Priceless Prices

The Boys' Room (a.k.a. Ode to IKEA)

2009-08-31T14:17:00.006-04:00

We finally have the boys' room finished. Well, with the exception of a lamp shade anyway!

Here are a couple "before" pictures

These aren't very good shots, but it gives you the idea. They really needed a desk--or 3--since they all have schoolwork to do now. So we decided to buy the components from IKEA and give them a built in desk that would fit all three of them. (yes, I know there isn't much room--but our kids do not play in their bedrooms. All toys are required to be in the family room.)

The colored "spheres" in the left hand corner are planets hanging from the ceiling.

Their beds only ever get made this well--sorry, I was too lazy to make them for the picture.

In order to move things around we had to get rid of a dresser. Since Tank's bed was meant to go against a wall (his platform bed has drawers and cabinets on oneside), one side was just a big, empty space...enter IKEA again! We bought these office drawers and took the casters off of them and now Ezekiel has a futuristic dresser that fits right in with their space station bedroom.

Ok, really these pictures don't do this room justice. You need to see it in person. It really is cool. So you are all invited out whenever you want!

Back to School

2009-08-31T13:59:00.005-04:00

Hooray!! School has started yet again. This year is EXTRA special because ALL of our kids are going to school. Jonas has a very SLIGHT speech delay but was still admitted to the preschool at the Primary School. It is every day, all day long. He even gets to ride the bus with his brothers and sister.

Our 4th grader

Our Pre-Kindergartner

Our 3rd grader

Our 1st grader

First day of School

On the porch waiting for the bus

Waiting for the bus

10 Years

2009-08-13T00:42:00.005-04:00

Dave,
Since we are staying true to form and are not able to celebrate our anniversary together, I figured I would send you your present the most convenient way possible...via our blog. Since I am in no way eloquent, this is my attempt to show you what I see when I look at you...a wonderful husband, father and my very best friend.

I love you. Happy 10th!
Sunny

London is 9?!?!

2009-05-12T09:12:00.005-04:00

I cannot believe that I have a 9 year-old. London is completely into anything High School Musical right now so she decided to have a High School Musical party and she planned all the games and everything.

London took her birthday money and went to Build-a-Bear for the first time. (Notice the High School Musical PJs on the puppy)

This is Gabby (Short for Gabriella--Again, HSM)

She is pretty cute, don't you think? London loves her.

The newest of many HSM shirts.

Eating Icecream cone cupcakes at her party.

More HSM jewelry

I love this card. London and her best friend don't call eachother BFFs--the call eachother BFFELs (Best Friends For Eternal Life)!

London insisted on playing HSM musical chairs

(meaning you listen to the soundtrack of HSM3 while playing)

Once upon a time we played Kiss the Prince (similar to pin the tail on the Donkey) at one of London's birthday parties. So this time she wanted to play Kiss Troy (or Zac Efron). So we bought a teen magazine with a Smokin' picture of Zac and prepared the wall to be kissed with red lipstick.

London with red lipstick EVERYWHERE--Notice it on her teeth!!

Searching for Zac

Only one of the friends actually landed on Zac

(it was actually on his neck--can you see it?? We decided she is a vampire!)

The Kiss

So afterward they decided to try without a blindfold on!

The aftermath! Poor Zac!

Then they semi-settled down to watch HSM3!

FYI: 4 nine-year-old girls are more work than 9 four-year-old boys!! Just for future reference!

Happy birthday London!! We are so glad that you enjoyed your party. We love you a lot and are glad that you are our little girl!

Jonas the Bonus turns 4

2009-05-12T08:52:00.006-04:00

Last Saturday we had birthday parties for both London and Jonas, since they have their birthday on the same day. We decided it would be easier just to have both parties on the same day and get it over with instead of spreading it out over a couple days. Jonas decided that he wanted a Star Wars party just like Ezekiel had. So it made it pretty easy for me.

Here are some of his friends playing with the plethora of Star Wars people that we own.

For Joe's party I found this fun game kind of like Pin the tail on the donkey. It was called Help Restore Order to the Galaxy. Depending on were you landed you got a certain amount of points and the one with the most points would win.

Here we are playing the game

Both Jonas and London wanted icecream cone cupcakes instead of a cake.

So here is Joe blowing out the candles.

Getting ready to open presents.

Star Wars and Legos--Joe's two favorite things!

I thought this was funny so I had to take a picture. While everyone else was watching Jonas open presents, this little boy was playing with London's Barbie house.

I love this present and so does Joe. One of the moms made Jonas his own little cape. It is so awesome. He has been running around in it everywhere.

Light Sabers again--OF COURSE.

They were trying to use the force to keep the balloons off the floor.

What good are light sabers if you can't use them to beat up a dad!

Happy Birthday Little Joe! We love you lots and are so glad that you are part of our family!

Virginia Gold Cup Races

2009-05-12T08:28:00.004-04:00

One of the companies that Dave does business with invited us to their Anniversary Celebration @ the Virginia Gold Cup Races. Personally I was a little nervous since we have never been to a nice horse race before and I was expected to wear a fancy hat (or so I was told--many women didn't have one. If I would have known it would have saved me lots of frrustration!). Our children were also invited , so it made it nice to be able to bring them and show them off too--they clean up pretty well, after all!!

The kids all dressed up and eating lunch.

The family shot. This is mainly so that you can see my AWESOME hat!!

The rest of these are of some of the races so that you can get a feel for what it was like there. It was a very cloudy day. We were really lucky, though, and it didn't rain while we were there.

It was a really fun day. I don't know that we will ever get the opportunity to do something like it again so I am really glad we went!

Have I mentioned I love my husband?

2009-05-11T17:14:00.005-04:00

My husband surprised me for our anniversary! How did he do it, you ask? By surprising me in March, when our 10 year anniversary is in August!!

He told me his dad offered to watch the kids for us so that we could go out to dinner by ourselves while we were in Utah. So he took them to go see Monsters vs. Aliens and we headed to Red Lobster (we had a gift card we needed to use). So we got done pretty early and the kids were still at the movie so I was telling Dave we should think of something to do, but I didn't want to stay out too late cause I wanted to help put the kids to bed so that Dave's dad could get to sleep since he needed to go to work the next morning. Anyway, after throwing around a couple ideas Dave said he had a great idea and he would surprise me when we got there. So we started driving into Downtown SLC. I figured he was going to take me to walk around the Temple and I was thinking how sweet that would be to do without the kids. But we passed the Temple! So we started getting close to Trolley Square and we had gone there before on dates and so I thought that was where he was taking me--but then we passed it also!! So then he pulled up to the 5th South Anniversary Inn and I was so far from figuring out what was going on I still was wondering what the heck we were going to do--we needed to be back for Dave's dad to go to work SUPER early in the morning after all. But then Dave let me know that his dad had arranged to go into work late and that he had packed a bag for us and it was in the trunk! FIRST TIME he had EVER managed to surprise me!! Since he usually ends up being gone for some reason or another on our Anniversary he decided to take advantage of family while we were in Utah and take me to our favorite place to stay--even if it was 5 months early! He got us the nicest room in the place--The Romeo and Juliet Suite!

Here is the link to the room so that you can see the 360 view. The pictures just don't do it justice. It was by far my favorite room we have stayed in there. It was a 2 story room with a balcony and the bed was upstairs. You can't see from the pictures, but the shower was awesome--it came down like a waterfall. Definitely worth looking at on the website!
http://anniversaryinn.com/rooms.php?room=67

Thank you, Dave!! That was an amazing surprise. I loved it and I love you!

The Easter that never ends

2009-05-11T15:11:00.008-04:00

Since we weren't going to be in town for Easter , the Easter Bunny agreed to visit us for Family Home Evening 2 weeks early on the Monday before we went back to Utah. While the kids were playing down stairs he hid eggs out in the yard and left them new board games and Sunday clothes.

The kids had fun coloring Easter eggs. Luckily I found a Star Wars decorating kit!

Then while in Utah we made an Easter Sugar Cookie house. It was a fun idea but more work than we imagined with 6 kids helping! We made it at Papa John's house with Aunt Kylee and Papa John helping to direct the kids.

The Saturday the week before Easter was a day of parties for my kids. First we woke up and had an Easter egg hunt at Papa John's. Then we went to my Grandma LaBounty's house for a get-together with all my cousins. After that we went to my Aunt Karen's for another Easter egg hunt for the Putnam side of the family.

Grandma Bobbie with my sweet little niece Tatum.

Aunt Karen went all out. We usually have the egg hunt in her yard but it was supposed to rain so we had it in the church next door. I think she said she put out around 800 eggs. The kids had a blast.

Twilight DVD Release

2009-05-11T14:03:00.010-04:00

Okay-- This will be the last Twilight related post until around November when I go to see New Moon!!! (That is unless something else super exciting happens that is Twilight related between now and then---We can always HOPE!!)

On March 21st the Twilight DVD came out so of course I had to have a party!

Twilight Michelle and I started out by going to the Midnight DVD Release Party at Hot Topic (yes, we were the oldest ones there that were not chaperones!!) I, of course, won 2 of the 4 Trivia questions (the 2 I didn't win was because we couldn't hear--REALLY!!) The teenagers were mad at me for winning twice, but it isn't my fault they don't know their Twilight like I do! While waiting for midnight we went to FYE and found an awesome Twilight umbrella. (couldn't get a good pick of what it looked like--but you need only two words to describe it "The Meadow"--Enough said!!)

We had a little 17 year old boy that was absolutely in love with Michelle. He kept finding reasons to talk to her all night and finally just plopped down next to us and started talking. He thought she was 22!! And that I was 25! (bless his little lying heart!) So for that I had to get a picture of him.

After we grabbed our DVDs we jumped in the Volvo (of course we had to drive the Volvo!!) and headed home to watch all the special features. We figured we fell asleep sometime around 3:30 in the morning after we turned on the actual movie to watch.

So after a few hours of sleep, Michelle and I set up my basement for our DVD Release Party. Here is Michelle taking a break with Edward!

These are the little quote cards I made to put on our cupcakes.

Then we put them in little mini forks (GET IT!??! FORKS!!?!?! HEHEHE)

My Twilight banner that I made

Michelle decorated the entire basement just like Alice would have--twinkle lights everywhere!

And lucky for me my friend Jen bought me a calendar with tear out posters. They were perfect decorations for the walls.

More twinkle lights.

Our cupcakes. Don't they look cute??

Michelle also made some little piggies for us to eat.

The spread (notice the blood punch on the right)

My friend Heidi makes the BEST sugar cookies ever and she made us these cute ones. (Of course none of us are Team Jacob--just wanted to make that clear!!)

The clan with Edward!

A look at the decorated room

We played the Twilight Trivia game that I was given at the Forks Chamber of Commerce. It is actually pretty tricky!

So after the party I had to figure out where to put all those posters--so I decided to put them in my workout room. They are great motivation!

The rest of these pictures are just a couple random Twilight related pics I wanted to throw in. This is the Cullen Crest pillow I got in Forks. It was the perfect colors so I HAD to get it. Doesn't it go well with my bedroom decor??

These are my rocks that Amy and I gathered at La Push! Can you see all the awesome colors?

I made these little jars full of La Push rocks for all of my friends as souvenirs from my trip.

CowLick

2009-05-11T13:35:00.006-04:00

All of my children have been cursed with cowlicks. London's will keep her from ever having bangs. Zeke's makes it look as though we cut a chunk of hair from the base of his neck. Tank's is the only reasonable one that merely causes him to have a forced part. Jonas, however has a cowlick that beats alllllllllll other cowlicks. His hair either needs to be shaved(I mean ALL the way shaved!) or at least 4 inches long in order for it to be tamed. We are in the process of trying to grow it out...we are ALMOST there, but here is what it looked like a couple months ago so that you can have a true appreciation for what I am working with!

FYI

2009-05-11T13:29:00.003-04:00

For those that didn't know... Dave is a civilian now. Well, kind of. He is still in the National Guard , but he has a civilian job now. Not really that big of a change. He still works at the same location, etc...but the big thing is he doesn't wear his uniform to work everyday. We actually had to go out and buy him a bunch of suits and business man apparel. He has been making fun of me because I am enjoying it more than he is. He says he feels like an oversized Ken doll! The down side to all this--I actually have to iron clothes for him! YUCK!

Zeke is 6!!

2009-05-11T12:58:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel had his birthday back in March. I cannot believe that he is 6 years old now!

Since he was having a party a few days later, we didn't have a birthday cake on his actual birthday. Hence the candles in the Hostess cupcake. (We have found that Hostess cupcakes are MUCH easier to send to school as the birthday treat--not to mention A LOT cheaper!!)

Zeke has asked for only Galactic Heroes Star Wars Figures for the past 3 years (both birthdays and Christmas)--which is a lot if you consider that it is HALF of his life!! You will see the collection later on. I love the picture below!! He was soooooo excited to get this figure that he doesn't have (he has pretty much every single one!).

Again, I LOVE this picture!! He was making the growling noise that this monster makes. Don't ask me to name the monster. Zeke would know what it is called. It is the monster that tries to eat Luke when he is trying to save Han from Jabba the Hutt--see, I have SOME knowledge about Star Wars!

The Birthday Booty!

The Collection! (it is much more impressive in person, you might need to blow up the pic to see just HOW MANY figures there actually are)

Of course we had to have a Star Wars party AGAIN which meant Light Sabers!

The Party Crew

Zeke's new girlfriend. He likes her cause she is a tomboy. (notice her Transformers shirt!)

New star Wars T-shirt!!

Zekie's best friend from school.

Cool helicopter.

Happy Birthday Zeke!!

Snow Day

2009-05-11T12:29:00.006-04:00

I just realized I haven't downloaded pictures from my camera since the beginning of February!! Meaning that I am very behind in posts. I am not going to back date things since then people end up missing posts...so you will just have to put up with things being out of order. So here goes:

In February we had the most snow we have had since moving here. Of course, the kids had the day off from school. If you look at the picture of Jonas you will see how quickly the snow melted. It was pretty much gone within a couple of hours. The kids had a blast though since we don't see snow too often.

Jonas had some crazy hair after being outside all day.

My New Favorite Thing

2009-03-19T10:39:00.005-04:00

I don't know how many of you watch The Biggest Loser, but I love that show. If you ever notice, most of the time they have a black armband around their upper left arm. It is called a BodyBugg and I bought one 5 weeks ago and I LOVE it!! It is the best invention EVER!!! It actually keeps track of how many calories you burn during the day. Then you go to their website and log in everything you ate so that you can always have the calorie deficit necessary to lose weight. We set it up with my goal to lose 2 lbs a week which means that I need to have around a thousand calorie deficit each day. And it has worked like clock work!! So for those of you that need to lose a ton of weight like I do...this is a REALLY good contraption! Go to http://www.bodybugg.com/ to see how it works.

The Temple

2009-03-14T14:09:00.001-04:00

This video is great. Please watch!!

SSVO

2009-02-02T15:59:00.004-05:00

If you couldn't already tell from my last post I have a little bit of an obsession as far as Twilight goes. And bless my husband, he humors me since he knows it brings me so much joy! But what noone else realizes is that he loves it too. Well, maybe not as much as I do, but he appreciates Twilight. Just look at his pj shirt that he wears everynight:

Like I said...He HUMORS me!! But he took it to an all new level a few days ago when he made us SSVOs. What is an SSVO? I will get to that in a minute. Dave has been driving our beat up old Taurus Station Wagon for awhile. He keeps wanting to get an "adult" car--you know, one a business professional would drive--but I always talk him out of it since the Taurus is already paid off. Well, Dave knows my weakness and he used it to get him a new car. (Side note: Stephenie Meyer relied on her brothers that are self-described "autophiles" to choose the coolest cars possible for her vampires.) Dave started looking up stuff about Volvos and found out that the S60R is a freakin awesome car! SO... of course when he says THAT is the car he wants I am going to say heck YES!!!! FYI this is not the car in the movie. That is an ugly C30--don't know why they used it--Edward would never...anyway, the point is it is the car from the book so Dave is now an official SSVO (Stupid Shiny Volvo Owner) (For those of you that don't get any of this--READ THE BOOKS!!!) And Bless his heart--he even got it in silver!!! Love IT!!!

Tour De Twilight

2009-01-27T14:17:00.045-05:00

This is not a joke. My sis-in-law, Amy, and I decided that we needed a weekend retreat and where in the world could be more fun than Forks, WA--Home of the sexiest vampires in existence! We flew into Portland on the morning of the 16th of January so that we could start the tour by seeing all the places where Twilight was filmed. And then moved our way up to Forks. And since we were trying to do this trip justice we decided that it was NECESSARY to drag Edward along with us. He was a little quiet since Bella wasn't with us, but I think he enjoyed himself more than he let on!
(Brace yourselves! There are a lot of pictures here. I cut it down to about a fourth of the actual number that I took.)

Edward in the rental car. Yes, I did ask Lydia, our rental car associate, for a silver car and she was nice enough to oblige.

The first stop along the way was the Blue Heron Paper company. This pic doesn't show it well, but this is where the security guard gets attacked.

Amy and Edward at the greenhouses used for the field trip in the movie.

This is the owner of Angel's Hair and Nail Salon. In the movie it was tranformed into Petite Jolie--the place where they went shopping for the prom dresses. She showed us a bunch of pictures with her in the background from the filming.

Edward and I posing with Catherine Hardwicke's actual chair.

Amy and Edward

"The" Chair

Recognize the window? It is where Bella sits to watch them try on dresses.

Amy telling Edward about the men chasing her in the alley (yes, it was "THE" alley--we should have taken a picture from the other direction too)

Behind us is the "bookstore" from the movie

Edward protecting me from attackers in the parking lot where he saves Bella.

It's no Volvo, but he still looks hot next to the Silver Camry.

Amy excited for her date with Edward at the Bloated Toad (the restaurant from the movie)

Me at the Swan Residence. Bella and Charlie were gone and I didn't dare get the key from under the eave to sneak in. Maybe next time.

Edward was forever being the gentleman. Here he is helping Amy out of the car at the high school. He just needs his hot sunglasses on.

Amy and Edward at Kalama High School where they filmed the outdoor high school scenes.

After a long day both Amy and I took advantage of the fact that Edward was there to sing us to sleep. FYI Bella's lullaby is much prettier in real life!

The next morning we drove out to La Push. This is a part of the forest along the way. Can't you just imagine a big wolf running around through there?

Entering La Push

First Beach

The beach was gorgeous. And so peaceful.

Amy found paw prints! We can't be sure whose they were since we don't have a superhuman sense of smell. But it had to be one of Sam's pack.

Amy on the beach

The trail to the beach. My hands are FULL of the cool, mulitcolored rocks from the beach.

Of course the stores on La Push were ALL Team Jacob.

(We didn't tell them Edward was in the car)

I thought this sign was hilarious--Team Jacob, above the GARLIC--Get it!!???

Another La Push store

and their menu (for some reason it wouldn't turn out clear--but you get the point)

Entering the city of Forks. When we stopped for this picture a TON of people pulled off and "borrowed" Edward for their pictures too. Luckily he's a good sport and all.

You definitely need to stop by the Forks Chamber of Commerce when you go to visit. They have "Twilight" packets that they give out with maps of Forks, trivia questions, etc...

Luckily the employee that helped us was REALLY into it. She acted as though everything was real. It was a blast talking to her. The town of Forks has places they think fit most closely to descriptions in the book, so you can go around and visit them all.

Out front of the Chamber of Commerce they have Bella's Truck (notice the vanity plate)

Inside is a framed note from Stephenie Meyer thanking them for making September 13th Stephenie Meyer Day.

They even provide a bunch of signs for you to use when you get your picture taken there.

Of course, Edward didn't want to be left out.

He needed a picture or two without us so that he could give them to Bella.

(Doesn't want to make her jealous or anything)

The Swan Residence in Forks.

This is the house they think fits the books description the best.

"THE" hospital

They even have a parking spot reserved for Carlisle!

And yes, I did park in it!!

(Carlisle wasn't working that day anyway. It was too sunny.)

Amy and Edward at the Cullen residence.

A note from Esme

Edward by himself in front of his house.

This is the mailbox for a new store in Forks. The owner picked up and moved down from Vancouver. She sells all things Twilight and nothing else. The store was PACKED!!

The Thriftway where Bella goes grocery shopping.

The outfitters where Bella works.

Amy and I proving we have been to both places.

Amy and Edward at the high school. Personally, I think they make a cute couple.

Edward taking his turn posing with me at the high school.

We decided to go to Port Angeles next, and the fastest way was on Edward's back...OF COURSE. So you can understand why our picture didn't turn out too well!

Bella Italia (actually in Port Angeles)--Home of Bella and Edward's first date.

Our "double" date with Edward.

Amber had the night off--thank goodness--so we didn't have to worry about her being our waitress and hitting on Edward in front of us. Instead we had a very nice waiter that offered to take a picture of our date.

The night wouldn't have been complete without mushroom ravioli and a Coke.

Just down the block from Bella Italia is the movie theater. It is the one Bella went to with Mike and Jacob, remember?? Anyway, we figured a night in Port Angeles wouldn't have been complete without seeing Twilight!

We had extra time since it was the late show--so we decided to go for the double feature and see Bride Wars first. Edward thought it was okay but he was a little anxious to see "his" movie.

Everyone in the theater was so happy that we brought Edward along. He had a bunch of pictures taken of him. And yes, he manfully ate the popcorn.

The next morning we TRUDGED through the forest to find a good spot to re-create the meadow scene from the movie.

And then Amy went for another ride on Edward's back. At first she was scared.

But then she decided it was pretty nice being that close to him!

We went back to have a Bella Burger at Sully's but we forgot that small towns actually close stuff down on Sundays. We felt welcome anyway because of their sign. (FYI the drugstore is closed on Sunday too. We wish we would have realized before. It is the place to go to get Forks stuff--as opposed to Twilight stuff. But we didn't figure that out until it was too late. Oh well, guess we need to go back again!)

Amy at a random beach on the way back towards Portland.

Notice her HOT Forks Hoodie!

We made it to Multnomah falls right at Twilight.

It is the big waterfall in the background during the baseball scene.

You can barely see the falls in the background.

From there we drove through the most INSANE wind storm EVER to spend the night at the View Point Inn. It is the place where they filmed the prom.

In their foyer they have a whole Twilight display.

Because of the storm and power outages and circumstances beyond our control, we ended up spending the night ALONE in this haunted place! It actually was awesome but a little scary since the whole house was shaking and doors slamming from the wind storm. Ask me to tell you about the footsteps later!! (I was scared to death!)

We reserved the Inn Keepers room so that we could have seperate beds, but since we were the only ones there we decided to use the whole place for photo ops.

Here is Amy showing Edward how to stay clean.

Taking a nap in the Roosevelte Suite.

Edward looked cold so we gave him a robe too.

Don't tell Zach!

Edward waiting by my bed for me.

In the morning it was still SUPER windy, but at least it wasn't raining so that I could get some pictures. They have a brick walkway called the Twilight Walk of Fame. You can buy a brick with your name on it to put there.

Here is one of the many Twilight named ones.

They had a brick for every major character in the movie.

Here is what the View Point Inn looks like from outside.

And from the road. We will definitely be going back there. It is an awesome place to stay.

Very romantic!

Our last planned stop was the Carver Cafe.

It is the place that Bella and Charlie eat at all the time in the movie.

They kept all of the "Forks" stuff on the walls from the movie.

And they even kept a pic of Waylon on the cash register!

Be warned...the breakfasts here are HUGE!!! I could have ordered one and it would have been enough for both of us. We sat at the table the old men sit at in the movie.

The corner where Charlie and Bella eat.

Amy shaking her bum at the same location that Mike did in the movie. And FYI, the cook said that she isn't the first one to re-create this moment!

So we thought we were done until I noticed that the StoneCliff Inn was close by and it was on my list of locations--but I never could figure out what part was filmed there so we weren't planning on going. But since it was super close we decided to try really quick before we headed for the airport. And I was SOOOOOO glad when we did! Recognize those mossy rocks??

The place was packed with boulders covered in moss. I took a million pics trying to find ones that I actually recognized. I was about to give up and as I came down a different direction ---BAM!!! There it was!! This is one of the spots from the MOVIE!!

Do you recognize the tree where Bella trips as she is chasing after Edward? Amy is trying to re-create it for you. Unfortunately, Edward was already packed up for the trip back to Virginia so he couldn't pose for the picture.

So after finding this place my trip was complete!!! And we headed back to the airport to catch our flights home. It was the best 4 day vacation EVER. I highly recommend it. Surprisingly most of the women that were doing the same as us were actually there with their husbands! Don't think Dave is ready for a Twilight vacation yet. The only sad news was that Edward missed the connecting flight and didn't arrive to my house until a couple days later! Luckily he survived but he is a little beat up--but I love him regardless! We didn't see EVERYTHING, but we came pretty stinking close. Plus, now we have a reason to go back and see the other places some day!

Merry Christmas...or something

2009-01-21T18:56:00.010-05:00

So this year I fell behind a little. Okay, A LOT!! So even though my wonderful husband wrote up a Christmas letter, I never printed it or mailed it. So now, in my true lazy fashion, I am posting it on my blog so that you can all know that I WAS thinking about you at Christmas but I just never got around to letting you KNOW that I was. So here goes:

Have a Very Merry Christmas from the Price’s

Well, the first item we like to inform people of is where we currently live. It changes so often that some of our Christmas card list recipients may not know. Surprise!, we still live in Virginia. We are pretty sure this is where we want to stay for a long time.

We had a very sad event this year. Dave’s mom, grandma Sue, passed away in June. Christmas time was always her favorite time and so I’ve been thinking a lot about her recently. It certainly wasn’t sudden and Sunny and I had started to pray and fast that her suffering would come to end. We miss her a lot and even more around the holidays.

Here are the individual reviews. We will go oldest to youngest…so Sunny is up first

Sunny:Sunny completed her college degree. I am so proud of her and glad she is finished. The other life changing event Sunny had this year is the Twilight Saga. It might be more, but Sunny admits to reading the four book series at least four times. She has a trip planned early next year to go visit the town where the book takes place with her sister-in-law. Big Twilight, Stephanie Meyer, Rob, Edward, Jacob, Forks fan!!!

Dave:Well, in addition to working on the basement I had a few things that kept me busy this year. I finished my Captain’s Career Course. This is the school I have to take prior to being selected for major. It will be another few years before I am eligible for promotion, I was just lucky enough to get a seat in the school and get it knocked out early. I was also sent to Iraq for about a month. This was a short or temporary duty assignment. Other than being away from Sunny and the kids, I really enjoyed it. Iraq in short time periods if fine, it’s the 18 month assignments that get old. I spent a lot of time in the AIRPAX terminals, (small, uncomfortable holding locations where you wait for your plane or helicopter to show up). I caught rides on black hawks, Chinooks, baby Chinooks, C-130s and a few others. The ride is always the fun part. The hours spent waiting for the ride with a bunch of other stinky Army types is not.

London:To say that London has adjusted well to Virginia would be somewhat of an understatement. She is in the Drama club, tested well enough in math to be selected for the math club, and was voted class president. London has always had an easy time making friends, which has come in handy since we moved around so much. The most important event for London this year was her baptism. Yes, London turned eight and was baptized. Sunny and I are happy she was baptized but I am a little nervous that she is half way to driving and dating. Its happening too fast.

Tank:Is still doing great in school. In fact, he did so well that he was nominated for a special school/leadership course this summer. We probably won’t end up doing it because it is crazy expensive, but are proud that his teachers felt he was such a good student and role model that they took the time to nominate him. Tank just turned seven and had a way cool birthday party (see Sunny’s blog post). Two words, Indiana Jones. The ward called us to schedule his baptism for next year. Thanksgiving weekend 2009 Tank will also be baptized.

Zeke:Well, Zeke now goes to school all day and is doing great as well. He is supposed to be at a level 5 reading level by the end of the year and is already at a 4. He is so proud to ride the school bus with his big brother and sister. He is such a good kid at school, his teachers just love him.

Jonas:Even little Joe goes to school now. His preschool is Tuesday through Thursday in the mornings. The girls at the school recognized Joe as Zeke’s little brother and immediately started to take good care of him. I think Joe will be the beneficiary of a lot of that in the future. Joe going to school has given Sunny a taste of the freedom she will have in a year and a half with Joe goes to school with the rest of the kids. It’s a bitter sweet feeling, but Sunny has definitely had the hard job during our marriage so hopefully she will have a little more Sunny time when the kids are in school all day long.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.
The Prices

Twilight Michelle

2008-12-17T12:32:00.005-05:00

A handful of you have asked about my new Twilight BFF and so I thought that I would introduce her to you. Say hello to Twilight Michelle. That is what we call her in order to distinguish her from my other friend Michelle.

Twilight Michelle and I started talking while in line to see Twilight the opening day. She was so fun that I asked if I could sit with her during the movie since we were both alone. As we talked we realized that we love all the same things and we really had a blast. We said goodbye at the end of the movie, but I went back to get her email address to send her something Twilight related that she wanted. And since then we have become great friends! Thank goodness for Twilight! Without it I would never have met Michelle...and I wouldn't have someone to share all my silly obsessions with.

Before and After

2008-12-15T14:43:00.004-05:00

We just updated our Laundry Room this weekend. So here are the befores and afters. The "before" is actually before we moved in. I should have taken a picture to show you how cluttered and chaotic the room was before we put the cabinets in.
Our cabinets are a little crazy, but we got them off of Craig's List for SUPER cheap, so they will fill the need just fine for the price!

I finally have a place to hang brooms, etc... so they aren't falling all over the place.

In case you were wondering about the color. It was a mistint that was only $6 for the gallon instead of $20-something. So I thought for that price it would work well for the Laundry room--and after putting it on the walls, I LOVE it!
I also have a place to hang my ironing board and step ladder!!!

This last photo has nothing to do with the Laundry Room, but I thought I should throw it in. This is Tank with his birthday gift from Zach and Amy. The reason why it is such an important picture is because Tank is actually SMILING...AND he is even looking at the camera without squinting his EYES! A rare picture, indeed!! If only I could get him to do this for group shots!!

O.M.E.

2008-11-21T18:30:00.004-05:00

For those of you that aren't in the know...OME stands for Oh My Edward!!! a saying that tells you how my day went. Warning: If you don't like Twilight , STOP NOW!! Cause I am going to gush!!

Twilight came out today!!! I wanted to go to the midnight showing--which was supposedly sold out--but since I have little kids at home I had to make due with the first morning showing at 11 am. And I am so glad that I did. It wasn't busy at all which meant I could enjoy the show without a lot of noise. I went by myself, but quickly made a friend while waiting in line that is almost as crazy as I am about all things Twilight and so I thoroughly enjoyed sitting next to her during the show. It was fun to have someone else to drool over Edward with!!

Of course I had to wear the awesome shirt that Amy picked out for me. Thanks again, Amy!!!

Now onto the movie. Don't go see it if you haven't read the books. I just don't see how anyone could really enjoy it that didn't have a deeper understanding of what was going on. I give it 2 stars out of 4 for people that haven't read the book and 3 out of 4 for those that have. Not the best movie in the world...keep that in mind. But as far as feeding my Twilight Addiction...it totally filled my need. And on to the best part of the movie: ROB!!!! I had my doubts about him but he TOTALLY delivered. He IS Edward !!!!!!! I absolutely LOVE him.

I came out of the movie ready to see it again and I have been playing my favorite parts over and over again in my head! WARNING: Don't go in thinking it will be just like the book or you will just be disappointed. If you go into it with the mindset that you really want to see a smoking hot Edward...then you'll love the movie. There are a few parts that you will go "what in the world???" but if you just look past those things you will at least enjoy it. For those of you that love Twilight, I think you will really have a fun time at the movie!

This is America!

2008-11-11T15:58:00.006-05:00

The second grade put on a play last night called "This is America". Teancum helped sing 2 songs and he had a speaking part.

Speaking part

Song #1

Song #2 (This one is cuter, in my opinion)

The 7-year-old Crusade

2008-11-09T09:23:00.016-05:00

Near the beginning of the year Teancum was introduced to the Indiana Jones trilogy. And he has LOVED Indiana Jones ever since. Here is a picture he drew of him. It didn't scan as well as I would have liked. We even went as a family to see the new movie. Which, of course, Teancum loved.

So when deciding what to do for a party the theme of Indiana Jones was brought up. And Tank instantly had an idea for a party favor. Since we had taken swim noodles and cut them up to make light sabers, he thought that we should take jump ropes, cut them in half and make them into whips!! What a great idea! So here is what one looked like. I spray painted them brown and wrapped the handle in electrical tape.

Front of the invitation

inside of invite(sorry, hard to read--I blacked out dates, addresses, etc..)

Luckily we were blessed with 70 degree weather!! So we had the party outside. This was "Base Camp".

I found Indiana Jones Party hats online. They were really cute but looked like they were made for infants when I pulled them out of the package. See how small they are on my kids' heads.

Tank demonstrating how to use the whip

Tank and Zeke fighting with the whips. (Don't worry--I tested them out and there was NO way they could hurt eachother with them. It was like trying to hit someone with a piece of yarn!)

The expedition crew

We started out at base camp with a letter that Indy had left for Teancum. (hope you can read it)

The snake pit (If you look hard you will see snakes everywhere--especially on the ground)

When they got to the bottom of the slide they found the next clue

They had to run down our hill away from the "boulder". The boulder was my exercise ball wrapped in brown paper bags!

Jonas running from the boulder.

I LOVE this pic of Tank reading the clue!! (the clue was taped onto the boulder)

To find the next clue the kids had to use a roll of toilet paper to make one of them into a mummy. I had previously put the next clue around a toilet paper roll and then re-rolled toiletpaper on to it.

The pinata--Blue star was the best I could find that wasn't spiderman or something like it. No pictures of them hitting it because it didn't last long and it was a little chaotic!!

This clue was inside the pinata.

This "cave" actually had a blanket over the front so that it was semi-dark inside. They had to go in and grab as many bugs as they could in 10 seconds. (It was filled with bugs and mice and snakes)

Then they had to decode the message written on some of the bugs to find the next clue. (It just said "side of box"--figured I would make that part easy since the previous part wasn't)

The last clue to find the "treasure"

This is our version of "The Ark"--a gold spray painted styrofoam cooler!

It had Teancum's present from us inside of it.

Then we had cake!

After cake we opened presents. This is a card one friend made. It is a little hard to see but it is so cute. It is Indy with a sunset in the background.

So that was our 7-year-old birthday crusade. Thank goodness for the internet because I got a lot of the ideas from there. It only took about an hour to go through the treasure hunt, so I am glad that I scheduled the party for only an hour and a half. The last half hour the kids played Indiana Jones on the playground and in the "cave". Their goody bags had a magnifying glass and compass and squirt gun(along with all kinds of bugs) in them so they used those as props as they played. Over all it was a great party!

Happy Birthday Tanky Boy!!

November 11th!!!!

2008-11-03T08:30:00.006-05:00

What happens on November 11th, you ask?? Only the most anticipated CD release EVER (for our household, anyway)...DAVID ARCHULETA!!! That's right, on the 11th we will finally be able to listen to that cute little boy every day!! Don't know why, but that little guy just makes me smile everytime I see him. I tried to put his music video for his single on here but I couldn't(it was disabled). Here is the link to it though. It is really cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8phK_YIRNs

I love American Idol, but last year it just took on a new obsession. I have never enjoyed it quite that much and I have never had the desire to go out and buy a CD from one of the contestants. Not only that, but this year London and I loved our little Archie so much that while we were in Utah during the summer we went to the American Idol concert!

London with her ticket!

Eating at Cheescake Factory prior to the show.

Grandma LaBounty went with us! (and so did Grandma Bobbie, Aunt Amy and Aunt Lissy!)

Mom and London excited for the show to start!

London screaming when David Archuleta came on stage!

Luckily they had big screens so that we could see his face since we were SOOO far back!

Archie at the piano!!

We had 4 generations at the concert--I took the pic

(I know I should have been in it too--oh well!)

This is a little clip of when David Archuleta came out on stage. Since we saw it in Utah everyone was there to see him so the place went crazy. It was a 100 times louder for him than any of the others. Infact, near the end of the clip you can tell that he has started singing but you could BARELY hear him because it was sooooo loud!!

In this clip it keeps going out of focus because of all the lights effects they had going on. Yes, you can hear me and London screaming--embarrassing as that is, I still wanted you to get a little taste of what the concert was like. The screaming was soooo much louder in person!!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! Happy Halloween, we go!

2008-10-31T19:40:00.007-04:00

I am starting to run out of creative ideas for my kids to be for Halloween so this year we went a traditional route but still kept up a theme. Snow White and the 7--or, in this case, 3--dwarfs. I didn't realize until just now that I didn't take good pictures of the boys hats. They were fairly long--I should have flipped them to the side so you could see. They looked a lot cuter than the pictures show.

Jonas giving his best "Happy" face.

Ezekiel attempting to look "Grumpy"!

Tank showing how to be "Dopey".

London as our little Snow White.

Our neighbors' church has a HUGE trunk or treat halloween party, so we went to it. They had hayrides, bouncy houses and slides, carnival style games, food and trick or treating--all for free!! The kids all enjoyed it and saw tons of friends. The picture below is deceiving because it is at an angle that doesn't show the TONS of people there. And luckily we came upon the kids' favorite person in the whole world which made the night complete--His name is Joe and he is the best 14 year-old you have ever met! When my kids go to his house to play they all come home talking about how Joe is their best friend (even though there are other kids in their family that are closer to their ages). He is seriously the nicest, most helpful, respectful kid I have ever met. I hope my kids can grow up to be like him. It is funny that his name is Joseph because everytime I talk to him and see how he treats everyone, I think of Joseph Smith at 14 years-old and I imagine he was just like this kid. Anyway--Joe volunteered to take the kids on the bouncy houses, etc... and made my Halloween a lot less stressful. Thanks Joe!

It Arrived!!

2008-10-29T19:32:00.003-04:00

It finally arrived and I feel so much more official now!!!!!!!!! Pretty sad it took until I was 32 to complete--Holy Crow, I'm 32!! When did I get so old????

This is the post that never ends. It just goes on and on my friends....

2008-10-17T07:50:00.033-04:00

Well, this post is going to be extra long. I'm warning you now. We had a VERY eventful weekend and I am too lazy to break it down into separate posts. There are a TON of pics because it is hard to whittle down from the 300 that I took during the vacation. I think I got it down to around 50. So strap on your seat belt and join us on our whirlwind 4-day Columbus Day Vacation! Here we go:

DAY 1

Gettysburg

We started out at Gettysburg, PA on Friday, October 10th. Dave and I LOVED it. The kids were a little bored. After seeing the movie, cyclorama, and museum we headed off on the self-guided auto tour. (Auto meaning automobile--it is over a large area so you drive from spot to spot) We purchased an audio tour w/ booklet that told us stories about the places and guided us along. It made it so much more fun! We saved the CDs so if anyone wants to come out and visit us you can borrow it if you want to head to Gettysburg for a day--we'll even watch your kids so you can enjoy it more! (Can you tell that I am BEGGING you to visit!?!)
I put in this picture below because I think that the look on Joe's face shows how the kids felt most of the time. Especially since we spent hours driving around in the car looking at what they considered to be nothing!

Below is a pic of the kids when we got out at Little Round Top. Zeke and Joe were cheering to be able to roam free.
Devil's Den and my children--no explanation needed!!! :)

Climbing alllllll over the rocks at Devil's Den.

A RARE photograph of our whole family!

DAY 2

Niagara Falls

We arrived at Niagara Falls at around 1:30 in the morning. We found the first decent hotel (we thought) we could see. A Days Inn. GROSS!!! It had to be one of the most disgusting places I have stayed at ever. But in the middle of the night we weren't ready to up and leave--plus all the good hotels are on the Canadian side--for future reference for those that are planning to visit up there. Hotel aside--Niagara Falls was gorgeous!! We all loved it.

I love this pic of Zeke. He is so short that instead of looking down at the falls, it is looking up to the sky!! Too cute.

This pic shows the people on the tour that goes up under the falls. The guide is in the orange. What you can't see if everyone slipping around and the wind from the rush of the falls blowing around them. For obvious reasons we decided not tot take the kids on this. Maybe next time when Dave and I go by ourselves!

Another RARE family photo.

I put this pic in for perspective. That boat you see is HUGE. If you could zoom in you would see that the top of it is filled with around 150 people.

Since Dave is on military orders right now he is not allowed to leave the country (this is why we didn't go to a nice hotel in Canada). So he had to stay behind on the U.S. side of Rainbow Bridge while the kids and I walked over to Canada. I wasn't going to be that close and not set foot on Canadian soil!

We've been to Canada!!!

Church History - Palmyra, NY

After spending the morning at Niagara Falls, we headed to Palmyra to see the Church History sites. First up was the visitors center at Hill Cumorah. I thought this pic was pretty of the hillside as we walked up the trail to the top of the hill where the monument is.

I love this picture of the kids at the monument.
After Hill Cumorah we headed to the Smith Family Farm and the Sacred Grove. This is just as we entered the Sacred Grove. I didn't realize how many trails they have leading everywhere. You could walk around in there for hours. I think we spent close to an hour. And there are benches here and there so you can just sit down and relax. It was beautiful and serene. Even though there were lots of people walking around it was very, very quiet. I am not a very good photographer, so to make sure that I got at least a couple decent shots of the grove I think I took well over 100 shots. It was hard to decide which ones to show, but I think I liked these best.

London and Jonas smelling wild flowers along the trail.

This was the Smith Family's frame home that they lived in for a few years.

This is the Smith Family's Log home.
Just around the corner from the Smith Farm is the Temple (Sorry didn't take a pic) and the Stake Center. This has to be the largest, most gorgeous Stake Center I have ever seen. The picture doesn't do it justice.
We then proceeded to the print shop where the first Book of Mormon was printed. The kids were dead by then (remember we had also been to the Falls all morning long) so Dave stayed with the kids while I just went in to take a couple photos. The tour is supposed to take an hour and none of us were up to that.

When I went in I told the missionary that I just wanted to take a few pics and that Dave was waiting--so he offered to take me on my own 5 minute condensed tour. It was great!! This front room had everything original in it. Even the floor. It was gorgeous.

This was Elder Hamblin that took me on the tour. He is on his 6th mission!
We then hurried to Peter Whitmer's Home before everything closed down for the night.
We were planning on staying the night in Palmyra originally, but since all the tours shut down at 6 we decided to head to our next location since we needed to be there by about 9:30 the next morning. That way we wouldn't have to wake up super early and drive in order to arrive on time. Since we weren't sure which town we were going to spend the night I hadn't made reservations. After all, when have you ever seen hotels at capacity in October! BIGGGGGGGG Mistake! We arrived at our destination after a couple af hours and then found out that ALL of the lodging was full. Not just nice hotels. I am talking about even the creepy, road-side, scared for your life motels!!! So we decided to back track to the next exit and see what we could find. Long story short: 4 hours later and about an hour and 10 minutes from our destination we finally found the LAST room available in about a 2 hour radius!! (keep in mind the whole time we were calling 1-800-HOTELS, and all of the chains seeing where the nearest vacancies were). If I was good at PhotoShop I would put rays of light and a Halo on this sign!! Not only was it nice to just find a place, but after spending the past evening in a YUCKY place--this place was HEAVEN!! (Of course, since it was a Hilton property) Moral of the story: ALWAYS make reservations. You can always cancel them if you have to. F.Y.I. there was some kind of weird car race going on. That is why everyone was booked.

DAY 3

A Day with Friends

The next morning we went to visit our good friends that we made while in Hawaii. They are now stationed in NY. They just had a little baby boy and they were baptizing him into the Catholic Church. We got to visit with them and their extended family and we were able to attend the baptism and their Sunday services. It was a great experience for the kids and I to see what their church was like --Dave has been many times while on his mission. Here is a pic of our 4 kids and their 2 little ones (with daddy holding the baby) By the way, PRETTIEST baby ever. He was soooo cute.

Here is a pic of their family. We are so glad that we were able to become friends with them and that we can still keep in touch. The kids had so much fun running and playing at their home. We stayed ALL day. We kept meaning to leave and give them some time to themselves, but we were enjoying ourselves so much it was hard to go!

DAY 4

Hershey, PA

After spending the night at a nice reasonable place--no Hilton, but no icky Days Inn--we woke up with the plan of just driving home. As we were about half way there we saw a sign that we could not ignore: HERSHEY. That's right. We were only a couple miles from the Chocolate Mecca of the U.S. So how could we pass it up??? The kids, of course, were thrilled! The amusement park was closed, but Chocolate World was open so we spent a couple hours there.

Note: Look at London in the picture below. I just have to laugh at her Top Model pose!
The tour is a ride through a "factory". The kids loved it!!

This photo below was the last of the trip. It isn't as amazing now, but on Monday, this was the FIRST time we have seen gas below $3 a gallon in ages!!! By far the most exciting thing Dave and I saw!!

Miscellaneous

Below are just a couple other misc. shots that aren't really important but that I liked from our trip.

These purple wild flowers were at Gettysburg. The reason I took the shot is because they are all over the place here in the medians of the highways. I don't ever remember seeing so many wildflowers in October before. Again, this is Gettysburg. I just thought it was pretty with all the yellow.
At the Gettysburg Visitor's Center there were fields and fields of yellow wild flowers.

I love this pic of Dave and the kids walking across a bridge at Niagara Falls. Notice, Tank has passed London up height wise.
This pic of Zeke makes me smile. He had HAND FULLS of leaves he had picked up around Niagara Falls. These are only a few that he had left. The sad look on his face was because I wouldn't let him keep him. I know I am a mean mom. But he didn't want to press them or anything. He wanted to play with them in the car. Done it before--and I can tell you that it isn't fun to pick up "leaf crumbs" that have been disinegrated all through out the car.

This is an extremely blurry picture, but I didn't have a better one. The colors as we left NY and entered PA were beautiful. But my camera doesn't take good photos when driving down the freeway and there weren't lots of places to pull off to take pictures. But you can at least get the idea anyway.
This last picture is for all of you that love "The Office". I tried to get a few different pics, but this is the only one that I got. Yes, we drove through Scranton!!
So that was our whirlwind tour. Hope you enjoyed. You might have to go rest now. I know I am exhausted!!!

Time for a change

2008-10-09T16:11:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I decided that I was sick of my dirty blonde hair that is the same color as my skin. I usually color it a couple times a year but I have taken a break for almost 2 years after a "bad experience". So today I went and paid someone to give me a whole new look--cut and color. I love it but I am wondering if Dave will even recognize me when he gets home!!:) P.s. London took the photo. She is getting to be a decent photographer!

It's a sad, sad day

2008-10-07T08:59:00.003-04:00

Wow, I never thought this day would come but it did. And although I am happy in some ways I must admit that I feel a sense of loss---Today Jonas started preschool!! I can't believe that I will have 7 1/2 hours a week without any kids at home. The house is so quiet I don't know what to do. I am happy for Joe because he has been super lonely since Ezekiel started kindergarten a month and a half ago. So this will give him a chance to play with friends. He was really excited and didn't mind me leaving, but I could tell that the smile he was giving me for the pictures was a little hesitant. I think it is harder to send your "baby" off to school. With the older kids I just had my hands full with the little ones so it was a welcomed relief, but now as I send Jonas off I realize how much I love having the little guy around. I don't know what I will do in 2 years when he goes to kindergarten ALL DAY! Hopefully by then we will have Langli so that she can keep me company.

On a brighter note--I LOVE the preschool here. Zekey went there last year and it was great. It is part of the high school child development courses, so they are really great about having a good curriculum and there are a bunch of high schoolers along with 2 teachers helping the kids so they get a ton of personalized attention. And it is super inexpensive! (especially after coming from Hawaii where preschool could cost as much as rent!)

In front of the school

Waiting in the hall

Sitting on his "spot" on the rug

Joe's Move

2008-10-03T08:14:00.003-04:00

Dave went into the kitchen the other day and Jonas was on the floor doing "his move", so Dave hurried to get me and the camera so we could get it on video. This kid is too funny! Just watching him makes me dizzy!

Madam President

2008-10-01T08:44:00.003-04:00

I don't know if you can tell by looking at the picture but London is VERY excited because......
She was elected Class President!!!! Congratulations, London!!! She is so happy. She gets to plan activities for her class and the coolest part (according to her) is that she gets to go to meetings with the adults!!:)

Thank you Amy!

2008-09-29T17:58:00.005-04:00

My sis-in-law just bought me the greatest present as a graduation gift. I thought you would all like to see it. She knows me too well. Can't wait until November 21st to wear it!!! For those of you that don't get it--see previous posts and you'll probably figure it out!! Thank you Amy!!

A week..or so...in review

2008-09-19T08:52:00.009-04:00

I am such a slacker! Sorry! I keep meaning to update the blog but never get around to it. I have 1 semi-good excuse and 1 that is just ridiculous. We'll go for the decent excuse first. My living room is done!!! (Mostly, anyway) I will take pics soon but I still need to find(or make--hopefully find) some curtains to work in the room and I need to repaint my ugly endtables. But as soon as that is done I will put up the pics. I am so happy to have pictures on the walls and couches that I can sit on and bookshelves with BOOKS!!!!! And, most of all, my comfy reading chair and ottoman! It is going to get worn in a lot faster than the sofa and loveseat cause I NEVER let the kids sit on them--they(the kids) have been banished to the basement. So that is excuse #1--I have been putting together furniture and hanging things on walls and unpacking books---FINALLY! Excuse #2: I just finished reading the Twilight Saga (yes, all 4 books) for the second time in 2 weeks. I know I am sooooo silly, but I enjoyed it sooo much that I had to read it again. Actually I read the first 12 chapters of Midnight Sun that are on Stephenie Meyers website. (The link to the chapters is http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partialdraft3.pdf ) For those of you that love these books, you will love to read the few chapters she has posted of this book. It is Twilight from Edward's perspective. It makes you understand him better and Bella also. After I read the chapters it left me wanting to finish the story so I picked up where it left off and read Twilight again--and then I couldn't stop and had to read the rest of them again too. I know...I am like a silly addict. If I would've know I would be so consumed I might have waited to read them until all the kids were in school!!! So those are my excuses--not good ones I know--but excuses none the less!!

So here are a bunch of random pics from the last couple weeks for grandparents that are wanting to see more of their grandkids!

This is a pic of London on her first day of Drama Club. She told me she had to look especially cute that day. So we did our best. Her school has a drama club once a week and in the spring they are putting on a musical. Here in the next few weeks she is going to try out for the lead, but she is already excited about just being in the chorus if she doesn't get it.

Jonas and I had a fun errand day last week. We had to go all over the place. His favorite was the grocery store because they had a special cart just his size. He was so proud that he was able to load it up and push it through the store!

Last Friday we were supposed to meet a group for a field trip at an orchard, but due to some confusion and bad weather we ended up being the only ones there. We had a blast though. Jonas picked a bag full of the most delicious apples we have ever had. We are going to take all the kids back there soon because it was so fun. (you can kind of tell in the second pic--it was REALLY foggy!)

Last week Zeke was given the Star of the Day because he was really good in class--at least that is what he told me. He was soooo pleased with himself. Please excuse his messy face. He drank some gatorade right before I took the pic since he had just finished working out! (Dave has been exercising with the kids almost every afternoon when he gets home. They LOVE it and they are already seeing a lot of improvement.)

Jumping...no...LEAPING JOYFULLY onto the Bandwagon!

2008-09-09T09:08:00.004-04:00

For those of you that don't know, a couple of years ago I dislocated my left shoulder. Had to go to physical therapy, etc... Not fun. It is still kind of weak. Well, this past Thursday I stepped awkwardly on a toy left out by the children and it made me fall...so of course I landed trying to catch myself with my left arm! Pop! Shoulder out yet again. I popped it back in.(I will spare you the details cause it didn't go smoothly) So of course I was sore and couldn't move my arm too much. So all my plans for the day went out the window since I couldn't do them physical. So instead of sitting around watching TV all day long I decided to do something else on my list of things that I wanted to get around to but never could find the time. 4 days later I finally finished my project and enjoyed it so much that I needed to share.

What did I do you ask???? I obsessively read the funnest books ever...The Twilight Series!

I hadn't even heard of these books until a couple of months ago and now Twilight stuff is EVERYWHERE! Maybe it was before too and I just never noticed it. I was absolutely enveloped in the first one and finished it the same day that I started because I was enjoying it too much to stop. And after that I was hooked. I finished the second one by the next afternoon and was anxious for Dave to get home so that I go buy the last 2 books. I was going crazy wasting a few hours that I could've spent reading!! I always thought that the people that were GAGA for the books were a little weird and what not but after I read the last book I have to admit that I am too!! I have never enjoyed a book more thoroughly than I did the 4th book in the series. She surprised me at every turn and left me absolutely glowing with joy when the saga ended. Now I am anxiously awaiting the movie although I know that it will in no way do the book justice. I need to find someone to go with me that loves the books as much as I do...Any volunteers????

And for all my friends that have sworn off the books, refusing to get caught up in the madness, I say....Just let yourself go. They are so enjoyable!!! And I promise that by the end you will be in love with Edward Cullen just as much as the rest of us silly adults that are acting like teenagers! Seriously the most fun I have ever had reading. So go buy them--there is no way you are going to get them from the library--I tried!!! (the waiting list was insane!)

Duck, Duck, GOOSE!!

2008-09-02T14:37:00.002-04:00

Okay, I admit that this is not a game of Duck, Duck, Goose. It is tag. But if I would have titled my post that way then no one would have read it! I have been tagged by two different people with two different tags so I am just going to put them both in this post.

The first tag is from my friend Sarah. She sent this to me back in May and I promised her I would get on it as soon as I finished school—as we all know that took a few extra weeks and so here I am finally getting to it. The second is only from a few days ago (I’m trying to do better about keeping up) and is from my sis-in-law Amy.

Tag #1:
List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself.

3 Joys: This one is easy! 1)My sexy, hunky husband. 2)My cute and rambunctious children. 3)My home—I know that is soooo materialistic of me! But I love painting the walls and putting new furniture in it and hanging pictures on the wall and creating just the mood I want in it!

3 Fears: 1)Dave finding someone better than me—let’s face it, it wouldn’t be hard. 2)My children getting hurt. 3)Eternity! Don’t get me wrong. I love the fact that I am sealed for eternity to my hubby and kids, but when I actually sit down and contemplate how things will go on forever and ever and EVER and that there is no end to anything—It kind of freaks me out. My finite mind can’t quite grasp the concept.

3 Goals: 1)Lose weight 2)Be a better wife and mother. 3)Read my scriptures more often and with more fervor.

3 Current Obsessions: 1)The INTERNET—nasty thing eats up a day in the blink of an eye! 2)My husband—I’m trying to pay him more attention and make his life easier by being a better wife. 3)My Home—yes, there it is again. I am still trying to finish painting and decorating plus we still have to put up the molding in the basement. And don’t even get me started on the things that need to be done in the yard!!

3 Random Facts About Me: 1)I am an obsessive reader. So unless I have time to waste I can’t start a book because it will not be put down until I am finished. This includes missing meals and sleep in order to finish it. 2)I have lost all social skills. Once upon a time I was actually outgoing, but after marriage and children I have a hard time thinking about anyone other than my family. I know—jerky!! I need to work on that. 3)I have short, wide feet that my family all make fun of—they call them hobbit feet. At least they aren’t as hairy as Frodo’s!

Now on to tag #2:

4 random things I like about my husband:

I like his impersonation of a Chinese man that thinks Americans are stupid. It is so funny it will make you cry!!

I love how when we are getting ready for bed and I say “It’s your turn to say prayers” he will ALWAYS answer by saying “Prayers!” and then giggles. You would think that it would get old but it makes me laugh every time and I miss it when he is gone!

I love that he is so tall that when he hugs me tight his chin rests on the top of my head.

I love that his spare time—if he has any—is spent studying WW2 history.

4 movies that I would watch more than once:

Pride and Prejudice (long A&E version)

The Notebook

All of the Harry Potter Movies

Shakespeare in Love (the edited, non-rated R version)

4 tv shows I watch:

American Idol

The Biggest Loser

What I Like About You (Yes, I do know that I am a dork—luckily they have the reruns on ABC Family, so someone other than me must like it too!!)

Dancing with the Stars

4 places that I have been:

Chile

Spain

France

Morocco

4 people who e-mail me regularly: I correspond with most people via blogs and facebook now a days so emails from individuals are lacking. Here are some “groups” that I get emails from frequently.

Charlottesville Second Ward Relief Society

Great Wall Adoption Agency

LDS Living

FaceBook

4 favorite foods:

most things chocolate

Ruth’s Chris Steak (ahhh-too bad it is so expensive I can only have it every decade or so)

fresh bread

avocados (I swear I lived off these on my mission—mmmm, I need to go buy one now!!)

4 places that I would like to visit:

New York

China

Cancun

Europe (again but with Dave this time)

4 things that I am looking forward to in the coming year:

Finishing our house

Reading the Twilight series

Seeing some progress in our adoption of Langli

Getting in shape

As for the people that I tag…. The first tag says to tag 5 people and the second says 4. So I am just going to tag 4 people and they can choose which tag they want to do (or they can do both!!). Leah G., Holly G. , Logan M. and Shelley D. And if you don't get to it--don't worry, I won't be offended!!

Oh how I love Virginia!

2008-08-25T14:46:00.013-04:00

Well, I am still behind on posts from clear back in April so this post has a bunch of different photos thrown together into my "Love of Virginia" category!

For those of you that don't know, 2 years ago Dave and I came on a trip back to the DC area to see if he wanted to work for a company out here. We instantly decided no. Although DC is awesome, we did not want to work there and in order to be able to afford to live we would have to buy a home 2 hours away from work. 4 hours of a daily commute was definitely not a selling point for us. We had made up our mind but since we still had a couple days left we decided to drive out to Charlottesville because the company had said we could possibly be placed there if we wanted. The whole drive we talked about how we didn't want to live here. Then we drove into Charlottesville--I can't even describe to you the feeling that absolutely just FILLED us up. I have never before or since felt so sure about a location being the right place for us and our family. As we were planning on heading out and even looking at houses, etc...the military gave us a once in a life time opportunity to go to Hawaii. The company in Virginia wasn't sure when they were going to bring us on and so we decided that we better take the Hawaii job in the mean time. I know that going to Hawaii was what we were supposed to do but in the back of my head I knew that we needed to be in Charlottesville in the long run. When our time in Hawaii came to an end we were offered the job that Dave has now for the military. At first they told us that it would be in either Charlottesville or in Georgia. I just started to weep because I knew that we were supposed to be here. Then they told us they wanted us in Georgia. I was heartbroken. I knew that we were supposed to be in Virginia. Then, again at the last minute, it was decided that they did need us here after all. I have never before felt so guided to a single location. I know that this is where we are supposed to be. I sent Dave out to buy the house and I didn't see it until the day we signed for it. But as we drove the windy, tree covered road to our house I just started to cry because I KNEW that this was the place that the Lord had set aside for me. This is really where we are supposed to be at this time in our lives. I mention all this because as we drove back from spending the summer in Utah I had that strong, overwhelming sense of home as we approached Charlottesville. I love it here. I love Virginia. I know that we might not stay here forever, but I am going to stay here absolutely as long as I can!

We live just minutes from the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah National Park. These are photos from the park near the end of April just as spring was beginning and some of the many whitetail deer you will see as you drive through the national park.

This photo below is of the little squirrel that lives in our yard. My parents bought a bird feeder for us when they were here and our little squirrel decided it was for him. We should probably name him. Does anyone have any ideas?

While my parents and grandma were visiting we went to see Monticello. Talk about amazing. It has to be one of my favorite places I've been. The history to be found in Virginia is beyond amazing.
Here is another reason that I love Virgina--MY HOME! This is the after shot of when my Dad and Dave put up the shutters. It looks a lot more finished now but Dave and I think it makes it look smaller. What do you think? It is a great house and every day I fall more in love with it. I will be sad when the day comes that we ever have to leave it.

Now for the most recent historical Virginia adventure. A few weeks ago we went reconnoitering for an officer training day that Dave is in charge of (basically a field trip for the officers!). So off we went to Appomattox. It was so much fun. Dave and I were in heaven. The kids, of course, didn't appreciate it as much. Especially since we had to sit and wait for Dave to get done talking to the Park Ranger about all the details for his special day.

My cute family. I know I have said it before, but in this picture I think my Hubby is especially good looking!

While we were waiting for Dave to finish up with the details I kept the kids busy by taking photos of them. Some turned out blurry (I have a cheap camera) and of course I had a hard time getting Tank to look at the camera.

This house is the MacLean House. It is where General Lee and General Grant had the surrender meeting.

This is the street out in front of the MacLean house. I can't remember it's name. The soldiers for the South had to lay down their weapons along this road as part of the surrender ceremony.
This guy was awesome about keeping the kids entertained and busy with stories about the war and the youngest person that fought and how they had to shorten his gun to make it lighter for him to carry.He even let them lift up the gun to see how heavy it was.
Then he gave us an authentic bullet from the Civil War found at Appomattox! The kids loved it!
This is the actual Appomattox Court House.
Sorry for the long post! I'll try to keep them a little shorter in the future!!

Defending my Boyfriend

2008-08-23T10:12:00.005-04:00

Yes, Yes...I do have a boyfriend(shh..It's Michael Phelps. Don't tell anyone! Actually Dave already knows because his girlfriend is Dara Torres. We are staying true to our trends--I go for the younger guy while Dave goes for the older woman!).

There are a ton of things dissing "my man" that I have found online but I had to share 2 of them because they just blow me away!

First is our good old friend Jennifer Lopez. Have you guys heard what she said about Michael Phelps getting too much attention??? Okay. I have found a bunch of things written about this but I have to share I certain article because it also mentions a football player that thinks he is better than Michael. So here it is (This is from Tampabay.com ) :

While faithful Juice*heads are cheering the good news Michael Phelps brings to the table, Jennifer Lopez is so vain that she thinks she should be getting all the attention, and not some silly swimmer with eight gold medals, according to MSNBC's The Scoop.

Lopez was on Good Morning America (they're the home of dirt lately) on Monday to yak about how she's going to be in the Malibu Triathlon, but "couldn't understand why everyone is talking about that swimmer," a source from the show said.

"She couldn’t come up with Phelps’ name, and then she yammered on about how she was the one training for a triathlon just six months after giving birth, and how that was the big story right now, not 'the swimmer.' "

What a priss; Lopez and her ego are just behind Cincinatti Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who was quoted in tbt*'s SportsTalk as saying on ESPN that he knows "a couple people who could beat Michael Phelps right now," and that he was one of them. These people need to be thrown into a pit and forced to beat each other with baseball bats.

Who are these people? Don't they realize that right now Michael has made history that is unlikely to surpassed in our lifetime!!!! AUGHHH! I agree with the author of the article--these people do need to be hit in the head with a baseball bat!

Then, while I was looking to see if good 'ole J. Lo apologized for her comment (which I can find no such retraction of her idiotic statement) I found a statement by fellow swimmer Amanda Beard that just made me lose all respect for her--not that she was ever a favorite of mine. This is from Gossiplip.com but I verified it on a bunch of other sites.

All the shallow people in the world who are making nasty comments about Michael Phelps’ appearance exemplify why the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. Michael has brought joy and pride to the United States representing us in the 2008 Olympic games, he has accomplished feats we can only dream about, he loves his mom, he’s gives back to his community and has a work-ethic we should all strive for, yet all I keep reading about in the rags is how “unattractive” he is.

GROW UP people, not everything in life is about looks. Not all things center around people’s appearance. Not to mention the fact that I think Michael is perfectly handsome, but I tend to value what comes from the inside more than the outside, so I don’t expect everyone to have the same aesthetic viewpoint I have.

As for the Amanda Beard/Michael Phelps dating story, he’s WAY TOO GOOD for any athlete who cheapens her talents by posing for Playboy. Why not let the sluts with self-esteem issues do spreads, and the athletes set good examples for our youth? Yeah I am talking to you AMANDA. I am not sure what’s more disgusting, the despicable way you spoke about a teammate, or or your tasteless visage plastered all over the web?

When asked about whether she’s dating the world’s greatest Olympian, did Amanda really need to respond with “Ewww, gross,” or “I have better taste than that?” All I can say is her taste is all in her mouth.

I understand that my guy doesn't fit everyone's description of HOT, but "ewww, gross" or "I have better taste than that". Give me a break. I mean look at him:
You have to admit that he is a least a little hot--not to mention that he seems to be a nice person that loves his mom and sisters and works hard and seems to be humble and appreciative to all of his teammates for helping him reach this goal! As for me, he brought the most excitement to the Olympic games this time around and since he finished it just isn't as fun to watch. I will miss seeing you daily, Michael! And for all the haters--they are just jealous that history will soon forget them, while Michael will live on forever!!

Winter Wheat

2008-08-22T08:43:00.003-04:00

Well, the pictures don't do it justice but I FINALLY painted my living room and I LOVE the color!! It is called Winter Wheat. It is a really pale yellow/cream color. Very neutral but it brightens up the room so much. The best thing about having my living room painted is that I can put my new couches in it. They have been sitting in my garage for months! As soon as I get the furniture all set in the room and pictures on the wall (FINALLY!) then I will post the final product. I wish you could all see the color in person. It is so great. I have never been so pleased with how a paint color turned out. (Yes, my life is boring if this is the only thing that I get this excited about!!)

School Days

2008-08-20T22:28:00.006-04:00

HOORAY!!! School has started again!! Monday night was back to school night so we had the opportunity to go around and meet the kids' teachers.

This is London at her desk.

London and her teacher.

Teancum and his teacher.

Teancum at his desk.

Ezekiel's classroom (they didn't have assigned seats yet)

Zeke and his teacher.

Then today was the first day of school. I was more nervous sending Zeke off than I thought I would be. He isn't quite as independent as London and Tank and plus he has his food allergies to deal with at school. Then I was even more of a basket of nerves because they changed the bus number that they ride. I had written the old bus number on everything and so I was worried they were going to end up sending Zeke on the wrong bus since he doesn't know the bus driver yet. But it all worked out okay. Kindergarten is all day long here so it was a really long day for Joe because he missed Ezekiel so much. The kids had a great first day and Zeke can't wait to go back tomorrow.

My handsome kids showing off their "first day of school" attire.

London posing like the little model that she is.

Zeke was so excited I couldn't get him to hold still for a picture.

Yes, this is a bad pic of Tank, but he is so hard to take pics of because his eyes are SOOOOO sensitive to the flash. He always closes his eyes in anticpation of the shot!

Waiting for the bus!

Little Joe felt left out today so I had to include a picture of him too!

9 Crazy Years!

2008-08-12T13:03:00.007-04:00

This month Dave and I celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary! We are almost to double digits! I can't believe how much has happened in the past nine years. By my count (which might be inaccurate) we have moved 13 times in those 9 years--and that is not counting the 1 or 2 month stays at my parents' home in between moves. In these nine years--actually in the first 6 years--we have had 4 children and now we are waiting to get our little girl from China (which is taking forever, for those that were wondering). Dave and I have both finished our Bachelors and Dave has finished his Masters degree since we have been married. Dave was deployed for a year and a half--actually with all his trainings and deployments we have been apart for about 1/3 of our married life! It seems that change is the only thing we can count on since we have been married! The one thing that has remained constant is how I feel about Dave. He is honestly my favorite person on Earth. He is the only person that ALWAYS knows how to make me laugh. I have fun with him whether it is watching TV or even doing the dishes. He just makes life enjoyable for both me and the kids. He is the best dad I have ever seen. He is always the dad that is out in the mix, entertaining the kids while the other adults sit around and talk. I love that he is already teaching our boys to have respect for women. I love that his way of showing me that he loves me is by quitely doing the dishes or the laundry or helping out with the kids because he understands that being a stay at home mom is not easy. Dave is the hardest worker that I have ever met. He is always looking for something to do to help me or the kids out. I love that he is a worthy priesthood holder. This week he gave the children Father's blessings to prepare them for a new school year and listening to him during the blessings made me realize how wonderful it is to have him as the patriarch of our family. Enough gushing--sorry, I have to let him know how much I love him at least once a year! I am so glad that he is my eternal companion.

Our announcement photo.

(It has holes in it to tie the ribbon through.

For some reason this one didn't scan in well)

Bridal portrait
Just after the ceremony, outside Mt. Timpanogos Temple.
Cutting the cake.

(I love this picture because of Dave's HUGE smile--

He always smiles like this but it is rare to capture it on film!)

Dave decided to take advantage of our family while in Utah and used his dad as an overnight babysitter for the kids. No matter how hard he tries to surprise me I always figure it out because I ask too many darn questions. I'm a planner and always think ahead--I guess it is one of my many weaknesses. Well, this time he was able to plan a night away without my knowing. And so he surprised me with our Anniversary celebration almost a month early (Note: Dave will miss this anniversary due to a training event) So we went to the Anniversary Inn(the one on 5th South in SLC) in the Sultan's Palace Suite. It was too much fun. It was a great surprise.

This was our bed that was on the top of two elephants' backs.

Our bathtub/shower was a crazy dragon type animal.

The yummy breakfast they brought us the next morning.

Opinion Poll

2008-08-07T09:10:00.007-04:00

Well, I am going to try something new and set up a poll on the right for everyone to take. We are trying to decide whether or not to cut the boys hair for school. We would love to hear your opinions. We know a few of you are adamant about the short hair while others are sure that the long hair is better. So this way we can see who is in the majority and we will either try to keep it as is, cut it short or grow it longer.

If we cut the boys hair short it will look like the picture below. The pros for this haircut is that it is clean cut and doesn't get tangled. The cons are that I have to trim it every 2 weeks in order to keep it looking good and Jonas has a cowlick that makes the back of his hair stick straight out unless it is shaved super short--if it grows out at all it is a disaster.

The shaggy-skater-surfer look is what we are finally entering into now. (see below) The pros are that it is a pretty messy look so it doesn't required a lot of combing, it is finally long enough that Jonas's hair lays down in the back, and Tanks hair is finally starting to curl in the back again. The cons are that when we do get it trimmed to try to keep it this length the person always does a horrible job and we end up cutting it short anyway and Zeke has a cowlick at the base of his neck that pushes all his hair to one side so it looks like he belongs in the 80's because of the "tail" he has (that is uncentered, by the way).

Sorry for the hats in the last picture. It was the only one with all of the boys where it showed their long hair--all the others were at the beach with wet hair. Cons: They look like girls, hair in their eyes, has to be combed now and again. Pros: Never really needs to be cut, reminiscent of my Native American heritage, and all cowlicks are conquered.

Birthday Party

2008-08-06T09:08:00.005-04:00

Ezekiel's little girl friend missed him terribly while we were away in Utah. I guess her parents had a hard time getting her to go to primary without the incentive of seeing Zeke! She had made him an invitation to her 5th birthday and brought it every week to give to him and then would be disappointed when he wasn't there. But we finally made it home and Zeke received his handmade invitation and he LOVED it. He asked me to please save it for him. So here it is (keep in mind that the only thing they know how to write is their names):

Zeke told me every day that we had to buy her a present and he was starting to get really worried that I wasn't going to get her anything. The other kids tried to give suggestions for presents but he was adamant that he got to choose because it was his girlfriend. And of course no one else was allowed to carry the present.

The whole family was invited over to a BBQ with her family. It was lots of fun. Unfortunately, I couldn't get her to smile for the picture--she was actually having fun though! They were both really excited when we figured out that they are going to be in the same kindergarten class! How fun will that be. I asked Zeke if Maryn was his best friend and he said "Yes. And I'm going to marry her!" Too cute. I think they are going to have a blast in Kindergarten.

DONE!!!!!

2008-08-01T09:31:00.005-04:00

Hooray!! I am officially done!! Commencement exercises only happen once a year at EOU, hence the June 2009 date. But I actually graduated as of Summer term 2008! I can't tell you how happy I am! And I think that Dave and the kids are even happier!

David Archuleta

2008-07-31T14:15:00.005-04:00

Okay, I am a huge David Archuleta fan. I will post pictures and video from the American Idol concert later. But I was just looking at a photo from the last post of Jonas and it made me think of little David Archuleta. Jonas is always making faces that totally remind me of little Archie. In fact, that is probably why I love David A. so much...because his mannerisms and facial expressions always remind me of little Joe. So here are some pics of David and the pic of Joe--Do you think they look alike--maybe it's just me???

April Birthdays

2008-07-31T14:04:00.003-04:00

Well, back at the end of April, London and Jonas celebrated their birthday. That's right they have the same birthday--exactly 5 years apart! We just celebrated at home the morning after my parents and grandma got here for their visit (this is why everyone is in pajamas!!) My personal favorite is the picture of Joe in the coon skin cap that my dad bought him.

Sweet and Sassy

2008-07-30T12:46:00.010-04:00

I am playing catch up so please have patience with me. I have tons of posts to make about the last few months! I am starting with this one because my grandma has been asking to see the pictures.

My niece, Portia, turned 8 in June. For her birthday I took her and London to what London calls "Girl Paradise"... It is a spa for little girls in Draper called Sweet and Sassy. It had to be the cutest place I have ever seen. They each had their nails done, an up-do and their make-up done. Then after that they let them play on the catwalk with boas. It was so much fun! We had a blast. If any of you have little girls and live anywhere near there you should check it out. It was well worth the money spent for the amount of fun that they had.

The Limo you can rent if you are having a party there. The girls wanted a ride in it but they had to settle for just a picture by it.

Waiting for the fun to begin

London keeping herself entertained while waiting for our appointment.

Getting nails done

Choosing a hairstyle. London chose "diva" while Portia chose "princess".

Choosing make-up. Can you tell she is excited??

Admiring their beauty!!

Showing off their style!

We also bought them matching Best Friends necklaces. They enjoy being around each other so much!

Happy Birthday Hubby!!

2008-07-28T10:43:00.003-04:00

My cute hubby now has both feet firmly planted in his 30's as he turned 31 this weekend!! Since our birthdays are less than a week apart we decided that we would just share a birthday cake.

This year was a simple Sunday evening birthday at home. After Dave's HUGE 30th birthday bash we decided to take it easy on parties for awhile. If I can find the photos from his party last year I will post them. It was a massive BBQ on Hickam Beach. It was so much fun---but also soooo much work!

Happy Birthday Dave!! I love you!

Passing of a Loved One

2008-06-18T00:14:00.005-04:00

Sorry we haven't been blogging lately..and we might not be for a few more days. This is just a quick update. On the morning of Friday the 6th of June, Dave's mom passed away. Although it was sad, she had been sick for a long time and we were praying that she would be released from her pain. We left the next day to drive out to Utah. Dave is heading back to Virginia this coming Sunday. I am staying until the 3rd week of July. I am a little behind in my schooling now since I was in the middle of finals when we left--so I am finishing everything up hopefully this week. My professor was nice enough to give me an incomplete so that I can finish it up. So that is our quick update..will post more later.

Missionary London

2008-05-22T08:25:00.003-04:00

Every Sunday in Relief Society someone shares a"missionary moment" that they or a family member had over the week. This is London's missionary moment. She was so proud of herself...It made me smile.

At school they were making a list on the board of people who serve the community, i.e. firemen, police, teachers, etc... So London, being the cute girl that she is, raised her hand and answered "The Prophet!". Her teacher, not knowing what to say, asked her "What does a prophet do?" This is where it gets really cute... she answered "He preaches the gospel of the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!" The teacher was apparently at a loss of words and then finally told her that they would put "preacher" on the board. :)

I am so proud of London for being so bold. I wish that I could be more so. I think that a lot of the time we are so afraid of offending that we are too reserved, almost to the point of seeming ashamed or apologetic of our faith. But little children understand better than us that the "truth" of the gospel should be shared openly and without reserve! Good job, London!!!

Dog Gone Monkey Jones

2008-05-09T09:14:00.003-04:00

Monkey Jones. That is what we named our little puppy. Jones because all of the kids have family names for their middle name and Monkey because she would sometimes sound like a monkey when she would cry. Notice I am using the past tense when referring to our little doggy. She was a member of our family for approximately 28 hours before we handed her back to the breeder. After lots of tears from our kids, we decided we had to take her back since Zeke is EXTREMELY allergic. We knew he was allergic to fruit, but had no idea that he had a bad allergy to dogs. Poor Zeke spent all day yesterday zonked out on Benadryl because he had hives that formed 2 to 3 inch long welts up and down his neck and crying because his throat hurt so bad. So we couldn't put him through it anymore. Luckily the breeder was nice enough to take her back and give us a full refund. So here are a couple pics of our little Monkey before we gave her back.

What's in a name??

2008-05-07T09:43:00.004-04:00

Anytime I try to do these name things I don't know whether to put in Sunny or Sonya. So this time I thought I would put in both. Of course, they both have similarities. Which one do you think it more truly me????

What Sunny Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.

You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.

You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way.

And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life.

You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.

You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.

You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

What Sonya Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.

You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.

You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.

You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.

At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.

You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.

You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Doggie Time

2008-05-06T08:45:00.002-04:00

I need to make a bunch of new posts, but I don't have time to load up photos today. This is just a post to ask for names for a puppy. We are going to buy a dog this week. It looks like it will be either a black or chocolate female lab. So we need help in finding a great name. Something fun like the name my brother found for his cat--Her name is Katharine Dander, and they call her Kitty for short!! So if anyone has any clever ideas, I am open for suggestions!! Thanks for the help!

You're Invited

2008-04-23T08:09:00.002-04:00

We made up some invitations for London's baptism to give to our neighbors and her friends. You are all invited, of course...but, unfortunately, most people we know live far away. Luckily my parents, my grandma Putnam and Dave's brother and his family are all making the trip to come to the baptism. We can't wait.

Who looks like who

2008-04-18T14:11:00.005-04:00

We always joke about the strong Price genes so I thought I would test out how much each of the kids looks like us. Here are the results.

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family photos - Family history

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family genealogy - Family photos

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Guess the Putnam genes can hold their own against the Price genes!!:) No wonder why people always think that we have twins--the kids are all an exact mix of Dave and I.

I'm a Genius!

2008-04-18T13:09:00.004-04:00

According to this I am a genius---OBVIOUSLY it is not scientific AT ALL. But fun nonetheless!! At least it made me feel smart for a minute. :)

Take a Free IQ Test.

Romantic Time

2008-04-17T12:56:00.003-04:00

When I was moving around all of the furniture in London's room so that we could paint I found a little note under her bed. It made me laugh so hard, so I had to share it with everyone. We have told her before that she will be able to date when she is 16. It looks like she is more excited about that then we had thought!! I showed Dave the note and he did not think that it was funny at all!!! He is already stressing out about her being a teenager and this did not help the situation.

I can't wait to show her this when she is 16!! It will be so funny!!

Jane Austen

2008-04-14T11:47:00.003-04:00

I love Jane Austen and while I was blogstalking I found this and HAD to do it. I thought the answer was funny because in my younger days I am sure that I was more like Marianne Dashwood...but time changes you!

Take the Quiz here!

I know a bunch of you that will love to take this and I can't wait to see your results!

Call me Crazy

2008-04-12T09:33:00.006-04:00

I must be insane because I just disregarded my own common sense, not to mention conventional wisdom, and did the unthinkable...I purchased and used Olympic Paint in the shade called Napolean--which was the best color of BLACK that we could find. Did I use it on furniture? NO! Did I use it to paint my front door? NO! I used to to paint my boys room!! They want an outerspace room and I have been trying to decide what the best color would be...but after we pulled out their beds and witnessed how disgusting their walls get we decided that maybe black would be the best way to go. Now, after the fact, we are wondering if the black wall will have the same effect as a black car when you can see the dirt even easier!!! Anyway, it turned out pretty good. We have the few blotches that need to be touched up, but overall we kind of like it. Once it is all decorated I think that it will be pretty cool.

Since I was already in crazy mode I decided to grant London her wish and paint her room in a light, peachy orange. The picture definitely doesn't do it justice. It is actually a lot lighter and not so 'pumpkiny'. Dave says it reminds him of a dreamsicle. It you look at the lower left hand corner of the photo that is a better representation of the color! We all love it!!! The color is Arizona Sunset--but we call it HAWAII sunset!

WE HAVE WALLS!!!!

2008-04-12T09:19:00.010-04:00

The drywall guys showed up yesterday and our basement is finally starting to take form! Dave used his "skills" to frame in the walls for us...and of course the boys helped!

Dave had to build around the ductwork and he did an excellent job.

Now I have a huge closet under the stairs to store the toys in!

Entrance to the storage room/exercise room.

Beautiful wall built by Dave.

Our bathroom!

Second Try

2008-04-08T19:19:00.003-04:00

I think that I got Tank's part to show up....finally!! It's short, but I know that the Grandparents want to see it!

Tank's Musical

2008-04-08T16:15:00.007-04:00

Last night was the First Grade Musical. It was titled "How Does Your Garden Grow". Teancum was one of the kids that had a speaking part. He had practiced so much that even Jonas had the part memorized!! He was in 2 of the musical numbers, but the first one you couldn't see him at all because it was the entire grade. The other one wasn't as cute of a song, but at least you could see him so I am putting it on. He is right next to the very "big" kid. He has on the t-shirt with a green watering can on it. My battery was dying so I had the camera turned off and it didn't start soon enough to get the first couple words of his part. His part was "The stem is an elevator up from the ground. The water goes up and the sugar back down."

For some reason Tank's part won't upload. I will try it in another post.

Temple Panoramic

2008-04-03T15:14:00.001-04:00

Around Christmas time Deseret Book had these Temple panoramics on sale for half off. I planned to purchase one but then got caught up in the details of moving across country and forgot. By time I thought about it again the were regular price. I looked all of over the internet to see if I could find it for cheaper but I could not. Then they went on sale again but only for about 20% off. I talked to Dave and told him that it was something that I REALLY wanted so he said to go ahead--but then they were out of the Temple that I wanted!!! So I searched the internet again and found it on the website of the manufacturer for 39% off!!! HOORAY! Not only that, but they didn't even charge shipping!! So I ordered it right then. And it arrived just a few days ago. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is awesome and BIG. It is 4 feet long by 2 feet high. We are going to put it over our piano. Anyway, I was so excited that I had to share. The website is still having a sale on most of their things. They are beautiful religious pictures. And Now that I have it I can tell you that it is EXCELLENT quality. Go to http://www.raymonddesigns.com/ to see what they have!

Playground

2008-03-27T13:52:00.005-04:00

We bought a playground for the kids a few weeks back. We still need to put it together but we have to wait until we get a couple of diseased trees cut down (we don't want them to fall onto the playground!!) The picture wasn't on the website anymore, but I found the ad and scanned it in. Hopefully it works!! Dave loves it because it has monkey bars on the back portion--so then he can help the kids learn to do pull-ups!!:)

Things That Bring Me Joy!

2008-03-26T10:05:00.010-04:00

I am carrying on the challenge from my sis-in-law Amy to write down some of the positive things that bring me joy and think about the blessings in my life.

1. The first thing that I thought of was a baby's laugh. Especially if it is my baby! This is a video of Jonas when he was little.

2. Pulling into my parents' driveway in Kamas. Everytime I turn into it and see the house and the trees in the yard, I just get this incredible sense of home and security. Here is a photo of their driveway looking out toward the road this past Christmas.

3. All things Hawaiian. Well, maybe not ALL things, but most. I loved how I just felt relaxed being in Hawaii. I liked that I never had to wear socks. Everyone wore "slippers" (aka flipflops) to church. I love that I can count on one hand the number of days that I wore long pants. I love that my feet were softer than they have ever been from walking on the beach weekly. Most of all I loved that when we were at church the speaker would start out saying "aloha" and the entire congregation would great them back with an "aloha". I miss that so much! I also miss that when a family would be moving out of the ward the congregation would sing "Aloha Oe" to them and everyone would hug them good-bye. I really love Hawaii!

4. God Bless the USA. I love that song. Everytime I hear it I swell with pride. It reminds me of Dave's graduation from Basic Training. They had a slide show going of soldiers while the ones graduating sang the song--and when it got to the part that they sang "and I'll proudly stand up" --they all stood, and I started to bawl out of pride for my country and pride in my husband. I know that my husband could do many other things for his career and that our time in the military won't last forever, but I am so glad that he has chosen to serve our country. I can't imagine him doing anything else. I love to see him in his uniform. I really smile when I see him in his dress uniforms! I love going to military ceremonies and seeing that my husband's contribution to our country was noteworthy enough to award him a Bronze Star and the Knowlton Award. I love that his love for our country and our flag is so great and such a part of him that I can't see an American flag without thinking of my husband.

5. Dave's sense of humor. He always knows what to do or say to make me laugh. I love that he is always the life of the party. I smile most when I just sit back and watch him "perform" when we are in a group of people. He makes everything fun. He is such a fun dad to the kids. He is always trying to think of something to do as a family. He just makes life wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better husband or father to our kids.

So the challenge is passed to those of you that are willing, to think about the things in your life that just put a big smile on your face. Things that are blessings to you. Things that are positives in your life!

Easter

2008-03-24T12:29:00.005-04:00

Well, this year the kids were really sad that we couldn't go to Aunt Karen's to have an Easter egg hunt. Luckily we had someone from the ward that made it up to them. Going to their Easter party made me realize how fun it would be to be wealthy. They own a 240 acre farm and opened it up to all the families in the ward--and more I am sure--for an Easter egg hunt and then a bonfire dinner.

Here is a photo of the front of their house. It is honestly takes your breathaway when you drive up to it. It is HUGE!This is their little "courtyard" where you can park. It is beautiful.Here is the sister explaining the rules to the kids. She gave them each a special egg that had a piece of paper in it. When they returned from hunting for eggs they could turn in their paper for whatever it said on it...i.e. stuffed animal, pencils, games, etc...
Off they go. The majority of the eggs where at the little (first) barn and then at the big(back) barn.
Here is little Jonas hunting at the little barn with his best friend Davis.
I love this picture of Jonas all by himself looking for eggs.
Yes, I am a bad mom. I couldn't find their Easter baskets so they had to use Target bags!!
There were 3 really big eggs hidden that had pieces of paper in them. Tank found one. Those three kids got really big stuffed animals. Luckily Tank got a Bunny because he loves stuffed bunnies.

These 2 baskets were overflowing with stuffed animals, etc.. that she gave away to all the kids.
Here a picture of the bonfire that was lit after the egg hunt. We could have stayed to roast hot dogs, but we went home to help Dave work on the basement.
Here are the kids in their Easter clothes they got from the Easter Bunny.

I had to include the sad one of Jonas. It seems like everytime there is one kid that has to be sad in the Easter pictures (see last years photos and look at Zeke)
The BOYS!
The cheessssssy Boys!! London was very proud of her curly hair.
Happy Easter everyone!!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

2008-03-16T09:49:00.007-04:00

Ezekiel is officially 5 years old! And those of you that know him know that since this time last year he eats, sleeps and drinks anything Star Wars. We have almost the entire collection of Galatic Heroes Star Wars figures and whenever he finds one he doesn't have we have to get it and save it for birthdays, Christmas, etc... So it was a no brainer that this year he was going to have a Star Wars party.

The day began with everyone coming to the front door.

And then entering into the basement

(it was nice to have the unfinished basement that the kids couldn't hurt) The kids all got name tags when they came in because there was no way I was going to be able to remember everyone's names. We had a total of 14 kids (including mine) there. They were able to chose between being a Jedi Kinght and then be named Master (insert name) or they were Sith and name Darth (insert name). The kids thought that was great! We ate pizza and then played two games. The first was like pin the tail on the donkey but instead it was put the buttons on Darth Vader's suit.

The next I found on the internet and I highly recommend to anyone. I took the skinny water swim noodles and cut them into thirds. Then I took electrical tape and taped the bottoms in order to make handles--and instantly had soft lightsabers for all!!! So we began by playing a game where they used the lightsabers to keep a balloon off the ground. It then escalated to a war between the Sith and Jedi!And then they all turned against the Emperor!

They were thrilled to find out that the lightsabers were theirs to keep!!
(By this time 4 of the kids had already left--that is why there are only 10 in the photo) Dave picked up the cake and didn't noticed that they spelled Ezekiel's name wrong
Ezcricl

The Darth Vader on the cake is a voice changer!!
Guess Who opened this present?Zeke reveling in his gift from Grandma and PapaThe Battle of Hoth from Mom and Dad
Overall it was a great birthday and Ezekiel really had a lot of fun...Actually all the kids did. The party was only an hour and a half--next time I would make it an hour!! HAHAHA!

Wacky Hair Day

2008-03-11T12:26:00.003-04:00

Today was Wacky Hair Day at school. I offered to make their hair even crazier but this was as much as the kids wanted done. London looked really cute when I took her hair out of the braids this morning. I wish I would've taken a picture. She was like a little mini Taylor Swift.

Zekey's Girl

2008-03-11T12:01:00.003-04:00

Little Ezekiel has his first girlfriend. Her name is Maryn. She calls Zeke her husband and he calls her his life--to him life and wife are synonymous! When Zeke first found out she was calling him her husband he shrugged his shoulders and put his hands in the air and said "Oh no!! Now all the girls are going to fight over me. It's because I'm so handsome!" Needless to say I lost it with laughter! He definitely has his daddy's self-esteem! Maryn came to play today after preschool so here is a picture of the two of them.

Jumping Joes

2008-03-09T14:05:00.003-04:00

While Dave was exercising Jonas decided that he needed to also. So here is a video of his version of Jumping Jacks--I call them Jumping Joes!

Kid Pan Alley

2008-03-08T16:15:00.003-05:00

A group called Kid Pan Alley came this past week to work with the 2nd grade classes in our school district. Kid Pan Alley is a program that brings professional songwriters into the classroom to work with kids in creating an original song. Then yesterday they performed the songs that they wrote at a concert. Each class created their own song--so there were 10 songs. London said that she was told that she was the best in her group (of course!!!) because she came up with so many of the lines for their song. It was probably all her practice since she and Tank write songs all the time. (My favorite was when I was reading the lyrics Tank wrote and saw at the bottom that he had put "Repeat 3 times" next to the chorus. I thought that was pretty funny.) So here is a video of the performance. It isn't a very good recording. No one knew how to fix the lights so the stage was pretty dark. London is in the dark pink shirt on the bottom row. She is the closest to the lady singing. She is the first one to bow at the end. Ohh, and here are the lyrics -- the lines with the * are the ones that London "supposedly" wrote!:)

I Want To Be

By Paul Reisler, Terri Allard and the 2nd Grade at Green Primary School

I wanna be the bee in the honeybee*
I want to be the butter in the butterfly*
I want to be the surprise in your Lucky Charms
I wanna always be the one that's in your arms
Yeah, that's where I want to be*

I wanna be the fire in your firefly
I wanna be the sun in your sunflower*
I wanna be the bird in the sky*
I wanna be the one that doesn't have to try
I wanna be the one that's in your arms
Yeah, that's where I wanna be*

Not out in the desert *
With my head in the sand*
In the middle of nowhere*

I wanna be everything I can be
I wanna be the gold in your golden locks*
I wanna be the one that you're thinking of*
I wanna be the one that's in your love
Yeah, that's where I wanna be*

HELP ME! HELP ME!!

2008-03-06T13:53:00.003-05:00

Okay--I am going to ask you all for help. I am starting my practicum projects so that I can graduate one fine day. My professor was awesome enough to let 2 of the 3 projects that I have to do be via the internet so that I can do them from home!!!! So I am going to start 2 blogs. One is going to be about kids fitness and I am going to plan and execute(using my children) an exercise program for kids. So I have to blog about it, and show photos and video of the kids doing the exercises etc... But I need a name that isn't a franchised name to use for the blog. So your first assignment is a name for a kid's exercise blog.

The second blog is just a miscellaneous health/nutrition/exercise blog. It will have posts about questions that people write in and just anything that relates to fitness. An example of a post subject would be something like "Yoga vs Pilates?" or "Is low-fat really good for you?". I want the blog to be informative but fun and casual. So I need a fun name for it. I have been trying for days to think of something fun but can't (I even resorted to hours worth of using the thesauras!). SO the second assignment is to think of a fun, hip, kooky, young, etc... name for my health blog.

Any ideas would be appreciated because my creativity is really lacking at the moment--and I need the ideas ASAP so that I can get started.

Thanks for your help!!!!!!!!!!!

President's Day

2008-03-06T13:38:00.002-05:00

Since Dave had President's Day off we decided we would take the opportunity to show the kids Washington, D.C. for the first time. So we drove up and spent a few hours at the National Air and Space Musuem. The kids had so much fun. Especially the boys since they are all into outerspace right now--their bedroom has an outerspace theme so that it can encompass Buzz Lightyear, Planet Heroes, and Star Wars all at the same time!! So here are a couple photos from the trip.

LDS Living

2008-03-03T08:45:00.000-05:00

I was just looking through my email today and thought that I would share with you my favorite email subscription. Usually I hate when you get those emails from a company where they spam you daily, but this is an exception. Lds Living is a magazine that you can have sent to your home, but they also have an email subscription that is free and that sends you all kinds of information. I am just going to copy from their website what you get--it will save me from typing it all--

Monday "Family Night"
This popular article offers a new FHE idea for each Monday. Our Family Night email gives you a lesson topic, related hymn, full lesson, fun activity and scripture references to go with the lesson. This is a fantastic tool for LDS Lifestyles. You will surely enjoy this article!

Tuesday "Living Well"
Tuesday's email begins with an uplifting or thought-provoking thought. We also include an inspirational article as well as a Health Tip and Dating Tip. You'll love Tuesdays!

Wednesday "LDS Events & News"
This is the our most popular LDS email. Once a week we update you on upcoming LDS Events and Top News headlines. You can add an event if you know of one: Click Here

Thursday "Family Products"
This is a weekly focus on a product that our subscribers are recommending or amazing sale items that we have found for you.

Friday "Everything Sunday"
Friday's email includes a great idea for Young Men / Young Women. There is also helps for preparing for the Gospel Doctrine lesson that week, a Church History article, "Remembering Joseph", and great ideas for LDS Lifestyles... ideas for Primary, Relief Society, Nursery, Elders Quorum Parties, YM/YW, etc. If you have any great ideas of things you've done in your ward, email us!

Weekend "Family Weekend"
Saturday's email gives you and your family ideas of things to do over the weekend. From packing a tasty picnic to family crafts or kids crafts and creating a new family budget... this email will give your family some great ideas!!

I love the Family Home Evening email. It is so great. It is the same thing that you can get if you go to Deseret Book and get their free FHE packet--but Deseret Book only does that once a month and this is a new one every week--it even has a recipe for a snack at the end of the lesson.

So..if any of you are interested in getting on this email list here is the link

http://www.ldsliving.com/ldsmagazine.asp

It also has headlines about mormon related topics. I read a really interesting one a couple days ago and I wanted to share it with everyone. Here is the link so that you can read the article:
http://ldslivingonline.com/article.php?articleId=45283
It is about how we are being asked to utilize the internet to spread the gospel. There is a quote in the article from Elder Russell M. Ballard that says:
"May I ask that you join conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the new media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration," Elder Ballard said. "Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true."

Hopefully some of you will find this info useful!!

Weird Eater

2008-02-29T15:32:00.001-05:00

So does anyone else have a child that likes to eat weird combinations of food??? Tank always does..but today it was so gross that I had to share. For breakfast Teancum had a whole grain english muffin with boysenberry jam on it--that alone was fine. But then he put a slice of canadian bacon on top of it and proceeded to rub in a few drops of Tabasco sauce on it cause he "likes the burn". Can you say yuck!! But he loved it. Can't wait to see what combination he comes up with next!

How Does Your Garden Grow

2008-02-28T11:51:00.000-05:00

Teancum came home a couple days ago screaming "I'm an artist!! I'm an artist!!" He then pulled out the weekly school newsletter and turned it over to show me that they had chosen his artwork to put on the back this week! He was so excited. This is just a scan of the newsletter. The project was to make a poster/flyer for the upcoming 1st grade musical that is on April 7th (hence the date at the bottom).

Slacker mommy

2008-02-22T08:27:00.001-05:00

My friend Nicole had this link on her blog and I decided that I needed to share it too.

http://www.mormonmommywars.com/?p=1095

It is a blog where mormon mommies can share what they are going through. This particular thread is about slacker moms and everyone confesses their shortcomings. It is really good. It made me realize that I am not the only mom that isn't perfect. For example, they called school off today because there was a storm. So since my kids don't have school today I see absolutely no reason to get them dressed. Why dirty some more clothes when we are just going to stay in the house all day anyway!! So it is pajama day for all!!!(and yes, that does include me!) You need to go to the link and read everyone else's confessions--they are pretty good and it will make you realize that you are doing an okay job. Dave always tells me as long as the kids are alive and well he doesn't care about the other stuff--thank goodness cause this home is a disaster area!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and today--since I am being soooo lazy--I couldn't even muster up the energy to give the kids a bowl of cereal. So they got granola bars for breakfast! They were happy and that is all that matters, right???

Tagged again....

2008-02-20T09:22:00.001-05:00

Yes I have been tagged again. This time it was by 2 separate people, but luckily it was the same format. So here goes...

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I was in the MTC attempting to learn Spanish and getting really nervous about going to Chile.

Five things on your to-do list today:
1. study for Applied Anatomy test
2. call heating/ac company to get quote on finishing basement (yes the basement has no heat--and yes I still send the kids down to play!!)
3. mail off first mortgage payment! :(
4. clean the stove (Dave cooked sweet potatoes without a pan under them--it is a mess! But at least he has been cooking me meals while I have been sick!)
5. pick up Ezekiel from preschool

What would you do with a billion dollars?
I would first give 1 million to each of my siblings and Dave's siblings and also his parents and my parents. I would put 10 million each in a savings account for each of our children. Then I would finish the basement!! I would also expand the upstairs a bit so that I could have a huge kitchen. Then I would buy all new furnishings for the whole house. Next we would buy a beach house in Hawaii (I am sure Dave would tell me this if he were here!) so that Dave could go surfing whenever he wants. We would then go on vacation to Chile and then to Europe. And I would make sure that Dave got his big Duramax truck. Other than that we would be donating to charities, etc...

5 of my bad habits are:
1. watching too much tv
2. procrastination
3. stress eating
4. yelling at my kids
5. blog stalking

5 places I have lived:
1. West Valley, UT
2. Copperton, UT
3. Kamas, UT
4. Cedar City, UT
5. Chile (greater Vina Del Mar area)
6. Draper, UT
7. Herriman, UT
8. Seaside (Monterey), CA
9. Eagle Mountain, UT
10. Sierra Vista, AZ
11. Ogden, UT
12. Clearfield, UT
13. Ewa Beach, HI
14. Ruckersville, VA
(Do you feel bad for me yet--some of these have been mutiple times too!! Sorry couldn't stop at just 5!)

5 jobs I have had:
1. Subway sandwich "artist"
2. Kmart customer service specialist
3. numerous telemarketing jobs
4. eBay customer service
5. mom

5 things people don't know about me:
This one is hard since I already put it in a previous blog--If you really are interested go back and look it up!!

As far as tagging--I have tagged most of you before so I am going to leave this one open for whoever wants to do it!!

Happy baby

2008-02-16T11:38:00.001-05:00

Well this week we have all been really sick--except for Dave that is! So he has spent his first week home caring for everyone. So since not alot has happened except for doctor visits, etc... I decided to put on a little video clip I found from the past. This is a clip of Jonas not too long after he learned how to crawl. It was a month or two before Dave got home from Iraq. When I saw this clip it just made me smile to remember what a cute little baby Joe was. I can't believe that he is almost 3!! His little smile while he is crawling just makes me melt.

Our Yard

2008-02-07T08:54:00.001-05:00

I have been asked to provide video of what our yard looks like so that you can get a better idea of the area. So here it is. It is pretty bumpy since I am trying to walk and tape and it isn't super good quality since it is with my normal camera instead of the video camera. But at least you will get the idea of how it is out here. You need to have "vision" and picture it with the grass in and the trees green and all the brush and vines removed!!! I will take another video in the summer after we have worked on the yard and everything is green so that you can see the "after" photos!

Best Friends

2008-02-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

It is too bad that we always live so far away from family because London and her cousin Portia are best friends. They love eachother so much and always start right up with eachother like it has only been days since they have seen eachother even if it has been closer to a year! What cracks me up most is how much they look like eachother. Those Price genes are pretty strong--especially since they can overpower the Putnam ones!!!!

Christmas at the Putnam's

2008-02-06T11:30:00.000-05:00

I know that I am really slow getting to this, but here are some of our Christmas pictures finally. This year we stayed at my parents' home for the entire month of December inbetween our move from Hawaii to Virginia. The kids had a ton of fun. The boys all got Planet Heroes for Christmas. And London got a bunch of High School Musical stuff.

Christmas Morning!

London with her coloring book pack, High School Musical dolls, jewelry and new jewelry/music box. Oh, and the wedding Barbie, Ken and Stacy!

Tank's Christmas loot also included transformers and the much anticipated BIONICLE (he has been asking for it since he was 4 but we told him he wasn't old enough since it is for ages 7 and up--I finally gave in this year)

Zeke with his Planet Heroes pile and Star Wars pile.

Zeke shooting the bad guys.

Jonas LOVES his Planet Heroes!!!

Surfer Room

2008-02-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

Today I finally put together London's bunk bed. She had a full bed that went with her bedroom set but since we are in the process of adopting another little girl we figured we would just go ahead and get a new bunkbed. Poor London has been sleeping on her mattress on the floor. So here is the finished product. I was wondering if I would be able to do it all by myself, but other than London steadying a couple pieces for me, I did it all. And I was really lucky and found these really cute quilts off of Overstock.com for really cheap. They looked exactly like what London wanted. She told us that her room needed to be a "surfer room". So lucky the quilts have a few hawaiian prints in them and then we found some pillows that completed the look for her. Now I just need to paint her room. I was thinking a really pale pink but she wants orange--yuck!! I don't think that the orange is going to happen!!!

Put together by little old me!

The finished product!!

Lower bunk (Notice the Surf pillow--London is especially proud of it!)

Upper bunk (which for now will not be touched since it is a pain to put bedding on!!)

No surfer bedroom would be complete without a surf board in the corner!

Luckily I found this one on craigslist for $30.

This is London's Surfer Girl sign she got for Christmas.

(Don't worry...I will eventually hang it up after I paint the room)

Sunrise

2008-02-02T16:21:00.001-05:00

Today we had the most beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't come close to showing how glorious it was. It seriously fill the whole sky with bright pink. The kids loved it...yes, they do wake up before the sun comes up, even on SATURDAY!!!!