Fire in the hole!

Click here to see what we (or Jake) has been up to in Texas!

Lack of....

Lack of free time, lack of boredom, lack of sanity =

Lack of Blogging.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We left for our trip on Wednesday evening. We had a few setbacks (brakes, too much stuff, and loading a trailer).

Thursday we ran errands and spent a night at & with Keli & Sean. (see here) (Kirsten's pink hair will be explained later)

We left Friday morning, (not as early as we hoped) but we were on our way. At midnight we finally ran into a major snowstorm. We had avoided bad weather all day. It then took us 2 hours and a lot of doubt in my mind to get 27 miles to the nearest town.

Saturday we were off again. We were in New Mexico, and about 20 minutes into our "stressful" morning drive (very slick roads) we were the first ones to come up on a rollover. Jake and I stopped and helped the family. Luckily no one was hurt but the highway patrol couldn't get there for two hours. They ended up being from Austin and had been driving all night. Jake helped find a tow truck (the parents didn't speak very good english) and then a couple of them rode with us and the rest got into a van that had been traveling with them. We were off to Austin once again.

Our kids have been used to traveling and didn't say a word. It ended up taking an extra 5 hours and they were great! We dropped the other kids off at a local WalMart and then we finally got to Betsy's at midnight.

The rest goes as follows:

Relax, eat, relax, watch movies, eat, and believe it or not Betsy and I have actually been running (starting on Christmas)! I have a goal of improving greatly on the Moab marathon. (btw Karl, it ended up being less then what Jake told you. : ) yay for travel agencies.)

It's been a great couple of days and we are looking forward to another great week here.

I'll follow up with a Christmas post as soon as I find the pictures.

Merry Christmas to Everyone once again. We love and miss you all!

From the mouth of children

(Yesterday evening @ 9 p.m. Kids are getting ready for bed)

McKay: Mom is tomorrow the first Sunday?
Me: Yes.
McKay: Then we have to go stuff ourselves.

McKay then proceeds to tell Kirsten about fast Sunday.

Kirsten: Are you telling me that I can't have breakfast or lunch anymore on Sundays? That's crazy.

Cat in the Hat

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So Cruz sat in the house all that cold, cold, snowy day."

"...So all he could do was to sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And he acutally liked it, all of the bit."

I think Cruz has watched Cat in the Hat too many times. I turned around from doing the dishes and straightening the kitchen to find him doing this. And he did this for a good 20 minutes.

Buckle breaking....

Katanya decided to live life on the EDGE today. The edge of the couch that is. The third party, the floor won.

Short version: Katanya decided to stand up on the open face end of the couch. I was throwing away her diaper, turned around and told her to sit. I was less than 3 feet away. A split second later, stomach done on the floor with her hand underneath her. She hardly cried. I only knew something was wrong because she wouldn't put weight on it. She wouldn't pick up anything and it was her right hand. Figured out baby-sitting arrangements for when the girls got home and it was off to the ER.

McKay did this same thing to me over six years ago. Although she wasn't with me at the time it happened and I didn't know anything was wrong until a couple days later. I wasn't going to go thru that again. Better safe than sorry.

Why also, is it as a parent you feel like you should protect your kids from these things. My first words to Jake was, I am so sorry. He looked at me and said, "Kids are kids, it could have happened with me." I am constantly following her and reminding her to sit. I have baby-proofed the house for these kinds of things, yet I know it was an accident but I still feel like it's my fault.

Outcome: She has a buckle break right above her wrist. She will have a splint on for a couple days and then we go to the ortho-pediatric (I think that's right) for her cast. As much as Katanya hates doctors, this will be fun (NOT). This is our third ER visit in 8 weeks with her.

Although I realize that after we came home from the four hour ER visit and 5 dollar pizza for dinner now that my night was gone that she still hadn't learned anything. Katanya started climbing again on the couch. I took her off and decided to go downstairs to play. Down there she decided the fun thing to do was to climb on top of the toy storage containers. My next month is going to be crazy following her around. Although as in the picture, she is still happy : )

Kirsten's response to this: Mom, now all the girls except meeeee have broken an arm. (when she said me, it was more of a whine)

And the winner is ....

The past week, McKay had to write about somebody special to her. She chose Axel. I thought part of the ending of her essay was so sweet I wanted to share it. (I am not trying to embarass anybody.)

....I feel pretty good with Axel. He is my favorite uncle. Here is 10 reasons I like him. They are:

1. He brings food to me in bed.
2. He acts like a kid.
3. He likes computer games, just like me!
4. He gets mad when we get him wet.
5. He gives me piggy-back rides.
6. We like to play the same games.
7. He is the youngest in his family.
8. He has the closest age to mine.
9. He is in school, like me
10. He is the best uncle EVER!!!!

Kirsten's favorite song

Cousin Sarah and Kirsten at our "girls" party when Jake was out of town for a week.....

Kirsten Loves this song. She sings it everywhere and is always asking for it.

I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing.

One little, two little....

....three little indians and a cowboy. This year, my annual sewing project was costumes again. It was actually the easiest yet. We modernized the indians a little and toughened up the cowboy. Here are some of the pics. I can't decide which one I like best so please voice your opinion.

Number one

Number two Number threeIt was a fun Halloween....we carried on our tradition. We went to a couple houses that were close friends (3), out to dinner, and then off to toys r us for the toy. The kids loved it. The problem is....out here in the country those three houses gave out handfuls and so they still have quite a bit of candy.

Now here are their lines that I heard the most tonight....

McKay: (half whine) When can we go to Toys R Us?Kirsten: (I have no idea where she got this) Trick or treat, smell my feet, gimme something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear.Cruz: Treat? No trick. Katanya: More? (wanting another smartee or chocolate)The end.

Multiple choice

Jake fell asleep at the dinner table because:

A. Too much hard physical labor

B. Was a perfect example of a perfect husband and got up with the baby.

C. Wore out from running all my errands, being room dad, and making dinner.

D. Staying up way too LATE watching and catching up on all his show off the DVR.

P.S. I really don't think he know I took this.

Copy cat....again

As a copy to Keli's blogt (see links)

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

plus more that I found interesting

Your Daddy Is Johnny Depp

What You Call Him: Old Man Why You Love Him: He knows best

Who's Your Daddy?

also for Jake

You Are Bart Simpson

Very misunderstood, most people just dismiss you as "trouble." Little do they know that you're wise and well accomplished beyond your years. You will be remembered for: starring in your own TV show and saving the town from a comet Your life philosophy: "I don't know why I did it, I don't know why I enjoyed it, and I don't know why I'll do it again!"

The Simpsons Personality Test

another

Your Lucky Love Color is Green

When someone gets to know you, the first thing they notice is your refreshing honesty. You are real and true to who you are. Of all the colors, you are the most comfortable in your own skin. And unlike what your color might suggest, you don't have a jealous bone in your body. Your heart is open, and you give your partner a lot of freedom. Because for you, stifling someone is not love.

What Does Your Lucky Love Color Tell Men?

and i want to see how jake does on this one....i'm not posting my score or the "encouraging" words it gave me. I don't want to intimidate anyone : )

Your IQ Is ???

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

That's it...kids are done with lunch. Enjoy

What doesn't mix?

(I'm tired of looking at snow as my first post so it's time for a new post.)

Back to the story....

Question: What do you get when you mix a new couch....a pen....and a three year old?

Answer: A traced hand right in visible sight.

This is what you get when you help Jake outside.

After googling my problem the solution was perfume on a q-tip. Did it work?

YES

Winter wonderland already?

Jake....This is what you are missing at home right now. He's in Utah for the week and as of the last I had talked to him it had occassionally sprinkled here and there.

I am so not ready for this! It's so depressing. Even worse with the snow it's only 33 degrees outside right now. With winter comes cold weather, freezing weather. Bad roads, wind drifts, and sick kids. It makes me want a vacation to a nice warm beach even more!!!!

PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE THE START OF WINTER!!!!

Since I have blogged this post, it has doubled in snow out there.

Vive la France

Oh la la! Our first picture hung in our "new" house.To me it brings

• comfort

• space

• fun

• happiness.

It makes me want to go to France,

or I guess on any vacation.

We also got shelves hung.....although there is nothing really on them yet.

The simplicity of short....and EASY

This past weekend while we were in Utah us girls had a little 'girl' time. This is what happened....

.... McKay wanted RED highlights.....( my 'blackmail' for cutting her hair. It was really dry and damaged)....

....Cutting....(Kirsten wanted the new petshops, that was her blackmail from dad, he was tired of her whining after every bath and every morning)....

.... her thick, THICK ponytail that was 11 inched long....

....and SMILING faces. No more crying every morning when I do her hair. No more knots. Was it worth the $$$....EVERY PENNY for me!

"Please bless us that we may take what we have learned and use it in our daily lives."

Sunday's combined RS / Priesthood lesson was on the "How hard is it to keep the commandments?" The bishopric spent the entire time just doing a review of Moses' 10.



THOU SHALT NOT KILL! ... well I guess I had better try harder next week.



Tonight at around 6pm Amy was on her way out to run an errand and said that she was taking my new truck because I had hers torn apart. I told her that I would hurry and put hers back together to which she said " OH I SEE ... YOU DON'T WANT TO LET ME DRIVE YOUR NEW TRUCK!"



As I opened the door and walked outside I turned back and said that I just wanted her to see if I had fixed hers. In the course of my turning and talking I had taken a few steps outside ... when I turned forward again I was about 4' from the rear end of an angry SKUNK! She had decided to come nibble on some cat food. I had a heart attack ... I stumbled for the door and barely made it back inside. Amy asked what was wrong as I ran to the safe and was fumbling with the combo. Adrenilin kept me from performing at top speed and the skunk got away ....



BUT ALAS! I know skunks and once they have found a good spot to feed you might as well adopt them. So I figured I would wait a few hours till it came back and then take care of it ... the last thing a guy wants is to walk into that as he is trying to get the groceries and the kids out of the car.



Round two had no results ... so I prepared for round three .... kids in bed, guns ready at the door, shoes on my feet ..... 11:15 pm ....3, 2, 1 ... throw the lights and the door and come out blazing. It was a total "Die Hard" moment. All that I can say is ... ONE SHOT ... of course the fact that it was a shotgun helped.




The only downfall ... my bedroom window was open and the wind was blowing that direction about 30 MPH. So I guess I will be PEPE LE PIEU for the night.

Putting two and two together

Here it goes....Monday morning we woke up at 6a.m. so the kids could go to their dentist appointments on Monday. We get there at 7 in the morning, just to find out that it was on Tuesday at 7 a.m. Luckily they took McKay and fixed all of her "problems". (my kids had awful results on there 6 month checkups....no more candy in my house.)

So Tuesday Kirsten and I wake up at the same time and got there at 7 o'clock again. Just when I put two and two together that today was picture day and today Kirsten would be numbed. Not a good combination. In fact she came home not moving her left side at all. When I asked her if she could smile her answer was "My nose and mouth are still sleeping."

This was Kirsten an hour before Kindergarten.

So we got Kirsten ready for school and curled her hair and now we wait......to see if her mouth was still sleeping.

P.S. There is always retakes.

Honey.....

Whenever I here the word "Honey...." come from Jake's mouth, I know he wants a big favor. This happened at midnight last Thursday night. Jake came upstairs and asked "Honey, can we take a quick trip to Denver to look at this.... and this....
for an upcoming auction / online auction on Tuesday." So Friday afternoon when the kids got home we left and another road trip was on the way. While we were there we stopped and stayed with cousin Sarah for a night. It was really fun to see her and let the kids play. Kirsten made instant friends with Sierra and was excited to have a cousin her age. Yay!McKay was the only one to take pictures of the day we stayed there. She was trying out her "new" (my old) camera.
We also went Downtown Saturday night. This picture is sorta blurry because I had forgotten to turn the flash back on.

Sunday morning we got up and headed home. Our suburban hit 100,000 miles this trip.

P.S. I will let Jake explain the "machinery details if he wishes.

Our third's third

September 10th, Cruz turned 3! It has been a long awaited birthday since his is the last

for the year. It was his first birthday that he looked forward to and actually understood. For the past month, everything he saw at the store he would look at me and say, "My birthday?" Cruz loves Diego and Thomas the Train. He is my sweetheart (I can still say that now, not when he is older, I'm sure) and we love him very much.
P.S. Yes it was cold enough for long sleeves. We have actually had to turn our heater on at nights. It's that cold!

Six years ago (on Sept.8)

Jake and I celebrated our sixth anniversary Saturday. I can't believe it. In six years we have....

- had 3 more kids.

- three baby blessings and one baptism.

- lived in 7 different houses.

- moved four times.

- traveled over 33 states, some numerous times.

- had 8 different vehicles.

- been to the beach 5 times.

But most importantly....

-I have loved him for 2192 days.

On Saturday night, couisn Sarah was in town and watched the kids for us that night. Jake and I finally enjoyed a night out by ourselves after 5 years. We went to dinner and walked around a couple stores and stayed in a really nice themed room hotel in town. We were given the Morroco room since we left it til Friday night to book the room. It was actually one of the nicer ones so it turned out really fun. Later Sunday afternoon we drove an hour up to Mesa Falls with the kids and walked to the lower and upper falls. Jake has said that we have traveled all over the U.S. but when it comes to our home state, we haven't done anything. We're trying.

I like how the view of this picture so I posted it just for fun.

Nate & Betsy also share this special day with us! Happy Anniversary and we love you!

Ammonium Perchlorate Blast

Watch the other video first

This is unbelievable.

I watched this video on tv last night and it was incredible. It happened in 1988 in Henderson NEvada. The shock wave nearly leveled tghe town and caused 77 million dollars in damages to houses and building other than the rocket fuel plant that was obliterated. I guess that problem happened that after the Challenger disaster in 86 they stopped flights but never stopped production of solid rocket fuel .... they started storing it in temporary bins and this happened.

When is too much, too much?

I was playing with the girls one evening with all their petshop collection (that is our "Playmobile" in our house) when I just thought for fun I would count.

I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!!! Kirsten had 130 and McKay had 133. The sad thing is is this picture doesn't show any of their houses or accessories that it comes with like baskets or strollers, etc. Between the two of them they own every " building" that has come out.

I think this is getting to be a bad habbit. I am finding myself getting "addicted" as well. They are just too cute and not expensive at all.

The good thing is, the girls play with them all the time. They are not a toy that sits their in their bin getting old.


Jake and I were trying to figure out how much money they and we have spent on them.....I don't even want to go that far.


Please, someone justify me and tell me I am not the only one.

Numa Numa

Don't listen to this song if you do not want to be singing it ALL the time.

Jake saw it on CNN and looked it up on YouTube. Now I find myself singing it, my kids are constantly singing it and Jake goes around singing it.

I gave you fair warning.

Posh?

What do you think?

STORYLINE:

When I saw Bonny post Victoria Beckham about a month ago, I fell in love with the haircut. I debated for weeks while Jake kept telling me just to get it cut. I finally took the plunge this weekend. I took a picture to my fabulous hair stylist and she copied it perfectly. We added a little brown in and toned down the blonde. It is so EASY to style. I didn't spend more than 5 minutes in the bathroom this morning. Although, the best part is for once in my life Jake absolutely LOVES my hair. He has told me this about 50 times in the last 48 hours. His exact words this evening were, "This is your best haircut ever. Will you keep it like this? At least for a year?" YAY!!!!

The back view.

A long wait.

Our new couch! We love IKEA!

(P.S. We had just gotten home from Utah and I had to go help Jake haul. Then we came back and set the couch up. Hence the reason the kitchen is very messy! It is now clean thanks to a loving husband.)

Suspense

We are in Utah today and we are finally picking up our new couch. It only took us a year to finally buy it but I am so excited. Also, I CHOPPED my hair. As Kirsten said running up the stairs....Come look at my mom's hair. It's funky!

Just when you are ready to lose it and threaten to take all the toys away because of all the teasing and arguing and anything else you can imagine you find this when you go downstairs to check on them before heading off to bed. One had crawled in with the other. They look like the perfect sisters and that they could never do anything bed....Ever.

Sometimes....

I feel like this says it all.

Kirsten turned five

Yesterday was a crazy and fun birthday. Kirsten wanted to go shopping and spend her gift cards and buy her a new dress. This took almost all afternoon as you can imagine and we didn't find the dress until today. Then we came home and she opened her presents when Jake got home from work. She loves PetShops (if you can't tell). That night we went to a place we discovered call Blast Off. It's actually really clean and not crowded whatsoever. They go every 2 hours and wipe down all the slides and tubes (impressed me). It looks sorta like a dump on the outside but really clean on the inside. I guess that is what counts. Here are some pictures of Kirsten's special day: (Jake will say something tomorrow morning when he notices that this will be a long post. I hadn't blogged for awhile and I am so far behind...can you be behind in blogging?)

Katanya and Kirsten below....

Jake was above. Parents were allowed to go in and play with their kids for free.

Blowing out her birthday cake. I like the fact that she has some extra help in the background.

Happy Birthday!

Kirsten turned five today! She starts kindergarten on Wednesday but has the attitude of a teenager! She is my very opinionated sweetheart and we are glad she is in our family We love you Kirsten!

(This picture was taken when she was one year old on a camping trip with the fam. I think Katanya looks just like her.)

Who LIKES????

Our last trip to Utah a couple weeks ago featured a couple trips to IKEA. I originally went to use my gift card but we got carried away. Then I forgot to even use it. Looks like another trip will be in the making. Here is what we did.... Jake LIKED....I wasn't sure but when I saw it I loved it. The yellow goes great with the red. (Yes Jake has an eye....sometimes :P) Sometimes you just need a new duvet cover and your whole room is new again.
Cruz LIKED. Once again I wasn't sure, but it matches and it looks pretty cool with the planets on the ceiling. His favorite color is green and he picked it out all by himself. His other duvet was denim on both sides and just too hot.
THE ROOSTER....I LIKED and fortuneately so does Cruz!