a new baby in the family...

My nephew Robert and his wife Christy and their first baby on wednesday. Am I really old enough to be a GREAT AUNT?? I do enjoy calling my sister a grandma though :)

cute baby Matthew

train park...

OWEN

JACOB
I forgot my camera at the park today, but luckily my friend to some pictures for me!

Thanksgiving

In spite of colds going around the family, we had a lot of fun last week with family in town. We were able to take the kids to the zoo and play lots and lots of games. I completely forgot to take any pictures on Thanksgiving day but did get a few of the games we played the night before.

It's just not Thanksgiving without a little poker game, right?

Phoenix Zoo

that was disappointing!!

That game sucked. Not because the Utes lost, but it was really, really boring. At least with last years loss the game was really exciting the whole time. Both teams were pretty much playing terribly till the 4th quarter.

Cousins...

Scott & Brandee and kids made it into town this afternoon. We decided to go to the park and let the kids play when the girls were walking home.

As soon as they saw us at the park, they came running to see their girl cousins!!

preparing for the game...

Peter asked me to put a utah logo on the blog for the big game. I tend to go all out some times!!

Primary Program

Today was our ward primary program. Owen is a sunbeam this year so it was his first time to have a part and he even memorized it! The primary has practiced it for a few weeks now, had a big practice on Friday in the chapel. As we were driving to church this morning we were asking Owen if he was ready. He said he already did it on Friday and didn't need to do it again. So we explained to him that it was just a practice for when it was time to say his part in front of all the people. He seemed OK with it and off we went into the church. Then the time came for all the kids to go up there. Peter is a primary teacher so he went up there with Owen to take him to his seat as well as Quincy and Abbey. I was sitting in the very back (we weren't late but only like 2 minutes early and there was a baby blessing today) with Jacob, my in-laws (in town for Thanksgiving) and Cameron (their cousin) enjoying my peace while Jake was being entertained by his papa. While all the kids were getting to their places I heard this kid start screaming, I looked up and of course it was Owen. He would not go in his seat, so Peter took him to his seat and had him sit on his lap. I thought well at least Peter is up there to calm him down and talk him into saying his part, but then a few minutes later Owen came running down the aisle, crying. He did not want to say his part in front of all those people. I had no idea when his part was in the program but did my best to calm him down and talk him in to going back up there. Nothing worked until grandma told him that if he went back up there and said his part, she would take him to target and buy him a toy. After a couple of minutes of trying to get the toy without going up there, he finally realized he wasn't going to get a new toy unless he actually went back up there and said his part. So he walked back up the aisle reverently and sat back on Peter's lap. While we were waiting for Owen's part to come, the girls said there parts perfect and every time the primary kids would stand up and sing, Jacob would stand up and point "they're singing! they're singing" and then start to sing himself (he loves to sing). Finally at the very end Owen's class went to the microphone and one by one they said their part and Owen said his perfect!! Because we were in the back I felt it was OK for me to put my arms up and silently cheer for him, it was so exciting!! Of course after it was all over, he was expecting his grandma to take him to target right then and buy the toy, but we had to remind him that we don't shop on Sunday. Ireally wanted to take pictures during the program, but I think that is frowned upon.

wrinkles...

I am approaching 31 and feel like I am starting to look old. I think it may be time to start fighting my wrinkles. Does anyone know of any really good, not too expensive anti-wrinkle products?

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by my friend Tina so I am supposed to share 6 things about me that you may not know. So here it goes...

1. I watch way too much TV. Kudos to whoever invented the DVR cause I don't think I could ever live without one. It's really nice to know that if your kids need something while you are watching a show that you can just pause it. Is it sad that I feel like it makes me a better mother? Anyway, my absolute favorite show is THE AMAZING RACE!! I am super competitive and would love to be able to do all of the crazy stuff they get to do. I'm trying to talk Peter into doing the race with me, but then you actually have to apply and get chosen to be on it. Wish me luck with that!!

2. Since I was little I have always been obsessed with gambling. I just like winning stuff. When I was in 6th or 7th grade one of my friends had a slot machine at her house, so I would always bring nickels when I went to her house. During high school, some friends and I would cut class and go to my sister's house to play some poker. We never bet big amounts of money (mostly what was in my ashtray in the car) but it was so much fun. On my 21st birthday, Peter took me to a casino in Wendover. I love playing in those stupid slot machines. Later, Peter and I learned to play Texas Hold'em shortly before the big poker boom. I have been to Wendover and played in a poker tournament there, and also have gone to Vegas and just played at poker tables there. I want to say that I was never addicted to gambling, but I was slowly playing more and more games over the years. Until Peter went to that famous Preisthood session of General conference a few years back. He came home and told me about the Poker/gambling talk that President Hinckley gave and said he was quitting gambling all together. So I figured if he could do it so could I. So neither one of us gamble anymore, we still love to play poker, but we just play for fun now like you would any other game. We feel like we have been so blessed for it.

3. This one kind of goes along with the other one, but I love to play games and am super competitive. I actually think that I should win every game I play. I enjoy a little bit of a rivalry but have been told that I am a sore loser and a bad winner. So beware if any of you readers ever play with me. I think I am getting better though.

4. I love soccer. I started playing soccer when I was 5 and played through high school. I really enjoy watching my kids play now, but it kills me that I can't go out there and help them. There is a outdoor women's soccer league that I always wanted to play in, but with having 4 kids in 6 years, the timing never seemed to work out. I was getting ready to finally sign up and play, and then we moved to AZ. I have been trying to find adult women's league down here but have only found co-ed. I really don't want to play with men.

5. I love the beach. I lived in Southern California till I was 13 and went to the beach often in the summer. Now when Peter and I try to plan a vacation, I really don't think it is a true vacation unless there is a beach somewhere nearby. I can't understand why anybody would take a cruise to Alaska, when you can take one to the Caribbean or Mexico and go to the beach!

6. For those of you that don't know us very well, Peter is a big UTAH fan. Half of his family are UTAH fans and half are BYU fans. Last year his whole family was in town for Thanksgiving and of course the big BYU/UTAH football game. (That made very a very loud game with a terrible ending) They all think that the only reason I cheer for Utah is because of Peter, but I would like them all to know that that is not true. So I thought I'd use this last one to clear up my BYU/UTAH status. When I lived in California, of course I had always wanted to go to BYU. Pretty much were every mormon plans on going. Then when we moved to Utah, some of my friends were MAJOR BYU FANS and really thought they were kind of silly how into it they were. It wasn't long after that, that I realized how much cooler UTAH was and kind of silently always wanted UTAH to win. When I met Peter and found out that he was a UTAH fan, I did think he was cooler for that.

and there you have it..

I tag my sister Ashley...please tell us 6 interesting things about you!!

another birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT!!

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. I really couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law. She is one of the most caring, generous people I know. A year and a half ago, Peter and I were able to go on a cruise with them to Mexico. It was so nice to be able to spend that much relaxing time together. Usually when we are together we are preparing meals and entertaining and taking care of kids. On the cruise, we didn't have to cook, there were no kids to take care of, so all we had to do was just relax and have fun. We even all went snorkeling together!! That was one of my favorite vacations. You can't really tell, but that is Pat snorkeling in this picture.

We love you Pat and can't wait for you to come visit us this week!

Happy Birthday Grandma Bernice!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Bernice!! We love you!!

This is the most recent picture I have of her. It was taken when Jake was a baby and he is almost 2 1/2 years old now! I have always been terrible with taking pictures and I am sure it doesn't help that now we live so far away. Hopefully this blog will help me get in the habit of taking pictures!

Hibiscus...

My mother-in-law's birthday is coming up so I thought I'd post a picture of her favorite flower (at least I think it is) a red hibiscus flower. Pat has (or used to have) a red hibiscus plant that she grows at her house in UTAH. Since it gets so cold there, she can't plant it in her yard so she has it in a huge pot and takes the pot indoors in the winter.

I have 2 red hibiscus plants in my front yard and yesterday I noticed that one of them had 3 HUGE flowers on them, so I thought I'd take some pictures. I'm so glad I did, cause this morning they are gone, they just don't last very long. I also have 2 pink hibiscus plants in my front yard that blooms like crazy, but the flowers are about half the size of my red ones.

Mommy's little helper...

Lately when we start cleaning up Jacob has taken it upon himself to move all the chairs away from the table so I can sweep up. He does it whether I am planning on sweeping or not. Or maybe he just sees how filthy the floor is and it's his way of getting me to sweep!

He was saying cheese in this picture, I think we need to work on how to say cheese for the camera!!

I'm obsessed!

I can't seem to get off this computer. I have been on the internet for a few days now trying to find or make a better template. And so far I have some up with nothing!! I am wasting so much time trying to figure out how to customize my background and make everything look cute. It all started when I saw one of my cousin's blog. It is so cute!! I am convinced that I can make one myself but when I try to read the code to figure out what I need to change, I feel like a complete idiot!! I just want to change the background, is that too much to ask?