The Chatwin Family

my little boy…

2010-10-16T15:00:00.001-07:00

after spending the week taking lots of pictures on vacation, we decided that Kyle’s hair has gotten a little long. So first thing we did this morning (even before unpacking) was cut Kyle’s hair.

before…

after…

*vacation pictures to come soon…I really need to unpack and get this house organized first :)

as promised…

2010-10-06T17:43:00.001-07:00

here are pictures from Owen’s game last Saturday. He played goalie the first quarter (his first time ever) and did really good. Go Stormtroopers!!

Coach Peter

Dr. Alva’s All Stars

2010-09-30T10:57:00.001-07:00

We have a new principal at our school this year. He’s started a program called Dr. Alva’s All Stars which lets each teacher pick 2 all stars in their class every month. One for character and one for academic. They invite the family to a special morning assembly (8am, 55 minutes before school starts might I add) to recognize all the kids and we get muffins and juice. It was really hard to get all the kids and me ready by 7:45 so we could be there on time and get a good seat (front row) but the Costco Chocolate muffins was definitely worth it!

Quincy was chosen by her teacher Mrs. Dunham for character. That makes a mother feel real good that not only is she behaving, but she is standing out with her positive attitude!

first day of school…August 9th

2010-09-30T10:47:00.001-07:00

better late than never right? I’ve started using blog writer to update my blog (I’m a little slow I know) and it is soooo much easier and faster to do. So I may start keeping this thing up to date.

All my school age children on the first day of school before the girls took off.

Jacob with his teacher Mrs. Schmidt

Owen with his teacher Mrs. Elcock.

Jacob all lined up and ready to go inside.

And now it’s just me and Kyle which makes me sad and happy all at the same time.

quick summer recap…

2010-09-30T10:35:00.001-07:00

Our summer was filled with swim lessons for the boys and went by super fast! We had three birthdays, went to Utah for 3 weeks and squeezed in a little camping trip as well.

Abbey’s 10th birthday was June 5th.

pics from our trip to Utah…

Jacob’s 5th Birthday and Owen’s 7th birthday on June 23rd.

an unwanted little critter in my house…hadn’t seen any in the house the 4 years we lived here and we found 2 that day…in completely different areas of the house! luckily Abbey had no problem catching it for me.

Jacob being the excellent helper he is…even though Kyle was just playing with the bottle and had no interest in drinking it.

Kyle’s first big boy bath!

Camping with friends…

I forgot my camera camping so these are the few pics taken with my phone.

camping wears you out!

That’s it…our summer in a nutshell :)

soccer

2010-09-29T16:22:00.001-07:00

we had our first soccer games on Saturday.

Quincy is the small one in the middle in blue.

Abbey chasing the ball.

Jacob kicking a corner kick.

I am a slacker mom and didn’t get any of Owen didn’t get any pictures of him during his game or his super hot coach (Peter) because I was feeding Kyle a bottle. Hopefully I will get some pictures this weekend. It gets more and more fun to watch my kids play every year!

kyle update…

2010-09-29T16:09:00.001-07:00

Kyle is now 10 months old and crawling everywhere. His hair is getting long but I can’t bear to cut it cause I think he is too cute. I’m just not ready for him to look like a toddler. I want him to stay a baby forever…

He pulled himself us for the first time yesterday and was quite proud of himself…he really wanted to play bingo with his brothers, or eat the little bingo markers!

Also, Kyle is officially weaned as of last week and thank you to everyone that gave me advice on the subject. I really appreciated it! The stubborn kid just wanted to drink a bottle when he was ready to drink from a bottle and the second he did it was bottle from then on. I am paying the price now for weaning cold turkey but I’m happy and he’s happy. I love it when he gets all excited when I am shaking up the bottle to mix the formula. He can hold it himself if needed but I still enjoy holding him and cuddling with him while he eats. The timing couldn’t be more perfect either. Soccer season started up again and we were at the fields for 4 hours in the 105 plus heat. I don’t know what I would of done if I had to nurse him during those games.

jake

2010-09-29T15:54:00.001-07:00

Jake loves his tomatoes so much, he couldn’t wait for me to get off the computer to cut it for him so he ate it like an apple.

photo shoot!

2010-08-25T10:49:00.001-07:00

My friend Liz is an amazing photographer and took some pictures of Kyle last week. Check them out!

Through Liz’s Lenz

advice…

2010-08-12T18:04:00.001-07:00

I know it’s been a looong time since I’ve posted, but don’t get your hopes up just yet. I still haven’t downloaded pictures from the last couple of months (it is on my “to do list” but the priority is low) but I need some advice.

Kyle is 8 1/2 months old now and I am ready to wean him. The problem is he won’t have anything to do with a bottle. This kid is super stubborn and is so good at keeping his jaw shut. Any suggestions on how to get a bottle hater to be a bottle lover?

***I know that it is recommended to nurse for a year, but I mentally can’t do it anymore, so no comments of that nature please.***

Quincy's 11th!!

2010-05-12T10:41:00.002-07:00

Happy 11th Birthday Quincy!!

blessing day.

2010-04-25T11:47:00.004-07:00

haircut.

2010-04-19T15:53:00.004-07:00

it was time to cut off the comb-over.

before...

we forgot to take an after photo, but he pretty much looks the same.

running again...

2010-03-25T15:13:00.004-07:00

So in an attempt to get back in shape, I've decided to start running again. Unfortunately I just can't run to run so I had to find a race for me to train for. Because of the heat down here in the summer we had to find one in Utah and plan our summer vacation around it. So Peter and I are running the Utah Valley half marathon on June 12th. Our official 12 week training started this week. I attempted a few runs a few weeks ago and man am I out of shape, but I am sticking with it and it is already starting to get a little better. I was really proud of my time for my first Half Marathon back in January of 2009 and after my run yesterday, I think It may be possible to get there again. I've been using the nike+ system to track my runs with my ipod. It's not completely accurate for pace and distance but it is pretty close...but I like it because it logs my times. I got this about 2/3 into my training for the last half, so I don't know exactly where I started at last time, but I know it was super slow. I ran 4.2 miles on saturday and compared the time to previous runs...same time as what I used to run 5 miles back in December of 2009. So I still have a long way to go to get back to where I was, but I am committed to do it!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2010-03-16T11:21:00.001-07:00

3 months

2010-02-25T19:37:00.004-07:00

Kyle is 3 months today, so I thought it was time to take some pictures. He is such a happy boy and out of about 90 pictures I got about 3 with him smiling. He is a major talker and talked a lot when we were trying to get him to smile.

He's getting so big!

Lately he has discovered his hands. He looks at them all the time, plays with his fingers and is starting to reach for things.

Can't get over how cute he is! He is such a good baby and loves his brothers and sisters so much. I'm hoping to catch the boys doing their high-pitched baby talk to Kyle in a video clip. It is so cute and Kyle just loves it!

Kyle's new trick

2010-02-22T08:54:00.003-07:00

Check out Kyle's new trick! He's growing up so fast which makes me happy and sad all at the same time...but mostly sad.

soccer season begins...

2010-02-15T11:15:00.005-07:00

Last weekend was the start of another soccer season. This is the 3rd season for the girls playing with the same coaches. They are awesome. The coaches decided the girls were ready to move up a level and play in the U12 division. Some of the girls on the team, including Abbey are already playing up a division so this definitely makes for a very young team! This move allows them to play 11 players on the field instead of 7 or 8 (I can't remember exactly). They made it clear to the players and the parents that this was going to be a learning season and to not expect wins...just a chance to learn all the positions. Friday night was their first game and they were pretty nervous. As I was watching the girls warm up before the game the other team showed up and they seemed gigantic! They were taller and some of them were "women"!! But as soon as the game started the girls surprised us all. They played so well together as the team and ended up being the dominating team!! It was so exciting to watch them play together. They ended up winning 1-0 with Quincy scoring the goal! It was so exciting!! Kyle was really good during the game until I screamed with excitement...I am going to have to learn how to tone it down this season. I didn't bring my camera to the girls game, I'll definitely remember next game.

Owen and Jake had their games on Saturday morning. Owen has really come a long way. He isn't afraid of getting in there and is really doing a good job. His coach had him play defense most of the game and he did so good. The older these kids get the more fun it gets to watch them play!

Owen is number 8

This is Jake's very first soccer season. He did really well for his first time. For some reason he was running funny...like he was being silly, we'll have to work on that. But he is starting our much more aggressive than our other kids did so I think after the excitement of playing soccer wears off he will do really good!

Had to get some video of Kyle with Jake playing in the background...

***I backdated a post on February 7th...check it out!***

smiles...

2010-02-12T12:34:00.004-07:00

Kyle all bundled up at Jacob's soccer practice.

Soccer season officially starts tonight with the girls first game. Owen and Jacob have their first games tomorrow, so let's hope that Kyle stays this happy during the next 2 months of many practices and games!

for valentine's...

2010-02-12T09:49:00.003-07:00

Pima Air & Space Museum

2010-02-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

We went to Tucson this morning to test drive a car and drove by this museum on the way there. We thought we'd make the most of Tuscon with an impromptu visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum. The problem with not planning this outing was I didn't bring my camera. Thank goodness for cell phones!

haircuts.

2010-01-21T19:24:00.005-07:00

Abbey loves short hair and she looks so cute with it cut short.

Quincy grew her hair super long so she could donate it to Locks of Love.

I do have the cutest girls!

8 hours

2010-01-20T08:38:00.004-07:00

My awesome baby has slept for 8 hours 3 nights in a row and last night I actually slept for 7 of those hours. I'm feeling a lot less like a zombie now!

He's so cute...
He's really starting to smile a lot now, so hopefully soon I will be able to catch it on camera. These pictures were taken with my cell phone...not too bad.

new look

2010-01-06T17:04:00.003-07:00

New look for a new year and my blog is as updated as it is going to get. Hopefully I will get on the ball and keep it updated on a regular basis! That's one of my goals this year...

Also thought I'd take a picture of my happy birthday sign before I take it down. My kids were so great that morning. I could hear that they were up to something, and Jake came in and said stay in bed mom (he really didn't have to twist my arm) and a little while later they came in and had me come to the kitchen. They had made breakfast for me and this sign! They are the best kids ever! They really know how to make me feel loved!

6 weeks...

2010-01-06T12:09:00.001-07:00

My baby is 6 weeks old today. Time has flown by even with the lack of sleep! I thought once the baby was here I would get motivated to take more pictures and start blogging...not so much. But with Kyle being 6 weeks I thought I would take a few pictures and make myself update my blog. This baby is so much funny and even starting to smile a little bit. He gave me his first smile on my birthday last week...best birthday present ever! I tried so hard to get him to smile today for the camera but smiles are still hard to come by and well getting him to smile and taking pictures at the same time just wasn't working. Enjoy the pictures anyway!!

After a few minutes a recruited Jake to help.

I had Jake take a few pictures while I tried. While I was trying to get Kyle to smile I kissed him on the cheek and Jake said mom do that again so I can take a picture of you kissing his cheek...too cute! So this picture is posed!

Family Pictures...

2009-12-27T12:46:00.004-07:00

It has been so long since we got a family picture taken we decided to go ahead and try and get pictures taken after the baby was born and before christmas. We had them done when Kyle was almost 3 weeks old. My friend Liz started a photography business and did an awesome job. She even went above and beyond and edited a few family pictures the next day so I could get christmas cards made. I am really happy with all the pictures! The link to her photography blog is below.

http://throughlizslens.blogspot.com/

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great christmas this year! Here are a few pictures...

Christmas Eve...opening up their pajamas.

Christmas morning before all the chaos started

opening presents

Quincy and Abbey are only a year apart...but they couldn't be any more different!

They had been asking for a hoodie since their dad got a Utah one for his birthday. I was so glad when I finally found some online for a decent price...they are adult smalls so they will be wearing them a long time.

Christmas Card/Birth Announcement

2009-12-24T13:06:00.001-07:00

I didn't do a very good job at updating my christmas card list...so if you didn't get one, here ya go!

School Sing Along

2009-12-18T12:10:00.003-07:00

This morning I little boys and I went to the school for the school sing-along. Quincy and her friend Kendyl played the marimba (pretty sure I butchered that...In fact not even quite sure if that is what it is called) as prelude music as all the parents arrived and the classes filed in. I only got the last half of this particular song...and it was the only song I recorded. She did really well.

After all the classes were in they all song holiday songs. The baby was a little angel the whole time and Jake was really good too!

Owen in his PJ's and Santa Hat...the only picture I got of him.

Abbey walking in with her class.

Quincy after she joined her class...in the Santa Hat and braids.

Jake went and joined Quincy in her class and sang along with them. He really can't wait till he's in school with them next year.

and of course baby Kyle...

introducing baby Kyle...

2009-12-01T13:25:00.004-07:00

Kyle Mack Chatwin

November 25th, 2009

11:19 pm

7 pounds 10 ounces

20.5 inches long

It took over a minute for the nurses to finally get Kyle to start breathing on his own...the longest, scariest minute in my life! Then after that I was able to hold him for 2 minutes and they took him away to the "special needs nursery". I wasn't able to see him for over 3 hours later (another long 3 hours), but was informed on my way to my room that he had moved to the normal nursery, which meant he was doing just fine. So a little bit of a scary start, but is now completely healthy.

No kids were allowed to visit the hospital, but they were able to come up to our window and see him. I was a little sad not to be able to get a family picture at the hospital, but I absolutely love this picture. The kids were so excited to be able to see their new baby brother.
Finally eyes open...barely.

Proud daddy!
This baby has been such a blessing to our family. Words cannot express...

38 weeks

2009-11-20T09:20:00.003-07:00

Time for an updated picture of my big fat belly! Jake took these pictures for me with the help of a tripod...not too bad for a 4 year old!

Oops...missed the belly shot :)

I am so ready to have a regular belly again!!

Crazy Hair Day

2009-10-30T10:13:00.003-07:00

Today is crazy hair day at school. Abbey wanted an Afro and Quincy wanted Pippy Longstocking braids. I knew how to do Abbey's hair as a result from taking out her hair from last year's crazy hair day, but I just didn't have what I needed to do the braids for Quincy. So we just made something up. Owen wanted mad scientist hair, we did the best we could with his short hair.

By the time we took this picture with all of them together Abbey's hair was already settling down. Next time I'll have to put a lot more gunk in her hair to get it to last longer.

Piano Recital

2009-10-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

The girls had another piano recital. They have been taking piano now for a little over a year and are doing really well.

The teacher with all her students.

Abbey

Quincy

Rainy days

2009-09-09T08:01:00.005-07:00

We woke up Saturday morning to an awesome thunderstorm. The rain is so welcome in the summer because it really cools it off out there (for a very short period of time). After the thunder and lightning stopped the kids wanted to play in the rain because the street was all flooded, so we let them. They had so much fun running through the gutter and they even talked their dad into playing with them. After they were done I made them all shower immediately to get all that nasty gutter water off them.

**I tried to upload a couple of pictures also, but kept getting errors. I'll try again later.

as requested...

2009-09-06T12:05:00.002-07:00

6 months

one day...

2009-08-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

one day, i'm going to update this blog...one day.

Cancun, Mexico

2009-06-03T14:12:00.004-07:00

To celebrate our anniversary this year we decided to do something big before our family gets even bigger. Peter took charge and planned everything. It was so nice for me to not worry about any of the planning...for some reason that part really stresses me out. The kids stayed with his brother in Mesa and had a great time. They felt like they were on vacation as well with a pool in the backyard and a dog to play with. We went to Cancun, Mexico on the 27th of may and stayed for 4 nights. Our anniversary isn't till the 13th of June, but I didn't want to be as less pregnant as possible for our trip!

The ruins in Tulum

Xel-ha - we didn't swim with the dolphins but watched a few people do it. We'll have to do that next time. We went snorkeling which we love to do. I don't have any pictures of that because they were taken with a disposable waterproof camera and need to be taken to get developed (the old fashioned way). I will post some later.

I love the fact that Iguanas are everywhere. They are so fascinating.

The view from our balcony in our room.

We had so much fun and were a little sad that it went by so fast. Hopefully one day we will be able to take the kids, they would love it.

Thanks for the wonderful vacation babe! I love you so much and am looking forward to many more wonderful anniversaries!

Lost Tooth!

2009-05-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

Owen lost his very first tooth today. He was so excited because he pulled it out all by himself! It always makes me sad when they start loosing teeth. Just another sign of them growing up, not to mention the awkward years of little kids with gigantic adult teeth.

Quincy's 10th Birthday!

2009-05-17T12:11:00.001-07:00

Quincy turned 10 on May 12th. She got to have a "almost sleepover" birthday party. She had so much fun. She is such a good girl. I am really lucky to have her as my daughter!

playing musical sleeping bags

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T19:07:00.004-07:00

i'm not sure i have any blog followers anymore due to the lack of posts, but this pretty much sums up what we've been up to.

The kids have been so excited and have been telling everyone so I thought it may be time to post...

Goalie

2009-03-30T17:05:00.004-07:00

Quincy told her coach last week at practice that she wanted to play goalie. On Saturday she told me about it and said she was very nervous about it so at the game she told the coach she changed her mind. The coach ended up putting her in anyway for the 4Th quarter. Probably because they were up 4-0 so it was a good time for her to try it out without so much pressure. She did a really good job and only had to get the ball twice.

Her team pretty much dominated the whole game, so this is what she looked like most of the time...a little bored, but super cute. I was really impressed with her though. I was watching her when the ball would start to make it's way down to her end and she totally looked like she knew how to play goalie. She does play goalie at recess a lot, just never in a real soccer game. I just can't get over how exciting these games are for me to watch now. They have finally reached that age where they are playing as a team and know their positions.

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-03-30T16:48:00.003-07:00

***off the subject***

A few weeks ago we took the training wheels off of Owen's bike. The only picture I took was when he was screaming bloody murder and riding his bike at the same time. It was hilarious...all of our kids have done that so far, it must be scary to when you first ride all by yourself.

Saturday was our neighborhood's Annual Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had lots of fun this year (no crying at all...miracle) finding eggs and in between age groups playing on the big blow slide and the playground.

Owen

Quincy (yellow shirt) Abbey (blue shirt bending over)

Jacob (blue and green striped shirt)

Owen going down the slide as the other 3 just got off. They loved this thing...they couldn't stop giggling.

St. Patricks Day!

2009-03-17T17:03:00.003-07:00

For St. Patricks Day I went with some friends to the "green fountain." In Fountain Hills, Az they have this huge fountain that put green dye in at noon on St. Patricks Day. This fountain was super huge and it was at a nice park, so it was a great place to let the kids play. For me it was a great place to people watch. I did not realize that lots of people really get into this holiday.

Here it is when it was just starting to turn green.

Here is the fountain really emerald green. It was actually really pretty to watch.

Here are a couple of pictures of my favorite people to watch. If I was really brave I would of gone over there and asked them to pose for me. But I'm not.

We really had lots of fun. Thanks Liz for telling us about this place, hopefully we will turn this into a yearly tradition.

Field Trip

2009-03-17T16:42:00.004-07:00

Last month I was able to go on a field trip with Owen's Kindergarten class. They went to a dairy farm and learned all about cows. They were also able to feed goats and horses, pet rabbits and hold chickens. Owen was game for everything but actually holding the chickens. They had lots of fun and so did I. That was the first time I have ever helped out at school. I really need to do that more often.

Owen's entire kindergarten class.

Feeding the horse.
Feeding the goat.

Another Soccer Season.

2009-03-17T16:30:00.002-07:00

The girls are half way through another soccer season. We put them in a different league this time so they could play on the same team as some of there friends in the ward. They have really great coaches and it is getting really exciting to watch them play. They are learning how to actually play as a team instead of as individuals. I'm really enjoying this season.

Abbey

Quincy

The girls taking a knee...someone was hurt.

I need a RACE!

2009-01-30T09:13:00.002-07:00

I have only run a few times since the half marathon and am in desperate need of a race. I've looked online and can't seem to find one. Most of the ones that I've found are either in the next week or two, or are in the first 2 weeks of April and Peter will be out of town. Does anybody know of any race in march, end of april or in may sometime? I need a goal to keep me running.

Half Marathon.

2009-01-21T17:57:00.003-07:00

Peter and I have been training for the last 12 weeks for a Half Marathon. Neither one of us has ran one before and thought we'd try it. I wanted to do it to get me into shape, and that it did. I lost 11 pounds training for it. I only limited what I ate for the first couple of weeks and then the holidays kicked in. I think this is the first time I've lost weight over the holidays instead of gaining. Last weekend we went to St. George, UT and ran in the Painter's Half Marathon. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I didn't push myself too hard in fear that my body would give out and not finish but I actually think I could of ran longer. It gave me such a high afterwards that I think I am now addicted to running...race running anyway.

My cousin Scott and his wife Elizabeth, Peter and I, my Uncle Dennis, and my brother Jeff.

Jeff approaching the finish line...1 hour 23 minutes 19th place overall!!

Peter approaching the finish line...1 hour 54 minutes.

Peter

Me....2 hours 4 minutes.

Can I just say the sense of accomplishment is amazing! I'm looking forward to next year and hoping to get my time under 2 hours.

trampoline

2009-01-21T17:43:00.004-07:00

Santa brought the kids a trampoline complete with safety enclosure, but it didn't get put up till after our trip to Utah. The kids absolutely love it! They play on it for hours. Not only do they jump on it, the use it as a club house and can't wait till it's a little warmer so they can sleep out under the stars. Santa is awesome.

lazy blogger...

2009-01-21T16:50:00.004-07:00

time has flown by this past month so here are a few pictures of what we've been up to.

New Year's Eve Party

Peter was a trooper and wore a hat most of the night. Love that guy :)

My birthday happens to be on New Years Eve
Licking the super yummy "sticky frosting" off my birthday cake.

Janna, Me, Melissa, and my Mom

Sledding in Eagle Mountain, UT

Peter with Owen and Jake

Haley and Abbey

Abbey-so excited to see snow in what seemed like forever!

Jake playing in real snow for the first time...he had just turned one when we moved to AZ.

Owen all bundled up.

Christmas morning. This is the first year that we didn't get the whole family

For some reason blogger won't download the pictures in the order I want them and it is driving me nuts. We had a great Christmas and went to Utah a few days after. We surprised the kids and told them that was their main gift and they loved it. They had so much fun playing with their cousins and the SNOW!! Peter and I decided the snow and cold was fun for a day or two but then we were done. If there were only a way to live close to all your family and stay away from the cold!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T14:03:00.001-07:00

I know I posted this last year, but this is my all time favorite.

Ward Christmas Party...

2008-12-13T11:49:00.003-07:00

This morning was our wards christmas party. After breakfast there was a puppet show that the kids loved, and then of course...Santa.

Abbey asked for an her own personal elf.

Quincy asked for a video camera.

Owen asked for legos.

Jake wanted nothing to do with any of it...except for the food.

Welcome Home!!

2008-12-11T16:37:00.004-07:00

This afternoon my parents returned home from their second mission. They served for 18 months in the Perth, Australia Mission. I have been thinking about them all day and am a little sad that I won't get to see them for a little while. But it is nice to know that they are home now and that we will be able to see them the next time we go to Utah.

I am so proud of them for the sacrifices they made to serve a mission and what a great example they are for me.

Thanksgiving recap...

2008-11-30T19:38:00.004-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws house which was really nice to not have to cook the turkey. Peter's brother Ryan and his boys were able to come down for the weekend and the kids had so much fun together. My poor girls were a little out-numbered because their chatwin girl cousins weren't able to come down, so it was 2 girls with 10 boys. It was so nice to have a few days of just focusing on spending time with family. The only problem is, I didn't take one picture...not one! So sad!

I did decide to take the kids out after church today and try and take some decent pictures of them. My kids were so good and cooperative with me, the only problem is we waited too late and the sun was too low. The shadows were so strong, but I did get one of the kids that I kind of liked.

We are planning on taking a few family pictures on saturday so hopefully we will get out at a better time of day.

random pictures...

2008-11-21T08:46:00.003-07:00

I haven't taken many pictures in the last little while, but this is what I have.

Owen's hair was getting super long and shaggy so I cut it this morning before school. He likes his hair cut, but didn't want his picture taken.

Quincy and Owen playing together a few weeks ago...Two-Headed Monster!!

Abbey at a soccer game. Tomorrow is the last game of the season. I'm looking forward to relaxing again on saturday mornings.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T19:00:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin Carving.

2008-10-30T18:22:00.002-07:00

Monday night (FHE) we carved pumpkins. Peter and I helped the boys and the girls did their own. They had lots of fun making them.

2 tags..

2008-10-30T08:53:00.004-07:00

I've been tagged (a couple of times I think) here is the first one.

Post the 4th Picture in the 4th Picture folder and tell about it.

This picture (not very good) was taken at my nephew's futsol (different kind of indoor soccer) game. I actually have 2 nephew that were playing, Haden is the blurry one running and Michael I don't think is in this particular picture. I went to Utah for a few days in January (just me) to visit my family. I froze my butt off cause I think the highest it got was 15 degrees the whole trip! I forze at this game too cause it is played at the peaks ice arena so they have to keep it cold for the hockey ice. It was a fun trip and a much needed break from everyday life. I really do enjoy hanging out with my family and that is the hardest part about living so far away from everyone.

Next tag..

In no particular order.........

8 favorite T.V. Shows

1- The Amazing Race

2- Survivor

3- The biggest loser

4- The Office

5- Grey's Anatomy

6- Chuck (Hilarious!)

7- How I Met Your Mother

8- Samantha Who

8 Favorite Restaurants

1- Olive Garden (For some reason the one in Las Vegas tastes the best!!) So true Janna :)

2- Bubba Gump Shrimp (Weird cause I hate seafood-ate a chicken sandwich! I've only eaten there once and can't stop thinking about it - it's in California)

3- Outback Steakhouse

4- Texas Roadhouse

5- Chili's

6- Casa Del Rey (Grantsville)

7- China Lily

8- PF Changs

8 Things that happened yesterday

1-woke up

2-got kids ready for school

3-family devotional (just started it)

4-ran 3 miles-very slowly

5-took a shower

6-vacuumed out my van

7-went with YW to the temple to do baptisms

8- took the non member girl to the visitor center to watch the Joseph Smith movie while the girls were inside temple. (Really good movie, let's just say that it makes my trials seem like almost nothing)

8 Things I look Forward to

1-St George weekend with my hubby. not till jan. though

2-Weekends

3-pedicure - I need one bad

4-my built it babysitter to come of age (we are almost there!)

5-Summer -even down here

6-My parents coming home from their mission - not that I will see them right away.

7-Girls trip - we really need to start planning one.

8-Holidays

8 Things I LOVE about Fall

1- cooler weather (you know like 80's and 90's)

2- Kids back in school.

3- Thanksgiving

4- Pumpkin bread, muffins, cookies

5- Hot chocolate - they might actually start carrying it at restaurants now.

6- carmel corn

7- Trick or treating in the nice weather

8- Letting my kids play outside again.

8 Things on my Wishlist

1-No debt

2- Huge Budget

3- Vacation every month

4- Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit

5- Digital SLR Camera

6- Huge Savings Account

7- My house to magically have a basement!!

8- To get back to my married weight

8 People I Tag...

8 People who read my blog and hasn't done this tag yet!

Seriously, either tag. :)

my little troublemaker...

2008-10-27T11:20:00.003-07:00

Owen brought this paper home and told me that I needed to fill it out so he could bring it back and get a prize or something. So I read the paper and turns out they are learning about helping others. On the bottom half of the paper there is a chart where you check off each day when you help someone. I tried to explain to him that this will take a week to complete and then I will sign it and send it with him. So I gave had him help me with something, checked off wednesday and told him to put it on the fridge. I walked by the fridge just a minute ago and this is what I found.

Apparently this process is moving too slow for him....notice the parent signature line!! You might want to click on the picture to see the full size image.

Wish me luck with this kid when he gets to high school!!

4th post today...

2008-10-24T16:14:00.003-07:00

Here is what Abbey's hair looked like yesterday when she went to school. She now wants a perm and I am tempted...

Zion National Park

2008-10-24T15:43:00.005-07:00

Peter's family planned a get together at Zion National Park while his brother (currently serving overseas with the utah national guard) was home on his 2 week leave. My sister in law was able to find a really nice cabin that the whole family could fit in. This cabin was so perfect. It was completely kid friendly with a playhouse and stuff in the backyard as well as an awesome little play kitchen room under the stairs that Jake loved. I totally forgot to take pictures while we were at the cabin but here are a "few" from the 2 days of hikes. We went on all family friendly hikes and the kids really did well. I really can't wait till we get to go back to Zions.

Peter's Parents and baby Jillian

My silly boys

Owen and Jake

Haley and Quincy

Owen and McKaden

The Brothers and The Dad

(Ryan, Peter, John, Scott and in front Alan)

My Family

Jake was so tired.

Probably from all the playing while hiking!

Scott and his baby Jillian

Peter and Jake

Climbing the rocks at the upper Emerald Pool.

My kids.

My family again.

It really was a fun vacation.

Verde Canyon Railroad

2008-10-24T15:09:00.002-07:00

Peter's work gave him a gift certificate to the verde canyon railroad so we decided to use on our way up to Zion's. The kids were so excited to go on a little train ride and so were we. Until about 5 minutes into we were done and realized that it is a 4 hour ride! SOOOOOOOO LONG!! The kids were really good the whole time, didn't complain much at all. The scenery and nature was supposed to be so beautiful but it wasn't anything different than driving up through Arizona and Utah. There was an open air car that we were able to go out on which was nice.

FHE - Halloween Haunted House

2008-10-24T15:01:00.003-07:00

Last monday the kids and I made this haunted gingerbread house for FHE. The kids really had lots of fun and now can't wait for christmas-time so they can each make their own gingerbread house.

Crazy Hair Day!!

2008-10-22T20:01:00.003-07:00

Gotta Love crazy hair day at school!

If you look closely, you will see Abbey's hair is twisted up in tiny little thingys. So after school we took out her hair and this is what it looked like!
I am so excited, now I know how to do an Afro! Next year I'm going to talk her in to being little orphan Annie for Halloween! (We already have a costume for this year)

We put a headband in it and it looks so cute. She wants to wear her hair like this to school tomorrow. We'll see how well it sleeps.

I am really lovin her hair and she is too!

***I'm hoping to add our vacation pictures later this week***

Peter's Birthday!

2008-10-08T10:22:00.002-07:00

Peter's Birthday was last Friday. Neither one of us like to make too much of a fuss on our birthday so we just went out to dinner to Chili's as a family then came home for some cake and ice cream.

Check out all the candles!
I love Peter so much! He is such a great father and husband and works so hard for us!

Piano Recital - Sept 21st

2008-10-08T09:45:00.005-07:00

Here are the video clips I took from the girls recital last month. Quincy started piano lessons in June and Abbey started in August. They love it!

Quincy

Abbey

*I've been putting off this post cause I didn't take and pictures and videos take forever to upload!

more soccer pics

2008-10-08T09:41:00.002-07:00

i've got nothing!

2008-10-01T22:51:00.001-07:00

i've got absolutely nothing to post! how sad am i? the kids have fall break next week, so hopefully we will do something blogworthy.

Soccer Season...

2008-09-13T15:36:00.003-07:00

Today was the first of many soccer games. Owen's team is called the Twisters. His game was bright and early at 8:00am which was really nice cause it was a little cooler. I was hesitant to put him in again this year (he cried a lot last year) but he said he wanted to play. He did so well today! There was no crying and he went right in and played instead of just staying away from all the action. It was really exciting and am so glad that he has really grown a lot in this past year.

The battery in my camera was dead so I only took these with my phone.

The girls played a little later. Their team is the Lavender Dragons. I ended up making their banner which caused me a lot of stress in the last few days but I am glad to be done with it. It was a lot warmer during their game, but with an umbrella and a little breeze it was bearable. Quincy and Abbey did soooo well today. They also have grown so much in the past year and I started to see signs of aggression and are really getting into the games! Quincy even scored a goal! I was so excited and I jumped up and cheered until I got all choked up...then I had to sit down and be thankful that I was wearing sunglasses. This season is looking like it will be a lot more exciting.

The girls games wasn't till 11:40 so I was able to charge my the battery in my phone. As you can see, my camera isn't any better then my phone. I hate this piece of crap...the zoom stopped working in the summer and it is only a little over a year old. So I didn't even try to take any while they were playing, all we would have seen were little tiny dots in the grass.

my new obsession...

2008-09-10T16:24:00.001-07:00

my sister janna got me hooked. started with a stupid word challenge game that i suck at and now i am finding many friends from high school, even one from elementary school back in my california days!

WOW...I'm impressed!

2008-09-03T23:43:00.005-07:00

Ok, so I don't usually get into politics. In fact when I was planning on voting this november, it was going to be just a vote AGAINST Obama. There is something about him that just rubs me the wrong way; just a really bad feeling about him. I always just vote republican because I am conservative and...liberals....well, I won't go there. Tonight I had heard that Sarah Palin's speech was really good, so I watched a rebroadcast of it on msnbc and I am hooked. I think she is completely awesome and she actually makes me not only want to be a better mother, but actually get involved in the community and stuff. Maybe I need to join the PTO for our school! I might even watch McCain's speech tomorrow night. Who knew that I could get interested in politics!

The Dark Knight

2008-08-26T13:19:00.004-07:00

I haven't watched any of the Batman Movies since I don't know...maybe that last one with Chris O'Donnell in it because I thought they were really dumb with all the neon and stuff.
A couple of weeks ago Peter and I noticed that we had recorded Batman Begins in HD while we had free HBO, so we decided to watch it. I really liked that movie but still had no desire to see the new one (The Dark Knight) cause I have heard from quite a few people that it is so dark and awful. Last weekend Peter and I went to the movies and from lack of good movie selection, we went ahead and saw The Dark Knight. There may be something wrong with me, because I really, really liked this movie! I just may be a little dark and twisted.

preschool...

2008-08-22T23:07:00.003-07:00

I put Jake in a little co-op preschool with 3 other women in our ward. It's only once a week for 1 1/2 hours, perfect for a little boy who just turned 3. And I only have to teach him once a month...I think I can handle that!

Today was his first day. He was so excited and wore his backpack for at least 30 minutes before it was time to go.

I think he was a little nervous cause I couldn't get much of a smile out of him.
But he is still stinkin' cute!

High School Tag!

2008-08-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

1. Did you date someone from your school? not really...a dance here and there, but no boyfriends.
2. What kind of car did you drive? 1985 Honda Accord junior year, when I was a senior I drove this little red chevy truck that I hated till I got my dad to sell it and he bought me a 1989 Honda Accord with a CD player and a sunroof! I had that car till August 2002!
4. Were you a party animal? I think you would have to go to parties to be considered a party animal!
5. Were you considered a flirt? I might of tried, but obviously not very successful.
6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Nope.
7. Were you a nerd? I don't think so.
8. Were you on any varsity teams? Yes, Soccer! You go girl! We had that phrase on our soccer sweatshirts...so maybe I was a nerd.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Never!
10. Can you still sing the fight song? Yes. Dear Ol' AF High....
11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mr. Garlick my German teacher, his class was soooo laid back and Ms. Batmale (sp?) for history, she actually made history exciting! (same ones, shellie!)
12. Where did you sit during lunch? My senior year I didn't have the same lunch as my friends, so I just went home for lunch
13. What was your school's full name? American Fork High School
14. School mascot? CAVEMAN
15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? I went with Aaron Branch my junior year.
16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No way! I think that is a "been there done that" thing you never want to do again.
17. What do you remember most about graduation? Not much, was glad to get it over with. I think I have always wanted to be older than I am.
18. Where did you go senior skip day? I think I skipped senior skip day!
19. Were you in any clubs? No, but some friends and I got our picture taken with the German Club for the yearbook. I think just to see how many times we could be in the yearbook.
20. Have you gained some weight since then? Oh yeah, I wish I could say it was all because of babies, but baby is 3 now...
21. Who was your prom date? I didn't go to a prom for my school, but I went to Orem High School's prom my junior year. For some reason I can't remember his name, but his older brother was friends with my brother, ...I think his last name is staiger?
22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? That was 3 years ago! I didn't go. I had just had my last baby a few weeks earlier and I refuse to go FAT!

I tag-Shauna, Tina, Liz, and Allison and anyone else that wants to do it- NO LIES! We are all adults now and it's in the past :)

Yeah...there is no #3, I guess it just got skipped.

too funny not to post...

2008-08-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

ok, so i have been on this computer a lot again today and thought i better go check on jake and see what he was doing. i walk in the family room and found him lying on the floor asleep. this is not unusual for him. i don't make him take naps anymore because he won't go to bed at night if he does, but when he does fall asleep on his own i usually let him.

here is the funny part...

i now remember him saying that he needed to go to the bathroom, so i told him to go. i have been trying to get him to go by himself and i would normally go check on him to make sure he did it ok, but i forgot. luckily the pee was in the toilet (unflushed) just must have been too tired to pull up his pants! when i saw him i busted up laughing and had to take a picture before i pulled his underwear up.

this kid is probably going to hate me for this one day, but it was just too cute not to post!

I'm almost done....

2008-08-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

This is my 9th post for today. So make sure you scroll down to check them all out!!

I am almost caught up on my posts. I posted several today of our vacation in Utah this summer and still have a couple more to do, but those will have to wait till later.

Chatwin Family Reunion

2008-08-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday July 25th my mother in law reserved an indoor pool in Tooele for all of us to swim. We went out to dinner before at Casa Del Ray (little mexican restaurant in Grantsville) where they reserved the patio for us. It was a little warm but not a big deal for us arizonians.

It was so nice to be able to let the little kids run around and not have to worry about bothering the other customers.

Since this was the only night the Chatwin side was going to be all together (minus uncle scott who is overseas) we decided to take some pictures.

All the Chatwin grandkids.

The original Chatwin family with baby Jillian filling in for her dad (Scott)

The pool is a really nice pool with a high dive and a low dive, waterslide, lazy river, kids play area, a lap area and it even had a basketball hoop at one end of the pool. We had so much fun being able to swim in this big huge pool and have it just be our little family.

Nathan and Caleb
Caleb on the high dive
Owen
Abbey

Livvy and Quincy

Cameron and Nathan
Tyler, Aunt Kim and Haley
Papa and Jake
Uncle Ryan and Luke

Quincy and Caleb

Jaron and Owen
Uncle John and McKaden
Baby Jillian
My sister in law Brandee aka Birthday girl.

Reunion-24th of July

2008-08-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 24th of July with some shooting and a baseball game. My brother Jason is a "cop" so he took us out west in the middle of nowhere to practice some shooting. We were able to use some really cool guns. I have no idea what kind they are or anything like that, but some of them were pretty big. It was a little harder to keep the kids occupied for this activity, cause it was really hot with not much to do. We even tried to put a movie on in our car for the kids to watch...but after about an hour and 45 minutes the battery died in our car. Luckily there were a few of us with jumper cables, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Setting up targets.

Loading the ammo
Peter's first!
Peter and my brother Brent

hanging out

me with Jason helping, and I think that is my brother in law Doug behind me

Janna and her husband Doug

Me and Jake watching
Peter and a little handgun with my Jim and his little boy Carter behind him.
Ashley with Doug
Peter helping Owen with a be be gun.

me shooting

Peter and Brent shooting

That night we went to the Orem Owls baseball game (a really minor league team). It is a nice SMALL stadium compared to the d-backs stadium, there wasn't a bad seat.

The kids enjoyed these huge otter pops ($1.00 each-the only cheap food you can buy) and it really cooled them off and quenched their thirst ( that sounds a little vampire-ish to me).

They had fireworks after the game that were really awesome! (please ignore the top of this stranger's head in the picture-oh and my camera sucks) That was the last event of my family reunion. It was so much fun to be together and have so many things to do together. Hopefully next time my parents will be able to join us!

Reunion-Guitar Hero Night

2008-08-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was a more relaxing day. In the afternoon I took the kids to the airport to go pick up Peter! We hadn't seen him for 12 days! It was so nice to have us join us. That evening everybody went to my brother Jason's house for a light dinner and Guitar Hero. Everyone had lots of fun taking turns and playing together. And there was lots of time for reminiscing about the olden days...

My nephews Josh and Michael

Josh and my sister in law Melissa (Jimmy's wife)
My niece Noelle and my little sister Ashley
Ashley again
My nieces Katy and Jacey

Later that night my brother Jeff, Jim, and Jason had an indoor soccer game (my family pretty much grew up playing soccer) so we went to watch them. I really want to play again...but I better get in shape first!

Reunion-Raging Waters

2008-08-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 22nd was Raging Waters day. My sister Janna got us a screaming deal on tickets (25 dollars for each family) so we spent the day there. We rented 2 Cabanas right next to each other to make sure we had plenty of shade to come to throughout the day. Little did we know that we were going to need it to shelter us from a major rain/thunderstorm. With all the rain it was so much fun! I think we will try and make this a yearly event!

The kids made this as another shelter from the rain.

After we were home and all cleaned up, we went to my brother Jeff's house to hang out. They pulled all of their fun toys for us to use! This is me thinking I am so brave to go on this ramp till I realize that...

this is what I am supposed to look like...
or even this. Maybe next year I'll get brave enough to catch some air!
Abbey-wipe out! My sister in law got a moped for christmas and was nice enough to let us ride it.
When I stopped after my ride, Jake climbed right on so I took him for a ride.

Quincy riding with uncle Doug (Janna's husband)
Abbey's turn with Uncle Doug
My little sister Ashley with her little boy AJ.
Playing on a teeter totter thingy.

After is got dark, Jeff pulled out his firepit so we could roast marshmallows and make s'mores!

Thanks so much to Jeff and Kelly letting us come to their house for an impromptu get together.

Reunion-Root Beer Float Night

2008-08-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 20th was the start of our reunion. We went to my brother Jim's house for root beer floats and just spent the time catching up with each other ( and trying to get a few pictures in as well-had I realized that was going to happen I would of done my hair).

This is a picture of all the Phillippi siblings.

Me, Jim, Jeff, Jason, Ashley

Janna, Dawn, Brent

All the grandkids minus the missionary in Sacramento, California.

vacation pics-hotel!

2008-08-11T14:03:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures from our brief hotel stay in Lehi, Utah. The room was bigger than it looks and the kids hardly ever complained of being bored. They were real troopers.

This is the super yummy roast that my brother Jim and his family made for us. I cannot express enough how grateful I was for that meal. I still am blown away at how thoughtful it was!

vacation pics-discovery gateway

2008-08-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

On July 18th we joined in on my sister in law Diane's Fun Friday. Every friday in the summer, whe takes her kids on some kind of fun outing. We decided to go up to Salt Lake and go to Discovery Gateway. The kids had so much fun playing and exploring with all the fun stuff they had there.

Jake looks so cute in this costume.

Exploring the inside of a helicopter.

For some reason Jake just kept sliding down on his back. It was so cute to watch.

I think this part was my kids favorite part. I think it is called the beehive and all the kdis work together to circulate all these plastic balls. They played in this area for a very long time.

Afterwards we went spent the night at their house. I introduced Diane to Guitar Hero III and I think she became hooked. We stayed up till 1 AM playing. She is a very quick learner cause the next time we stayed at their house she was playing medium and doing awesome!

Wings and Rockband...

2008-08-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

We had some of Peter work buddies over saturday night for wings and rockband. His friend Jaren brought his deep fryer and cooked for us. He fried chicken nuggets and corndogs for the kids and made wings. They like to make super hot wings and see who they can get to cry while eating them. Jaren also brought his Playstation 2 and his rockband game to play.

We had never played that game before and it was so much fun! We all took turns playing the guitar, drums and even singing. I even sang...not very good, but I did it anyway. Let's just say we are all hooked and are hoping one day we can get it for our wii...Santa, you listening?

done!

2008-08-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

finished last night or shall i say, early this morning :) only took me 3 days. really, really liked it!

first day of school!

2008-08-04T12:43:00.001-07:00

Today is the first day of school!

Abbey is starting 3rd grade.
Quincy is starting 4th grade.
Owen is starting Kindergarten.
Owen was a little nervous when we first got there, but we got there a few minutes early so he had time to play on the playground and that helped. When it was time to line up to go inside he was all ready to go.
I'm a little nervous about him being in all day. He seems so young for me to have to make him a lunch and send it with him to school. Hopefully he will get used to the long day and really enjoy school like his sisters. As for me, I am feeling really spoiled right now, only having one child at home with me. So far Jake hasn't asked where is brother and sisters are, let's hope it stays that way.

Our Vacation...the long summary.

2008-07-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

We were in Utah for 2 and a half weeks to make sure we were able to spend enough time with both sides of our families. I drove the kids up on Friday July 11th. Peter was only able to take 4 vacation days, so he flew up on Wednesday, July 23rd and we all drove home on Monday July 28th. We first arrived and stayed in Eagle Mountain, Utah and stayed with my sister in law and family. We actually stayed there the longest for several reasons, new baby, kids play really well together, around the corner from our last house, etc. The first week was supposed to be more relaxing with just hanging out, swimming here and there, and going to grantsville to visit grandparents. The kids had so much fun just being able to play with their cousins.

Now with the throw up... Tuesday morning we went to watch Haley and Livvy at their tennis lessons. While laying on the blankets Abbey told me that she wasn't feeling well. A few minutes later she was throwing up on the grass. When the lesson were over we headed "home" and on the way Abbey threw up again. When we got to Brandee's house I took Abbey upstairs to have her change her clothes. As I was helping her, I noticed Jake's face had all of a sudden gotten really pale and he started whining. I quickly grabbed the first thing I saw (which happened to be my pajama pants) and held them up to him and he started to throw up. Apparently the throw ups were and still are going around in utah. Abbey threw up throughout the day, but Jake never did till later that night. Shortly after Jake threw up again, I was walking back upstairs after I had just cleaned out his bowl and heard Owen getting ready to throw up, so I quickly caught it with the bowl. We got really lucky that all the vomit made it to easily washed items (no carpet). Luckily when my kids get sick, the usually throw up for a couple of hours and then are done with it. So by wednesday morning we had cancelled all our plans for the day and spent the day just relaxing around the house and everyone was feeling better so we were starting to make plans for thursday. Well, thursday morning around 1am, my niece Livvy woke up not feeling good. She ended up throwing up through the morning. Since Quincy hadn't gotten sick yet, we opted to leave for the day and go to my sister's house to deliver thrifty's ice cream and visit for a little while, then go to a park in lehi to catch up with a couple of my cousins. Friday everyone was feeling better and the 2 that hadn't gotten sick yet still felt great, so we decided to join my sister in law Diane and her kids on their "fun friday" For this fun friday we headed up to salt lake to go to Discovery Gateway. The kids had so much fun playing with all the different things they have to do there. After that we went to Diane's house in Lehi and stayed there for the night before heading out to Highland on Saturday to start the Phillippi Family Reunion week. Saturday at about 1:00pm we headed to my sister Janna's house to stay there for 3 nights. On the way (a short 10 minute drive) Quincy told me that she wasn't feeling well. When we got to my sister's house we rushed Quincy straight to the bathroom where shortly after she threw up. With all of my brothers and sisters being in town that week we had things planned everyday with everybody. I knew that if we exposed it to just one of my sister's kids it would soon get spread throughout all the kids and many plans would get ruined. Since we had only been there for a few minutes, I decided to leave and go to a hotel in attempt to not spread this around anymore (at least not to anyone I knew-sorry hotel visitors). We stayed at the Best Western in Lehi for 2 nights to make sure all the germs were gone. The hotel was great, close to the grocery store and gas stations, had free wireless internet (where I thought I was going to catch up on my blog, but that didn't happen) and a free breakfast with really yummy pancakes (lehi roller mills mix). The only problem was the TV didn't have any inputs on the back to hook up our wii. I called Brandee to let her know that there was a chance that Haley might still get sick. Word spread around and my sister in law Diane called and I happened to mention to her that we couldn't hook up our wii and she came right down with her portable 9" TV/VCR combo to hook the wii up to. The next morning my brother Jim called and offered to bring us dinner to the hotel. Jim and my brother Brent (from New Jersey, who I haven't seen in 2 years) came brought us this big spread of Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy, fruit and juice. It was so yummy! I just say enough how touched I was that family members were so willing to help up out and bring us stuff while we were stuck in the hotel. Thanks again, thank you, thank you, thank you! On sunday Quincy was feeling much better and even ate the roast one of her favorite meals and kept it down so we decided to start joining in on the reunion festivities. That was the end of all the vomit. I will not go into detail about the diarrhea, for some reason that is too gross for me to share.

We were in the lobby of the hotel waiting for them to finish cleaning our room and this is what my boys started doing. They have never done this before, at least not that I know of.

For some reason, I am not able to upload pictures. I will post later with pictures....

we're back...

2008-07-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

despite all the vomit, diarrhea, and awful allergies, we had a great time on our vacation. hopefully i will get this blog updated in a couple of days with lots and lots of pictures!

sick kids= crappy vacation!

2008-07-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing we are planning on being here in Utah for a couple of weeks cause I spent all of yesterday with sick kids and today making sure they are really better! 3 out of my 4 kids were throwing up at one time or the other yesterday, which was extra stressful not being at my own house! It also made me cancel some plans I had today that I am hoping to be able to still fit in sometime. But the good news is that they all woke up this morning feeling much better and have kept everything down that they have eaten. Hopefully no one else will get it!

we made it!

2008-07-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd let everybody know...I made it to Utah safe and sound. We left this morning at 6:00am and arrived in Eagle Mountain at 6:15pm (which is really good considering I lost an hour). I drove all by myself with just the kids and Peter will fly up and join us on the 23rd. The kids were really good (kudos whoever thought of putting a TV in the car!) That's all!

Craigslist!

2008-07-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just bought my first craigslist item! I hate running on a treadmill and I can't seem to get my butt out of bed at 6am to run before peter goes to work, so I thought it was time to get a jogger stroller for Jake. I have been looking on craiglist for a couple of months now and this weekend found the perfect stroller, right price and only 8 miles away. This stroller new sells for around $300 and I was able to get one in really good condition for only $40! I am so exited about it, and can't wait for school to start so I can finally get back in shape.

I am hoping to get a good 2 years worth out of it and then put it back on craigslist! Oh, and I'm starting to think of stuff I can get rid of on craigslist now.

This isn't the actual stroller, mine is red...but you get the idea.

my first page

2008-07-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

For about 6 months now I have been wanting to make the switch to digital scrapbooking. Every year for mother's day, I give my mom and my mother in law scrapbook pages of the previous year for their grandkids album. My parents went on a mission in 2003, so I decided to take a break from doing the pages until they came back. After they came back, the announced that a year later they were going on another mission. All of a sudden, I was 5 years behind. This year, I made myself get caught up with my mother-in-law and did regular scrapbooking pages. And now I am going to try and digital scrapbook my mom's pages and have them done for her when she gets home from her mission in december. Yesterday, I decided to sit down and start my first page and this is what I came up with.

It took me forever to do, cause I'm not very creative and I am still learning photoshop. Hopefully the more I do, the faster I can get them done and then I can start working on my own albums! It's not fancy like the examples you see on different scrapbooking websites but I am happy with it. I'm so excited! This is scrapbooking I can actually do with little kids around.

**if you click on the picture, you can see it full size**

an oldie but goodie!

2008-06-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

I used to love watching Gilligan's Island when I was little and now my kids are totally into it! The 2nd season was on sale at walmart for $13.00 dollars, so Abbey used some birthday money to buy it. I got a kick out of telling the the girls exactly how old this show really is-the first episode of season 2 came out 10 years BEFORE their daddy was born!

It is so funny to hear them giggle while watching. They really don't make them like they used to...

new tag...

2008-06-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

I was tagged...and it's a very different tag. With this tag, you are supposed to take pictures of the following things just they way there are right now, no cheating. So I did. Here it goes.

The Toilet

I chose my bathroom cause the kids is a pig sty right now.

The Kitchen Sink

Breakfast dishes plus the dishes that didn't fit in last night's load.

The Fridge

I'm not an organized person.

The Laundry Room

Garage access in here so it has became like a catch all place.

My Favorite Room

Family room-must be everybody's favorite room with how messy it is.

My favorite Shoes

Nice and comfy and they slip right on.

And the kids.

Jacob is addicted to the wii.

Quincy practicing piano and Owen playing with my exercise ball.
Abbey reading.

My Closet

I originally forgot this one-probably cause it's a disaster area in there.

***I tag Janna, Ashley, Shellie (welcome to the blogging world), Jennie and Diane!***

Twilight

2008-06-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

I read a book...3 actually and I NEVER read! I can't believe it but I am now officially on the Twilight bandwagon!

I've heard for over a year now that these books are so good and I thought no way I will ever read a book about vampires. Well, we put a recliner in our bedroom and I sat in it one day and thought that that would be a nice place to read a book, so I decided to read twilight to see what the fuss was about. I am so addicted now and can't believe I am going to have to wait till August for the last book to be released. I absolutely love this series.

Oh, and I can't wait till december for the movie...

GIRL'S NIGHT OUT DECEMBER 12th!!!

Birthday Boys!!

2008-06-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

Today is my both of my boy's birthdays. Jacob was born on Owen's 2nd birthday. I wasn't due till the 29th and was scheduled to be induced on the 27th to try and spread out their birthdays as far as possible (with me getting that baby out as soon as possible-that last month always seems unbearable). I remember thinking that the 23rd was the last day to avoid (June is a busy month with our anniversary etc.) and wasn't worried at all that I would actually go in to labor that early. Well around 4:00 in the morning I woke up with contractions and was like oh crap, not today! I kept hoping they would just go away (that has never happened with me, when I start contractions they don't stop until the job is done). I waited about an hour before I woke up Peter and told him and then I got up wrap all of Owen's presents and frosted his birthday cake. I wanted everything to be ready for Owen's birthday so it wouldn't be forgotten. We took the kids to his brother's house around 6:30 am and headed to the hospital and delivered around 11:30 am. It was so crazy. We ended up having Owen's birthday party in the hospital in the afternoon where he got a additional present, his little brother. They have really turned out to be such good buddies, let's just hope it stays that way...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!!

I wanted the boys to be able to play with their presents today, so we let them open them up last night instead of waiting till Peter got home from work today. They were so excited to get new toys and stayed up late last night playing with them.

Abbey's Baptism

2008-06-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

Abbey was baptized this morning. She did so good and so did Peter. Not only did he have to baptize her, but our ward just happened to be the host ward this month and Peter had to give the talk on the Holy Ghost (cause he is Abbey's Primary teacher) in his cool white jumpsuit! Everything turned out very well.

Walking in to the church.

In the lovely jumpsuits!

Our family afterwards.

We are so proud of you Abbey for the decision you made!

10 years...

2008-06-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Peter and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary! My how the time flies by! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is my very best friend as well!

Abbey's Birthday

2008-06-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Abbey!!

Today Abbey turned 8 years old! For her birthday she really wanted a video camera. So we got her one of those little handheld camcorder that takes videos and still pictures and saves it to a SD card. The memory card we bought for her hasn't come yet, so I took the card out of my camera and am letting her use it. Which means the only pictures I got today were on my phone, so they are not on my computer yet. Anyway...she has had a fun filled day. Her 2 (girl) cousins and grandma and grandpa came into town last night and are staying till after she gets baptized on the 21st. They have been having so much fun already with swimming and later we will be having cake and ice cream. I will have to post some pictures later.

Grandma Sycamore's bakery?

2008-06-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know where the grandma sycamore's bakery is? Last I heard it used to be in Mesa on McKellips but has moved...I just don't know where to. This is the best bread ever and for some reason the grocery stores like to charge 4 dollars a loaf and it never goes on sale! I need to go to the grandma sycamore store and stock up!

new calling...

2008-06-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was released from cub scouts on sunday and was called into Young Women's as the Beehive Advisor!! I have been in Young Women's a couple of times before and have loved it. I am so excited!

p.s. i played a little bit of guitar hero today and got 100% on a song! love that game...just thought i'd share.