tiS tHe seAson!

MMM...being PTA president, Primary President and having my computer crash is proving to be a little much! I am sad to say my Christmas cards will not be going out this year. So I wanted to wish you all a Happy Holiday. I hope my card will be missed and you will look forward to next year! (i know my cards are not that spectacular...i am just saying)

Here is our family snap shots this year so you can all see how some of us have changed and some have not(maybe a little wider)!

We made our annual trip to Salt Lake for my birthday. We started the afternoon off with a yummy lunch and TGI's. Thanks to Maridee they even sang Happy Birthday for me. We then rode the train to Salt Lake. Rylee kept saying dis fun...mommy dis fun? daddy dis fun? broder dis fun? It was fun I would recommend it! We then went to see A Christmas Carol, it was quite scary, but we enjoyed it! We then went to temple square. We look forward to it each year! It was beautiful as always! After riding the train home Roger and the kids made gooey hot fudge brownie sundays! What a great day!

I am so grateful for my wonderful family and friends! Especially this time of year I am reminded of how blessed I am!

I hope your holiday is filled with the peacefulness of that special night, the fun of good food and presents and a prosperous New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

WOW! A busy 30 days!

We loved Halloween and enjoyed the warm weather! Here are some pics of our zombie Cheerleader, Little Red Riding hood & the cutest Tinkerbell ever!


Rylee had her 2nd birthday November 2nd. We can't believe she is two already. We love her so much we had no plan to have her so late in life(we are old you know), but we wouldn't know what to do with out her!

These pictures were taken after her nap...


Rylee moved into her big girl bed today! I am not sure she is ready and I am deffinately not ready, but Madee has hated sleeping downstairs and could not wait to get the bunk beds back. Rylee seems very excited so hopefully she will adjust and be able to stay in bed!

I can't believe how fast October flew by...I wish November would slow down! I am having a hard time keeping up. I hope you all had a fun filled Halloween!

hA ppY biRthdAy mAdEe!

October 6th was Madee's 9th birthday! She is so awesome! We had a great week before celebrating all the October birthday's in our family in Disneyland! What great fun!

We are so proud of Madee. She is a great sister and friend. She is so smart and such a joy to have in our family!

We Love ya Madee!

Wow! Back to School time is busy! I can't believe we have been back almost a month! I thought I would show you where I spend a lot of my time. I have definitely seen a drop off of students thanks to the economy, but I am so grateful for the kids that I do have. We are having so much fun!

Little Preschool on the Corner!








Here is a picture of Rylee in her backpack, it is as big as she is! She is too young for preschool, but loves it! She likes to act like the big kids. Luckily she hasn't turned into a terrible two monster yet(maybe she won't!)



I had planned on doing preschool for about 5 years, now I am in my 12th year! I feel so blessed, it is great to be able to do something I enjoy and that is so good for my family!
Hope you are all enjoying back to school!

SumMeR fuN!

Ok I have been a terrible blogger! On June 18th my beautiful daughter Maridee celebrated her 13th birthday! We had a fun day going to lunch and getting her nails done. Maridee is my right hand gal! I could not live without her! When madee was born Maridee was her second mom(at age 4)! Now she is really a life saver with Rylee!

After our fun day we headed to the Manti pageant and Arches National Park as a family. We had so much fun. The pageant was awesome and Arches was beautiful. After a week of rain, Arches was very hot, but we had a blast!

Maridee and I went to girls camp (Surviver) the first week of June.We survived the hike in four inches of mud, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. We had a great time. I tried really hard to be a leader and not mom so much...

Mitchell is in Marching band this year, so we have had fun going to parades and watching him play. He plays the trombone. We are so proud of him. Rylee loves the parades especially the candy and feels that she should eat it as fast as she can pick it up! Madee also did a cheer camp so we got to see Mitch play and Madee cheer in the same parade. Fun Times!

I hope you are all having a safe and fun filled summer!

I know it is a little late, but I thought I should do a little post to mark our special occasion. Sunday was Roger and I's 18th wedding anniversary! I don't feel like I should be old enough but here we are. I have now been married pretty much half my life! I actually feel very blessed that we have made it this far. I also feel very blessed to have our four awesome kids! I love that Roger loves being a dad so much. I love that he loves to hang out with our kids and can be a big kids himself. I also am so grateful that Roger is willing to work so hard for our family!

This is a picture of Rog and I in Yellowstone last summer. We spent our honeymoon in Yellowstone so it was fun to take the kids.

To Sand or Not to Sand

When we first moved into our house my father in law asked if he could do a project at our house with our son Mitchell. We said yes and ended up with a huge sand box, two uneven bars, a fire pole and a big blue slide that Mitch could barely caring over his head with most of it dragging behind him.
Since we have cats we have had issues with our sand box. Several years ago we made a cover for it. Last year we did not open the sand box once. Since the cover does not seal, rain water and sprinkler water can get inside. We debated rather we should replace the sand yet again with new sand, thinking that Rylee would like to play in it. I was not looking forward to having sand everywhere but we gave in. Rylee loves it and I think Madee is happy too. Here are some pictures of Rylee playing in the Sand box. These pictures were taken as we were shoveling the new sand in. She was a little excited to get in and dig. She didn't care that we had shovels and rakes all around her. And yes we have sand everywhere. In the shoes, socks, diaper, bed, crib, couches, and of course the wood floor!

If you look close you can see that she has sand in her hair and all over her face. Look at that smile how could we say no?

haPpy moTher'S daY!

I just wanted to wish all you Mother's out there a wonderful Mother's day. I don't know about you but there are few things I enjoy more than being a mom! Somedays I wonder about my parenting skills and some days I feel like I am running in place and not getting anywhere, but one little smile, thank you or love you makes it all worth it!

I hope you are all happy and well and Have a GREAT DAY!

MOTHERS ROCK!

kiDs sAy thE funNieSt tHinGs!

When Mitchell and Maridee were little I bought the cutest Anne Geddes day planners and wrote down some of the cute things they said and did. I also did the same for Madee in her darling Pooh Bear baby book. I have not come across a baby book I just love for Rylee. She has two scrapbooks I am working on. Being inspired again by one of my blogger friends I decided to make a book for Rylee to write down all the things she is saying. I found a great 2 year planner and decorated it for her. I thought I would share it with you.

This is the front cover and inside cover. The plaque reads, May you never lose your sense of Wonder.

These are a few devider pages within the planner.

I am so glad I wrote things down. My girls were reading their books yesterday and some of the things I had forgotten. Most I remembered and it brought back fun memories.

spRinG iN utAh!

What a difference a day makes. After 38 years I am still amazed each spring how one day differs from another. Here are some pictures for example.

Day 1

Day 2

Now I just have to remember this when I am feeling sorry for myself. I try to show gratitude everyday, but I am unfortunately a little pessimistic at heart. Just for the record I love snow and I love the sun. I am grateful to live in a climate with seasonal changes. I am so amazed by my friends blogs. Even when they are going through some very stressful things, they are so positive. Thank you all for your awesome blogs they brighten my day. Hopefully your opptomism will rub off on me!

haPpy biRthDay daDdy!

Happy Birthday to a great Dad and Husband! Roger is turning 41 today! Wow! We will have been married 18 years in June, that is almost half Roger's life. I am sure some days it feels like the years have flown, and other days it seems like we have been together forever! Madee came home sick from school today, I think she may have just wanted to go to lunch with Dad!:)(except she did have a low grade fever) I feel so blessed to have a husband that loves being a dad and spending time with his family! I hope he has a wonderful day! We love you DAD!

Rog and Mitch on top of Benlomond Peak and Rog and the girls after going on Wicked...Mom and Mitch passed!

Roger , Rylee, Watermelon, 4th of July!

Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
Just a few fun pictures with dad!

juSt a LitTle cHocoLate!

Most people who know me, know I like chocolate. I can pass up some desserts, I save the calories for chocolate. I NEVER pass up a chocolate dessert. This doesn't help with my goal to lose weight again this year, but I tend to think it helps with my goal to be more patient!:)

For my birthday last year my In Laws gave me a 50lb bag of chocolate chips! Then for Christmas they gave me a 50lb bag of chocolate chips! Yes! 100lbs of chocolate chips! Believe it or not we will use them (not sure how long it will take, I am interested and scared to find out). My kids are like little mice taking handfuls out of the container. Hmm, wonder where they got that from! My father in law says they have chocolate flowing through their veins! Little miss Rylee knows where the chocolate chip container is and has figured out how to open it! Here she is camped out in the baking drawer having just a little chocolate! :)

I hope you all get your little piece of chocolate today!