The Carters

Wedding pics!!

2010-10-29T12:21:00.000-06:00

Here we are... FINALLY getting to show you a bit more of Courty's big day! She was a GORGEOUS bride, and the wedding was AMAZING! Dirk's Mom did the flowers, and after you see these, you are going to wonder why she doesn't do them professionally!!?!? They look PERFECT! Enjoy the pics... I know I did!

Congrats you guys, I hope you have an AMAZING life together. I know you will! LOVE YOU!

More to come...

2010-10-11T12:56:00.001-06:00

EEEKK! They did it! May I present

Mr. & Mrs. Davidson!!!

August

2010-09-23T15:50:00.000-06:00

Well. So much for me being a better blogger. Ok, I am doing BETTER... but I am trying, so I guess that counts for something. August and September went SO fast! I can't believe how quickly time passes! We had a great summer, and here are a few photos to prove it! :)

Grandma and Grandpa Carter came to play for a couple days. We had so much fun with them! They even went to the zoo with us!

We discovered the Boise Saturday Market! It's not as large as Portland's, but David and I really had a great time.

So this was my personal favorite part of the market. This was a little family that was playing guitar and singing, and doing it well! Very Joan Baez & Bob Dillon-esque. The cutest part was the mom had a little baby strapped to her chest who slept through most of it, and the 2 older kids were clapping along sitting quietly behind the parents. I just loved this. I thought it was so cool and made me feel like I was in the 60's. :)

And yes, it's david's WORST nightmare come true... RILEY HAS STARTED MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!! Here she is getting ready for her "meet and greet".

And getting her locket assignment... Don't you just love the look of ALMOST annoyance? Like she's thinking "Come on Mom... leave me alone and quit taking pictures!!!"

And with the all important Student Body Card. WOW. I am officially OLD!

One sunny August morning, I woke up to this....

Our GORGEOUS tree fell during a windstorm! I was SO sad! I loved the way it looked waving prettily in front of the house. Sigh. STUPID WIND!

And here's Jack at the Open House for KINDERGARTEN!!!! Yes, you read that right, kingergartern! I know, I know, I don't know where the time went either! He's SO BIG!! He obviously was a little excited... LOL!!

Here's his cubby... I thought it was really cute, they had us color a picture of his hand and my hand to put up to show them where their cubby was. I made sure that I was holding Jack's hand in it. :)

While school shopping, I couldn't pass this up. Yes, I have turned into that person. The one who dresses up her dog. Maybe it's the fact that Jack has "left the nest"... I dunno... but it's pretty funny! The kids in the Utah neighborhood used to call Broozer DEVIL DOG, so he HAD to have this little hat.

And the first day of school arrived. Now, usually this is where you would see pictures of the kids in front of thier school, or with their teacher... but MY mean kids didn't want me driving them on their first day! WHAT???? Evidentally they are too cool to have mom take them, so they rode the bus.

Note the SLEEPY look on their faces!! Riley has to catch the bus at 7:15! She's a little too much like me to be happy about that. We Carter ladies LOVE our sleep!I love that Harris is trying to not smile, but he can't help it. :)

And here's a biy who NEVER tries not to smile. I don't think he can help it. You pretty much always know where you stand with Jack. No surprises, he shows EVERYTHING on his face.

Check out his leg... he's SO TOTALLY posing! HAHAH! This is his "apple" for the teacher. It's hand sanitizer! CUTE, huh?

LOVE this smile!

He's HERE! He was SOOOOOO EXCITED!!

Now, you are NOT seeing things. Yes, we are in Idaho, and yes, that is Kasey and Courtney! They surprised me for my borthday and drove up to see me! :) :) :) I cannot put enought smiley faces on that one.

And here's Bill the bus driver. He is SO STINKING cute! I love him! He totally breaks the rules and picks up Jack right in front of the house instead of at the corner. So nice of him! Jack is like a little superstar on the bus. He gets on and it's like NORM at Cheers! "Jack! Jack! Sit here Jack!" It warms my heart knowing he has little friends already!

I will get to September soon! I PROMISE! :)

A few more family shots....

2010-08-01T12:02:00.006-06:00

We got back a few more pics from our family "shoot". I LOVE these shots. They show the relationships we have with our kids, and how special it really is. Moving around so much may be hard in some ways, but it really has brought us closer as a family.

The shots were taken up at Rocky Butte in Portland, which is just the most GORGEOUS spot! David and I are such Portlandians at heart and this spot showed perfectly one of the reasons why. How awesome is that view!?!?!

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer!!

Just a couple more pics....

2010-07-21T09:42:00.003-06:00

Our photographer is releasing our pics a few at a time, so I guess that is how you will see them too. :) Here's a couple more!

The 4th...

2010-07-16T12:25:00.009-06:00

I KNOW! Two posts within 1 week! I'm going crazy! :) LOL... The 4th is always SUCH a big deal in our "world". Bigger than Christmas, Bigger than Birthdays, Bigger than all. Growing up in Molalla, I think it has to be! either that or YOU HATE IT! :) I happen to love it. Every year we go back for the parade/carnival/family BBQ, and it count down the days until we do it again. This is was only disappointing in one area...

THE CARNIVAL DIDN'T HAVE MIGHT PAYLOADER!!!!!

I KNOW! I don't know how they called it a Carnival either! lol... The rides were great, but the games sucked... so if there's anyone out there from the Molalla Cahmber of Commerce, WE WANT THE OLD PEOPLE WHO RAN IT BACK!

Ok, enough of my fit! :) Diane and Steve came back to their white trash roots and we got to see them! :) Man, I miss those two! (OK those 5, but my kids hogged their kids, so I barely even got to see them!) The picnic at Mom and Dad's rocked the house, with Jason Phillips, Shellie DeMerrit & Justin Wilson and Andrea (Jason's Fiance') stopping by! I got to introduce old friends to David and the kids, and sit out in the back chatting. The entire trip to Oregon was awesome, and I am missing it already. But here are a few pics to keep you entertained until next year. :)

Riley and Harris ANXIOUSLY awaiting the parade! (AND the candy that comes with it)

OOOHHH!!! Elvis!!! HAHAHA... Time has not done him any favors...

But Karin and I gave him (as Jack says) "Some Sugar" anyway... :)

I love this pic for some reason. Like, LOVE IT! Only Dirk Courty and I are paying ANY attention... everyone else is... um... NOT.

Jack is showing off his "feats of strength" :) He TOTALLY WON!

Of course, everyone under 12 won, but, Still! :) He's SO stoked about his prize! We were less stoked while driving home to Boise with it.

Another game another dollar. Or $5 as the cost maybe. But we got a crappy Dollar Store stuffed animal, so I guess we are the true winners.

We were trying to look afraid! (and yes, I have green gum in my mouth)

And here we are ACTUALLY a little afraid! It was a good ride!

LOVE LOVE LOVE these people! :)

New Pictures!

2010-07-13T17:36:00.003-06:00

I know. No excuse. So I shall not waste time on why I have been a total Blogger slacker. SORRY. I shall TRY to do better. :)
Let's see... life in a nutshell for the last few months. 2 (count 'em) 2 knee surgeries... UGH. But hopefully I will be back to chasing after my kids soon! Ummm... Riley "graduated" from middle school this year and is starting MIDDLE SCHOOL! Eeekk! Scary! She is SO excited to get to be in choir. :)
PLUS some of our favorite people EVER are moving to Boise! WOOT-WOOT!! THE Maags! They will be back here for two years for Micron, so we are feeling really lucky!

Harris and Jack will both be at Silver Sage this year, and Jack is THRILLED! Harris is...um... LESS than thrilled. But I think I am MOST thrilled being that I have ALL kids in school for 5 DAYS A WEEK! Holy CATS! How did that happen?? Jack is in Kindgergarten this fall, Harris in 5th grade and Riley is in 6th!!!

We went to Portland and had 9 days there soaking up the NW Sunshine, and I am NOT kidding about the sunshine!!! It was 98-103 for a WEEK! Which if you know anything about P-Town, it isn't a hot hot type of place. But I enjoyed it so much! I got to go Wedding Shopping with Courty where we found her shoes!!! SO cute! Watched Toy Story 3 with Kasey, Aunt Bev and the kids and CRIED, but loved it. AND!! Best of all got some family pics taken!! I will post one of each of the kids, but that is all we have so far. We haven't gotten the rest yet, but when we do, I will post them ASAP!

Man... I know they are mine, but HOW FLIPPING cute can they get??? Thanks to Illya Plaskey, the AMAZING photographer who took these! Those of you in the Portland Area, LOOK HIM UP! He's affordable and really good, and a kind person! Best of all worlds! :)

Happy Mother's Day from "Judith" and Lawrence Welk...

2010-05-10T10:15:00.002-06:00

Ok, most of you know what total SNL followers David and I are. We have just always loved it, even through it's "bad times". The Lawrence Welk skit has quickly become one of our favorites, and this one was on this past Saturday. Happy Mother's Day to me that it was on! :) I LOVE IT!
Hope you all had a Happy Mother's Day. I have Courtney's Bridal Shower photos to upload on here a little later today! It was so FUN!

I KNOW! It's been a while. I will do some make-ups posting, I swear!

2010-04-30T09:20:00.003-06:00

It's been a while. I don't want to hear it... I have been a blogger slacker. It's rough for me now that facebook is around. I am really good at keeping up on it... I promise! But anyway. This post is to show off my good friend Charity's nieces BOOK! Yes, I said niece's book!!! She is only 12, and she just published her first book. For those of you that don't know Charity, her Mother Linda used to write all the time. She would write songs for her kids to sing, she'd write poems for them to read, pretty much everything you can think of, that woman could write! Linda passed away a few years ago, but was able to meet her namesake Nicole Linda (David's daughter) before she was called home. I know that Linda is watching this little girl and helping her from above. Go check out this book. It's AMAZING!!

http://www.blurb.com/books/1139532

Ok, false alarm...

2010-01-28T08:55:00.002-07:00

Allright. You know what? I have decided I AM NOT DOING IT. I am not going to let a few weird things change my blog. Sorry for the false alarm on that... but I just hate it when a few bad apples ruin the rest! So enjoy my NOT private blog. :) Hope everyone is doing great!

I said I'd never do it...

2010-01-26T14:37:00.002-07:00

So. I was NOT going to go private. It's not my style... I am kind of an out there person. But I have been getting WEIRD comments left, and I guess I figured I'd join in with the rest of the world and go (pause for dramatic effect) PRIVATE. I know. Lame. Anyway, I am going to give it a week or so, so if you'd like to continue getting the meager offerings that I call my blog, PLEASE comment with your email. I will add you, and that will be that. Right? Ugh.

I am a mean mean Mom...

2010-01-13T08:47:00.002-07:00

But this note HAS to be posted. It's the cutest/funniest thing I have ever seen. Man. I SO don't miss 4th grade. Not even 2%...

I did mark out the phone number as to help keep it anonymous...

I know, OK? It's after new years, but here's Christmas!

2010-01-04T09:14:00.007-07:00

Look, you are going to have to be happy getting to see these pics at all! We had family in town all of Christmas Break, and I didn't want to waste any of our minutes... even to blog. So, hopefully you will forgive me. :) Hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's Eve, and an even better New Year!

The Christmas Eve jammies!!!

Here come the stockings!! I LOVE Harris' face here!!

Here's what they were looking at...

And the aftermath of the stocking explosion... yes, this is just from one... I know, Santa is IMPRESSIVE!

OH! The anticipation of the stair photo!!

Jack's favorite toy... The GEOtrax CARS edition...

All the stuff Harris got, and Santa gets all the credit with a huge pack of gum. Hmm...

Riley's favorite gift... a cell phone. I know, I know. She's OLD.

Our favorite gift... peace on earth... and a Wii game they all play TOGETHER.

Don't you love that the carpet is just LITTERED with stuff? Gift Bags, wrapping paper, toys... oh well. I guess that makes a successful Christmas.

Christmas Sunday

2009-12-21T09:52:00.003-07:00

So here are the kids in their Christmas Sunday outfits... Gotta love the Mormon Christmas Sunday pic outside the brick buiding... :)

Jack gave his first talk on Sunday too. He was SO cute, and did a great job! Here's a pic with Daddy as they were practicing in the nursery room right before... And then a couple of Jack just being Jack.

I'm telling you. This kid has more confidence than ANYONE I know. He is SO much fun. He has no boundries... which often makes him DIFFICULT to say the least, but at the end of the day, he's a blast.

We are really looking forward to Christmas this year. Boise is an interesting place to be right now. It's economical situation is SO bad with it's three big companies laying off so many, but it's been a wonderful experience for my kids to give, and to see how much they are really blessed with. The giving tree that we went to this year had children asking for socks. Yup. I know. Socks. So it was a great moment for my kids to see that we are blessed and spoiled, and not to take it for granted. I am grateful for David having a job, for it being a GREAT job, and for his being willing to work so hard so I can stay home. Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have a great one!!

Christmas Cheer...

2009-12-05T13:31:00.003-07:00

Riley started piano this fall. She really has taken to it AMAZINGLY. She is now on Christmas songs, and it's so fun to hear the music in the background. She taught Jack to sing with her on one, and I thought I'd share...
To hear it better scroll down and pause the music player, that way the background music doesn't drown out the beautiful strains of Jack's voice... Merry Christmas!!!!

Jack the Elequent...

2009-11-10T21:19:00.003-07:00

I know, I shouldn't laugh at this, but I can't help it...

HAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!

Babies...

2009-10-21T08:22:00.002-06:00

I came across the FUNNIEST AD campaign EVER! It needed to be shown. :)Hope everyone is having a great week!

And here is Harris!

2009-10-09T16:25:00.002-06:00

Here he is... a day late... and a smile short? At least we got a smirk. Bear with us as we figure out the awkward smiling thing... lol... At least he's a HANDSOME littler bugger... it's always saved his skin. He is starting to look like a little man. Sigh.

Riley's 5th grade pic...

2009-10-08T18:29:00.003-06:00

Oh my heart. Riley is getting so grown up. She came home with her 5th grade picture today. (Harris in true form forgot his... maybe tomorrow...lol) Anyway, as you can see she is turning into quite the little "tween". Wow. Where does the time go???

Virginia, DC, & New York Oh My!!

2009-10-02T14:35:00.005-06:00

David and I got to sneak away for him to work in VA... which means he worked, and I played. :) And play I did! We got to go down and see Kenon & Scott, which was perfect. I forget how much I miss them until I get to see them! We sat up and played and laughed and played and laughed. Then David and I went to see Our Nation's Capital. It was amazing. I have been called "Overly Patriotic", but come on, can you really be too patriotic? Anyway, seeing this beautiful city was so cool. And then off to NYC for me for a day! WOO-HOO! It was so much fun! I took the Amtrak train to Penn Station and then spent the night and then the train back the next night. What a husband for letting me go, and what a Sister-in-law (KIM-THANKS AGAIN!) for watching the kids so we could get away for some much needed Hubby and Wife time. Here are a few pics... :)

Here's the capital...

Here's David and I smooching... TRYING to get the Washington Monument in the background. Oh well... cute pic anyway... :)

On the train to NYC!!!!

I HEART NY Cheesecake!!!!!!

Enough Said. :)

The trip was awesome, but we are glad to be home. Happy October everyone!!

Riley is 11!!!

2009-09-15T15:20:00.003-06:00

I am not even sure how this happened. In what seems like only a couple weeks Riley went from looking like this...

To this!!! How did that happen? Sigh. My little girl is 11! She is old enough to BABYSIT! WHAT??? So crazy. She is such a sweet girl, and I am SO lucky to have her. Happy Birthday baby girl!

Here are a few of my favorite Riley pics...

Here's her birthday party this year. We started off with making jewelry...

And then the cupcake bar (can I just tell you, this is THE way to go! It eats up time for the party, is cheap AND the kids love it!!)

And of course blowing out the candle...

Here's a couple shots of Ry this summer with her brothers. She is SUCH a good big sister!!!

And last but not least, her pic for her Birthday dinner, RED ROBIN! What a shocker... huh? :)

Happy Birthday Riley!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-20T14:19:00.004-06:00

Ok, this is a friend's little boy, and it is the MOST amazing thing I have ever seen!!! He is CRAZY talented!! I didn't even know he could dance!!! I'm DYING!!! JAKE MATOS!! Well done buddy!!!! When you listen to it make sure you mute the BLOG music player by scrolling down and clicking the pause button. It's on the right hand side of the screen at the bottom.

Carter Family Reunion pics...

2009-08-17T10:12:00.003-06:00

Just a few pics from the Carter Family Reunion. PROPS to Chris Nascimento for taking pics and getting GOOD ones of the whole family! NOT a small feat!!! :)

My little family. Cue the ooohs and ahhhs...

We just call Harris "Blue Steel" he has that smoldering thing down pat...

This little man is so stinkin cute.

And again with the blue steel look from Harris. Oh well. It's better than the awkward smile phase I guess...

The enitre clan minus Steven & Rachel and Brandon & Katie (2 oldest nephews & their wives). The nephews SORELY missed you at the Uncles vs. Nephews basketball game guys...

Ry's LAMP!!

2009-08-15T10:23:00.004-06:00

So those of you who know me know I am much more a "forget it, let's buy a new one" person than a "let's fix the old one" gal. Well, meet Riley. My loving daughter who has inherited the pack-rat gene from Great Gram. She just can't throw anything away, including these lamp shades. The lamps themselves are ADORABLE. A dusty pink, shabby Chic thing going... BUT. The shades were another story. They are a cute light watermelon/mint green, but against the new sage color of her bedroom, NIGHTMARE. So I made the comment of getting rid of the shades and it was like World War III in our house. Ok. New plan... Mom's gonna get crafty.

BEFORE- The mint green shade...

AFTER! The new ADORABLE pink & white MINKY shade.

HOLY cats! It is so cute! OK, Mom learned something from Child today... Isn't Re-use what my husband does for a living? Maybe I should take a pointer or two from him! Anyway, enjoy the new lamps Ry!!

A few pics...

2009-08-11T16:57:00.009-06:00

So here's the downstairs... I don't have any of upstairs yet, it's still a bit crazy up there. I will try and get a few of the kid's rooms soon. :)

Here's the entryway, the kid's pictures line the stairs... it's so CUTE!

Here's the kitchen and the back door out to the giant yard! As you can see, David is taking advantage of the cooler weather out there... :)

And here's the family room...

And the other side of the family room...

The guest Bathroom with SUCH a cool vanity!! This bathroom is my homage to Portland. Sigh. I sure miss it!!

Aren't these prints cool?

And the backyard play structure. It's AWESOME!

More to come at some point... The bonus room is CRAZY stuffed with boxes, so it will be a while I have a feeling... ugh.

IDAHO!!

2009-08-05T09:55:00.004-06:00

Here we are!! :) Phew! It's been a LONGGG week! I forgot how much I hate unpacking! I am almost there! Just the random boxes are left, the ones that make you wonder what could be in them, since you are living fine without them!

Anyway, I will post pics ASAP! But I had to post a FUNNY pic that we found at Fred Meyer (think super-Smith's or Target). We were walking down the "Pest Control" aisle due to the AMAZING amount of flies that we have here and David stumbled across this item.

It's deer and squirrel repellent... Ok. I can see the need for it, especially where we lived in Utah, the deer were EVERYWHERE. BUT. Have you ever seen a deer with that FREAKY looking face?? What on EARTH is wrong with it???? LOL! I SWEAR, I didn't manipulate it at all. You have to see it in person...

I will post pics SOON! I promise! :)

The time has come...

2009-07-20T20:17:00.002-06:00

So I don't have a ton to post... other than the packers/movers come TOMORROW! I know. It has snuck up fast. I am scared/happy/stressed/excited/sad... can you be all those things at once? But EXCITED is probably the biggest part of that, so that's good. We will upload pics of the new abode ASAP, so give me a couple weeks, and I should have all new pics. Until then I must leave you with the BEST PIC OF ALL TIME. It's my niece at the midnight showing of "Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince". She is Professor Trelawney. And yes, it's her real hair. SOOO Awesome!! :)

Happy Birthday David!!

2009-07-14T00:00:00.013-06:00

Oh what to say about the man we all know and love. I have blogged in the past the things that I love about him, the things that make him my best friend, etc. Maybe his birthday ramblings will need to be some of both. There will be mush, so avoid it if you need to... But here we go... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAGEN! (and for those of you who are paying close attention, yes, his birthday was yesterday, but it was a crazy day, so today it is... deal with it.)

TOP THIRTY SIX THINGS I LOVE ABOUT DAVID CARTER

1. He is devastatingly handsome, Obviously...

(The day he asked me to marry him 1995)

2. He loves his kids more that I thought a man could. He's SO good to them and makes them feel good about themselves. Two INCREDIBLY important needs for Fathership in my opinion.

3. He loves my family almost as much as I do.

(My Gram's 91st B-Day)

4. He is SO SO funny. He seems very Chandler-like (friends reference) in personality, meaning he's funny but some times he has no social filter. He has and will again laugh at you if you do things such as leave your zipper down, trip, get hit in the face with a volleyball, etc. The laughing OFTEN accompanies the taunting point.

5. He lets me sleep in every weekend.

6. He has kind parents who love him and our little family. My kids are SO lucky to have all 4 Grandmas & Grandpas.

7. He lets me tickle him. Sometimes.

8. He's my best friend.

(David & I in Park City 2007)

9. He's been known to cry in movies where the little girl grows up and
A. gets married
B. Goes to Prom
C. Has a baby
or D. All of the above
For this reason, Father of the Bride is a movie that has been banned from the house.

(Riley and Daddy at Karin's wedding 2006)

10. He Spoils me ROTTEN.

11. He not only likes me going on girl's nights, but will sometimes plan them.

12. He is a good sport about my purse obsession. It's a problem. First step is admitting it, right?

13. He makes me a better person.

14. He thinks I am the best baker in the world.

15. He knows how to fix things around the house, but MORE importantly he knows when to give up on said project and hand it over to a professional.

16. He makes me laugh everyday.

(Our Wedding August 19, 1995)

17. He continues to let me have dogs that are not so bright, but STINKIN cute!

18. He supports me continually.

19. He makes me feel as if I am still the 19 year old he married. (I know, 19!! Cradle-robber!!)

(Our Engagment photo, circa 1995)

20. Did I mention he lets me sleep in EVERY weekend??

21. He loves the Portland Trailblazers ALMOST as much as I do...

22. He is kind.

23. He's the hardest worker for his family that I have ever met.

24. He'd be my phone-a-friend on "who wants to be a millionaire" because he knows EVERYTHING!

25. He makes cute babies!

(the kids on 4th of July this year)

26. He listens to me, even when I am spouting crazy.

27. He thinks I am funny.

28. He's the perfect mix of a man and a woman. He likes sports, cars, and all the important boy stuff, AND he likes to shop! Could it get better??

29. He loves me. No questions asked. Always.

30. He takes us to Disneyworld/Land even though he HATES it!

(Disneyworld 2008 with Kasey in tow)

31. He's CRAZY smart without being condescending.

32. He's a good friend.

33. He will ask me to dance at random times, even if there's no music and when he does, he always asks "So, what Stake are you from?" (Mormon reference)

34. I mentioned the whole lets-me-sleep-in-every-weekend-thing, right?

35. He is right about 99.5% of the time, but doesn't rub it in.

36. He's always there when I need him.

Happy 36th Birthday Dagen! Here's to at least 70 more! :)

4th of July!!

2009-07-10T10:49:00.007-06:00

I am sad that our trip went so FAST! We were in Oregon for a total of about 72 hours... Ugh. I was SO wanting to get to hang for a long time and get to see friends. :( BUT, the Molalla Parade was NOT a let down. It never is. It's that kind of thing that when you see it you get all nostalgic and it takes you back to being a kid. It's AWESOME. I have never missed one yet! :) Anyway, here's a few pics of the 4th of July and a couple from the Idaho leg of the trip. The kids got to see their new house and they are SO excited about it! Phew. That is always stressful.

Harris and I won the "Big Money" on Deal or no Deal at Chuck E. Cheese. It was 80 tickets!!! WOO-HOO!!

Jack showing off his ummm... fashion sense in the pool... HA! He will HATE me for this pic soon...

Riley showing that she hasn't inherited my fear of birds in Boise.

Jack tossing bread to the Swans...

The boys keeping a safe distance from the HISSING Canadian Geese.

Feeding the ducks, geese, and swans in Boise.

Let's see... Lack of sleep + Boredom + Children's glow-sticks = This pic... LOL

Again, yes, we were bored... and trying to see how Jack would look in NEON.

Check it out without the flash! COOL!!

The big move happens on the 24th! We will try and keep things updated... :)

Cousins!

2009-06-24T19:41:00.006-06:00

My kids are lucky to have LOTS of cousins. And when I say lots, I mean LOTS-N-LOTS. Couldn't begin to count them... I think we are up to 15 on my side and heaven only knows on Davids... 11 siblings, you do the math. Anyway, they don't get to see Todd and Kristen's kids much, and it's SUCH a bummer, because they just have the best time together. Todd and Kristen spent a almost week with us (and got out RIGHT before the strep outbreak!) and we had the best time. Come back soon guys! We love you!!

Jack and Chandler playing SORRY! You'd think they actually knew how to play! These two are 2 peas in a pod. I tell ya, they are both HILARIOUS!

Riley and Kennedy with the fish Kennedy caught. She didn't want to hold it for the picture. Tee-hee... :)

Dalton with his fish. They each caught one that day. THANKFULLY!

Little Miss Chandler Kate. What can you say... this girl's dimples are going to get her in trouble! Or at least make her Daddy's heart break! Sorry Todd!!

The boys walking home from church. Don't you love Harris's pose? Such the cool guy...

We can't wait for this summer to get to visit even MORE cousins!! This summer the two older kids get to stay with the Grandmas and Grandpas for a whole MONTH while Mom and Dad move. I think I'd rather stay with Grandmas and Grandpas too!! :)

Sad/Happy Day...

2009-05-25T20:58:00.005-06:00

So if you haven't heard around the GIANT grapevine that David and I call our families, we are moving. Again. I Know... We are going back to Boise. Now most of you know I wasn't a huge Boise fan last time, but it was totally my bad. We knew we were leaving soon and I didn't want to have to say goodbye to MORE friends! So I just didn't make any outside of Kim an Jared. I am ready to give this another try! :) With the Economy the way it is, I am thrilled that David still has a job... so even if it's in another State, it will have to do. :) Anyway, the good news is it's halfway back to Portland, and now you all have a place to stop mid-way through the drive! Here's a couple pics of the new place. Come and see us! We move the last week of July.

Here's an AWESOME ariel shot. The house in on an ACRE! And yes, it does come with a riding lwan mower!! It's totally fenced and Broozer just can't wait!

Jack's preschool graduation

2009-05-21T15:44:00.003-06:00

My little man is all grown up... or at least through his first year of Preschool! He had to sing a little solo for his "graduation" and he was so GOOD! Check it out...

(To get rid of the background music go to the bottom right and click the pause on the music player)

We might have a little singer on our hands! Watch at the end for a quick thumbs up to Dad! :)

Tee-hee-hee

2009-05-08T16:50:00.004-06:00

So I am going to ignore the face that the last time I posted was OVER a month ago... I am not being a very good blogger. Life is still insane, and if you wanna hear the daily insanity, I suggest you find David and I on facebook. We are much better about updating it. HOWEVER. There are some things that cannot be explained on facebook. This next item is one of them.

So on Wednesday I hear the doorbell and I am inwardly cursing the fact that we live near so many kids. I LOVE that my kids have friends, but seriously? Everyday? So, I ignore the doorbell and let Riley or Harris get it since it more than likely for them anyway. Riley yells to me, "Mom! You got a package!" Now, I LOVE getting packages, don't get me wrong, but I am thinking to myself... I haven't ordered anything recently (stupid recession) and it's not anyone's birthday... what could this be. Here's your answer.

(Note the fact it's marked "EXTREMELY URGENT")

Yup... CANDY. From my DENTIST. WHATTTTT??? Is that not like taking wine to an AA meeting?? Seriously!?!? Not only is it candy, but sticks-in-your-teeth, gonna-pull-out-your-new-crown candy. I just switched dentists and to "show my appreciation" they send me this! Seriously... is this not BIZZARE?? Diane and Steve, I am waiting with baited breath to hear your reply...
PS- There also were Laffy Taffys, but those are long gone. (What? I did say it was two days ago!)

Favorite thing ever said by one of my kids!

2009-03-10T14:19:00.002-06:00

Those of you who know Jack know he is a charmer. It is so funny! He can make you laugh at the most in-opportune times, and can make you want to scream the rest of the time! He is either great or terrible... here's my most FAVORITE thing ever said by one of my kids!!!

We are heading to bed the other night, and I was getting ready to tuck him in, and he says,

"Mom... do you know what I love?" and I said, "no, what?" and he said, "You."

Wow. He should write for Hallmark! Gotta love this kid!!!

Poor Dog...

2009-02-02T12:34:00.003-07:00

So it finally happened. I always knew having small dogs with even smaller bones would come back to bite us one day. The day has come. Riley was holding Broozer, he started freaking out, so she dropped him, and SNAP! All FOUR bones in his back paw broke. It was an impressive break the vet says. Of course. So impressive that we can't do surgery to fix it, so we are just casting it for now. Yes, you can see the pic. :)

Anyway, life is getting back to normal after the trauma. He is doing much better and hopefully this will all be another funny story in the chapter of the book we still need to write. Sigh.

I'm back!

2009-01-13T13:36:00.004-07:00

Whew. I know, I missed Christmas, I missed new Years, but I am not going to miss Harris's B-Day! He turned 9 last week, and I just can't believe how FAST time goes. Wow. He is such a nice boy! (unless you are Jack...) I have hope for the brothers liking each other one day. Todd and Denver weren't exactly the closest growing up, but now they are buds, so we will see... ANYWAY. It was a fun birthday for him as we had family in town on his ACTUAL birthday. He got to have two parties... one with the family (thanks to Michael's fam, Karin's fam, Denver's fam for coming) and then the next Saturday he got to have a friend's party. He picked a Dog theme (again) and it is HARD trying to come up with new games/party favors for a theme he's used like 5 times! But we were able to come up with some fun stuff including the cupcake building session. Harris had and awesome time! I am so grateful that Harris is in my life. He's my little love, he loves to give hugs and snuggles, and I am dreading the day when he gets to be "too cool" to love his Momma. For now, I am taking what I can get! Happy Birthday my Sweet Boy! Here's Harris growing up through the years, and a few b-day shots!

I know, it's been a while...

2008-12-09T12:11:00.004-07:00

It's been a while, and I am aware... sorry! I had surgery on Monday December 1st, and it's taken me a while to get up and moving. I was feeling good last weekend and started doing too much. Yesterday I landed myself back in the ER, so I am now trying to be good again. Ugh. Most of you know what the surgery was regarding, but for those who don't, I had a double mastectomy followed by reconstruction. After the last breast cancer scare I got a horrid infection, and while checking back with the surgery for that, they already found another lump. Just 2 weeks after the first! After visiting with Huntsman Cancer institute and alot of prayer, we decided to do what was best for us. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Anyway, I sent out Christmas cards right before the surgery and I have lost quite a few addresses, so PLEASE email me with yours if you'd like one! Here's the online preview...

NYC!!!!

2008-11-19T12:21:00.005-07:00

We're back! Man, why does it seem like we just left? Why do they go so fast? Dangit! It was crazy fun. The attendees were Kristi, Whitney, Kenon (and the little man she's almost 7 months pregnant with) and myself. I wanted to show them the city I love so much. It didn't let us down. Whit and I flew to Vegas where we had a layover and picked up Kristi. We then flew into JFK. Ok, have you ever landed there? It's HUGE!!! We got our bags and frantically ran around in the rain looking for Kenon's gate. Delta had some confusion, as did the 10 JFK workers we asked. It's ok. We made it PERFECTLY and got to see her coming down the escalator. Cut to us pulling up to our hotel...

Our hotel was the RIGHT HERE! It's in the building that says "PALACE" on it. CRAZY, huh? Wanna see our view?

We got there and after much screaming and jumping around we forged out. It was raining, but come on, we are all Oregonians at heart. The rain wasn't about to stop us.

I won't get too long-winded, and from here it would get really long if I explained it all. A quick rundown would be Bus Tour of city, Soho, Canal Street, Little Italy, H & M, Central park, FAO Schwarz, Ground Zero, Subway rides, Cab rides, lots of food, shopping and giggling and to top it off...

TRL (MTV'S Total Request Live) was ending it's 10 year run. It has been broadcasting from Times Square since 1998, and to send it off, they had a HUGE event that totally shut down Times Square. Try to imagine us, 4 out of the loop moms with 15 kids between us ROCKING out and being silly. Yes, I am aware I have a huge mouth. :)

I had the greatest time there, thanks to all who made it happen, (namely the husbands!) Let's get back to real-life I guess...

Park City

2008-11-10T10:24:00.003-07:00

David has had to travel lately, alot. Now, for those of you who know me, I am not a good single parent. I have always been spoiled and had him at home, but since the insanity of the economy, Micron has David in Boise every other week, but just for a few days. Man. This has been kinda hard. BUT. The upside of the traveling are all the points he gets. Free flights, free hotel rooms, and this weekend we took advntage of the free Hotel room. The longer you're married and "in the trenches" of parenting, I think the harder it is to remember WHY we got married... it gets so stressful and you forget that you really like this person! You remember little things about them that seem to get lost in normal day craziness. At least, at our house.

Anyway, David and I snuck away to Park City this weekend, and it was HEAVEN. Westayed at the Park City Summit Marriot (thanks to the points, FOR FREE!) and LOVED it! It was on Main street in Park City and you could literally park the car, and walk. In fact that's how we found the restaurant that we ate at. PRIME Steakhouse... holy cats. This was ONE Awesome place. The food was so crazy good, and they were having a 2 for 1 deal! Made for me, don't you think? Lots of Christmas shopping ensued, and a SCARY movie to top it off!

Anyway, if you can sneak away without the little ones, I reccommend doing it. Often. I love my children, but it's so nice to come home and be refreshed, so that you can resume the argument with them over "He TOUCHED me!". :)

Baby Olivia

2008-11-05T11:50:00.004-07:00

So I had to show you guys how GORGEOUS my sister Karin's baby is!!! Look at her!

I mean, I know she's my niece, but WOW! Is it me, or does she remind you a little of Ashlee's babies? I think it's the CRAZY gorgeous eyes with the ridiculously long eyelashes... :)

Halloween...

2008-11-02T10:07:00.004-07:00

SO I gotta be honest. It started out rough. You know, the normal running around in the morning, getting everyone ready.. etc. Cut to us waiting 45 minutes for Harris's Halloween parade that was supposed to start at 9:30. At 10:15 it finally starts, and Harris is one the last ones through. He is at that age where I am embarrassing. So he walks past so fast I can't even get a picture! Seriously? I waited in a HOT gym with 500 other parents and ANGRY toddlers and not even a picture?? Sigh. High point of that was there was a Dad there who was dressed as Batman. I mean, BATMAN. Like, the really expensive rubber muscle suit. Anyway, Jack was pointing out all the kids dressed like Batman and Spiderman (his two faves right now) and that Dad walks in. So I said "Jack!!! It's Batman!!!" and he turns. I wish I had the camera ready. His face was AMAZED. He said, "IT IS! It's real Batman!" it was pretty stinkin cute. Anyway, the day goes on and it's rough keeping Jack from being angry that he doesn't get to wear his "Buzz Lightyear" all day. The kids get home, and we left to go to Provo. Here's where the day gets blog worthy... Michael and Karla (David's bro and wife) live in the River Bottoms area of Provo. It's a NICE area. Their ward has some pretty interesting people in it. Here's the run-down. In 1 HOUR of trick or eating we got candy from Donny Osmond's wife, we got Power Bars from Steve Young's parents and Larry King's brother in law was giving the candy out and Larry's house this year. CRAZY!! The kids got more full size candy bars than small ones, and almost NO tootsie rolls. (I was bummed about that one actually). Weird. Weird, weird, weird. Anyway, it ended up being a fun day... here's are a couple quick shots. Hope your Halloween was great everyone!!

Donny's House.... :)

Jacky's costume...

Jack and his friend Chloe during his Halloween parade

The kids were running around so much I didn't ever get another good shot of them dressed up, so I guess this one will do...

CUTEST cupcakes & cookies EVER!

2008-10-28T13:15:00.004-06:00

So on the right hand side of my blog I have a link to "Custom Cupcake Creations". I had never seen them in person, but loved them from afar. Now, I AM HOOKED. I went to her open house today, and LOOK what I found!!

Witches hats!! SO cute!
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Candy Corn Cookie pops?!?!? It's like they were made for me!

http://www.cupcakesbyles.blogspot.com/

My pics aren't doing them justice, but Oh! I am in love. She does cookie bouquets too... :) Go check out her website. You will wanna have parties JUST to have her treats around!

Requests? :)

2008-10-25T16:22:00.007-06:00

It's official! I am heading to NYC! YEAH!!! Thanks to frequent flyer miles and friends in high places, (AND one AMAZING husband) the trip is practically free. :) So. Those of you who know me know that my favorite part of going is THE SHOPPING!!! I am going to be spending alot of time in the canal street area, which is widely known for it's KILLER purses, watches, hats, etc. I don't wanna make a copyright issue and say any SPECIFICS, but there are some BIG names for little prices. Anyway, let me know if you need/want me to pick you up something! I can't tell you how much the items will be, it always just depends on the person selling it to you, but if you give me a limit to spend up to, I will do my best! I am a MASTER haggler, so I will get the best deals there are to be had!! :)

Halloween Party...

2008-10-25T11:48:00.005-06:00

My kids went to thier first boy/girl party last night. It was a Halloween party, so they were in HEAVEN! It is always a bummer to them to only get to wear their costume once, so they were stoked. I can't believe they are at the age that the parties aren't boy only or girl only. Wow. My kids are getting OLD!!!!!!

Anyway, here's Mulan Riley,

And here's Harris the skeleton pirate. He will have his SCARY mask on for actual Halloween, so stay tuned.... but for now, he made a scary face for you instead... :)

Little Miss Riley...

2008-10-22T19:04:00.000-06:00

Here's Riley's newest school pics! She is such a cute little thing. She wanted her hair in braids for this one. She is getting her own ideas about what is "cool". Heaven help us. :)

SNL at it's best....

2008-10-19T22:08:00.005-06:00

Ok, so I know not all of you watch SNL. I don't know WHY you don't, but whatever. I am not going to judge. :) HOWEVER. you MUST watch this "weekend update clip" from this weekend. Whether you are a fan of Salin Palin, or not so much... you have to admit this is AWESOME.

You will have to watch a little commercial first, but it's TOTALLY worth it. I promise...

In order to hear this clip, you will need to turn off the music player down and to the left of this page... Just hit pause. Also, just in case the blogger is being irritating, here' s a link...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/39808/saturday-night-live-update-palin-rap

Halloween!!

2008-10-16T15:27:00.004-06:00

I Love Halloween. LOVE IT! I have by far more Halloween decorations than any other. I am not sure why, other than my obsession with Candy Corn. I think it's not only delicious, but SO stinkin cute! Anyway, This season I have been obsessed with something else. (Ok, in addition to eating my body weight in candy corn) Caramel Corn. DANGIT! This is THE best stuff you have ever tasted, and I totally forgot about the recipe. I was looking for something else, and came upon it. I thought you might like to share...

You should be able to right click the popcorn recipe above and save it as a picture. That way you don't have to type the whole thing out. Honestly, it takes longer to type it than to make it! :)

I thought I would post a few pics of the new additions to the Halloween decorations. Blasted Tai-Pan. If you don't know what Tai-Pan is, see if they have one in your area, and go armed with a credit card. It's the greatest decorating store, and it's REASONABLY PRICED!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

2008-10-09T14:16:00.003-06:00

Enough said? WHAT? It is 75 degrees as I type! I have made resolution not to blog about the snow everytime it happens this year. I promise. I had to get this one out of my system though. Sigh.

Portland was awesome, I didn't get to see eveyone I would have like to have seen, but you never can, even on a long trip, much less a 72 hour one! KARAOKE was AWESOME, thanks for asking! :) Even thought you guys (you all know who you are) didn't come, it was still great. Crazy singing, scary weird guy that was about 85 and singing kidrock, it just doesn't get any better!

Anyway, I am off to parent-teacher conferences... wish me luck!

Just a quickie....

2008-09-17T11:01:00.004-06:00

Jack is the biggest spaz on the planet. I can give you instances if you'd like to hear them... my two favorites to date are

1. When you ask him why he's so cute, he answers , "Because My Mom is SMOKIN' HOT". Yup. Thanks to David for that little embarrassing one when his nursery leaders ask... :)

2. Kasey David and I were sitting around discussing dating. When Kasey asked Jack what he would do if a girl liked him, but he didn't like her. Without missing a beat he looked up and said, "I would kill her." His little voice made it SO funny! It sounded more like"I wood kiwl huh". Ok, so therapy will be expensive, but for now, FUNNY!

Which leads me to the newest Jack item...

Last night was actually somewhat relaxing. David was downstairs on the computer, Harris was watching a show, Riley was showering after her soccer practice and Jack was quietly playing upstairs with his trains... until I heard a gagging noise. So I went to check it out, and asked if he was ok, and he replied, "Yes, but this doesn't taste very good." It was the spray cleaner that I left in the bathroom. ARGH! We gave him his weight in water to dilute it and just watched him for a while. He's fine. WHY!?!?! Why would you want to drink that?

**********************

AND - Karaoke looks like it will be on Saturday the 27th. It starts at 9, and even if you don't sing, COME! PLEASE! I really want to try to see everyone! It's a restaurant with great 1.99 appetizers, so it's a cheap date too! :)

BIG NEWS!

2008-09-14T15:14:00.003-06:00

So! I am doing this as a blog post because I don't want to forget anyone, but I am leaving

Here

And flying into

Here!

For those who don't recognize it, I am coming to Portland! Sans Kids! Nice! My frequent flyer miles were going to expire, so I had to use them. My dear husband recommended I come to "Home" for a few days to just relax! :) September 26-28, (I know, so short!) Anyway, I am hoping to get a crazy Karaoke night together on either that Friday night or that Saturday night. Either email me or comment back and let me know! All parties are invited, so COME ON! It will be Lengend-(wait for it)-DARY! (If you don't know where that quote comes from you must go directly to Blockbuster and rent "How I Met Your Mother" season One through whatever is available)

Anwyay, We will go with the evening that more people can do it, I am thinking that we'll do it at the Golden Crown in Beaverton near the Target on Beaverton/Hillsboro Hwy. Mre details to come, Hope to see you soon!!! :)

The Wonderful World Of Little Girls...(AKA Riley's 10th B-Day!)

2008-09-08T11:25:00.005-06:00

Riley's 10th birthday party was decided on LONG ago. We walked into "Justice" (which is an off-shoot of Limited Too, think Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, High-School Musical and little girls clothing.) and she saw a sign for Webkinz parties. Now. If you don't have a little girl between the ages of 5-14 you might not recognize the obnoxious teen idols I mentioned above, you everyone has to know what webkinz are, right? They are overpriced stuffed animals that come with a special online code that gets you into the "webkinz world". These were introduced to us last Christmas by my brother Todd (Who WILL get what is coming to him for it) and my kids were hooked. To be honest it is a cute little online world, they have little houses and cars. But MAN. It's out of control! We have at least a SQUILION, I swear! So back to the story. We walk in and she sees a party going on, and it's "So awesome Mom!" They do makeovers, hair, games and you get a webkinz pet. What could be better? Anyway, after much begging she talked me into it, and here are the resulting pics... After the makeovers (and some excedrin for me) we headed back to our house to create our cupcake masterpieces. That was a HIT! You have to try it for your next party. It's messy, but SO much cheaper than a blasted cake! :)

Here's the "Before" pics...

Here's us getting to Justice.

Here's the girls diving into their goody bags. The make-up and combs for the makeover were in them, and well as Justice Cash to spend at the store. Pretty cute...

Here's Riley getting started. Isn't she so cute??? :)

Now that the hair is done, the girls are oh so carefully applying their make-up. This was SO funny to watch!!

Here are Riley and Liv, as they are applying their make-up, I couldn't resist this picture, is there anything cuter?

Here they are all loaded up! They have all their stuff (which was a TON!) and have their make-overs completed! Very fancy, huh?

This was the cupcake area...

And the cakecake creating...

And finally, the presents. It's always a good thing to do the presents, because as the Mom, you know the end is in sight! :) So, Happy Birthday to my Baby girl! You only get into double Digits once!! We love you Riley!!!

DISNEYWORLD!!!!!!

2008-09-02T18:21:00.012-06:00

So the last blog being about mostly school I grazed past the infection that I had pretty quickly. The truth about this blasted thing is, it was horrid. The doctors were completely confounded and couldn't figure out why while watching me, the redness started getting worse. Like going up my neck and around the back of my head, down my torso. It was super scary. They did all sorts of unmentionables to me, and then started telling me that I couldn't eat or drink, as they were planning surgery. I must have said the next phrase at LEAST 100 times. "Do whatever you need to do, but I am going to Disneyworld in 10 days, so do it quick." The next day, same comment, but down to 9 days. I really think the whole power of positive suggestion worked, because we went to Disneyworld on the 27th, and it was AMAZING! I am so grateful that we got to go and I wasn't in a wheelchair! (I would STILL have gone! COME ON! It's freaking Disneyworld!!!) Anyway. Below is the skinny on the trip... :)

Wednesday the 27th we got on the plane to go! Woo-Hoo! There is much excitement in the house, in the car, and then in the plane. Fortunately it was containable excitement and we didn't get too many people too irritated. We got there that night and the inevitable happened. All the things I forgot started coming up. ARGH. The restaurant reservations, the end of the antibiotics for Jack, and it was BLASTED HOT. We (meaning mainly me) we having a rough night that night. But the heavens opened and so did Disney World at 9 AM! :)

First day was Magic Kingdom. We are SWEATING SO profusely, it's amazing. It was 95 degrees, and 95 percent humidity. I am not kidding when I say you could see the humidity in the air. It was like little clouds. CRAZY. For those of you who are looking confused at the extra adult in the pics, that is My niece Kasey. We talked her into coming to help even out the parent to child ratio. We were back to man-to-man defense with her there. PS- She is single and obviously SO cute, so hit me up to hook her up! :)

Happy Birthday to me!! :) Is there a better to way to spend your b-day than Space Mountain? I mean, seriously!?!?! Plus one of our waiters thought Kasey and I were sisters, 5 years apart is what he guessed. :) NICE!!! Maybe he just wanted a huge tip... but I loved it anyway! And YES. My shoulders DID get sunburned. OUCH. We went to this beautiful "palace" for lunch, and we had AWESOME food. Plus the Pooh Bear characters joined us for pics.

Onto the next day, David's favorite place! The Animal Kingdom. Now before you look at the next pics, you MUST remember that we were just talking about how hot and muggy it was? We got off the dinosaur ride, (which is all inside) and walked out to get our stroller (parked outside) and it was like someone turned the sky faucet on high. Pouring like you wouldn't believe. We missed most of the shows and such because it was SO rainy the animals wouldn't cooperate. David's shirt is a light-grey normally. We were SOAKED! Jack scored though, we let the kids each pick something, and he picked the hooded dino towel. He was warm and dry, the little punk!

This picture is SO funny to me. mainly because I was roaring at Jack to try to keep him from being afraid, and then it took! I had no idea! It was hilarious though. Check out Kasey too, she was FREAKED! And note the complete lack of Harris. He is actually sitting next to Kasey, you just can't see him, since he's ducking so low!! Hahahha...

The day was on to Disney's Hollywood Studios (Formerly MGM) where we did Tower of Terror and some other fun things. This was Jacky's favorite lunch, as it was the Playtown Disney Character lunch. So the Little Einsteins and JoJo the clown were there. It was very over-stimulating for the adults, but the kids were loving it!

Possibly the most fun for my boys was where we stayed. We stayed in DisneyWorld at the "Camp Wilderness Cabins". There were little frogs, toads, and lizards that the kids could catch, and they were just in heaven!!! I can't tell you how awesome this place is. The cabins themselves are rustic and a bit small, but they perfectly fit all of us, and had a fridge and stove, so we didn't have to buy every meal. The dining plan with Disney is a MUST! Watch their site, sometimes (like ours) the dining plan will be "thrown in" just to get you to book. Probably this time of the year because it was hurricane season and we were washed out of the parks once. But only one day was it really raining, so we made indoor smores (thanks to Kasey's expertise of heating them on the element/burner) and watched movies. What a great trip.

If anyone is a glutton for punishment and would like to see more pics, let me know, but I was figuring this would do it! :) This should sum up the trip. It was fun and wonderful and next time You all have to come with!!! :) Have a great school year everyone!!

FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL!!!!

2008-08-20T09:54:00.010-06:00

What? How on earth has it happened that All of my kids are in school now?? Jack only goes a little over 2 hours, but still! It's so crazy how time has flown by once again! Here's a couple shots of the kids getting ready to GO! The first couple of Jack on him going to the "meet & greet", but he swears he was going to school, so we counted it... :)

The traditional door pose

Jack's version of the traditional door pose. :) It's his new thing. Expect to see ALOT of those in the upcoming DISNEYWORLD RETREAT!!

THIS face could melt hearts. I am telling you. He can be SO stinkin CUTE!!!:) This little castle is in the waiting room at his preschool, and he LOVES IT!!!

Here are Riley and Harris trying to look all "Too cool for school" this morning. Remember the butterflies you'd get on that first day or two!?!? :) So much fun!!

Of course little peeker has to sneak his head in on the shot. (Note the head to the side thing...)

Here's the Big Man on his first official day!!!

Jack and his sibs getting to go to school together for the first time!! :) YEAH!!!

Jack picking out his cubby, he chose the Elephant.

Hanging up his little bag. And below, having fun with the bugs... What an awesome day!!!

I know, I know, it's been a while...

2008-08-20T09:19:00.004-06:00

And it HAS been a while. I am not going to go into a bunch of details surrounding this whole medical crisis, but I had found a lump while doing the home exam that all WE WOMEN should be doing. It freaked me out, but I patiently waited for a mammogram. They couldn't see anything either. On a routine visit Dr Bair asked Karin how I was doing and bless my sister for telling him! He told me to not stop until I got an MRI. So we did that, and we found the lump. When you have cancer running along strongly enough that every female in on your Mom's side all the way back to Great-grandma, you kinda in the back of your mind are bracing yourself for it. They had to send me in for a Breast MRI guided biopsy. These are not easily done. Not fun. But TA-DA! We got great news back that it was negative. They were able to do the lumpectomy without further complications. But. Those of you who know me, know that there is no such thing as "without further complications". This last weekend our friends the Maags TOTALLY balied us out as I ended up going into the ER because of pain, fever, swelling, EXCRUICIATING pain, did I mention the pain? We were there for almost 6 hours, and lots of testing. I have a bad bacterial infection that isn't responding to antibiotics. Blek. It's getting a bit better now, so hopefully those who think I have been ignoring you or just blowing people off, it's just cause life has been SO stressful. Today we see the DR again, and hopefully see if the new drugs are working. I know, this isn't my normal blog posting, but I guess I was wanting to make sure you ladies out there militantly check yourselves. BUT, I do have one thing that will make you giggle... After all it wouldn't be a Jennie Post if I didn't give you at least ONE giggle. The Surgeon that I saw is in a large practice with 6 or 7 other doctors. So I was looking at the wall where it states all the DOCs name, and I pointed to one in particular. DOCTOR REBECCA TITTENSORE . Yep! You read that right. I said, to David, MAN! Maybe I should be seeing her instead!!"

So enought of the medical drama. I just knew that most of you had heard bits and pieces from people already, and wanted to make sure people know I am in the clear now! Onto the more fun post.... First days of school!!

Happy Birthday Dagen!!

2008-07-13T19:07:00.004-06:00

So it's here. David is officially as close to 50 as he is 20. He turned 35 today, and it was a nice lazy Sunday. (No, not a homage to SNL's Andy Samberg's Chronicles of Narnia rap, but that was awesome...) Anyway, Jack and Riley are sick, so one of us had to stay home from church. David stayed and got to stay in his jammies all day. And, he got to sneak in a mini nap while watching "Monster Quest". How much better can a b-day be? Anyway, being that we have sick kids, it was just us this year, but it was great. David's choice for his birthday cake was of course, not cake, but the raspberry-lemon pie that I make for him.

Anyway, I already got gooey on Father's Day, so I won't do it again, but he deserves his own blog post for his birthday. Happy Birthday Dagen, we LOVE you!

Make sure you note that while David is getting his birthday spankings from the kids, that Broozer is being REALLY protective of David. He's BITTER at Harris for making David "sad". Hehehe, what a spaz dog.

We're home!!!

2008-07-10T08:59:00.004-06:00

Wow. That was seriously one long trip. We were gone for a full 2 weeks! It was awesome though. Some of the highlights, Meeting Olivia, staying with Charles and Sara, of course the Molalla parade, seeing my Uncle John and Aunt Toni, oh, the list goes on. and so do the pics... I am only highlighting a few, but here we go...

First off, Meet Olivia!! :) Here in an outfit from Aunt Jennie... she is so tiny none of the outfits we bought fit her! Thank-goodness for upto 7 lbs size Gymboree!! Isn't she cute???

Here are the kids and a few of their cousins on the favorite hammock at Grandma and Grandpa's. With Harris and Jack are (L) Hailey (Corrin's), and (R) Hannah (Kristin's).

Here are Daddy and Jack asleep at the hotel. One of the hotels anyway. We stayed at 3 different ones! This was my favorite though, as Grandma and Grandpa Carter kept the older two and we actually got some sleep! Obviously... :) Jack really fell asleep that way, no manipulating the photo!!

Ahhh, the Molalla carnival. Honestly, some of my favorite memories of all time have been here. This was Riley, Harris and myself on the scrambler/sizzler/whatever they call it now. We all loved it and rode it twice!!!

Here the kids are (still at the Carnival) with their winnings. David was thrilled. More stuffed animals.

Here we are at Charles's house and Riley, Harris Bailey and Caddie are in the middle of a performance. The first of many. :) Bailey is closest to the camera, Caddie is more in the background.

Last, but certainly not least is Kenzie. She might be grouchy at me for posting this, but I LOVE THIS PIC! It's so her! We are all decompressing back at G & G Carter's house after the 4th. Note in the background Hannah and Bailey are tormenting Baby Charles (Corrin's). Oh, the love of cousins. (Kristin's husband Aaron is on the left of the pic)

Stranger than fiction...

2008-06-21T17:02:00.003-06:00

So this blog is one that I need opinions on. Here's the back story. Yesterday I went to get the mail. I grab it and start walking back to the house looking through it. Almost every day I (and most of you too probably) get those card stock type flyers that are usually advertising a chiropractor, or dentist, and this day was no different. I usually throw them away without really even looking at them, but for whatever reason, I looked at this one. I flipped it over to look at the back, BOOM! There is a picture of my Dad. I swear! I thought I was losing it, possibly due to heat... but I went in the house and really started to study it. IT REALLY REALLY looks like him! But, he doesn't live in Utah, has never been to that clinic and just isn't the "sure take my picture to put on your random flyer" type of guy. I scanned it, sent it to my family members, and waited for the ridicule to roll in. Nope! They are swear it's him too!!! WHAT???? SO. Here's where I need your help. I am posting two pictures. One of my Dad taken a few years ago, and one of the "mystery possible identical twin" guy. I need to you to tell me if you think it's him! This is especially geared to those of you who know my Dad, (Diane, Kenon, Charity, Cami, etc.) but absolutely open to anyone!! :) When I finally talked to my Dad, he said he's never even tried one of these type of sleep apnea masks on, BUT. He has a mask, he refuses to wear! His is supposedly different. But what if while he was doing his sleep study they took a freaky pic of him and are now using it? WEIRD. Anyway, let me know what you guys think...

Totally him, right???? :)

Olivia Update

2008-06-20T15:19:00.002-06:00

Here's a cute shot of Olivia from last night... She really is gorgeous, right? :) What a great first night at the hospital shot!! And one more of the new big sibs and mom and baby...Hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Welcome Baby Olivia!!

2008-06-19T20:36:00.005-06:00

Most of you know my sister Karin. And I would guess most of you know that she found out she was pregnant late last year. She wasn't so overly excited... :) She was a newlywed of about a year and thought she was done with the whole diaper experience. Wrong... And it's a good thing!! I'm glad that we aren't always in charge of our lives... otherwise we might not have some of the surprises that end up being some of the best things in our lives! Olivia Paige was born this evening after a long labor, and Mom and baby are doing well. I'm not sure of her stats yet, but here are her first few pics. They are taken with a cell phone so that I could get a glimpse within the first few minutes. (I am a little bitter that I can't be there, so this is the next best thing...) I will post better ones once they come along. Congrats guys!!

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Father's Day

2008-06-13T13:06:00.004-06:00

With Father's day coming up rapidly, I have to stop a second and recognize My husband. Most of you know David, and know that he is truly one in a TRILLION. That isn't describing him well enough. I have no doubts that he is a better father than I am mother, and nothing could make me happier than that thought. Here are 13 reasons that I am happy to have spent my last 13 Father's Days with him.

1. He is a kind person and an even kinder husband. Who not just lets, but encourages their wife to take girl's trips, sister strips, New York trips, etc.

2. He understands that sometimes at the end of the day, the children you love and do anything for, make you want to slit your wrists. He gets it, and takes them momentarily so you can have a "mommy time-out".

3. He can't watch "Father of the bride" or go to weddings without tearing up about Riley's nuptials. (Keep in mind, she's 9.)

4. He is an AWESOME cub scout Dad, who loved building the ill-fated pine-wood derby car, who loves working with Harris to get his Wolf, and who loves scouting in general.

5. He thinks Jack is the funniest child on the planet. (He just might be, but MAN he can be frustrating)

6. He loves me.

7. He still tells me I am "smokin' hot" and has taught Jack to say it when he is asked "why he's so cute."

8. He works really, REALLY hard to provide for us, and does it well.

9. He understands the quirks of myself, my family, my friends, and embraces them all.

10. He takes my kids on picnics up the canyon for no reason other than to spend time with them.

11. He let me have another mini-pinscher when the first one didn't work out all that well. :)

12. He will play me in DR Mario, full well knowing he will lose, just to make me happy.

13. We understand each other, and are literally the yin to each other's yang.

Thanks for 13 great Father's Days Dagen! (Sorry this was kinda mushy, but he needs the acknowledgement sometimes of how amazing I think he is...)
Happy Father's Day everyone!!!

I've been tagged!

2008-06-06T09:47:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone! I was tagged by "show me the sale" and so I figured I better tag back! This was one I hadn't seen before... so here are some things you might not know about me....

What was I doing ten years ago? Let’s see. Ten years ago I was very pregnant with my Riley and going to Karin’s everyday because of our daycare. It was good practice for the next few years!
What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today? Ummm…. 1. Clean my house, that should be like all five things because it’s such a mess! 2. Lament that I can’t be in Oregon for my niece’s graduation. L 3. Take my kids to go see their cousins. 4. Go get some new sheet music (we just got a piano! FINALLY!) 5. Watch my tiVoed “So you think you can dance” shows! Yeah!!
5 Snacks I enjoy: Oh man. I enjoy too many snacks. I seem to go on weird snack obsessions though. Right now they are Jolly Ranchers & Charleston chews (weird I know). I love baked Lays and love fruit… so at least there are a couple things that aren’t NASTY for me. I guess the last one would be those blasted caramel apples from Rocky Mountain Candy Factory. SO addictive!
Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Oh lots of things. I would love to have enough money to be able to help people when they need it. That would be so cool. To be able to give money to kids going to college, going on missions, trying to buy their first homes, etc. Of course the fun things like getting a new home, cars, etc.
Places I have lived: Molalla OR, Tigard OR, Beaverton OR, Meridian ID, and Cedar Hills UT. Not too many...
Jobs I have had: I worked at a Pizza place, a Bakery, and a deli in High School. There wasn’t much else to do in Molalla but work with food… I worked as a nanny for 4 years after I graduated and then opened my own daycare with my sister. After I had kids I worked at baby Gap for a while and the Post Office at Bales. That’s about it…
5 People I am tagging... Kenon, Kristi, Whitney, Ashlee, Diane - Get moving ladies.. :)

Summer is upon us

2008-05-29T15:41:00.006-06:00

Let's see. How about a summer update? My kids are done with school tomorrow. I know I should be excited, but wow... it makes for long days. I'm looking forward to this summer though... we aren't moving this year, so that makes it better than the last two summers. :) Uh, what else. We are going to Oregon for the 4th, and that makes me HAPPY!! I am sad that I am missing Rose Festival, because there just isn't a more beautiful time in Oregon. The air smells like roses, the waterfront smells like elephant ears (if you don't know what these are, PLEASE find out, they are delectable.) and usually it's nice weather. Although sometimes it's crummy weather and it makes the waterfront smell like an elephant cage instead of ear... but mostly it's nice weather... (hehehe)

Let's see. My sister is having her baby, and we'll be there for the blessing... that is SO exciting. And last but not least WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!! NICE! Not until August, but since this IS about summer... I thought I could mention it. I can't wait. It's all about the Expedition Everest for me...

Animal Kingdom has a new ride, and I can't wait! Check it out on youtube...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kRhrg5rx2-8

My niece Kasey (who's living with me for the summer! Check the earlier birthday post for how I feel about this... I AM SO STOKED!) is going with us to be our nanny/hang out buddy... so this trip should really be awesome... .

Anyway, have a good weekend... we are off to a graduation celebration, (CONGRATS NATALIE!!!) so, watch another of my favorite youtube videos on your way out... it's a classic...

Jennie's SERIOUS pop culture addiction

2008-05-23T08:46:00.005-06:00

Ok. I don't usually post only a "Pop-Culture" only post, but there has been a bit too much going on to ignore it. First off...

All is right with the world. David Cook has won, as WELL HE SHOULD. Let's be real for one minute. David Archuleta was amazing, but he forgot the words, his voice was stellar, but COME ON. David C is the MASTER!!! WHAT UP!!????!?!?!?!

I was screaming like a little girl when he won. It was a very exciting moment. :)

The next day I realized that Idol's baby sister was on... So you think you can dance. This is like American Idol for your eyes. It's HILARIOUS, and amazing. Case in Point. Watch this guy. I promise it's worth it. It freaked me OUT, but I was so riveted to it, that I couldn't look away! He must be a non-human. WATCH Mia Michael's face, she is astounded. I am quite sure that is what my face looked like too. Have I built it up enough? Watch and see.

SO SO SO cool, right??? :) Have a good weekend!!!

PS - Yes, I am thinking of starting a 12 step program for anyone else out there who has a "problem".

Happy Birthday Karin!!

2008-05-19T18:10:00.004-06:00

Before I get too far into this post, I have to apologize to everyone back home in PDX that I didn't get to see. It was a short trip, and I never even made it to Hwy 26, much less all the way to Bethany. I did get to spend alot of time with Karin, and being that it was for her b-day that I was there, I guess it worked the way it needed to! Still it was hard to be that close and not say hi...

ANYWAY. It was an awesome trip with the weather in Lincoln City better than I have ever seen it! Karin had a birthday on Sunday, and I really wanted to surprise her, and it worked! We made a little story up about Courtney taking Karin to a movie, and guess who was there to surprise her in the theater? :) We watched the movie and in the morning headed to the beach. It was 85-90 degrees, with a GORGEOUS breeze. Honestly, it was the prettiest day there ever. That night we went to my favorite restaurant, Kyllos on the water. (Remember it Kristi,Whit & Kenon?) We had dinner, dessert and then headed back the hotel to hang out and chat. Perfect! We headed back to town the next day and had dinner with My parents, got Courtney off to Prom, and was back on my way home shortly after. It was a short trip, but was so nice. Next time, I wanna see the old neighborhood and buddies! Hope everyone has a great memorial day!

These pics are taken with my cell phone, so they aren't the greatest quality, but I guess they'll do... :)

Real Salt Lake Game

2008-05-11T12:19:00.004-06:00

Last night we went to the Real Salt Lake game with friends of David's for work. I was a bit stressed about it if I'm being honest... First off, they don't have kids, and thought it would be "so fun" to bring all three of ours. Second off, me not knowing ANYTHING about professional soccer didn't know it was outside. In the Ute's stadium to be exact. I know, I am RETARDED. Third 2 1/2 hours of hanging out with people I don't know while trying to wrangle Jack and NOT look like a maniac while doing it. BUT! I loved it! Who knew? I thought that the NBA was the only professional sport for me, but this was AWESOME! It would have been better if we were playing Beckham's LA GALAXY, but I'm not going to complain. David's friend's wife, Brooke works for Real, so she hooked us up with tickets on the practically sidelines AND, hooked me up at half-time!!

RSL to hold 'Mother's Day Dash'
One hundred moms to race for gifts during halftime

Yep! I got to go on the field and run (100 yards! That is FAR!!!) to the end of the field to grab a random envelope. NICE! Mine had a $50 Target card in it. I was stoked! We forgot our camera, so you will have to imagine, but David said he got a little video of it on his phone. I will let you know if worked... :) I just have to say, these Moms were HILARIOUS. Remember, 100 of us were guaranteed an envelope, and all 100 envelopes were sealed, so getting there first made no difference, but some of these women were SPRINTING. I took it as a nice jog, so I didn't trip! The lady in front of me... less lucky. She looked like she was sliding into home base! HAHAHAH....
Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there. And thanks again Tom and Brooke!

Muffins For Moms

2008-05-09T16:39:00.003-06:00

Today was Harris's little Mother's Day program. Most have you have been to one of these, and honestly, I was kinda bummed about it. You see, today was ALSO David Archuletta's "home visit" and he was going to be singing live at the mall about 30 miles from my house. A.R.G.H. It really would have been fun to watch, and just see the whole American Idol thing from the other side. BUT. I knew Harris was so excited. And so I went. I am so glad I did. Every once in a while, I think you need a reminder of how much your children love you. This was a good one. To hear their sweet little voices, and watch my little boy with the most earnest face, singing to me. I mean literally. He watched me the whole time. It was so cute. I took a coule pictures, but unfortunatly, they look like the children were bussed in from the underworld. Check out what I mean...

I mean, HONESTLY!!! WHY are all their eyes so red?? These pics are after I used the red-eye reduction! DANGIT! Anyway, David Archuletta will always be around. My little boy will only be 8 and singing about how much he loves me once. Best concert of my life. :)

Pinewood Derby

2008-05-08T14:22:00.003-06:00

Wow. Just.... WOW. I don't even know how to start. As stated in a previous Blog entry, I am new at the whole Scouting thing. I vaguely remember going to one of my brother's pinewood derbies as a kid. When David was asked to run it, he asked for my help. Knowing I would be there anyway to watch Harris compete, of course I will! So I signed in all the cars/kids and kept the scoring. You would think that the kids being TOTALLY hyped up about watching their own car creations hurl down the track would have been the worst part. Nope. The parents that were involved were AMAZINGLY difficult. I am really trying to use my "nice words" here. When I say difficult, I mean, first... I don't think 75% of those boys had ever even seen their cars before. The boys are supposed to make their own cars, from the whittling down of the wood, to the paint, etc. Some of these cars looked as if they could have been on "Pimp My Ride". We had people FULL on cheating, from using NON-regulated car parts, to adding extra weight to the car, and more. AND, while keeping score, I had people (mostly Dads, but a few Mom's as well) insinuating that I wasn't keeping score correctly. Like I would cheat. Look, my son took 2nd to last, if I was gonna cheat, I WOULD MAKE HIM WIN, PEOPLE!!!

Anyway, this was insanity at it's best. I honestly have never seen anything like it. I hope I don't again. Poor Harris was devastated about the fact that the car that won had less than standard parts. He didn't think it was fair. And, it wasn't... but Harris learned a good lesson, that it's about spending time with his Dad making the car, spending time with friends racing them, and being fair. I told him I thought he was definitely the winner.

Bring on August!!

2008-05-06T10:36:00.005-06:00

I will start this post off as, yes. I know I am a spaz, but I can't help it! I'm SO excited for this book to come out!! Ok, not QUITE as excited as I was for Harry Potter's final book, but come on, we watched that boy grow up! Anyway, August can't come fast enough, but in the meantime...

I'm honestly on the fence about this one... I'm not much of a sci-fi fan. BUT. I like her, so maybe with the below coupon it's worth it... :)

(right click on the coupon, save it and then print it! It's like printing money!) :)

OUCH!!!

2008-05-01T19:25:00.007-06:00

I know, I haven't been around lately. It's been a slow week or so at our house. Which is actually really nice. I mean, I could have blogged about Brooke's complete blank out on American Idol last week, or her subsequent vote-off last night. I could have blogged about LOST and how AMAZING it is and asked for your opinions on WHAT IN THE WORLD is going on, or finishing the Other Boylen girl book. That was almost blog worthy in itself. If you haven't read it, you should. It's awesome. BUT, since basically all I have been doing is watching the above mentioned shows or reading the above mentioned book, I decided to refrain. Until today's trip to the "Urgent Care" clinic.

Jack was yet again rooting through the juice cup drawer, hoping I'd change the other 15-20 answers and decide to give him a 3rd juice cup for the day (this is at about 12:30), when I tell him to get out of the drawer. Now being in the completely out of control 3 year old fit throw phase, he SLAMMED the juice cup drawer closed. I'm not sure how he did this, but I hear a SLAM and a SCREAAAAAMMMM. I've never heard such a sound. He was totally inconsolable. I look at his toe and the nail is instantly purple. I mean, INSTANTLY.

I snuggle him, kiss it better, everything that is on my Mom-arsenal. But, nothing was working. I gave him tylenol, wrapped him in a blankie, and watched Cars. Nothing. I finally gave up and decided the toe must be broken, and took him to the Urgent Care. By the time we get there, he's happily playing with his toys, and so excited to play with the busy beads toy in the waiting room. WHAT? This kid was screaming like I was cooking him over a fire, and then totally fine. I looked like the biggest weirdo, like I'd take him for a paper cut or something. It was weird. Anyway, good to report, "probably not broken, just watch it, and we'll see." Oh good. Glad I spent an hour and who knows how much $ to hear that. Whew. I can sleep soundly now.

Anyway, as you can see, he has recovered, and I'm pretty sure it's not broken. Whew... now YOU can sleep soundly too! :) Hope you have a good weekend!

Love?

2008-04-17T10:26:00.003-06:00

I have been having a lot of discussions lately with someone who would prefer to remain nameless about love. Why we fall in love, how it happens, and the big one, how do you stay in love? To these questions, I say, I DON'T KNOW! David and I met and I knew we were getting married by the end of the second day. Wow. It was bizzare. I didn't want to get married, I was just starting to really like dating. But I met him and it was over. And he says the same for him. So how do you explain this to someone? You can't. You just can't until you've been there. It's a weird feeling to have your heart so far out of it's comfort range, but once you've been there, it's a feeling you don't want to lose. Ever. This past week was 13 years fromthe time I met David. I can't imagine my life without him. He makes me laugh everyday, and thankfully he still sees me as the little girl he married. :) Thank heavens for "love blinders" ! Here we are in various stages of falling in love...

Here with Courtney shortly after we met... (Although note: I am already wearing my ring... this might be the 4th of July before the wedding)

The day he proposed... This might be may favorite picture EVER of us. I love it.

Our official engagement photo...

Exactly a week before the wedding!!

THE big day! I like to try to remember what he's saying here... :)

Anyway, it's been an awesome 13 years, and here's to 50 more.

COOLEST WEBSITE EVER!!!

2008-04-10T16:40:00.004-06:00

Most of you know I am OBSESSED with TV. It's a problem. I now cannot live without tivo, I think of it as a time saver! I mean, come on, who has time to watch the STUPID silences between idol info? I think the obsession came from bedrest. I had nothing else to do... :) Anyway, you absolutely MUST go to http://www.hulu.com/ RIGHT NOW. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen, if you like tv anyway... It's TV shows (and even some movies) from both recently (think Arrested Development, The Office) and in the past (think Hill St Blues, etc), and it's FREE!!! Man, this is worse than Youtube. I am going to be holed up in my house giggling at Saturday Night Live. What's your favorite TV show? Check and see if it's on there!!! :)

http://www.hulu.com/

REALLY?????

2008-04-09T17:12:00.004-06:00

Ok. I feel like a liar. I promised no more weather posts, but Utah is SO not co-operating. It's A NIGHTMARE here. The forecast is like a boggle game... uhhhh, snow. No, sorry, it's sunny. No, oops again, it's rain. Last night I snuggled into my bed with the pitter-patter of raindrops coming down and comforting me, reminding me of Portland. Sigh. I miss the rain. I know. I'm weird. Anyway. We were playing at the park yesterday and enjoying the sunshine, and then OUT OF NOWHERE. Snow. Again. Seriously. I know. Anyway, it was SO ridiculous that I had to take a snap shot of weatherbug today for you to believe me. Make sure you look at everyday, until next Tuesday. It's UNBELIEVABLE. Remember, this hasn't been altered. It's really going to go from snowing today to UPPER 70's in 4 days. Again, I miss the rain. At least you could count on it!!!!

Jack's Birthday Party

2008-03-31T10:18:00.005-06:00

This was the perfect birthday party. Three kids, no games/pinatas etc, good friends, and good food. The adults hung out after Jack opened his presents, and that's it! Whew! If only they could all be that easy... :)

Gotta love this face...

or this one...

When he asked for a cupcake later that night, I said, do you want Chocolate? And he said "I think I love chocolate." Man. This is one smart kid.

Jack my little "Miracle Man" is 3!!!

2008-03-26T20:04:00.004-06:00

Jack is three. I can't believe it!! For those of you who didn't know, Jack was an invitro baby. That whole process is so amazing. It really made me realize that God is in everything. Especially science. It was amazing to watch, and even more amazing to live. We were SO excited to find out that it took,and that we were pregnant.

After a LONG and difficult pregnancy, he was born, and even on his days that he is being... uhmmm.... trying... I wouldn't trade him for ANYTHING. Happy Birthday my little "Miracle Max". (For whatever reason I used to call him that.)

Here are a few of my favorite pics of him.

Happy Easter!!!

2008-03-23T12:59:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's Easter already. It's amazing. Weren't we JUST trying to get a decent pic from last year?? :) This Easter has been odd. My surgery was on Friday, and it went well, but not so well that I got to do any of the Easter Egg Hunts with the kids yesterady. :( I did sleep alot, which most of you know is one of my favorite things...

Here's the kids before church today. They have been wanting to wear their Easter outfits for a while... ok, Jack and Ry have, Harris could care less. Jack was MAD last week when he picked it out and I told him he couldn't wear it. What a spaz.

I think it's a rule that at least one child has to be making a weird face. This was the best we could get...

Look at my gorgeous girl. We are in SO much trouble when she gets older!!! :)

Again with the weird face rule... I will let you guess which one... hehehe...

Anyway, Jack got to open a present early (his b-day is tomorrow) and LOVED his Sally the Porshe costume.... Have a Happy Easter Everyone!!

Like sands through the hourglass....

2008-03-20T14:36:00.005-06:00

For those of you who didn't watch soaps growing up... Like sands through the hourglass was the intro to Days of Our Lives. I actually didn't watch that one, but my sister in law watched it so religiously that she started BAWLING when the guy who says that line died. THE VOICE OVER GUY! Weird. Anyway, I am starting to feel like the soap actors. Here's the reasons why...

1. My Children are growing up WAYYYYY too fast. It's like they've been super aged! I remember on one of my soaps watching a baby be born, and by the time I was in high school, the "baby" was having it's own affair! (and then subsequent baby). My kids are growing so fast I feel like that. I just signed Jack up for preschool this week. It was the weirdest feeling to know that he's the last one. It was a sigh of relief and one of sadness, all at the same time!

(Little Scholars Preschool)

2. Those of you who know me best, know that I can't seem to be happy unless I have a medical malady on my hands. Here we are with the soaps again! Cue the cheesy music, I am going in for surgery tomorrow. Again. I know. It's like I am the Susan Lucci of surgeries. This one is to take out my gall bladder. David said too many more and I won't be able to be an organ donor because I won't have any left! At least this one is in and out - same day. Blah. Why do we even have these stupid organs? Half the people I know have had theirs removed! Let's just do that at birth, so we don't have to get the stones!

3. Here's my favorite one... I have friends that people who watch Daytime T.V. say can't exsist. They are impossibly good looking, (admit it ladies), are AMAZING Moms, and the best friends you can ask for. Honestly, you'd think they are scripted, but they aren't.

You know you're in Utah.....

2008-03-14T19:05:00.005-06:00

Ok. So honestly and truly, I love living in Utah. I do. It shocked me too. I really didn't expect to love living here when I had been raised outside of "Zion". It's SUCH a different atmosphere from what I'm used to. (You had to see the BUT... coming, and here it is...) BUT. Today David and I went to dinner at this little Mexican food place, it's out in Saratoga Springs. Next door to it is this really cute Mom and Pop shop type Pharmacy. I went in thinking that these are the BEST places for Easter treats/stocking stuffers/etc. They always have cool little toys and treats. Anyway. I am gathering my arms full of fun stuff for the kids, when I spy a basket full of these.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. This is a ready made Visiting Teaching packet. Complete with spiritual thought, story from the Ensign, and treat. WHATTTTT?????? HOW weird is this? I mean, it's a great idea, but WOW. Just Wow. I don't even know what to say about it. Other than, hey April which one do you want? The purple one or the orange one? Yeah, of course I got two. I HAD to blog this, and may as well use it this month... :)

Addicted??

2008-03-12T09:03:00.001-06:00

I have decided that I need to start a 12 step program for my new addiction. It's HBOO. (Honey bunches of Oats for those of you who aren't on an initials basis with it yet). I think I have eaten 10 boxes in the last few weeks. I believe it started when David went out of town and I didn't have to make dinner. Him being out of town two weeks in a row didn't help matters. I would make something for the kids, and happily sit down with my "treat" and eat a bowl or two. It was on sale at Albertsons, and so I stocked up. Like major stocked up. I didn't think I had a problem until yesterday when I thought I was out. Flashes of the show Intervention came to mind. People are addicted to a little bit of everything on that show. Hence, the 12 step program. Anyway, I believe the 1st step is admission? There seems to be ALOT of steps following it, and I'm not sure what they are, but for now, I'm happy with admission. :)

PS- It MUST be the almond kind. I am sure the others have alot to offer, but almond and I have something special...

----Kasey turns 20!!!----

2008-03-10T12:42:00.001-06:00

Can you believe my little kasey is 20??? WHAT? How did that happen? I was 12 when Kasey was born and to me it was like a little sister was born. She's been my buddy ever since. It's odd, it's always been more of a sister relationship, and now that she's older, even more so. We hang out and it's like hanging out with friends.
This weekend was the big 2-0 day. Kasey's Mom (my sis Karin) came out to help us celebrate, so celebrate we did!! We started the morning by sleeping in followed by ALL DAY shopping at the Park City Outlets. I mean, ALL DAY. Like 12-7. It was AWESOME. After stuffing the back of my car full with bags, we went to the BEST RESTRUANT EVER. A.K.A. - The Melting Pot. YUM!! For those of you who haven't hit this delectable dining experience, you need to. It's in downtown SLC, and SO worth the drive, and the price. What a day. We spent the entire evening laughing so hard our guts were aching.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a tribute to all things Kasey. Hope this birthday was happy, and the rest can be even better! Love You!!! (The pics below are the slideshow of Kasey's life as seen by me...)

Baby Kasey... Wasn't she CUTE???

Her and little Courtney...

The girls and Aunt Jennie...

And the dreaded school pics through the grade school years... Sorry Kase, had to do it!

Growing Up... Here's the MIGHTY PAYLOADER!!! If you don't know what this game is, you need to come to Molalla for the 4th of July with me next year!!

Kasey and Courtney getting down and dirty...

All grown up... I wanted to try to post a few more, but Blogger was having issues, so maybe later. Anyway, Happy Birthday sweetie!

My Gram

2008-03-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

This past week my Grandma turned 93!! I am telling you, this is one AMAZING woman. She has seen and done LOTS in her lifetime, and is a master of weaving those memories into stories. I was sad that we couldn't celebrate with her, but wanted to do a little tribute to her. Happy Brithday Gram! Here's to MANY MANY more!! :)

Here's our first 4 generation picture ever. This was the day I brought Riley home from the hospital. I know, it's a frightening pic... but somehow, I still love it!!

Here's our second ever 4 generation pic, and yes, my Mom's eyes are closed. She gets teased about it... :) I can't wait for the nest 4 generation, maybe at Riley's graduation?

Ode to Ashlee

2008-02-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, there could be serious repercussions to me posting this, but it will be totally worth it! (I say this alot, huh? Maybe I like to live on the edge...) Anyway, I digress. This post is dedicated to my friend Ashlee. She was one of the MANY friends I had to leave behind when leaving Portland, and was one that was a daily part of life. Those of you who know her, TOTALLY understand what I am talking about. Those of you who don't know her, and live in the Portland area, should look her up! She's one of the most incredible people I know. Here's my pictorial tribute to Ashlee who I could go on and on talking about, saying all the things that make her so great (awesome mom, great hair stylist, incredible friend, etc) but I won't. I don't want to embarrass her anymore than necessary. :) So here's to Ash, who's far from us in distance, but not far from our hearts. (Please don't be mad Ash!! ) :)

It's My Eighties Ladies!!!

A pregnant Ash (Sorry Ash... I LOVE this pic, I couldn't not put it on!)

So the next two are not TECHNICALLY of Ashlee, but they are from a day when she was watching my VERY TINY Jack. Ava was SO cute with him, watch the next pic when she realizes he's crying.

How cute is that???? Look how it calmed him down! Ava's got the touch!!

Those of you who know Ash know that she is an AMAZING one when a costume is needed. She was stressed being quite pregnant at what to be for our costume party... Only she could have come up with this AWESOME of a costume...

It makes me wish I had a picture of the Valentine's party when we were supposed to dress up like a famous couple. We will leave that one to those that were there and their memories... :)

I wish you were here with us, but once your babies are a little more grown up, we'll fly you out to come on our adventures!!! Love you tons!!

Girls night. And morning, and afternoon, and evening...

2008-02-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

WE DID IT! We finally got a weekend where the husbands could keep the kids (in Kristi's case, mother in law) and the girls (the Utah ones anyway) got to SPEND THE NIGHT at a HOTEL! WHAT???? I know!???!!? It's amazing, huh?

The location. Park City Utah.

The participants

Kenon, Whitney, Kristi, Jennie

The events...

Eating...

This cafe is the BEST! It was perfect food, perfect dessert, and perfectly priced! GOTTA LOVE IT! Spin Cafe, Heber City. You MUST hit it...

Let's be honest, there was alot of eating, but if I put pictures of everywhere we ate, this would be a painfully long blog entry...

Shopping...

Even a movie!!!

You'll have to check Kristi's blog for more pics... she had a camera OTHER than a cell phone... Thanks for an incredible weekend girls!!!

Need a giggle?

2008-02-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, you just need to laugh. I mean, tears STREAMING down your face, gut aches afterward, face hurts laugh. Here's my three current favorite youtubes.... Enjoy!

(Remember to turn off the music so you can hear it. Scroll down the the player and hit pause)

Wimpy Newsman...

Bi-Polar Dog

Meanie Meanie friend...

I LOVE THE NBA!!

2008-02-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Most of you know of my obsession with the NBA. I belong to an all male fantasy basketball league, (And have even won the season!), I have a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR crush on LeBron James, (what?? He's legal now!) and think it's the most athletic and amazing sport to watch. SO. Imagine my giddy glee over finding this gem. I LOVE YOUTUBE!!!!

It even makes SHAQ seem like a cool guy... :)

TWILIGHT! :)

2008-02-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

I know, these books are supposed to be for tween/teens... what does it say about me that I LOVE THEM!?!?!? Anyway, my niece and I were checking out all the "movie trailers" that are on youtube, but they aren't really the ACTUAL trailers. Frustrating... Anyway... we didn't find a real one (I don't think it's out yet) BUT. We found the movie poster!!! YIPPIE!!!!!!!

It's not the greatest quality, but we're living on crumbs here, so it'll have to do. :)

BLIZZARD!!!!

2008-02-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I was going to stop writing about the snow. But COME ON!!! A Blizzard??? Truly, it was an actual blizzard. 69 mile an hour winds, accompanied by snow, and my favorite, the powder snow that was lying around, being blown at 69 MPH!!! Really. I took pictures with my cell phone while I was STRANDED on hwy 92 for 2 hours trying to get 4 miles down the road to get David from work. It took me 2 hours to get 4 miles there and 4 miles back. (Mostly there, the way back was a quick by comparison 30 minutes...)

Now remember, this was taken at 4:30, mid day, NOT AT NIGHT!! It was impossible to see at some points, and little Jack is sitting in the back seat saying (repeatedly), "Wow! These are big storm clouds!" :) The stories I hear from people are insane, we were lucky. We actually got home. Alot of people didn't, including 165 ELEMENTARY KIDS! One of the schools kept kids over night because they couldn't get them home. These poor babies! It's K-6th grade!! The school but got stranded with kids in it. I felt lucky that we all were together, safe and warm at home after our adventure. Hope your weather is treating you better... :)

Friends

2008-02-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

It's a crazy thing that happened back in 2001-2002. The Bethany ward in Beaverton Oregon had an influx of young couples moving in. There were quite a few of us, and we had a blast.
Exhibit A

There were ALOT of us that hung out constanty.

Exhibit B

We all had at least 1-2 kids, and were continually adding more to the mix...

Exhibit C

And life was good.

Exhibit D

But.... One by One, we moved away. Life went on, and things changed, whether we wanted them to or not.

Exhibit E

...And then. Strange but true, quite a few of us ended up in Utah. Life was good again, we got to see each other quite often. Not as often as we'd like, but let's not complain. Last night was one of those nights. We got to hang with 3 of our favorite couples in the world. The Taylors, Wakefields, Hughes and us went out on the town.

Exhibit F

A new pizza place in Orem was the location, and it was GOOD. I mean, really really good. Pizzeria 712 is the name, and it's a friends of Kenon's who started it. Being friends with the Chef didn't exactly help us get seated in the rather small (but cozy) dining room, but it was worth the wait. Wait is there to complain about? Good friends waiting for good food? AND, the added bonus of our kids being watched by sitters? The night was perfect, and awesome. Thanks guys for new memories placed in the vault. We will have so much to talk about when we're all at the retirement home together... :) Here's a couple more "exhibits" of us through the years...

Now, normally at the end of a nice story like this, I would say, "the end..." but lucky for us, it's just the beginning! Come on, all the rest of you that are in these pics... move down here! It could be Oregon, part II !!

Waterpolo....

2008-02-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Ok. There could be VERY serious repercussions for me posting this, but there have been requests, so I will take one for the team, and post this shot of David and his best friend Todd Nelson in High school Waterpolo. I believe they are 16 here?!?!?!? :)

HEhehehe... totally worth it...

*POOR JACK**

2008-02-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Jack is a lucky boy. He has a big sister who LOVES him. But. She loves him to the point where occaisionally he comes out of her room dressed like this.

Note : He lOVES it! He wouldn't take off the Cinderella dress. We finally got it off him, but there was serious fit throwing invloved. The next outfit wasn't NEARLY as bad... Just some of Riley's clothes... At least they are green and not pink...

The rhinestones DO make me a little uncomfortable though... :)

The Dark Knight - Heath's Last Movie

2008-02-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

So I loved Heath Ledger. He just seemed cool. Like, wanna hang out with him cool, not wanna bust up my marriage cool. Anyway, like alot of people I was saddened by his early death, but I am SO excited about his new movie coming out. He's going to be in the Batman Begins Prequel "The Dark Knight" and is playing the joker. How awesome is this Trailer??

I can't wait to see it! (To listen to it, hit the pause button on the music player for my page down on your left so you won't have music playing while you are trying to listen to it...)

PS- if you want a bigger version of this trailer, here's a link

http://www.atasteforthetheatrical.com/deathtrap/default.htm

WHITEOUT!!!!*

2008-01-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

I know, I am a little obsessive about the snow situation, so this will be my last post about it. Today we are literally having a whiteout. It's CRAZY! This pic doesn't do it justice, but I had to put it on anyway, just because it's so nuts out there! You can hardly see the cars on the road, and you can't even tell there's a park across the street! It's INSANE! Hope your weather is better, where ever you are!

Remember, this was taken mid-day, out my front door!!

Cub Scouts!!

2008-01-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

I am not a great cub-parent. Now that that statement is out there, I fully expect to be called as a Den Mother or something. Maybe I should retract the statement. BUT. I will say that after seeing my brand-new cubscout in his spanking new uniform, my heart has melted a little. I mean seriously... who could resist this boy?? :) Of course, I didn't notice the stain that dinner left on his undershirt until now. I swear. Can you EVER keep them clean???

Oh, to be a kid again...

2008-01-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

How awesome would it be to enjoy a cookie this thoroughly? I mean, Oreos are good, but man. This is pure happiness. Joy even! David calls this is "Gomez Addams" look... (anyone see the Addams family where they have the baby and he has a mustache?) :)
Have a good week everyone!

HARRIS IS 8!!!!

2008-01-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

So. 2 words for you. Kangaroo Zoo. It's a good thing ZOO is in the title, as it was a frickin free for all. I (incorrctly) assumed that when you pay 1/2 of your kid's college fund to have a birthday party there, that you would have it to yourself, like at PUMP IT UP. (the orignal version of the crazy bouncy house party place.) Not only do you NOT have it all to yourself, but all of Utah basically is invited. You know though, once it insane stress part was over, it was really, really fun. All of my sibs were there, which in itself is a minor miracle as well as 2 of David's brothers and families. It was great... here's the pictorial of the CRAZY event.

Here are all my siblings, all together!! (note the look of stress on my face, and the look of relaxation on their's. Hmmm... I wonder which one's kid's party it was...) :)

Harris getting stuck in the "teeth" of the dragon!!

Dalton sliding down the dragon's tongue... (I actually got an action shot! Note the freaked out face!!

Bailey and Caddie hamming it up for Aunt Jennie...

The boys having a blast on the Bounce-off toy...

It's the girl's turn to bounce the boys off!!!

Harris and Cousin Dalton. I am so sad these boys live 1000 miles away from each other! They are like 2 peas in a pod!!!

Here's Jack thinking he is SO big!! He must have gone up and down this slide a hundred times!!

Riley and Kennedy enjoying the hard earned pizza!!

Uncle Denver and Aunt Juanita taking pics of the bounce house... this was the favorite toy by far!!!

Scott and Easton, HOW cute is this boy?? Could those eyelashes BE any longer???

Whew! This is only a few, but I am sure you're all tired of looking at these. If not, let me know! :) I could keep you busy all day! Happy Birthday Harris! On to the baptism!!

..........I was tagged.........

2008-01-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

So this is kinda fun, it's a different kind of tag game. It's Scattergories... and it's harder than it looks! . Here's the info, and you'd better read to see who I tag!!!

*Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following... *they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. (WHICH BY THE WAY IS HARD IF YOU ALREADY READ THEIR ANSWERS) You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl.

1. What is your name?................Jennie

2. 4 letter word:.............................jump

3. Vehicle: .....................................jeep

4. City: ............................................Juno (Alaska)

5. Boy Name: ...............................John

6. Girl Name: ...............................Jane

8. Occupation: .............................Junk store employee

9. Something you wear:..............jeans

10. Celebrity.................................Jennifer Anniston/Lopez/Garner - the list could go on...

11.Food: .......................................JUNK food!

12. Found in a bathroom:..........junk

13. Reason for Being Late........jump-started (ok, BARELY an answer)

14. Cartoon Character: ..............jughead

15. Something you shout: .........JUMP!!!!

16. Animal: ...................................jaguar

17. Body part: .................................jowel

18. Word to describe you:...........jiggly? :)

Okay... my 5 people are Kristi, Whitney, Kenon, Ashlee, and Diane... and I will be checking to see if you did it!!!!

OK, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

2008-01-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up to 8 inches of fresh fallen snow. (I guess I exagerated Mom and Kenon, I thought it was a foot) BUT, to be fair on top of the other 6 inches that were there from Yesterday, it's over a foot. UGH. I never thought I would miss Oregon's Rain! Remember, this picture is only of the NEW snow on top of David's (Not being used due to rear wheel drive) car.

Check out poor Broozer. He went out to go potty, and he fell in. I triedto snap a pic of him literally buried in the snow, but due to the snot that had frozen on my face, I had turned the camera off to blow it. I missed the best picture EVER! Dang!! Anyway, look at the snow caught in his collar and on his HEAD!

It's finally here! Christmas!!!

2008-01-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Christmas day is usually full of GROUCHY sleepless kids and hungry ones who have realized they missed breakfast due to all the Santa Excitement. Not here... My kids slept until 7:45 and then wanted to eat before all the festivities began. Can you believe that?? WIERD! They must not be mine after all...

Anyway, after Mickey Waffles were out of the way we made our way to Christmas. Here's a

photo array of it...

I wish this weren't so blurry. This was the perfect picture. It showed the excitement on the kid's faces so well! DANGIT! This is them waiting for the stockings to be brought out. Oh well...

MORE anticipation, here they are waiting to go downsatirs to see what Santa brought.

Here's Jacky's spoils, can you tell he is a CARS fan?

Wii has landed!! Santa really spoiled my kids this year! They must have been really good! Check out Grandpa getting in on the action!!

Ahhh... anticipation....

2008-01-04T15:37:00.001-07:00

Here's the kids right after they have put on their Christmas PJs. Christmas Eve is SO exciting! They could just hardly STAND IT!

Be sure to check out Harris's face. I swear, that kids is SUCH a spaz!! If you can't tell from this, he's winking and pointing. What is he, a car salesman?? Anyway, here they are on the way up the stairs to go to bed! They didn't even want to read! They wanted to be asleep ASAP!!!

Kids now-a-days...

2007-12-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

So I had to laugh at Jack just now. He's happily munching on a tootsie pop (I know, I am mother of the year) and he quite loudly yells, (and I quote) "I wanna watch a show. Dora, boots, now." in his stickiest 2 year old voice. I had to laugh looking at him sitting on his tricycle in the house, and think, what if we just yelled random things we wanted, FULLY expecting them to happen? Can't you picture, you are sitting in a boring meeting and all of a sudden, " I want a mani-pedi, NOW!" What must life be like for our spoiled little children? :)

Cousins

2007-12-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

My Cousin Diane came out for a wedding, and luckily for us, she got to hang here for a little while. We both have three kids, and the older 4 are all within a coule years of each other. We are SO happy to report that they're all friends! You never know how kids are going to mesh, but look below...

Kind of reminds me of simpler (and WAY less styilsh) times...

(Note bottom center, Diane and I)

I miss these days of Wearing your best (I know, scary!) clothes to Christmas Eve at Aunt Jane's house, hangin with cousins every chance we got, and eating until we thought we'd explode. Here's to the good 'ol days! Had a blast Diane!!!