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12.31.2011

New years eve?

Took me long time to realize that this morning. Today is more significant than just saturday morning. And the chicklets have no idea. We are on our third time of watching cars 2.... It's almost eleven. Awesome. Hope you are less lame than I am!

12.29.2011

The Girls

Meet the girls. They are a pair of tri-color king Charles spaniels. And they will steal your heart in 2.9 seconds. Lucy and Lizzy came to my parents home a couple months ago. The parents are now totally empty nesters, and Mamacita needed some company. And the girls certainly fulfill that role well. They are full of snuggles, loves, and are as good as could ever be expected with my littles. Can't wait to see them again soon!

12.27.2011

Did you know?

I absolutely hate having my picture taken. Choc chip cookies are my weakness. For not being a stellar cook/baker, I make really good creme brûlée. My parents are the best, and my dad is the easiest person to talk to. I don't like drinking water. Unless really cold, with ice, no straw. Lemon when available. Joe and I both knew baby E is a girl, and didn't tell the other that we knew til Christmas. (punk.) I can't decide how to spell baby's name. Vacuuming is my favorite chore, and I like being able to see how much junk got sucked up off the floor. (gross, I know) I love surprises, and always ruin them for myself, sometimes on purpose. I hate knowing a surprise is coming. My body is a strange thing. I have double jointed elbows, a shoulder blade and thumb. One leg is longer than the other. And short limbs. It's great.... I don't mind doing laundry. Putting it away when it's clean is a whole other story. Sorry mom. I have middle child syndrome. I don't know all my cousins. I haven't even met them all. But I do have cousins with grand kids. This was random. But I am avoiding putting away laundry, so, it was productive. Right?

12.25.2011

just a few




we squeezed in a quick photo session with an old friend in CA over thanksgiving. we got there much later than anticipated, so lighting was kinda out the window, and the kids were a little stir crazy. which means, less than super stellar photos. but im glad we have them! the last group shots we did were after claire was born, and although the family continually changes, im way glad we got these in. finally seeing these pics after all the fam left after christmas festivities for the night (and being sad joe had to work) finished off a pretty wonderful day for me.

so much to be grateful for. i cannot even begin to list it all. its almost disgusting to think how much i have when so many don't have some of what i consider basics. i use an electric toothbrush to brush my teeth for crying out loud! i can straighten my already straight hair into something silky! i get to drive a car around, and park it in a garage and not scrape off ice. i can drink bottled water when i want. i can have diapers shipped to my front door. i can throw diapers away and not have to wash them! virtually any book i could ever want in my hands, as fast as i can think of them. i can talk to my mom 50 times in a day after pressing some buttons. food is so readily accessible, i dont even think about throwing away leftovers i might not eat. my clothes and dishes are washed AND dried for me. 

and on and on. i was thinking all this while i brushed my teeth, that lots of money was spent on to straighten. to STRAIGHTEN. (they werent even that bad to begin with.) and none of that even matters- i would give it up for my family. for my husband and kids. my wonderful parents, siblings, extended family, in-laws, any of them. for my constantly nudging baby GIRL in my tummy. 

and none of them would even mean that much to me if it werent for my Savior. no matter how much i would give up, it wouldnt amount to anything next to His sacrifice. 
and there i go crying.

perhaps i am not as stone-cold-hearted as it seems. 

welp. i love my husband. my family in its entirety. it was a christmas to remember, with some miracles mixed in. wouldnt be christmas without them, huh? 

one little miracle, and then good night: my parents drove here from houston, and got stuck in roswell, NM for 24 hours while they waited for the roads to become drive-able. my dad grew up in roswell, and went 55 years without a white christmas, and just happens to drive through it and get stuck there 2 days before christmas. how RANDOM is that? they dd make it late on christmas eve to provo, thank goodness! but really, of all the places?!?!?! just happy the made it safely :)

12.22.2011

I wish I could explain how happy my chicklets make me. I am bubbling over inside with happiness and joy thinking about what is coming their way tomorrow (my parents and their puppies) and the following days. I went shopping for the last time for a while- such relief to be done with that part. Snuggling, wrapping, baking and eating, and more snuggles starts now! A most merry Christmas to you and yours!

12.17.2011

meet the asian


susan is a roomie from my freshman year in the dorms.
susan is a rock star for so many reasons. 
she is asian. 
she is the only member of our church in her family, and is such a good example.
she finished her nursing degree, after having a baby.
she has the fattest asian baby ever. (it takes everything i have not to eat her)
she has some sweet dance skills.
she likes HP more than i do.
she is kind, sweet, smart, funny, and lets me watch her fat baby.

i love staying connected with this girl. we see each other regularly. i watched her kid while she went to school. but we got the husbands to watch kids, went out to lunch and lost track of time talking. i love having a friend that i can do that with. in fact, i saw her three times that day, and we still had things to talk about. how? and how did we end up living just on other sides of the freeway, and we dont manage to see each other more?

and she is an incredibly good cook. legit asian food- i still drool thinking about her chow mein feasts she cooked up for us. and anything she bakes. i couldnt resist saying yes to some of her cookies last night, after we already went out and had ice cream.

gotta love a good friend. 

12.14.2011

christmas spirit


this, lovely readers, is what christmas spirit looks like.

they were on a bit of a sugar high- making sugar cookies.

regardless, i hope to be this joyful with them for the rest of the year, and then forever. but at least through the new year.

so, you all have been warned: for the next three weeks, if you are not deliriously happy when you enter my home, you will be blasted with christmas spirit. if it fails to brighten your day, you will be asked to vacate the premises. because i will not have anyone ruining my fun with the children. 

thanks in advance. 

and thanks for stopping by linds. the kids sure do love you. 
(and everyone who comes to the door. they attack the door like puppies every. time. someone. knocks. it gets old after the first time they try to escape into the cold with no shoes on.)



almost done with christmas shopping. are you?

12.12.2011

birthday girl


remember how it was the big girl's birthday, like a month and a half ago? oh yeah.....

claire loves being 3. pretty much the best thing ever. i had already planned on doughnuts for her birthday, and then lindsay showed up before work with the sweet UGE doughnut just for the girl. it was fitting, because we always got the UGE doughnuts from across the street when we lived in CA. she loved it, duh! everything that day was pink, balloons, cupcakes, decorations, so it was great. love this girl.

we also had a mommy-daughter date for some fro-yo, because thats what i was craving. she hated it until we got to the toppings, and she could pick what she wanted. so funny. she keeps me on my toes that one, pushing the limits. i can just imagine the fun, years from now. we'll just think about how much fun she is at the moment :)

12.11.2011

back it up.

turns out, i have been taking more pictures that i thought. 

we'll start with some of our CA trip. my family lived in ca for many years. we lived all over ca. and then we moved, and no one is there anymore. we went there for thanksgiving, with my family to warm up all the idaho and utah kids. joe had only ever flown through LAX, so this was especially exciting  we stayed in carlsbad, which is not one of the places we lived, but is still gorgeous. its close-ish to san diego, so lindsay, joe, marshall and i all went and did a session in the san diego temple, while my mom graciously babysat the kiddos.

i think i had just punched joe in the stomach. 
if you really know me, you know this was the temple i ALWAYS wanted to get married in. but being the easy going middle child, i graciously let my husband decide on the nauvoo temple. not a choice i regret, (it was a pretty perfect day) but i think he now finally understands WHY i always had that little desire. it. is. GORGEOUS.

 aw, sisters. 

thanksgiving meal. we managed to make the whole dinner in the little kitchen, including a turkey! and everything was delish. i took the picture- proof we were all there!
maybe i'll find some more pics another time.... i forgot i even had these!

HUGE thank you to my parents for putting us all up for the week. it was so fun to all be together, keeping the tradition of not having thanksgiving at home :) and especially for getting up and occupying kiddos so we could sleep. amazing.
we loved getting to see the beach, the awesome hot tub, legoland, gorgeous condo, and just hanging out together. such a rarity, and so wonderful. 


these pics are from today after church. i seriously LOVE my kids. i think they really are hilarious. im sure everyone thinks that about their kids, and its probably true, but i cant stop laughing at them constantly, even all through church....
 bubba-licious decided to finally start folding his arms for prayers today. we've been working on that one for a while, but he started doing it during prayers at church today, and claps for himself every time. so stinkin' cute! 
 sorry, but i really do think he is rather handsome. thanks husband, since he is your mini-me, it really is true!
and you can barely tell that claire has a mullet here! she really loves her bro.
my mom made her that adorable little dress. so sweet!

side note: claire started going to sunbeams in primary the last couple weeks.... hopefully she'll adjust because she still loves nursery so much!