Sweet Moment

I had a moment today that I felt was precious. I was a music time. (This is held at our church on Wed. and mom's take turns leading a one hours music sing along session.) We were singing London Bridges. When we do this, the moms make a bridge for the kids to go under by linking hands over our heads. By the end, we have made it down to our knees to make our "tunnel" shorter so we can trap kids when the song ends. The song had ended and a little boy who has down syndrome leaped onto me and gave me the biggest hug ever!!! This was the first time I had ever had an encounter with him. What an angel. He was seriously holding me so tight around my neck, then just like that he let go and ran around happy as could be. While he was in the air approaching me, I noticed he had the biggest smile/happiest expression ever. I don't know why I was the lucky one to have his love for a moment, but it was so wonderful. He lives his life with joy all the time. (That's what his mom says.)We could all benefit from living life like this little happy guy. He finds the wonder and beauty in all things.

Poor Girl

I mentioned a couple of days ago that Kyah was sick with a fever. I am 99 percent sure that this all stems from her getting her I-teeth. (I meant to research if it was eye teeth, or aye teeth, or I-teeth before I wrote this, Oh well. You know what I mean, the fangish teeth. I'm sure my dentist friend Liz, and my hygenist sister in law Lindsay will be letting me know!) Anyway, she is miserable! Almost impossible to live with. She has discovered the full potential of her lungs and is letting me know her discomfort. It actually is very sad and I really feel for her. She cries when she eats, then refuses to eat, and then cries some more, refuses to nap, and then when she does eventually fall asleep, wakes up mad. I hope that these teeth come in soon, for her sake, and mine. I can tell the two on the top are right there about to make their debut. Let's all pray it's sooner than later!!! Any teeth/gum comforting tips?

Gross Gross Gross

I decided last Friday night that I would go swimming. I really did not think many people would be swimming laps at the pool in the gym at 8:45pm on a Friday night. There were actually lots of people though. As much as I did not want to be seen wearing my too small swimsuit and shorts, I hurried and got into the pool. I swam for 20 minutes and then got out and ran to my towel. Staring at me was the biggest slimiest BOOGER I have ever seen wiped onto my towel!!! No joke. So there I was in my half nakedness wanting to cover up but was disgusted/mortified/ticked off that someone had done the unthinkable to my towel. EWWWWWWWW. I don't want to be too graphic, but it was huge. (Too late on the not too graphic part huh) Basically I ran into the locker room and used the untouched corner of my towel and then raced home to shower. It just blows my mind that there are people out there that are that disrespectful/immature/and rude!!!!! I don't know that I will go swimming again any time soon. And if I do, you better believe that my towel will be left in the locker room, locked in a cubby!! Gross. Gross. Gross.

Baby lovin Baby

Poor little Kyah has been running a fever for three days now. Needless to say, she did not sleep very well last night at all. After putting her down three times in a row and getting right back up with her, I finally decided to rock her for a long time hoping she would stay asleep this time. (this is at 3 in the morning) She kept saying, "Baby." I wish you could hear her say it too, it's so darn precious! Anyway, so I found her meduim sized baby and she started lovin it. Then she said baby again. So I found her little pink baby. She clutched onto both. She wasn't even sucking her fingers now, that's how important hanging onto these babies was to her. However, she kept saying baby, baby. I knew she was referring to Hannah Michell, her little cabage patch, only I didn't know where it was. So I got her little soft pink kitty. She hung onto each for dear life. She still wasn't satisfied, she kept saying baby. So I finally got up and we found Hannah Michelle. Kyah hugged all three of her babies and her kitty while I rocked and rocked her. She was finally happy to have the whole gang to love. After about 45 minutes I put her down and she finally stayed asleep. She is so funny. My little hot sick baby just wanted to love her babies and be rocked by her Momma.

More Tips

Here are some other tips from the trainer named Kim.

1. Make you own personal spa drink. The idea is that it will make it easier to consume 8 cups a day.
Get a pitcher of water and add cut up lemons, cucumbers(skinned), and mint.

I actually just put lemon juice in my big jug of water and I like it better than just water alone. And I already had lemon juice in the fridge.

2. Instead of lifting weights follow the 3,2,1 plan.
Everyday do 300 cruches, 200 lunges, and 100 pushups. (WOW) Yesterday I did the cruches and pushsups. I did not make all of my lunges. Maybe today. Actually no, I am sore. I also should note I did girl pushups. I WILL be doing boy pushups by the end of March.

3. Because I told her that I was running races in June, she has me doing 3 miles a day. Monday: treadmill Tuesday: Elliptical Wednesday: Swimming and hot tub (20 minutes cardio first) Thursday: treadmill Friday: Elliptical
I added Saturday: racquetball with Nate

4. When it's nice outside, don't come to the stinky gym. It's so good for a person to be out in the sunshine on many levels.

5. When eating carbohydrates, you need to add a protein to balance out the blood sugars or something like that. What I got from this was that if you don't eat a protein with it, you will be craving more carbs in an hour. She suggested a handfull of nuts.

6. She agrees with Dr. Oz from Oprah and suggested reading his book, You: On a Diet

7. Strengthen your core everyday. You do this by doing exercises on the medicine balls. (you know what I'm talking about right?)

8. Mix one or two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in with a glass of apple juice. It cleanses your system. Believe it or not folks, I did this last night. I could barely get the whole glass down. I can't say that I feel cleansed yet. I am unclear though if this is suppose to be an everyday/week/month kind of thing. I think for me it was a one time deal!

That's pretty much what I remember from our visit. I really like her!! I felt like she understood what it was like to be a mother of two and that she really understood where I was coming from and what my challenges are. Some of the tips I posted do seem a little out there, but everything she told me made sense. I would love to go back and see her, except it would cost me $2,000.00 for 36 visits in 18 weeks! Or I could see her 4 times in two weeks for $300.00. Maybe when I'm super rich, but by then I'm sure I'll already have abs and buns of steel!!! Ha.

Not such a good idea

I joined Bally's this week and had a free visit with a personal trainer. She gave me this tip. When you're craving sweets, eat one piece of dark chocolate and your craving will go away. Apparently, there is something physiological that happens and it sends a message to your brain that you don't want sweets anymore. That's what the trainer told me at least. It sounded like a great plan to me. So today I go and buy a big dark chocolate bar. Hmmm, I am not able to eat just one piece. This theory does not work for me. Basically I have a craving, eat a piece, and then eat a few more and a few more. Not what the trainer had in mind, or me for that matter. I won't be buying anymore dark chocolate, or at least not the big bar!

Cutie Pie

Random Act of Kindness Gone Wrong

My mom is going to kill me for posting this. This happened this last Sunday.

A girl showed up at her house asking to use the phone. My mom let the "sweet" teenage girl in. She told my mom some story about going to church and getting in a fight with her friend and needing to call another friend to come and get her. My mom told her to call her mom and give her the details and let her know she was OK and that she wanted to talk to her Mom. The girl called and then told my mom she could talk to her Dad because her mom didn't want to talk to a stranger. Anyway, the girl said her ride wasn't coming for a couple of hours. My mom didn't want her hanging around, so she offered her a ride. She drove her about twenty miles away and then the girl gave my mom a hug and told her how sweet she was and then ran up a driveway, eventhough my mom told her she wanted to walk her to the door to make sure she was safe. As soon as she shut the door to my mom's car, she knew something wasn't right. Hurt stomach hut. As soon as she got back home she called 911 and told the lady what had happened and that she wasn't sure if she had truely done a good thing or not. The lady told her that sadly, she had just helped a young lady run away. She had been reported as a run away earlier that day. My mom gave the police good directions to where she dropped her off and they said they would call the police in that town. My mom is so upset about this! She really thought she was doing a good thing helping this girl out. She's just sure the parents probably hate her. I reminded her that she did give the police the directions to where the girl was and if she hadn't done that, no one would know where she was at all. Plus, the parents must have a clue of what a little con-artist this girl is.... right? Trust me, she was good. She was telling my mom all sorts of stories about the sports she plays at school and if she was looking for a church, she would recomend the one by my mom's house. (My mom did call the church where she said she was prior and they said she was never there.) Anyway, just thought I would share this story of a random act of kindness gone wrong. I assured my mom that the police would go straight to the drop off place and pick up the little punk and bring her home!

Life with a three year old... again.

Gage makes me laugh so hard sometimes. This conversation had me almost in tears I was laughing so hard.

Me: Daddy's a dancing machine
(this was a reference to the Valentine's dance we went to)

Gage: He's not a machine.

Me: Gage, you are so literal.

Gage: I'm not a literal.

Nate laughs really hard

Gage: The machine is laughing!

RAOKW: My Mom Part 2

The story I'm going to tell today is one that I have been wanting to tell about my Mom. Random acts of kindness week gives me a reason to tell it, eventhough it is probably going to be one of the weirdest random act of kindness you've ever heard of.

The town I grew up in was very small! When we finally got a McDonalds, it was a huge deal. Lots of people would hang out there. It happens to be located right across the street from the high school. This story takes place when I was a senior in high school. My mom was eating at this McDonalds with my two youngest brothers who were ages 2 and 5. There were lots of high school kids hanging around in the parking lot because school had just been let out. My mom was people watching when she noticed a fight broke out. It was several boys on one guy with about 30 spectators cheering it all on. They got this poor guy to the ground and started to beat his head on it. Without thinking at all, my mom told my brothers not to move and ran out the door yelling at the McDonald's employees to call the police. She ran up to the boy who was doing the head smashing and ripped him off of the poor guy on bottom who was bleeding. She told his friend to get him out of there and he put him in a car and left. My mom then continued to yell at the crowd telling them they should all be ashamed at themselves including the young man who was the main beater upper. (a made up word) This young man was SHOCKED that a woman had stopped this fight and just looked at her stunned. After the kid on the ground was away safely and she had sufficiently chastized the group, she went back into McDonald's. (I don't think she was outside for very long, it happened really fast.) Once inside McDonalds, an adult man told her how stupid it was to stop the fight because she really could have been hurt. When she realized that this was true, she started crying. There was just no way my mom was going to watch as some high school boy was getting beat up badly. Luckily, those high school boys were too stunned to hit my mom or try to hurt her and luckily, my brothers were still eating their fries when my mom returned! It actually really surprised me that no one else did anything to stop the fight. Good job Mom. I think stopping someone from getting their head knocked into the concrete counts as a random act of kindness! Weird as that may be!

And yes, when I went to school the next day, someone asked me if that was my mom who stopped the fight. I proudly told them YES!

RAOKW: My Mom Part 1

I have been informed by my fellow blogging friend Mamanirvana that this week is Random Acts of Kindness Week. (RAOKW) I feel compelled to share a couple of stories about my Momma, especially since this first story happened this week. Tuesday to be exact. She was trying to make her way home from Wisconsin and her flight was delayed due to the weather. By the time she made it to Denver, she had missed her connecting flight and had to wait until Wed morning to catch another flight home. She was waiting in a large line of people to get her coupon for a discounted hotel and get signed up for the flight the next day. A young man, small in stature, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Help, help, no english. Russia" Then he pointed to her cell phone and to his ear. She was worried he might be calling Russia, but let him use her phone. He apparently called his fiance in Montana and then gave the phone to my mom. His fiance told my mom that this was his first time in the United States and he could not speak English. She asked if my mom would help him figure out how to get to Montana. She agreed to help. She proceeded to make her way up to the counter where she learned she was not eligible for food voucher or a free hotel room because the cause of the delay was weather. She then told the flight worker that she was helping this young man who was trying to get to his fiace in Montana and she had her number if they needed to talk to her. The worker was so impressed with my mom that she gave them both 4 meal vouchers and a voucher for a free room at a nearby nice hotel. (she changed the cause of delay to mechanical) My mom was able to figure out which flight this young man needed to get on, which was the next day around the same time as hers. She then got on the shuttle with this guy, took him to the hotel, used her credit card as the deposit for his room, met him in the morning and got him breakfast, (I guess all he kept saying was cheese, cheese, and so she just said to give him the number one), take the shuttle back to the airport, bring him to his gate, and then call the fiance and tell her he was at the gate and what time he would be arriving. This young lady thanked my mom over and over and said how scary it would have been if she had not helped this young man figure out what to do and where to go. The young man also kept telling my mom, "America is good." Oh, the fiance did tell my mom that this man really wanted to pay her, but she refused of course. Good job mom, you are a great example of always being kind. I think your new future American friend would still be in that Denver airport, probably scared to death, if you had you not been there to help!

Valentine Playschool

For playschool on Tuesday, we went to my Mom's Assisted Living house. OK, my mom is not a resident there, she runs the house. Although sometimes we tease that she needs a room there. LOL. We had the kids make valentines the week before and they sang four songs for the residents and then handed out the valentines. The kids did great. Gage sang his little heart out. He wasn't shy either about handing out the valentines. None of the kids were. It really turned out great. All of the little grandma's and grandpa's just lit up at the sight of the kids. I think they really loved it. I took a few picures. For those of you who don't know, playschool is kind of like a preschool, but probably a little less structured, that five of us moms take turns doing. Did that make sense. It's just a time to get the kids together and read some books, sing some songs, and do a craft or some kind of activity.

New Hair Cut

Here is a pic of my new haircut. Not much of a change.

Life With a Three Year Old

Today's conversation

Me: Gage, will you be my Valentine

Gage: I'm Not a Valentine! I'm not a heart!

Me: A valentine is a heart, or a card. But it is ALSO a person that is very special that you love. Will you be my Valentine?

Gage: YES!

Me: Who's your valentine?

Gage: (without hesitaion) My friend Grant.


Thanks Gage. Gotta love kids!

Ladies and Gentlemen....

We have a new computer! I came home from visiting my hometown all day and in the middle of the living room were boxes from Dell. I was shocked! There was a note attached that said, "Happy Valentines Day." I'm so excited to finally have a bigger hard drive that can handle my pictures! This will save me so much time! I can't wait until Nate can set it up for me!! Thank you cute husband, you're the best!!

This is my last post from this photo shoot!

My Stomach Still Hurts

Warning: This is going to be my most stereotyping/judgemental post. I don't consider myself jugdmental at all, but tonight, I was. I have always been weird about my hair, and I think that's why.

I went to go get my haircut tonight because I was sick of it and had to get it cut and .... NOW. I couldn't wait any longer. So I just went to the hairmasters next to the grocery store here in town. I got in and was sat down immediately. My stylist turned out to be a man. This was not a problem, I had a man in my last town and he was great, and gay. (I can not believe I am writing this.) Anyway, so my stylist was washing my hair and told me about his two kids. OH MY GOSH! Not gay. I don't know why, but this caused great havoc to begin within my stomach! No joke, I was sick. My stomach in knots. I went to my chair where I noticed all of his male haircutting supplies laid out. You know, like clippers and stuff. He proceeded to kind of go between a couple different pair of scissors trying to decide which would be best. This made my stomach hurt even worse! I know it's totally judgemetal to think a non-gay man can't cut hair, but I was NERVOUS! We did not speak one word while he cut my hair. Which was fine by me, I wanted him to focus. The haircut was very short. (timewise) Total time out of my car was 18 minutes. I'm not kidding. I left there with my hair in a wet ponytail. I didn't care about that. So my cut was about 4 hours ago and my stomach still hurts. I have not been this worried since sixth grade when I hated school because I got picked on so much. I would stay awake all night worrying about the next day and my stomach would hurt. I forgot how that felt. All this worrying for NOTHING! The haircut is totally fine, I only was getting a trim. I'm a worrier, I always have been! So note to the world, don't judge your stylist by their lifestyle!!

I know you're wondering why I did not post a pic. Well, because I came home with it wet in a ponytail and because I know it's not that different from before.

How I Got My Cute Husband: Part 3

So I left the story with me going to meet his family the next day. I'm basically going to be brief about the last two days of our first weekend together.
Nate came and got me the next morning and took me on a little treasure hunt through the canyon that ended in him giving me a nice new set of scriptures with my name engraved on them. Then we had a nice picnic in the park. We stayed in the park for a long time and talked under what would become "our tree." (Until they cut it down shortly thereafter!) Then we had dinner at his house and that's when I met the family. I really liked them from the beginning. I was very shy at this visit! I didn't speak much, just sat and ate. I bet now they wonder what happen to that girl! Then he took me back to my sisters where we stayed up super late again. The next morning he picked me up for 9:00 church. We went with his Grandma. After church I met his extended family at his Grandma's house. I only met them for a minute because I had to go and catch a flight. At the airport I was a wreck. I knew this man would be my husband and I did not want to leave. I had no idea when I would see him again. This was back when you could still walk someone to their gate. I basically cried and cried the whole time. Then, I got onto the airplane, I still cried.......hysterically. The kind of cry when you make inhaling noises. So embarrassing. I just couldn't stop myself. Actually, I did eventually get a hold of myself. Thank goodness. I'm sure the guy next to me was glad too! I did not speak one word to him. So that was basically our first weekend together.
He did drive out three weeks later. (The first weekend in Mar.) Then he flew out on March 22, proposed on the 23rd, and flew back on the 25th of March. I drove out the following weekend and almost died with my two brothers TJ and Rocky. (That's a whole other post) Then packed up all my things and moved to Utah on April 21st. And finally we were married on Friday July 13, 2001. Oh happy day!!
And that my friends is how I got my cute husband!

Here are some pics I scanned from my old school scrapbook, the kind that everything is glued in, never to be taken out!


This was my favorite photo of the ones that Nate sent me in the mail.


This was right before we went on a treasure hunt and picnic.


This is the first page of the scrapbook I made. My scanner isn't big enough to get it all. Luckily my scrapbooking skills have improved, although not that much!

More Pics of Baby T

A thank you goes out to Ashley for letting me come over and photograhp her beautiful kids! You see, I asked her if I could come over and practice on her new baby and other kids. She didn't complain at all when I put her precious baby on the floor in front of the sliding glass door so I could take advantage of the light! Nor did she murmur when I asked her to turn this way or that way, or move her hand, or take her coat off, etc. Thank you thank you!

Everyone's Sick

I wanted to write this post this morning, but it just wasn't happening. Gage started throwing up last night at about 6:45pm and didn't stop until 11:30. I didn't get much sleep at all. Nate came home from work today after only being there two hours because he is sick. And now, with every letter I type my stomach turns a little more. Ugggg. Thank goodness it's the weekend. I think Gage went to bed tonight feeling pretty much recovered. Thank goodness. Nate is eating a salad right now so he must be on the upside too. Hopefully Kyah will not get this! If I do not post tomorrow, you know why!! Hope everyone else is healthy!!!

How I Got My Cute Husband: Part 2

When we said good bye the first night, we decided he would show up at my sisters the following day at 9am. Well, he was so anxious that he showed up at 7:45am. My sister Kimm and I were still in bed! You can imagine my horror when we heard him knocking at the door. But then I figured that if this was going to turn into a marriage, he was fully warned. He would have already seen me first thing in the morning. He looked at all of Kimm's picture books and listened to all of her stories about me while I got ready. (To this day he will tell you that he thought it was weird that I wasn't getting ready faster.) Then the three of us went to the mall and Kimm got me a pair oh Puma's that I had been eyeing. The next thing we had planned on this day we had planned to drive two hours to Logan and see my brother, his wife, and my nephew. My life long friend Quinton had planned to make the day trip with us since he was good friends with my brother. Quinton drove, kimm rode shotgun, and Nate and I were in the backseat. I think we sat right next to each other because I remember thinking that Nate was either smelling my hair, or giving me light kisses on my head. I wasn't sure which one. (Oh that is so funny to me now.)We got to Logan and and hung out with my brother's family. Jana and Jeff approved right away. We went out to an early dinner at a Chinese restaurant where another longtime friend of mine and his date met up with us. This guy happened to be an old boyfriend and had driven from Ricks college to be there. Poor Nate, he felt a little awkward. After eating we decided to go and see a movie. I wanted Family Guy, but we all ended up seeing Vertical Limit. Then we went bowling. When we were bowling, this is when everything clicked between the two of us and I was finally able to put the emotion and connection that I had with Nate on the phone, to the cute guy shakin his buns every time he got a strike! I also remember that when we were bowling, he was so funny. His personality really came out.......PLUS, I noticed he was really a muscular guy! After bowling it was time to head back to West Jordan. I forgot to mention that Nate and I pretty much held hands the whole day. Kimm was calling my Mom every so often to give reports and I found out later she told her that we probably had calluses on our hands from holding them so much. Anyway, we got back to Kimm's and Nate came in and we stayed up and talked until very early in the morning. Then Nate went back to his Grandma's and we planned to meet again the next morning at the same time, which was about 4 1/2 hours later!! I went to bed that night knowing we would get married someday. It was a good day.
Tomorrow, I meet Nate's family.

How I Got My Cute Husband: Part 1

Six years ago today, Nate and I first laid eyes on each other in the SLC, Utah airport. Let me back up.

In the middle of December of 2000, I was driving home from the mall and decided to pass my exit and go up to my friend Tami's house. I called her on the way to make sure she was home and she told me that Cassie and her new husband John were over. I was excited to meet John because I hadn't met him ever. We were visiting and having a good time when John told me that he thought I would be a good match for his best friend in Utah. I was thinking, "Whatever!" Then he pulled out his cell phone and called him up and told him he was looking at the perfect girl for him. I refused to get on the phone and talk. Too embarrassing. They got off the phone and John proceeded to tell me all about Nate. I left that night and gave John and Cassie my number so we could stay in touch. I didn't realize they wanted it to give to Nate. Then, the day after Christmas, Nate called me. I was really surprised. We had a nice conversation. He called me every few days over the next two weeks. Then in the middle of January, it turned into everyday. I remember it was a Sunday and my friend Chad came over and so I had to get off the phone with Nate. I remember being really bummed. After Chad left I called Nate back and the line was busy all night and I couldn't get a hold of him. I was so upset. This was when I realized something was going on between the two of us. After that we talked everyday for HOURS. A few days after this realization, I bought an airplane ticket to go and meet him in person. By the time Feb. 8, 2001 rolled around, I felt like I had fallen in love with this voice over the phone. We probably had logged 70-100 hours on the telephone. We had sent several pictures too. It was a really nerve racking and exciting thing to fly out and meet him face to face. Here is my journal entry that I wrote while waiting to board the plane.
" So I'm sitting here in the SEATAC airport and I am totally wondering if I am crazy!! I always knew I was going to see Nate, but never really thought the day would come, it never seemed real. The truth is, I'm totally scared. I feel so nervous right now. Like, what the heck is going on in my life? This is crazy, but yet not. When I talk to him, it's like my world makes sense, and now I am actually going to be with him. Woah!! - I think I'm giving myself a heart attack. I keep joking that I am going to need an inhaler when I see him because I won't be able to breathe, but I don't think it's a joke! I may not be able to breathe. Now I wonder..... how exactly am I going to make it through a 1 hour 45 min. flight? I am going to have a breakdown!"
I made it through the flight and when I saw Nate I did indeed feel like I couldn't breathe. I hugged him and I couldn't stop shaking I was so nervous and so excited.(I knew which one was Nate because he told me he would be carrying something red, duh, a rose. :> ) We went and parked in a church parking lot and talked. (The police came and asked if everything was alright.) AFter that, we went to my Sisters and Nate stayed at his Grandma's. That first meeting was so crazy. He felt like a stranger to me, even though we knew each other on the phone. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to put the feelings I had towards the guy on the phone with the cute guy standing in front of me. However, by the end of the next day, I knew he would be my cute husband some day. Stay tuned tomorrow for details of our first full day together.

In the next couple of days, you are going to learn more than you ever cared to about how Cute Husband and I came to be!

New Baby

I went over to my friend's house on Friday to photograph her two week old baby. Of course I couldn't leave the other three kids out and not photograph them! So I just barely got the pics onto my hard drive tonight and was eager to get working on them. Here are a few. I don't know why I have converted them all to B/W. I guess I'm just in that mood.


Biggest Sister



Big Sister



Big Brother



Baby

Wait...........what's this???

Is there some hope that my two lovely children will be best friends after all? I have mentioned before that they don't always get along. Gage is very possesive of HIS things and does not want Kyah near them at any time. This results in yelling, pushing, kicking, and hitting. But I'm thinking there's hope! He was having a good time feeding her his dinner the other night. They both thought it was super funny. And the other picture is of them playing tag, hence the blurriness. I hope this is sign of happy getting along times to come!!

The Market

I promised pics from our visit to the market. Here they are.




If you look closely, you can see Nate, Gage, Anne, and Kyah in the street below the sign.


My obsession with Tattoos shows up again.


Throwing crabs in the air and catching them! Look close, you'll see it.


They must have thrown six crabs right in a row!










Couldn't decide if I like it better in color or BW. What do you think? It's definitely my favorite photo.

Prepare Yourselves to be Dazzled

If you do not like to read about mothers who think their kids are so cute, the exit this webpage right now. With that said, Kyah looked so stinkin cute last Sunday that I had to share these photos. Now they are not good technical photos, but they show the cutest outfit ever on what could be the cutest little girl ever. Thanks to Aunt Jana for the outfit and to Aunt Tara for the boots.

My Buns May Never Be The Same

I got a 30 day pass to the gym and only have a few days left. I had this super brilliant idea that before it expires on Friday, I should try a spinning class. For those of you who don't know the gym lingo, this is a cycling class. So I show up and pick out my stationary spinning bike. The instructor notices my struggle to adjust my seat and helps me out. I was set. All ready to go. YIKES, this class was one hour long. (Granted, there was a few minutes of stretching at the end) Let me just tell you my buns are not used to riding a bike! Excuse my frankness, but it's true. Not three minutes into the class I was already in pain. But you know me, I don't quit. (Think back to Rainier to Ruston(If you check out this link, look at the middle pic on the bottom row, there's my team. I look horrible. Whatever.)) I can barely sit in the chair and type this out. Honestly, it was a workout and all, but I am not meant to ride bikes apparently. On top of that, my arms do not go straight, and it was highly awkward. Most people lock their arms to help hold up their upper body weight, but I can't do that. Anyway, I won't be doing that again ANY time soon.

Aquarium Pics

These are some pics from the aquarium posted just as I took them. I will post more tomorrow from the market we went to right after visiting the aquarium. (This was when Aunt Anne was here.)



The group minus me.



This is the beginning of our aquarium adventure. Gage spent most of the day on his Daddy's shoulders.



I was obsessed with taking a picture of this pink fish. There was actually a whole tank of them. It was difficult because the room was sooooo dark and I was not using a flash.



These fish were above me in the ceiling. Pretty cool.



I thought this little guy looked like Dori from Nemo

Angela's Answers

1. What time did you get up this morning? 10am Thanks to Nate for letting me sleep in. Normally I'm up at 7am
2. Diamonds or Pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Catch and Release
4. What is your favorite TV show? The Office, Grey's Annatomy, and 24
5. What did you have for breakfast? Oatmeal
6. What is your middle name? Jeanne
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Japanese
8. What foods do you dislike? green peppers
9. Your favorite Potato chip? Don't have one
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? don't have a fav CD, but song at the moment is Beyonce: Irreplacable (sp?)
11. What kind of car do you drive? Honda Accord
12. Favorite sandwich? Turkey and Swiss Cheese
13. What characteristics do you despise? People who are judgemental
14. What are your favorite clothes? EWU sweats
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation,where WOULDN'T you
go? Mid East
16 What brand of clothing do you like? Old Navy and this may sound weird, but I've been shopping at Target lately. :)
17. Where would you want to retire? I say here, Nate says Utah
18. Favorite time of day? Night
19. Where were you born? Washington
20. What is your favorite sport to watch? Oooo, that's a toughy. Football/soccer/Mariners
21. What did you have for dinner? KFC buffalo snacker
22. Person you expect to repost this? Amy
23. Pepsi or Coke? Hmm, whichever one is diet
24. Beavers or Ducks? Beavers, this ones for you Kim
25. Are you a morning person or night owl? night owl....DEFINITELY not a morning person
26. Pedicure or Manicure? Never had either one. I hate my feet, so manicure
27. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Not really
28. What did you want to be when you were little? rock star
29. What is your best childhood memory? playing arrows with my family-no one will get this except my family
30. Piercing? Two piercings. One in each ear. I used to have six and I did pierce my own belly button once too. (ninth grade-Liz, didn't you do that too. I think I copied you)
31. Ever been to Africa ? No. I don't know if I want to go either because I'm so afraid a bug will bite me and lay eggs inside my skin and they will hatch and have to be cut out. I think I might vomit right now.
32. Ever been toilet papering? Yes
33. Been in a car accident? Yes
35. Favorite restaurant? Cafe Rio, Carrabas, and Farrellis(sp)
36. Favorite flower? One's Nate gives me
37. Favorite ice cream? Not an ice cream fan, Oh, unless it's from cold stone, then it's creamcheese with strawberries
38. Favorite Fast Food? KFC at the moment
39. How many times did you fail your drivers test? None
40. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Liz
41. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I would be too sick to my stomach to do that
42. Bedtime? 11:30pm
43. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Everyone
44. Last person you went to dinner with? Went to lunch with Kim and Carla yesterday.
45. What are you listening to right now? news, I always watch/listen to the news
46. What is your favorite color? pink/purple
47. How many tattoos do you have? none, although I have a weird obsession with them
48. What book are you currently reading? The Best Life Diet
49. Favorite magazine? The Friend
50. What vacation do you want to take next? Hawaii-this is a reality folks! Sometime this year, we will go.

I would love to read everyone elses responses to this if you want to cut and post it to your posts. If not, no biggy. Love to all, Ang

Mancala

I recently unloaded all of my boxes from our storage unit. (Uhggggg) I found my old Mancala game that I bought while in the teaching program at CWU. It is such a cute set with jungle animals for pieces. Anyway, I decided to teach Gage how to play. He loves it and wants to play it at all times. He gets it better than I thought he would. I do have to direct him alot of the time and remind him when he gets another turn and so forth, but overall, he does well. It sure beats watching Blues Clues all day. (He just got two new videos from aunts that spoil him!) The only problem is that Kyah has an obsession with eating the pieces. They are pretty! Here are a few pics I took.

Big Baby

I basically have always been known to be a "crier," but it seems a bit out of control since becoming a mother. Here are a few things that have got my tear ducts working overtime.

1. Tonight's ER show
2. A middle schooler singing the national anthem at my brothers college football game(she was really good)
3. Miss America pageant (when she wins)
4. The movie We Are Marshall
5. Remember the autistic kid that made all those three pointers in his last basketball game, um yeah, it got me
6. Gage telling me he wants to move to Alabama to see his friend Grant
7. Saying good bye to my friend Kim (this could be listed more than once)
8. Any new achievement of the babies
9. Anything on Oprah pretty much gets me
10. Kylee moving away to college
Plus, I can not watch Hope Floats or Armegeddon without bawling. Literally, bawling.

Of course some of these warrant crying, but some are a little bit silly.