What is a girl to do?

What is the average life of a pair of nylons for you guys? Mine used to last quite a while, but the last year or so I have only been able to wear them once or twice before they are looking thrashed.

The real problem is little shoes that snag and rip the material while little people climb all over my lap throughout Sacrament Meeting.

I bought three pairs of nylons at the beginning of the month and every single one has either a run or a hole and most of the time both. Are there any indestructable nylons out there that are actually affordable? If not I may have to start wearing tights indefinitly because bare legs aren't cute in the winter (for me at least).

It's that time of year again!

MEME

I've been hit by Ms. Kristen.....so here it goes!

ABC Tag, Watch out you might be next!!

A- Attached or Single? Happily Attached

B- Best Friend? Jer, and too many names to list, I take the forever in BFF quite literally.

C- Cake or Pie? Coconut cream pie is a serious weakness.

D- Day of Choice? Fridays

E- Essential Item? clothing

F- Favorite color? RED

G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms

H- Hometown? Edgewood, NM (slightly east of ABQ for the rest of you)

I- Favorite Indulgence- Full body massages

J- January or July? July hands down.

K- Kids? Two for now

L- Life isn't complete without? crazy kids and an understanding husband to rescue me.

M- Marriage Date? May 19, 2000

N- Number of Brothers and Sisters? 1 bro and 7 sisters

O- Oranges or apples? oranges (especially when they are Julius'd)

P- Phobias or fears? driving off a bridge or being a widow for 20 years after Jer has croaked

Q- Quote? “The secret to having it all is believing that you already do."

R- Reason to smile? Our home is filled with love and laughter.

S- Season of choice? Fall

T- Tag three friends or family. I'm going to continue with a theme. I was tagged by Ms. Kristen so in turn I will tag Kristen, Kristen, and Kristen (they are all different, I promise)

U- Unknown fact about me? My BFF April and I "borrowed" the family station wagon when we were 14 and she accidentally drove it into the side of her house. Luckily we found a bucket of pre-mixed stucco and patched it up nicely, or so we thought.

V- Vegetable? Summer Squash

W- Worst habit? Never saying no... and procrastinating like none other. These two do NOT go hand in hand.

X- X-ray or ultrasound? I've never had and x-ray so lets say ultrasound!

Z- Zodiac sign? Gemini

Randomly Random

* I got a new calling in the ward. Primary Pianist. This will be my 3rd time performing this calling during my married life and I'm excited to do it again (especially because I <3 the chorister).

* Jeremy and I did the Cable Bridge Run last Saturday. It was fun despite the facts: my time stunk, and Jeremy beat me. I immediately called Jessica in the car on the way home to inform her I need her as my pace setter in future races.

* I got a serious set of new pots and pans from Santa. The previous set were the $40 set from Wal*mart that we purchased with some leftover wedding money... it was time to upgrade.

* My tree is still up. A few other people have said their is already down. Does anyone keep theirs up till New Year's, or is that just a crazy tradition my family had???

Question

If you were dropping your child off for me to watch (this is all hypothetical, of course) and upon handing me the baby I politely say to you "I think he might be stinky."

Would you:

a) change the obviously neglected and seriously potent diaper

or

b) in one breath say, "Oh he must have done that on the way over here. I have to run and go get in the shower."

I'm just wondering...

Google Reader

For those of you who have asked, I don't think google reader will update you to new posts on my family blog since it is private... so you'll just have to check there periodically. Unless there is someone who knows something I don't- and if so, PLEASE share!

The Great Escape

Holiday Photos

The Holiday Tradition continues, complete with homemade dresses and vests.

Feliz Mommy Dog

Kaden has been asking me to post his favorite Christmas song on the blog. If you get a chance to come over and hear him sing along with this you won't be disappointed. Feliz Navidad!

Tis the Season for Stuffing

Last Sunday we had our church meetings beinging at 11 am. Truly a miraculous event for our family. However, I found myself with a load of extra time that afternoon that I wasn't sure what to do with. So, I began baking.

I made one of our family's favorite desserts and since it makes an 12x18 pan, I decided to invite a few friends over to enjoy it. Well, only one family could make it. But between us 4 adults and 3 kids half of the pan was consumed that evening- and I'm not exaggerating. The other half didn't make it much further. I think it was devoured by Tuesday afternoon...

So I thought I would share one of the many seasonal treats we enjoy in our home with you!

Pumpkin Dessert

1 can pumpkin (or 3 cups fresh)

1 can evaporated milk

3 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 yellow cake mix

1 cup melted butter

chopped nuts (I use pecans or walnuts)

Mix together first six ingredients. Pour into a greased 12x18 pan. Sprinkle yellow cake mix on top and pour melted butter over. Top with chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for 35 mins. If you don't have a 12x18 pan this can be made in a 9x13 with the baking time increased to about an hour.

Top this with freshly whipped cream and you will be in heaven, guaranteed!

Trimming the Tree

Seriously, does it get any cuter? She was totally playing the French Horn!

WANTED: Some Creative Juices

My creative juices aren't flowing so well, but my friends seem to have no problem in that department. Here you will find a SHAMELESS (those are her words, not mine) yet GUT-BUSTING post that will reveal to you one of the many reasons I'm proud to call her a bloggin buddy.

And now on to "Vern's" blog...

Christmas Miracles

If you haven't heard the wonderful news ...

The New Face of Desperate

Have you ever gone back to the movie store in your pajama's and slippers to exchange a movie because you didn't bother looking to see what it was rated? That was me Saturday night. After watching about 15 minutes of the movie Jeremy turned to me and said "What is this rated?"

Totally mortified I said I didn't check, so I had no idea. I just remember we both said it looked like a good movie when we saw the trailer in the theater.

So I headed out the door with receipt in hand. Needless to say, the people looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if I could exchange the movie because I didn't bother looking at the rating before I rented it. Especially since that is "not their policy." Ok, yeah, whatever can I just return this movie I rented 3 hours before because I promise I didn't watch it.

And normally I wouldn't have even done that since we get all our movies free with our online subscription, but this one I ACTUALLY had to pay for... so there was no way I was losing my 5 bucks.

SO, here's forewarning. Check the ratings.... otherwise you'll look like a crazy PJ wearing housewife with nothing better to do on Saturday nights than try to get a two-fer-one on the movie renting.

Christmas Tree Hunt

This year was a family first. We decided to cut our own tree. We found a place just north of Pasco that lets you do this. It was a lot harder finding a good tree than I think we all anticipated. In the end Kaden chose which tree we should bring home and I think he did a great job.

We had to go later in the evening and it was really dark, but Kaden and Brynnlee both loved shining their flashlights all around. When it was all said and done I asked Kaden if he had fun. He said, "Yeah, but next year let's just go to Fred Meyer."

"I think we should get this one."

Jeremy with the saw.

Little helpers make the job more fun.

Two trees CAN fit up there.

Baby, Oh Baby

If you want to read what I have dubbed as

THE FUNNIEST BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE PLANET

click here.

I'm so glad I know these people in real life- because it doesn't get any better than this. I wonder if Jared will consider writing my Christmas Letter for me this year. It would be so much more entertaining than what I'm gonna slap on paper.

Glimmering Moment

Last night as I was driving one of the YW home we were talking about the very different dynamics of our new ward opposed to our old ward. For a 15 almost 16-year old she had some serious depth in her observations and thoughts. I listened and was so amazed at how she has grown up in the last few years since was one of "my beehives". I complimented her on her maturity and the strength of her ever growing testimony. And you know what she said??

"It's because I had great leaders, starting with you."

These are the moments when you look back and say that all the time, effort, planning, running around, organizing and in general being crazy while in Young Women's is worth it. Those tender mercies are what give me the strength and determination to keep going even when I think I have nothing left to give. Maybe I'll tell the Bishop to sign me up for another 4 years... maybe.

Christmas Cheer

I still need to write our Christmas Letter.... I'm considering using this one and just changing the names. It pretty much parallels our life, don't you think?

Dear Friend,

It is that time of year again to share with you our adventures in this journey we call life. 2007 has been another year of magic and wonder...

Lori almost 3, is quite a talker. She continues to amaze the professors at the University with her intuition in foreign languages. It was fun for her to serve as Official Translator for Warren Christopher at the Bosnian-Serbian Peace Talks. She intends to spend this Holiday transcribing War and Peace into Arabic and Cantonese.

Chris, now 5, is growing in leaps and bounds. When he got his first set of building blocks he seemed quite interested in large buildings. This year he designed his first skyscraper and ground was broken in Hong Kong for the new "Little Man" Towers. It is great to have a budding architect at home as he made a new addition to the house and a wonderful gazebo for our garden. Martha Stewart will be filming her next show here in April.

Betsy had a very busy year. In between her work as President of the American Cancer Society and Senior Partner of Goldman Sachs, she introduced a line of children's novels and hand made active-wear. She remains occupied with the children and has introduced them to Yoga and power walking this year. We are particularly proud of Mom as a starting forward representing the United States in the World Cup.

Dave was immersed with his Graduate School studies, and managed to co-author a paper on Multidimensional Customer Attribute Analysis by Conjoint Survey and accept a Nobel Prize for his discoveries in Quantum Physics. Along the way Dave took three startups through their IPO. We are proud of his work serving on the Board of Directors of IBM, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney.

Dad was also active with the kids teaching Lauren Ballet and helping to lower Chris' handicap to 5. We were able to squeeze a little traveling in this year. We started in Aspen, went to Belarus, the Congo, Denmark, Ethiopia, the Falklands, Greenland, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela, and Zaire. Our trip sailing our new boat around the world was a great experience for the kids, we learned to communicate with Dolphins and discovered a new region of deep water volcanoes.

And Sergeant, our German shepherd, learned to speak. Latin. Other than that, it was a very quiet year. So from our household to yours, all the Blessings of the Season and may your New Year be prosperous. We found out yesterday that we won the $150 Million Powerball Lottery.

The Wannabes,
Betsy, Dave, Chris & Lori

Excitement is in the Air

I'm so excited that Lins' new bundle of joy most likely will be sporting PINK! I so can't wait to get to the hospital and see her "chubber cheeks".

Snow Day

Making History...

Our Bishop mentioned quite a few times yesterday that we were "making history".... ya know because its a brand spankin' new ward. I get it, and I think it's cool. There were lots of firsts yesterday.

However, I wish I didn't have make history by being "the first mother to haul her screaming child out of the otherwise reverent 1st EVER 9th Ward Sacrament meeting."

Not So Familiar

I thought that I wouldn't totally feel akward going to church, because I knew most of 3rd ward already.

WRONG.

I think there were 4 families from 3rd that looked familiar... and since our ward is like 1/4 old 6th and 3/4 old 3rd it was a really weird place to be yesterday.

But, I'm excited. I was invited to ward council yesterday and I was so impressed with our new bishop, actually everyone. I can't wait to get the ball rolling in our new ward.

In other news, I have been officially replaced in my 6th ward calling... which is sort of weird cuz I'm still doing it in our new ward. I was so sad when I heard the news. I really am replaceable. :)

Puter Boken

In case you don't have a two year old to translate..... our computer is at Best Buy awaiting some technical love. Who knows when it will be back or when I'll get to post again (I'm currently posting on Jer's work computer...)

So, if you feel like you are missing me.... my phone still works, as does my front door.

PS we are in 9th ward, and love that our bishopric is all comprised of 30- somethings, well technically the whole ward probably.

I'm excited to get back with the OLD 6th warders.. should be fun, right?

Caution: Sharp Curves Ahead

So we were out of town when they made the big announcement on Sunday. Our ward being split came as no surprise, we've all been anticipating it for a while.

I've been taking it all in stride but last night at mutual, when I actually had a minute to let it sink in, it started to become real. It was combined last night and we were collecting and organizing all the Salvation Army food boxes. The Bishop asked the youth if they had any questions about what was happening so that started a great discussion. He ended by bearing his testimony and asking the YW and YM Presidents to do that as well. It was such a great way to spend the last mutual with our Youth all together.

We have been knowing this had to be in the works for a long time and now it is finally happening. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited to maybe have a manageable size ward, but I really will miss all the people and fun. I've been in YW for 4 years now. It's kind of a part of who I am. I know a lot of you might think 4 years isn't really that long to be in a calling, but when that has encompassed 4/7ths of you entire married life, trust me it seems like a long time. I will miss all the YW and the leaders that I have been able to learn from and have fun with. Seriously its such a hard, demanding, time consuming, draining calling, but at the same time I will partly be lost without it. But I shouldn't get too nostalgic because there is a 50/50 chance I will not be in the new ward, and therefore will not be released from my calling.

But what I am guaranteed is that no matter how the boundaries end up I will not be in the same ward with a lot of people who I will miss. I know, I should be used to this. This is the 3rd split Jeremy and I have been through in the last 5 years. Change is good, but it is also hard. My fall back though is that I do have blogging to keep me connected to my soon-to-be-split friends and my soon-to-be-banished-to-the-Stake-Center-friends.

Blogging solves all the worlds problems, doesn't it?

Turkey Bowl XXII

For the last 22 years our family (my dad and his brothers) has played the Annual Turkey Bowl in my grandma's front yard in Lehi, Ut. If you drive down 1200 East any Thanksgiving morning and you will see us out there- guaranteed. Uncle John has even been known to have a flag ceremony with the National Anthem playing on occasion. He thoughtfully retired that tradition a few years ago, along with his Lehi High Mid-drift Football Jersey.

But the game lives on! Who knows how many more years it will continue, but I dare say my dad and Uncles will be out there when they are in their 80's even if it means having to maneuver their electric wheel chairs onto the field.

Jeremy and I on the left looking very competitive.

Turkey Bowl: The next generation!

Let it be known Kaden even score a touchdown this year!!

See, I told you we are hardcore- we even make T-shirts.

A non-enthusiastic fan. But she's so cute!!

I Made the Cut

On the family blog I posted some pictures of our Utah trip (if you haven't swung by there in a while you might want to check it out).

Tiffani, being the detail queen, noticed that I had chopped my hair.

So in case you don't see me regularly I'll give you a little preview. You can't really get the full perspective in this picture... but ya know.

Brynners also got her first hair cut over the holiday- a sweet little A-line stack, but I forgot my camera and my sister let me borrow hers. However, she can't find the USB cable for the camera so those pictures may never be recovered.... we'll see. BUT trust me- she looks fabulous.

Insert Foot, Again

Remember last August when I blogged about how I wasn't making another trip to Utah this year??

Remember???

And then not even TWO days later my sister called to tell me she and her husband were going to be sealed in temple in the fall. So of course, I recall my words to travel to Utah once again for my lovely sister.

As were were making the drive to The Beehive State last week I was really enjoying the thought that I wouldn't have to make this gas-guzzling trip for quite a while. I would actually get a break since we were planning a trip to Canada next summer. We probably wouldn't be back to Utah until.... maybe next Thansgiving.

WOW!!

I wonder if it could be true??

Of course not! Why else would I write this blog?

Thansgiving morning my OTHER little sister announced she would be getting married....

****dun da da dun****

JANUARY 8th.

That's right... in less than six weeks I'll be making that drive that I love OH SO MUCH once again. Which will put me at 5 trips to Utah in 7 months.

So Santa, feel free to stuff my stocking full of gas gift cards, or if Rudolph is out for loan we'll take that option too.

Mr. Bean's Museum

Here are some photos of our trip to the Bean Museum at BYU. A first time for everyone in our family, if you are in Provo you may want to check this out (if you haven't already). For some reason Kaden was scared to death to take pictures with the animals... I'm blaming it on Jeremy who insisted on making noises and jumping at Kaden through every turn. And of course, we had to make the trek across the parking lot to The Creamery. Who can resist that wonderful BYU ice cream??

You Know The Grocery Store Is Calling...

when you are forced to feed your family chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, only because there aren't enough ingredients to make anything else. Thanksgiving was great, but I guess it's time to get over the non-exsistance leftovers and fill my fridge.

Hmmm...

So I was really awesome about posting over the Thanksgiving holiday. But, I did manage to change up the template a little, and I'm feeling good about getting that accomplished. I'm still alive and trying to blog. I have some great "trip blogs" so just hang out a little longer and I will return shortly!

Same Blog, New Stuff

So, I moved my old blog to a private blog and will keep posting pics and stuff of the family there...

This blog will be open to whomever (is that right all you grammer pros) but I can't guarantee the frequency of posting. I'm leaving for our Thanksgiving trip either in 4 hours, or tomorrow... I guess it all depends on how fast I can get through the blogs I have missed the last few days. I promise, I'll post on vacation and get this blog out of its very sterile condition.

I'll put those who emailed me on my "list" to read the family blog. If you want to subscribe there just let me know, and I'll need your login email address for blogger.

Spirit Week

A while back we planned to have a Spirit Week where we focused on one of the Young Women value's each day. So each of us as leaders were assigned a value and to create a packet for that value for the girls to open on our day.


Inside the packet could be whatever you wanted, talks, quotes, cd compilations, letters, it didn't matter. The only requirement was to create something that the girls could have or wear, corresponding with your value color, so when they saw each other at school they would be able to feel connected and remember that they weren't alone in trying to Stand for Truth and Righteousness.


I was given Good Works. I had created the packet, but was having a hard time deciding what to do for the Yellow "something". I thought about it forever, and was stumped and ready to head to Wal*Mart to procure myself some smiley face stickers. That is until Marilyn posted once again about Etsy.

I immediately got on there I was thrilled to find everything I needed to create something fabulous, and without dropping a ton of cash. Thanks again Marilyn for answering all my questions and walking me through the world of Etsy.

Here's what I created, and I like it. I told the girls (in my letter to them) that I hoped wearing this ring would remind them to keep their hands in the Service of God.







Anyway, to kick off Spirit Week we had a Pep Rally in the gym for Mutual on Wednesday. The leaders all dressed in our color and created a game to go with our Value. It was so great! The girls opened their first packet yesterday and will open the final packet on Wednesday and then we have Young Women in Excellence that night. This afternoon my class is meeting at my house to go decorate another girls room for her birthday. I'm excited to pick their brains on what they think of Spirit Week so far. I'm already in love with it.

Get me out of this twister, on the double!

Remember in the wizard of Oz when Dorothy is in the house and sees the Wicked Witch flying around in the "twister"? That's me! No, not Dorothy. The witch. (That was established long ago.) Life is so completely chaotic and jam packed that when I see someone it's only long enought to cackle and wave and then I'm gone, thrown back into the whirlwind.

Let me give you an example. Yesterday Karen stopped by and I don't think we had 4 minutes of conversation without interruption. Kids, phone, people going into labor, visiting teaching, coordinating Birthday surprises, figuring out YW stuff. The list is endless. The madness has to end at some point. It does, right??

Or not.

I keep thinking, "Okay. Once this is over it will calm down."

There is no end in sight... But just to be safe I'm holding out until after the Holidays until I officially give up.

My "6"

More random facts. Because I guess you people just can't get enough of me!!

1. I only had two career choices growing up. I either wanted to be a Neo-natal nurse, or a child psychologist. You see how well those two panned out.

2. In high school I had my life all planned out- go to college, go on a mission, finish my dental hygeine program, travel Europe, and THEN finally meet my dentist husband and get married. All before I was 24- I had determination.

3. I drove a pink Ford Aspire in high school. If this wasn't bad enough- my junior year of HS we moved to Santa Ynez California where everyone but me and a few other ghetto kids were the only ones not getting BMW's, and Mercedes for our 16th birthdays. Serious character building experience.

4. I used to hate when people would not put carts back in the "corral"- and then I had kids and became one of those people.

5. I save tons of coupons. My wallet is chuck full, and I hardly ever use any of them.... but I can't let them go unclipped, because I might (just might) need them!!

6. I the first and only time I have been to a drive in was after Jeremy and I were married. We went to the drive-in because Jeremy was shocked I hadn't been before. We got the full experience since our battery died and we had to get a jump start at 1 am. Good times.

I'm tagging: JustRandi, Rules for a Reason Kristen, Kristen S., Eliza, Jackie, Michele, Kristi

Halloween 2007

Halloween was fun! The collage consists of pumpkin bowling, eyeball eating, Shayla and me holding down the fort at the trunk or treat, and Brynners lovin all the loot! Good times for all!


Happy Snacking for the next month, or two!

Apparently, I have an award winning personality!!

"Presented to awesome blog owners who keep their readers excited about their posts. Their blog posts are interesting and worth reading and keep their readers looking forward to each and every post."

I'm very confident that this award does NOT describe my blog at all, but HECK I'm not one to turn down, well, almost anything. So thanks again Randi! I"ll cherish it forevah!

I'll pass this honor along to.....

PRP

She was a pioneer in the blogging world here in P-town.

Enjoy your success Kiz-jo.

And this is why traditions are important

I was laughing so hard! Find out why.

Follow me for the recipe.

THE FHE

We love traditions in our family. So we have gotten together with the same people and carved pumpkins and ate homemade doughnuts for the last 4 years.

This year it was going to be kind of our last since every last one of our "friends" have jumped ship and swam over to the next ward. Anyway, since everyone in my household, except for me, is on antibiotics we had to call it off. All in all our annual carve off was a little quiet this year, but the doughnuts were still good (just ask our neighbors).

WE MISSED YOU!

Leaving her unsupervised... could prove to be a big mistake.

Kaden put "bling" on his Jack o Lantern's teeth.

Bandwagons and such

Thanks to Marilyn and her knowledge about Etsy, I took the plunge and made my first purchase this weekend.... (actually it was two) eeeek. Thanks again Marilyn- I'm totally hooked and can't believe it took this long for me to jump on that bandwagon! I'm working on a project and will post a picture if it doesn't look so junky that I'm embarrased to claim it.

Uhhh... and by the way HALLOWEEN is in two days!! I still have some pirate pants to stitch!!!

Burning Question

So if you were putting together a gift basket for a giveaway at The Women's Expo what would you put into it??

Addictions and Confessions

74%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I got this from Stephanette, so let's see how you rate!!

Par for the course

So, yesterday was just a crummy day. A terrible-horrible-no-good-very bad day. I'm sure you have all had those, right??

Well, what makes it better than a friendly face showing up at your door to bring you a problem solving Carmel Apple Cider??

Nothing. It was awesome!!

That is, until Kaden asked if he could have a sip and then proceeded to place the cup back on the counter, only he missed by a few inches.

That's right.

My lovely trouble-drowning beverage splashed all over the floor after one measley sip.

Back to square one.

Sew Cute!

I couldn't resist the cliche line. So this is what I spent most of my Saturday doing- those "flounce" sleeves were no easy task. It will be so adorable paired with the hat and broomstick I got at Target. Now if only I could find the striped tights I have been searching for...

If Kaden turns out half as cool as Nick, we'll consider our parenting a success!!

What Do You Think?

Have you heard of SB777?

I have been really mulling it over in my mind since I heard about it on Monday night. Mejojac blogged about her concerns on Tuesday and that made me think even more because: "OK. There are people out there who are actually going to have to deal with this, soon." I read the actual document where they change the law, and it made me so sad and shocked .

And then I was talking to Jessica about it this morning as we ran (she hadn't heard about it). And it made me realize that our not-so-conservative Washington State could be following in those Californian footsteps in the not too distant future.

I wonder if lawmakers have thought about the situation this put parents into. There is no way I would feel comfortable sending my child to a school where is this in force, which makes me glad that I have so many friends who are teachers (one of you will establish a charter school for the TC, right???).

Anyway, I'm not one of those moms who gets totally freaked out by a lot of things but this really made me stop and think. It makes me realize how important it is to take every opportunity to teach our children. Once a week church, and FHE are essential- but hopefully I'm teaching Kaden and Brynnlee all day everyday by my actions and the way I live my life.

The Moral of the Story is...

Brooke brings up a great point- canning does have some drawbacks. It is not all fun and games.

I still am fighting the battle with fruit flies, (but I think I may finally have the upper-hand) It gets hot, and its a TON of work. And sometimes you get random surprises, like the jar of pickles Jeremy and I discover at his mom's house- they were a little dated. They were from way back in '85- the year I began kindergarten people! Whoa. Therefore, be diligent in rotating.

But even if you are good at rotating accidents can still happen. Just yesterday I was rotating the 06 juice to the front and the 07 to the back a lid "flipped" off. "Weird." I thought. As I was carefully bringing jar to the front I was hoping it hadn't been unsealed too long. Not much luck. It apparently had been fermenting a while since it had a generous amount of white mold growing on the top of what looked like purple refrigerated gravy that has turned into a solid mass. The smell was fantastic!!

So, beware- every silver lining is ALWAYS around a dark cloud.

A Weekend to Upstage All Weekends, or at least get mentioned on the blog.

There is something so amazing about picking grapes. If you haven't tried it, call me. I'm going again later this week. I don't know. I guess it brings back memories of that movie "A Walk in the Clouds". I think it is so fun... but then again I only do it for like an hour.

After the fun part of picking grapes came the less interesting part of juicing them. Although juicing grapes is by far the easiest canning, hands down.

Since I was detained in the juice factory Saturday I sent Jeremy to Costco for some clams and 1/2 & 1/2. Guess what our plans for Sunday dinner were (clam chowder). They had their Adidas running pants for a cheap- $19.99. Jeremy surprised me by bringing home a pair for me... Love it. He was probably sick of me borrowing his running pants the last few mornings.

It was a long day. Picking grapes and hanging around the kitchen the rest of Saturday AFTER those darn early morning piano lessons and getting a mere 3 hours of sleep the night before, Jeremy thoughtfully sent me to Kohl's Saturday night. All. By. Myself. It was so nice, and weird. But I got a super adorable sweater, and I'm glad that I have great friends that complimented me on it, because I did have someone ask me on Sunday when I was due. I hate when that happens!

About that 3 hours of sleep. The rouge Relief Society party was so fun! Despite all the crazy karaoke in the background I still managed to have some great conversations and catch up with people I never see, even though we are in the same ward and live 3 minutes away. I guess that's how it goes when your ward is permantly stuck with 600 (+or-) members.

As I meandered out of Nichol's house shortly before 2 am the other Nicole and I had real intentions of going home. BUT you know how it goes when you get into a really great, deep conversation. Needless to say I arrived home about 3:30, and didn't get to bed till almost 4.

But the lack of sleep was totally worth the great conversation! That was my weekend in a nutshell. Like you care, but hey I may publish this as my family history and I wouldn't want to spare my posterity the amazing details of my life!!

Pink Projects

Recently our good friend Rochelle has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. This has been a huge shock to our family, to say the least. However, when you see Rochelle's faith and trust in our Heavenly Father's plan for her you can't help but be filled with hope and faith as well. Her determination and positive outlook are amazing!


Danielle emailed me this and I thought I would post it here, just in case any of you haven't gotten it:



There are some fundraising activities for the Bassett in the works. I wanted to give everyone a heads up and see if there some other ideas out there.

1. Coming up on Tuesday, October 23rd from 4-9pm is a Ralle't Design Show. It is the new fall and winter jewelry collection with wholesale pricing. There is 25% off the retail price and 25% donated to the Rochelle Bassett Cancer Fund. There will also be a donation box for thoe who would like to donate straight to the fund. It will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn (701 N. Young St, Kennewick - Off Grandridge, behind Sports Authority). You can visit the website at http://www.ralletjewelry.com/

2. There is plans to have a yard sale....looking at the 1st weekend in December. So for those wanting to go through and get rid of some stuff before Christmas, here's a perfect excuse to get going. More information to come.

3. There is also talk about a scrapbooking night..details to come.

4. Thinking of having a fun run/walk. I have contacted Richland Park n Rec and planning to talk some of the local high school cross country coaches (heads up Giana) and the Three Rivers Road Runners. There are so many people who love to pay to run....... I will try to have some more details about this by the end of the week.


There is also the Rochelle Bassett Cancer Fund account set up at Bank of America if people are wanting to help in another way. You do not need an account number just the name.

Obsessed??

Do you think you have a problem if you start dreaming about The Office? And more importantly, if you start dreaming that YOU are in The Office?

It was a pretty funny episode last night... and the one NBC showed wasn't half bad either.

Me and my VIG Status

Very Important Guest. Yep, that's me.



Last night Jeremy and I loaded the kids up to enjoy our high ranking status in the retail world. Since Jer's brother works for Target, we got invited to friends and family opening of the W. Richland Target.



Which means not only were we lucky enough to shop the store 16 hours earlier than most "regular" customers we sampled Starbucks Smoothies, ate petit fours, got rocking Pharmacy Gift Bags, and even a $10 gift card. Eat your heart out Oscar Hosts, we may not have Prada in our gift bags- but we got a whole lotta Pepsid, Tums, razors, contact solution, and Burts Bees Lipgloss.



Oh yeah, how cool was it to be me last night??

Bad Blogger, Good Person

I feel like I have been the worst at blogging lately. It's not that I'm "over it", believe me I love it. However; I feel like I don't even have a minute to sit and write out a rational thought, much less an entertaining, or uplifting, or at least non-mind mushing blog.

Is it just me?? I read all your blogs and am greatful no one else seems to be lacking in the thinking department- it is my one reprieve. Some read the newspaper, I read the news of the people I love and enjoy.

By the way, I loved conference. I always have, always will. I can't pinpoint a favorite talk- It's just the same for me with scriptures and hymns. (In Relief Society were are supposed to fill out a Q&A about ourselves and mine is filled except for those parts, so I haven't turned it in yet. It's not like I hate hymns or don't read the scriptures. I just can't choose one as "MY FAVORITE" because I feel like its evolving all the time. Some things are more meaningful during certain times of my life than others.) Anyway, back to the original thought I was following.... All the talks had something that was especially for me, and I can't wait to read them next month.

In other news I have gone back to running, and as much as I hate the early morning rising and the cold I love the time I spend with Jessica. I will admit to anyone that I am socially motivated by many things, and running is at the top of the list. Now that we have scaled back to a few days a week and short leisurly runs it has been more enjoyable, less pressure. I'm sure this isn't flowing real well, but I did start out with a disclaimer.

I also canned 67 pints of spaghetti sauce with Jessica this weekend. We started Friday morning and finished about 8pm Saturday night. Unfortunately when I opened a jar for dinner on Sunday it wasn't the glorious experience I had been dreaming of. Don't get me wrong it was ok, but a little disappointing for two days of hard labor... you can't win 'em all.

This week is crazy and as Jeremy kept watching me add stuff to the calendar yesterday he said "Good thing you have the Relief Society Retreat."

Yes, it is a good thing.

Ok. Enough. The End.

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2007

Go Here

to see why I can't bring myself to go to the balloon stuff here in WA. Can you spot the WWJC balloon?? Nothing but sweetness in NM...

And when you are finished with that go here to see my

legacy continued...

Death Notice

It's official. I'm dying and you are all cordially invited to my funeral. It's been going on for over a week and I can't ignore the fact anymore. I just can't.

Everyday Kaden grabs my face and tells me he doesn't want me to die, or go away. It breaks my heart everyday- and so I ask him, EVERYDAY, why he thinks I'm dying.

"Because you are old. You have a line in your forehead, when you do this." (then he scrunches up his nose).

Thank you. More presents, please.

When you are four, Birthday's are a big deal- and that's what makes it so fun!

Kaden's big day consisted of a birthday lunch with dad, at his new favorite- "Eatza Pizza". Kaden opted to take Brynnlee with him, even though Jeremy told him he didn't have to. (I think Jeremy's motives were a little selfish since the first thing he said when he walked back into the house was "Do you know how hard it is to take two kids through the buffet line?")
Hmmm... I can't imagine what that might be like.



For dinner Kaden chose Subway and was so excited to eat his sandwich on the special Birthday Plate. The family came over later for cake and ice cream.


Kaden was so excited about his cake! All day he kept asking if it was time to eat it... He even made me take a ton of pictures as soon as I was finished with it! And blowing out the candles?? Just watch the video below.

Can You Believe This Guy?

He keeps saying,

"I'M SO EXCITED TO BE FOUR!"

Happy Birthday Kadester!

The Hiawatha Trail

You start in Montana and then you

make your way into Idaho. Isn't it beautiful? Jeremy and I are going back next Spring, it was so amazing we can't wait to do it again. So this is the trip in pictures. All 15 miles of it.

Jeremy getting all the gear out for everyone.

Helmets are required and bike lights are strongly recommended.

Making our way to the trailhead.

The Hiawatha route ran from Chicago to Seattle.

Warren and Breanne came with us.

Jeremy and me at the first tunnel opening. This is the longest tunnel on the trail measuring in at approximately 1.66 miles. It is long, dark, wet, and cold- BUT so much fun!!

The "other" side.

These tunnels were dug by hand in 1909!

A little waterfall along the way.

One of the many bridges you make your way across.

Taking a picture break.

On this trail you go through 10 tunnels and 7 high tressel bridges.

And if you look down this is what you'll see. You can barely see the river in the middle of the screen in the picture below.

"Isn't this the best?"



The view from one bridge to the other.

This is what it looks like in one of the lighter tunnels.

We had so much fun! Who's coming next year??

If you still need more convincing go here!