Who's Laughing Now.

Last April Nate and I took a trip to Utah. We were there for a couple of days and then we left the kids with Nate's mom and we went to visit Harvard and Yale. For this portion of the trip, Nate packed his stuff in with my bag. When we got back to Utah, we still had four more days before we headed back to Washington. For those four days, I noticed Nate did not take his toiletries out of my bag. Everyday I got ready, I would see Nate's toiletries and then laugh thinking of how Nate must be scrounging around for deodorant in his brother's things. I wasn't worried about his toothbrush because I knew his mom had several extra new toothbrushes lying around he probably used one of those. I kept meaning to remind him that his stuff was still in my bag, but kept forgetting. A couple days after getting home I asked him while laughing hysterically what he used for deodorant those last couple of days. He said he used whomever's he could find. (Just as I suspected) I laughed even harder. Then just to confirm he got a new toothbrush from his mom I asked him what he did for a toothbrush. He smiled and said, "I used yours!"


Not so funny anymore.

The M family.

I've been shooting a lot of Christmas card pictures lately. Here is a couple from my Monday shoot. Isn't this one cute family?!! Their Mom and I go way back. :) Her name is Jenn, she is linked on my sidebar.

Pathetic

After a rough morning with the kids, I was craving a treat real bad! There were none in the house, so I opened up a can of cherry pie filling and ate the whole thing. No lie. (And I loved every bite.) You would think I would have a little more control given that my buns are going to be in a swimsuit in Hawaii in 8 days!!!

In Another Life...

I don't know why I feel compelled to share this little piece of info about myself. But, deep down, or really not that deep down, I want to be a Sea-Gal! (A Seahawks Cheerleader) They practice at my gym and every time I see them, I dream of being at practice with them. Minus the little outfits, I think it would totally be my scene. :)



I would fit right in. :)


If only my arms would go straight!

Show Me the Bargains!

You know I got up at 4:30am yesterday morning to get all the deals I could on Black Friday. I went to Toys R Us first. Total Chaos. I got the few things I went for, and didn't bother trying to find the other few, and got out of there as fast as I could! Then I went to an athletic store called Joes and got Jordan a pair of running shoes. Because I was one of the first 200 in the store, I got a 5 dollar gift card. Gotta love that. Then I ran to Target and got there at 6:15am. They opened at 6. I was so glad I got the big item I was going for, but they were out of the game I wanted for the Wii. I called my mom and told her to run to her Target and look for it. Success, she was able to get it for me. Then I went to Big 5, Fred Meyer, and Staples. I was going to Staples for one item. I 4 GB Compact Flash card for my camera. I was there kinda late in the morning and the first guy told me they were all sold out. Then another guy told me to check at customer service. And they had ONE left!! Oh so lucky. Except the line to check out was HUGE! I was not about to wait, so I stashed it. (It was a 2 day sale item). Then I went back at night and it was still there! I walked right up and paid for it! It was my best deal of the day! I paid 59.99 for my 1GB card. I got this 4GB card for 34.00! I love shopping the day after Thanksgiving!

You Know You Had a Good Thanksgiving Dinner When...

Everyone looks like this afterward.



We had a really great Thanksgiving. We had so much food, really, we went way overboard on the food, and it was DELICIOUS. Lindsay made her very first turkey and stuffing. (Good job Linds.) I'm sad I didn't take a picture. Then basically everyone crashed! After that we played games and enjoyed each other's company. I barely took any photos. :( The only pictures I got were of Kyah before dinner, Gage after playing the WII, and of the leftovers we sent home with the boys.

Preparing for the Feast!

I spent a good portion of my day today preparing food for tomorrow. I volunteered to bring several items over to my brother's tomorrow. Because this has taken me all day long and I have been eating as I was going all day long, I no longer feel like eating anything that I have prepared for tomorrow. No worries though, guaranteed a good night's rest will cure this moment of non-appetite and I will over indulge tomorrow....... and probably more than once. :) Calories don't count on Thanksgiving, you know that right.

Here's what I've made to contribute to the feast tomorrow.

Rolls- Kim/Betty's recipe
Mashed Potatoes- Pioneer Woman's recipe X2
Raspberry fluffed up Jello- Grandma King's recipe
Stuffed Mushrooms- Carissa's simplified a little by me.
Apple and Raspberry Crisp- Recipe from the internet.


Mmmmmmmm. My appetite is already coming back.

Tomorrow should be loads of fun. We are giving thanks at TJ and Lindsay's house. My brothers Jordan, Hunter, and brad will be there along with my sister Kylee. Yay. Kylee is here for two weeks. (Her scar looks great by the way.) My mom will also be in attendance. We are going to play games and eat all day long. I may play some football in the morning. I haven't decided yet. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving Blog Buddies!!! I hope your bellies are full and your hearts grateful!

Rainy Day Photoshoot

Here are a few of the pics I took of Jeff, Jana, and the kiddos last weekend. Aren't my nephews and niece adorable! (So is Jana, no comment on Jeff!) :) I did not post the best pic because it is going to be their Christmas card. It rained the whole time we were taking pics, but they were troopers and I did the best I could.







I could not resist a few jumping shots! Cuties Pies.

A State Championship and an Automatic Playoff Berth

This past weekend was one FABULOUS football weekend in our family! We all drove to Moscow, ID on Friday to see Jeff's high school football team play in the state 2A football championship game! Jeff coaches at West Jefferson High School. They won and it was so awesome! Jeff got "welty" as he would put it and it was just really a great touching moment to see these boys celebrate.


Jeff is leading the team at the start of the fourth quarter.



Yay. We won.


Jeff on the left and the head coach, Toby, on the right. They are twinners. It was so hard to tell them apart during the game. They even move just like each other!


Way to go West Jefferson! Congrats on your first State Championship!





Then we drove to Cheney, WA for Rocky's final home football game. It was a must win game so that they could go to the playoffs. And sure enough, despite rainy cold weather, they came out with the "W." Another awesome game. This means that they made it to the playoffs. Their first playoff game is this Sat. in Louisiana. It has been so fun to watch Rocky play at the college level. I know we are all going to miss it next year when football season rolls around! We all stayed at a hotel there Sat. night and played around. It was fun to see all six of my brothers together swimming in the pool goofing off. Actually I was pretty sure someone was going to get hurt as they play pretty rough. Kimm took some videos of their belly flops and so forth. I'm sure she'll get them posted on her blog soon. Jana also has a video up of me on her blog doing some kicks at the high school game. You'll have to check it out if your looking for a good laugh!



Out on the field honoring the seniors before the game started.


It was a great weekend.

Not her Momma's Daughter!

We went to get Kyah a flu shot today from the pediatrician's office. I had been telling Kyah all day that we were going to get a flu shot. When we got to the office, she marched right up to the lady at the front desk, pulled up her coat sleeve, laid her arm on the counter and said, "I get a flu shot." I just about died it was so funny. You could tell it was not the typical response they get from kids. The ladies loved it. Then we got into the room and when the nurse came in Kyah said, "Can I get a flu shot?" Kind of like, what's wrong with you people, I've been waiting. Kyah was indeed brave and tough. She didn't cry at all. Afterward on the way home she told me she loves flu shots. I think it would be more accurate to say she loves the sucker I gave her. Who's child is this anyway? She can't be mine. Me who passed out when tested for tuberculosis, me who cried when I was pregnant with Kyah because had to get a tetanus shot on my birthday, me who can't give blood because I will pass out. Yeah, not my child. :) She obviously got this shots are not big deal attitude from her Daddy.

Potty Trained!

I guess in all the commotion of Kylee's accident, I forgot to mention that I have successfully potty trained Kyah! I started two Mondays ago on Nov. 5th. (Exactly 2 years and 1 month old) I really shouldn't give myself too many props as she was a natural! A pro. From the very beginning she totally got it and didn't have any accidents........that were her fault at least. The first day she was asking to go potty every two minutes, literally. And of course 996 times it was a false alarm and then of course there were 4 successes. Well, by about 7:00pm I had had it! So when she said she had to go potty, I told her to go tell her Dad. One second later I heard it hitting the carpet. Oooops. Momma's fault. Figures doesn't it. Anyway, she has been a dream come true when it comes to potty training. She is staying dry for her nap even. What a big girl! I'm so proud of her.

I can not even believe I don't have a child in diapers right now! I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Hmmmmm, now that I'm saving about 40 dollars a month, I deserve something pretty don't I?!!!

A and C

I had a shoot with my two little neighbors kids the other day. They are the best kids. The boy C is in Gage's Sunbeam class and A is one of my best girls in the primary!

I know there are a lot of pics, but I wanted their mom to see them all. :)

The Truth Comes Out....

1. Yesterday Kylee spent a couple of hours with the police giving her complete statement. When the police went to the boys and told them that Kylee had given her statement, the driver fessed up. The boy in the back had been telling the girls that there are several stories of people driving up by Sundance and their cars would just die. The driver then had been killing the car on purpose to try and scare the girls. When they went off the road, the driver had stalled the car and taken the keys out and couldn't get them back in, thus making him lose control of the car and go off the road. IDIOT.

2. He lied. He really has no auto insurance. EVEN BIGGER IDIOT.

3. The boy in the back seat really did not tear any ligaments in his arm.

4. Kylee and my mom went to the impound to see the car. Kylee's head broke the windshield. (Even though she did have her seat belt on, or she probably would have gone through it.)


The police officer told Kylee he was going to go after this kid for everything he could. I'll keep you posted.

My brother's (including myself) are ready to fly down to Utah and teach this 19 year old punk a lesson. Anyone else like to join?

This One's For Kylee.

Kylee's Update.

Her surgery seems to have been successful as she has some movement in her left eyebrow. Yay! She is very very sore. Her back and neck are very sore and she has an apt. today with a chiropractor she met as Wal*Mart. (He asked her what happened to her head. Funny huh.) Her knees are also very sore and have good size bumps and bruises on them. She talked to the boy riding in the back seat and found out he has torn ligaments in his arm. He also told her that they were about one mile away from the main Provo Canyon road when they got in the accident. (Coming back from Sundance.) Kylee's old roommate, J, did end up having surgery to have her spleen removed on Saturday. She is devastated to have a scar on her stomach. Kylee I think would rather have a scar on her stomach than the one she will have on her face. I told Kylee she is my own personal Harry Potter. She told me she knows how Harry feels because her scar is hurting her. These pictures were taken Saturday morning.









Also, this is my 300th post! So in celebration of that and in honor of Kylee, here are some pics from the last time we were together. A lot of them are blurry, but still fun!


Click on this one to see it bigger. I love Kylee's expression!






What would I do without Kylee?!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Late Blogging Anniversary.

I knew that I started blogging in Oct. of 2006. I meant to figure out the exact day and give myself a little whooohooo on that day. But then I went to Utah and then had my in laws here and I forgot. Today I remembered about this and went into the archives to find the first one. My very first blog was posted on Oct. 16th. So happy late anniversary to me. It is funny to think back to what I was thinking when I started this blog. I was thinking I would be super anonymous and would only post pics now and then so that my relatives could see how big the kids were getting. Little did I know that it would turn out to be an obsession! I had no idea the friends I would make, the inspiration I would get from others, the validation I would get at times from your comments, and the joy I would find in this type of journaling. I spent some time looking through my old posts. It has really been enjoyable to look back at them. I had written things that I would have totally forgotten about had I not jotted them down. It was fun to see how much the kids have grown in one year!! And I realized that I am a pretty funny gal. :) Thank you for being apart of my blog, for reading about my life and leaving me comments. You are all my treasured blogging friends.

Baby K.

My good friend Tami has had her fourth baby girl. Baby K is just as beautiful as her sisters and her mom.

A Car Accident and a Long Night.

I had posted a long post at about 3:00am last night because I couldn't sleep. I found out at about 11:00pm that my sister Kylee had been in a car accident. It was a nervracking night figuring out what had happened, worrying if they found all her injuries, wishing I could be there, and wondering if she was OK. I wrote a post about it because I just couldn't sleep and needed to get it out. This morning as more details came out and as I got to talk to Kylee myself, I thought I should take down the post I wrote in the wee hours of the morning because it was not as accurate as it could be. You know how it goes when everyone is calling everyone and it is he said/ she said kind of stuff. So here is the more correct version as I know it at 11:00am Friday morning.


Kylee was out on a double date. Her date was a guy she had never met before. They were coming down Provo canyon, from Sundance, and this guy had a new suped up car that he wanted to show off. He was driving really fast. Kylee told him to slow down and that he was scaring her, but he didn't slow down enough. He lost control of the car around a curve and they went down an embankment of some sort, Kylee remembers there were bushes and big rocks, and then into the Provo River. Kylee was knocked unconscious. One of the boys carried her out of the car and to the shore. (He told her that). The ambulance took her to the hospital and she had no idea where she was or what was happening. She had a cat scan and x rays and everything was fine. She did have a big gash next to her eyebrow where she must have hit her head. This morning they had to do surgery on that eyebrow to reconnect a nerve that was severed. Apparently if it wouldn't have been reconnected or if the plastic surgeon couldn't have found both ends, she would of looked like she had had a stroke for the rest of her life. Luckily, the surgery was successful and the nerve has been reconnected. (Right after surgery she told me that she was trying to tell the surgeon to go ahead and give her a tummy tuck while she was out. :> Like she needs one. Duh.) So Kylee is fine. She just has one major concussion, stitches right above her eyebrow and I'm sure she will be sore for several days. Her old roommate J has lesions on her spleen and liver. They are watching her to make sure she doesn't need surgery. The driver broke his nose and the other guys teeth went through his lip. The doctor kept telling Kylee how lucky she was not to have more severe injuries. I know she was being watched over and protected last night! I don't think I can say enough prayers of gratitude for that!



There were a few comments on the post I deleted and I want to thank you for them and for your prayers.

Just When You Think You Have a Total Girly Girl...

She decides she wants to be SpideyGirl.




These are Gage's pajamas. He won't wear the shirt because he doesn't like the webs. Which I guess works out because at the moment Kyah will only wear these jamies.

Kyah's official 2 year pic: take 3 and 4.

Yes, I tried a 3rd and 4th time to get a good pic of Kyah that I really love for her official two year old pic. I'm still not sure if I've got it yet. :)