Amber's World

2011-12-28T18:57:00.000-08:00

I don't know where time disappears to because it seems like we just got these portraits done. But really we got them taken in the middle of October and got the disc a few weeks later. I'm just a little slow about getting them on my blog. I did manage to put them on facebook so I was feeling pretty good about myself. And then Christmas time came, so that's my excuse. I do like how they turned out, even if Sinjin has some pretty weird faces in the majority of them (that day he forgot how to smile naturally).

I Love Halloween!

2011-11-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

This year we had a great Halloween. Matt is home with us, I didn't have to work, the weather was great, and the kids looked awesome. They also got a ton of candy while trick-or-treating. I've realized that too much sugar gives me headaches, so I won't be eating any of it, but it will last until Christmas for snacks and treats.

Exploring Colorado

2011-10-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

Now that we have most of our projects and moving in done, we've started exploring the Colorado Springs area. Two weekends ago we went to a wolf refuge up in the mountains. It was a really cool place and the drive was beautiful. I've never seen so many gorgeous yellow aspen trees. Then last Saturday we got family pictures taken all decked out in our Broncos jerseys. Matt was very happy when I agreed to that. I think they'll turn out nice. When I get the disc I will put some on the blog. Then we went to a place called Seven Falls Park. It, of course, had some lovely waterfalls and some nice hikes up in the mountains. Mom was with us and was happy to see some pretty fall foliage. Unfortunately it's starting to get cold so I don't know how much else we'll get to see before winter sets in. I guess we'll have to find some indoor things to do.

Summer's Baptism

2011-09-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday our sweet, little Summer got baptized. She was nervous about people watching her so we didn't have the whole family come. Of course she changed her mind afterwards and wished they'd all been there. But it was still a good day. She's a good girl and makes her mom and dad proud.

New Beginnings

2011-09-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

It might appear that I've been a total slacker for the last four months, but I actually have some decent excuses. First of all, I had to give Matt our computer at the end of April because he needed it for his Army training. Then, we moved out of our house and into my Relief Society president's basement, where I couldn't get internet. Then we finally get to Colorado and find out we have to wait two weeks to get internet because they don't have enough cables in our area. But now I have no more excuses, and my house is pretty much in order, so I can finally catch up with my blog. I'll quickly summarize our summer. We sold our house in June and moved into Betty Gardner's basement. She is the nicest lady and let us completely take over her basement. It was interesting living there with no kitchen and hardly any of our stuff. But it was a great blessing since we had to be out of our house but couldn't yet move to Colorado Springs. We finished the summer by going to Houston for Essie's black belt test. She did so well and passed with flying colors, or actually like a flying black ninja. That was really cool and we are all so proud of her. Grandma, Grandpa, Angie and Charlie were even nice enough to drive out and watch her. We then immediately came to our new house in Colorado Springs. We finally get to be with Matt again and we're absolutely loving our new house. Sometimes I start to tear up thinking about Utah and everything we left behind. That was our home for so long and we loved it. But Colorado Springs is a beautiful place and we're settling in just fine. Here are a few pictures of our house in The Springs-as all the natives call it.

Easter In San Antonio

2011-04-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to go to San Antonio for Easter for the last eight years (ever since Essie could walk and look for eggs), and this year I got to go. I was fortunate to get a leave of absence from work for the next three months, which means I finally have flight benefits without having to work every holiday. We flew down Friday night and came home Monday morning. It was so much fun to have Easter with the family. My mom and dad make Easter lots of fun, good food and a great Easter egg hunt in the back yard. The kids loved being with Winnie for all the festivities (if only Forrest and Clara could have been there). It was beautiful weather and I would love to do it every year. Of course, we'd like Matt to be able to join us next time.

A South Carolina Spring Break

2011-04-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

This year for Spring Break we decided to escape the cold of Utah and head down to South Carolina for five days to visit Matt. It is so beautiful there this time of year. It was in the 80's the whole time and everything is green or flowering. I told Zach it's too bad he can't be there now instead of all summer long when it will cease to be quite so beautiful and be just plain hot. We were planning to drive to Charleston to see the ocean but then there were tornado warnings for the whole coast of South Carolina so we ditched that plan. We took the kids to a movie, Soul Surfer, which was really good. Then we went to our favorite cemetary in downtown Columbia. We were searching for the three Revolutionary War veterans that are buried there, but only found one. We also went to Sesquicentennial State Park and hiked through the woods. It was an awesome trip. We had a little drama getting home, but it all turned out okay.

Essie's County Report

2011-04-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

Essie had to choose a county in Utah and then do a report about it. She chose Tooele County because she wanted to pick one that most people wouldn't choose, and because we like to go to Ophir which is a ghost town in Tooele County. Matt and I discovered Ophir several years ago and we like to go there every once in a while. It's not a true ghost town because 29 people live there. But it used to be a mining town of several thousand people, so it's pretty close to being a ghost town. Essie got an A on her report with extra credit for actually visiting her county.

Spring Break?

2011-04-09T07:30:00.001-07:00

So, spring break starts today and this is what we woke up to. I try not to complain about the weather, I know that in Utah the spring weather is up and down. But I was counting on cheap, outdoor fun for the kids for the next week. After all, we have no idea what kind of paychecks Matt will be getting for the next little while (See Government Shutdown of 2011). Hmm, I might have to get very creative. At least the plan is to go see Matt on Thursday in sunny South Carolina.

Rome Around The World

2011-03-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to go to Europe. In fact, I've always dreamed of roaming all over the world. Well now I crossed one place off my bucket list. I went to Rome and I discovered that going somewhere that far from home is kind of exhausting and stressful and expensive. However, it was also amazing and beautiful and exciting. Matt and I flew to Rome from Atlanta getting in at about 6 am on Saturday. We spent most of that day looking at amazing places like the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, and all kinds of beautiful churches. The next day Matt ran a marathon and I didn't wander far from the hotel because I knew I would get lost. On Monday we went to the Vatican. My favorite part was St. Peter's Basilica. It is so big and so impressive. We also went to the Vatican Museum...very big and very crowded. We had some delicious food while we were there and discovered that they won't even give you a glass of water for free in Rome. But they are much more relaxed than us in their pharmacies. I got an asthma inhaler without a prescription for only 5 euros. On the way home we got a first class seat on the plane. Now that is a treat, the ten hours flew by and I almost didn't want the flight to end. Matt and I had to say good bye in Atlanta as he went back to Fort Jackson and I went to Salt Lake City (in a roundabout way). Fun times...I'm sure I'll do it again some day, but not too soon:)

The Constant Colorer

2011-03-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

Several years ago there was a movie called The Constant Gardener. I never saw it, I don't even know what it's about, but it came out when I worked at Hollywood Video and I always liked the title. Anyway, I was printing out another picture for Sinjin this morning and I decided that he's my "Constant Colorer". Every day he wants me to print up pictures from the computer so that he can color them. It's always something different, I guess whatever is on his mind at the time. He probably spends an hour each day with his pictures, which is quiet and inexpensive so I love it. At first I would throw them away after a few days because I hate clutter. But it made him sad, so now I have a three-ring binder that I put them in along with his many drawings. His own little portfolio:)

No Matt For Me

2011-02-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

I should be hanging out with Matt right now, but instead I'm about to watch yet another episode of House Hunters. And Matt spent his day going to church and then learning Italian. (He gets to use Rosetta Stone for free at work.) I didn't realize President's Day weekend was a busy flying time, but Matt tried to get out of Columbia on Thursday and missed three flights before giving up. It's okay, he's going to come next weekend, but it was a little disappointing.

This week Essie gets to go on a cool field trip. The whole fourth grade is going up into the mountains to go snow-shoeing. Sounds fun to me, I've always wanted to get into that or cross-country skiing. Maybe then I would be excited for winter to come.

Summer is still loving gymnastics, although she gets pretty upset if she thinks someone in her class is better than her. I keep trying to tell her that that doesn't matter, but she doesn't believe me. What really matters is that she looks cuter than the other girls in her leotard. Just kidding:) She is way cute though.

Sinjin is doing awesome at school. It's so fun to hear him reading some words and doing simple math. I have a hard time admitting that he's not my little baby, so I'm sort of amazed that he's more than half-way done with kindergarten. He's not too old to be my little snuggler though. Would it be weird if we still cuddle and watch Spongebob when he's 17?

Catch Up

2011-02-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't written anything for a while. I get out of the habit and then I don't even blog when we do something exciting. In January we went on two fun trips. The first was to see Matt in South Carolina. I finally got to see the apartment that is draining our bank account. That place costs a fortune to heat and then it still felt cold enough to wear a jacket the whole time we were there. Oh well, it was great seeing Matt. Columbia is a nice city. We drove downtown to go for a walk along a river and on the way back we discovered the coolest cemetary. It's next to an old Episcopalian church and there are all kinds of Civil War veterans buried there. I should have taken a picture, there were all these awesome old headstones and vaults and spooky trees everywhere. Anyway it was a good trip, lots of flights, but fun. We'll get to see Matt again in a couple of weeks when he comes to Utah for Presidents' Day weekend. Then, this past Friday, I sent the kids to San Antonio for their first trip as unaccompanied minors. As an airline employee I don't have to pay any extra, or anything at all actually. They were very well behaved and grandma was there to pick them up. I had to work that night and the next morning and then I flew down to meet them. I got to spend two wonderful days with my family in the gorgeous south Texas weather.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

I kinda forgot about blogging for a while there. Oh well, better late than never. Christmas was great. Matt came home the morning of Christmas Eve and left three days later. It was way too short, but it was fun. The kids loved their gifts and loved having family here. Matt's mom and Eric came for the weekend too. Essie got to play games to her hearts' content. Overall, it was a good ending to a good year.

Fall Leaves 2010

2010-11-08T07:59:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year. It really is perfect, except that it means winter is almost here. I have almost a fear of winter coming. Yesterday I realized it might be my last chance to get pictures in the leaves. I was hoping Matt could fix our roof while he's here, but it's supposed to rain or snow pretty much all week.

Lieutenant Matt, ice cream

2010-11-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

This week Matt graduated from Officer Candidate School. It was really cool, the Army is pretty good at ceremonies. My dad was kind enough to fly in and commission Matt as a new officer in the Army. Then we got to hang out at our cabin for the evening before taking Dad back to the airport in the morning. I got to stay at Fort Benning for four whole days, it was awesome. Actually, I even brought Matt home with me. He can only stay a few days, but we're still excited that he's here. I didn't tell the kids he was coming so we suprised them at the airport. They were so excited to see their daddy and haven't wanted him out of their sight since.

Activity Days

2010-10-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

For the last three years my calling at church has been Activity Days leader. It's a fun calling, nice that I only have to think about it twice a month. I have to admit, though, that I often run out of ideas for what to do (we've done yoga three times). Essie and Summer would definitely say the best part is that they got to start going well before they turned eight because I had to bring them along. This week was a Halloween party that turned out to be pretty fun. Here we are playing toilet paper mummy wrap, and my favorite was pumpkin bowling out in the back yard.

Frightmares

2010-10-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

This summer we didn't make our annual trip to Lagoon so I decided to take the kids to Frightmares. It was gorgeous fall weather, and for the first few hours there were no long lines. Charlie was nice enough to come with us, and we all had lots of fun. Suprisingly, the kids even wanted to go in the haunted houses, and barely got scared. I'll miss Lagoon when we move, lots of good memories there.

Utah Lake

2010-10-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

When Matt and I moved to Saratoga Springs eleven years ago we just knew that we would soon be the proud owners of a ski boat. Then we realized how much those cost, so we thought we could at least buy a canoe or a kayak to take out on the lake. But somehow we never got around to getting any of those things, mainly because I talked Matt into having children. Well, yesterday I finally took a kayak out on my lake. Unfortunately Matt wasn't here to join me, but I had a wonderful time with Charlie. He rented a kayak from BYU and we took it out for a couple of hours. It was ideal weather, there were hardly any motorboats to get in our way, and we had no mishaps at all. It's a great upper body workout, and it's just peaceful to be out on the water and to watch the sun ripple across the waves. I recommend it to anyone who lives near some water. Too bad the rest of the day wasn't as nice. My mom and dad's house got burglarized while dad was at work and Angie was at Zach's apartment. They took the big screen tv, two computers, cameras, jewelry and various other things. They were also kind enough to go through cupboards and boxes and throw everything all over the house. It stinks that some stranger can wreak such havoc on another human being. We're all pretty much hoping great misery comes to the individuals responsible.

Way Down Yonder On The Chattahoochee

2010-09-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

We finally got to go visit Matt at OCS! It was so nice to see him, I loved every minute. We stayed at the coolest cabin on Fort Benning that had a front porch overlooking the Chattahoochee river. Matt didn't know why I was so excited about the Chattahoochee River, he'd never heard of it until he got to OCS. But that's because he refuses to listen to country music and doesn't know the Alan Jackson song. Anyway, it was such a fun trip. We watched Matt's branching ceremony where all the OC candidates chose their branch. Matt got Adjutant General, which is what he wanted so I was happy. We took a kayak and a canoe out on the river (which, by the way, had warning signs all over that there are alligators). We went swimming and hung out at our adorable little cabin. The only thing that could have made it better was if we could have stayed longer, or brought Matt home with us:)

Purple Belt

2010-09-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

These pictures are for Matt. He's a very supportive karate dad and I'm sure he's sad that he missed Sinjin's belt test last night.

Kindergarten for Sinjin

2010-08-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'm borrowing my mom's camera, so now I can post pictures of Sinjin heading off to kindergarten. He's feeling much better about going to school now. So far he's done some nice color projects, and he likes recess.

Third Day of School Equals Trouble

2010-08-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this third day of school didn't start off too great. Actually, the trouble began last night because the house was unbearably hot. Our a/c quit working about a week ago but the weather has been cool enough that we just opened windows and the breeze made the house just fine. Well, yesterday was hot and there was almost no wind at all, so by about 7:00 at night the house didn't feel too good (about 88 degrees). Then Summer wakes up this morning with one of her eyes completely stuck shut due to allergies. I had to take her to Smith's for some eye drops so she was late to school. But at least the eye drops seemed to help. Then Sinjin and I hang out for a couple of hours. Everything's just fine until I tell him we need to go to the bus in ten minutes and he needs to get ready for school. That's when he freaks out, runs from me and starts crying that he doesn't want to go to school, school is boring. I told him too bad, he's five years old and he has to go to school. So then he tries another tactic and tells me that he'll miss me too much. I knew the first two days were too easy. It was too good to be true when Sinjin happily got on the bus without even looking back. Well, I carried him to the bus stop and he literally crawled up the stairs of the bus. I hope he's doing okay now.

End of Summer Trip

2010-08-21T09:09:00.001-07:00

We just got back this morning from a fun little trip to Texas. But, unfortunately, my camera quit working. So...no pictures of hanging out at Grandma's house, or playing with Winnie, or Summer's birthday, or the beach at Padre Island. I'm sad about my lack of pictures, but it was a very fun trip. I always love seeing my family. I also love going to the ocean. I love the sand and the water and the waves and the breeze. It was maybe a little too breezy yesterday, but as long as I was in the water I didn't notice it. Summer and Sinj enjoyed the sand and getting wet about to their knees. I had to continually chase after Essie because she loved going out as far as she could touch. That's fun for me too, brings back a lot of memories of all our trips to Padre Island. Thanks, Dad, for taking us to the airport at 5 am on a Saturday.

Wayne and Des Get Married

2010-07-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

Wayne and Des got married yesterday. I didn't actually get to see it because I couldn't find anyone to watch the kids during the sealing. But Matt got to see it and I'm sure it was nice. They were married in the Draper temple, which is beautiful. We waited outside and then did pictures. It was a good day... until I got sick last night:(

Freedom Run

2010-07-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

Essie has caught the running bug from her Daddy. She asked him a few weeks ago if they could run a 5k together, so they trained (a little, probably should've done more)and then ran Saturday morning in the Salt Lake City Freedom Run. They did really well, about 32 minutes, and Essie enjoyed it. Summer, Sinjin and I waited at the finish line, which was right in front of the Utah State Capitol building. It was a good start to our 4th of July weekend.

Sinjin's 5th

2010-06-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

My little guy is 5 years old today. He's still as cuddly and loving as when he was a baby, so I'm a lucky mama. I really am blessed to have this little son. He makes me laugh and smile countless times daily. He loves his family, karate, Batman, Spongebob, friends, chocolate, and so many other things. Sometimes I'll hear him in his room and he's singing some song by The Beatles or The Killers (his two favorites) and I can't believe he's big enough to know the words. Today we went to the zoo and had a fun family outing, and Sinjin didn't even ask us to pick him up. He really is a big boy now. But he told me this morning that he'll still be my little fella, we just won't tell Dad:)

The Ogden Marathon

2010-05-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago Matt ran in his first marathon. He did great, and then was barely sore afterward, so I'd say it was a success. Too bad we stood around at the finish line waiting to see him, but were in the bathroom when he actually crossed. That's what happens when you have a four year old boy. Now he's planning to run in the Utah Valley marathon with Wayne in just a couple of weeks. This is all pretty cool considering that since we've been married I've always tried to get Matt to exercise regularly and he was never at all interested. He's always been athletic, but he thought exercising just to stay in shape was too boring. Anyway, I'm very proud of him and happy that he lost his gut:)

Easter Pics...Just a Wee Bit Late

2010-04-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

There's a Scottish lady in my Relief Society that gives lessons and never fails to say "wee bit" and "lassies". I love it. Anyway, these are definitely late, but I want them for when I make my blog book. I'm still painting and cleaning like crazy. I really hope we'll be done this weekend.

I'm So Behind

2010-04-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog. This time it's not because I can't think of anything to write, it's because every spare minute the last couple of weeks has been spent painting or cleaning. Matt and I are hoping to sell our house soon but it needed a little sprucing up first. Mainly, we are painting everywhere, every door and baseboard and wall. Quite a task, but it's looking amazing. The hardest part for me is not the painting but having the house in such chaos since we have to move everything before we can paint. It will be worth it, right? Essie had another belt test a couple of weeks ago. Now she is in the advanced class with the blue gi. It's pretty awesome watching her as she learns more and more. Kinda makes me want to learn karate:)

The Long Way Down

2010-03-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

Matt and I just finished watching the coolest show called The Long Way Down. It's a documentary made by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman where they ride their motorbikes from Scotland all the way down to Capetown. I loved it, it was so cool. Oh, to have the money of a movie star and be able to go on such grand adventures. Now I have two things to add to my life's To Do List-buy a motorcycle and go to Africa. Actually, I've always wanted to go to Egypt, but now I need to add some other African countries. I must see a giraffe in the wild before I die. Now we're going to watch their first movie called The Long Way Round where Charley and Ewan ride east from London to New York.

My Wildlife Preserve

2010-02-26T16:38:00.000-08:00

These are pictures of the farm behind my house. There's always lots of birds and deer that are enjoyable to watch. I guess if I can't live by the lake the farm is a close second. It's also really pretty in the summer when the crops have grown in. Looks like an ocean of green or gold, depending on what they grow.

Typical February

2010-02-17T07:52:00.000-08:00

Not too many interesting things going on at the Faull house lately. The girls have been going to school, doing fine. Essie decided to try out choir and thinks it's okay, but not terribly thrilling. Summer has been learning gymnastics at home and patiently waiting for me to sign her up for a class. I am proud to report that Sinjin has done much better in Primary lately. He's such a sweet little guy, I'm pretty sure his motivation to be reverent is to not make his mom sad. I've been working a few days a week and Matt is still getting in great shape for OCS in August. Tim graduates from Basic Training this week. I think (hope) he'll like AIT better. Charlie got some good news yesterday, a thumbs up from BYU. He's such a smart kid and worked really hard at school so it's no suprise that he got in. The weather this month has been pretty mild, but I'm still anxious for spring. Anyway, that's about it, I just didn't want the month to go by without writing anything.

Photo Shoot

2010-01-22T08:16:00.001-08:00

There's a lady in my ward, Lauren Brooke, who has her own line of makeup. A couple months ago she recruited several women in the ward to be "models" for her website. She just brought me a CD of the pictures and here are a few that I thought were okay. I won't be winning America's Next Top Model any time soon, but it was kinda fun.

First Blog Entry of the Year

2010-01-18T07:36:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged much lately, it's because I haven't taken any pictures. We took a fun trip down to San Antonio between Christmas and New Years. Chrissy helped us get our first family pictures in about six years. I need to figure out how to get those so I can put them on here. Matt's brothers, Wayne and Jason, came home from Afghanistan for a couple of weeks. It was good to see them. The kids loved having Uncle Wayne stay at our house. And he got engaged to his girlfriend, Des, who I think is great. Matt and I had a fun date night on Saturday. That only happens about once every couple of months so it's blog worthy. One of his old college roommates, Todd, has tickets to the Jazz from his company and invited us to go along with him and his wife. We got to have a nice dinner and then go to the game. Not that I'm a Jazz fan, but it was still fun:) Matt and I are doing pretty well with our goal to get into better shape. It wasn't a New Year's Resolution because we started in November. Matt is especially doing well. He's lost about 25 pounds and is training for a Marathon. I'm just exercising more often and for longer each time. Gotta make sure I can continue to wear all my clothes, cuz I can't afford new ones:)

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is finally here (according to the kids; I think it came really quickly). I had to work from 5-9:45 tonight so we opened pj's before I left and took a few pictures. Then I got to work and they sent me home after half an hour :) Usually I wouldn't want to leave because it takes me an hour each way to get to work, but tonight I was cool with it. I got to have our traditional ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. Then we read from the Bible while the kids acted out the story with some little wooden figures. It is awesome to be home and ready for bed by 10:00 on Christmas Eve.

Almost Christmas

2009-12-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

Today I finished my shopping, except for the batteries I just realized I need. Wal-Mart wasn't even very crowded, so it wasn't bad, except when Sinjin told the employee that she should go home and leave him alone. He was playing with a kid-size snow shovel and she told him to put it back. He wasn't hurting it so I kind of felt the same way:) Right now Matt is reading Harry Potter to the girls and Sinjin wanted me to take a few pictures of him. I also have a couple of him with a snowman he built.

We Went Out Last Night

2009-12-17T16:54:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of the Kenny Chesney song when I wrote that title. Of course my experience was completely different from the song. When I say "we" I mean me, Matt, and the kids. And we didn't go to a bar, we went to the dinosaur museum and then to have ice cream at Thanksgiving Point. I'll miss that place when we move (which isn't for over a year so I can go many more times). They have real reindeer there, they're pretty cute. I haven't posted anything for a while because I was waiting until I had some sort of cute picture, but I haven't liked any pictures I've taken lately. I think it's time soon for a new camera. My camera hasn't changed, but I've been comparing my pictures to those of my family and friends lately, and that makes mine look a little sad.

My Whirlwind Trip

2009-11-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

Matt and I recently read Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were talking about it and kept saying how much we'd like to go to Washington DC and see some of the places he was talking about. Then it dawned on us that we actually could go to DC and it would cost almost nothing if we didn't stay overnight. So, this past Sunday Matt got on the midnight flight to New York City and then to DC by about 10:00 Monday morning. He then spent about 4 hours seeing the sights and got on the direct flight back to Salt Lake City. He got home at around 8:30 and at 10:00 I headed to the airport. I flew overnight to Atlanta and then got to DC at 9:00 on Tuesday. I had 5 hours to see everything before I had to go get on my flight home. It was totally worth it. I was amazed at how many things you can see in a short time. We did the Washington Monument tour, the Capitol tour, saw the Library of Congress. Matt stopped by Congressman Chaffetz office and I opted to go into one of the Smithsonian Museums and to see the US Botanical Garden. We both had a wonderful time. I absolutely hate these pictures of me but I want to remember my trip so I'm posting them anyway.

Playing In Leaves

2009-11-02T15:38:00.001-08:00

I took the kids for a walk yesterday, and when they saw all these leaves they had no desire to go any further. I remember raking leaves and jumping into them when we lived in Maryland. Those were fun times, I especially love the smell. We had a blast of winter last week so the last few days have felt like heaven. I like to take advantage of the lingering fall days when I know winter is coming. I feel like I have to store up the sunshine.

It's Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween night, but unfortunately it's about 10:15 and I've only been home from work for half an hour. Yep, I got scheduled on Halloween and I wasn't very happy about it. I love taking the kids trick-or-treating. But it turned out okay, Matt was here to take them and they had lots of fun. In case it's not obvious, Essie is Hermione, Summer is a bride, and Sinjin is a werewolf.

Kisses

2009-10-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were sitting in Sacrament Meeting and Sinjin crawled up on my lap. (This is not unusual, all three kids like to do this during church.) Then he asked me the cutest question. He looked at me very seriously and said "Mom, have you had enough kisses today?" I, of course, told him no and that he should give me one. He's very generous to me with his kisses. What a sweet little guy. This morning I told Matt he should ask me that every day too:)

Beatles Rock Band

2009-10-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

We just rented Beatles Rock Band for the XBox, and I must say...it's awesome! I don't even like video games, but this one is totally fun. I've played Rock Band before and thought it was okay, but I rarely knew any of the songs. Well, this version of the game is the perfect solution for that. Lots of fun to play, sing, and watch the animated Beatles. Doesn't Sinjin look like a natural? Matt or Uncle Tim will have to teach hime to play a real guitar some day. I should have gotten a picture of Essie singing - she is great at it, and knows almost all the songs.

Halloween Decorations

2009-10-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to display my incredibly cute Halloween decorations. I can't take any credit though, my mom is very talented and very generous:) Other than Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday to decorate for. The kids were begging me to get our stuff out, so they helped me get it all organized a couple days ago. Now we just need to do our porch. We try to make that a little more scary than cute, but I'm not sure if I succeed because I don't really like the super gorey Halloween stuff. I'll put a picture of that up when I'm done.

My Lake View

2009-10-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about Matt being temporarily unemployed is that he's getting all kinds of tasks done around the house. In the last week he has fixed a big hole in the wall, painted both porches and the swingset, fixed sprinklers, repaired an outside wire that was coming undone, and replaced some shingles on the roof that had blown off from Tuesday night's big wind storm. While he was up on the roof today I decided to go hang out with him. It's quite lovely up there. What a great view of the mountains and the lake. I've always said that I wish I had a lakeview property, and today I realized that I do:)

Essie's Arm

2009-09-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I got a call from the office at Saratoga Shores Elementary. That's always a little bit scary, I automatically wonder what my girls have done or what has happened to them. I don't know why I worry about them doing something that would warrant the office calling - they've never gotten into any kind of trouble at school. Well, this time the call was about Essie's arm. She fell off the monkey bars and it was hurting quite a bit. I was going to just hope for the best and bring her home, but luckily Matt thought we should take her to the doctor. I'm glad we did because it turned out to be broken, and now she has a cool green cast. She's been awesome about it. I don't think I've heard her complain even once and she just goes about business as usual. She even went to karate that same night. Casts are way better now than when I broke my arm back in 1986.

Summer's Birthday and New School Year

2009-08-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Summer had her sixth birthday last week. She chose to take a friend with her to Boondock's for her party. The kids love that place so it was a fun time. Summer is such a sweet girl, not a day goes by without her telling us how much she loves us. She's excited to be going to first grade, not the homework part so much, but she likes the rest of it. I finally got a few pictures of the girls heading out to the bus (not quite the first day, but close enough).

Sir Paul McCartney

2009-08-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

I got back from Dallas yesterday where I got to see Paul McCartney live. It was amazing! It actually brought tears to my eyes when he came out on stage. I couldn't believe I was really seeing Paul McCartney, one of The Beatles! I know it's silly, but I really feel like he's been a part of my life for many years. I've listened to his music, watched his movies, watched his videos and countless shows about him - and there he was, in the same room as me. Paul is still a great performer, I can't belive he's 67 years old. He has so much energy, and he sounds the same as always. Obviously he looks a bit older, but great for being almost 70. Matt and I both cried when he paid tribute to John and George. I also really enjoyed all the talking in between songs, he's very funny and charming. I thank my dad and Tim for exposing me to The Beatles' music that I love so much. As for the pictures, I can either get Matt with his eyes closed or with a smile, never both:)

New York City

2009-08-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

I have finally seen New York City. It's not actually one of the top places on my list to see, but I did feel like I ought to visit one of our countries most famous cities. I went with some friends from work and it was really fun. We flew overnight on Monday and then spent the whole day exploring the sights. We took a tour bus that drove all over and stopped at all the famous places. I would never want to live there, but I did enjoy all the cool buildings and I especially liked the harbor. I got a first class seat both ways for the first time. That was pretty nice, but I still couldn't sleep much. We left extremely early Wednesday morning so there were a lot of things I didn't get to do. Maybe I'll go back some day.

Question and Answer

2009-08-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

I've read lots of question lists lately and haven't done any of them myself, but I quite enjoy reading what other people say. Anyway, I decided to do this one from Chrissy's and Angie's blog because the questions are kind of unusual and quirky.

1. First thing you wash in the shower? My hair, it just makes sense to start at the top.

2. What color is your favorite hoodie? Dark blue and it says Philmont on it. That means that it's 14 years old because that's when I went to Philmont with my family. I still love it though.

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? I should hope so since he's my husband:) So, the answer is yes.

4. Do you plan outfits? Sometimes

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? I feel pretty good. I exercised and stretched today and that always helps.

6. What's the closest thing to you that's red? Looks like the closest red object is a suitcase.

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? It was Sunday night and I dreamt all night that I was at work and couldn't find any seats for people with buddy passes. I had this dream because Matt gave a co-worker a buddy pass, which is really hard to use in the summer, and I knew I'd have to look for all kinds of flights and routing to get this person home.

8. Did you meet anybody new today? No, I haven't gone any further than my yard.

9. What are you craving right now? Raspberries

10. Do you floss? Almost every day, I admit missing it a few times. But I really love to brush my teeth.

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory"-that's what popped into my mind because they were always having cabbage soup at the beginning when they were poor.

12. Are you emotional? I'm not a robot, but I'm also not a drama queen.

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Not that I remember.

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? I bite it with my lips but not my teeth. Does that make sense?

15. Do you like your hair? I like the color, and I like it when I take time to style it.

16. Do you like yourself? I like myself in general, but I definitely have room for improvement.

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Yes, if he's paying.

18. What are you listening to right now? I'm in the basement so I mostly hear the air conditioner goin' strong.

19. Were your parents strict? No, but I think they expected a lot from us and I didn't want to disappoint them, so I rarely did anything "naughty".

20. Would you go sky diving? Absolutely!

21. Do you like cottage cheese? Yes.

22. Have you met a celebrity? Yes, working at the airport is a good place to see celebrities. Marie Osmond is very nice.

23. Do you rent movies often? Not lately. I used to work at Hollywood Video so I got to watch them for free. Now I watch more tv than movies.

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in right now? No.

25. How many countries have you visited? Sadly, I have only been to Canada and Mexico.

26. Have you made a prank phone call? Yes, but not for a long time.

27. Ever been on a train? Not many, but I've been on a Thomas replica.

28. Brown or white eggs? I like the look of brown eggs, but they're always more expensive so I buy the white ones.

29.Do you have a cell-phone? Yes, thanks Ang:)

30. Do you use chap stick? I would never survive without it.

31. Do you own a gun? No, but I think Matt has one.

32. Can you use chop sticks? No

33. Who are you going to be with tonight? Matt will be home kinda late because he's playing volleyball, so mostly my three kids.

34. Are you too forgiving? Can you be too forgiving?

35. Ever been in love? Yes, and most recently with my hubby, so that's good. I was reading that again and it sounded kind of weird. What I mean is that I was (or thought I was) in love a few times before Matt, but now it's just him:)

36. What are your best friend(s) doing tomorrow? I don't know. I should know.

37. Ever have cream puffs? Yes, they're delish.

38. Last time you cried? Yesterday

39. What was the last question you asked? "Do you know where Sinjin is?"

40. Favorite time of the year? Spring, summer, and fall, and about two weeks of winter.

41. Do you have any tattoos? No.

42. Are you sarcastic? Not often.

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? I have to tell the truth and say yes. I know it's rated R, but every once in a while I ignore the rating if I think the movie looks really good.

44. Ever walked into a wall? No, but I sometimes trip while walking up stairs.

45. Favorite color(s)? I love blue and white together, and I love yellow.

46. Have you ever slapped someone? Only in jest, and very lightly.

47. Is your hair curly? Oh, how I wish it was.

48. What was the last CD you bought? Taylor Swift-Fearless

49. Do looks matter? A little

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater? It depends on the type of cheating, are we talking board games or spouse?

51. Is your phone bill sky high? No, thanks again Angie.

52 Do you like your life right now? Yes, but I would like it better if I knew where Matt will be working in a month.

53. Do you sleep with the T.V. on? If Matt is home, then yes. The only thing I like about him going on trips is to go to sleep with no tv on.

54. Can you handle the truth? Sure

55. Do you have good vision? I have excellent vision, just got my drivers license renewed and they said it was good.

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Not really, some people are a little annoying, but I don't hate them.

57. How often do you talk on the phone? Matt calls me a couple times a day usually, and I like to talk to my family since we live far away from eachother. But I'm not the type to be on my cell phone everywhere I go.

58. The last person you held hands with? That would actually be Sinjin.

59. What are you wearing? Black knee length shorts and a t-shirt.

60.What is your favorite animal? I love horses and I wish I could have one. I would also probably have a dog if I wasn't allergic to them.

61. Where was your profile picture taken? At a museum in Boston.

62. Can you hula hoop? Yes, but I'm no expert.

63. Do you have a job? Yes, but I don't work many hours anymore. The darn economy has definitely affected the airline industry.

64. What was the most recent thing you bought? Groceries

65. Have you ever crawled through a window? Yes, quite a few times. Most recently I crawled through a window to look at a house that was almost done being built.

An S.A.

2009-07-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

A while ago Matt had to take the kids to work with him, and he decided to have Essie write an essay while they were there. She got to pick her own topic and this is exactly how she wrote it:

A S.A. on what you shood not do wen you are griving a car

1. You shood not be reeding a book
2. You shood not be taking a nap
3. You shood not be playing the xbox 360
4. You shood not be feeding your pet dog
5. You shood not be woching tv
6. You shood not be eating sumthing
7. You shood not play football
8. You shood not be talking on the phone
9. You shood not be wrking on a progekt
10. You shood not be changing cloths
11. You shood not be looking out the windo
12. You shood not be lisning to music
13. You shood not be writing a S.A.

I'm also posting a few pictures of the kids at the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum. We've gone lots of times over the past few years, but I usually forget my camera.

Essie's Baptism

2009-07-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Essie got baptized this morning. It went really well, with her Grandpa giving a talk and lots of family there to see her. Grandma and Grandpa came up from Texas along with Angie and Charlie, Grandma Faull and Eric drove up from Albuquerque, Aunt Sonja and Uncle Jerry came from Preston, Wayne's girlfriend Des was there, and lots of friends and primary teachers from the ward. She was very excited to be baptized, and today is also her birthday so the whole day was pretty cool.

Essie's Birthday at Lagoon

2009-07-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

Essie's birthday is this Saturday and her choice for celebrating the day was to go to Lagoon and bring along her friend Nick. We had lots of fun there last summer so we were all excited to go (and I was excited to not have to plan a big party). Lagoon did not disappoint, it was an awesome day. We all loved the rides, no one got sick, no one complained about being tired or hot. It was really fun! Sinjin's favorite ride is still Bulgy the Whale, but he went on lots of other ones too. Matt and I have always enjoyed rides so we took turns taking Essie on the ones Sinjin is too small for. Summer and Nick were pretty darn brave, but not quite at Essie's level. She is a total daredevil, and this year she's tall enough to go on any ride she wants. Our only complaint is that the water in Lagoon A Beach is freezing! Even though it was a hot day we were all shivering and didn't really stay in the water park area very long.

The Army's Best New Recruit

2009-07-02T12:48:00.001-07:00

My brother, Tim, swore in to be a member of the United States Army yesterday. He's going to be fixing computers and other electronic devices. Should be cool, I think he'll be a great addition to the world's greatest army. I'm proud of him, even if this isn't really the path he thought he would be taking.

Unexpected Fun

2009-06-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last night I took the kids to a little fun center in Lehi called Liberty Land. I've seen it from I-15 and always thought it looked kinda lame, but it turned out to be really fun. It was especially nice because it was free (we got an invite from a realtor friend of ours). It was perfect weather, hardly any lines and lots of fun little rides. Sinjin was much braver than I thought he would be, based on how scared he was last summer at Lagoon. He even liked going with me on the roller coaster. It was one of those times when you see your kids with such joy on their faces, and it just makes you smile. Matt came for the last hour or so and took the kids on the bumper boats, which was cool because then he got soaked instead of me:) Too bad I didn't get a picture of Essie, she was too busy riding the roller coaster.

Alpine Loop

2009-06-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about living in Utah is going up into the mountains. Today I took the kids for a picnic to Cascade Springs. It was so beautiful, especially green since we've had so much rain lately. We actually got caught in a rainstorm, but that made it even more fun. I'm glad Sinjin doesn't beg me to carry him after two minutes like he did last summer. Now we hike pretty far and the kids all do great. We just needed Matt to be there to make it a perfect day.

Zach and Chrissy's Wedding

2009-06-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

The kids and I just got back from spending a week in San Antonio. We went down for Zach and Chrissy's wedding, and to hang out with the fam. (Matt couldn't go because he's in Georgia for Army Reserve training.) We had lots of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and the wedding was beautiful. Thursday night was a nice dinner at Alamo Cafe, then Saturday they got married in the San Antonio temple and had a reception at Chrissy's parents' house. Everything was gorgeous; the house, the decorations, the dress, the pictures, the cake. Zach and Chrissy were so cute, they looked like two little kids that just couldn't stop grinning.

Sinjin 4th Birthday

2009-06-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today my little fella turned four years old. We had a fun day; swimming in the morning, lunch at Costco(one of his favorites), went to a playground, and then had a little birthday party. He mostly wanted Lightning McQueen toys, but then he picked out a Spongebob cake. Sinjin is a well-loved little boy, and we're all glad he's been a part of the family for four wonderful years.

Silly Sinjin

2009-06-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

Matt and I were looking through my blog a few days ago and noticed that Sinjin has a silly face in almost every picture. If he knows a camera is on him then he just can't resist the crazy faces. I found him about half an hour ago on my bed asleep with some of Matt's socks on his arms and legs. That's what happens when I sort the clean laundry and then leave it on my bed. Sinjin is such a great little guy, he makes me laugh every day:)

Kindergarten Graduation

2009-05-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Summer had Kindergarten Graduation today. She certainly enjoyed going to school this past year. She loved her teacher, Mrs. Bryson, and her little friends. Oh, and learning stuff was alright too:) I hope she's not totally bored this summer. I have a feeling we'll be going to the pool quite a bit, and Thanksgiving Point. I go a little crazy if the kids and their friends are running in and out of the house all day. Why can't they just choose inside or out and stay there?

I'm a blogging slacker

2009-05-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I haven't written anything yet this month, I haven't been any busier than usual. Actually, as of yesterday I only work part-time now. I'm so excited! I love May, it's finally warm and everything is turning green. I've mowed my lawn twice now and some time this week I'm going to plant flowers. Today I took the kids to the Thanksgiving Point gardens and then to the pool. Huh, that sounds like a lot of sun exposure for one day. Oops. (How come nice tanned skin can't be good for us?) I was going to take some pictures to add to the blog, but Matt took my camera with him to Albuquerque. Oh well, we'll be going to the gardens lots more times. Hopefully Matt will get some cool pictures to add to his D-list celebrity collection.

Desert Diorama

2009-04-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

Essie had to make a diorama for school and she chose to do the southern Utah desert. I think she did a great job (with only a little help from me). I'm really proud of her. This has been a good school year, with lots of improvement in her reading and continued excellence in Math.

Trip to SA

2009-04-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

I took the kids for a quick trip to San Antonio for Spring Break. It's always fun to visit the great state of Texas (and my family of course). The weather was gorgeous and we had no problem getting on flights so it was a success all around. The kids loved seeing their cousins. It really was cute to see them playing together, that hasn't happened too often. I would love to move down to SA; go to movies with my sisters, have family dinners, play board games, all the fun stuff I miss out on:( I do love Utah, but living near family would be great. I got to meet Chrissy, my future sister-in-law. She's a very cool girl, and it's obvious that she and Zach adore each other.

Easter Pics

2009-04-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is a little late...I flew down to Texas on Easter and haven't had time to get on the computer until now.

Easter Fun? Not So Much

2009-04-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post to remind myself not to go to the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt next year. It turns out the same every time, with my kids disappointed and me a little crazy from all the chaos. But I seem to forget that when the kids ask me if they can go. I always think...maybe it won't be so crowded this time, or maybe there won't be bullies knocking other kids down in their pursuit of little plastic eggs. But no, it never changes, and if I write this down maybe I'll spare myself the pain next time. I don't mean to sound negative, the rest of my day was beautiful:)

Purple Belt

2009-04-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Last night Essie got her purple belt for karate. She's getting really good. We also got to see some black belts do their thing and that motivated her to want to get her black belt. Sometimes she doesn't want to go to class because she'd rather play with her friends, but she really does like it once she gets there. And she totally wants to be a black belt some day. This other picture is Sinjin in his new "bed". Matt gave away our crib to a coworker so we got him a mattress, but haven't yet gotten the bed. I was thinking of doing that today but I think it's too cold. I only go out in the snow if I have to. Sinjin is such a good little sleeper. He lies down on the mattress at bedtime and, as long as I sing him a few songs, he just goes right to sleep and doesn't get up until about 8:00 the next morning. Both the girls would get up multiple times once we put them in a bed and they weren't trapped by a crib. Sinjin has always been the easiest to get to sleep, and now he's finally potty trained! He just decided last week that he could do it and hasn't even had an accident:)

Spring Arrived...And Then Left

2009-03-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

I loved last week. It was beautiful and we got to be outside. I did lots of yard cleanup and some of my daffodils decided to bloom. Now they've gotten snowed on and blown by the wind, but they still perk up when the sun starts to shine. I was at work Sunday night and got completely soaked by the rain and snow while helping passengers with their carry-ons. People have started carrying on a lot more since Delta decided to charge for every piece of checked luggage. I'm a little bit mad at Delta right now. They told all their employees that when they merged with Northwest no one would lose their jobs. But what they didn't say was that in order to do that they would have to take away jobs from their connection carriers, like Skywest. Starting May 15th Skywest will have to lay off about 300 employees in Salt Lake City and also force about 50 more to go from full time to part time. I'm one of the people who will have to go to part time. I actually don't mind because I want to be home more anyway, but I feel bad for the people I work with that depend on this job for their entire income. At least Matt still has his job. About 300 of the 400 civilian recruiters for his company are being layed off at the end of April. But Matt is such an amazing recruiter that they are letting him stay:)

More Wedding Pictures

2009-03-16T09:55:00.001-07:00

I thought I should have a few more pictures of the bride and groom and extended family:)

Jason's Wedding

2009-03-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

Matt's youngest brother, Jason, got married on Saturday. His new wife is named Sara-Beth. I've only met her twice now, but she seems really cool. She's a brave girl to marry a soldier leaving for Afghanistan in a couple of months. They were married at the Salt Lake City temple and it was a gorgeous day for the middle of March. We all had lots of fun and I was happy for lots of picture opportunities.

My Little Nerds

2009-03-07T16:14:00.000-08:00

I think kids look quite adorable in glasses. But Matt took these pictures of the girls in his glasses and Army hat that I thought looked totally "nerdy". Then Sinjin wanted to be included so I took a picture of him in my glasses. I don't actually need glasses, these are fakes. I got them just cause I think they look cute.

Gwyneth's Blog

2009-02-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

I have found a blog that I really enjoy reading. It's done by Gwyneth Paltrow and it's all about food, traveling, style, health. (It's called Goop.com if anyone wants to check it out) It's fun to read but it always makes me want to travel and buy things. Magazines do that to me too. I think I'm quite susceptible to pretty pictures:)
I took the kids to the Draper Temple open house on Wednesday. It's very beautiful and they chose a great spot to build it. I was a little bit frustrated while we were there though because Sinjin seemed to be the only child not being reverent. He kept running off trying to climb on things and then suddenly collapsing in the middle of the floor. Then we were all in a sealing room listening to a temple worker speak and he started crying and wiggling off of my lap until I just gathered him up and the girls and left. A nice lady outside could see my embarrassment and told Sinjin he was okay and was a nice boy. I was talking to him once we got outside and told him he was being naughty. He proceeded to tell me "But, Mom, that lady said I was a nice boy". Then he said his favorite line "I didn't mean to do it!" At least I can look back now and see the humor in it.

Mondays

2009-02-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

For the last year and a half I have really liked Mondays. That's because a typical work week for me is Thursday thru Sunday. I don't mind my job, in fact it's one of the only jobs I've had that I don't mind going to, but I still like it best when I'm home with the fam. Now I have three days to catch up on everything, like cleaning the house and watching my recorded tv shows. A Utah legend, Larry H. Miller, died this week. I've always thought he was an interesting guy. I loved when people got mad at him for not showing certain movies at his theaters and he totally didn't care. I think he had every right to choose what will be shown at the movie theater he owns. Matt threw away his sodas and got motivated to exercise more regularly when he heard that LHM had died from complications of diabetes. I can't say that word without thinking of Wilford Brimley and the "diabeedas". :)

Random Stuff

2009-02-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

The kids take quite an interest in my blog and love to see pictures of themselves on it. That is why I'm posting these silly pictures of them making "scary" faces. I also wanted to show how clean our fish tank is. I spent over an hour cleaning it today. It was getting pretty disgusting so I replaced the pebbles on the bottom and got new scenery. These are actually sharks, and they have probably trippled in size since we got them. The silver one is so big that it jumped out of the net that I catch them with and was flopping all over the floor until Matt caught him with his hands.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I let the kids pick out a stuffed animal as a Valentine's present. They always want to get one at stores and I tell them they can't, so this was a very exciting gift. I love that they're still so easily (and inexpensively) pleased. In the end Sinjin ended up with a Cars book cause he couldn't find the perfect "dinosaur frog" that he was looking for. I didn't get Matt anything because he doesn't believe in Valentine's Day.

Summer's First Attempts at Photography

2009-02-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

Summer really wanted to try taking pictures this morning. The one of me and the one of Sinjin were her best shots. I thought they were pretty good for a 5 year-old. I included the picture of her to show that she's already tired of her bangs. She can never get them to look "just right", so now she doesn't want them anymore. She suggested that we just cut them right at the roots. I had to tell her that won't work and she'll have to join the "growing my bangs out" club.
Last night we went to dinner at my friend Elena's house. It was so fun! I got to see her and her family, and also Kara, Ryan, and Nieltson(really not sure how to spell that). They're all friends from my days at BYU, and I don't see them nearly often enough. So, thank you Elena, and I apologize for Sinjin's lovely suprise for us at the end of the night. Good thing I love that kid so much:)

The Breakup

2009-02-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

I always like to have a short list of what I call "movie boyfriends" (which is totally okay with Matt because he likes to have "tv girlfriends"). I have had one consistently since I was in high school and his name is Christian Bale. I have been a fan since "Newsies", and I've seen most of his movies since then (a couple were a bit too violent so I skipped those). Anyway, I forgave him a few months ago when his mom and sister accused him of verbal abuse. I was hoping the media blew that all out of proportion and that it wasn't true. But today I heard with my own ears his tirade directed at one of the crew members of a recent movie he's in. I could tell it was his voice, and I was quite disappointed in him. He had a total potty-mouth and he sounded really mean. It won't be easy, but I think I might have to break up with him.

I Attempt Another Haircut

2009-01-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I walked into the kitchen and found Summer acting very suspiciously. Then I noticed she was holding a pair of scissors in one hand and hiding her other hand. I made her show me what it was and that's when I realized she had cut some of her hair. Luckily it was in the front so I just gave her bangs. I think they look pretty cute on her. Hopefully I won't get any ideas and cut my own hair. I've been growing my bangs out for over a year, but I always tend to cut them on a whim. I must resist!

Sinjin Gets A Haircut

2009-01-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to Wal-Mart on my way home from work and bought some clippers. Sinjin's hair had gotten way too long and I couldn't stand it for another day. A friend of mine usually cuts the kids' hair, but it's hard to find a time that I can bring them that she has available. So I've decided I will cut Sinjin's hair from now on. I did it once with my mom's clippers when we were in Texas so I knew it wasn't too difficult. He didn't like it one bit though. He always insists that it's called a head cut, and from his reaction you would think we really were cutting his head and not his hair. But it turned out pretty darn cute.

Eleven Years

2009-01-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was mine and Matt's eleventh anniversary. We didn't really do much because Matt had drill until about 6:00. So, I made a nice dinner and he bought me some of my favorite lotion. It's too bad jobs always seem to get in the way of our fun:) Not always though, Matt and I have had a lot of fun these past eleven years. It's cool to be married to your best friend, someone you love to hang out with. Matt has a way of not worrying about things and just enjoying the moment. He makes me laugh, which was always at the top of my list of "Things I Want In A Man." (Not that I ever wrote this list down, but all of us girls have them in our heads.) He's a great dad, incredibly smart, friendly, hard-working, and still tall, dark and handsome:)

Christmas

2008-12-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

I didn't get many pictures of Christmas, I was busy with the video camera instead. This is my first chance to post since Christmas cause I've been at work so much. I went in on Christmas at 8pm and didn't leave until 4am. The weather and holiday travel have been a bad mix. The next day I worked 12:30 until 1am and then slept at the airport because I had to be back at 7am and work until 5pm. Somehow I avoided this craziness at the airport last year. But Christmas morning was fun. The kids were very happy with their gifts. Matt and I mainly got boring stuff like a new spring on our garage door and new tires on one of the cars. That's alright though, I'm grateful we could take care of the things we needed to. I wish I could have been with the rest of the fam in San Antonio this year. I have to admit I'm a little sad that they're all having fun down there without me.

Fun Times

2008-12-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

We've been busy the last few days. On Monday night Summer and I went to see "The Nutcracker" at the Capitol Theatre downtown. I loved it and Summer loved it until the last half hour or so when she started to get tired. We rode Trax which Summer thought was very cool and I thought was very convenient. Then for the last two days we've been wrapping and cooking and, best of all, we found a great hill for sledding. The kids have loved that. It is really fun, except my butt is sore from going off a ramp at the bottom of the hill :)

Snow!

2008-12-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

Have any of you seen "White Christmas"? There's an a cappella song in it all about snow that I like. Today I spent a lot of time shoveling my driveway. I did it in the morning and then it kept snowing and I had to do it again in the afternoon. The good thing is that I never really feel very cold when I'm shoveling snow. I like to shovel snow and mow the lawn because I can count that as my exercise for the day. I was supposed to be at work but I didn't go. Summer didn't feel very well, and I really didn't want to have to drive to the airport before the roads were clear. I'm sure I'll have to at some point this winter, but I didn't feel like it today. I got to go to Essie and Summer's school Christmas concert since I stayed home. It was cute, I got pictures of them in their Santa hats before they left.

Broncos Game

2008-12-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

Matt and Essie got back from Charlotte, North Carolina late last night. They went there to see the Broncos play. They had a good trip, even though the Broncos lost pretty badly and even though they had to change flight plans and go through Cincinnati instead of Atlanta. They ended up in the Charlotte airport for five hours. Actually, they quite enjoyed that because there was a military lounge with all kinds of free food and fun stuff to do. I also wanted to post pictures of our first big snowfall. I may not love snow but the kids do.

Jane Eyre

2008-12-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Jane Eyre last night (this picture reminds me of the scenery in the book). I've never read it before. I'm not sure how that happened because I love that sort of book. Actually, I don't think I would have liked it much when I was younger because the characters weren't beautiful. That used to bother me, but now I don't care so much. I really need to go to England, I've always loved all things British. I told Matt that if he dies I'm going to marry a British guy so I can just listen to him talk with his beautiful accent. That, or a cowboy, because Matt hates country music and swing dancing and I love them both :) Next I am going to read another Bronte sisters' book, Wuthering Heights. I remember seeing that movie years ago, and it was sad. That's another thing I used to hate but now can appreciate-sad endings.

Pie Making Day

2008-11-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

My house smells so good today. I've got a pumpkin candle going, and we made pumpkin and apple pies for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. Essie, Summer and Sinjin were excited to help. This always starts off well and then ends up with me being annoyed because the kids can't keep their fingers out of things. Oh well, it's still fun.
I got tagged by my sister-in-law, Amy. So here are 6 random things about me. I'm not tagging anyone else in particular because Amy already tagged most the people that read my blog :)
1. I no longer watch TV shows if they're not recorded on my DVR. I really don't like commercials.
2. I vaccuum my house almost every day. I'm not a neat freak, I go two weeks without cleaning my bathroom sometimes, but I really don't like crumbs and other things on my floor.
3. I almost always cheat and read the end of a book after I've read only the first few chapters. It doesn't ruin it for me because there's still a lot of details that I don't know.
4. I love not wearing shoes. I think grass feels so good under my feet. I would even go barefoot to stores and other places if it wouldn't get my feet so dirty, and possibly diseased.
5. I really like my blond hair and am always worried it will start to turn dark one day. Now that I'm in my thirties and have already had kids I don't worry as much. This doesn't mean I don't like dark hair on other people, I just want my own to be blond.
6. When I'm driving alone I like to sing along with the radio and pretend I'm auditioning for American Idol. I don't even like the show, but I think it would be cool if I could sing amazingly well and then get discovered.

Thankful List

2008-11-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

I was reading through an old journal I wrote when I was a teenager and found a list of things I was thankful for then. I thought I should do an updated version. Quite a few things are still the same. This list is not necessarily in order of the most important, it's just whatever comes to my head.

*My testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ
*The knowledge I have about why we're here on this Earth and what happens afterwards
*My husband who adores me
*My three beautiful kids
*My wonderful parents and siblings
*Freedom to choose how I will worship, what I want to do, where I will live, etc.
*A healthy body
*A great extended family and cool in-laws
*A safe and beautiful place to live
*Good books to read
*An education
*Flowers
*Friends who are still my friends even though I'm terrible about keeping in touch
*The United States of America
*Good music
*My job, especially each time I can get on a plane for free
*My favorite TV shows (I know I shouldn't be so grateful for these, but it's my favorite way to relax)
*Good smelling lotion
*Yummy food
*Nice clothes and shoes
*Mountains, specifically hiking there in the summer or fall
*Humor (I love to laugh)
*Playing fun games with the fam
*Victoria magazine (This is a funny one from the old list in my journal)

San Antonio 1/2 Marathon

2008-11-18T06:04:00.001-08:00

This past weekend Angie and I ran in our first 1/2 Marathon. It was the Inaugural Rock 'n Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon. At the beginning we were running quite a bit, just stopping for a few minutes here and there to walk. I was feeling really good and benefitting from the lower altitude in San Antonio. Then around mile 8 or 9 my legs started to feel some fatigue and then gradually some serious pain. By the end I really wanted to just walk, but Ang made me run so that we could finish under 3 hours. And we did it! Our official time was 2 hours and 50 minutes. It was a great experience, and I'm really glad I did it with my sister. I'm proud of her for getting into great shape and reaching her goal. If there's a next time I need to do a few more long runs while training. This time I had never gone more than 8 miles, although I have hiked further than that before. These pictures are us before and after the race. I accidentally put them in the wrong order though. We had to leave the house at 5:30 in the morning, which is 4:30 to my body. Ouch! I took a good nap that afternoon.

New Table

2008-11-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

They finally delivered my new table today. I thought I'd have to put it together (which would really mean that I'd watch Matt put it together), but they even did that for me. I really like it, and my mom made a beautiful table runner that looks perfect on it. My house would be very bare without all the cute things my mom makes.

Boo!

2008-10-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Halloween is awesome! We had a fun day; starting with a parade at the school, then Halloween parties and then trick-or-treating. It rained on us but it was so warm that it was still very pleasant. It's fun to be out at night with all the cute kids running around and everyone being so friendly. I love Halloween. If you can't tell from the pictures, Essie is Frankenstein, Summer is a cheerleader, Sinjin is Eeyore, and I just wanted an excuse to wear my favorite hat. I also forgot to fix the red eye on my pictures so if you look at them close up it looks very spooky and Halloween-ish:) It would have been more fun if Matt had been here, but he's in Park City for an Army Training weekend.

What to talk about?

2008-10-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

So, I never really know what to write about unless I've had a picture-worthy event happen in my life. Nothing much going on the last week or so, besides going to work, watching kids, cleaning the house. It hasn't been a bad week, just nothing exciting. We did buy a new dining room table and chairs that I really like, but it had to be ordered so we don't have it yet. It's quite a bit bigger than our old one so there will be room for Sinjin to sit with us. Right now he's still in a high chair. The weather has been great for this time of year, which makes me very happy. Even Halloween should be fairly warm. I really dread the cold coming. I don't want to be cold. I think I need to move, except that I love a lot of other things about Utah. What I need is a lot of money so that I can live in some tropical place in the winter:) I hate when people write lol when they're joking about something, but maybe my little smiley faces are annoying too. Actually, they can't be as annoying as lol. Sorry if any of you write that or text it, I just can't stand it. It's almost as bad as when people say "I could care less" when they really mean they couldn't.

Trip to Southern Utah

2008-10-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Matt and I had been planning for months to go on a big trip this past week. Our original plan was to go to Jerusalem, but then we decided the five or six days we had off of work wasn't enough time to see everything we want to in Israel. So then we planned to go to Oahu and stay on the North Shore, but unfortunately I picked the week of UEA without knowing it, so most the seats on the plane were full and we couldn't get there. Then we thought of going to Rome or Athens or Paris, but anywhere that had seats on the plane didn't have hotel rooms for a reasonable price (for example: they wanted $120 per night for a hostel with a shared bathroom in Paris). Anyway, my mom was already here to watch the kids and we really wanted to go somewhere, so we decided to...drive down to St. George. I was a little disappointed at first, but it turned out to be a really fun trip! We did some hiking right near St. George, went to a play at the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, and then went to Zion National Park. October is a great time of year to go to Zions. The weather was great and the leaves are changing color so everything was beautiful. We did some awesome hikes that I would totally recommend if you ever go to Zions. The first day we did Angels' Landing which was very steep and sometimes a little scary because the path is narrow and if you fell on either side you'd be a gonner. But the view from the top is amazing. Then the next day we went to Weeping Rock, a very easy hike that leads to a mountain where the water seeps through for about 1200 years and then drips out like the rock is crying. We also hiked that day to the Emerald Pools which was beautiful the whole way and probably my favorite trail. So, we had a wonderful time, even if we didn't get to fly to some faraway land.

Hiking

2008-10-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

We went up Provo Canyon today to go hiking. It was so pretty, I just love fall. We hiked to Stewart Falls, which is the beginning of the hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogas. The kids did awesome, even Sinjin walked all but about three minutes without any complaint. Matt complained a little, because he wanted to be watching football, but at least he was there. In a few years we'll take the kids all the way to the top of the trail. That's about 11 miles each way, so it'll probably be about five more years before they can handle it. Matt and I did that hike a few times before we had kids and it's really cool. My favorite time was when Tim went with us and had a sweet ride down the glacier.

Belt Test

2008-09-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday Essie had a karate belt test. This one was cool because she's moving to the intermediate class which means she gets a new red gi to wear. She did a good job. She sometimes got distracted and started making faces at us, but she did lots of good solid kicks and punches.

Haircut

2008-09-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

I got a new haircut. Can you even tell? Matt didn't notice, but I actually got about two inches cut off and layers. Actually it's better if Matt can't tell I cut my hair because he hates when I change it.

New pics

2008-09-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a few recent pictures of my cute kids.

PT Test

2008-09-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Last night Matt decided to give me an army PT test. He's been helping me train for the half marathon, so this was a good way to see how far I've come in the last month. I had to do 15 pushups in two minutes to pass, 42 full situps in two minutes, and run two miles in less than 21:42. I'm happy to say that I did great... well actually kind of average, but at least I passed. I did 19 pushups, 49 situps and ran two miles in 21:03. I was a little disappointed in my run because I did one mile in just over nine minutes a few days ago, but I guess it makes sense that I would do two miles slower.
So today I had Chemlawn come to aerate and overseed my lawn (they told me you should put down seed every few years which I didn't know). I watched them aerate because it looked kind of cool, and then all of a sudden they were gone. I honestly don't think they put down any seed, or if they did it was extremely fast and I couldn't see any evidence of it on the grass or on my sidewalks. So I called the company and told them that I wanted them to come back. They did about half an hour later and told me that they did put down seed but that they would do it again so that I would be happy with their work. Now I'm feeling like a bit of a jerk. I don't want to be obnoxious or get the workers into any trouble. Would you guys have done the same thing or just trusted that they did a good job?

Essie's Mess

2008-09-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I got a call from Essie's school and there was Essie's cute little voice telling me that I needed to come get her. This, of course, made me worried that she was hurt or sick so I asked her what was wrong. She started telling me about her lunch of french toast and how the syrup was really hard to open. Essie has a way of telling stories that includes every tiny detail and takes a while to get to the point. So I finally interrupted and asked her again why I need to come and get her. Then she told me that the syrup exploded and got all over her. She was in the office waiting for me and when I got there I saw that she was indeed covered in syrup. It was in her hair and all the way down to her shoes. I smiled and thought that I'll be a lucky parent if this is the worst reason to have to come pick up my child from school. So we went home. She took a shower and changed clothes, then I took her back to school and everything was fine.
Now totally changing the subject, I just started reading "Out of Africa". It's such a cool book, I love it. Some books are great because of the story, where you just can't wait to find out what's going to happen. But that's not really the case with this book, it's cool because it's a little glimpse into someone's life and the words and descriptions are so beautiful. It makes me want to go on a safari.

Stormy Weather

2008-09-01T11:13:00.001-07:00

Wow, September sure came in with a roar here in Utah. It was windy and rainy with lightning pretty much from the late afternoon until now (about 12:00 on Monday). And it got cold. But I don't think our nice end of summer is over for good, we should warm back up by tomorrow. I was at work last night watching the lightning, as I read "Sense and Sensibility", and it was pretty impressive. We had to stop the ramp employees from going outside about every half hour due to lightning, but I still left by 9:30 so nothing was too delayed. I like working in Operations, about half of the time no one is talking on the radio so I can sit there and read. Pretty nice. Well, I gotta go call my mom. Today is her birthday. Love you, Mom!

My Little Fella

2008-08-26T11:13:00.001-07:00

I feel bad because there haven't been many pictures of my cute little Sinjin lately. He's totally my buddy, and he's sweet and cuddly.

Summer's First Day of School

2008-08-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Summer went to her first day of school. She was very excited, right up until the bus came. Then she grabbed my leg, started crying, and said she just couldn't go to school. I felt mean because I told her she had to go and had to be brave, then I pushed her up the stairs of the bus. I was concerned for the next few hours that she was miserable, but it turns out that I shouldn't have worried. She loved school and thought it was totally fun.