Perfect Angels

So, this morning I watched my friend Hillary's kids while she was at an appointment. Last night I had actually tidied up before our Home Teachers came, so the house was in good shape this morning. I have a Relief Society group tomorrow night, so I was hoping to keep it as tidy as possible until then. Of course, it isn't easy, or expected for things to remain tidy with 6 kids ages 6,4,4,3,18 mos, and 17 months around. Naturally, the living room and dining room (aka toy rooom) were strewn with toys.

Hillary called when she was on her way home, so I very excitedly called all the little children to hurry and help me put away the toys before she got here. I was amazed when there were children running around putting things away as fast as they could. It was great! I told them they were such good helpers, that I wanted them to come over all the time to help me clean up!

Anyway...I thought it would be surprising for her when she got there to see the house so tidy. Usually, I don't care too much when they make a mess, since most of the time it is that way to start, so they are simply re-arranging the mess, rather than creating it. So, I had a funny idea. I told the kidlets that it would be so funny if they all went and sat on the couch as good as could be for when their mom came. That way it would look like they had been the perfect little angels the whole time...ha ha! Actually, they were very good anyway. So they thought it was a good idea too and dutifully lined up on the couch to wait for their mom with big smiles on their faces. It was the cutest thing ever!

So, this is what greeted Hillary when she finally got there.Cute, huh?

Summary

I really need to get back in the habit of blogging! I am soooo behind!

So, I thought I would just give a brief overview of what's been going on round here lately!

1.A few weeks ago we had a surprise visit from our good friends from Indiana...Gigi and Craig, and their little people that are the same ages as our little people! Logan and Logan are about 2 weeks apart, and Avery and Bergen are a week apart.It was such a fu surprise and we had a great time! It made me so sad that we can't get together more often.Thanks for pro-longing your travel time to stay with us!

2.Only a few days after their visit, we were lucky enough to get more company! Tony's brother Andy and his wife Alicia came to visit for the week-end. We had so much fun having them here, and the kids loved their Aunt and Uncle being here to play with! Logan was so sad when it was time for them to leave, becuase he wanted them to live with us.

3.Last week, I had the good news (to me) that some good friends here in my ward weren't going to be moving after all. Even though they really wanted to go, they felt it wasn't right at this time, so they are staying. As selfish as it may sound, I am very glad they are staying!

4.My friend Hillary(see #3) and I went to see Mamma Mia! It was so much fun, and a really great, happy-feeling movie! I have had the songs in my head ever since (even dear, sweet Pierce, in all his effort!) There were only a few downers, when there were some things they had to throw in, that of course didn't need to be there. I don't know why they ruin such good things like that. If it wasn't there, absolutely no one would miss it. I really don't think people would leave the theater saying, "You know...that was such a a great movie, but it would have been much better with "this" thrown in, or if so and so were to do "this", or if they said "this". Nope...no one would have ever known it was there. It does nothing to add anything to the story, there is no point of it at all. That's really disappointing to me. But, anyway, it was still a fun movie overall.

5.Friday night I went to a "Twilight" party, and then a few of us went to the midnight release party for "Breaking Dawn" at Border's. I got home around 1:30 a.m. and stayed up until about 4 a.m. reading. I basically read all day Saturday, and finished up the book Sunday night. My eyes are tired!

6.Sunday was Avery's first official day in nursery! I have taken her in the past two Sunday's to get her used to it, and Tony and I took turns staying in there with her. Yesterday, we were subbing in Logan's sunbeam class, so we couldn't stay. I stayed for the first hour, and then snuck out to go be in class with Tony. She was perfectly fine! Yippee!

7. I made a pretty tasty recipe for dinner Sunday night. Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas. I thought they had a really good flavor, and were definitely different than the usual.

I have my enrichment night coming up this week, so once that is over, hopefully I will be able to get caught up again!

CG Reunion Day 3 and 4

So, after staying up late talking and laughing our heads off, we again took our time getting up and gettig ready to go. We had a yummy breakfast of bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches (aka egg mcmuffins, although without the mc, cause we aren't McDonalds...but you know what I mean)and cantaloupe. We left our cute little room smelling like bacon, which wafted after us down the halls!

We started our day going to the Park City Mountain Resort.After wandering around the shops (well, mostly one shop), we decided to go on the scenic chairlift ride. It is an hour long ride round trip, so we made sure to get sunscreened up first! While it wasn't as adventurous or exciting as the Alpine Slide, or Alpine Coaster rides that they had, we really enjoyed it. It was fun to see all the beautiful scenery, especially the snow that was still in patches here and there...in June! We had a good time talking, since that's what we do best! It was especially an adventure to keep from losing our shoes! A few of us took off our flip flops so they would't fall off our feet while dangling in the air! We tried to take some pictures of ourselves while up there, and it was fun.It was a little scary trying to lean and not fall off! We even got to smile for a picture half-way up the mountain! See it HERE!





On our way back down the chairlift, we saw a mom and a cute little blond boy riding up on the other side. We all had to comment that the little dude reminded us of our kids and made us miss them!

After we got off the chairlift, we went and had some lunch, and then went and used our Coldstone giftcards for dessert! Yum! Our next stop was Main Street, where we walked around and looked at the shops before we all finally decided we had all our energy sucked out of us, and headed back to the hotel. We got back aroud 5, and almost promptly all fell asleep on the King sized bed! We had a nice little snooze, and then made ourselves a yummy dinner of "favorite pasta", garlic bread and salad. So now our room smells like lingering bacon, and garlic as well! Nice!


(Gina and Heidi all snuggled up for nap time!)


(dinnertime with chef Marisa!)

Gina, Heidi and Marisa decided to go check out the pool, and I stayed behind to try and read. My eyes were too tired to read though, so I popped in my new "girly movie" Some Kind of Wonderful and started to watch it. The rest of the girls came back soon after because the pool was filled with kids. we all finished watching the movie together, while snacking on leftover fondue and other treats. we again ended our night staying up until after 1 talking our heads off. It's kind of funny cause we actually got a noise complaint!

Around midnight or so, Heidi decided she wanted a treat other than what we had in the room. Gina opted to go with her in search of a vending machine. We were all laughing our heads off since they were in their pj's, and Heidi told Gina she looked like Ronald McDonald (her hair was a bit wild and crazy after air drying from her after swim shower). I gave Gina my pink Life is Good hat, and off they went in search of goodies. Not long later, they came back from their adventure, cracking up at their behavior that was reminiscent of what 2 18 year olds would be doing late at night in a hotel, and not 31 year olds!I won't go in to the details, but needless to say, we were all laughing hysterically once they returned! After a while we had calmed down, and were all lounging on the bed chatting away when the phone rang. It was 12:30 at night! We were a bit confused as to who would be calling so late. Gina answered and was informed by the night desk clerk, that he had had a noise complaint, and could we keep it down. Yes sir! Ha ha! How embarrassing! But what a great story!


(Gina and Ronald McDonald hair...sorry G!)

The next morning was check-out time, and we were all getting sad about our festivities coming to an end. We again had our breakfast of leftover cantaloupe and bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches. While all crammed into the elevator to go out to the car, a family got in with us. One of them made a comment that it smelled like bacon. Ha ha! I wonder how long it took for the bacon smell to go away! I bet whoever had our room next walked in and thought "hmmm...it smells like bacon in here" Funny!


(Gina and Heidi)


Before we left town to head back to SLC, we stopped at World Market to look around. Then we went back to Heidi's parents house to go our seperate ways. We couldn't end there though, so Nina (Heidi's mom) suggested a place for us to go for lunch called "Plates and Palates". It was a cute little shop that sold kitchen items and then they had some tables and chairs and you could order lunch too! It was pretty filled up, but we were able to get a seat pretty soo, and had a nice lunch together to end our time.


Marisa, Gina and I all opted to go to Spoon Me one more time before we had to leave. That stuff is soooo good! Once we had our fix, Marisa headed up to Idaho Falls to get her kids, and I caught a ride with Gina down to Cedar City.She dropped me off at my brother's house in Enoch, where I was waiting for Tony and the kids to meet me.

What fun times we had! We really have to do this again, and soon, and regularly. It was so needed, and I am again so lucky to have such lifelong friends. I love you gals! Thanks for the fun times!

CG Reunion Day 2

I have gotten so out of the habit of blogging! At this rate I am never going to catch up!

CG Reunion Day 2

Monday morning, we took our time getting up and getting ready. We had Heidi's mom's famous Finnish pancakes for breakfast! Yum! After eating and chatting for a while, we decided to make our plans for the day and get going.

Our first stop was the Shade Clothing store in Centerville, where I got myself a really cute swimsuit. After that, we stopped at the Gateway in SLC to browse around and have lunch. Gina was having a pregnant woman craving for Thai food, so we ate at a really yummy restaurant called Thaifoon. I have to admit I have never really had Thai food before, and it was sooooooo good! I might be a fan now. We all shared a yummy appetizer of lettuce wraps, and then again shared a dish called orange peel chicken, and beef lo mein. It was all super delicious, and very filling. It was funny, because we were all wearing our scrabble tile necklaces, and the waitress noticed them. She said " what's with the necklaces...are you all sisters or something?" We do not look anything alike...we ranged from tall Gina to tiny Heidi, with Marisa and I heightwise somewhere in between.We got a good laugh from that and then enthusiastically told her our adventure for the next few days.

After we left Gateway, Heidi directed us to a super yummy place for dessert. We went to a place called Spoon Me for frozen yogurt...the likes of which I have never tasted before. I grew up in So. Cal mind you, and frozen yogurt is there, what frozen custard is to the midwest. I love the stuff. Anyway...it was so good, and very refreshing! It was a bit tart and tangy like real yogurt, but still sweet. I got the natural flavor and chose granola, strawberries and milk chocolate chips for my toppings. I am still craving the stuff, and am really sad I can't get it where I live. Sniff..sniff. Anyone want to open a franchise in KC?

After leaving Spoon Me, we finally headed up to Park City. We checked in to our hotel...the Westgate Resort, and then went to get some dinner. We ended up going to Ruby Tuesdays to hit up their salad bar. Heidi, our High School Musical afficionado, kindly informed us AFTER we left, that "Martha" from HS musical, was eating dinner at a table near us. Fun stuff for a celebrity sighting!

We then wandered around the outlets for a bit, and then headed to Smith's grocery store to get some stuff for soome of our meals for the next two days, as well as some fun snacks. We also stopped by Redbox to get a movie to watch. We rented 27 dresses. I hadn't seen it before, and it was pretty cute. We went back to our hotel and watched the movie while gorging ourselves on chocolate fondue. Yum!

Of course, we stayed up until about 2 a.m. chatting again. Good times!

And on a non vacation note...HERE is something exciting for all you Twilight fans!



Enjoy!

CG Reunion!

Earlier this year, I went through a really rough patch. I felt the desire to "get away" from things that were occurring in my life, and I really felt the need to be around friends and people who knew me and loved me.


(Gina, Heidi, Kerry, Marisa- EFY 1994, the summer before our senior year of HS)


I was talking to my longest friend Heidi,and we both were expressing the desire to have a girl's get-away.I had 3 very dear friends in High School. We were a little group that were all members of the church...we went to seminary together, school together, church dances and events together, sang together,went to EFY together, etc. We had our fair share of drama as well. Nevertheless, we have all stayed intertwined in each other's lives since then.Gina married Marisa's older brother, so they are family now. Marisa and I went to BYU together, and interestingly enough, both ended up in Indiana at Purdue together and in the same ward!It was so much fun to tell people that we had been friends in HS, and that Marisa was one of my bridesmaids.Heidi and I have been friends since we were about 1 year old, and I try to make a point of visiting her at least once a year when I am out her way, even if it is only a brief meeting for lunch or whatever.

Heidi and I started planning and emailed Gina and Marisa to see if they would be up for having a CG (California Girl) Reunion. I was already planning to be in Blanding, UT for round-up time, and Marisa was going to be in Idaho Falls for a wedding. Heidi and Gina are already in Utah, so we decided to make Park City our reunion place.

Like I already mentioned, I have kept in touch with Heidi, and have been able to see her at least once a year for the last little while. Marisa and I haven't seen each other in the two years since we both moved away from Indiana, but have kept in touch via blogs and emails. I couldn't remember exactly when I saw Gina last, but I really think it was at Marisa's wedding 8 years ago. While we have exchanged Christmas cards, and I have heard updates about her from Marisa, I haven't talked to her otherwise. I was a little worried that things would be a bit awkward between us since it had been so long.

My worries were for nothing! It was like no time had passed at all! Except for the fact that I have 2 kids, and she is expecting her 5th, and everything else that has happened to us in the past 8 years. It was great. We all had such a great time, and it was so much fun to reminisce about old times,stay up late chatting and laughing our heads off! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, and it felt so good.I love those girls! I don't think I realized how fortunate I was to have them as friends before, but I sure do now. It is so nice to have that kind of "history" with someone...let alone more than someone. While talking one night I brought up the point about how incredibly different each one of us was, but that it didn't matter. We all love and appreciate each other for who we are.It would be interesting to know if we were to meet now as adults, if we would be friends or not. I would hope we would be.

So...now that I have rambled on long enough about our history, I guess I will begin with day 1 of our reunion.

CG Reunion Day 1

We all agreed to begin our reunion by meeting at Heidi's parents house (they live in Utah now, and not California anymore.) It was Father's Day, so Gina and I "crashed" Heidi's dad's Father's Day dinner. It was Heidi and her husband Tom and their two kids, Heidi's parents, and Gina and I. Marisa showed up later on. Then the festivities really began! We tried to watch some videos from HS, and began reminiscing about things. We had also come up with a fun activity so we took care of that. We had a bag swap. We took the letters that spell out "CG REUNION" and assigned each person a few letters. We then had to find something to go with our letters to put in our bag. We were to get 4 of each item, and then once together, we had all the items put in the bags, and we traded bags. It was so much fun to see what we all chose and recieved! This is what we got:

C- CD of songs that reminded us of HS
G- gloss (lipgloss) and a Girlie movie (Some Kind of Wonderful)
R- ring (little CTR rings)
E- Eat! (set of cookbooks)
U- something Unique for U! (cool scrabble tile necklace pendants)
N- notebooks (decorated in cute paper with matching pens)
I- ice cream! ($5 Cold Stone gift card)
O- "Oh my stars!" (This is Heidi's phrase of choice) (cute envelope decorated with stars, saying Oh my Stars, and a little CTR anklet that was a star pendant)
N- Nutty Bars (this was a favorite snack item back in the day)

We finally headed up for bed around 12:30. Marisa and I were sharing a room, and Heidi and Gina were sharing a room. Marisa and I chatted for a bit, and then decided to hit the hay. A little while later, the door to our room flew open, and Heidi asks what we are doing...and then noticing that it is dark and quiet, asks if we are asleep. I say no, not yet. She says she is telling Gina the "Prom Story" and I immediately jump out of bed to go join in on this conversation! Marisa opted to stay in bed. The prom story is one of those "dramas" I mentioned earlier, and a story for another time. Needless to say, it's a good one! we stayed up until about 3, when I decided to head to bed. In the morning I found out that Heidi and Gina stayed up another hour talking. At least Marisa got a decent night's sleep!

That's how our first day began. I will post pictures and more of the rest of our trip next!

Blanding Fun

Blanding

Friday afternoon we loaded up and went camping up on the Bear's Ears where Tony's brother Kenny moves his cows in the summer.It is a really pretty place, and we always have fun and enjoy our time up there when we go. We always see deer, and they almost have no fear! They just come up real close to the camp. We also see plenty of these roaming around.



Tony's parents are currently serving their mission in Benin (West Africa) so their trailor was available for our use. I think I have gotten spoiled! Camping is sooooo nice when you have a comfy bed, a flushing toilet, and a place to get out of the bugs and heat...or cold!

Anyway...we were teamed up with Tony's sister Jody for dinner Friday night. We had barbecue chicken in dutch ovens, baked beans, salad, and rolls, with brownies for dessert. Suzie made the brownies! It was a tasty dinner! Even Avery thought so!




Aunt Alicia (A-lee-see-a)feeding Aves her brownie. I think she had about 3!


I think all Logan ate was the roll...and not even very much of it!Picky little guy!


Avery spent some time getting better acquainted with her relatives.

Avery getting some attention from Aunt Suzie!



Uncle Andy tried hard to win her over, and did a farily good job, as long as mom wasn't around!



I think Avery's favorite person was Brielle! She loves pretty girls! She just laughed and laughed and "flirted" at Brielle and her friends...it was so funny!



Here's my cute Logan!


I love these next pictures, becauase it was one of those happy parent moments! Avery and Logan were sitting in these little camp chairs for the longest time sharing their snacks. It was so cute! Avery would put some of her snacks in the little cup holder in between them for Logan to share. And Logan was content eating them that way, and wasn't getting grabby or greedy and trying to get the whole bag from her. They were getting along so well, and it made this mommy proud!





I ended up leaving the next day with Jody to catch a ride up to Pleasant Grove, and Tony stayed in Blanding with the kids for 4 1/2 more days. I took the camera with me, so he didn't get any pictures. He wouldn't have taken any even if I had left him the camera though, so it's ok.

More to come!

Where do I begin?

Holy Cow! I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. I don't even know where to start! I guess I will start with my recent trip and then go backwards from there. Hopefully I will get caught up soon!

Road Trip to Blanding

We left our house around 5 p.m. on Wednesday evening June 11th. It happened to be Tony and my 9th wedding anniversary. What a way to celebrate, huh? Anyway...I just have to say how lucky I am to have such good kids on roadtrips! Logan actually likes going on "trips". Avery does very well also for a 1 1/2 year old. Her breakdowns are to be expected, but they really are few and far between. Good kids.






Pictures of the kids watching their movie in the van. I can't say enough how much I love my van, and I love that DVD player! It makes road trips so pleasant!



Lovely Kansas Sunset...taken out of my front windshield while we were driving along. I know it isn't the best quality, but it was really pretty. About 2 hours into our trip, we had to pull off the road at a gas station due to bad weather. I was listening to the radio for weather updates, and they kept saying there were severe thinderstorm warnings for "this" county, and a tornado warning for "this" county, but I had no clue what county we were in! The gas station had a map out, and there were quite a few people inside who had also stopped. Turned out the county we were in was right above the one with the tornado, and it was moving right towards where we were. The weather was better moving west which was the way we were going, so we continued on!



We stayed the night at a hotel in Colby, Kansas.One of the best things about being in a hotel room for the kids is watching cartoons in the morning while getting ready.Funny kids! Later, while eating breakfast, we saw on the news about the tornado that hit Manhattan, KS.Yikes! We passed through Manhattan not long before it hit, so we were pretty lucky on our travels! I think I would have seriously passed out and died if we were on the road with a tornado.

We continued on our way and ended up in Blanding around 8 p.m. Whew! Leg one of our trip was finally over! Stay tuned for more....

Another Tag

I have been tagged again TWICE by my friends Heidi and Marisa, so I guess I better give in. I really think I have done a similar tag in the past, but I am too lazy to go find it. If and when I do, it will be interesting to see how much is the same.

Here goes:

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. June of 1998 I had just finished SPAC (Spring touring team for Folk Dance at BYU)

2. I was at home in San Diego and working at Sea World.

3. I had begun to have a "crush" on Tony at this point, but tried to ignore it since he had a missionary he was writing to and supposedly waiting for.And she was my friend too.

4. I started dating a boy named Pat (the second Pat I had dated in my life).I met him again in the singles ward. I had known who he was when I was in HS (he went to a different HS), but he was a few years older than me. He was goofy.

5. I was getting ready to go be in the Hill Cumorah PageantThat was the coolest experience. I highly recommend it.



5 things on my to do list:

1. laundry

2. fix dinner

3. finish sewing some baby gifts that are LONG overdue!

4. get ready for our trip next week!

5. prepare things for my fun girl's reunion in Park City!

5 favorite snacks/food:

1. chips and salsa

2. jelly belly jelly beans and salt water taffy

3. anything and dip

4. SONIC's lemon-berry slushes

5. vanilla oreos

5 things I would do if I was a billionaire:

1. Get out of debt so I could have a peace of mind and spend lots of time with my family! (I am copying this one!)

2. redecorate my house...or buy a new one...probably buy a new one

3. help family members

4. pay tithing and invest! Blessings! interest!

5. it would be nice to take my whole family on a fun trip somewhere

5 bad habits:

1. staying up WAY too late on a horribly regular basis

2. biting my nails

3. tend to ignore household responsibilities in favor of reading a good book, or dinking around online, or anything (ahem) Twilight related (ahem).Go see the clip from the movie if you want to!

4. Sleeping in on the week-ends and letting Tony take care of the kidlets

5. talking too much


5 places I have lived: (in this order!)

1. Heaven

2. El Cajon, CA

3. Provo, UT

4. Lafayette, IN

5. Olathe, KS

Now that I am done, I hear my sweet girl squealing in her bed, so I better attend to her!

I will really try to find my camera cord so I can update with pictures!I have taken a TON! I have Logan's birthday party and Stephenie Meyer to write about!

Wicked!!!!

Ok, so I have misplaced my camera cord, which is why I still haven't updated my blog! In the meantime, I guess I can post about a topic which didn't have any pictures to post with it.

I went and saw Wicked last week-end! It was FANTASTIC!!!!!! I absolutely loved it! The music was wonderful, the cast was amazing, the story was clever and had such a great message. The girl playing Elphaba was phenomenal. Seriously....I am way jealous. I want to sing like that. The girl playing Glinda (the "ga" is silent...ha ha!) was very funny. She was a bit spastic...sorta reminded me of Mary Catherine Gallagher from the movie Superstar (aka Molly Shannon from Saturday Night Live). She probably could have toned it down a bit, but overall it was funny, and she had the audience laughing at her, so that's good.

The girl playing Nessarose was none other than Deedee Magno from The New Mickey Mouse Club in the early 90's and the group The Party! Does anyone else remember that? I totally have that tape, and I remember watching The Mickey Mouse Club after school. It was crazy! But she was really really good, of course.

Tony and I went to see the show with our friends, Rich and Hillary. We couldn't get seats right next to each other, so we sat on opposite sides of the theater, but met during intermission. We had a tough time finding a parking place at first, but managed to squeeze our car into a very tight spot in one of those parking lots where you put your money on the slot ith your space number. Tony let all of us out before he pulled in,and then crawled through the back of the van to get out. It was funny. But, we were right across the street from the theater, so we didn't have to walk too far! That was our exciting adventure! It was a really great evening! I haven't been to see a show like that probably since I was in London in 2001 with Folk Dance. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The only problem with seeing shows like this is that I want to see it again and again!

One of the important messages I got from the show was about the harm and damage in gossiping and spreading rumors about people. Without giving away too much about the show, basically the Wicked Witch of the West became labeled as such because of things others said about her, which were believed by all, that were not true. I have had an experience lately in my life where I have felt the harm and hurt first-hand of gossip. It really can be a very damaging thing.

The other message I got was the importance of people, friends and relationships in our lives. I have always felt that my friendships are an important thing. I know very well how much my friends have meant to me, and really and truly how much I have learned and grown from them. One of the things that is saddest to me in my life is how we each eventually have to go our separate ways, and it is difficult to stay in touch with everyone. I often think about friends now that I haven't been able to stay in touch with, and wonder about how they are doing. That is the great thing about blogging now! I have been put back in touch with so many people....I just look forward to finding more.

Here is a video clip of a song from the show that sums up this last thought. Not to sound too cheesy, but I dedicate it to all my friends (and family) throughout my whole life to this point and in the future!

I will be with you shortly

I have so much to post about, but haven't gotten myself to do it yet! I will get it posted soon, so stay tuned for all kinds of fun!

Avery's method of transportation

Go check out this post to see a video of Avery's latest form of transportation.

It wouldn't post earlier, but works now, so go see! She's a funny girl!

Speechless

This has rendered me speechless for the evening. Unless you consider squeals and gasps and squeaks speech.

Now, feel free to discuss.

Birthday!

I know I am behind on posting this! I have been trying to figure out how to post a video clip using blogger, but it won't show up on my post..only when I preview. It's driving me crazy! If anyone has any input for me, please let me know!

So, Sunday was my birthday. The big 31. That's crazy! I am now officially in my
30's. It seems weird.

I had a nice day. I usually don't like my birthday on a Sunday, because I can't go out to celebrate anywhere, but this year I really didn't mind. In fact, I enjoyed it more I think since we were all together as a family. We went out to dinner as a family Saturday night to a restaurant called Zio's. It has really good food, and a nice atmosphere, and the prices are actually less than Olive Garden.I had a yummy salad, that I couldn't even get through before I was full! It was nice.

Sunday,we had Stake Conference. Tony had volunteered to be a shuttle, so he dropped me and the kids off at the church at 9:30 a.m., and we were actually able to get seats on the soft benches rather than the hard folding chairs.It was nice. The bits and pieces of talks I was able to hear while juggling wiggly, squirmy children, were really good. Avery was very tired, since it was her morning naptime, so Tony took her out hoping to get her to sleep. She didn't go to sleep. That's the one drawback about having a child who only likes to sleep in her bed!

After church, we came home and fed Avery lunch and put her down for a nap, while Logan rode his tricycle around the cul-de-sac. We usually try not to participate in these kinds of activities on a Sunday, but we made an exception due to the beautiful weather, and my birthday! Besides, I had to try out my birthday present! I got what every "little" girl wants for her birthday....a bike! I haven't had my own bike since I was 10! It was really fun. Logan was so excited about it, he couldn't keep the secret. That morning, he came up to tell me to come downstairs to see my birthday present...he couldn't tell me what it was because it was a surprise. Then he whispered..."Shhh...it's a bike!" I love it! He was so very happy to be able to have mom ride bikes with him! I really enjoyed myself as well. I can't wait to go for family bike rides. Tony needs to get a new rim for his bike, and I want a bike trailer so I can pull the kids around.Then we will be all set for loads of family fun!

Tony had Seminary Graduation at 4 p.m., so he left around 3:30. He got home around 5:30, and started making my birthday dinner and cake. He asked me the previous day what I wanted him to make, and it was a hard decision. I don't normally think about what my favorite meal is. I am always thinking about what everyone else's favorites are! I finally decided to have him make chicken fajitas, since I remember that being one of my favorites when I was young. I also made pico de gallo and guacomole and we snacked on that for lunch. Yum! I love mexican food, and having my birthday practically on Cinco de Mayo makes it a very good reason to eat it. Anyway...I decided to have him make Texas sheet cake, since my friend Maren just posted a recipe on her blog and it was calling me. It was all delicious, and probably tasted even better since I didn't have to make it!

Before Tony left for Seminary graduation, I opened my presents. Of course there was the bike (yippee!) My kids gave me the first two books in the Twilight series...Twilight and New Moon. My mom gave me a sheet set to match the new bedding I got for Christmas. My sister gave me a Scentsy fragrance warmer. I am very excited about everything! It was a happy day.

But that's not the end. I have a few other fun things planned this month, and I am counting all of them towards celebrating my birthday!

On Thursday of this week (May 8th) I am going to see Stephenie Meyer on her book tour for her new novel "The Host"! I can't wait! I am going with 5 other ladies from church. Two of them are wives of members of the Stake Presidency! It will be so much fun! The thing I have really enjoyed about getting "obsessed" with Stephenie Meyer and her books,is that I have been able to bond and develop friendships with women that I might not normally associate with. Not because I wouldn't want to, but because our paths don't seem to cross, we are at different places in our lives (with small children, with grown children), our callings prevent us from getting to know one another, etc. It has been really fun to have something to "connect" and bring us together. It's been great. Anyway...back to the tour. I have only had the first two Twilight books on my Mp3 player, so I was anxious to get the actual copies of the books so I can take them to see Stephenie and have her sign them. She will sign up to two other books besides "The Host", so I really wanted them for that. I will wait and get "Eclipse" at the end of May when the special edition comes out, which will feature the first chapter of "Breaking Dawn", the fourth book which comes out Aug.2. See? I am excited!

The next thing on my month long birthday celebration is on May 17th. I am actually having Logan's 4th birthday party that afternoon, but at 4 p.m., my friend Hillary and I will be heading to the mall for a facial at Philosophy. If anyone has any good suggestions of products they like from this line, please let me know! I have to purchase two things!

Then, last but not least, on May 23rd, Tony and I are going to go see the musical "Wicked". I can't wait! It's been a long time since I have seen something like this.

So, that's the basic outline of my birthday month! It should be a good one!

Of course I don't have any pictures. Tony didn't take many, and the ones he did take didn't turn out very well. I will have to take a picture of my bike and post it soon. It's a sweet ride! Ha ha! I have no clue what is good/cool in the bike world, but I trusted Tony to know. He came through for sure! He got me a Touring bike, which is not a road bike, and not a mountain bike. How's that for a description? The best part is that is has a bell! Logan loved it! he kept wanting me to ring the bell! It just made me laugh everytime! How can anyone take someone seriously on a bike with a bell? Oh well, it is fun. It's not like I am going to be joining the Tour de France anytime soon. Or at all!

Well, on to my day! I have to make Logan's birthday party invitations and get to the post office before my friend drops off my Stephenie Meyer book tour ticket and copy of "The Host". I know I am going to want to read it as soon as I get it, so I better get other things done first!

Avery Kneewalker

This is the form of transportation Avery has decided on. No walking on her feet yet, I am afraid. It is really funny to watch her do this, but the knees of her pants are getting FILTHY! If that doesn't tell you something about the state of my floors!

Husband Tag

I got tagged to do this by my SIL Alicia. It's been fun getting to know her and my other SIL Amber by doing these tags. Especially since I don't get to see them very often. Let's hope I remember some of these questions!

1. What is his name? Anthony Frost Black
2. Who eats more? it depends...probably him at one sitting, but if you give me the right combination of things, I would probably eat more.
3. Who said I love you first? Not sure, but it had to have been him. In fact, if you want to get really technical, I know it was him...and he even said it WAY before we were dating.I remember that exactly. It was at the end of SPAC (Spring Performing Arts Company for Folk Dance)when he was leaving to go home to Blanding. I was sitting on the couch in the boys apartment (in Roman Gardens!) and he leaned over to hug me good-bye, and said "I love you Kerry". Of course at the time is was only as a friend, but still. I say it counts. It was subconscious! He actually said it more often throughout the period of time where were just friends, but hanging out more and more often. I will have to save that story for another day!
4. Who is taller? Tony
5. Who is smarter? Tony...he has a Master's AND Phd!
6. Who is more sensitive? Me, for sure! I cry at everything. It can't be helped. I inherited the crybaby gene from both parents...it was a double whammy.
7. Who does the laundry? No one. Ha ha! Mostly me, but Tony will definitely take charge if he is in need and I have slacked in that area.You would think I would have learned after almost 9 years of marriage that if I don't keep on top of the laundry, something is inevitably going to be ruined. Stains will get set into the children's clothes, or mine will shrink.Or get washed with a pen.True story...it's happened!
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? currently I do. We have switched off and on however. Thankfully Tony doesn't care too much, but it does throw things off when we go out of town, or stay at a hotel.He is never quite sure which side I will choose. In Provo, I slept on the left side closest to the door, furthest from the window. In Blanding, I slept also on the left side closest to the door. In our apartment in Indiana, I slept on the left side farthest from the door. In our house in Indiana, I slept on the right side, farthest from the door, until after Logan was born and I was recovering from a c-section. It was easier to get in and out on the left side. But then, I went back to the right side after a while. When e first moved to Kansas, I slept on the left, farthest from the door. We recently rearranged the furniture, and now I am on the right, farthest from the door. I have no idea my rhyme or reason. But it is always my say.
9. Who pays the bills? I do, but we have taken turns, and often do it together.
10. Who cooks more? Me, for sure.
11. What meals do you cook together? We used to cook together, but not so much lately.
12. Who is more stubborn? Probably both of us, because we would probably both accuse each other of being stubborn.
13. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Probably Tony.
14. Who is more clean? Not sure. Tony used to be, but now we are about equal.
15. Who has more siblings? Tony...he has 6 siblings, and I have 4.
16. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I like to think I do, but it is tony of course.
17. What do you like to do together? with kids, or without? We have a funny hobby of going for drives and looking at houses. We like to play games and watch movies. We used to enjoy hiking together, but haven't had mountains near us for 7 years.
18. Who eats more sweets? Me overall, but he can eat more at one sitting. Especially if they are mini snickers bars.
19. Guilty pleasures? I don't think he has any, to be honest. We are still trying to find him a hobby.He does enjoy watching "Are you smarter than a 5th grader"
20. How did you meet? Fok dance at BYU. We were on the same back-up team in the Fall of 1996. We were friends for two years before we started dating.
21. Who asked who out first? I don't know if we ever had an official date. We just hung out a lot, and went hiking a lot. I am sure it was him calling to ask though....
22. Who kissed who first? Tony kissed me first. It was on December 10, 1998 right after the Folk Dance Dinner Dance. He brought me home, and we spent a while in my living room in my cute little blue house, talking about us, and our relationship, and how we both knew it was right, and that we were going to get married. He kissed me after that, right before he left to go home, and it was very polite and gentleman-like. That was to be expected from him. He's just that kind of guy. (I should have done what you did with Andy,Alicia! That was awesome!)
23. Who proposed? Tony...I will save this for another post.
24. His best features? He has a cute little grin. When we got married, I kept telling him I married him for his muscles, and always wanted him to flex for me so I could feel his biceps! Man! 5 years of graduate school, and 1 1/2 years of the work force (sitting in an office all day) has sadly robbed him of this feature. I can't talk though. All my best features have gone out the window since kids came along. Wah!
25. What is his greatest quality? This list could get lengthy. He is physically,and spiritually strong, but gentle in nature. He is always concerned for the welfare of others. He is willing to serve in any way he can. He is a fantastic father. He is so faithful and diligent in doing the things he should be doing. He is very dependable and reliable. He is honest and trustworthy. He is a hard worker, and does so much for our home and family. He is a fantastic husband, and helps with the chores around the house as well. He knows how to fix almost anything, and is very handy.He gives good advice, and is very supportive of me and my endeavors. He puts up with me and all that comes with me. He is very patient and understanding, and forgiving. I will stop now, but could continue. I will save that for another post. or not. We'll see.

Happy Girl's Day!!!

I have been planning a "girl's get-away day" since February. I had been feeling a desire to "get away" and spend quality time with a good friend. My friend Christy happens to live only about 3 hours away from me, so I thought it would be fun to drive up to see her and spend a fun day doing girl things. She just had a birthday the middle of April, and mine is coming up this week-end, so it was a combined "birthday" celebration, sorta.

So the day came, bright and early! I left around 7 a.m. and after getting gas, and redeeming my coupon for a free chicken biscuit from Chik-fil-a for breakfast, I was on the road! I really enjoyed the drive, to be honest. It is such a pretty time of year right now...everything is so green, and there are blossoms on the trees, and flowers popping up here and there. It was very pretty.I was able to drive along with my radio turned up as loud as I wanted, and I could sing along as loud as I wanted too. It was great. And, funny thing, some of my very favorite songs came on, and that made me happy too.



I got to Christy's house around 10:30, and then we were off for our day of fun! We went downtown to a market area with shops and restaurants. The first stop was a Nebraska Gift Shop, where we wandered about and looked at all things corn. I saw a few things i thought Logan would like, and I finally settled on a popcorn on the cob thing. He LOVES popcorn, and I knew he would get a kick out of it. I was soooo right! He loved it! He carried that corn cob around with him all day Sunday, and even wanted to take it to church with him. I finally let him pop it Sunday evening before bed. It was fun to watch, but it ended up burning quite a bit, so we didn't get much out of it. Oh well.



One of the things I love about Christy is that she thinks I am funny, and laughs at me. I don't know why that makes me happy, but it does. When we were looking around the Nebraska store, I saw a book about tornados. I picked it up and started flipping through it and said "Oh, I should get this. I could put it on my coffee table" And then I said "but, I don't have a coffee table" and Christy started laughing so hard she snorted. It was great. Of course I was cracking up too by then, and she said "you made me snort and you haven't even been here an hour yet!" It was good times. A great start to a great day.

Our next stop was the licorice store. It was cool. They had all kinds of licorice from all over the world, and they would basically follow you along and ask if you wanted to try any samples. I am not usually a big black licorice fan, but I have had Finnish black licorice, and it was alright, so I was willing to try some. I even tried some salt licorice, which I didn't even know was such a thing! I bought some licorice to bring home for my family, and then we headed to our next stop.

We went in a really neat store called Ten Thousand Villages They had a lot of really pretty things, but the one item Christy and I both got really excited about was a super cute turquoise colored ring from India. We purchased them as a souvenir of our "Happy Girl's Day" and sported our bling proudly the rest of the day. I love it!



We finally had lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant...I am always up for Mexican food, and stuffed ourselves silly. It was so yummy!





After our adventures out and about, we headed back to Christy's for her Hershey Bliss Chocolate party/and Open house to raise money for Autism Speaks. Her son has autism, and Caleb's Walk for Autism Team is a way for them to generate awareness and funds for Autism Speaks. She was selling cards and other handmade items as well as simply accepting donations. Visit her blog if you would like to help her reach her goal.

I finally headed home a little after 6 p.m. I was very tired, and decided to get a "beverage" to help with the 3 hour drive. I stopped at Sonic, and got a chocolate coke. I actually liked it! I made it home with only a slight mishap. I missed my exit to get on the right freeway home, and got confused in the meantime, and had to call Tony to help me figure out how to get home from where I was. I didn't want to drive around the loop, or else it would take me almost another hour of driving! In the end, it only took me about 30 minutes longer. Arrghhh! Oh well. It was a fun, adventurous day, and really needed.

When I got home, I checked my email before heading to bed, only to be faced with yet another drama, which made me want to get back in my van,turn around, and head back to where I was. That's life, I guess.

The good thing is that I have another girl's week-end planned for June 6-8 in KC with Christy and anyone else who wants to join us! And then, two weeks later,I am having another girl's reunion with some very good friends I haven't seen in a while out in Utah. Those events, combined with seeing family, will be a very much needed break from the craziness going on around me right now. I can't wait!

Thanks Christy, for the very great "Happy Girl's Day!"

Ants, woodpeckers, and other joys of homeownership!

Ok, this year we are being invaded by ants! It is driving me crazy! I finally called some exterminators to come, becuase I can't live with these creepy crawly things everywhere I turn! Last year at the end of summer, we had some start to come around the kitchen counter, but it wasn't much longer until the cold weather came along to stop them. This year they have started showing up WAY earlier than last year, and they are not just on the kitchen counter. They are in the dining room, the upstairs bathroom, the front entry and the kitchen counter, and eat-in kitchen area. It is really really getting annoying, especially while I am sitting here typing away on the computer and see an ant crawling acroos the screen. Nice. Apparently MANY people in the area are having ant problems as well, so it must be some crazy invasion of the ants. Yuck!

Another thing that has been driving me nuts lately is woodpeckers! I don't know if it just one, or if there are many, but they have been pecking at my deck, leaving a trail of holes in the side of the deck, and I have been hearing them pecking at the side of the house too! Right outside my 3rd story bedroom window! That's a nice sound to wake up to bright and early in the morning. Not to mention it is ruining our home. We need to start looking into woodpecker repellent or something. It can't be anything harmful however, because apparently woodpeckers are protected or something.Anyway...I just had to take a minute out of my afternoon to vent about my newest homeowner woes. Really...did I ever think I would have to look into a solution for woodpecker problems? It's crazy! I will have to take a picture next time I see it.

Cute bibs

Remember the cute bibs my SIL made for Avery? If not, you can see a post about them HERE.

Well, my SIL has started a BLOG to sell her darling creations!These bibs really are the greatest...for function AND appearance! You will love them, I promise! Go check out her blog,suzieqdesigns and bookmark it for the future when you need a super awesome, unique baby gift for someone, or yourself!

Here is a picture of Avery putting another one of Aunt Jody's bibs to good use!


Thanks for looking!

Beautiful Week-end!

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Spring has arrived and is here to stay! It was more apparent this week-end as I drove around seeing all the beautiful blossoms on the trees, the tulips and daffodils popping up here and there, and even the dandelions sprinkled across the very very green grass! Oh, and how can I forget to mention the very pleasant 70 degree weather? It all makes me happy. I love it!



So, it turned out that the awful start of my week, turned out not so bad after all. Logan had pink eye Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and woke up Saturday morning completely fine and dandy. I started off my Saturday morning by hitting up the treadmill in the basement, and then spent a few hours running some errands. When I came home, Avery was awake from her nap, so we all piled in the van and went to Lowe's for some extra garden essentials. Tony wanted to get our garden planted since the weather was so perfect. Let's hope it isn't too early, and we have a successful garden this year!





The kids had some fun playing outside as well. Avery sat on the lawn playing with a dandelion for quite a while. Logan rode his tricycle all over the place and had a grand time.He even got creative with a nice sterilite box, aka his train. He went as far as to get a purple crayola marker and draw a wheel on the "train" since it didn't have any wheels on it.Luckily mom found him so only one wheel was added instead of all 4. We only draw on paper!




To end the day, we went out to dinner at Olive Garden where I stuffed myself silly with the yummy salad and soup.Yummm. It was a really nice, enjoyable day. I was happy.

**Avery walking update: Ok, she isn't walking like I thought she would be. She has found an intermediate form of locomotion. She has taken to walking around on her knees instead. Silly girl. I guess that must make the most sense to be next after crawling in her mind. She is upright like walking, but still has more of a base to balance on. Kind of clever, really.

** Avery's latest accomplishments have been the following:
-- she can point to her head when you ask her where her head is



-- she can point to her belly when you ask her where her belly is. In fact, she has taken to lifting up her shirt or dress to find her belly button. It's really cute.



-- She will "ruff" when you ask her what a doggie says. It is so cute!
-- Her favorite word is still "snacks" and she says it to refer to anything to eat pretty much.
-- Her word for water sounds like " wa-ooh" with a cute little lift of her voice at the end
-- she has started clasping her hands together when you tell her to fold her arms for the prayer. It doesn't last long, but it is so cute that she does it!
-- lately she lets out a really loud scream before she starts laughing. It is almost funny, if it didn't make my heart stop first!

Today's Loganism:

Tonight I was laying by Logan at bedtime, and he asked me to scratch his back. I scratched it for a bit and when I stopped he informed me that I had missed a spot. He pointed to a spot on his back and informed me that the spot I had missed was on his ribbons. I immediately started laughing, and the more I laughed, the more insistent he got. He sat up in bed and kept saying "My ribbons is right here" and then showed me his ribs, and then had to show me on me where my "ribbons" were. It was priceless!I love that kid!He is so smart!

And...last but not least. For any Twilight Series fans out there,that are as excited about the movie as I am, you have got to see this.It is intense!It does show some spoilers from the movie, so if you don't want to know, don't watch.If you don't care about Twilight, feel free to pass on this cliparoo too.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

It gets better!

As if my week didn't start off on the best note as it is, Logan came down with pink eye yesterday. Are you kidding me? I mean, seriously? An ER visit and pink eye all in the same week? Actually, all within 3 days. Am I being punished for something? Well, anyway. I did say having children was definitely an adventure!

On a better note, I underestimated Avery and her walking skills. She will probably be walking by the end of the week. She walked half-way across the room last night before she fell down. And she was doing it over and over again...it wasn't just a one time thing.It is so cute seeing such a tiny person walking like they are big! I love it! It also makes me a bit sad, because she is growing up so fast, and isn't a baby anymore. I was looking at her asleep in her crib last night and she is so long! I feel like it happened over night!