on our way home from Wicked - which was AWESOME! We did more shopping. I got to go to a huge fabric store that had the softest fabric I've ever felt - yup - $100 a yard! Karen and I wanted to buy a shirt that said "I heart SF" - but then, living in Santa Fe, it could be misunderstood. We ate tons of treats and the biggest cream puffs ever. We saw Coraline in 3D and walked all over. We went to China Town and bought some fun stuff for the kids and saw super cute things that we would never buy.

We ate dinner at Angie's favorite place - House of Nanking. It was funny because I ordered the soup - the one thing that didn't have onions in it - and then Angie asked the waitor to just bring a few different things for the rest of them to share. Well, there was some miscommunication and another waitor brought our food out and divided the soup into 6 tiny portions for us to share. Then our origional waitor came out and said - No, that was just for her! Then he told me I'd have to eat all six bowls! Hehehe. They really were yummy and I only ate 3 of them ;)What's a trip to San Francisco without riding a cable car? or pole dancing?

Overall, I would say we all had a great time. We all got along really well. We were able to tease and joke and laugh and laugh and laugh. We were even laughing on the plane ride home. What a wonderful time! I think we all felt like silly girls and enjoyed every minute of it! Thanks for letting us invite ourselves to your house, Angie. Thanks for having a BIG birthday for us to celebrate, Karen!

I heart SF!

"Pay It Forward"

2009-02-23T22:01:00.001-07:00

The Rules

1. Be one of the first Three (3) bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first 3 bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the 1st Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! I will leave a list of names who were the first 3 on my blog as soon as I receive them! I have no clue what it is I will make you, lets see who the winners are first.

Get a whiff of that. Here comes the human.

2009-02-13T22:08:00.002-07:00

I know - I quote movies or books too much.

Tonight Bryce and I went on a date. We've been trading every other weekend with some people in our ward so we get a pretty consistent date night. That's fun. Anyway, tonight we went to the Olive Garden - which was good but I think now that we've been there once in Santa Fe, we're done. When we were done we had some extra garlic breadsticks and my leftover fettucini alfredo in the car. We stopped off at Borders to do some wandering and browsing without 2 little distractions. It was nice. Well - the Olive Garden gave me some stinky gas - so I tried not to let too much pass in Borders. Unless I was close to Bryce so I could blame him :) Anyway, I had to let some go in the car because I was in pain. Next we went back to pick up the girls and visited with the babysitters for a bit. When we brought the girls out to the car, Eva said, "It smells like pizza in here." Isobel said, "I think it smells like a stinky toot!" What a keen sense of smell they have.

Birthday Boy

2009-02-11T19:52:00.004-07:00

Bryce is getting on in years. The heat from his cake almost burnt my face ;)

I got Bryce some cheesecake pans - in which to make him cheesecake - because our last one broke. And the movie Lars and the Real Girl. It's one of those strange movies that we like so much ;) (Thanks Mike and Jayna for recommending it!)

The Elders here are famous for admiring Bryce's fat ties. They joined us for dinner tonight and brought Bryce some sweet pieces of polyester! Thanks, guys!

(Isobel wanted to be front and center of every picture - that's my girl.)

Random Happenings

2009-02-11T19:42:00.002-07:00

So, whenever Share calls me, I tell her random things that happen to me and she always says I should blog about it. This is the most recent random thing that happened to me.

I have been struggling with my running schedule. It's hard to fit in an hour or two for running each day - and then have time to shower. Saturday I had planned to run with one of Katie's friends in Albuquerque but it didn't work out. So after Lily's birthday party, I came back home to go running. Well, I needed to run 7 miles and I wasn't in the mood. I was really tired and not motivated - it's boring to run alone. Now it was getting to be around 4 pm and I knew that if I didn't go now, I wouldn't get back til dark. Argh. So I got ready and complained to Bryce that I was nervous running alone because there are often random people wandering around near the trails. I sucked it up and went to the trail. Just as I entered the arroyo to go thru the tunnel to get to the trail - I saw three homeless men. Two of them were sitting in one tunnel drinking beer and the third was zipping up after peeing in the tunnel I needed to go thru. Yikes! So I said, "Excuse me" and ran thru the tunnel as fast as I could! My heart was racing until I got far away onto the the main trail.

I really need a running partner.

One Resolution

2009-01-03T18:53:00.002-07:00

Honestly, I have been thinking about making some resolutions this year - I never do them. Generally I think it pathetic how people decide to lose weight and whatnot the beginning of the year. However, I was thinking about my sister's goals from last year and how she actually had some worthwhile goals and accomplished them.

Blah, blah, blah. My point is: I have decided to run another half marathon - this time for a good cause. You know, I don't like running, but it feels good to have a reason to run. So, my sister and I will be running the Salt Lake half marathon in April for cancer research.

Please see my webpage to make donations and to see how much money has been raised for this great cause. For your information, I need to raise $500 - obviously this will take a group effort! The donations need to be made by April 3, 2009. Donations can be made directly on the webpage or you can get money to me some other way. All donations are tax deductible.

Honestly, I feel very excited to run for this cause. I was thinking about it and cancer has probably effected us all in some way - whether us personally or a loved one - and together we can make a difference for the future.

Thank you for helping me accomplish this goal.

Funny Names

2008-12-21T17:07:00.002-07:00

Isobel is so stinkin cute! I know, it's obvious.

A month or so ago we were driving in Albuquerque and Isobel suddenly - loudly - exclaimed in our quiet car, "Bed Bath and BEHIND?!!" We laughed SO hard! We told Isobel that we needed to tell everyone about this because it really is a better name for the store ;) Isobel was a little embarrassed because she read it wrong - but we were driving past it so she had to read quick. She is over her embarrassment now and laughs with us.

Yesterday, Bryce started reading Number the Stars to Isobel (at a friend's recommendation). She is really into what she calls "chapter books" now. Anyway, from what I understand, it is set during WW2. (Now quick remember what that war was about - ok, now I can go on.) Isobel was in the back seat after they finished reading and she said, "What were those soldiers called again? NAUGHTIES?" We bust up laughing and Isobel was slightly embarrassed. Bryce and I quickly assured her that was an appropriate name for the Nazis.

Clever, clever girl :)

We are ELF-ed!

2008-12-18T23:10:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Getting ready for Christmas...finally.

2008-12-18T21:42:00.004-07:00

I know, when it rains it pours and when I finally post I fill up the page. This time of year really lends itself to many photos.

I finally started to get more into the Christmas spirit after our ward Christmas party. My kids were having so much fun and so excited to see Santa that I couldn't help but get excited, too. Seriously, Isobel waited in the line at our church to sit on Santa's lap forever and never complained. That shows some real dedication. So, the next day I told the girls that if they helped me clean the living room and get it vacuumed, then we could put up our tree. (Our apartment is so small that I was seriously considering waiting til Christmas Eve so I wouldn't be running into it for more than 1 day)
Once we got it together and I got to put on my new star (I got it last year after Christmas at Hobby Lobby for like $2) - I really started getting into the spirit.

By the way, I didn't let Isobel wear that leotard to the birthday party we went to right after.

This Wednesday we went on the "Polar Express" train. We rode the train thru Santa Fe and out to some random place. We had hot chocolate and cookies. (Well, some of us did. Isobel dropped her hot chocolate on the floor of the train right on Eva's coat and boots - soaking them both. Eva couldn't wear them anymore.) When we stopped they read "The Polar Express" book and Santa came and gave all the kids a bell.

Daddy is teasing Eva that he can't hear it. She really wants to prove to him that it makes a beautiful sound.

We could walk outside and between trains. Well, some of us could. It was so cold that Bryce wore both of our coats and since Eva's coat was wet she and Isobel had to take turns wearing Isobel's coat. I stayed inside the whole time. (When we ride this train in the summer for the family reunion, I will be walking outside.)

Eva found the camera and took some random pictures of us, her care bear, the missionaries, and other random things. My least favorite was the one of just my butt. Yup, filled the whole screen. Delete.

I think I am nearly done shopping. I need a few more treats for stockings and I'll be set.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Isobel's Debut

2008-12-18T21:14:00.006-07:00

Isobel had her Christmas program a couple weeks ago. She has been singing these songs in the car for weeks. She told us she was the "leader" of her class. (Generally this means she is the line leader or something) Little did we know she would be doing this:

Did I mention she was the only kid in the whole program with a solo? (She said she wasn't even nervous!)

Maybe you've had enough video - but this song "Santa Claus Rock" was too fun! The kids all loved singing it and my girl can SHAKE IT! Enjoy!

When a sister comes to visit...

2008-12-18T20:41:00.003-07:00

Silliness ensues!

Share came to visit for the weekend (a while ago) and I am finally doing something about it. You are welcome to see her side of the story.

We spent some time at G and KT's house making gingerbread houses, drawing snowmen, and making toffee (which, by the way, I have to eat all of because Bryce doesn't like it).

Eva entertained us with checkered pants, ballet slippers, a tutu, and a killer partner.

Share decided she was very fond of Jane Fonda hair and borrowed my blow drying curling iron (I haven't the hair for it anyway).

And the best part:

We spent too stinking much time talking about Twilight books. Which was great for me because Bryce has no desire to hear any more about them. And, honestly, I don't blame him. We went to see the movie - my second time, her 5th I think. It was nice to have someone to talk to DURING the movie. (We went to a matinee on a Monday - yup - 7 of us there)

Isn't this a super funny picture! How many girls wish they were in this picture? I must say, I am totally cuter than Bella and Bryce is totally lucky!

Thanks, Share! I always love having you around!

Once There Was A Snowman...

2008-11-10T15:56:00.005-07:00

Today we got our first real snow in Santa Fe. We had a little skiff last week that was gone by the time I got back from Maxwell. Eva was so excited to see the snow flying that she picked out her warmest fleece pants and jacket, found her snow suit and boots, and asked Daddy to find her gloves. She was so ready to be out in the snow. This is what they did:

Her attention to detail is amazing.

And the final product.

I love that smile.

As a little side note, all that is left of this morning's snow fall is a couple piles of rounded snow, some sticks, rocks, and a carrot :)

Nightmare Before Christmas

2008-11-09T15:05:00.004-07:00

So I am too upset with my sister to write about our Halloween. I am just going to post pictures and let you comment, ask questions, figure out EXACTLY who/what we are dressed up like, and where we are. Let the guessing begin :)

Technical Terms

2008-11-03T08:18:00.002-07:00

I do have Halloween pics - they will be posted soon-ish. I did want to tell you a funny story and I don't want to wait to upload pictures. So, you'll have to wait for that ;)

Our friends have been potty-training thier boy for a while now. The boy likes to talk about his unit in technical terms. He says things like "My penis worked!" when he successfully pees in the toilet. Well - since we hang out with our friends very often, my girls have heard that word a little too often.

The other night, Eva said to me, "Mom, my penis hurts." (Little girls are not the best at wiping properly and keeping themselves clean - so they often get a little irritated. ) I wasn't exactly sure how to react, so I said, "Eva, only boys have a penis - you don't." I thought that would be enough.
The next day, Eva said the same thing to Daddy. He decided that it wasn't ok for her to use that term - it just isn't right. So he told her the common name for female parts - vagina.

The day after that, we were driving in the car and Eva informed me that "girls don't have a penis, they have a .... a....(she's trying to remember the name) ...a veda." (veeduh)
Bryce and I just laughed - that's good enough. :)

The really fun thing is to think about things that really are named Veda.
My parents live on Veda Lane (hehe). I didn't take the time to remind her what my grandma's name was either.

Quirks? Do I have any? I'm so normal!

2008-10-16T21:14:00.002-06:00

So, Share tagged me to do the six quirks thing. I've been thinking about it for days and I still am not sure what all 6 could be. I may have to steal some from others ideas ;)

1. I put this first because I think it's a rare quality. I am very gifted at finding (and buying) super cute skirts for $5. I honestly think I have about 20 skirts or so (although maybe half of them are in Share's closet). When I call Share to tell her I've just purchased a super cute skirt, the first question she asks is if it cost $5 - most of the time it does. I am so gifted.

2. I burp all the time. I have reflux so that explains a lot of it, but seriously. When we first met Karen and Kyle - Kyle had a hard time getting used to my burps. He accepts it now. However, a while back, their 8-year-old son was sitting by me when I burped once. Karen said, "Ben!" (in a totally Mom kind of voice) until she saw the look on my face and apologized for getting after an innocent kid. :)

3. When I get ready, I put one a sock and a shoe and then the other sock and shoe. None of this both socks then both shoes. I like to get one foot completely ready and then the other.

4. I refuse to start a series of books until all of the books are out. I hate waiting because I forget the story and I get mad that it isn't complete. I didn't even crack Harry Potter til we moved here - after Bryce had already read all the books. Even then, I listened to them all on tape while driving all around northern New Mexico. I am thinking I will have to start Twilight sometime soon (once I find the first book on tape;).

5. I have to drink water after eating ice cream. Bryce drinks milk. Crazy. I have to rinse out the milky-ness.

6. So this one I also had to put because it is as true for me as Share. Yes, I quote a million movies daily. More often than not, Pride and Prejudice. Whenever we play the Settlers of Catan card game and I pick up the Church card - I'm always dying to say, "They walked in the direction of..." "The Church." (But I can't do that or it'll give my card away) When we play Pinochle with Karen and Kyle I always want to say, "Hearts, Mr Collins, Hearts." And many, many more.

Feel free to inform me some more of my quirks. I'm always curious to see what others pick up on. I don't think I'll tag anyone, because most people have done it. If any of you feel an inclination, I'd love to read about your quirks. (Do it Karen. I know you've already been working on a list;)

Eva is growing up

2008-10-15T22:01:00.002-06:00

Look at my little girl. She definately is growing up. Check out those shoes. Yup, they have little heels. We were looking for shoes for Isobel this summer and Eva had gone around to the other side of the aisle. When she came back she had chosen these cute little girly sandals with heels. We about died! What taste this girl was born with! We didn't buy them that day, but when we went back a couple months later and they were half price, we bought them. She wears them all the time. (This pic was taken one day when we were in the grocery store. She just struck me as such a big girl that I took a picture right there. And yes, she is eating ham. - if you haven't heard it, ask about the Charlotte's Web story.)

This weekend we went up the canyon to see the fall colors. So many Aspens! We ended up riding the chairlift up to the top of the ski basin. On the way up Eva just sat up strait and held on to the bar herself - no help from Daddy. Once we got to the top it was quite cold so she agreed to sit close to me on the way down and snuggle. (Isobel wore the bunny ears on the way up, Eva got them the way down. My purse was a gift for my birthday from my friend, Ligia. Note the fun button on it from Share - it says "An attitude is a terrible thing to waste.")
This was our view on the way down. As we came up the canyon, the trees were brighter than at the top because more leaves were gone. Isn't it beautiful, though?
Come visit us in Santa Fe. My kids are growing too fast and we miss sharing the beautiful fall colors with you. Honestly, I am glad to be here with my family - I only wish all of you were here with us :)

Balloon Fiesta flops

2008-10-15T21:40:00.004-06:00

We went with a couple friends to the Balloon fiesta special shapes Glowdeo on Thursday night. When we arrived, some of the balloons (like Sahuaro Grande and Noah's Ark) were up and ready to light up. It was barely dusk so we thought we had time. We were invited as VIP guests with our friends - which meant free food and ice cream. So we ate dinner and while we ate the balloons were occasionally lighting up their flames - but it still didn't seem dark. Then suddenly they were letting the air out and taking down the balloons. Bummer. Oh, well. At least we didn't pay to get in ;) The fireworks show after the balloons were down was AWESOME! We were glad to be there eating ice cream and enjoying the show.

After the fireworks, we walked around the park - it's like a fair. Tons of junk food and stoopidneers to buy. I did end up buying kettle corn - just can't say "no" to that! We had our friends take a couple pics of us - aren't we cute?

Friday night we stayed over at G and KT's house so we could get up super early for the fiesta Saturday morning. We made ultra tasty breakfast burritos and played fun games. We got up around 5ish Saturday morning, got the burritos hot, packed the car, dressed the kids warm, and drove to the bus stop. It was a bit cold and windy, but we were praying it would stop. We arrived at the park and there were a few trucks with balloons kinda waiting for the go-ahead to start filling balloons. We were excited. Long story short - it was too windy and the balloons never got filled up or went into the air. (Note to self: next year buy tickets for Thursday so if the weather is no good, you can get a rain check for Friday or Saturday. If you just get tickets for the last day and it's a dud - too stinkin bad.) Special thanks to the Creamland dairy crew who got out their huge black and white tarp (the one that goes under the balloon so it's not on the ground) and let the kids play under it in the wind. It was the highlight.

The balloons are so fun to see, that it's a big bummer to miss them. Last year was great, Katie has pics of us there last year if you wanna check her blog. All in all, the kettle corn was worth it!

My 28th Birthday

2008-10-15T20:58:00.005-06:00

I am so spoiled. Growing up I rarely was - even though I am the youngest. My sister's birthday is in August just before school - so she had fun birthdays. Then my parents would have to come up with all the funds for all six of us to get school clothes and pay fees and all that jazz. So when it got to my birthday (just a couple weeks after school started) - it isn't suprising that funds were low. I used to care but thanks to years and experience, I don't anymore. HOWEVER, I do like to celebrate as much as possible now ;)

This year was an exception. As I am sure most of you who read this have already heard the story, I'll try not to go into too much detail (however you are welcome to email me for more details or leave comments for me to answer - I love those things ;).

My birthday was on Sunday this year so I intended to do much celebrating on the days leading up to the big 2-8. Thursday night was spent celebrating with my little family. With these advancing years I forget exactly what we did - but it was fun. On Friday, Bryce picked me up from work early and told me he needed to run some errands. We had planned on Katie and kids coming on Saturday and it had been discussed that Lily and Isobel trade bikes - Isobel's is too big and Lily's is too small. However, Bryce had to fix the tire first. So he told me he needed to pick up a pump to fix the tire. I had been teasing him all week about getting me this bike I had tried out and loved. We had decided we didn't have the money and so I was teasing him about getting it for me anyway;) So, I suggested we go to MY bike shop to get a pump. When we arrived at the store Isobel tried to lead me to where my bike last was. I tried to explain that I was sure they put it away and I looked for pumps. I couldn't see Bryce - but then I saw him following a salesman out to the bikes. The man took my bike down and said "We'll just have a final tune up and you can take it home." I was shocked - dead - stunned - amazed. What I said was, "when did you do that?" Bryce tends to forget to purchase things for me for my birthday til the last minute. Meaning, the day of my birthday. So this year I started dropping subtle reminders for about a month and a half. I suggested a CD that I wanted (She and Him) but then I ended up buying it because they finally got a copy in and I knew how much Bryce loves shopping. Then I was dying for a haircut and he thought about paying for me to go to a nice place but I got impatient and went to Great Clips. When I would ask him if he had gotten me anything, he would just say, "you already got the two ideas I had, sorry." I was sure he might not do anything this year since I had messed up his plans. I thought he might at least get me a gift card. Well, the bike blew me away. Sure it's my birthday AND Christmas - but I was thrilled. So excited, in fact, that I rode the bike home (sans helmet) and in a skirt no less. Loved it!

(This is me on my bike today - Isobel took the picture.)

Friday night Bryce and I went on a date. We went to dinner and then to the Georgia O'Keefe museum - they had an exhibit of her work with Ansel Adams that I had been dying to see (and it's free Friday nights!). It was great. Our friends met up with us for the museum and we went for ice cream after.

Saturday night was girls' night. Bryce and Kyle had all of our kids and Katie's at the Sheffer house - we truly have excellent husbands. I invited a bunch of friends over. We had a yummy spinach salad, cheese fondue, and chocolate fountain. Yummo! (And yes, the meal was inspired by Zupas) I didn't have concrete plans. I just intended to eat yummy food and sit around and visit. We had supplies to make cards if people wanted and a friend brought supplies to make necklaces. Well, after eating and visiting, we decided to make necklaces. We ate ice cream cake from BR with nutty coconut ice cream - my favorite. (Isobel decided on the decorations of the cake - the color and words.) Afterwards we went to pick up the kids and look at Cake Wrecks. I am sure we went to bed eventually. It was a great party.

(Did I mention that I made a super fun mix CD for me to sing along to during the party?)

(Is this a cake wreck? I did pay for it and it does kinda say "Mdmmy")

(Thanks Karen for taking the pics of the party and for being a great friend!)

Happy Birthday to me! It is fun getting older if only for a reason to go on a date and have a party.

Hair Cuts

2008-09-08T19:02:00.004-06:00

I know I have more stuff to tell you about my birthday and whatnot, but this is too much on my mind - it's gotta be blogged about now.

I got my hair cut on Friday because my short haircut was starting to look more like feathered David Cassidy hair.

Today, after I finished work and was on my way home, I called Bryce to see what was up. He said that he didn't think we would go play basketball with our neighbors because Eva cut Isobel's hair - at Isobel's request! What is worse, Bryce tried to fix it and got one side ultra short. Here's the face I saw when I got home.

This is the LONG side.
This is the SHORT side.
This is the back - the part Eva cut all by herself - without Daddy's help.

So off we went to the place I got my hair cut - Great Clips. It's the only place in Santa Fe that doesn't charge at least $50. So they cut her hair and when they were done, they asked if they could blow dry it. Thinking that was a silly question, I said, "Of course." When we were checking out, the lady said I owed her $18 - the cut should only be $12 - so I asked why it was $18 - "because of the blow dry." Duh. Note to self, if they ask to do something extra, say NO.

Anyway, Isobel looks pretty cute even with shorter-hair-than-she's-had-in-5-years. By the way, she is so excited - as you can see - to have short hair and bangs for the first time. I guess she learned her lesson.

The wounds of White Sands

2008-08-22T21:10:00.004-06:00

So, we went to White Sands last weekend. It was very wet in our tent, but the days were lovely. Sledding on White Sands was excellent! You don't even get cold - and we didn't get hot because it was overcast. Which actually was quite a bummer because we heard that the full moon is amazing how it lights up the sand - which is why we went last weekend. Anyway, while sledding, the back of my knees were hurting because I had to hold my legs straight out to keep myself from turning all around on my disc. The next day, this is what I saw. (Please try to ignore the nasty legs and the fact that I took the pics myself...)

OUCH!!! Note to self, it's probably worth going backwards or sideways to avoid this unsightly discoloration.

For some great pics of us on White Sands, check out Katie's blog. There is a super fun slide show.

Stay there a while and you will also see a beautiful pic of Eva and a nasty pic of me in my camping jammies. (Not to mention you'll get a more comprehensive story of our trip - thanks, Katie for doing all the work for me;)

I'm totally buggin'

2008-08-11T07:59:00.002-06:00

The other night I came home from Karen's house really late - like midnight or so. It had been raining for several hours. I went into my bathroom to do my "bedtime business" so I could go to bed. I heard this noise kind of above me and I thought it was rain on the roof. But then it wasn't consistent. I looked up at the shelf above me and didn't see anything. Then I heard the noise again. I peeked around the shelf and - mind you, I'm on the toilet - I see THIS on my shower curtain above my head! (The noise was it's many legs clicking around on my shower curtain! Eww!)

It was 5 inches long - like this one in the picture - and I finished what I was doing and washed my hands. Then I went out to the living room to tell Bryce there was a HUGE centipede on our shower curtain above the toilet and would he please get it out of the house. I was very calm about it. He walked back into the living room a few seconds later - "That is HUGE!" It was kinda funny because he kept going in and out of the bathroom trying to figure out how to get the thing and work up the courage to try. One time he came out and commended me on my composure - he was shuddering. Finally, I decided to help. We got a jar and I tried to get it to go in and it would move away - causing Bryce and I to shudder and squirm. Finally I got it directed down and scooped it into the jar and Bryce took it outside. We didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture of it. So when I looked them up online the next day I found out that it is a giant redheaded centipede. They grow to 7 or 8 inches and generally have a black body - I think ours was a teenager. They are poisonous but it's more like a bee sting.

Another fun discovery about New Mexico. Did I mention you are all more than welcome to come visit? :D

She and Him

2008-08-07T10:18:00.003-06:00

I'm really digging this band - She and Him. I'm sure you will recognize the singer from Elf. I heard this song on the radio a few weeks ago and I called Bryce and told him to look it up so I could buy the album. I haven't yet, but my birthday is coming up ;)

Be warned, this video is a bit like the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the arms are chopped off. If you don't want to watch the video, just listen to the song - it's wonderful!

'Why Do You Let Me Stay Here' Video

Memories

2008-07-25T13:25:00.001-06:00

Here are the directions: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments... Please Play! :)

Some things just come naturally for girls...

2008-07-23T11:51:00.002-06:00

Eva just emerged from her bathroom with a bungee chord and said,

"Dad, since everytime you use my bathroom you leave the toilet seat up, will you help me lock it?"

Bryce laughed and helped her lock him out. Then she said,

"If you decide to never leave the toilet seat up, then you can come back in."

So, several months ago, Eva was heard hollering from her bathroom, "DAD, DID YOU USE MY TOILET? YOU LEFT THE SEAT UP!" Then she SLAMMED the seat down.
(I would like to add that I have NEVER mentioned Bryce leaving the seat up. I don't like it, but I've never mentioned it.)

I think that being a girl, you automatically KNOW that the seat should not be left up and that if it is, the ONE boy in the house is the culprit.

13.1

2008-07-21T12:26:00.004-06:00

I DID IT!

Share took the video - so she is the loudest cheerer, but you can see Bryce's arm and hear Isobel saying she loves me :) Wow, I don't look as dead as I felt!

That's right, I, Bettie Petersen, RAN 13.1 miles. If you know me at all...you will know that this was the farthest thing from my mind - 4 months ago. Then, here I was running 5 days a week for 3 months just so I could run a half marathon. Crazy.

The course was pretty nice. The first 8 or 9 miles were downhill - which was great for my time! It was a beautiful route. Running down Highway 12 near Bryce Canyon and into Canonville. I must say, after all that downhill, my legs were pretty tired for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing in just over 2 hours and 20 minutes (that's 10:54 minutes per mile)! I finished 303rd out of 1000ish and 77th in my age/gender group!

Here are those who brought my girls back to me and came to cheer me on - thanks guys! Did I mention that I was SO sweaty and STINKY!

My goal was to finish close to my 12 mile time which was 2 hours and 28 minutes (not counting bathroom breaks) - and I beat that time so I am thrilled!

I have been asked several times (already) if I'm ever going to run a half marathon again. Well, we will see. I don't love running - but it's not so bad. I feel great having accomplished this huge feat! Share is trying to convince me to do it once a year. I think I would need at least that much time to decide to do this again. I definately needed more time to "cool down" after the race.

When it was over, we went to shower and eat breakfast and then went into Bryce Canyon to go for a hike. Well, it was a beautiful hike and I'm glad I went, but my legs were really tired. Here are some pics of our hike.

So, we hiked down into the beautiful canyon among the hoodoos - and then we had to hike out. It was pretty steep and very beautiful. Here Eva and I are at the bottom taking a break.

Share and I got a kick out of this sign - as you can see, it fits me :)

I would say that currently, my legs are unstable. After all the running and hiking, I spend the next whole day in the car driving home. If that doesn't make the legs cramp up anyway...

I'm happy to be home and learn to walk again :)

"what added more to [her] joy..."

2008-07-21T11:17:00.002-06:00

I've been meaning to do this post for a while but I've been thinking of the right way to do it. I'm not sure I've found the right way, but I'm going to try to do this anyway.

The end of June, I went to Idaho and Utah for family reunions of sorts. It was nice to spend time with my family and to reminisce in the halls of my high school. Here are the five of us kids who went to Sugar being the "Student's of the Month."

It was also great to spend time with Bryce's family and see his sweet sister get married in the Logan Temple - my personal favorite :)

The time I spent away from my home in Santa Fe was filled with loved ones. I met up with old friends and was able to do a lot of catching up. Many had good news to share or trials to explain - but either way, there is something special about being with people you love and who love you - regardless of your current situation.

On Sunday, I went to my former ward. Since I had lived in the same ward in Logan for like 7 years, it truly felt like coming home. Many people embraced me as we came into the building. It was so great to see them in one place and get to visit. At the end of sacrament meeting, I saw my next door neighbor sitting in the chapel. We went over to visit with her. (She lived right next to us for the last 5+ years. She is a very sweet and fun woman. She was close to my parents ages and loved to give us good advise about our kids. She seemed like a woman who was very confident and comfortable with her life. She was a member of another faith and was sad that she was out of town for our girls' blessings. I admired her in many ways.) When we started talking to her and asked what brought her to church today, she exclaimed, "I got baptised! I'm a member now." We were thrilled! She explained that she got baptised in November and was loving being in the church - she really was so happy. (She said when Bryce went to Utah to fix our roof so we could sell it, she "wanted to shout it out to him on the rooftop" - but it didn't seem the right time:)

In Sunday School our lesson was on Alma and the sons of Mosiah. The part that has stuck with me for weeks since is this scripture - Alma 17:2
"...Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord"

(That is just a part of verse 2 - also verse 3 is really beautiful)

I know that, for me, there can be no greater happiness than I find in serving others and following the commandments of God. There is no greater comfort than that which is found through the atonement of Jesus Christ. There is no greater peace than knowing that someone who knows all (including my heart) is watching out for my best interest - even if I don't know what that is sometimes.

I felt that this scripture explained exactly how I was feeling. There is nothing so sweet as seeing loved ones. Knowing that they have the peace and happiness I have found in the gospel, just makes it that much sweeter.

It's been a while...sorry.

2008-06-22T14:56:00.004-06:00

Hello, folks! I know I haven't written anything in a while, it seems like all I do is work, eat, sleep, and run. My family went to San Francisco this week - a lot of firsts for them. The girls' first time on a plane and seeing the ocean. Bryce's first time to San Fran. Eva was so excited to see the bridges in the Bay area. She loves bridges lately. When we are driving in the car, she gets so excited if she knows we are on a bridge. I'll let Bryce post about his experiences with the girls in Cali. I will be going to Utah this Thursday to meet up with my dear family. I can't wait!

So, I've been home by myself. My friend, Karen, is taking excellent care of me. Which is good because I've found that I don't take very good care of myself. When Bryce is here, he does the cooking and shopping and what not. Now that he's gone, I allowed myself to eat hot dogs for lunch. I know, it's disgusting. My stomach is complaining already. I just don't want to cook new things when we have lots of food in the fridge that, if I don't eat, it will all be bad when we get back from our trip. I did allow myself to eat the hot dogs, but I couldn't bring myself to eat the 5 day old mac and cheese. Like I said, good thing Karen has fed me at least one good meal each of the last few days!

I am excited to report that I ran 10 miles yesterday and it only took me 2 hours and 5 minutes! I was so thrilled! I wanted to call and tell people but then I remembered it was 8 am on a Saturday and my husband is in an earlier time zone. For those of you I called and woke up anyway, thanks for being supportive!

My other exciting news is that my sister LOVES me! She is flying from Utah to ABQ, just to ride back with me to Utah. I was going to have to drive alone (or make my brother or sister in law be alone with kids) and I was not looking forward to it. Share called me the other night and said she got a plane ticket that will arrive after 9pm on Wednesday and we'll get up and drive out on Thursday morning. She must really like my company because that's all she's gonna get from this trip!

Anyway, that's basically my life. My house is currently very quiet. It's boring. I keep thinking with my family gone I should be able to do all these projects... Turns out, I really like having my family around. :) Having a day alone is nice. Having a week alone is lonely. I don't like to stay at my house too long, although it needs a good cleaning before I leave. Oh, and for fun, here is a pic Bryce sent me from Eva - it's a flower for me :)

Silly girls

2008-05-25T15:22:00.005-06:00

For those who've requested more of Eva's laugh.

Dum-ditty dum-ditty dum dum dum.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

2008-05-11T18:45:00.005-06:00

We went camping this weekend with G and KT's family to celebrate G's new found freedom! The Sheffers accompanied us, too - because we had to help Karen get over her fear of camping with kids ;) Love ya Karen ;)

Anyway, on the way home, Bryce took his hat off - which he'd been wearing almost constantly because it was cold. As I looked across the car to my darling husband, this is the lovely view I beheld.

We were devastated when we arrived at home and the apartment complex was without water. Man, I needed to wash. Since I couldn't, I just went for my long run this week - 7.5 miles in 2 hours! I was way impressed with myself! I ran outside for the first time. I ran on the Rail Trail - it was a fun, kinda hilly trail. I'm excited to do it again. Oh, and, I got brave and asked a couple people from church to go running with me (although I'm a turtle) and they said they would love to! Yeah. When I got home - all sweaty and stinky - the water still wasn't on. I waited about a half an hour and then called Karen to save me. She, being the saint she is, was very willing to offer her shower AND feed me dinner.

I took the girls with me over there but stopped to get gas on the way. Remember that I'm still gross and in my too tight running clothes that were stinky... Some little teenage girls in a Mustang were on the other side of the pump from me and one girl said, "she should not be wearing those pants" the other girl looks at me and says, "I know, huh"... You will be happy to know that I didn't resort to violence - although I would have momentarily enjoyed messing up their made-up faces - I just acted like I didn't hear. But, dang it! I was proud of myself for having just run 7.5 miles! When did they ever do that! Argh! Oh, well. It did remind me that I had said similar things like that when I thought people didn't hear. And, who knows, maybe they had just lost 50 lbs or something equally amazing. I need to be kinder. Even when I think the people don't hear me, God does and it hurts his feelings when we hurt his children.

When people are dirty and stinky, maybe their apartment was without water...

We did all get clean today and were ready for church on time. Note to self, find more space to put water storage. A water purifier doesn't count.

Happy 4th Birthday, Eva!

2008-05-11T18:02:00.007-06:00

Eva's Birthday was last Sunday, May 4th. (Happy Birthday also to Kimberly, Marla, and Rachel!) I know there were many who were sad to miss this fun event! It was great. For Isobel's birthday last month, Isobel wanted to invite lots of friends to come to Chuck E. Cheese's with us and have a 3 layer checkered cake. Whew! Lots of work. Eva, being completely opposite of her older sister, wanted to go to the park and have coconut cream pie. Well, we didn't go to the park, but upgraded to Tent Rocks National Monument. It was a fun day of hiking and being with my brother G's family and our friends, the Sheffers. We had the same group join us on Sunday (the actual birthday) for pie and rhubarb crisp. Yummy!

Here we are, singing to the birthday girl!

Please take note of the pink Barbie ballerina dress that Eva is wearing in the video. Grammy bought that for her when she was here. She loved it and had to put it on before we could sing to her.

This is the little outfit that G and KT gave to Eva. Aren't the shoes great? I promise she didn't only get ballerina clothes, although, you've seen how skilled she is as a ballerina and is in need of encouragement ;)

Grandma Polly got Eva a kids cook book for her birthday while she was here. It has all kinds of fun recipes!

Eva has been loving it! She looks thru it to find what she wants to make. She loves measuring things. And TASTING them in the process!

She had a great time baking with Grandma Polly while she was here - and I had a great time eating their creations!

So, since Bryce and I don't really enjoy encouraging the Babie thing, we got her measuring spoons, cups, silicone spatulas, and a cupcake pan with fun shapes.

This is one of the shapes - Daddy and Eva made banana bread with her cupcake molds. (It's lips, if you can't tell ;)

After the cake and whatnot, we found the men dancing in the livingroom to Swan Lake with all the girls. Aren't they wonderful dads?

We are so happy to have our dear little Eva! Her laugh is infectious and her smile brightens my day! Thanks for joining our family! (I can't believe it's been 4 years - I feel old;)

The BIG 2nd Anniversary...after only 8 years!

2008-04-27T22:12:00.005-06:00

I know, this post is way overdue. The point is, I am doing it. I am going to confess to a bit of cheating - I am mostly going to copy this verbatim from my journal. These are my personal thoughts - I am not posting this to win a Pulitzer. Ok, here goes.

Happy Anniversary! February 29, 2008
What an unexpected day. Last night we drove into Derry. We stopped at the B&B in Rick Steve's book - one of the few good things about the book - the other being current prices and open hours. The B&B is called Saddler's House. It was a nice place - tiny lou - but it was close to the wall. The people were SO friendly. The gentleman who met us; showed us around, asked us about where we're from, told us places to eat, etc - he was very chatty. Then we went to Flaming Jack's (hehehe) for dinner. After dinner, we walked all around the wall of Derry - it was so nice. Just me and Bryce on the wall - looking over the city. When we got back to the B&B, the woman came out and asked us about our dinner - etc. They were so nice. This was the first place with hot chocolate in the room (everywhere has tea in the room) - and kit kat's!

This morning we woke up snuggling - Bryce was so sweet. We ate breakfast with an American woman from PA and a Scottish guy. They had LOTS to say. We were planning on walking round Derry to see some monuments, shops, etc - but it was SO rainy and cold, we decided to try out luck moving on. It rains about everyday, but it's usually stop and go - sun and clouds - wind and calm. So, we hoped it would calm, stop raining, and we could walk around the other things we wanted to see. We made it to Portrush and realized the weather was getting worse. We stopped at a coffee shop that had sandwiches and Internet. Bryce was so disappointed in the way the day was turning out - he had so wanted to get me flowers or SOMETHING ... It was fine. It's nice to know he was thinking of things - Oh, he thought about going on a boat ride, too, but the weather was too nasty. After lunch he tried to get me ice cream at a treat shop but the man didn't have the ice cream because he thought it was too cold - and it was! But I love good ice cream :)

We went to Dunluce Castle and got blown into the ocean along with the servants and dinner in the 1630's.

(Here's the story: This castle is built on an island with a bridge out to it. One night during a terrible storm, the edge of the cliff where the kitchen was - fell into the ocean along with several servants and the nights dinner.)

(Here is a picture of Bryce holding onto his hat - which, although it is very tight, it felt like it would blow off - on the bridge to the island bit of Dunluce Castle.)

(Here is a picture of me pretending that I am sitting in a beautiful bay window on a spring day reading a book. Did I mention it was freezing out?)

It wasn't rainy, though.

We decided to move on to Giant's Causeway. It was SO crazy windy and rainy that we spent several minutes in our car before it got blown over (you saw how little it was in earlier posts, right?) and we moved into the info center :) There we filled out and sent postcards. We finally decided to brave the wind since it wasn't currently raining. WOW! What an adventure. We got blown down the trail, into the rocks and into the ocean :)

Really, the wind pushed us down the trail and it felt like it was going to take my feet out from under me! It did start raining and with the wind it drenched my whole backside. After we went thru one particularly scary pass, I thought we should take some photos and work our way back up. So we did - try to to take some photos.

(As you can see from the waves, it was a bit windy)

It was so scary and windy - I slipped once on the rocks and got muddy and wet - but I was alive:)

(Basic story about the Causeway: The legend is that the Giant, Finn MacCool, was building a trail across the ocean to Scotland to his love. The geologic perspective is that when all this basalt cooled, it formed these crazy, almost hexagon shaped, columns. Pick your favorite story to tell people. Note in this picture how the shapes of the rocks are extending in a path out to the ocean.)

(Also, note the foam on the rocks.)

(I like to call these pictures: camera one and camera two. I was sitting on these columns that I was attempting to climb over - and yet trying to take some good pics. I was so nervous because of the wind that I kept just firing off shots so I could hurry and get down and safe. I just love how these turned out. First the waves in the background are getting blown backwards because of the wind. Second because in the first frame the wave is just reaching the columns and in the second they are having their second big crash. Beautiful. Too bad I was too scared to enjoy it at the time ;)

Some of the foam from the waves blew up into my mouth a couple of times - eww! We were now back on the path (the one pictured here) and getting pelted in the face with rain flying at 100 mph - OUCH - luckily Bryce grabbed my hand and we were able to push up thru it together.

Once the wind and rain subsided a bit - I started to laugh. "Happy Anniversary!" I said, "This is a romantic walk along the beach!" We had a good laugh at ourselves.

We went back, soaked thru to our skin, and drove to the Carrick-a-rede Bridge just to check to make sure it would be open the next day. The sign said it opened March 1st so we are praying there isn't too much wind.

We went to a restaurant in Ballintoy that also had a B&B. We sat next to the heater to warm ourselves. While we were eating, a group of guys, who apparently had just gotten off work - some kind of construction it seemed - came in and started playing pool and having a pint of Guinness. A man sauntered over to the jukebox to pick some songs. After several minutes of serious contemplation, a Tina Turner song came on! I couldn't believe it! Maybe he pushed the wrong button. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Next song: "Complicated" by Aviril Lavigne! This was too much. I was trying not to laugh and wondering if his comerades were going to come raz him or even beat him up for what he was playing - but they didn't even seem to notice! I got out an old recipt and started writing down the songs he picked. It got better. After some techno and that one song - "I wanna stand with you on a mountain..." - my jaw dropped to the floor.

"You raise me up" by Josh Groban! Who is this guy! I kept waiting for a Lisa Loeb song next. When I finally got my turn at the jukebox, I saw there wasn't any Lisa Loeb - maybe that was why. I was able to play "Sweetest Thing" for Bryce. I think this is one of "our songs" because of the "blue-eyed boy meets a brown-eyed girl" line. Love it.

We went up to our room (beware gorey details;) and got into our jammies and snuggled under the covers. We talked about fun memories and things we love. We watched a program on TV about a little region in Ireland. These cute little kids were telling folktales, acting out Viking stories, and singing traditional songs. It was so fun!

I do love my Bryce. He tried hard today - because he loves me. I love that he tries. I love that he likes to snuggle with me and say nice things to me. I love that he sang "I love you in the morning" to me this morning in bed. He is wonderful and I'm glad he is mine forever.

I Wanna Be A Ballerina When I Grow Up

2008-04-08T00:07:00.003-06:00

I don't know if any of you remember this commercial - but here is a remake.

These are my girls dancing to their new movie: "Barbie in the Nutcracker" (thanks, Mom!)

That's one for the blog ;)

2008-04-07T22:33:00.004-06:00

Share keeps calling me lately to keep me updated on our coming schedule. I am flying to Utah to see her run in the 1/2 marathon (way to go, Share!) and to play for a few days. To my friend Karen, I have two words - Scrapbook Expo. :D Ok, but really, the point is, everytime Share calls to update me on what else she has recently planned, I tell her a story about Eva. I guess Eva is just too sassy lately.

Before I tell you what she said, I want to tell you a bit of background. About a million years ago, my sister had a nasty basement apartment in Rexburg, Idaho. In this apartment, were found a few girls who lived there, a cat who lived upstairs but figured out how to get downstairs thru Share's closet just to jump on her in the night, a cat beating stick, and an ugly green refriderator (to name a few). Whenever someone said something particularly funny or noteworthy, they would write it on the side of the fridge -no explanation, just a quote. Our friend Mark had a great desire to have his words immortalized on the fridge. One night, probably too late to be night anymore, he said something really funny. As we are laughing our heads off, he says, "Is that one for the fridge?" Who knows what he said first - but, this quote was even better and went on the fridge. I think that is the only one I even remember.

After telling Share a couple stories, she said, "That's one for the Blog" - in the same way we'd say, "That's one for the Fridge." So - here's Eva's quotes for the blog.

Mom called to tell me she loved me and then Eva wanted to talk to her. After handing Eva the phone, I noticed that she had grass and stuff in her hair. I said, "Eva, you have stuff all over you."
She held the phone away from her ear and mouth and whispered, "Mom, I'm on the phone. Don't talk to me when I'm on the phone. Okay."
Betcha can't guess where she's heard that.

While at McDonald's tonight, Share over heard me say to Eva,
"Don't lick carmel off the table."

I can't remember what other funny things have been said lately - help me out, Share.
If any of you have any funny quotes you wanna share- Bryce or anyone - remember, "that's one for the blog."

Platform 9 3/4

2008-04-03T12:52:00.003-06:00

So, If you know NOTHING about Harry Potter - you won't get this. First of all, I didn't read Harry Potter til we moved here to Santa Fe. Actually, I didn't read them - I listened to them on tape because I drive all over the place. So, in London, Harry is supposed to go to platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station to get on the Hogwart's Express. Since I finished the books just before we left - I had to go to King's Cross Station when we went to London.

When we left Ireland, we were pretty ready to go home. All we had planned to do in London on our last day was to go to Jane Austen's house and King's Cross Station. It took us all day to get to Jane Austen's house and back. We took trains all over the place and that night when we finally got back into London, we took the tube to King's Cross just before going to our B&B.

By the way, as the story goes, Harry has to run his cart into the platform to get thru to the wizarding world. Here I am on my way into that world.

Overall, the last London bit of the trip was a bit uneventful. However, when we got up early to catch a few trains to the airport, we were graced by this beautiful sunrise. This was a good way to say goodbye to our trip and to start our journey home.

Driving in Ireland

2008-03-17T22:23:00.007-06:00

Hello! Finally, my first real story about Ireland. Thanks for being so patient ;)

We flew into London and spent a day there - walking all over town with our luggage - trying to find the National Gallery and then go see Les Miserables (yeah!). It was fun, but we sure were happy to get to our hotel in Nottinghill. The park just over the street looked just like the park in the movie Nottinghill. Should have taken a picture - but I was so tired. I did say "whoops-a-daisys" like 50 times. The tube ran under our hotel - but I was too tired to notice. The next morning we ate breakfast then worked our way to the airport. Whoa - we had no idea how long it would take! When we arrived at the airport we had 45 minutes to get thru security and to our gate on the other side of the terminal before it left us. You know those movies where they run to the plane...that was us.

Once on board the plane, the stewardess started talking and her accent was so strong - we were excited to hear more of that in Ireland :) When we arrived at the airport, we went to get the rental car. Their computers were down so it took a while. One super good thing was that we also rented a Garmin to help us get around - that was fun and occasionally annoying. (It didn't have the street that Bryce's aunt lives on, so it would get really annoying when we would get close..."recalculating"). We walked out to where the car was and where we were planning to meet back up with Bryce's aunt and uncle to follow them to their house. We got to the car and we were staring at the door. It didn't have a key hole. The key didn't have a button to unlock the car. We were just so confused staring at this locked car and useless key. Finally, I said we should try the DRIVER'S SIDE. The right side of the car had a key hole. Wow. This will be an adjustment. Wait til we start driving on the road - yikes!

See how happy he was to find the right (correct) side of the car?! Notice how tiny this car is. Good thing. The roads in Ireland are SO tiny. You can forget about a shoulder.

The speed limits here were insane. The roads are narrow, windy, and not very well kept - did I mention there isn't a shoulder? Rarely is there a sign to warn you about an upcoming curve. The speed limit was generally 80 km per hour (about 50 mph - but it feels like 80). We saw a huge Semi turn off down this road that was the size of one lane, whose speed limit was 100 kph! Bryce's uncle Steve said that he felt like the speed limits were a challenge. "I dare you to go this fast." Bryce thought it was more like a goal to try to reach once before you die.

Here's a little video to give you an idea of what it was like. Remember that our car is tiny (and this was a pretty decent road).

We saw several funny road signs. Well, I thought they were funny. I was getting pretty silly after spending lots of time on the road. This was one of my favorites:

I don't really know what it means...I guess the road is getting smaller...If so, that doesn't calm me. Another one I got a kick out of is "Hidden Dip Ahead". I often imagined a not smart person hiding behind a rock fence or a bush just waiting to jump out in front of us.

This was a classic sight. We were driving along this little back road with Bryce's aunt and uncle, when we saw this. Bryce's aunt slowly brought up her camera and snapped a picture - perfect. This should be a postcard or a some other "typical sites in Ireland" advertisement.

I hope you enjoyed this, my first installment of Ireland. Please remember to check Bryce's blog for some pics and stories - I can't do them all.

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

We Found It!

2008-03-12T22:29:00.002-06:00

Ok, so here it is. It wasn't too hard to find the end of the rainbow...actually. We were just driving along the wrong side of the super skinny road and there it was. It was only the second day in Ireland. So we stayed here. Well, actually, we stayed at the hostel part, not the B&B - this one just made a better picture.

I have tons of stories to tell and tons of pics to share...and tons of work to do! I am planning on taking some time this weekend to do laundry, unpack, and write some blog entries. Sorry - you'll have to wait a bit longer so I can do the trip justice. See Bryce's blog for some stories in the meantime :) By the way, before you notice it for me, I look the same in all the pictures. Most of our time was spent outside in the wind and rain - therefore, I was wearing my coat. So, look for some differences. See if I'm wearing a hat or gloves, glasses or contacts, jeans or hiking pants.... Doesn't this sound fun?

I know, you are all on the edge of your seat.

We are going to find the end of the Rainbow

2008-02-19T09:06:00.002-07:00

Just so you all know, we are leaving today to go to Ireland. Well, technically we are going to London for a couple days and then to Ireland - but the ultimate destination is Ireland. I am not sure yet how things will be working out - Internet wise or other - but I wanted to let you know why I may not post for a while.

We fly out today - the 8 year anniversary of when we were endowed. We will be in London a couple days and then in Ireland through our SECOND anniversary (Leap Day)- then back to London for a couple more days. We fly in Saturday night (on March 8th, my Mom's birthday - Happy Birthday!). So, don't expect too much while we are gone - but expect to see TONS of pictures when we return.

By the way, did I mention that I have never been out of the US and Canada? Well, this IS exciting.

Don't worry, Bryce has his passport ;)

Happy, Happy Birthday!

2008-02-11T20:34:00.001-07:00

Here is our cute little stinker, Eva. She was eating watermelon one day (obviously) and she was so happy about it that I had to take a picture.

Several nights ago, Bryce was reading Winnie the Pooh to the girls and it was so sweet that I had to take a picture. Eva had to look as it started flashing and sorta ruined the mood. I bet you wouldn't guess that about 45 seconds prior to this pic, Eva was screaming and throwing a fit about not going to bed. Then about 45 seconds after this picture she was mad again because she wanted to play with the camera. Oops. I guess I ruined the peaceful moment by thinking it was sweet. Sheesh.

Today is my darling husband's birthday. Let me share with you my attempts at making this day special. (One of the reasons I wanted to make it special is that we had our first date on his birthday 9 years ago...)

For one, we stayed up late talking (after I got home at 12:30...). I told Bryce that I would get up with Isobel AND walk her to the bus stop. I occasionally get up with Isobel and help her get ready then wake Bryce up to walk her to the bus. That was nice of me;) Then I did some laundry and made him breakfast (which I NEVER do). That turned out good, too. I told Bryce he could go skiing and I'd take care of Eva while I work. I left around 11 am for Albuquerque and Bryce was gonna leave soon, too. In ABQ, I dropped Eva at my brother's house while I went to an appointment. While waiting for the appointment to start, I got a text from Bryce asking if I could talk for a minute. I called him and he informed me that I had his ski boots in my trunk! Oh, NO! So he said he'd just go for a motorcycle ride because it was a beautiful day.

I was planning on being home in time to meet Isobel - but the appointment got delayed and it took me a long time to get home... So Bryce made sure he was home in time for Isobel. Then, I got a great idea about Bryce's birthday cake. He said to make the cake easy and he wanted really good ice cream. So, I thought, Ice Cream Cake! That's super easy for me and if I get it at Baskin Robbins or something, the ice cream will be good. Well, the cakes they had were filled with lame chocolate chip or cookies and cream. That would not do. So I asked if they could make one... yeah, in 24 hours...or so...it's nearing Valentine's Day. I was so ticked! There goes good idea number 1. Well, I conceeded to buying some good ice cream at the grocery store and making a cake. So I got some phish food - which is Bryce's favorite - which we never buy. Luckily it was on sale;)

I was going to make pork chops and potatoes - but since my appointment took so long - I couldn't even start dinner til after 6 and my kids aren't very patient. I made burritos. Sheesh.

I got ready to make the cake and looked at the ingredients...no eggs in the fridge. Sheesh! This is getting rediculous. So I decided to put only 3 candles in Bryce's pint (he's 33 today). Then...yeah, it get's better...it took us 20 minutes to find the matches. We rummaged thru our storage closet forever, then found them in one of the piles in the kitchen. Sheesh.

So, here is my pathetic attempt at making this birthday cake thing special. Here we are, celebrating with Daddy. Eva is enjoying the phish food and Isobel and I are trying to look cute. We sure love that man.
Isobel took this picture of Bryce a few days ago. Isn't he cute? He is reading his motorcycle manual for his little 110. That girl really knows how to make him smile.
After all my failed attempts at making this day fabulous, Bryce didn't care. He loved the phish food, honestly doesn't really like cake, and he enjoyed having a free day without babysitting. And, he really likes burritos. So, even though it didn't live up to my expectations, He did. He is so grateful and has really enjoyed his day. Did I mention that he and Isobel went to the hot tub while I was taking too long? He made the most of his day. Thank goodness.

I am so thankful that he wanted to spend his birthday with me 9 years ago. That day was the day that I thought to myself, "this boy is so fun. He enjoys me just the way I am. He thinks I'm funny. I can say anything and not feel embarassed. I can truely be myself with him. I think he could be my best friend." I am so thankful that he is and will be for eternity.

I love you. Thank you for being my best friend. Happy Birthday, Bryce!

I'm the Man!

2008-02-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

So, I did this funny thing I saw on Hilary's blog (angryyoungwoman). For some reason, I match more men than women. It must be my masculine glasses.
Enjoy!

By the way, I tried several other pictures, and this was the only one that gave me three females. In all those pictures my best match was Matthew Perry. It even included Larry King and "Newman" from Seinfeld. Sheesh. I need to get some better pictures taken :)

No Hair, For My Hairbrush

2008-01-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

So, you may have noticed in the Christmas post that we really needed hair cuts. Eva's bangs were down to her chin - and I had about the dumbest hair ever! So, while mom was here, I made her cut our hair. Here is Eva and I right after our chopping - and Mom in the mirror taking the picture:)

I couldn't find a good picture of Isobel's hair - this was the next best thing. (On the way home we stopped at this random hamburger joint on Highway 14 and the girls fell in love with the santa.)

So, I think Eva might be bipolar. See the picture of Eva and I? About two seconds later, when I got her clothes on, she made this face when I tried to take a picture.

This was a few days later at Grandma Polly's house. We went there since we sold our house. I just put this picture in because she is so silly. It's not a very clear picture - but I do like her hair do. I think she may be a Princess Leia wannabe. What an innocent face. How could she ever do anything wrong?

Christmas Wrap-Up

2008-01-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

So, I have not yet done a post about our Christmas. I did tell you, briefly, where we went and with whom. I thought I probably ought to share some of our pictures. (Some of you may have seen some of them already on Katie's blog - but these are my take on some of those experiences.)

(PS -this is us freezing in a gazebo one night in downtown Santa Fe)

This was Christmas morning. I think this little clip really captures the essence of the morning. Isobel running around getting presents for herself and others, Eva just being thrilled with each present, and me just laughing at their excitement!

Christmas night we drove to Gordon and Katie's in Albuquerque (sometimes I like to type the full word because I am so proud that I can spell it correctly;). We stayed the night so we could get up early to drive down to Carlsbad. We stopped a couple times along the way. Our first main stop was here - at Billy the Kid's grave. And because I wanted to show you how absent minded I can be at times - here's a video, too.

So, then it was off to Roswell to see some aliens. I didn't get a great view of a flying saucer - but I did get Share a T-shirt with a nice fuzzy picture of one;) My favorite part about Roswell was the enthusiasm of the town in support of alien stuff. The Wal-Mart even had aliens on it and a cheap gift shop. Best of all - by far - were the lampposts! Check these out.

I didn't take any pictures of Carlsbad Caverns - because Katie and Dad took so many - that and I think I'm lazy;) But check out Katie's blog for some pics of us. After we got back from the caves, we went to see Petryoglyph National Monument. I don't remember which day...

But here we are having a good - cold time looking at ancient graffiti. Man, it was a cold day. What kind of mom lets her daughter go out on such a cold day in a dress, I ask you? (Anyone else have a daughter who really doesn't like to wear pants?) Can you spot the bunny in the picture with both the girls? They were so thrilled!

I think this post has been long enough. So, I hope you enjoyed our vacation as much as we did :D

From the Mouths of Babes

2008-01-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

I know, I haven't posted in a while. So, briefly I'll tell you why. My mom and dad came for Christmas and we had a wonderful time visiting here in Santa Fe, my brother in Albuquerque, and Carlsbad Caverns. Then, after a food-filled New Years Eve party at Karen's (that ended at 4ish am) we drove to Utah for about a week. We arrived home late Monday night and in the last 4 days I have worked 41 hours - whew! So, before I start the laundry we've dirtied the last 2 weeks - or cleaning the house from vacation and Christmas stuff - I thought I'd tell you a couple cute things my kids said the last 2 days.

Yesterday, Eva asked her daddy to make her lunch. She specifically requested "Cheese Girl."

(That's Grilled Cheese to you and me;)

Tonight, I have been a bit moody. Besides the messy house and the excess work - I'm a girl. You know what I mean? So, at dinner tonight, Isobel said the prayer and specifically requested to "please bless Mom that she won't be so ornery tomorrow night."

Isobel's Christmas song

2007-12-22T23:27:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger: DH

Hey kids,

This is a sneak preview of the song the primary is going to sing at church tomorrow morning.

Eva burst into song today, once again choosing a song that sounded only vaguely familiar to me, and Isobel filled in the gaps. But you'll notice Isobel's version has a few gaps, too.

That's because Eva was spinning a little plastic record on a curvy straw, and when it would stop spinning, Isobel would have to stop singing. (Too bad I only have audio and not video, eh?) She eventually made it through.

Here you go.

Just in case there's any doubt about who's doing the singing, Eva just sings the first line then instructs Isobel, who takes it from there.

Merry Christmas.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

2007-12-16T22:21:00.001-07:00

We saw LOTS of Santas this last week. Last Saturday we went to the mall (Me, Eva, Katie, and Abigail) where Eva sat on Santa's lap. I didn't take a picture of that because 1) I wasn't allowed because they were selling photos and 2) I tried to take a picture with Katie's camera and there was no card in it. Talk about being forced to follow the rules! Hehe. On Thursday, my little family went to Albuquerque to a NMSD preschool party where we saw another santa - who gave each of the girls a book. Well, Isobel was one of the first names to be called and she didn't even open her present til the next day. Eva was waiting at the front of the room - pacing back to us on occasion - hoping to hear her name. Well, it didn't come. Joanne and her daughters were there and her oldest daughter was waiting to see if Eva got a gift - if she didn't, she was going to share. When they were about to wrap up, they asked if they missed anyone. Me, Joanne, and Eva all said that Eva had been forgotten. So, they found her gift and she was thrilled to get a book. Isobel, after seeing everyone open thier presents, told us she hoped hers wasn't a book. The next day she found a book in her wrapping paper. Oh well. Here is a pic of Eva waiting to be called. (By the way, it was a pj party.)

So, the next day, Friday, we had a Ward Christmas Party. Isobel and Eva ran up to get in line. Apparently, some well-meaning kid told the girls they weren't technically in line so they had to move to the back - they did and they didn't mind. I did because I was waiting to take their picture thinking they would be there any minute...
The best part of the whole party was this - a couple teenage guys dancing like robots and such. It was so funny! I had to video it. Sorry the video is only 30 seconds!

Here is Eva, being as cute as can be! We were getting ready to leave the house the other night and we looked over to see Eva sitting on the couch with her legs crossed and her hands on her knee - smiling big! Well, we had to take a picture. Last, but by no means the least, Eva wrote a note to Daddy the other day. I hope you can read it. It says, "I Love You" but in no particular order :D

To Dad and Gordon

2007-12-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Bryce was talking to Dad the other night when Dad watched my family Elfed -and he was cracking up. Well, I thought I'd give us a chance to laugh a bit at Dad. While Elfing Dad, I had to add some friends for him to dance with and these are the only pics I had uploaded on this computer. So, here you go!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1408090429

I laughed a lot harder at this one, than the one of me ;)

Love you guys! Merry Christmas and see you soon!

A Little Elfin Magic :)

2007-12-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

So, I took my friend Karen's advice - my family is now ELF-ed. It was funnier with her family - maybe because it was the first one I saw. Isobel, Eva, and I have almost the exact same smiles. Here we are anyway!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1294024722

Speaking of Christmas cheer, Eva was asking for candy this evening and it was nearly dinner time so I told her that she'd have to wait til after dinner. Well, then she brought in 2 bags of my current favorite candy - Candy Cane kisses. Well, when I asked her where she got them, she brought me an empty Walgreens bag. So, I showed Bryce the candy when he got back a few minutes later - and apparently they were part of my christmas present Bryce bought earlier today. Mmmmm. Then, as luck would have it, UPS dropped off a present I ordered for Bryce - and he answered the door. We are not doing so well at keeping things secret from eachother. Well, Bryce always guesses anyway, even if I don't tell him. Probably the most obvious give-away was when I had to call Bryce from the sporting goods store and ask what size of fishing pole to buy (6ft 6in) - and then left it in the car the next day when he took the car! OOPS! I think my kids might learn too much about Santa too soon just because we're ditzy!

I think that's all for now. Have a lovely week - I'm hoping we'll get snowed in tonight.
:)

Really, It's Christmas Tonight!

2007-11-26T20:15:00.001-07:00

So my sister sent me a present along with some material. It said, "don't open til Christmas" and I hounded her about it everyday! So, finally, tonight she gave in. Here's my super cute new purse. It's totally retro - it even smells like the salvation army! Hooray!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

2007-11-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight, for family night, we decided to put up our christmas tree. Well, we couldn't find our decorations in the storage closet, so we'll do that later. Here's a fun video of us putting it together and then the finished product. Enjoy! (We sure did!)

Church is Dangerous! ;)

2007-11-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so church isn't dangerous - really. But, man, we had some mishaps. So, a couple weeks ago I was walking across the gym. It was just after sacrament meeting and because it was the primary program, there were overflow chairs set up in there. I was walking across to get to sunday school and didn't notice the rack that the chairs go on. You know the ones that go under the stage? Anyway, I tripped over it and cut the top of my foot and it got all swollen and bruised. Here's a picture from about a week after the incident. It hurt much worse than it looks! So, this Sunday, Eva was being strange on the benches. Not unusual. Well, she sorta fell forward and hit the top of her eye on the bench. Ouch! She was purple instantly. This isn't a great picture but it's hard to get her eye closed enough to see the purple.
I am thinking about taking a first aid kit in my church bag - or at least a "feel-better-bear."

7 Random Things

2007-11-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

So my friend, Karen (whose blog link is on my blog), tagged me. Thus I have to tell you seven random things about me. I left my camera at her house yesterday during Thanksgiving dinner - so I probably have to do this so she doesn't hold my camera for ransom.

"There may be a difficulty...You'll be limited to number..." ONLY SEVEN?

1. I have recently rediscovered Tea Tree Oil. I have had this canker on the tip of my tongue for like a week. You know how you never notice your tongue until it hurts? Well, let me tell you what the tip of your tongue does: it cleans around your teeth when you eat, it moves the food around your mouth, it licks your dry lips (especially when you live in the high desert), and it helps you spit more accurately - like when you brush your teeth. So, finally on Wednesday when the prospect of not enjoying our Thanksgiving Feast and five pies was a real threat, I sent DH out for Tea Tree Oil. I remembered that my mom had some when I was in High School and it worked great on cankers - but I hadn't used it since. Well, the one ounce, $6 bottle was worth every penny. By Thursday morning, the canker was mostly healed but more importantly, it didn't hurt. Oh, man, I LOVE Thanksgiving food!

2. I love to shop for fabric. It's rediculous because I have no time to sew. And I already have too many projects I want to do. But I love the possibility that some soft and inexpensive fabric has in store. Did I ever mention that I bought some beautiful satin fabric for a "Emma"-style dress - and all the notions that it needs? Only problem - it's so beautiful that I don't dare cut it. My body rebels against the "normal" shape of dress patterns and I'd hate to waste it.
Along those same lines - I love to look at beautiful paper and imagine it's possibilities - but I never buy that - I can't justify it as someting useful - like I can with fabric.

3. I like to play games - but I really LOVE to win. Sometimes I'm a total party-pooper if I'm losing too much. Once, DH and I had to ban speed solitare from our house because we'd get too mad at eachother. You know, the adrenaline rush from trying to think and move fast at the same time and then - you are positive that you put YOUR card down FIRST! Anyway, we decided we loved eachother more than that game. We haven't played in like 7 years. So, I like games I'm good at. If I have a possibility of winning, I'll play. If I get stomped every time I attempt - I'm apt to protest that particular game. Sorry Honey:)

4. I love to shop with my sister. It doesn't really matter what we are shopping for or if we buy anything. We always have so much fun. We don't usually spend a ton of time at one place (except maybe JoAnn;), but we have a good time making fun of ugly things and commenting on cute things, and when one of us is done, we go home. I don't think I'm much of a shopper - probably because I rarely buy anything that costs more than $5- but I'll shop with her anyday.

5. I'm kinda shy. I know my family would always laugh at me when I would say this, but it's true. I have been here in Santa Fe for about 3 1/2 months and the friends I have are those that have been brave enough to introduce themselves to me. I am so grateful for Karen because she just does what she wants. She invites new people over for dinner all the time and even forced the Bishop to meet us:) Anyway, I think because I'm not comfortable or confident in my current position, I'm shy. Give me some time and I'll probably be comfortable and confident again.

6. I really dislike pants. I like to wear pants, but it is rare that I find a pair that fits me well. I probably find one pair every few years. I love skirts. They are much more forgiving to my figure - and they are feminine:) I'm not really good at BEING feminine (think belching), but I occasionally like to FEEL feminine.

7. A few years ago, I went on my first real backpacking trip - I mean, I was novice. I didn't even know how to pee in the wild - not well, anyway. I got some tips from my friend before we went:) It was a "girls - only" trip, because we didn't want to have to live up to male expectations. I was so excited - and out of shape;) We found out when we got there that the only campsite we could get was 15 miles in. Well, I wasn't expecting this, but I was excited to say I'd done it. So, I trudged along with encouraging words all along the way. It was beautiful! I was completely beat and dying - but every step brought us closer to our destination. I love the Tetons. I have to say, that I love a big challenge when I can see the results - a breathtaking vista at the top of a glacial cut valley. It was such a great feeling to know I could do it - and to see the work of God's hand so explicitly portayed. I wonder where we'll go next?

Ok, so, I don't even remember what I wrote...
This is me.

a day at the park

2007-11-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is what the rest of us do while Bettie's at work...

Eat sandy lollipops...do heavy construction...
make sand angels ...
play hide and seek ...
and, occasionally, growl at each other.

Hooray for visitors!

2007-11-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Some of my in-laws were kind enough to visit us even though our apt is so small and boring - hence this photo:
I'm sure it wasn't boredom, but exhaustion from having so much fun. I'm sure you are all now very anxious to come visit;)

Just before I moved, I decided that I needed to make my girl's room cute. Well, my sister convinced me to buy these letters of the girl's names. (A big splurge on my part;) And then we bought paint for them, too. One day at IKEA we saw these mirrors for only $2 a piece and decided we should paint them and put the letters on. I was sure I didn't have time for any of this project - by the way. Oh, and when we saw this cute light and they were out of stock - I made it my mission to find one. My SIL was living in AZ and I asked her to check her IKEA. She found one there the day before she moved to NM! What an angel! And so, after months of doing a bit here and there - I (and my tall friend) finally hung these mirrors. It takes a village...
(By the way, you can see my school shirt in the middle, bottom row mirror - "RU")
My sister informed me that I need more pictures of Isobel - so this is the pose she gave me:
She said, "Did you see my pony tail?" Did I ever mention that she cut part of her hair? A small chunk of hair is as long as these front pieces hanging in her eyes. I was so shocked! She never tried to cut her hair til she was 5! (Maybe it's because I was so adept at hiding the scissors:)

Happy Halloween(er)!

2007-11-01T18:56:00.000-06:00

Well, last week JoAnn fabrics had too stinkin good of a sale. I had intended to make the girls find something to wear for Halloween, but then this sale...

Isobel had asked to be Belle and Eva wanted to be - of all things - an elephant. So I took Friday off work last week so I could sew like crazy. Well, I didn't even get Isobel's dress done. So I sewed all day Saturday, too. (I kinda forgot to eat in the meantime.) Saturday night Isobel's dress was wearable - but the neck ended up being too low. So it just had to be pinned for our ward party. Eva's outfit was done but she didn't have a hood - which meant no ears or trunk - so she dressed as a 50's girl (what Isobel was last year). Sunday I felt really ill - probably due to the lack of good food and too much stress. Long story shorter, I didn't finish both the costumes completely til Wednesday (Halloween) at like Noon. All that work and Eva wore her costume for like 40 minutes:) Anyway, I hope you enjoy! (I hope you can see the lipstick on my teeth;)

In a Nutshell...

2007-10-28T22:28:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I got this new camera (thank you soo much) because I hear I have to post pics more. So, here are some pics we've taken with it so far. Bryce and I went to Las Cruces for my last training, YEAH!! Here's us in the car.. (Thanks G & KT for babysitting Eva, and Karen for babysitting Isobel so we could go!)

Then after the training was over, Bryce took me to the place where he and the girls went hiking on my birthday. So here's the fin of rock, some really tall banana yuccas (which are everywhere), and a roadrunner.

(The fin of rock they climbed is right behind him.)

I was taking this picture for the reddish pink flowers - when I looked at the label it read "Spotted Gayfeather" - that's the tall fluffy grayish ones.

Then, as you know if you read Katie's blog, we went to ABQ and took photos of her family. This is Eva ready to go to the park.
Sweet girl. I love having a camera that works! Thanks so much! Anyway, here's a flower to you from Eva. We love ya!

Silly Eva

2007-10-16T19:10:00.000-06:00

I got these pics off my camera - since it only takes 14 pics at a time...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these as much as I do:) I guess I've been missing that cute face because I haven't seen it for almost 5 days...too long!

Oh, and here a couple pictures of the beautiful aspen leaves up by the Santa Fe ski area.

Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon

2007-10-15T22:27:00.000-06:00

This'll be very short and sweet. We went to the balloon fiesta in ABQ this past weekend and it was quite the experience - try it once for sure, we'll see about next year. We woke the girls up at 5am to get down to the balloon park. I still can't believe how many balloons there were. Note to self: thank Katie for making breakfast burritos the night before, and go to bed earlier when you know you're getting up at 5am.

Check us out at Katie's blog. http://ktann83.blogspot.com

What would I do without Katie and her camera to update y'all about my life. Good thing we're hanging out a lot or you'd just get lame notes from me without a picture link;)

If you get lost, find a police man

2007-10-10T12:18:00.000-06:00

So, we went to the state fair last month with my brother's family. We had a great time. It was very nerve wracking to keep track of the girls. We stopped at the police dept. booth and signed our kids up. We had to write our kid's names, our names, and our cell phone number - then they gave the girls a bracelet that had a number that corresponded to my info. So, we told the girls that if they got separated from us to find a nice police man and show him your bracelet so he can call me. It was a zoo! Thank heaven we didn't lose anyone.

Anyway, we did have fun and my SIL took some fun pics so go see her blog:
http://ktann83.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-mexico-state-fair.html

We really did have a busy, fun month. Sorry for not posting more;)