Jenneration

Family Pictures 2011

2012-01-26T14:17:00.000-08:00

The last week of December (2011), we had some professional pictures taken of our family (for the first time EVER!) It was very exciting! These were done by a friend of mine, Lacie Lane, who is fantastic.

It was pretty difficult for the to limit the number of photos that I posted here (There are more in a facebook album for those of you who care & who are on FB).

However here are 20 of my favorites. I am still trying to decide which ones will get put up.

December 2011

2012-01-21T11:34:00.000-08:00

(This is how we found Kate one morning)

(and if you make it through this marathon of a post, you may find yourself in a similar position...)

Our December, just like all of yours I assume, was festive and busy! During the first few weeks, we found out that Matt got into both his first choice schools, The Cleveland Clinic, & The Mayo Clinic. We then had to make a tough choice. After much thought, debate, prayer, research into the communities & elementary schools, & more prayer, we decided to attend the Mayo Clinic's Nurse Anesthesia Program in Rochester, Minnesota.

We went to a couple of ward parties. I was asked to sing at our old ward's party. It is pretty strange, I haven't sang anywhere, for anything in 2 years, then out of the blue I was asked to sing solo/small group 3 times in December! So Lily got to sit on a couple of Santa's laps. She was very concerned that Santa shaved his beard so short after the first time she saw him, and wanted to know why he would do that. I told her it was probably Mrs. Claus' idea.

The weather was so nice this winter so in order to take advantage we tried to take a few walks (before everyone ended up sick! Poor Lily missed a LOT of preschool and gymnastics in Dec & the beginning of Jan)

We also celebrated Miss Kathryn's first birthday! Her first year went by so fast, it was hard to believe! I love that sweet, bright, happy, mischevious, baby with all my heart! I made Matt's favorite chocolate cake from scratch, with homemade cookies & cream frosting, & chocolate ganosh piping. Which means the cakes didn't turn out super pretty, but they were rich and yummy.

My in laws also got a trampoline for Christmas, all us kids chipped in and Darin, Boopah, and I put it together. Needless to say, the kids LOVE it.

We had a primary sponsored ward activity at the temple lights, which I ended up doing practically nothing to help out with, but I did have a nice time at the temple lights with my sister-in-law Heather's family, my brother Charlie, and my girls.

Traditional Gingerbread houses, though this year we were so busy, that technically they didn't get done until AFTER Christmas, and even then, they were only done because Nana got them for us at the after Christmas sale, because the kids had been complaining about the fact that we hadn't done it yeat this year.

The girls also got crafty this December by making these fridge magnets for their grandparents.

Uncle Charlie came over the week before Christmas and gave the girls their present from him. His old iphone. Nothing we ever give them will ever compare to this. Let it be known that neither Matt not I even have smart phones or data packages. But now our kids are "those" spoiled ones with an iphone! It isn't connected to service, but it gets wifi and is loaded with their favorite games. Don't you wish YOU had an uncle like charlie?

We had a big party with the immediate family here on Christmas Eve, which I somehow got put in charge of. Before I started cooking I got the girls all bathed and cleaned up and ready for the day (so that I could put a movie on and ignore them while I cooked/helped set up)

Katie loves to eat the bubbles

Everybody came over and we all had a great time!

And here I am bossing kids around while trying to organize our little nativity pagent.

Matt's parents and their grandkids

Me explaining/giving instructions (ok, bossing around) the Christmas Caroling group

Every year we let the kids decorate cookies to leave out that night for Santa (and also eat some themselves)

After caroling we took the girls upstairs to open our traditional Christmas Eve presents of new pajamas and do our Jesus Stocking (we each write down on secret slips of paper things that we will give to Jesus for his birthday, goals or resolutions of kindness, etc. On Christmas Eve, we privately read last years, think about how we did, and write out next years. We try and give the Savior the gift of our discipleship all year long).

Here we all are in our new Jammies!

We let the girls play downstairs for a few minutes before we sent them back up to bed! Here they are playing Hide 'n Go Seek!

The next morning was Christmas! We put up a dog gate, so the girls couldn't see their stockings without us! :) It was a magical and wonderful morning. Each year, we take the girls to the dollar section of a store and let them pick out Christmas presents for each other (we take them to different stores, so they don't see possibilities of what the other one could've bought them). Here they are hugging each other after opening their presents to each other. They love so much to give each other presents that they specially picked out, it is so fun and heart warming to see!

Nana bought our family a Kinect this year! We had to try it out right away!

And boy did we love it! Thanks Nana!

Kate woke up a little later than everyone else, so she got to open her presents all at once! Here the girls are, giving her the presents they bought her.

We always do stockings first, but because Katie Lou woke up late, we forgot to give her hers. She was NOT deterred however! As soon as she was done opening her gifts, she saw her stocking sitting in the chair, with a teddy bear sticking out & headed straight for it! She grabbed the stocking and emptied it out like a professional!

She of course had to taste test everything in her stocking!

Matt and I got the girls pillow pets and they were a hit!

Izzie was VERY perplexed by the cow's utters. She pointed to them and asked, "What IS these?" Matt and I were cracking up watching her face while we explained where milk comes from. Very entertaining. Never a dull moment with that kid!

We decided to open up Kate's new pacifiers and her new paci clip, so that she could actually put one of her presents in her mouth, that was intended to be there.

Then we had to get everybody fed, dressed, and ready for church! We had to leave by 8am to get there in time to practice for the choir's presentation at 9.

The week after Christmas, I took a quick trip (a day and a half) to Thatcher for my good friend Amanda's wedding reception. It was lots of fun to see her and Jake before they headed off to Georgia. I also took down my mom's christmas lights, so that I wouldn't worry about her doing it when I wasn't there. We went out to visit GG and my girls discovered how much fun it is to use her half-wall as a balance beam, which tickles me, because my sister and I used to do the exact same thing.

In between Christmas and my trip to Thatcher, we also got a bunch of family pictures taken, by my friend Lacie Lane, who is a great photographer. They won't get posted here, they are going to get their own post (coming up next), but here is a teaser!

November

2012-01-19T14:04:00.000-08:00

November was the busiest month EVER around here. On the 2nd Matt flew up to Salt Lake City arriving around 9pm, spent the night at his cousin's and interviewed the next morning at Westminster College for their CRNA program. They actually called us the last week of Oct, while we were in California and asked him to come out the following week, so we scrambled and made it happen. During his interview on the 3rd, he was told that the panel felt unanimously that he was a good fit for their program and they offered him a slot on the spot! He called to tell me, and I didn't believe him! Ha! They had initially stated that candidates would be notified in Late Nov/Early Dec, so I was planning on hearing back around then. If you know Matt very well, you know that he is a HUGE joker, so I really believed he was pulling my leg. It took a few minutes and finally me using my "mean mom" voice saying, "OK at this point, I am about to truly believe you, and if it turns out you are messing with me I am going to be REALLY upset with you", he promised he was serious, and then I felt like a jerk for not believing him! Anyway, he had to immediately get back on a plane, fly home, and go straight from the airport to the hospital to work a 12 hour shift. The next morning, I knew he was exhausted, but I couldn't resist throwing him a little surprise party to celebrate his first acceptance into grad school!

The girls helped me decorate, and were happy for Daddy to get to have a party (or at least to have ice cream cake), though I am sure that they have no concept of how much effort has been put in the past few years to make this happen! Daddy, who knows me too well, wasn't very surprised, though he played the part well.

Kate enjoyed the party so much, she had to have a bath immediately afterwards!

November also finally brought cooler weather and the girls got to start wearing tights and sweaters to church, which I love :)

Izzie finally started getting the hang of gymnastics, and moved from needing help with lots of things, to being able to do more herself. And boy does she love it!

I just love this shot of Katie (the girls teacher) mid-jump

My own Katie Lou seemed to get a lot bigger too and started climbing up EVERYTHING and getting into all sorts of things that my bigger girls never did, all with the sweetest smile on her face. She is sure a BUSY baby, but she is a happy, busy baby. Which makes it hard to get too mad at her!

Lily's preschool class also got class pictures taken. Lily LOVES preschool so very much. She loves to learn & to play with her friends, and she loves her teacher.

During the month of November, Matt also worked his second job as an instructor for EAC's nursing program, at their extension campus in Globe. He worked there once a week in addition to working full time at St Joes. He also traveled to interviews in Cleveland, Rochester Minnesota, and LaCrosse Wisconsin. I think that we spent a total of 1 or 2 days together in November. He was ridiculously sleep deprived, and stress and exhaustion ran pretty rampant at our house.

Lily was the "snack helper" at preschool the day before Thanksgiving. This is a big deal. Being the snack helper to a 4 year old, is like winning the lottery to an adult. So, I decided to stay in town until she got out of school at 2pm and leave from there. She helped me make turkey sugar cookies for the special occasion.

I also took charge of Thanksgiving for the first time ever this year. I haven't been home for Thanksgiving for about 4/5 years, so this year, knowing that we would be moving far away next year and probably not have the opportunity to be home for at least 3 more years, I resolved to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Unfortunately, because of Matt's affore mentioned CRAZY schedule, he wasn't able to come with me. I called my siblings and demanded that they all attend. (I am the baby of the family and also very bossy when I decide something is important) Rather than suffer my wrath, everyone agreed that to attend this year, and to be happy and smiling to boot! I told my mom that if she would let me do it at her house, I would take over the hosting responsibility. I coordinated with my step-family, an aunt, GG, siblings, and an Uncle to get the whole thing planned and everyone fed. And it went great. I had a fantastic time. The food ended up yummy and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

The whole gang below (except for me, I was taking the picture)

My mom and her husband, Hank, were able to get a picture together with all their kids. I *think* this is the first time ever! Here is our little dysfunctional version of the Brady Bunch.

The day after T-day, I went to the movies with my sisters, my mom watched the girls for me and they made these fun crowns (which they still wear). The thing I love so much about my mom, is what a fun grandma she is. She is always interacting with the girls and coming up with fun things to do with them.

It was a busy weekend for me, I did a lot of cooking, spent time with family, installed my mom's new dryer, helped decorate for Christmas inside and hung up her outside lights, so that she wouldn't have to get on the roof.

We of course went out to visit GG.

My great grandpa had a marble game exactly like this at his house that I used to be OBSESSED with. I absolutely love that my girls now love to play it at their great grandma's house.

All that packed into 3 days!

Then when I got home I "got to" help put up my in-laws Christmas decorations, which (as any of you who have been here during the holidays can attest to) is quite a production.

By the end of November 2011, we were SO ready to bid that crazy month adieu!

If you still check my blog,

2012-01-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

You get a gold star of friendship!

Clearly, I have fallen so desperately behind on my blogging that the thought of returning is overwhelming. However I have been stuck home sick and unproductive so I figured I should at least make an attempt at an acheviement.

What I guess I will do is try to update month by month, starting with OCTOBER. Yeah...I know its halfway though January, but a LOT has happened in the last 3 months. So much that I have been too busy and stressed and exhausted to write. Sorry, friends. Sometimes life is just too much and one added responsibility, even something as simple as blogging is just too much.

In October we turned in the rest of our school applications. Getting all that done and paid for was stressful.

At the beginning of the month we got in the last swim of the season. Gotta love fall in AZ, where you can still play outdoor in water from the hose in swimwear!

We gave Kate her first cookie (yeah, we deprived her until this moment), she LOVED it.

We spent lots of time outdoors enjoying the gorgeous weather.

Lily practiced writing, she often writes in mirror image, though not so much now as she did then.

We also painted pumpkins keeping up our family tradition. Poor daddy worked the night before and woke up just in time to do it with us, so excuse his groggy-ness. He was pretty much running on E until the end of Nov.

We then took our annual trip to Southern California. We did nothing but sit on the beach for 4 days. It was amazing and just what we needed.

I married a handsome man

I went for a morning run, then we took the girls on a walk to an AWSOME donut shop, to pick up some donuts to bring home. I just like to keep it balanced :)

The big girls loved the doughnuts, Kate was less enthusiastic...

Getting ready to hit the waves,

unsure if I REALLY want to get in the freezing water!

The girls and their alligator, or is it a crocodile?

Have I ever mentioned that I think my husband is handsome?

Kate, trying to escape daddy's grasp and get to the sand...

Our upstairs neighbors brought the girls donuts from the shop down the pier, so the girls got to eat them 2 different mornings. Pretty lucky girls (and a lucky mommy, who made them share one so that I could eat the other one. Yeah, that's how I roll.)

Lily has officially entered the fake smile phase...sigh.

Handsome, handsome, handsome (feel free to roll your eyes)

I know this is random, but I LOVE seeing old surfers. They are cool dudes. I only hope I am this cool one day.

Finally reaching the sand, and becoming mesmerized by it.

The wonderful grandparents (matt's folks) taking the girls on a walk

The next couple pictures had to be included to document how hard it is to get a good picture of Iz. She is so animated and so ornery that her pictures are always entertaining, if not always flattering :)

Pretending to surf

Neither of the girls would get into the water at all, so on the last full day, I decided to just dress them in warm, normal clothes and not swimsuits.

Me saying, "Of COURSE she want to sit in the water today, since it is the ONLY day she is NOT in her swimsuit".

Another typical Izzie face

And now that I got Iz to smile, Lily is making a weird face.

We got home just in time for our ward halloween party. I made a couple last minute adjustments to our costumes (I made them all) in the 2 hours or so between when we pulled in and we had to be at the party.

Us girls were all princesses and daddy was our prince charming (He is dressed as Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid, and I am Belle from Beauty and the Beast--in her easiest/cheapest costume to sew--, Lily is Sleeping Beauty, Isabel is Rapunzel --from tangled, her favorite movie--, and Kate is Cinderella)

Then on Halloween we went trick or treating, then came home and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids, which the girls LOVED.

Well, that sums up OCT. Had enough pictures yet? Nov was a CRAZY busy & super stressful month, but there will be FAR less pictures. But lots of fun tales to tale!

Love one Another

2011-11-16T10:34:00.000-08:00

I have thought about writing this post for a long time. A super long time. But every time I have felt like writing it, I have chickened out. This is a subject which is so sensitive, to me, and to many others. A subject around which surrounds so much hate, intolerance, and anger, (on every side of the issue) and I feel like I have no way to adequately express my opinion so as not to offend every single person I know. I have felt like the things I have to say may unintentionally hurt someone I love and respect.

I am talking about homosexuality. Homosexuality AND religion.

Yikes.

Is every one's "over-sensitive" subject meter going off? Everybody feeling defensive and slightly nervous to read what I am about to write? Of course you are. I know for a fact that people who have view points that border on the extreme polar opposites are reading this. That is why I haven't written it before. In stating my humble opinion in the matter, it seems that I will not be able to avoid offending either "extreme" position. Deeply personal viewpoints of people whom I love and respect may be challenged.

So why THE HECK would I write this?

I read someone else's post today and it inspired me. He talked about how he also had been desperately wanting to write a post about this subject, but could never quite get it right, never feel like he could express himself adequately. It seems like no matter what you say, a moderate, humble viewpoint won't seem like enough to satisfy the demands of those with a mind of the extreme. These are my words, not his, but his point was that if "we" as in those with moderate viewpoints, who don't feel hate, aren't expressing ourselves, than the media is simply satiated with those "extreme" agendas and messages. If we don't take responsibility for sharing a message of love and respect and TRUE tolerance and acceptance of individual people in the name of humanity, than who will?

Though I don't love EVERYTHING he stated, I really appreciated his point of view and loved so much of what he said.

Here is a quote from it that I love:

"I wish people wouldn’t cluster entire groups of people together and declare the whole lot unworthy of any love and respect."

More than anything I wish that.

If you want to read the article (and you should...I am going to try not to repeat his points and he makes some great ones), here is a link:

http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html

This article made me want to express myself. To help put messages of love and acceptance out there.

In my life, I have always had at least one gay friend. I suppose that my exposure to the "theater crowd" starting at age 4 exposed me to lots of different types of people. I have (since about age 12) always had at least one friend who uses drugs, one friend who is an addict in the most depraved sense, one friend with a foul mouth, friends who lie, and cheat, and yes even steal. Friends who are bitter, friends who are honest, friends who are Christian, Hindu, and atheist, who are funny, who are boring, who are crazy, who are judgemental, who are selfish and others self-less.

I have a wide variety of friends and I LOVE the fact that I have always been exposed to lots of different kinds of people. And to me it is so interesting to see how the categories overlap. I know Christians who are the most shinning examples of love and goodness, and I also know Christians who are the most depraved and selfish addicts and everything in between. I also know atheists who believe in the human family and who are incredible examples of kindness and genuinity (yes, I know that's not a real word), and others who are elitist and think that everyone who doesn't subscribe to their chain of thought is an idiot and whose thoughts and feelings are of no worth because they are labeled as ignorant.

What brings me SO much sadness in my heart is that so many of the people who I love and respect with all my heart are so critical toward each other.

When I decided to become a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ, I lost a lot of friends. Friends I had know for a lifetime abandoned me. Suddenly years of friendship meant nothing and I was lumped into a "group mentality" and thought of as one of those ignorant, judgemental Mormons. I was no longer an individual in the minds of some of my closest friends. They saw me as a sheep and forgot who I was, and our friendships died. Others told me that they didn't hate me, but that they hated my religion and everything to do with it (which clearly is a big part of who I am).

This broke my heart.

I can only imagine how my gay friends have felt to be similarly lumped into a group and persecuted more severely on such an intimate level.

Why does society do this? Why is it easy for people to hate entire groups of people? We lump them into a group without a face and tell ourselves that somehow, through some fault of their own, it is OK for us to look down on them.

This is not OK.

One person's choice's, intelligence, beauty, etc. does not merit them anymore worth than another. Yes we may view some opinions as more valid, view some choices as poor, but do these things make a person of more or less individual WORTH?

I guess that what it comes down to is whether or not you believe each person in the world deserves a measure of love and respect just for belonging to the human family, or whether you believe that has to be earned.

Seeing people preach hate hurts my heart. There is no other way for me to put it. It doesn't make me angry or bitter, it makes me want to weep. Watching people actively persecute all gays, or Mormons, or Muslims, or illegal immigrants, or democrats, or republicans, etc. makes me sad. Mostly it make me sad for them, to have given so much room in their heart to hate. For allowing themselves to lump individual people into a group less valid than themselves. I believe what Buddha said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

In my own personal nirvana we would all treat each other with love. And friendship. And kindness.

However, I will settle for respect and tolerance.

Here is a brief description of my personal beliefs.

I am a Mormon. I am deeply devoted to my faith in Jesus Christ and to his teachings.

In the scriptures we are REPEATEDLY compelled to love God. We are told this is the greatest commandment and then we are taught that if we really do love God we will serve Him, and that the best way to serve Him is to love His children. There is no qualifying statement attached to that. Somehow the most simple and beautiful of all commandments can seem to be the most difficult for people. It takes letting go of your pride and realizing that nothing you do makes you any better than anyone else, and that can be a hard pill to swallow.

My goal is to live a life of love. Real love. Not politically correct love, or politeness, or fake acceptance of those around me, or secret judgement, but of true simple love for all of humanity. I struggle with being humble. I am sure that I always will. But I truly, with all my soul believe that God loves all his children equally and that regardless of what each of us choose to do with our lives we are all equal. But I do also believe that the choices we make matter.

I am so grateful that my belief, to the core of my soul, generates the idea that I am the judge of no man or woman. I don't have to worry about other people's sins. I also don't believe that there is a blanket rule for each sin. I believe that sin, intent, degree, etc will all be judged on a deeply personal and intimate level, by a Savior who has a level of love, understanding, and wisdom that I cannot even comprehend, but that I have felt. Because of this belief, I know that my only job is to be the best human being I can be. To love everyone around me. To not put myself above ANYONE for ANY reason. To try and let my life be one of love and happiness and to show people that the way to feel such deep love and happiness and peace is by knowing that you are living the kindest, most genuine, humble, and Christ-like life possible, by devoting yourself to being a genuine and good person.

In the end, we are all sinners and every person make their choices for different reasons. When it comes down to it, I don't care what sin you made for what reason, or whether or not you even believe in sin. To me people are just people and labels are unnecessary. Some of my best friends in the whole world, for whom I have the most respect happen to be gay, some happen to be Mormon, some happen to have gambling, drug, or pornography addictions. As long as their actions are not causing harm, they will always have a safe haven of love, friendship, and respect from me.

But that is just MY belief. And I am grateful to those around me, who believe differently, who challenge me, and keep me humble and well rounded. Who make me search deep in my soul to find what I believe.

Getting to the point

This post has turned into me rambling on a soap box and probably isn't doing anyone any good. But here is my point. Christians don't have to hate gays. Gays don't have to hate Christians.

Religion or lack of it, doesn't have to breed elitist bias.

However, if we want the gay community not to feel hated by Christians, we as Christians have to make it known that we in fact, and in practice, SINCERELY do not look down upon them as of less worth, or with hate in our hearts.

And conversely, to my beloved friends, who happen to be homosexual, if you don't believe in this divide, you should also make your point known.

It is hard to open up to someone with an opposing viewpoint for fear of backlash, of being mocked, rejected, and of having your point of view (which can be deeply personal and sensitive) demeaned.

But if we don't do it, who will?

If I don't reach out in love...who will?

WE'RE IN!!

2011-11-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the letter I sent to a few people today.

DISCLAIMER: I am about to brag extensively about my husband.

Dear close friends and family,

I just wanted to inform you that during his interview at Westminster College in Salt Lake City today Matthew was accepted into their Nurse Anesthesia program on the spot! This is a suprise as they are still conducting interviews for 2 more weeks, and the information they have says to expect to be notified of acceptance decisions by early December! They accept 15 students a year, so it is VERY exciting that they were confident enough in him to grant Matt admission immediately, it was a unannimous decision by the panel.

I am so proud of him, this is a huge accomplishment and we have worked very hard to get here!

He still has interviews at 3 other schools over the next 2 weeks, so I cannot say for certain that we will accept the spot he has been offered at Westminster (which starts in Aug '12), but it is SO nice to have a school in our pockets and will make the next month or 2 of interviews/waiting to hear back from other schools a LOT less stressful!
Anyway, to say the LEAST we are so happy that we will DEFINETLY be starting school next year.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Matt thus far has been requested to interview at EVERY school (of the schools that have made interview requests, that is 6 of the 9 schools we applied to--3 just had their deadlines this week and have not yet made interview decisions). This is a huge accomplishment. Most schools eliminate 50-80% of qualified applicants befor selecting interview candidates, so just getting an interview is encouraging.

There are a few schools we applied to that we would accept an offer from over Westminster, but those schools are also extremely high ranked and SUPER competetive to get into, but since we would be happy to attend Westminster, the pressure is off!

faith & hope

2011-10-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Just one of those days...

2011-09-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like the good you and the bad you are fighting each other?

The good you is like, "C'mon you! You are just being grumpy. You need to be more forgiving, humble, & less selfish. Try doing something for someone else. Think about the cheerful & active person you want to be! You can do it! The only thing holding you back is yourself!"

And then the bad you tells the good you, "To shut the h*ll up" and proceeds to try and force the good you to keep her mouth closed by shoving every single fatty thing into it in sight (or even some not in sight, convincing the good you to drive to the store to get it).

Yeah me neither.

But seriously today is one of those days.

I know I am in a funk today, and I know that I should want to get out of said funk, however I feel somewhat justified (due to the prideful chip on my shoulder) in my selfish irritability, so I have allowed my bad self to dominate my good self (and not in a good/fun kinda way, in the kinda way where everyone around me, including myself loses).

BTW, I love to use parenthesis. (A LOT)

Anyway, I am resolving to do better. To at least want to want the good me to win.

Tomarrah is anotha day! (cause I am gonna let the bad me hold on for just a couple more hours...I still have half a bag of chocolate...don't judge me!)

OK, fine, judge me.

Just to sweeten the pot

2011-09-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

We got her going again just before bedtime, so I had to add a few.

I know.

I am an annoying blissfully in love parent. Indulge me!

What a parent will do...

2011-09-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

To try and get their baby to laugh!!

Please excuse my annoying baby talk (in my sick, raspy, alto chain-smoker voice)

Please also excuse Lily's CONSTANT high pitched baby talk.

But the end result is a giggling Kate. We hear this little laugh from this happy baby a lot at our house, and I am absolutely in love with it. I am even more smitten with her than the day she was born. She is such a fun little person to be around!

Last week Matt was in Globe teaching, and this week he goes back to Payson. Between him being gone and working, Dr's appointments/church stuff/prior commitments & obligations, and all 3 girls being sick it was a pretty stressful week. To top it all off at the end of the week I finally caught the bug the girls had.

Last week, before I got hit by the train that is this awful cold, we decided to paint the rocks that the girls collected while we were camping.

The girls had been couped up inside due to being sick for a week and so I wanted to try and do something fun for them, so I made a batch of cookies and got out some of my painting stuff for them.

Since they weren't feeling well, they apparently also weren't feeling very photogenic...

They loved painting and had a blast...

...but of course, as is the scenario 75% of the time that I try and do something really fun, the end result was still fit throwing.

I guess that when your kids are sick and miserable a mom just can't seem to catch a break. When Matt came down after sleeping (he usually gets up just in time for dinner), he asked, "Why do you even bother?!" Because the girls were both crying, and to be completely honest, this time around I had to agree with the sentiment! Moral of the story, when the kids are sick and whiny, let them be sick and whiny in front of the TV or with their coloring books. Though they had a great time for most of it, I probably should have saved it for a happier day. Bottom line: I am not super mom. I need to accept that and not feel guilty for letting my kids watch movies all day when they are sick. I don't like to let them do it, and I do try and get them to play and we read some books, but a lot of the day is spent in front of the TV, to be honest I don't like to waste a fun activity when they are just going to be miserable no matter what.

Yeah, I know, I am not winning any parenting awards based on this post. When you have 3 kids who all need you every second, and for whom you have to keep medicine schedules and feed, whilst each of them INSISTS upon touching you in some way from the second their eyes open to the second they close, it can get a little tricky. I wish that I could say that when they are sick, I spend the whole day reading books to them and feeding them homemade soup, made with vegetables from my garden, while sitting in a tent made of sheets that we pretend is their fairy princess castle, snuggling them all day, and not feeling grossed out by their sweaty, snotty heads leaving a damp puddle on my lap, and not feeling irritated by the migraine that is developing from listening to the constant whines and moans, but that's just not true.

Wait a sec...this is MY blog I can say whatever I want right? OK, forget what I said before...We painted rocks, the kids were angels, I not only made cookies, but a scrumptious organic dinner (definitely NOT cold cereal), then we snuggled all together (and I LOVED every second of being smothered by 3 sweaty/snotty/feverish bodies) , we sung hymns and read scriptures in the 3 story princess castle I built out of a gum wrapper and a paper clip.

Quiet Time at our house...

2011-09-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

See how well our "quiet time" is going? This is pretty common, during naptime Izzie will come out 4 or 5 times, always in different dress up outfits, always interestingly combined & entertaining. Yesterday it was no pants, a princess top, a soldier helmet, high heels and a sword, I should have gotten a picture of that one! It's always entertaining to say the least, though I do wish she was actually napping...

Isabel is such an interesting little girl. She loves to tease and see just how far she can push the boundaries. She loves to be silly and make people laugh and she is quite the entertainer. She has an ornery streak and loves to let you see her break the rules, just to gage your reaction. She is stubborn and strong willed, and tries to use her cuteness to get out of trouble. That being said she is also the most snugly and affectionate little girl around (when its on her terms and she's in the mood for it). She can be so sweet and she loves to make her sisters laugh. She is a great big sister to Kate and is always looking out for her. She in general is a high energy, fun person to be around. She makes me laugh every single day and is always surprising me. She adds such a fun (and at times frustrating) dynamic to our family and I love being her mom. Though of the 3 kids we have so far, the thought of her as a teenager terrifies me the most! Anyway, she has been so sick this week that I am feeling pretty soft-hearted toward her at the moment, so when she came out in this outfit, instead of scolding her to get back to bed, I had to laugh and give her a snuggle and take a pic! I wanted to document this phase, because I love the dress up and make believe phase of growing up!

This week's journal entry (exciting I know!)

2011-09-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

This week has been one of those weeks where not any one specific thing makes it a stressful week, but where lots of little things come together to form a constant barrage stress/irritation. Its all fine and I am in relatively good spirits, but I feel that deep down sense of tiredness and lack of patience.

Matt started his first week of actual teaching for EAC's nursing program as a clinical instructor, and he LOVED it. This makes me happy! As a clinical instructor he gets to work in the sim. lab with students teaching them practical skills/application and he also goes with them and is responsible for them/oversees them when they go on their clinical rotations at the hospital. This semester he is going to be working a lot in Payson and Globe, which means that when he has all day lab/clinical days he also drives 4 hours round trip. Which means he is gone extra time = a sad wife. I am actually really happy that he is enjoying it, I am sure that it is affirming his desire to teach after he stops practicing one day. It is always nice to have a husband who really enjoys what he is doing. It makes it a lot easier to have him gone. I am really grateful for the opportunity and it is good stuff, but the selfish side of me wishes that he were home. I thought about pretending to be the do-it-all wife and mom who doesn't need his help around the house and is super busy and independent and doesn't mind when he is gone as long as he is happy...but you all probably know better than that anyway! I always miss him when he is gone.

Last Saturday Lily woke up sick. Really sick. And she still is sick! It is hanging on forever and the cough that accompanies it is horrible. Wednesday Isabel started getting it. (Boopah also got it later in the day on Sat). Both my big girls sound like pubescent boys. I feel so bad for them every time they get a coughing fit, you can tell that it just hurts. It always breaks my heart when they are sick and you can't do anything about it. Sometimes with kids they get sick, you know, runny nose/fever/general cold stuff, but they don't seem TOO miserable and after a couple days they are better and the whole experience isn't too bad. This is not one of those times. I think that Lily is finally starting to feel a bit better, she is wanting to play some and not just lay around, but she is still hacking and coughing. It has been a week, and Isabel has only been sick for a couple of days, which means I probably still have another week of sickies ahead of me. (which is depressing!)

Kate thankfully hasn't gotten it (yet at least...knock on wood). She did however cut her first tooth yesterday! Hooray! I wasn't expecting it since she got it about 3 months sooner than my other kids! This does mean however that she has also had a fever (though her's is low) and been whiny and miserable. So in general 3 whiny kids + an absent husband = a tired mommy, who by the end of the week is running out of patience! I had a couple of days in a row where I had maybe a half hour between 5am and 8 pm where I didn't have at least one kid touching me. Sweaty, feverish, whiny kids. I love them with all my heart, but it is very difficult to get ANYTHING done in that kind of situation (IE go potty, cook meals, make bottles, etc). They are also so sick that they wake up miserable as soon as their meds wear off so I am up a couple times a night with miserable kids.

This is all typical mom stuff, and I wouldn't trade it for the world! It can be exhausting after several days though.

We also have been very busy getting the finishing touches on some school applications this week! Hooray! We have mailed everything we can for 5 schools this week (hopefully his references have also mailed their letters in time...)! It is SO exciting! I am really hoping that when I call the schools next week they tell me that everything is received/complete! We are also REALLY close to having the app's finished for 3 more schools. It is just hard because with Matt's new schedule he maybe has one random day a week, here and there (some weeks 2 and some weeks none, depending on EA's clinicals). And on those days he obviously has a lot to do, and mostly just wants to be able to relax and spend time with the girls. These 3 app's aren't due until Oct 1st, 31st, & Nov 1st, but I am anxious to just get them done so that I don't have so many files/resumes/application information/essays/references to keep organized. It will be nice to have them all completely done, and not have to stress about making sure they are all done correctly/in time.

Of course, once they are all done, we will then just have to stress out while we wait to hear back (or not...) from the schools. Its trading one kind of stress for another, but at least on Matt's days off he won't actually have to do anything for school. Although, it is incredibly likely that we will not get into any of the 8 schools this first round and around Christmas we will have to start this process again. Most of these schools accept 5-15% of their applicants, Which mean that there is a 85-95% chance of rejection. I am hopeful though. Matt has a good resume and good grades/test scores. Who knows though...Like I said, its a whole other can of stress.

Anyway, I could ramble on about more of the mundane parts of my life, but you have probably already fallen asleep twice while reading this, or let's be honest, skipped this post entirely due to lack of pictures...

August in a nutshell...

2011-09-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

My girls have taken to crawling into each other's bed pretty much every night. They play until they fall asleep. I must say that I love it. Sure sometimes when they are still awake at 9pm & causing a ruckus...or fighting (in each other's beds pinching each other, stealing blankets, pulling hair...and tattling about it all), I don't love it as much. But for the most part they play together so well and love being together. I know that there will be lots of times in the future where that might not be the case, so for now I am enjoying it. They are so sweet and I wish that I could freeze time and make them stop growing up so fast!

Matt's Grandma snuggling Kate (from whom she gets half her middle name Lou"Anne")

Kate's finally big enough that we can throw all 3 girls into the bath together, which they love, and which expedites the process!

We went camping with Matt's parents, & Barry's, & Heather's families in mid-Aug. It was lots of fun. Matt found out after we already had our reservations that he had an all day clinical instructor's meeting in Thatcher the first day our our scheduled trip (He is a clinical instructor for EAC's Nursing program starting this fall - exciting stuff!). So he joined us in Sedona late that night, which made a long day of driving for him, he left for Thatcher at quarter to 5 in the morning, drove the 3 hours, was in a meeting all day, then that late afternoon left thatcher and made the 5.5 hour drive to Sedona. He did however get to miss out on packing/loading/driving with the girls/setting up camp/lunch/dinner/etc, so don't feel TOO sorry for him :) It rained quite a lot that first day, so I got to set up/unload in the rain. Thank goodness Nana & Boopah came and watched the girls (they had a condo nearby) so I could set up without worrying about them. Everyone got wet and dirty, but it all worked out! And I also learned that our tent leaked...A LOT! :)

The girls sure brought back a great rock collection!

We were right on Oak Creek, it was a great spot.

Tom was a great sport and often watched lots of extra kids on hikes/walks. Here he took Isabel down to see the water (my kids weren't allowed anywhere near it without and adult)

We were able to jump in and cool off during the warmest part of the day, which was perfect!

jumping off a rock in the middle of the creek

J. loved to make Kate laugh

Telling ghost stories

Iz getting Aunt Heather snuggles

I CAN'T believe how big Miss J. is getting. It literally blows my mind. I can't imagine what it will be like when we come home after grad school and she is driving around and is certainly going to be taller than me. She was very sweet and snuggled miss Kate/hauled her around with her while we loaded up.

Nana & the kids

And of course a camping trip wouldn't be complete without a little drama...

Lily started preschool the day after we got back from camping. Believe it or not the following pictures are the best (we took LOTS trying to get a good shot) pictures of Lily on her (last!) first day of preschool. Next year she'll be in kindergarten!

Some days even the cutest kids (excuse my bias) REFUSE to be photogenic!

The pic below is of Lily starting preschool last year, see how big they've gotten!

Congrats, if you made it this far! And congrats to me! August is blogged and its only th first week of Sept, which means I am fully caught up! Woohoo! Now I can blog guilt free!

July 2011

2011-09-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

We had a super busy July. Seriously. After "editing down" my pics from the month I still had almost 900. It is crazy. This is the reason that I have not posted about it. It was a SUPER fun/busy/stressful/expensive month. But the thought of going through all the pics and deciding which ones to put up and also, wanting to write about it, but not wanting this blog to take up any more space than it is already going to (brace yourself for pic overload-and i am leaving 90% of it out!), the thought was overwhelming. so I have been putting it off. But its Sept and time for me to man up and get over it!

Here is the short version, Matt took an expensive summer school class in order to cover our boodies with ASU. We could have petitioned to a committee (which petition we were assured would be granted), but that committee didn't meet until Sept, and we have other applications due Sept 15th. We have NO faith that even if the petition went through with flying colors (which it should! we were SO wronged by those jerks!) ASU would put together the paperwork in order to have his graduation go through and be sent to the necessary schools by their application deadline. So we bent over, shelled out the cash, took the class, graduated and had the transcripts transferred before the committee ever met. After all the drama we just decided to play it safe. I am trying to be quick so that is all I'll say...except that it is SO fun to have your full-time working hubby back in school after thinking he is done.

At the beginning of the month we spent a week in Utah for Matt's family reunion. We drove to St George, met my mom there, got adjoining rooms so she could watch the kids for the night while Matt and I went and saw The Little Mermaid at Tuacan. FUN! Then went up to SLC for the reunion. Had lots of fun. It was a lot of driving with 3 little kids 4 and under. We had lots of potty and snack/run around breaks, but it was a great experience!

Matt's extended Family watching the fireworks

This did not happen NEARLY enough

Stopped for lunch in St George on the drive home, we did the drive home in one day and met up with tom & heather & nana & boopah

Anybody want to make the below family pic into a blog header for me? Anyone?...Bueller?

This happened quite frequently...

Oh and I also got my FIRST ever speeding ticket on this trip. UGH! If this post wasn't already crazy long, I'd complain more.

Love this girl.

Deep in thought...

Marilyn Monroe?

This began Izzie's obsession with needing to be snuggled back to sleep in the middle of the night, she started while we were gone and we allowed it since we were in a strange house (a rental for the week), but is trying to continue even now...

We had fun with sparklers after we got home

We went to Thatcher for the 24th of July celebrations. SO fun. Spent some time at the cabin on Mt Graham, watched the parade and fireworks, took the kids around to the different games and booths, spent time with family, spent time with some lovely friends whom I love with all my heart but didn't take any pics of. It was fantastic!

At the cabin. I grew up on Mt Graham and I love getting to take my kiddos!

Ava trying to teach Lily to put the ball string around her neck and under her shirt to make "boobies". Kids!

parade. the girls thought the fire trucks were too loud

games

we got to spend some time with Kenneth and Beth at the festivities

My GG. She means the world to me.

Feeding the ducks, another thing I grew up doing

Hermione & Kate

2011-09-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

I adore this actress. Hermione is my favorite and I think that I may have hate just about anyone else who played this part, but I thought that Emma was SO fantastic as Hermione. I also just love her. Here is one of the many reasons why

"I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me - dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. It’s nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn’t do that. Personally, I don’t actually think it’s even that sexy. What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder. - Emma Watson

As a young-ish person and a mom with 3 little girls I SO appreciate this kind of down to earth, self respecting kind of position! Hooray!

Also on another girlie-role model topic, here is another quote I love in commenting on this cover shot:

Kate Winslet said: “The retouching is excessive. I do not look like that and more importantly I don’t desire to look like that. I actually have a Polaroid that the photographer gave me on the day of the shoot… I can tell you they’ve reduced the size of my legs by about a third. For my money it looks pretty good the way it was taken.”

Wouldn't it be nice, and good for all of our body-images if more celebrities were honest about the re-touching/complete re-shaping of their bodies that happens in editing? All those new celebrity mom's on the covers of magazines telling all about how they "got their body back" in 6 weeks, putting pressure on normal people to look like they do in their bikini on the cover a couple months after giving birth. Those images are SO edited and not realistic and not good for anyone's perceptions.

Anyway, not to go on a feminist rant or anything, these are just 2 quotes that I find so refreshing and down to earth that I want to remember them, and I want my kids to remember them!

May & June 2011

2011-08-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

What?? I am posting blogs entitled May and June and it is halfway through Aug...SILENCE you!!

I will admit that the Summer of 2011 has completely gotten away with me. I have had no time and even less motivation...

That being said, I am hoping to "picture blog" May and June, and in another post hopefully get July done this week. Picture blogging means that I will miss typing all the wonderful commentary on great events like Matt's B-day, Father's Day, vacations, etc. But honestly I just can't sit down at this time and write out all the great (and not so great) and busy things that have been going on here for the past 4 months, and the longer I put it off the more stories pile up, so I will just put up pics and you can get the abbrev. version of our summer! :)

Birthday presents from the girls above, below is the chocolate cake (from scratch...that's me tooting my own horn in case you aren't familiar with my bragging) that Matt has requested in advance for pretty much every year for the rest of his life. (The frosting is homemade cookies and cream, that's what the brown chunks are in case you're wondering)

One of my favorite things to do as a mom, ever since Lily was born is sneak into the room at night and peek at the girls while they are sleeping. There is something so sweet about a sleeping baby/child. It always warms my heart. Izzie is my CRAZY sleeper and she never fails to disappoint me when I check on the girls before bed. She is always sleeping in some crazy manner and it is always good for a laugh! Unfortunately for you, most nights she ends up stripping off her jammies once she is in bed and sleeping only in her undies, so most of the pictures I have of her crazy sleeping habits are undies only and I won't be posting those, but her are some other ones. She fell asleep during a family party on the couch like this for about 45 minutes.

She started out asleep on the couch, but rolled off and it didn't even phase her, she slept here on the floor for another hour or two.

Isabel is also my most wild and crazy child while awake, she is super accident prone as well. She definitely LEAPS before she looks.

The top photo is of her black eye/cut. This is the first black eye at our house (except for the ones I routinely give Matt to keep him in check...) She almost took her eye out on the corner of a table, it was a lot more purple the next day, but I didn't manage to get a pic. The below is us in Urgent care after getting her lip glued shut. She put her teeth through her bottom lip after tripping and smacking her face on a bench. The inside of her mouth was cut up pretty badly and she will always probably have a little scar just below her lip, they offered the name of a plastic surgeon and suggested we take her to minimize scarring, but seriously! She's two! When I was a kid NO ONE in their right mind would have suggested taking a 2 year old to a plastic surgeon to avoid a small scar. Times have certainly changed my friends. Hope she doesn't resent it when she grows up!

I sure do love that wild and crazy little girl. Luckily she is one tough cookie and always handles her "ouchies" well. She didn't cry at all while the PA cleaned out her mouth and glued the outside shut, I am just glad that if she has to be accident prone (these 2 pics don't even come close to covering it) and least she is tough as well!

Kate continues to put the Sunshine in my sky and Lily is turning into such a big girl I can hardly stand it. Please stop growing up Lily. Stay my sweet, kind, obedient, innocent and thoughtful girl!!! She learns something new everyday and is so inquisitive. She is definitely a smarty pants!

We had an "in-town" reunion for Matt's mom's side of the family. Because of Matt's work schedule we had to miss lots of things but we were there for the Saturday activities which included swimming and lunch/a carnival at the church. It was lots of fun!

They put all the kids names in a hat and had a prize drawing and my 2 big girls were the first 2 names drawn! Talk about luck!

Ring toss

Chariot races

My mom and Hank came to town and we all went to see "Les Miserables" at Gammage. It was SOOOOO good. Unbelievable. We got the tickets for them for Christmas and it was great. LOVED IT!

The girls had their first summer ever of swimming lessons and LOVED it! Isabel was pretty opposed to it initially, she screamed the ENTIRE first lesson and cried for most of the second (however she was a good sport and did everything that was asked of her, she just sobbed while doing it). But "Miss Jessica" (a good friend of ours) was great with both girls and by the 3rd lesson we were all smiles! They loved it!

We had a BIG father's day breakfast and both girls made ties for dad this year, here he is modeling them

Well folks there ya have it! A very abbreviated version of the first half of our summer! Stay tuned for our adventures in July!

On a Happier Note...

2011-06-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today I finished reading the Old Testament. If you remember back to this post I talked about my family's Christmas traditions and at the very end I talked about my favorite tradition, the "Jesus Stocking". This year one of my gifts to Christ was to read the entire LDS standard works (Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants) before next Christmas.

I started on January first of this year and I just finished with the Old Testament, which is almost halfway through the works (its just shy of 1200 pages). I am happy to report that I am on track to complete my goal and that I am SOOO glad that I am doing this project. I have learned so much and my knowledge, understanding, and testimony have grown so much.

I will say that there is some crazy stuff in the Old Testament! It is sometimes hard for me to reconcile the vengeful and punishing God of Leviticus with the merciful and tender savior of Psalms and Proverbs (which is the God that I feel like I know). Reading the Old Testament straight through at a fast pace and also studying the accompanying Institute manual as I went (which provides the LDS perspective on a lot of the cultural traditions of the time and also thoughts on mis-translation) has helped me understand the events of the Bible and have a better understanding of some of the things that seem insane the first time you read it. A lot of the Old Testament is harsh and violent and I was glad for a guide more than one time!

Anyway, this project has enriched my life more than I can state and I am SO excited to begin studying Christ's ministry in the New Testament. I am so grateful for the scriptures and for a loving God who has provided prophets, and scriptures and ministration, again and again since the beginning of time in order to help us come to the knowledge of His LOVE and GRACE. I truly know that God lives, that He has always existed and that his greatest desire is to bring about our eternal happiness and joy.

Bitter Frustration...

2011-06-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

I am heartbroken and frustrated. Is it the end of the world? No. Will life go on and be just fine? Yes. But have we just wasted a few thousand dollars and a lot of time spent doing class work/away from the family? Yeppers. Sure have!

Here is the run-down. Last year in 2010 Matt completed his RN-BSN program at ASU. Matt has been an RN since 2007 and the RN-BSN program is one year straight through and a bit of a joke. The RN-BSN students learn nothing new clinically or medically, it is all research and management techniques. He hated every second of it. Though Matt has hundreds of elective hours taken from Junior Colleges, he needed to get a few extra electives from a four year university. Now these electives DO NOT have to be “upper division”, they can be the EXACT same class he took at EAC or any other JC, they just have to be from a 4 year institution. Why? Who knows??!! Probably so that you spend more money, since 4 year university tuition is like twice as expensive as Junior College tuition.

So Matt decided to take some religion classes on-line from BYU. He called his advisor to make sure that these credits would transfer and we shelled out the “4 year university” tuition prices for a bunch of lower division classes, to “fluff” out his degree. Which is pointless and frustrating in the first place, gotta love that we are forced to take classes that don’t contain any content pertinent to his degree that cost our family time and money. Anyway, Matt completes these classes and calls ASU to see if they accept electronic transcripts in early May, since it is cheaper to request electronic transcripts from BYU and LSU (another place Matt took a class from) than it is to request paper transcripts. Yes they told us, we accept electronic transcripts have them sent to “this” address. So we did, we then waited the appropriate 7 days before calling when they still had not shown up on his DARS report (aka in ASU’s system as received). Well we call and they HAVE received them so they will enter them in. This motivates them and the next day his LSU class shows up on his DARS report…But not the BYU classes. So we call again. Now we are told that they DON’T accept electronic transcripts by someone else. We explain that we were told otherwise and that in fact he has already been given credit for his LSU transcripts which were sent electronically. The woman on the phone says that in that case we should double check with BYU to make sure they were sent properly. We do. BYU re-sends them. We wait the appropriate amount of time. We call ASU again. We are now told that they STILL have not received them and that even if they had that they absolutely do NOT accept electronic transcripts. But what about our LSU transcripts which were delivered in EXACTLY the same way and were received and evaluated just fine? Well, they don’t know about that…But oh wait, they HAVE the BYU transcripts in their hand now, but they won’t enter them in, even though 2 weeks ago we were instructed to do it this way, and they used the LSU ones which were done in the same format.

So now we call BYU AGAIN and this time pay for them to overnight (because after 2 weeks we are approaching application deadlines—for which everything else is complete, we only need Matt’s ASU transcript to say he is finished) the paper transcripts (which was EXPENSIVE). So BYU overnights them. After 6 days of getting the run around and being told that enough time has not gone by for us to start complaining yet (because they are basing this on when the overnight package shipped, not from the start of all this crap 2 weeks previous), we finally get through to someone who enters in the transcripts! Hallelujah! Though at this point we had already missed our June 1st deadline, we could still make 3 other school’s deadlines if it was all complete by the 15th. We breathe a huge sigh when we are told that his transcripts have been entered in and will be evaluated!

BUT wait!!! We pull up his DARS report and it says he is still 3 credits short of graduation! How can this be??? For some reason they have assigned 0 credit points for 3 of the credits he took from BYU. Surely this is just some mistake! We were assured that BYU’s credits would transfer flawlessly. That is part of the reason we took 10 credits from them (7 of which transferred without a hitch, but 3 of which ASU will not accept). Anyway, after another week of talking to at least a dozen (unsympathetic and cold) people and the buck being passed from one department to another, we still don’t know exactly who entered the transcript info in and why those 3 credits won’t count, but apparently no one has any power to do anything about it.

Matt’s advisor has apologized to us, stating that they have NEVER had the slightest hiccup with BYU transfers before, and that she feels that we have been wronged by ASU’s establishment, which is polite of her, but far too little too late. She provided us with a petition to graduate with less than the required credits, which will have to go to a committee in their next meeting…the time of which is still undetermined. She also lets us know that if it were up to her, we would already have a diploma. Actually a couple of other people in various departments told us that too. They have no power to change what has already been put in. They have power to enter in, and aren’t sure why we aren’t getting credit…but no power to override, and apparently the closely guarded people who have that power (who we aren’t allowed to actually speak to…)are unsympathetic. FRUSTRATING! So now we either shell out MORE money to take ANOTHER 3 credit class for ASU’s second summer session, or petition and hope that the powers that be allow him to graduate…though that could take an “undetermined” amount of time.

We will now miss all our summer application deadlines (for which applications we have already spent hundreds of dollars in fees, transcript, & documentation transfers, not to mention TIME). So instead of starting school in January, we will hope for starting next Fall.

Our lives will not end, but our love for ASU certainly has.

Name this CAR!

2011-06-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

We got a new car! woohoo! Here it is! Now we need to name it...any suggestions?

I hate buying a car...

2011-05-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

I know to some people it might seem like fun, but to me it is just a LOT of stress. There is no way to know if the car will suddenly go downhill in a year (unless you buy new, which I would never do). Even if it is dealer "certified" that is no guarantee. I want to know I got a good deal and be super happy with my car. We bought the Escape 3 years ago and it is all paid off, we have had a good experience with it, but I still feel like I should have paid 1-2 thousand bucks less on the "out-the-door" price, but that is the only negative I have about it. We will keep it, and it has retained its value well (it's worth about 5 grand less--according to KBB private party--than we paid for it over 3 years ago so that is pretty good). I have no desire to part with it any time soon, I am a pay the car off as quickly as possible and keep it for as long as possible type of girl.

Anyway, we can barely squeeze our family into the escape, and we will probably start trying for another baby in another 6-7 months or so (after Kate turns one-which seems really soon to me this time around, but it is our standard time frame). Plus we need to buy one before school, since Matt won't be working then. We have been pre-approved for an interest rate which I am very happy with, and for more money than I want to spend, now I just have to find the right car.

So if you know anyone who is trying to sell a sweet mini-van , or a Ford expedition EL (I would REALLY like to have the extra cargo space), or a similar full size SUV, with relatively low miles, in good condition for a fair price please shout out. I would just love to know that I am getting an honest deal.

I wish I had a crystal ball. This totally stresses me out. Plus I am impatient.

Random Pictures

2011-05-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Everybody says that Kate looks nothing like my other girls. However, I think she looks similar (especially to Lily) but just has COMPLETELY different coloring. Am I crazy? Does anyone else see it, or does she look totally different to you too? Here is a comparison pic of them all around Kate's current age.

Here are some random pics I took of the girls a couple days ago.

Here are some pics I took on my phone that my amazing & wonderful brother Charlie emailed me. I don't have a data package & my phone is super cheap & ghetto, but charlie let me text him these & he emailed them! Thanks for catering to my whims & being such a great big bro & uncle! Love you!

Lily in the ER

Gymnastics!

2011-05-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

Both Lily & Isabel have been in Gymnastics this spring. They love it! Miss Katie is so great and the girls just love her, and so do I! Katie is one of those people who when you first meet her you think that she must be really mean and awful or else have something seriously wrong with her because she is so gorgeous and outgoing and perfectly put together, but then you get to know her and she is sweet as pie and absolutely wonderful (ok, clearly I am an awful person who has some desire to hate people who are better than me!?? But really I don't want to *hate* them I just have a secret hope that they are somehow defected so that I don't have to feel so bad about myself...yikes...I need therapy). Anyway, she is definetly one of the 'cool kids', but you can't help but like her anyway! She also runs the adult gymnastics/fitness classes that compel me to get off my bootie and I am really enjoying them and super grateful to her for doing them.

Get ready for a million pictures, because I couldn't bring myself to leave any out!

Helping with clean-up!

Getting her certificate and treat5

On saturday Lily had her first "performance". She was SO excited & talked about it all week non-stop. Uncle Charlie, Nana, & Boopah all came to watch. Just before it was her turn she got really scared and ran over to me crying, but with a few words of encouragement she did it even though she was scared. It wasn't her best run through it by any means, but I was so proud of her for being brave.

Schools out for SUMMER!

2011-05-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

Lily had a great first year of preschool! This week it is over and for their final day they had a "water day". Lily had a great time and keeps telling me how much she is going to miss school and miss all her friends!

back to life...

2011-05-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

We are now just about completely recovered from everybody being sick. About a week after Lily got better (the first time) she started complaining about hip pain. This seemed weird she had never done anything like this before,and the first time she complained about it, she came into my room after being asleep for a few hours and said her hip hurt really bad, but I figured that she probably just slept on it wrong so I sent her back to bed. She came in 3 more times that night, I eventually gave her some motrin (mostly just to satisfy her) and the next day she was still complaining about the pain, but not as much. She was still walking and playing, she was grouchy, but I assumed it was because she didn't get much sleep. As we got closer to lunch she started acting sick and got a fever. I gave her tylenol and piggy backed motrin just before she went to bed, when she got up from her nap 2 hours later, she walked out, I took one look at her and my mommy-sense knew that she was really sick, and that something was wrong. I took her temp and it was 103.9 (this was with both tylenol & motrin in her system) normally I wait for fevers to stick around for a couple days before calling the Dr, but I just really didn't feel right. I called the Dr's office and they had an opening half an hour later which I snagged. It takes about 20 minutes for us to drive there so I immediately woke up Isabel (which is hard to do and boy was she grumpy) and got Kate dressed in something she hadn't yet spit up on and set off. The Dr was pretty convinced that she had a bone infection and sent us to the ER. It ended up NOT being a bone infection (thank goodness!--that would have meant at least 2 weeks in the hospital int he best case senario and possibly surgery). They did lots of tests Xrays, blood, urine, etc and Lily was so brave. They eventually hooked her up to an IV and administered antibiotics. The staff was so great with her and she didn't cry a single time. Every time they did a new scary procedure they would give her something or let her pick something. She ended up with 2 different sticker sheets, a coloring packet with crayons, a stuffed animal (she picked a worm), and a big coloring poster that she picked out shown below. While we were there she didn't care about her stuff that much (except for snuggling her worm) she felt too awful to get excited, but once we were home and she was feeling better she was so happy to have so much cool stuff from Daddy's hospital.

Everyone being sick led to a lot of slacking around the house. Example:

Laundry is the only drawback to having more kids in my mind.

Isabel continues to be in Kate's face constantly (over-loving her), but Kate always bears it in patience.

Katie has learned to roll over, she is geting so big I can't stand it.

Mid-roll

and another one just for fun

Enjoy the weather!

2011-05-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

...before the triple digits kill any desire I have to be outside!

The girls spend several hours each day outside & its great! They have been loving the chalk they got from the Easter bunny. In the picture above you can see where Lily drew a flower in grass with a blue cloud floating by and a flying bumble bee (which we all call an "Izzie Bee"--except Izzie, she calls it "my bee" and truly believes that it is HER bee. She also calls all lady bugs "Lily's bee" since we call her lily bug)

Lily is always great to spend lots of time pushing her little sister in the swing, I really don't think there is a better 4 year old big sister to be found anywhere in the world!

showing me her sad face...

Here she is being her typical family performer/comedian self!

Earl Jam/Easter Weekend

2011-05-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

Every year Boopah hosts what he calls "Earl Jam". People bring their instruments (mostly guitars) and each couple (or individual) who comes is responsible for performing 2 songs. Its lots of fun. This year I wasn't planning on doing anything, but boopah asked me to sing one number with him & 2 weeks before Earl Jam I decided to learn a song to surprise Matt with, which ended up being more difficult than I thought it would be since our whole family got sick and I couldn't sing and Matt didn't go to work for a whole week leading up to Earl Jam, so I couldn't practice (or else I would ruin the surprise). Plus the night of Earl Jam I was still pretty sick, Matt felt crappy enough that he didn't perform anything, but I felt like I couldn't bail out on my # with boopah, so I at least had to do that one, so I might as well do both. Anyway, feeling like crap aside, it was a fun night.

By the way, in case you are wondering the song I sang for Matt was Paramore's "The only exception". Its kinda my life story.

The next day was the Saturday before Easter, so even though we were all sick and completely worn out from acting "well" the night before and pushing our bodies too hard, we dyed eggs for the Easter Bunny. This was one of my favorite activities growing up (Easter was my favorite holiday), and I knew the girls had been looking forward to it. They LOVED it, so it was, of course, worth it!

Daddy entertained Kate while the big girls dyed eggs.

The next day the Bunny had hid the eggs around the house & the girls loved finding them. Here are some examples.

He also left baskets with chalk, a big candy egg, and drawing pads. All big hits. Mom and Dad (Matt and I) also give Easter presents, every year they get a book - this year they got books that go with their Tag readers, and we also gave them some fun socks (which were technically from my mom).

This is Isabel's sad face, she was showing me that Tinkerbell is sad in this picture

Matt's whole family gathered for Easter dinner and our traditional cousin's egg hunt. We had a delicious traditional meal (ham, funeral potatoes, homemade rolls, jello, veggies, deviled eggs, etc). I felt like utter garbage, I had woken up with the crazy ear infection mentioned in my previous post, but Janeal made the delicious giant Easter egg sugar cookie with fruit topping so that made having a celebration here while feeling yucky totally worth it. It was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me.

The adults went outside after dinner to be the bunny's helpers and help hide eggs. Aunt Mandy took the kids into the 'extra room' in the garage that has no windows so that they couldn't peek.

Matt and Barry have a fun relationship. They crack me up. If you have ever seen the Ryan Reynold's movie "Just Friends", they pretty much ARE the brothers in that movie. (PS that is not a recommendation to see this if you have standards... its not a family friendly movie)

Then the kids lined up to start the hunt!

The bubbles inside of the eggs were a big hit. There was an assortment of candy, stickers, and toys.

Lily has recently become a little monkey climbing the trees

Brig got himself completely wedged in and stuck in the tree, Barry had to come to his rescue

Then in Earl holiday tradition the kids got to frost and decorate sugar cookies...

...which for Izzie means she got to eat lots of frosting and sprinkles :)

Anyway, the kids had a blast. It was a good Easter, minus the sickness.

Not gonna apologize

2011-04-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

So normally this is when I would feel super guilty for being LAME and not blogging anything in over a month, especially when I was behind a month ago as well, but not today. I will give you excuses [school, being busy, stress out the wazoo, responsibility, and for the past 2 weeks my ENTIRE family has been trying to survive a deadly (or at least it feels like death) cold], but I won't apologize. :) This is my blog and its mostly for my memories and so I am not gonna feel bad for the month break. It was much needed. You wouldn't have wanted to hear me whining and venting about how hard my life is anyway right? Though I, and the rest of my family, except Kate, are all still sick and pretty miserable. Kate is thankfully better, she got it first. I would probably be better except I got ear and sinus infections after I started to feel the tiniest bit better. Yes I realize that I am not 6 months old and I have no idea why I got an ear infection, its like the 2nd one I have ever had. Kinda crazy, and painful. But did I mention that I am not gonna whine? Because I am not. This isn't whining right?...

Anyway, because I still don't feel great I am just going to post pictures with little bits of caption to tell you what we are up to. I am not going to cover the past week, because it was busy and I have a couple hundred pics to go through just from the last week and I am not up for that yet, but I will catch you up through mid-April! Can't ask for more than that right?

Lots of exhaustion

A trip to the Zoo to celebrate the fact that both girls are staying 'dry' through the night regularly! Woohoo! Haven't had a wet bed in over a month!

LOTS of fits thrown. Isabel is the reigning Queen, add on top of that all of us feeling sick and there has been lots of crying at our house...just what a sick mommy needs right?

Due to the great weather, we have tried to spend as much time outside as possible (when we haven't been too sick!) to enjoy it before it gets crazy hot

We have had lots of time with cousins over to play

STILL

THE

SWEETEST

SMILIEST

BABY EVER!

Her friend Cecelia had a fairy birthday party --She had SOO much fun!

My mom came to town for a day and brought my GG's quilting frames so we could tie the quilt I made for Kate

Due to all the congestion Kate spent alot of time sleeping in the swing, bouncer, and car seat

Kate loves playing with her toys and has gotten very good at grabbing them

Katie on her finished quilt

Kate turned 4 months and got to start eating baby food!

The girls decorated a birthday cake for me

I had a GREAT and quiet birthday. Matt got me a Kindle and it is the best b-day present EVER. I have been reading SO much and I love it. I also got to joyride in my bro-in-law Tommy's new car (a BMW 3 series convertable), and that was SOOO fun! He's lucky that I ever brought it back! And I am lucky that I didn't pass any cops...

I know that I am leaving out a lot, but c'est la vie!

SOO behind!

2011-03-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

Gosh! I am so awful, I literally have spent the past 6 weeks being a slave to responsibility and 'adulthood'. It has not been very much fun for me personally, and I have had NO time to blog since I generally put that in the 'me time' category and I have done NOTHING in that category except sleep and shower! (except for a new Tuesday night workout/gymnastics class--which I am loving by the way!) Anyway, now I am SOOOOO behind on blogging and overwhelmed at the amount of stuff I had planned to blog on, so this will probably be skimpy and mostly pics, which always makes me sad because I wanted to comment on lots of the events of the past month and a half and thought to myself several times, "I HAVE to remember to put this on my blog so I don't forget it"...and whoops! I have forgotten more than half of them I bet!

Since February was a big month with Lily's B-day and a trip to Thatcher, I am just gonna cover February and then I will catch up March in the next post.

Anyway, we had a great Valentine's Day. We (and by we I mean I acting on behalf of 'we') got the girls little gifts, including chocolate since they are our Valentines. Izzie, showing me her chocolate...NICE!

We also got Kate a car seat toy thingy. See her enthusiasm...

I got Matt 8 gifts since this is our 8th Valentine's Day as a couple. Valentine's is actually the Anniversary of Matt and my first day as an exclusive couple. He told me he loved me for the first time late on the 13th (so it probably was technically the 14th though neither of us were even thinking about V-day at the time), and I decided to give him a shot, never thinking it would end up this way! So I like to celebrate Valentines, even though I was pretty skeptical that first year, in fact I like to celebrate it because I am so grateful to Matt for putting himself out there and being a champ wading through my pessimism. My response to his first declaration of love was literally (gasp!) (look of disbelieving shock) (Narrowed angry eyes) "We'll see" said grumpily. Pretty lame, huh? Like I said at the time I really didn't think it was going to work out so well and we were technically fighting when he brought it up, so I was pretty jaded and closed off. But I am glad it DID work out and so I like to be extra sweet to Matt for putting up with me being such a skeptic that first year.

We have been playing outside a lot lately since the weather has been so nice.

I decorated my first Primary Bulletin Board as the Secretary for our Church's primary (children's organization for kids up to 12). In order to make it more exciting I decorated it in a pirate theme and made it a big treasure map

I also did an 'Articles of Faith' section, which states the principles of our faith. It was fun getting to be creative.

The day before Lily's birthday is her Nana's (Matt's mom) birthday. She had to take cupcakes to an event the night before her b-day so we had cake at the house, so we (I) decided to make her a big cookie instead of a birthday cake. I let Lily decide what shape to make it in, I was trying to sway to towards a heart shape, but she chose a flower, so I tried to mold a big flower by hand out of cookie dough and have it bake through. It turned out OK looking, but tasted DELICIOUS! :)

I let the girls pick out the colors and help me decorate it.

The next day Izzie pulled a chair over and licked half the frosting off while I was in the other room.

Heather and Mandy came over to take their mom to lunch

The next day was Lily's birthday

She got to go to school and bring treats and be the special helper.

She loves school and her teachers SO much, so I am really glad that her B-day fell on a school day so that she could go to school.

After school we went to peter piper with Nana for lunch.

We went straight from Peter Piper to Thatcher for a long weekend. When we got there we of course then had to do a little mini celebration at my mom's house.

Lily requested my mom make a "Jessie and Bullseye" cake, so my mom whipped this up and I think it turned out AWESOME. Have I mentioned what a talented lady she is?

Saturday we had a birthday party with my family.

Isabel is my little actress and loves to watch herself cry in the mirror...it CRACKS me up...for now.

Lily got some Lincoln Logs for her birthday and had some fun with them.

So did the boys...

Sunday afternoon is snowed/sleeted/hailed which was the first time Lily had ever seen any of the white stuff fall (Izzie was napping), so that was pretty cool!

Sunday night we played games with my family, and we played funny bones which is awesome and hilarious.

This is Beth and her boyfriend Kenneth (this isn't the most flattering picture of them...sorry guys) Kenneth is Lily's first crush, MAJOR. It is pretty cute.

In general it was a great time, Matt went to the Library everyday to do homework and I did homework at my mom's and spent time with the family. The days went by too fast and we were all sad to leave.

After we got back from Thatcher, Isabel finished potty training and was in big girl panties permanently!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!! This has CHANGED MY LIFE! Can't over-express how awesome this is! She has been such a breeze after Lily & I owe her my sanity for it.

We also moved the girls into the same room & Isabel into a big girl bed, so that Kate could move into her old room & into the crib. This has led to a lot of late-late nights and added to my sleep deprivation much to my chagrin. It has also led to lots of same bed snuggling and sneaky giggles, which I love.

Kate continues to be the most Smiley baby EVER!

February was a great and busy month and so far March is following right in its footsteps. Soon I will right a blog to talk about what we've done so far this month.

My boyfriend

2011-03-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

So I promise to write a 'real' blog soon, I have just been SO swamped with homework, but I should finish this beast of a class by next week, and then be doing much easier and less stressful work, but in the meantime I had to share this.

My good friend Maggie knows about my secret love and sent me this. So I thought I would share.

You have to click on it to be able to see the last square, since it is a weird shape and blogger edits it

Kate's baby blessing

2011-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Kate's blessing was so wonderful. Matt gave her such a beautiful blessing. She is such a sweet girl. So snuggly and loving and I will say it again, SMILEY! She is just the perfect addition to our family and we all love her so much.

Lots of people got sick last minute and had to miss it (including my mom, and several other close family and friends) which was sad! We missed them all!! But even without the 15-20 people who canceled last minute we still managed to feed over 50 people at the house after the blessing was over. It was so good to see so many of our friends and family. What a great circle of love we have brought Miss Katie into!

Forgive me bloggers,

2011-02-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

for I have sinned, it has been a month since my last blog.

So much for my attempt not to get behind this year! And to be honest I STILL don't feel like blogging, so I will mostly let the pics speak for themselves with this one!

I love to go into Lily's room after quiet time and see how/what she has been playing. She is really into make believe and playing what she calls "stories" lately. I love to sit and listen, when she doesn't think I am, and hear her imagination in full force.

The girls got some bath crayons for Christmas and the LOVE them, they could stay in the bath all day everyday.

My good friend Kellee was in town for a couple of weeks before she moved to Chile for 6 months and we went by her parents house to hang out. They have lots of animals and the girls loved it.

Kellee is one in a million and such a rockstar. I love her to pieces and wish we got to see each other more often!

I also got to go to Thatcher for a week, while Matt was working like a mad-man. We had an awesome time! I will let the slideshow captions tell the story.

I mostly just hung out with my family, though I did get to go to my dear friend's Tavia & Courtney's baby shower. Unfortunetly I didn't take any pictures, so that isn't documented, but after 8 years of marriage they are finally being blessed with the kiddos we have all been praying for for so long! They are adopting a family of 3, which will be a big transition, but I am SOOOOO excited for them and so grateful for this blessing in thier lives, they are such wonderful people and I love them to death. They deserve this blessing so much!

While we were there my mom took Lily up to play in the snow again. Isabel had a major double ear infection, so she stayed home with Kate and I.

After I was back in town Matt & I (and Kate) went to one of Matt's co-worker's wedding. It was lots of fun. Here is a pic of Matt with some of his co-workers from our table.

My sister Emily also gave us a bunch of clothes that her only daughter Ava has outgrown, including a dress that matched one she had given Lily for her birthday last year. I love this dress so I am way excited that now Isabel has one to match it.

And here is a random one of Miss Katie, in case you have forgotten what she looks like :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Isabel!

2011-01-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

We had a great birthday with Isabel! I can't believe that she is 2! She is such a vivacious, energetic, sweet and snugly girl! She is so outgoing and sometimes a little mischievous. She is also incredibly affectionate and so loving. She is so small and skinny, but she is packed full of dynamic energy and never misses an opportunity to ham it up and steal the spotlight! We love her so much and are so grateful to have her in our family, she sure is one special girl!

Could life get any sweeter??

2011-01-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

I tell you it could not.

I love these commercials

2011-01-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

Gotta say that these commercials crack me up, they are all funny, good job old spice