Trimble Times

Claire's Year in Review

2012-01-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

So much blogging and catching up to do....I'm going to do a year in review for each of us and call it good. Here's Claire's!

2011 was a big year for Claire! She turned 3 at the beginning of the year.

If I were giving awards out for the year, Claire would get the award for the best big sister. She couldn't get enough of Chase when he was born....still can't six months later. She loves holding him, feeding him, dressing him, and making him laugh. She's been incredibly good with Chase and I've loved watching how much she loves her little brother and vice versa. I love the way his eyes light up when he sees her.

Don't be fooled...one of those is a real baby. :)

She continues to love chocolate like her mom...chocolate anything. We made lots of trips to yogurt shops over the summer and into the fall.

We spent a week at Bear Lake. Claire loved the water and the sand and had a great time with her cousins.

One of our new discoveries over the summer was Herriman Reservoir. We didn't go until the summer was almost over but we tried to go once a week until it was too cold. The kids would've spent all day there if we could've.

Love the two sun bathing beauties!

Claire loved the 4th of July....even though we watched fireworks with umbrellas. It was a wet 4th of July.

She loves playing with friends and has lots of great friends between cousins and our neighborhood.

Claire started preschool at Kinder Cottage...she loves her teachers and they've told me how much they love having Claire in their class and how she always shares and listens. She is learning a lot in preschool and is a little whiz at puzzles. She could also win the Ms. Curiousity award this year with all the "whys" and questions she asks...so inquisitive.

She was the Star of the Week when they did the letter C. She took a poster with all her favorite things.

Claire was really into Halloween this year and loved carving pumpkins.

We went with a Star Wars theme...with just a little coaxing, Claire went as Princess Leia. This will be our last year with a theme...I've decided they should be able to go as whatever they want. I did love their costumes though...Toby was supposed to be Yoda but his costume was too big.

Claire has been dancing with Ms. Kris since January. They performed a Christmas number during their December recital.

She did a great job...even though she can be shy, she had no problem getting on the stage and performing in front of everyone. They danced to the Jingle, Jingle, Jingle song from the Rudolph movie.

She loved the bells they wore around their wrists to jingle during their dance.

Claire could not wait for Santa to come and was so excited that Santa brought her a Leap Pad and a doll set.

Claire is a total sweetheart. She is a great helper and little organizer. We also went to Arizona to see my parents and had a great time. (I forgot my camera...major bummer) While there, we got our first pedicure together...the start of many more to come.

I didn't realize just how much Claire changed until I looked back at the pictures from the beginning of the year. She is an amazing daughter and sister and we all love her so much! We look forward to another great year for Claire!

Newborn Photo Shoot

2011-09-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

We did newborn pictures of Chase when he was two weeks old. My friend from high school took the pictures and I think she did a fabulous job. She was patient and willing to wait to get the pictures we wanted. We had been there for two hours and I could not get him to go to sleep. I was ready to give up, but he finally fell asleep and stayed asleep long enough to capture these pictures. So worth it....so precious!

Life Happenings

2011-09-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since I last blogged, but when I saw the last post was three months ago, I moved blogging up a notch in my list of priorities. It was one of the first things to go with the arrival of Chase. Not that life hasn't been crazy busy the last few months...I feel like I'm finally getting my head on straight. I started thinking of the reasons why I haven't blogged in the last few months and I realized how much has been going on and changed in our family these last few months. Here's a list: Jeff left Fidelity and started working with his Dad, Jeff and I had the opportunity to take over the running of the website My Giveaway Today, Chase was born, Jeff applied to Law School and got accepted for the 2011 school year in Ohio, an opportunity for Jeff to buy his own company came up and we had to decide between moving and going to Law School or staying put and buying a company (one of the hardest decisions we've had to make in our marriage...deciding between two really great options), Jeff turned down law school and purchased Clear Creek Field and Preservation(scarier than when we bought our house, but incredibly exciting as well), Jaxon started Kindergarten, Jaxon played Fall Baseball, Jeff coached Jaxon's baseball team, and Claire started Preschool. Life has been hectic, but so many good things have happened...things that I don't want to miss journaling about so I'm hoping this will get me going...and I have to admit it does feel good to be blogging again. So here's to making blogging a more important priority....

Turning 30

2011-06-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

This year I turned 30! We wanted to do a birthday celebration and a little getaway with our family before the baby came so we went to Park City for the weekend. I've always wanted to take the kids to Thomas the Train which worked out great since we were already in Park City.

They had a variety of activities for the kids....

The kids loved riding on a real train...

It's not something we will do every year, but it was fun to do it once.

After Thomas, we went to our hotel in Park City. We stayed at the Marriott Mountainside and had a great weekend. We didn't take any other pictures, but we swam, went to a yummy pizza diner, shopped at the outlets, and watched movies in the room. On my actual birthday, Jeff and I went to Wing Nutz for dinner and saw the movie Soul Surfer. This year, I felt especially grateful for the life that I have. Grateful for my husband, my kids, a new baby about to arrive, both of our families, and my friends. The people in my life are everything and I'm so grateful to be surrounded by amazing people! It's crazy to think about being 30, but I'm looking forward to it!

Graduation from Preschool

2011-06-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

Jaxon graduated from preschool at the end of May...he was with Ms. Cameon and Ms. Stacee for two years. After he got into the car on the last day of school, I asked him how his last day was and I could tell that he was trying not to cry. He told me that he had to hug his teachers good-bye and that he wouldn't see them anymore. He was so sad about it...he has a very sensitive side...especially when it comes to saying good-bye. He has learned so much and is leaving with many great memories.

At his graduation, they spotlighted each kid. Here's Jaxon with Ms. Cameon....I don't know if I've ever seen him more serious.

Some of his responses were:

Sometimes my family calls me...Jack.

My hair....I like how my Mom and Dad do it.

My eyes...I like how they are brown

My favorite food....is Peanut Butter and Jelly.

If I could be any animal, it would be a ....squirrel because I like what they look like.

When I grow up, I want to be a....firefighter because I think they are really cool.

They performed some of the songs they learned throughout the year:

After the graduation, they let the butterflies go that they had watched hatch in class.

Jaxon with McKay....one of his best friends and cousins. Jaxon loved being in preschool with his cousin..I'm glad they had the chance to go to school together for a year.

Jeff and I are proud to be Jaxon's parents and love him very much. We are excited for him to start a new chapter of his life in a few months with kindergarten.

Ballerina Girl

2011-06-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Claire started dance lessons back in January with Ms. Kris. She takes with two of her friends, Avery and Alliyah. They have come a long ways since they first started and it's been fun to see her progress. I'm impressed how well she already knows a lot of the ballet terms. They do a lot of fun things during class and she looks forward to it every Wednesday.

They had a dance recital last Saturday and did a little princess story for their dance number. The teacher was on the stage and did it with them. It was really cute to watch them perform it. Claire loved the flowers she got at the end from us and my parents.

The Green Dragons

2011-06-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Jaxon played spring outdoor soccer this year and was a Green Dragon. He was on a team with kids from our neighborhood. He improved a lot from last year and really enjoyed it. We encouraged him every game to get a goal...we knew it would help his confidence in playing soccer. On the second to last game, I had to take Claire to the restroom and Jeff wasn't there (he was doing a card show for his dad). When I came back, another mom told me he had just scored a goal....of course that would happen! He was so excited even though we missed it. After he scored the goal, he was like a different player. He was up at the front and scored two more goals in his last game. He's a great team player and was the first to cheer whenever anyone scored a goal. We are proud of him and had fun watching his games!

Catching Up...

2011-06-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

The last few months of being pregnant, I lost my drive to blog. So here's a few things from way back that I want to remember. Easter was forever ago, but we had a great one with lots of Easter Egg hunts and family parties.

Preschool Easter Party:

Jax and Claire at our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt:

Coloring Easter Eggs:

The Easter Bunny left them a treasure hunt the morning of....the kids loved it once they realized that the Easter Bunny had come. Jaxon came and woke me up and told me that the Easter Bunny hadn't come.

The hunt ended in the basement where they found their baskets and lots of candy.

Trimble Family Party and Easter Egg Hunt:

Mansfield Family Party and Easter Egg Hunt:

Graduation!!!

2011-05-01T20:53:00.003-07:00

Friday will go down in my book as one of the best days in our marriage. Jeff graduated from college....hooray!!! He got a B.S. in Business Management from UVU. It's been a long time coming and it's a day we've looked forward to with MUCH excitement. I'm loving that he doesn't have to go to class anymore, study for tests, or write papers.

The kids were good during the ceremony, a little restless at times, but they did good. We were grateful that my mom flew in to support Jeff at graduation. My grandparents were also at the graduation and was much appreciated.

Here are the pictures I took of Jeff getting his diploma...

The only problem...he wasn't wearing tan pants. Of course, once I noticed I was taking pictures of someone else, it was too late and Jeff had already received his diploma. Yeah, I'm a pretty awesome photographer. How many times do you graduate from college...yeah that's right....once! At least it gave us a good laugh.

Here are the pictures I took to redeem myself for missing the moment...

Jeff lookin' good in his graduation gear...

Even the cold weather couldn't put a damper on our mood that day....

Jeff and Kyle who became friends through classes and group projects...

I owe Jeff a huge thank you for sacrificing so much of his time to better himself and to better our lives. It wasn't easy, for any of us, but most of all for Jeff who juggled full-time school and full-time work. We didn't see much of him during the semesters, but I know it was worth it and we are enjoying having him back now. I will always be grateful and proud that he completed his degree. I'm glad that the kids saw him graduate and I hope they will know how important education is to our family. Thanks Honey and Congratulations!! I love you and appreciate all you do!

More Vegas...

2011-05-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we walked around the Las Vegas Temple and took some pictures of the kids. The temple and the grounds were beautiful...there were tons of flowers. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Jeff took the picture below of Claire and I love how it turned out. The first thing it made me think of was the song "I love to see the temple. I'm going there someday."

We spent Sunday night and Monday in St. George. We took the kids to the Fiesta Fun Center where they enjoyed the cars and the bumper boats.

The kids experienced their first 3-D movie, Rio. They liked the movie, but weren't too impressed with the 3-D.

We had perfect weather with temperatures in the high 80's . We spent time at the pool and I tried to soak up as much sun as I could. Oh, how I've missed the warm sun! We had a great trip and it was nice to get away for a weekend and just spend time with each other. We were all dreading the drive home...partly because it's a long drive, but more because we didn't want the trip to come to an end...it was a hard trip to come back from.

Hoover Dam, Bellagio, and Pawn Stars

2011-04-30T08:09:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I wanted to take the kids on a trip before the baby is born. Jeff's parents were headed to Vegas so we joined them for the weekend. The three things on our to do list were Hoover Dam, the strip, and the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. The second day we were there we drove to Hoover Dam and took a tour that takes you down inside the Dam.

It was chilly, but cool to see the big pipes and the generators....

As impressive as the Dam, you first see the bridge as you drive to the Dam. It's incredible and makes you feel rather insignificant due to it's massiveness.

I always think there will be so much for the kids to see on the strip but forget how much walking you have to do to get to the different places the kids would like. We walked around a little and waited for the fountains at the Bellagio to start. They were as impressive as always.

You can't do Vegas without eating at a buffet or two...our buffet of choice was the Bellagio. We liked it so much, we went there twice. The food and desserts were A-mazing. Jeff and I enjoy looking for famous people and got lucky when we ate lunch a few tables away from Mike Tyson. We wanted to get a picture with him, but he's not someone you really dare ask.

Jeff and Jaxon love watching the show Pawn Stars on the History Channel. We went to the shop one of the days....it was a short wait to get in and was cool to see some of the things that have been featured on the show.

Mom in Training

2011-04-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

I love having a little girl in our house. I love that she picks out her own outfits and adds accessories. I love that she likes to cuddle and that she loves princesses and the colors pink and purple. I've noticed that she copies way more of what I do than Jaxon ever did while Jaxon does much more of what Jeff does. Not that this surprises me, but it's been interesting to watch first-hand. Her imagination has taken off lately and I enjoy watching all the cute things she has picked up. Here are some of the things Claire enjoys...it's an added bonus that they will help her be a mom one day. :)

She's been working on her grocery shopping....
She pulled out my recipe book and was saying "ok, we need milk and eggs" and then she would scribble her grocery list on the paper. She's got the meal planning and list making down.

And she's already figured out how to pile the maximum amount of items on your grocery cart...kids included.

She's learning how to cook...she asks me every morning if we can make French Toast for breakfast. Most mornings we end up making it with her doing most of it by herself. She also loves to help make biscuits and cookies.

She has learned that a girl can't have too many purses...I think she has 7 or 8 play purses that she is constantly switching between. She also knows how important it is to talk on the phone. She usually has a phone in her purse and will say exact things that I've said during conversations...times I didn't know she was even listening.

She's started driving lessons...now to teach her how to drive without getting distracted...

She's learned that sometimes it's more fun to sit by the pool and color (or look at magazines) instead of swim...

She knows how to take care of a dog and knows that he needs to be walked often...doesn't matter if he's on a leash or in a stroller....

Can I just say how good of a dog Toby is...he was in that stroller for her for over 20 minutes...

She knows you gotta have the sunglasses. I can't help but think how grown up she looks in this picture. She has been wanting a Hello Kitty shirt for a while so we bought her one at H & M in Vegas. She was so excited about it she woke up at 6 in the morning to ask us if she could wear her Hello Kitty shirt that day. She went back to sleep after we told her she could. Another lesson learned...how fun it is to wear new clothes...especially clothes from H & M. :)

A few weeks ago, I found our stairs like this. She had put all her babies to bed. She is quite the little mom...she always has a baby with her or close to her. We took two of her babies to Vegas with us and she had them buckled in their own seat belts. I love watching her when she holds the babies. She'll wrap them up in a blanket and bounce them on her hip. She is so sweet with them and takes such good care of them...I think it's interesting how much of it is just in her nature. She knows what to do and how to hold the babies, yet she's never seen me hold/rock a baby. I know she is going to love being a big sister and will be a great help with the baby.

And last, but definitely not least, she's learned how important it is to hang out with friends and to just have fun!!!

Planet Play...

2011-04-21T15:13:00.001-07:00

My mom and dad flew in to Utah for a visit last weekend. We spent most of Saturday at Planet Play (what used to be known as Incredible Pizza). We had a killer coupon and got the buffet and unlimited rides for $10.00. The kids had fun going between the race cars, the bumper cars, mini-bowling, mini-golfing, and laser tag.

Ty, McKay, and Jaxon...having fun together as always.

Let the race begin...Grandpa and Claire versus...

Grandma and Jaxon...

And the winner is....Grandpa and Claire....

I was impressed with both the food and the rides/entertainment. We stayed way later than we were planning on since everyone was having so much fun. It was a perfect way to spend a rainy Saturday.

Monster Truck Jam

2011-04-03T13:49:00.009-07:00

For Jaxon's birthday party this year, we got him and a few of his friends tickets to the Monster Truck Show. He couldn't wait for the day to come and asked me many times how many more days he had to wait. The kids came to our house before to do cake and presents.

We couldn't find a monster truck cake so Jax chose a fire engine cake.

A few of the kids were calling the walkie talkie's he got loffy toffy's... it cracked me up.

We packed up the kids and with our car full of carseats (six total), headed to the show. Some of our friends came with us to help out...which was greatly appreciated. They also brought earplugs for all of us which were a must since it was really loud.

Gravedigger...most of the kids picked him as their favorite truck...

The kids were fascinated by the fire car....so were the adults. We didn't get pictures of them, but there were also snowmobilers who would go off a huge ramp...one of the guys did a backflip with his snowmobile...it was pretty extreme.

Love their big eyes taking it all in...

We were looking forward to Grave Digger's freestyle round...they get 2 minutes to do whatever they want...He went up the first big ramp...

And rolled down the side...wish we could have seen more of him, but the kids thought it was pretty cool that he tipped over.

Jaxon with his friend's Brayden, McKay, Michael, Ty, Kaleb, and Rory(who wasn't in the picture). The kids did amazingly well and had a lot of fun. They talked about it the whole drive home and then some. Jaxon had a great birthday and I'm grateful as a mom for the good friends and cousins he has!

Heartbroken...

2011-03-03T15:54:00.001-07:00

Jeff posted this as one of his Jazzbot posts...it was a sad day seeing Deron leave the Jazz...it was especially sad for Jaxon as you can see once you read Jeff's post. I wanted to add how much I love reading Jeff's posts...he has a talent for writing that I would be happy having just a small portion of.

Perspective

Posted by: Jefferson Trimble on February 25th, 2011

The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.

I was prepared for this, I had told myself that if the Jazz traded Deron Williams it would be in the best interest of the team. Then it happened, unexpectedly. I was still on board, we got a lot of talent back. We may take two steps backwards but we take one forward with the picks, Favors, and Harris.

Then it all caught up to me. I walked through the door at the end of a long day. My son came up to me in his Deron Williams jersey and welcomed me home. It became apparent that my wife had not told my son the news. One of the wonderful things about sports is the bond that comes from watching it with your son.I share this bond with my Dad and have loved sharing it with my son.

Here was the challenge, explaining to my five year old why it was a good thing that we had just traded his favorite player. I decided to just come right out and say it. Here’s how it went:

Me: “Hey bud, the Jazz traded Deron today”

Jax (My Son): “Why”

Me: In my head “because Deron was going to leave any way…wait I don’t want to make Deron out to be the bad guy to my son.” What came out, “they just decided it was a good decision.”

Jax: “Now who’s my favorite player going to be.”

Me: (Unconvincingly) “Millsap, they have a guy named Devin, that’s close to Deron.”

Jax: “Is he number eight.”

Me: No

Jax: “Who’s number eight?”

Me: “We don’t have one anymore”

Jax: “Then I need a new jersey.”

At this point he ran into the bathroom, locked the door, and cried.

As you can see I didn’t fair too well. This did put it all in perspective, my son is a Jazz fan. While it might be sad for him and me to see a great player leave, we still have the team. Tonight, when the Jazz take on the Indiana Pacers and start a new chapter in the franchise, my son and I will be watching. That makes it all better!

Jaxon is 5!

2011-03-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

When did we go from this...

To this?

Looking back at the pictures of Jaxon when he was little brought back so many memories. I remember how clueless I felt as a new mom, but also how much I loved it. It was a lot harder than I expected it to be...and also more rewarding. I think back now to what he (and Claire) have taught me since then and how much my love has grown for both of them. Jaxon is a great big brother and I love how excited he is to have a baby brother. He's always amazed me with his memory and his intelligence. He cracks me up all the time and loves helping with laundry, dishes, and cooking.

He got to pick what we had for dinner the night before his birthday. He chose homemade pizzas...and he wanted to make them himself. He took all of our orders and made our pizzas...they turned out yummy. He opened his presents first thing the next morning...his favorite gift was his new bike.

His birthday party was a week after his brithday (post to follow) so we let him pick where he wanted to go on his actual birthday. He picked the mall..he loves playing in dino town, riding the carousel, and riding on the train. Since he had turned 5, he told us he was old enough to go in a car by himself.

Here he is happy as can be....what the pictures don't show...Claire and I crammed into the next car with another lady and her kid so Jax could have his own car...just a bit awkward.

We went to Training Table for lunch...a favorite of Jaxon's. He got a popcorn machine from his grandparents that he couldn't wait to use. That night we enjoyed Despicable Me and popcorn at the Trimble Theater.

Things I don't want to forget about Jaxon at this age:

He is 100% boy...loves wrestling with his Dad, loves watching sports, loves fixing things and knowing how everything works.
Hobbies....playing Super Mario on his DS or the Wii, playing with friends, building with legos, being a firefighter, playing outside.
Favorite Movie...Star Wars
Favorite TV Show....Curious George and Cat in the Hat
Favorite Foods...pizza, baked potatoes, spaghetti, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and broccoli.
He enjoys preschool...especially since he gets to go with his cousin McKay. He has started bringing home books and is doing well with reading.
He loves drawing and making art projects and giving them to me or his dad.
He loves putting on his Jazz jersey and playing basketball...it's hilarious to listen to him play and I'm impressed by how much he knows already.
When Jaxon grows up he wants to be an EMT/fireman.
He loves Toby as much or more than he did when we got him.
He has a sweet side that I love...he always tells me I'm the best mom in the whole world.

Happy Birthday Jaxon!!! You've brought us so much happiness!! We love you!

Valentine's Day

2011-03-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

I love Valentine's Day....I love decorating my house for it and it breaks up the long winter months. I like having an excuse to get a babysitter and have a date night. This year I was thinking back on the Valentine's Days that I remember the most. When Jeff and I were dating, we bought our own lobsters and cooked them ourselves and had fondue for dessert. It was a great first Valentine's Day spent together. Jaxon was born on February 12th and we brought him home from the hospital on Valentine's Day...definitely another one I won't forget. The last few years, we've celebrated it on a different night to avoid the long restaurant waits...this year we went out on the Friday after, ate at Texas Roadhouse and went to the King's Speech. It's so nice to get out and enjoy time with your hubby!

I thought it would be fun on Valentine's Day to do a party for the kids since Jaxon was off track as well as his cousins. They had fun playing games...passing the heart until the music stopped, don't eat cupid, and the hot/cold game to find the hidden heart. They have so much fun together no matter what it is they are doing.

We decorated heart sugar cookies:

And ended with the kids exchanging Valentine's. Fun was had by all and is something we'll have to make a tradition.

3 Years Old!!

2011-01-30T23:12:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is three years old...how did that happen so fast? It seems every year goes faster and faster and there are times I wish it would slow down. I love the ages that both of my kids are right now...being a mom to them makes me happy and I find myself thinking throughout the day how lucky I am to be the mom of two such amazing kids. I want to enjoy each moment with them since they are only this age once. Claire is and always has been a complete joy in our family....she is so sweet and thoughtful. She tells me often how much she loves me and it never gets old. She calls me Mama...not that I mind being called Amy, but it is nice to be called Mom for a change. She is a peacemaker and is aware of other's feelings.

On her birthday, when she walked out and saw her presents by the fireplace and the balloons she had the biggest eyes. It's sure fun surprising your kids and making them feel special...I hope that's how she felt on her day! We started the day with presents. She got the art easel from my parents.

She wanted a broom and a balloon for her birthday...easy enough!

She also got some dress up shoes, accessories for her babies, more puzzles, and some new clothes.

We did cake and candles before Jeff had to leave for work. I took the kids to Classic that night since Jeff was working. They had a lot of fun jumping in the bounce houses and playing in the jungle. Jaxon stayed by his sister's side (there were a lot of teens there since it was Friday night) and I love watching them when they are the best of friends.

The next day, we went with Jeff's parents to lunch at Smashburger....(I'll admit I am a Smashburger addict at the moment...this is the third Saturday in a row that we've eaten there...it's SO good and by far my favorite hamburger place right now). After lunch, we went with his parents to the mall and they took Claire to Build-a-Bear for her gift.

She loved watching them stuff her bear...

Loved giving it a bath....

And loved picking outfits for her bear...so many choices. She wanted to name it Nick so we convinced her of a more girly option...Nicole.

She kept looking at it as we walked through the mall, making sure she was ok in her box.

Things I don't want to forget about Claire at this age:

She is independent (in a good way). She loves picking out her own clothes and getting herself dressed.
Favorite thing she says, "I love you the mostest".
Favorite Song...5 Little Monkeys.
Favorite TV show...Curious George.
Favorite movie...Cars.
She loves puzzles and reading books.
She loves dance and gymnastics.
Favorite Foods...Pasta, Peas, and Pancakes.
She loves her Daddy...loves to cuddle with him.
She loves helping me cook.
She loves taking Toby for walks around our house and making him dance.
She loves playing with Jaxon whether they are playing store or hide n seek....she just likes being with him.

Happy 3rd Birthday Claire...we love you so much!!

Hooked to my nook!

2011-01-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

My favorite Christmas present this year was my Nook. I wasn't sure if I would like reading a book without holding the book and turning the pages, but after one book, I love it. What I love about it...there's no wait time for me to get a new book. Usually I have some down time, but I can start a new book as soon as I want. Also, I love that it's small...I always have it in my purse so I can pull it out when I have a minute here and there.

The Male Brain was the first book I read on my nook. The book was completely fascinating. I kept talking about it with Jeff just because it was so interesting to me. It gave me such a greater appreciation and understanding for men, for the way they are wired and the reasons why they are wired as they are. So really I could go on and on listing interesting things I learned, but you'll just have to read it...it's well worth your time. Here's just a few of the things I learned:

Boys/males are wired to hide their emotions.
Boys brains are programmed to move, make things move, and watch things move. They are more active and more rough than girls.
Boys are six times more likely than girls to use domestic objects as pretend weapons. Explains why Jaxon uses anything as a toy gun.
To boys, victory is everything...losing is unacceptable. Boys are wired to be more competitive..they are six times more competitive than girls..they want to be the first and best at everything...a difference I've already noticed with my kids. Jaxon has to be first, Claire could care less.
There was a section that talked about what happens to boys brains while playing video games...it gave an example of a boy playing Mario and the hormones that are released as they play. Made me understand why Jaxon enjoys it so much.
Male brains are wired to go to bed later and get up later.
The male brain changes when their mate is pregnant. Their testosterone goes down and their prolactin goes up. More prolactin prepares them to be a dad. So cool!

Boys will be Boys and I'm so glad for that...

Wrapping up 2010...

2011-01-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

Even though it was almost a month ago, I need to finish blogging about 2010 so I can move on to this year. Here's what the rest of our holidays included after our stay in Heber.

A Minute to Win It party with my Dad's extended family. It was hilarious and a lot of fun.

The first challenge...getting all 12 ping pong balls out of a tissue box that was strapped to your back.

Second challenge...moving skittles from one cup to another cup using a straw...harder than you would think.

Third challenge...keeping three balloons in the air for a minute...much harder than you would think.

Fourth event....bouncing ping pong balls into the cups.

Fifth event...getting an oreo from your forehead to your mouth.

My brother and sister-in-law were the only ones who did it.

The cousins had so much fun running around the gym and doing everything that's not allowed on Sunday. We caught the girls dipping their heads in the drinking fountain....they were soaked. It's hard to get mad when you hear them giggling.

They found the big ball highly entertaining and were singing songs together as they pushed it around the church.

We hosted a Christmas party for our friends from high school..a tradition we've been doing for 6 years now. I was lucky to be in a great group of friends during high school...it's nice to catch up since we don't see them as often as we would like. We ate dinner, exchanged gifts, played Trimble games, and finished the night with walleyball. I figured the pictures below might need some explanation...they were part of the Trimble games (they are a tradition with Jeff's family and usually involve pain and craziness).

Some of the games this year were balancing on one leg with your eyes closed...last person standing wins for their team.

How long can you hold on to a pole? Hannah set a new record and went for over 4 minutes. We thought there was no way she'd be beat....

Until Ben hung on for 4 minutes 30 seconds.

My dad surprised my mom and gave her and all the girls tickets to the Nutcracker. The only day that worked was New Year's Eve. That day it happened to be a spoof and was called the Nutty Nutcracker. I had to wonder what my grandma was thinking with the nutcracker being Luke Skywalker and the little girl Dorothy. Jack Sparrow, James Bond, Jackie Chan (to name a few) made appearances in the dances. I enjoyed the dancing and thought the show was more entertaining than the original Nutcracker. We went to the Olive Garden after and had fun talking and eating.

We also had a New Year's Eve party at my sisters and went to the mall with my parents the day before they went back to Arizona. I loved having my parents and my brother and his family in Utah. There was a party or get together every day and we enjoyed every one of them! It's always nice getting back on a schedule, but I always get a little bummed when the holidays are over...no more parties, families go home, and the long wait for spring begins.

Jeff a Jazzbot

2011-01-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

What is a Jazzbot you might ask? It is someone who writes posts for the Utah Jazz. Jeff submitted an entry a while back to contend for a spot. He made it to the interview round and got an offer to become a Jazzbot.

Tubing!!

2011-01-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

One of the favorite traditions to do in Heber over Christmas is to go tubing at Soldier Hollow. I missed it last year since Claire was too little and missed again this year with being prego. I'm hoping I can go next year because it looks like so much fun. Claire stayed with Grandma while I got my hair done...she told her Grandma that I couldn't go tubing because it would hurt the babies feelings. The things she thinks and says makes me laugh...

The guys ready to go tubing...Jeff with his dad and his four brother-in-laws.

Jeff and Jaxon...I wasn't sure what Jax would think of the tubing hill, but he loved it.

I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures that Jeff took....

Looks like my kind of tubing....getting pulled up the hill instead of walking up...

Christmas in Heber

2011-01-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Heber to spend time with Jeff's family....his parent's rented a house for the week...such a fun place to spend Christmas....the house was great with plenty of room for everyone and plenty to do....the kids were as excited to spend time at the "cabin" with their cousins as they were for Christmas.

Here are the kids in their Christmas Eve p.j.'s....let the long wait till morning begin...they were all so excited and had a hard time settling down...

They watched Toy Story in their new sleeping bags and finally fell asleep around 11:00. Made for a late night for Santa, but I love that we get to be Santa. It was hard for me to go to sleep that night....after we had put all the gifts out, I was so excited for the kids to open their gifts....

Up at 7:30 waiting on the stairs to see what Santa brought...

Jaxon got the two things he asked for....a DS...loved how his eyes lit up when he opened it...

And the fire station that sprays real water...

Claire knew which present was the pet stroller she had asked for and opened it first...I thought she might lose interest in the rest of her gifts once she had opened the pet stroller, but this year she opened all of them...

The two twinners playing their DS's and having so much fun...

Claire with her pet stroller...she kept saying she wanted to go home and see Toby...what she really meant was that she wanted to put Toby in her pet stroller...she was disappointed when we got home and Toby was just a little too big for it.

Claire also got a CD player with microphones and some fun music to go with it....she's had fun singing along to her favorite songs....

On Christmas Day, we went to my grandparent's for a dinner with my family. It was nice to have my whole family together for the holidays....

We went back to Heber that night and stayed through Tuesday. We went tubing(post to follow), ate at Tony's tacos, played games and watched movies. On Tuesday, we drove to Orem...went to the Old Spaghetti Factory and saw Tangled. Such a great movie that we all enjoyed...it ranks up there in my top 3 or 4 best princess movies. It was a wonderful Christmas with great memories and lots of fun times!

Jeff's Birthday

2010-12-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

Jeff's actual birthday (December 23rd) festivities included:
Opening gifts....

Jaxon had to try out Jeff's birthday present...something tells me he's going to have a future in gaming....

Dinner at Tepanyaki's with Jeff's parents....

When the chef started the big fire at the table, Claire had the best reaction...half the restaurant was laughing....

Doing well with chopsticks and loving the noodles...

Jaxon was fascinated the entire meal and loved having a chef cook at our table...

Finished the night with cake, candles, and singing. Hope you had a Happy Birthday Honey!! Welcome to the 29 club! We love you!!

New Family Pics

2010-12-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

Since my brother moved to Texas and my parents to Arizona, it's been over a year and a half since we've all been together. Family pictures were a must while we had the chance....who knows when the next time will be. They will be obsolete in five months since my sister-in-law and I are both expecting and due within a week of each other, but I thought they turned out great.

Birthday Weekend!

2010-12-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

Every year for Jeff's birthday, we spend a night downtown in Salt Lake. It's become a tradition that I look forward to months before. The last few years we have stayed at the Hyatt next to the Gateway. Since we mainly go to movies and shop, it works great. We went the weekend before Christmas. The kids stayed with Jeff's sister and had fun with their cousins.

We binged on movies and went to three in two days. The movies we saw were:

127 Hours--story of the guy who had to cut off his own arm in order to save himself...very inspirational and moving...I left the movie wondering how many people including myself would be able to do that...I'm not sure that I could....

Unstoppable...based on a true story as well....a runaway train that can't be stopped...it was highly entertaining and fast moving, but not as good as the other two movies we saw.

The Fighter....based on a true story of two brothers who are boxers...one is a meth addict and it follows their relationship....also inspiring...made me hope that my kids never get involved with drugs...

On Saturday night, we went to Iggy's for a party with some of the other Jazzbots. It was an interesting dinner....meeting people and talking with people who you wouldn't normally....we watched the Jazz game as we ate and enjoyed talking sports (I enjoyed listening and realized for how much I like sports, how little I really know.)

The next day we went to the Melting Pot...it's a favorite of ours that we save for special occasions. The cheddar cheese fondue appetizer is amazing...

Our main course...steak, chicken, lobster, ravioli, and duck...we dipped into a yummy broth and then dipped again into the best dipping sauces...

Our dessert cooking....pretty nice when the hardest decision we had to make all weekend was what fondue dessert we wanted....we chose S'mores....milk chocolate with marshmallow creme and graham crackers broken up.....

Here's what we dipped...the only bad thing about the meal is how full you are by the time you get to your dessert...wish it were first since it was my favorite course.

It was a well deserved and much needed break between Jeff's busy work and school schedule and working on our basement in the little spare time Jeff has. It went too quickly, but was thoroughly enjoyed by both of us! I loved spending time with Jeff...it was a perfect weekend.

Christmas is Coming...

2010-12-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, we had our ward Christmas party. Jeff had to work, but I decided to take the kids anyway. Claire and Jaxon had already visited Santa at the mall so they were excited to see him again. Jaxon asked me why he had to tell Santa twice what he wanted...good question...just to make sure he gets you what you want was my response. He also asked if there are two Santa's...I was completely unprepared for that one...but luckily the only difference noted was the beard...and it's a good thing Jaxon doesn't realize how long it would take to grow a beard that long. The ward party was a lot of fun...we had a yummy dinner and a cute nativity done by the primary kids. We sang songs till Santa arrived. Last year, we were in the back of the line and ended up waiting over 45 minutes to see Santa. Claire fell asleep before we got to see him. This year, I was determined we would be more towards the front. We snuck out a little early to get in line and ended up being the fifth family in line. When we were the next one's up, Claire started to cry and told me she didn't want to sit on Santa's lap. I wasn't going to force her, but I should have included the phrase..this is your only chance. As soon as Jaxon was done and we went to get our stuff, Claire started to cry saying she wanted to sit on Santa's lap. Being the sucker that i am, we ended up going to the back of the line and waiting 30 minutes so she could sit on Santa's lap. She did sit on his lap, but tried to stay as far from him as possible and just kept repeating that she wanted a pet stroller. She got her candy cane and was one happy, but tired girl.

For FHE this week, we made a gingerbread house. We helped a little but the kids did all the decorating. Jaxon told me the next morning that he couldn't stop looking at the house because it was so cute. They were pretty proud of it.

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-12-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of Shutterfly so I was excited when I saw on my friend's blog that you can get free Christmas cards by doing a blog post about them. My first experience with Shutterfly was about three years ago. We made a book for my Grandparents of all their great-grandkids. It turned out adorable....it is something they still have displayed for all to see today. The next year for Christmas we did a CD for my parents of their grandkids. Again, it was a huge hit and something they still enjoy. I have been looking at their Christmas cards for the last few months...picking out my favorites. Here are a few of my them. It was hard to just pick three...they have so many great options in their 2010 collection. I love the cards with the letter of your last name. Here's the link to view the Christmas cards they are offering... http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards .

They have so much more than just Christmas cards...right now I am a huge fan of canvas prints. I need to get some of my kids and they have great options and great prices on them...click here to view them http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art. I should have included them on my wish list this year!

The other product that I love from Shutterfly is their Christmas party invites. We do a Christmas party every year for our friends from high school. I've looked at a lot of invites and Shutterfly has the best ones...I love them. View them here....http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations. They have a lot of variety and there's a card for any theme you would want.

I have started books for my kids through Shutterfly and am excited to complete them. They really have so many great options. Plus, they do cool things like giving you free Christmas cards! Thanks Shutterfly...you're great!!

Enjoying the Jazz...

2010-12-04T08:37:00.002-07:00

Jeff and I took the kids to a Jazz game this week. The Jazz won...always more fun when your team wins. Claire wasn't super interested in the game but she enjoyed looking for the Jazz Bear and coloring. Jaxon is starting to understand more about what's going on. He checked the scoreboard frequently to make sure our team was winning. They loved getting popcorn and cotton candy(thus the blue mouths) at half time.

On a Jazz side note, Jeff tried out to become a Jazzbot (an official blogger for the Utah Jazz) and he got it...he is now a Jazzbot! He writes a post about something of his choice once a week on the Jazz. I'm really glad he gets to do something he enjoys so much. His articles are always interesting and entertaining to read...I'll post the link below so if any fellow Jazz fans ever want to read his posts...

http://www.utahjazz360.com/jtrim/

Top Ten Tuesday (or Thursday this week)

2010-11-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

I want to start doing a Top Ten list every Tuesday (I know, today is Thursday, but I started it on Tuesday and had every intention of posting it)....I'm stealing the idea from my sister- in-law who does it on her blog. Since Thanksgiving doesn't seem complete without thinking about what you are truly grateful for, I'm going to start with that. As I was thinking about it, I realized that I could fill a number of top ten lists just with all the people in my life who I am thankful for, but I decided to group them. Our family is incredibly blessed and I have so much to be thankful for...here's just ten of them:

1. My incredibly smart and hard working husband....he does so much for our little family...I love that he makes me laugh every day...I'm thankful that he provides for us and allows me to stay home with our kids. He makes me a better person and I feel lucky to be married to such a great guy.
2. Jaxon and Claire...where to even start...I love my kids and would do anything for them...I remember my mom telling me that having kid's changes your life....how changed my life has been...for the better...there are so many moments with my kids that I know I will always cherish.
3. My family...I was blessed with wonderful parents, two brothers, and a sister...all of them reasons why I am today who I am. I love being with them and their families...we have many great memories and I look forward to many more. Being the youngest, I have always and continue to look up to them...they are great examples to me. I am grateful for the many cousins my kids have that they can look up to throughout their lives (on both sides).
4. Jeff's family...I am grateful for the in-laws that I have. They are a great family...one of their friends said that they would kill to get in their family. All joking aside, it's not far from the truth. They have always accepted me and made me feel like part of the family.
5. My friends....I have great friends from high school...when we get together, I love that it feels like no time has passed at all. I love the friends I have in our neighborhood...I enjoy our monthly girl's nights out and watching the Bachelor together.
6. My religion...I've wondered many times how I ended up LDS when the odds of it are so small...whatever the reason, I'm so grateful to know what we know in our church....I am most grateful for the knowledge that we have a very loving Heavenly Father and Savior and that families can be forever.
7. My country...No matter what people think about the future of our country...I would still take it over any other country in the world. I am grateful for the opportunities and privileges we enjoy for living here. I am also so thankful for those who give up so much time with their own families to protect us and our freedoms...what they sacrifice amazes me.
8. Health...I know this is something I take for granted every day...being healthy and having a healthy family...it can be taken away at any time...
9. Knowledge/Books...I love learning and I miss college where I always felt like I was gaining new knowledge and using my mind...I still try to find ways to do that...which leads me to books...I've always loved reading...I'm grateful for talented authors who make reading an experience...
10. Warmth...I love warmth...especially the last few days that have been so freezing cold...I am so grateful we have a house with heat, cars with heat...a fireplace. I also love and miss the warmth of the summer sun.

I Am Number Four

2010-11-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

If you liked Hunger Games and Twilight, this book is for you. It's the first book in a series written for young adults. Instead of the main character being a vampire, he is an alien (really just a human with extra powers). He came to earth from another planet and is number four. There are other aliens trying to kill him and his people, but they have to kill them in order. They've already killed the first three when the book starts, so he is next in line. It was hard to put down and I really enjoyed the story. There's a lot of action, romance, and suspense. The author is James Frey...the guy who wrote A Million Little Pieces. The best thing about reading the book now...it comes out in theaters in February. Jeff and I are looking forward to seeing it since we've both read the book. I give it an 8.

What's not to love...

2010-11-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

about Home Depot? I remember family who would talk about how much they loved going to Home Depot, but it wasn't something I understood until we bought a house of our own. I enjoy going to Home Depot...I love getting new ideas for home improvement, storage, anything really. Something that makes me like Home Depot even more....free workshops for the kids on the first Saturday of every month. They're just cool like that. We joined my brother (who told us about it) and his family for this month's workshop. They have different kits to choose....this month it was a spice rack....Jaxon opted for the fire boat from last month. Claire chose to do a butterfly house. They get an apron and a certificate once they've completed the project. They provide everything at no charge...my kids both loved it and are looking forward to December's workshop.

Little Bee...

2010-11-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

Little Bee was a book I really enjoyed until the last page...the book was a little on the depressing side with uplifting moments throughout. It's about a refugee girl from Nigeria who ends up in the UK. It is an interesting story with some pretty shocking twists. I have read few books about refugees, so it was both interesting and hard to see what their lives are like. The book made me feel SO blessed to live where I do and to have the life I do...certain things happen in the book that would be my worst nightmare....it's hard to imagine that things like that happen to people in real life, but I know that they do and that makes me so sad for them. It made my life seem incredibly easy....on a daily basis, I worry about getting the house cleaned, cooking dinner, making sure my kids get enough attention....not anything close to wondering if I will survive to see the next day. It put things into perspective for me and made me grateful for the things that really do matter in life. I would recommend this book to most....it definitely left an impression on me and will be a book not soon forgotten.

October Highlights

2010-11-01T09:24:00.001-07:00

I haven't been great at posting the last few weeks...it was a busy month with lots of fun Halloween activities.
Here are the highlights....

I attended the highly anticipated Witches Night Out with friends in my ward...we ate dinner at Chili's before and then hung out at Gardner Village....it was a great night spent with great friends...

One of my fellow witches and I got a witch makeover....
Here we are before:

And after:

We also had a fun Halloween party for the young women with mummy wrapping and donut eating contests...

Some of our friends came over for Trick-or-Treating and pizza....the kids had fun even though it was cold and rainy...

Jaxon was Luigi this year and Claire was Princess Peach...she was being a stinker when it came to pictures so this is the only picture I have of her and you can't even see her costume...but she was a perfect Princess Peach...

We were down to the last weekend in October and still hadn't carved pumpkins....we went the day before Halloween to find pumpkins....the pumpkin patches were nearly empty...

We took the last 5 decent pumpkins and ended up with two white ones....
Note to self for next year....get pumpkins earlier in the month...

Claire was asleep in the car, but Jaxon had fun sitting on the tractors and helping me find pumpkins...

We carved our pumpkins on Halloween...very low key compared to past years...but we got it done and everyone enjoyed it...

Jeff gets the award for the most creative pumpkin...I'm thinking his inspiration came from the scary movie we watched the night before....

Jaxon....the pumpkin with the sharpest teeth....

And Claire....the pumpkin with the biggest smiley face....

Events that didn't get captured....our ward trunk-or-treat. Jaxon's preschool Halloween party and field trip to the fire station, Halloween family dinners, and my ward's Super Saturday.

October is one of my favorite months and I'm a little sad that it went so fast...but I feel better knowing we enjoyed it to the fullest!!

Engh Gardens

2010-10-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

One of my friends invited us to Engh Gardens for a fun fall activity. We started out with a pirate story teller...the kids got a treat and got to pick out a little pumpkin. They also had a pirate ship for the kids to play on and a hay maze. There were lots of cute Halloween decorations and some great picture taking spots. It was surprisingly warm for mid-October...fun was had by all....thanks Ash for getting it all organized!

Claire and Cohen

2010-10-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

Claire and her cousin Cohen have become good little friends over the past few months....

I really have no clue what they were doing below...it involved poking a piece of paper while the other laughed hysterically...

They were always within a few feet of each other at the pool...

They were puppies in Logan...

And ate paper together....yum yum....

They loved the zoo animals...

We are going to miss their family...they are moving to Texas in a month. Jaxon will miss his Mario buddy, Caden....Claire will miss playing with Cohen.

Logan

2010-10-06T10:21:00.002-07:00

We went to Utah State for the weekend with my in-laws.
The guys went to the BYU game...there are some teams you can feel good about losing too...USU is not one of them. Hope the Cougs can figure something out so we can win a few games this season.

While the guys were at the game, Jeff's sister's and I sat by the pool and looked at magazines while the kids swam. We had a good variety....US, Country Living, Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Garden....

On Saturday, we went to a really nice park...we played vollleyball and let the kids play...then we went to Wal-Mart for a Trimble tradition. Each person has 6 dollars to spend for lunch at a grocery store. It's fun to see the total and see how well you can stay in budget. We were only over 5 dollars..the best we've ever done. We made our own sandwiches for our family....we could've fed another family with all the leftovers. We ate our lunches and hung out at the park till the men went to priesthood session. While the men were gone, the kids did more swimming and we did more magazine swapping. I found some great Fall/Halloween ideas and recipes...can't wait to try them out.
On Sunday, we watched conference...Grandpa Dave wasn't sure how he ended up as the Nursery Leader...but the kids sure had fun being puppies and getting treats for tricks and good behavior....

After conference and checking out of the hotel, we went back to our favorite park. They have a zoo that you can walk through at very minimal cost. For a dollar zoo, it's pretty impressive.

We were looking forward to stopping at Maddox in Brigham City on the way home for a nice Sunday dinner...unfortunately they were closed. We settled for Chuck-A-Rama...turned out not too bad. It was a very nice weekend...fun to go somewhere, but not too far away.

School, Sleepovers, and Singing

2010-09-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

Jaxon started his second year of preschool a few weeks ago. He is going to Kinder Cottage--the same place he went last year. He's lucky that he gets to go this year with his cousin, McKay. It's the only time they'll ever be able to go to school together since they are a year apart....they have been anxiously awaiting it. The morning of, Jaxon asked me frequently, "how many more minutes"?

Jaxon had lots of sleepovers this summer with his cousins and friends. I remember how much fun sleepovers were as a kid.

I also want to remember how much Jaxon enjoys music and singing along with it. Hopefully he gets more of Jeff's musical talent since I have none to speak of. His favorite songs right now are Good, Good Night (may not be the most kid-friendly song, but it did teach him the days of the week :)), How to Save a Life, and Airplanes. I've been thinking about making the switch to start listening to kid's music in the car instead of mine....

True Blue

2010-09-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Jeff and I took Jaxon to the BYU game. They played terrible and the game was pretty awful, but we still managed to have a great time. I love being back on campus...brings back memories of college. I love football and even though it looks like it will be a rough season, I still love the Cougs. I like that Jaxon and Claire already love BYU and how excited they get to see Cosmo. We hadn't been at the game very long and I didn't think Jaxon was paying attention to what the announcer was saying....he leaned over to me and asked if Luigi was on our team or the other team. I told him that he was on our team and a favorite player was born. Anytime Jaxon would hear his name he would perk up. There weren't many highlights from the game, but it was great being together.

Cotton Candy and Luigi were the highlights for Jax...

Our Little Gymnast....

2010-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

If there has been one thing that I would say Claire would enjoy by watching her as a mom, it would be gymnastics. She has always loved swinging on bars and hanging on everything, doing somersaults...she's our little monkey. She is strong and quite coordinated for a two year old. She's also got the petite little body of a gymnast. I have always wanted to do a mom and me dance class with Claire and realized a few weeks ago our time was running out. Once she turns 3 in 4 months, she can do the dance classes by herself. I've heard good things about Bailie's so I called them up, they had one spot left and we started a mom and me gymnastics class the next night.

We've gone twice now and I'm so glad we are doing it. Claire loves it...she tells me after class how gymnastics is fun and that she wants to go again. She is fearless and a natural...her first time she was running and jumping in the pit, climbing up the ladder to the top rung, and doing flips over the bar with help from her teacher as if she had been doing it for months. She loves getting stickers at the end and proudly shows them off to anyone who will look.

It's too hard to take pictures of her when I'm helping her, but she wanted to show Jeff what she had learned in her class...

AZ Fall 2010...

2010-09-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Arizona...definitely one of our favorite places to visit....this was the hottest time of the year we've been...temps were from 100-110 degrees....pretty darn hot....

Wish I could take the travel out of traveling...it's always nice when you arrive...

We went to to zoo...

Funtastiks...

Yee-haw!!

And the Children's Museum....

Building with blocks turned into a block fight...

The kids tried their hand at different careers including firefighting, veterinarian/doctor, and working in a submarine....

Sabino Canyon was hot but still fun....the kids slept the entire time on the shuttle...

We visited the fire station...while there they told us they had just sent a crew of firefighters up to Herriman to help with the fire...we were following the fire pretty closely....the firefighter was so nice and gave us a great tour...

Weezer was awesome (see post below)...H & M was also great...Jeff kept teasing Jaxon that we weren't going to be able to eat when we got home since I used all our grocery money shopping...it wasn't that bad, but I did find some cute clothes for me and the kids...I wanted to wait and do the kids fall shopping and I'm glad I did...
We ate at some of the best Mexican restaurants...I'm pretty sure I gained five pounds.

There are fun traditions that Jaxon and Claire will always associate with Arizona and their Grandparents...

Eating french fries while driving through the tunnel...every night...

Making homemade pancakes for breakfast and having "tea" parties....

Swimming, swimming, and more swimming...doesn't matter if you're in p.j.'s or a suit...

Bubbles and waterballoons...

I love spending time with my parent's and am so thankful for all they did while we were there. It was nice having Jeff all to ourselves for a whole week. It always breaks my heart when Jaxon has to say goodbye...you can tell he tries not to cry, but just can't help it. I was doing fine until he started to cry. It was a wonderful week being with our family and my parents.

Mockingjay

2010-09-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

I finished this book a while ago, but I still wanted to keep track of the books that I've read. It's the last book in the Hunger Games Series which I have thoroughly enjoyed. The first book was my favorite, but they are all great. The subject matter in the series is a little on the darker side and when I found out what they were about, I didn't think I would be able to read them. That lasted about 10 pages...it became one of those books that has me turning on an extra show for my kids to watch so I can read a few more pages. They are intense books! It's also one of those books that you don't want to finish too quickly because you don't want it to end. Jeff and I read the last one at the same time...he always gives me different perspectives on books and makes me think about it differently. I liked how the series ended...it was different than I expected, in a good way...I liked it even more after hearing Jeff's perspective on it. I don't want to say too much about the books because I don't want to ruin anything, but the series is definitely worth your time. I give this book an 8...the others both get a 9.

Future Engineer...

2010-09-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know if everyone felt this way growing up, but I always thought my dad had a cool job. It was cool that he worked at a power plant and made electricity. He would take us on tours every once in a while and I loved seeing what he did. Jaxon got this same chance while we were in Tucson. He is really into anything with machines and he loves knowing how things work...it makes me wonder if he will be an engineer someday. His mind just seems to work that way...I know my dad nor I would mind if we had another engineer in the family. My dad is the plant manager at the Tucson Power Plant and it was fun for all of us to see what he does. On Sunday, we went to tour the plant, but didn't have long pants and closed toe shoes, so we could only see my dad's office and the control room. The kids loved driving around and looking at all the different parts of a power plant.

They also loved the train that brings the coal to the power plant...

Jaxon enjoyed seeing that part of the plant so much, that we went back on Monday for a more extensive tour. We went to the top of the boiler (about 200 feet)...I was a little nervous walking that high with floors that you can see through, but it was no problem for Jax.

Promise I'm not pregnant though the shirt would tell otherwise...need to retire that one for a while after seeing the pic below....

We enjoyed the views of Tucson from the top of the boiler...

We all had a great time touring the plant and learning more about how our power is made. Jaxon told us that the power plant was his favorite part of our Arizona trip.

We Heart Weezer!

2010-09-20T00:27:00.002-07:00

It isn't often that you get to cross something off your life's checklist. Seeing Weezer live was very high on my list and definitely the only concert on the list. We bought tickets to Arizona's Fall Frenzy about six months ago and I (Jeff) have been looking forward to it with an anticipation greater than five Christmas' Eves. Aside from Weezer we got to see six other bands. Here are my impressions:

AM Taxi

Before: No opinion since I had never heard of them

After: Very impressed. Downloaded some of their songs.

Dirty Heads

Before: I bought their album to get myself ready for the concert and liked what I heard.

After: They have become the newest mainstay to my music collection. A very hard place to get to these days.

Drunk/High Guy

Okay, so this isn't a band, but it is one of the funniest things that has happened to me in quite a while. In between acts Amy and I decided to find some relief from the sun in the form of shade from a car parked on the premise. We were quickly joined by a guy that was quite inebriated by any standard.

We happened to be sitting in the midst of some ladies of an alternative lifestyle, when our inebriated friend leaned over and asked "Are you a lesbian?" I hope this question is as big of a shock to you as it was to me. My biggest fear is that you are reading this and thinking, "I can't believe that's the first time he's been asked that.

Now as a man, I had no idea how to answer this. He quickly followed up with "no offense, its cool" probably because I was staring blankly for what must have seemed like an eternity to our poor, wasted pal. I eventually muttered a feeble "no" and he proceeded to tell me what was wrong with a particular alternative female.

The moral of the story: I need some tips on looking more manly.

Before: Avoidance

After: Avoidance

Blue October

Before: Amy and I have both been moderate fans of Blue October

After: Amy and I are fans of Blue October

Devo

Before: Whip It...Into Shape

After: Skip It...And By It I Mean Devo...Forever

Primus

Before: Friends of mine who know music, like Primus.

After: Les Claypool is amazing at bass. Not amazing enough to make ME like Primus.

Sublime

Before: Sublime has a lot of songs I like.

After: Sublime has a lot of songs about pot.

Weezer

Before: My Favorite Band

After: One word, Cuomosexual.

Okay, maybe a few more. This is one of those rare times where I have lofty expectations only to have them exceeded. It was an amazing concert, with my amazing wife, watching an amazing band, it will be a few hours that I will cherish for the rest of my life

Anniversary!

2010-09-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

On August 25th, Jeff and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary. It is crazy to me that it has been six years. The actual day of was a normal old day...yard work, cleaning, and work for Jeff. We had one of my Young Women watch the kids on that Saturday for a date night. We love trying the restaurants that are featured on the show Diners, Drive In's, and Dive's. Our favorites are Blue Plate Diner and Pat's BBQ which we went to for our date. It is some of the best BBQ food...we always buy a bottle of their homemade BBQ sauce and use it on whatever we can...it is so tasty! We were a little overdressed at the restaurant...not that it mattered...the food was as good as ever. Jeff loves the ribs..I like the pulled pork and the chicken.

We decided since we are doing something fun for our anniversary in a few weeks when we go to Tucson (Jeff wanted to go to a Weezer concert for his gift...I want a shopping trip to the H&M they just opened in Tucson), that it would be nice to do a session at the temple. I had never done a live session before and since Pat's was downtown anyway, we headed to the Salt Lake Temple. It is beautiful and all the detail in the temple is amazing. This will sound bad, but we always have to talk ourselves into going to the temple, but afterwards you feel good and know that it was the best thing you could've done. It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary! Thanks for the best six years-I love you Honey!!

Thanksgiving Point!

2010-09-05T14:29:00.002-07:00

About a month ago, I bought pass to Thanksgiving Point. I like to try out different memberships and so far it is one I would get again along with Classic and the Children's Museum. We've been quite a few times and have been enjoying the variety of activities they have.

Jaxon and Claire love Farm Country. We went with my sister and her youngest boy, Ty. We kept watching the sky and the storm that was rolling in and it started to pour not long after we arrived. We ran to a jail they have for the kids to play in and waited it out. Even though it put a damper on looking at the animals, it was an enjoyable half hour....talking to my sister, watching the storm, letting the kids play together. We let the kids ride the ponies since they were covered and dry....

Once it let up, we made a quick trip around the farm to see the animals. Claire found a puddle and lost interest in the animals. Jax and Ty enjoyed feeding the goats....

We also love the dinosaur museum and Noah's Ark. We went to the dinosaur museum with our friends a while back. The kids had a ton of fun...they loved digging for fossils at the end.

Noah's Ark was equally as fun...the kids love playing in the water, finding their way through the mazes, and playing in the lighthouse.

Oktoberfest!

2010-09-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I look forward to the most during fall is Oktoberfest. Jeff's family loves Germany---Jeff's dad served his mission there, his sister lived there for a year, and his parent's visit Germany every year. Jeff has been multiple times and we want to go together someday....until then, we like to enjoy a little taste of Germany at Oktoberfest. We eat German food....listen to music....shop at the booths...get rained on....let the kids jump in the bounce houses...it's always a lot of fun.

Jeff introduced me to German food which I was a little hesitant to try, but of course once I did, I realized how good it really is. If you haven't tried German food, Siegfried's Deli is a great place to start.

Below is our group eating our yummy food--brats, spaetzle, and German chocolate cake that's too die for...the one difference between our table and everyone else's table...no big mugs of beer....

They play fun German music and have a dance area. The chicken dance is played often for the kids (and those who've had a little too much to drink)....

Jaxon and Caden....loved the clown who made them dogs with leashes out of balloons....

It was a great evening and I went home looking forward to all the other fall activities to come...

All I really need to know in life I learned from Curious George...

2010-08-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

I seriously feel like we need a poster with that saying on it for Jaxon. It has been his favorite cartoon--he has loved it since he was 2. We have seen every episode, multiple times. Jaxon is starting to grow out of it, but I have to say as a Mom I think it's been the best. I feel like it needs some sort of recognition for the amount of education it has left Jaxon with.

Here's a list of things he's learned from George...(it is by far not a comprehensive list)
--what compost is and how to make it
--what righty tighty lefty loosey means
--what zero means
--what recycling is
--all about space and orbits
--what buoyancy is
--all about gardening and different seeds
--the life cycle of a frog
--how to use a map
--solar energy
--organizing and scheduling

There was also a time last year when he wouldn't talk on the phone to anyone. I was trying to get him to talk to my mom, but he said, "I'm too old and smart to talk on the phone." My mom and I got a good laugh....I couldn't figure out where he had gotten it, but a few weeks later I heard it in Georgie...I should've known. I feel like I owe George a big thank you so here goes....Thank you George, for spending so much time in our house the last few years and being a great friend and entertainer and teaching Jaxon so many great things and for letting me have some needed breaks--it did not go unnoticed!!

Even though Jaxon is moving on, it has become Claire's favorite show so we won't be missing Georgie any time too soon!

Family Camp

2010-08-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

Jeff's family has a great tradition of doing a trip every year...one year with everyone and the other year with just the adults. This year was the trip with everyone and we went to Aspen Grove, which is a BYU run family camp above Sundance. The setting is beautiful, the staff was excellent, there was plenty to do, it was a perfect family vacation--I would highly recommend it! We checked in on Saturday and stayed through Friday.

Here we are in front of our cabin....

The kids had groups they went to every day depending on their age. They were gone for 3 hours before lunch and 3 hours after lunch. Jaxon was a kitten and was with two of his cousins. He loved going to his group everyday. They learned a song and performed them on the last day.

They went swimming with their groups everyday...

They went on a hike and went rock climbing...

They had their faces painted...

They did arts and crafts and played games....they were so exhausted each night from all the fun and activities...

Claire was a romper and had her own group. She loved her group leaders and the other kids in her group. One of the days that we went to pick her up, we were able to watch her for a bit before she saw us. She and her friend Sammie were playing in the cars. They would lean over and whisper something to each other or act like they were handing each other stuff. It was so fun watching them play...they were too cute together.

They made hats for the different themed days...Claire wanted to wear them all at once...

What did the adults do while our kids were at group all day?
We played lots of board games...

We went paintballing...

We took a pottery class....

We spent a lot of time in the arts and crafts room making way cute leather bracelets and belts....

We played walleyball, volleyball, and badminton....

They had a ropes course, but I chickened out on doing it...it's one of those things that you regret not doing. We also went to a parenting class. One of the coolest things was having a special fireside with Elder Holland. He was there with his family and the fireside he gave was amazing...we were listening to an apostle speak, in the most beautiful setting...the Spirit was so strong and I know it's something I will never forget.

They also had a lot of fun activities for the whole family to do together. My favorite day was Aspen Follies..you competed with the other families in a variety of games...I couldn't stop laughing...I didn't take any pictures because there was a lot of water involved...

They had a Frontier Days activity...
We tried our hand at knife throwing...

Rode the train multiple times...

Slid down the mountain slide...

Played games with the kids....

There was also a movie night and a family dance....there were so many fun things to do for everyone...the whole camp was very family friendly...

One of the kids favorite things was doing secret cousins every day. They drew names before and they brought a small gift for their secret cousin each day. They loved giving and getting their gift every day and finding out who it was at the end...

Jaxon and Claire got along so well while we were there. They were holding hands and being so sweet to each other. There were lots of moments that made my heart happy as a mom...

It was a great week and we had so much fun with Jeff's family. I feel lucky to be part of such a great family.

The Help...

2010-08-05T08:42:00.001-07:00

When I went out and bought the Help, it was purely on recommendations. I had no idea what it was about, nor did I want to know. It's fun to read a book without knowing what it's about and having the book come alive. I LOVED this book. Help refers to the black maids who worked for white families in the 1960's. The characters and the story were fantastic. I think it's interesting how much of a necessity it was back then to have a maid whereas now it's more of a luxury. I didn't realize how much the maids were also nannies. Not only did they clean their houses, they raised the white children. It made me sad to hear the stories of white parents who would do next to nothing for their children--the maids were basically their moms. It was nice to learn that while there were white families who treated their maids very poorly, there were also many who had great relationships with them and treated them very well. It is a work of fiction, but the author grew up in Jackson, Mississippi in the heat of it all and was "raised" by her maid. She tells her story at the end of the book. It's amazing to me how far we have come in 50 years. I'm sure if we would've told them who would be our president today, they would've said that's impossible.

My favorite quote from the book was directed to women..."We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I thought." How true even today for all of us....

Family Pictures

2010-08-04T07:56:00.002-07:00

A few months ago, we got our pictures taken with Jeff's family. We had them taken at his Grandpa's farm--I love the farm because there are so many great spots to choose from. We could have them taken there many times and have completely new backgrounds. Jeff's cousin took the pictures and I was excited with how they turned out...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jaxon...

I love this picture of the boys....

Girl's Camp 2010

2010-08-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

It seems like not that long ago, I was going to Girl's Camp with my ward as a youth. Doesn't seem possible that it was actually 13 years ago. Not a lot has changed--there is still a lot of singing, skits, certification, and a hike. There are a lot of new songs, but some of the older ones are still around i.e. the princess pat. Every ward was a country and our ward chose New Zealand. The camp directors did a great job.

Here are the leaders sporting all of our NZ gear....

We have a great group of girls-everyone is open to each other and they really try to include everyone. I love how excited the new beehives are for camp. It was a great week to grow closer to the girls. I loved playing games around the fire every night--definitely my favorite part of camp.

Two of our girls had birthdays while at camp, so one of our leaders made them an amazing cake as a surprise. Each of the girls was represented on the cake and was sticking their head out of the tent.

The girls are such great examples to me and as I told them in my testimony, they give me hope for my kids as teenagers. The youth are as strong as they have ever been despite the things that are happening in the world. I feel blessed to be a part of their lives and to experience so many testimony building experiences with them.

My kind of camping...

2010-07-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

As soon as it started getting warm this year, the kids started asking when we could go "camping". Camping to them for now is going to the canyon for the evening, cooking dinner over the fire, and making s'mores. We finally got the chance a few weeks ago and went with our friends, the McHugh's. We went up American Fork canyon and found a great spot by the river.

I think we've perfected tinfoil dinners and roasting marshmallows. It took Jaxon and Claire about fifteen minutes before they were covered in dirt. Claire holds her own pretty well with the boys and had fun following them around and copying whatever they did. As usual, the highlight for the boys was the fire. They helped with it however they could.

Jaxon and Claire were in a picture taking mode and were all about posing and smiling.

We had a great time "camping" and look forward to going again soon. I'm hoping that we can take them overnight sometime this summer-I know they would love it!

Demolition Derby

2010-07-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

It has become an annual tradition for our family to attend the Riverton Demolition Derby. We went with my family and some of our friends from high school. We had to wait for over an hour for it to start, but since that kind of a thing brings out some interesting people, Jeff and I enjoyed some prime people watching.

Claire last year at the derby (she was afraid of the noise...the car engines are pretty loud):

Claire this year (she loved it and cheered for the pink car):

Can't believe how banged up the cars get and can still run:

This was the car Jaxon cheered for...

He had fun sitting on the steps, playing with his cousins, and enjoying a snow cone...

4th of July

2010-07-09T21:41:00.002-07:00

We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July....

We had a BBQ with our neighbors on Saturday and fireworks after...

We had my family over on Sunday for dinner and fireworks....

We went swimming on Monday with Jeff's family....

It is one of my favorite holidays and the kids as well! They didn't want the fireworks to end.

It was nice to have Jeff home for a long weekend.

I am so proud and grateful to live in this country!!

My sister and two of her kids...

Claire toting Toby on her hip....

My brother and sister in law...

Jaxon and Kaleb watching the show...

Jaxon trying out a different angle...

Jaxon and his cousin McKay would yell "fire in the hole" when each firework started...

Claire's first time with a sparkler...went better than I thought it would...

I'm a back...

2010-06-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

One of Jaxon's Easter presents this year was Super Mario Brothers for the Wii. It has taken him a while to like it, he would get frustrated and stop playing, but now that he has improved, he is obsessed with playing it. He would play it all day if we would let him. His cousin, Caden, also loves Mario so they have been getting together to play. I love how their whole body moves with the controller.

It cracks me up to hear the things they say while they are playing. Here's some of the things I heard while I was cleaning:

"Pop me"

"Cool-We both have different powers"

"Dang it"

"You got fire power--Perfecto"

"I wouldn't do that if I was you"

"See, it's his eyeball"

"Ow, ow, ow"

"Watch and learn, my friend"

"They can't kill me"

"See you later star friend"

All of these are intermingled with lots of laughter. I made them go outside for a while to burn off some energy, but Mario didn't end. Instead, they became the game with one of them acting as Mario and one as Luigi. Their imaginations amaze me and make me wish just a little that I could be a kid again!

Youth Conference

2010-06-23T07:30:00.006-07:00

Last week was our ward youth conference at Bear Lake. We have spent the last month planning for it and it was nice to get up there and see it all come together. The theme was survivor so we split them into two tribes and gave them bandanas and shirts (courtesy of Jeff).

I rode up on Thursday with one of the other leaders. Everyone else had gone up on Wednesday. When we got to Bear Lake, it was freezing. I had been watching the weather and knew it was going to be a cold week so I had plenty of warm clothes. I have to admit that it worked out nice missing the first night considering they got rained on and were freezing cold. The YW were in charge of Thursday so we had the youth play Survivor games on the beach. They turned out really well. I forgot how competitive the youth can be. We had a sand castle building contest, a couple of relays, a human pyramid contest, and my favorite--the eating competition.

The kids had to race the person on the other team to eat whatever was on the plate in front of them first. Some of the items were a glob of mayo, boiled eggs, tuna fish, jalapeno peppers, pickles, and cans of pop. I was surprised they ate everything--I was gagging just watching them.

We gave them some free time at the beach and then headed back to camp. We made taco salad for dinner. That night, we were in charge of a fireside. We did a hold to the rod theme and had them walk blindfolded while holding on to a rope. The bishop gave a devotional after. I thought it turned out well minus the two kids who fell in the fire pit--there was no fire, but there were sharp rocks.

Friday and Saturday the YM were in charge. We went to Minnetonka Caves on Friday and then spent the rest of the day at the lake. We had temperatures around 75. It was a perfect day for boating and warming up. The girls talked me and Natalie (YW pres) into going on the 5 person water weenie. Bad idea--we kept trying to tell the drivers to cut it and that we were done, but apparently they thought that meant we wanted to die(that's what they claimed). We all ended up in the freezing water. I don't remember ever being that cold--I couldn't breath for what felt like forever. It was SO stinking cold.
Here is Nad-Brad at the beach (the girls gave us nicknames-mine was A-train):

We got shakes and had yummy dutch oven cooking on Friday night. Everyone got fried that day and one of our girls got really dehydrated. We thought we were going to have to take her to the ER, but after drinking a ton and getting a priesthood blessing, she improved enough. It was a crazy night, but the youth wanted to do a testimony meeting anyway. It was awesome and so spiritual. Our ward is lucky to have such amazing youth--they are so strong and I have learned so much from them. It was fun being on a sort of mini vacation. I had so much fun getting to know the girls better. We played games, talked, and did hair trains. One of the girls told me I looked like death when we were up till 1 am. Guess that's what happens when you're a mom and not used to staying up so late every night.

Remember the days in high school when you had to go the restroom in a group-well we did that too. We smelled like campfire by the end and it was so nice to shower once we were home. I thought it was a perfect mix of fun and spiritualness and I hope it is something the youth will always remember.

The Disappearing Bean....

2010-06-14T08:10:00.003-07:00

On Friday night, I was on the phone talking to a friend. When I got off the phone, I went to check on Claire--she had moved a chair over to the counter and was playing with some red beans that I keep in a jar for decoration. The first thing she says to me is "bean up my nose". Sure enough, I look up her nose and I can see the bean. I tried to have her blow her nose, but it wouldn't come out. I checked again and it was a lot higher. It was about 8:45 p.m. so we hurried into KidsCare since they close at 10. I thought it would be a fairly quick procedure and had no idea at this point how long of a night it was going to be. We had to wait for half an hour with some really sick kids. I was wishing there was a separate place we could be since that's all I wanted was to get sick kids. We eventually got in to the office and waited at least another half hour--the kids were both so tired and ornery. The doctor came in, looked up her nose and couldn't see it. We tried a couple of other things, but still couldn't find it. There was only so much they could do so he recommended we go to Primary Children's to make sure they got it out--it was especially bad since it was something organic.

I dropped Jaxon off at my brother's house at 11:00 and drove to Primary's. At least we pick good nights--my sister is an ER nurse at Primary's and happened to be working. We've been to Primary's twice--once for this and once for Jaxon's concussion-both times my sister has been working. I called her and let her know we were on our way. Luckily there was no wait since the Friday before it was a 2-3 hour wait. It was pretty much the same story-they couldn't find the bean. Poor Claire--we had to keep waking her up to stick something else up her nose. They decided to do a procedure to try and get it out. They stuck a catheter up her nose, blew up a little balloon, and pulled it out. They had to hold her down the whole time and Claire was saying, "Amy, Amy, no, no, hold me." ( I assured the nurses and doctors the she was my child even though she doesn't call me mom). It's so hard to watch your child being held down and crying for you. Unfortunately nothing came out. It was about 1 a.m. and Claire and I were both exhausted. The doctors told us to watch carefully for a fever, a strong smell, or swelling in case it's still up there. It also could've fallen out or she could have swallowed it. We left the hospital at about 1:30. She keeps telling everyone how she put a bean up her nose and how the doctor got it out. She loved having "Mashelle" as her nurse which I'm glad she didn't seem too upset over everything she went through. She told me the next morning, "I put 1, 2, 3, 5 beans up my nose." Needless to say, there are no longer red beans on my counter. We have no clue what happened to it, but I'm hoping she will not try it again.

To top off the weekend, Jaxon bumped his mouth and has a chipped tooth. He keeps telling me that he can't touch his top and bottom teeth together anymore. I'll be taking him to the dentist this week. I came down with something on Saturday, probably from the Kids Care. We still managed to have some fun. We had a luncheon at my Grandma's and Grandpa's house, Jaxon played in his last soccer game and got a trophy that he LOVES and I took the day off on Sunday and got some much needed rest and am feeling much better. At least we had one healthy person in our family-thanks hon for taking good care of us. I think we have all recovered from the weekend.

Memorial Day!

2010-06-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have always loved having a summer birthday and having it near Memorial Day. It seems like there are always lots of fun things going on and lots of people to celebrate with. This year my birthday was on Memorial Day and we headed to St. George for the weekend. We were glad Jeff's mom was able to come with us.

Jeff and I went to more movies during that weekend than I have probably been to this whole year. Here is my list starting with my favorite and on down:

-----Date Night
-----Shrek 3
-----Iron Man 2
-----Robin Hood
-----Prince of Persia

We swam everyday and got some much needed color. We also spent time relaxing at the house, reading, and enjoying the outdoors.

We added some new traditions.....Pirate Island Pizza and Grandma Tobler's Bakery (they both get three yum's from me).

The one thing I wanted to do for my birthday was to shop at H &M. In my opinion, it's THE best store and I had birthday money to spend. We made the trek to Vegas, ate at a buffet, and I shopped as long as I could. It was a long day, especially for the kids, but they were troopers and it was worth the trip down there. I found some great deals and am loving my new buys.

On my birthday, we swam and went to lunch and Target (my second favorite store, but my b-day money was gone by that point). Jeff and I went on a date---we ate at a Mexican restaurant and went to the movie Date Night which kept me laughing.

When we got back from our date, the kids had decorated the house and were so excited to surprise me. Kids sure make birthdays fun! We had birthday cake to finish off the night.

I feel so grateful for the life that I have. I have the best husband and kids, we both have amazing families, and I have great friends. I'm looking forward to another exciting year--I want to enjoy my last year of twenties!!

End of Preschool...

2010-06-05T14:18:00.002-07:00

Jaxon finished up his first year of preschool a few weeks ago. I have been so impressed with the preschool and his teachers. He learned a lot and made some great friends. The first thing they would do every day when they went into their classroom was a drawing of whatever they wanted. His teachers would write down what each picture was. On his last day, we got the book with all his drawings, and I had so much fun looking back at his artwork throughout the year. Some of my favorite things he said to describe his pictures were: "It's a lobby, it's what you put buildings on", "It's our neighbors body" ( I couldn't tell from the drawing who it was, but it cracked me up) and "This is a not to do naughty stuff sign".

Jaxon looking so grown up in his school picture-I love how dark his eyes are!

He told me his favorite things from the year were when the fire engine came to visit his preschool and when they got to go on miniature horse rides.

For their graduation, they had a party at Classic Skating. I don't think I've been there since high school--they still do the snowball and play the same music. Not that I'm complaining, I love 80's music. Jeff was at work so it was just me and the kids. We attempted roller skating but it was harder than I thought trying to keep the kids and myself upright. We had fun trying anyway. The kids spent most of their time jumping in the bounce houses and playing in the Jungle playland.

Jaxon with one of his teachers Ms. Cameon. He is sure going to miss his teachers and all his friends, but he gets to go back for another year and is already asking me how long until preschool starts again.

Soccer Season!!

2010-05-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

We let Jaxon pick between playing soccer and tee ball this spring. He chose soccer and is playing on a team with the boys in his primary class.

He was so excited when he got his uniform he wanted to wear it all day. Notice that it's on backwards--that was so he could see his number!

Sometimes I think he stays in the back so he doesn't have to kick the ball. He gets distracted at times and we have to remind him to watch the ball, but he is doing better each game. They look so cute in their uniforms chasing the ball. I love it!

Jaxon's favorite parts about playing soccer--getting a treat at the end of the game and doing a cheer for the other team.

What a life.. (part 2)

2010-05-08T07:15:00.002-07:00

Since I was using my parent's camera, I don't have the rest of our Arizona pictures but will add them in later. On Saturday, I convinced my parents to go to the Pima County Fair. It was a perfect day with 70ish degree weather. Jaxon and Claire loved the little kid rides and the petting zoo. It was one of the best petting zoos I've been too--they just let you into this gated area with llamas, goats, pigs, and sheep just walking around. Of course it smells like crazy and you feel like you have to wash your hands about ten times after, but the kids enjoyed it. We ate lunch from a yummy BBQ grill.

Besides all the rides and shows, the fair also had a demolition derby. It was a first for my parent's and the highlight of the fair for all of us. Why is it so funny to see cars crashing into each other? The blue Chrysler Imperial was the favorite, but it started on fire at the end and lost.

The kids ready for a swim-well one of them at least!
We also went to Pump it Up. They have two rooms full of bounce houses. One of the bounce houses had an obstacle course that Claire and Jaxon wanted to keep going through. I was exhausted by the end and it made me wish I had just a portion of the energy my kids have.

On Tuesday we went to Funtastics which is like a Boondocks. They had go-carts, bumper boats, mini golf, and kid rides. I'm sure the workers thought my mom and I had a little too much to drink. We started laughing at something while we were mini golfing and then everything after that was funny. When we bought the tickets, they told us we had 4 tokens each to use in the arcade. So after we were done with all the rides and went to use our tokens, we realized they had given us each 13 dollars to use on arcades. We played a lot of skee ball and the kids found their favorite games. I found a game that you drop a ball into a number of circles each with a number on it and you got that many tickets. Fast forward an hour--we ended up with 750 tickets. We let the kids pick out a bunch of junk that I'll try and get rid of without them noticing. My dad got a water rocket which he told us he has wanted since he was 6 years old. That information would have made birthdays a lot easier all these years!

We ended the trip with Old Tuscon. The kids got plenty of rides on the train and the cars. They had a great time. After Old Tuscon, we headed to the airport for our flight. It was a bumpy flight and I've never been more happy to be on the ground. Something I was not happy about coming home too--snow!!

We had a wonderful vacation and a great time with my parents!!

What a life...

2010-04-23T14:48:00.052-07:00

What a life...a term used frequently by grandparents, kids, and myself over the last week.

I've been wanting to visit my parents in Arizona and when Jeff decided to go to Boston with his Dad, I thought it would be the perfect weekend for me and the kids to come. We are having a great time. The first day that we flew in we went to the Butterfly Gardens. It's sort of like a greenhouse and there were hundreds of butterflies. Jaxon loved holding them and told us after that he made lots of new friends, meaning the butterflies.

On Wednesday, the kids wanted to go to the Children's Museum. Highlights were:

The fire engine:
the vet shop:

the store/kitchen:

building towers and knocking them down:

going down the stairs headfirst (this was the last room they played in and instead of being tired like I thought they might be, they were SO hyper and were laughing their heads off):
Thursday we went on a tram ride through Sabino Canyon. It was a chilly 50 degrees and we tried to stay warm. I loved it anyway-it was beautiful. The kids loved all the waterfalls and the cactus. It was one of my favorite things that we have done so far.

After the canyon tour, Grandma gave the kids a surprise. When we asked Claire what she thought about her sucker, she said, "ouch!"

On Friday, we went to a reptile rambile. It was another chilly day and we cuddled in blankets. They brought out a variety of snakes. We left before they brought out the creepy crawlies which got me thinking, would you rather come across a snake in the desert or a tarantula? Definitely a snake for me--tarantulas make my skin crawl just thinking about them.
I'm trying to be less scared of bugs and such for my kids (after all I need someone to kill the spiders so I don't have too). Jaxon was fine touching the snakes after he saw me doing it--success!!

The cooler weather didn't stop us from enjoying the pool every night. Jaxon is getting more and more brave. By the third night, he was going around the pool by himself with his lifejacket and noodle. His smile was priceless...

The kids sleeping soundly after a hard day of play:

Easter Festivities!

2010-04-06T09:25:00.017-07:00

I look forward to Easter weekend almost as much as the kids do. It's such a fun holiday, spring is in the air, and who doesn't love a creme filled Cadbury Egg. Even better that it was conference. My parents flew up to spend the weekend with everyone. Only wish they could've brought some of their warm weather with them. We had a wonderful time with them and love when they come visit.

At Jaxon's preschool on Monday, the eggs they've been watching over the last few weeks hatched. They were able to see two of them hatch in their class. His teacher had an open house between conference sessions on Saturday to let families come and see the chicks and the Easter Bunny. We went and checked them out-they were too little to hold, but still so cute.

We couldn't talk Claire into sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap. Maybe next year...

After the visit to Jaxon's preschool, my family came to our house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. The kids ended up with loads of candy.

Jaxon and Claire enjoying being with their Grandma and eating their candy.

After the egg hunt, we took a little break to let the sugar high wear off and met at my sister's house while the men went to the Priesthood session. We ate dinner and dyed Easter Eggs. The boys couldn't resist putting their whole hands in the dye and ended up with green fingers. I don't remember coloring eggs being so messy, but then I've never dyed eggs with eight kids before. I love how much fun the cousins have when they are together-they all get along so well!

On Sunday, the Easter Bunny came again. He brought more candy, some toys for outside, and Mario for the WII. Jeff and I have been looking forward to playing Mario with the kids. We find games like that highly entertaining.

Jaxon looking a little stunned at all the candy in his basket. Wish I could read his mind...

Catching up!

2010-03-31T14:00:00.039-07:00

I haven't been the best at blogging this month, but I wanted to remember something from March so here goes. We have been able to spend many days at the park and in our backyard which has been so nice. I can't even begin to say how happy I am that spring is finally here. There is so much to love about spring. I love seeing people outside, I love seeing tulips starting to come up even if they aren't in my yard, I love breaking out the flip flops and I love feeling motivated to spring clean my house. One of the things we did this month was clean our windows. Jeff found a great website with all sorts of tips to make things easier. Apparently, if you clean your window with newspaper, you can get it much cleaner than with paper towels or rags or whatever you use. I was a little skeptical until I saw the results. You still use window cleaner and go in a circular motion with crinkled-up newspaper. Maybe this is how everyone cleans their windows, but it was news to me. Here is the before and after picture from our family room window.

Before: I'll admit that cleaning windows and blinds are something I don't do near as often as I should. It's amazing we could even see out of it.

After: It was so clean I kept thinking the window was open.

We also took a St. George cousin trip with my sister and sister-in-law and all the kids. It was actually the end of February but I'll count it since I've wanted to blog about it. Everyone had a great time. I didn't see Jaxon much because he was so busy playing with his cousins. We did lots of outside activities since it was warm enough. It made me excited for our turn to have nice spring weather.

We tried to trap a leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day, but he got away. He did manage to leave some cute green shirts and treats for the kids. Jaxon and Claire thought it was pretty cool. Jax kept asking me how he knew that Tootsie Rolls were his favorite. It was a pretty smart little leprechaun (really...a little man comes in your house while you're asleep and leaves you candy...how creepy). Just glad Jaxon doesn't see the creepiness of it all. We had green pancakes for breakfast and corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

Jeff had his baseball fantasy draft which is his favorite day of the year. He is happy with the team he got. While he was at his draft, I went to the NCAA Regional Game. My parents bought tickets last year and it was fun to see an Elite Eight game. The underdog won which made it even better.

We went to the Discovery Gateway museum with friends:

Jaxon and Claire making delicious looking turkey sandwiches.

As long as Claire had a doll, she was happy.

Jaxon and Kaleb working on the construction site. This is one of Jaxon's favorite things to do at the museum.

The kids have been healthy, the weather is getting warmer, Jeff's almost done with another semester, and we have fun trips to look forward to in April...life is good!

Your package has arrived!

2010-03-31T13:10:00.012-07:00

The other day I found the kids pretending that Toby was a package needing to be delivered. They put him in a box and somehow his head ended up coming through the box. Me being the mature mom that I am, could not stop laughing and took pictures when I should have been helping him out of the box. I think that almost everyone who comes over to our house ends up saying sometime before they leave, "poor Toby". He puts up with a lot, but takes it so well. Another Toby story that made me and Jeff laugh pretty good--Claire was holding Toby and he got a little nippy with her. She grabbed his face and said "no bite Toby." Then she stood up and carried him to the laundry room all red-faced. She was so mad and the whole way to the laundry room she was telling him "timeout, three minutes. " She does it a couple times a day now when she thinks he's being bad.

I am liking Toby more now than the last time I posted about him. He continues to follow me around which doesn't bother me until I trip on him. We are much closer to having him house trained and with the nice weather (mostly nice weather I should say since it is snowing outside as I am typing this), he plays outside most of the day. He really is a sweet dog who loves the kids. Whenever Jaxon or Claire gets sad, Toby will lick their faces/tears and give them kisses to make them happy.

Overwhelmed!

2010-02-24T22:46:00.003-07:00

On Sunday, I was called to be the 2nd counselor in our Young Women's Presidency. It came as a huge surprise and I can't help but feel overwhelmed. I've never been in Young Women's before, but I have nothing but great memories of my own experience in YW's. We had our first activity on Tuesday and it eased a lot of my fears. The girls are amazing and have been really open about the change. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of the girls. I have heard from so many people in the ward how amazing our youth are. I am also really excited to be working with the other ladies in the presidency. We are all at similar points in our life and it will be fun to become better friends with each of them. They will be great to work with. I have to say how thankful I am for the interent--sugardoodle has been my best friend this past week.

I'm going to miss teaching with Jeff--that has been my favorite calling so far. We had such a great class and it was fun to be together during class and sharing time. I will miss hearing the cute things the kids say and laughing at the funny things the kids do. (ok so maybe I laughed a little too much sometimes and I'm sure the primary will not miss me being irreverent!) The one bright side about leaving primary is that I will get all the girls who were in my class in beehives this year.

I will keep you posted on how it's going. Please share any great ideas you have...I'll need them!!