Eight is GREAT!!!

My baby girl is eight years old tomorrow. We will be traveling, so I wanted to post this today so everyone would know how wonderful she is! Sammy is pretty lucky on this big birthday. We started the celebration last night with dinner at her beloved Pei Wei. She loved her presents. Nate and I signed her up for art classes that she has been taking after school. It is a 12 week course. Last night we gave her a heart locket with all of our pictures in it and it was filled with love. Sometimes she gets lonely for her family when we are not together, so now we can always be with her! Megan gave her the Unicorn WebKinz that she adores. Today they will celebrate her in the classroom, and I will go in to eat lunch with her. Tomorrow she has a birthday party at my parent's house, and then on Friday she will have a party at Nate's parent's house. To top it off, a friends party next week! A lot to take in.
Eight things we love about Sam!
~She is very artistic and creative. More than once her artwork has been selected to be in a district art show and displayed in the halls at school.
~Sammy is very clever and has a quick sense of humor. She often catches me off guard with the funny things she says.
~She is very giving and is great at sharing.
~She loves her Heavenly Father and she often shares her testimony with others at school.
~She loves to give out hugs and let others know she loves them. She is a great snuggler!
~Sammy is a math whiz! Something I really admire.
~She loves to sing and dance and perform for her family.
~She is very tender hearted cares for all people and animals. She always wants to bring home the less fortunate.
Sammy, we love you so much and we are so proud of you. We couldn't imagine our family without you! Have a wonderful and happy birthday!

Week 8

I have been married for 12 1/2 years. I love being married. This week I am very grateful for a wonderful and loving marriage. Being married is so much more than I ever thought it could be. I don't know that you can ever comprehend what marriage will be like until you are in the midst of it, and I have been very blessed to be in a happy, joyful and loving marriage. I'm grateful for the ups and downs of life that we have endured, they have brought us closer together. I love how much we laugh together. I love how we can have conversations with each other that go on and on and on. I love how my heart skips a beat every night when I hear the garage door open and I know my sweetie is home.
When Nate and I were engaged, my mom cut an article out of the Church News and gave it to me. It has been hanging on our fridge every day since we were married. Here is what it says.
Prophet's advice-
On March 25, 1988, my friend and I attended a session at the Jordan River Temple. This was how we started my last day of bachelorhood. The temple session started slightly late due to the arrival of President Ezra Taft Benson and his wife, Flora.
I can still see the tender care of love he showered on his beloved as they were going through this session. I received an undeniable confirmation of true celestial marriage. As the session was ending, I thought, "I would like to ask what their secret is."
As I entered the celestial room, I shook hands with Sister Benson and then President Benson. President Benson asked me if I was getting married in the near future.
I answered, "Yes, sir, tomorrow."
President Benson then told me: "Always treat your wife as if you were in the presence of the Lord. And remember if you ever feel like having an argument, stop and ask yourself if it is worth destroying your marriage over. My wife and I have never had an argument in all of our years."
No marriage will last if you do not discuss your different points of view, but if you will follow President Benson's counsel, you will find your marriage will grow stronger every day.

I'm so grateful for this daily reminder. Nate and I have disagreed, but we have never yelled at each other. I love being married to him. I am grateful for eternal marriages so that we can be together forever.

Sunrise and Shovels

This morning at 5:30 (A.M.!) we headed off to Coolidge to work on the stake farm. Nate signed himself and the girls up last Sunday and said I was welcome to join them if I wanted. So I did. It has been raining the last couple of days, so with hope in my voice I asked Nate if he thought it would be cancelled. He told me he is pretty sure that farming has never been cancelled due to rain or mud. Shucks. I have to admit, I didn't give my kid enough credit. You should see us trying to get them to do yard work here, let alone getting up in the dark and working with shovels for two hours. They did great and worked consistently. I'm thinking of making an excercise video, 'How to get a Farmers Body'. Holy Cow. If only my abs looked as tight as they feel.


Megan found a huge toad that she was able to catch, wish I had my camera on my at that point. She was a little nervous but she did it. Probably because it was so fat it couldn't jump away fast enough. I think the funniest part of the morning, (and maybe you had to be there) was due to Nate of course. We were the last family to leave and I had found a golf ball. Nate thought he would play a little baseball with the golf ball and shovel. So he throws the ball in the air and he swings as hard as he can........and the shovel head goes flying into the fields! Glad the shovel held out for all the work!
Of course we stopped off at a fruit stand on the way home. Check out the grapefruit in this picture! I put it next to a horseshoe and a regular grapefruit so you could get an idea.

I showed him! and more random stuff...

Remember how Stanley tried to kill me the other night? I got the ultimate revenge. I took him in to get neutered. (evil laugh) Now I look forward to having another fat and lazy cat :] No, I didn't get him neutered because of the other night, but I should have. I paid extra for pain medication and the poor little guy couldn't focus on anything last night. His pupils were huge! I was telling Nate we should rent Pink Floyds The Wall for him.
Last night Sam and Nate we kind of wresting around and he made a comment about her being a little kid. She pipes up with, "I'm a woman! I have armpit hair!" Is that how you can tell when you are a woman? Lucky us.
Crazy Mama tagged me. AGAIN!
Here are the rules.
#1 Link to the person that tagged you.
#2 Post the rules on your blog.
#3 Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
#4 Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
# 5 Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged

Seven more random things about me?
1. I hate chocolate. I know. You don't understand. I wish I did like it, it looks delicious.
2. Hate to cook, hate to get all the dishes dirty, hate measuring, hate raw meat.
3. I talk to my pets like they can understand me. I guess that is from being alone with them all day.
4. I was 17 before I had my first kiss. Then engaged at 18, married at 19. Guess it is a good thing I didn't start kissing sooner!
5. I was the bishops daughter for 8 years. From the time I was 12 until after I was married. You know what they say about the bishops daughter......
6. I love to eat onions. On anything. No, I'm not pregnant; however, I am grateful that Nate is so tolerant.
7. On my list of things to do before I die: I want to do a power slide. You know in the movies where they chase the bad guy around a corner and their car kind of whips around and then they drive off really fast? I've always wanted to do that. Don't know why. I tried to do it in my parent's Taurus in high school, but Nate informed me that it is totally the wrong kind of car. I also want to go to one of those race tracks and drive the race cars really fast.

So now I get to tag 7 people.

Alicia
Melody
Nikki
Kirstie
Alice
Crissybug
Kim

Book club and travel plans

Last night was book club. I haven't been the last two months so it was great to go. We discussed Dragon Seed by Pearl S. Buck and had great discussions about what we would do in time of war. I haven't finished the book yet, but I look forward to finishing. For this next month we chose to read Memory Keepers Daughter. I am so thrilled to be reading this book. Piper just finished it and she couldn't say enough good things about it. I just ordered it on Amazon and I hope it gets here before we head up to Utah next week.
The funeral for Nate's grandma will be on March 1st. We are going to leave Wednesday night and drive to Page and then we will get there on Thursday afternoon. That will be Sammy's birthday. She wasn't too happy to be in the car or miss school on her birthday; I'll have to make it up to her. I just realized that with this trip and our trip up for her baptism, we will be spending 48 hours traveling in the car in the next three weeks. 48 hours! IN THREE WEEKS! I hope I don't mutiny. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to go up for these occasions, that is a LOT of traveling. I might have to get my hair colored to cover up all my new gray.

P.S. My wonderful husband was able to pull all the pictures and documents off the old computer. I am now staring at a stack of disks and I am soooo happy and relieved!

Feelings.....

The other day I had a feeling that we should back up all the pictures on our computer. I don't know how to do it, and I thought about mentioning it to Nate, but did I? Of course not. Last night, disaster. Our computer crashed! OHHHH NOOOO! I guess the good news is that Nate has really wanted to get a new laptop, so now is a good time right? I am typing on it right now. The only thing I don't like about laptops is the keyboard. I have a really hard time hitting the right keys. But it is wonderful. It is soo much faster than our other one. I just really wish I had all those pictures! But hopefully my brother can help us pull them off the old hard drive.
We received some sad news today. Nate's Grandma Woodard passed away. Jim and Kris, our thoughts and prayers are with you! We will be heading up to Utah for the funeral. It will be great to see everyone; I just wish it was for a happier occasion.

Killer Kitty

My kitty Stanley has become quite the pest. I bought him some food the other day, same brand, different flavor. I mean, let’s be honest, who would really think that pets care, right? I guess Stanley cares. He follows me around the house, meowing and getting in my way, acting all hungry. Now he is starting to eat dog food. Well, last night, I woke up and needed to use the restroom. I had no idea how mad Stanley was. As I am stumbling blindly and half asleep through my room, ZOOM! He runs right through my feet, causing me to stumble. I regain my balance. ZOOM! He strikes again! I am grateful I finally made it to the bathroom without an injury. I guess next time I buy him food; I will need to pay close attention to the label. And I thought my kids were picky!

Sunday Stuff

I'm on a roll. Another great day! I slept in, 10:30ish if you can believe it, and we got a soft seat in church! Yeah! Today was to be my first day in Young Women’s. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I get to go to Sunday School with Nate. This is just a third hour calling. The girls are really cute, and I am excited to start this new chapter.
After church we had our home teachers come over. I have to hand it to Mike Bell, he is a great home teacher, and he always involves the girls. After the home teachers, Megan and Sam went over to a friend’s house to play. Yes, I let them play on Sunday. Nate and I went on a walk and headed over to Cara's to order some water barrels and spent a few minutes with them, and then we had dinner together. We had great conversation. Even though we've been communicating and enjoying each others company, I realized tonight that we haven't had the really, really good conversations that we usually have. It was a great night. We talked about being newlyweds and how our marriage has progressed. It was fun to think back to that first year and what a fun adventure it was. I can truly say that I have loved every day of being married to Nate. In fact, marriage has been better that I ever dreamed it could be. I'm so blessed to have married him!
And finally, there have been a couple of people unfamiliar with WebKinz. They are a stuffed animal that you buy, and they have a secret code assigned to them. You log on to WebKinz.com and you enter your code, and it is WebKinz world! You buy them food and a house, you play games and take care of them. Yes they are for little kids. Yes, I now own two of them. But the primary kids and the kids at school think I am really cool. Even if I am a nerd.:]
My spell checker doesn't work anymore, is anyone else having a problem with theirs?

Week 7

This week I am grateful for two things. Tax returns and direct deposit. That's right, we have received both returns already! And for that, I am soooo happy!

Valentines Day

Well, it ended up being quite a nice day. I made my cake for Arizona. I hate to cook or bake or anything, but you know, I baked a strawberry cake and iced it in white for Valentines Day, and I get to the school, and all the other cakes are airbrushed with the Flag, or shaped like Arizona. They are ALL from bakeries and they are all BEAUTIFUL! And then there is my cake with nothing. And then to top it off, my own daughter didn't want my cake! I need to stop volunteering to provide food for these things. I guess they all looked the same once they were chewed up and swallowed.
So, my 10 year old daughter got a candy gram from a boy. It said, do you like me? Circle yes or no. AND he gave her a bracelet! Nate about died. We are all too young for this, right?
We didn't make it to Peter Piper. :] Did I smile out loud? We were going to go with my friend Samantha, but her daughter came home from school sick. So we kind of hung around here until the babysitter came over. Nate came home from work bearing gifts for all. He bought us all WebKinz!

How big of a nerd am I? But the lady he bought them from assured him that a lot of moms have their own. Megan named hers Bounce, Sammy names hers Pinky. And I haven't decided. Maybe Nate Dawg? Any ideas?
We had great fun at the game. It was televised, so it didn't start until 8:30 and it took forever! I really underestimated how late it would go, and I told the sitter 11:00, so we ended up leaving early. But we won! It was a great game, a lot of energy. It was the 100th consecutive sold out game for the Suns. How about that?
This morning while we were getting ready for school, Sam was snuffling a little bit. She mentioned she thought she was getting a cold from this awful weather we've had. It was only in the 60's yesterday, and today it is raining a little bit. "I thought it was supposed to be hot in Arizona!" she exclaimed. I had to remind her that the weather has been great, and it is February. She then cursed the groundhog for seeing his shadow and went to school. I thought the Utahns would crack up over that. I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Happy

I bought a Mr. Bill doll for Nate the other day. It seems we can't stop saying "Ohh Nooooo!" It has been fun to look up poor Mr. Bill on youtube and see how unfortunate his life is.
Well, I just don't know how I can fit all the excitement into one day. Not only is it Valentine's Day, but it is Arizona's BIRTHDAY! Holy cow! How on earth could we fit all that celebrating in?!? I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the Valentine's Day. I think it is biased. I would love to see more Home Depot or Sears ads. Enough with the jewelery ads. Yeesh. I usually make a pink and red dinner on this day, but tonight we are going to, please don't get jealous when I tell you...Peter Piper Pizza! I knew it. You are jealous. We are going with some friends, but the highlight will be later tonight, because we have tickets to the Suns game! We are playing Dallas, so it will be great fun.
I need to make a cake for Arizona's birthday today, no I'm not kidding, and head into Megan's class to celebrate. But that is it on my obligations. I think I will have a chick flick kind of day. I got the Lake House and Music and Lyrics at the library the other day. I know they came out forever ago, I'm not up on my movies. So despite the fact that it is Valentines, or maybe because of it, it will be a great day.
I want to let Nate and Megan and Sam know how much I love them!
What are YOU doing tonight?

TMJ and other stuff

So have you ever heard of TMJ? It stands for temporomandibular joint disorder. Sounds like fun eh? I first heard of it almost exactly a year ago when I woke up one morning and I could barely open my mouth, and it hurt like all get out. (I don't really know what all get out means). So I went to the doctor after suffering for a few days and found out that I was suffering from TMJ. Here are a few of the symptoms of TMJ, plus I learned that my scoliosis could be a contributor. Joint popping, inability to chew or bite down on hard foods, pain in the joint and the surrounding areas, headaches. So those of you who grind your teeth at night, this is for you. Why am I writing about this now? I woke up with it again yesterday. Looks like I'll be having soup for the next couple of weeks.
So, last night I finished reading Atonement. You know the one that just came out in movie form? I have to admit, not my favorite book. But I had really high expectations. The movie was nominated for how many awards? I just had a really hard time getting into the book. But I would be interested in seeing the movie, so if anyone wants to go, let me know. Now I will try to finish Dragon Seed in time for next week’s book club. If I start now, hopefully I can finish, and hopefully Nate won't be out of town so I can actually go to book club. He hardly travels anymore, but I swear, he is always gone the week of book club.
And finally, I need to do a shout out to my kids. They have both been SOOOOO good lately! And at the same time! My kids usually can't be good at the same time, the worse the mood of one, the better the mood of the other. But for a good 5 or 6 days running, things have been so wonderful around here.
Kim, I hope you are feeling better today. My sister-in-law had her first dental procedure yesterday. Can you believe it? Perfect teeth! So jealous. Too bad she had to get a wisdom tooth pulled. OUCH! Get plenty of rest and make Jeff wait on you hand and foot. Ha ha!

Lovely Lunch with Lovely Ladies

Today I had lunch with Lori and Cara. After the first lunch, we had so much fun we decided to make it a monthly date. I believe we started in August, because that is when I first learned of blogging. Well, we had our third lunch today. So we will get better at going every month! It was great fun, I'm so glad we get together. We met up at the Gecko Grill. I had never been there and the food and the company were really good! The weather continues to be perfect here. I'm not saying this to brag, it is just so phenomenal that I can't get over it. I am very appreciative of the weather and the kids playing outside. I love being able to leave the doors open all day as I get things done.

Rest of the Weekend

On Saturday, we did the Utah tourist spot and went and picked some oranges to send back with my mom and dad. This time the grapefruits were in season. I can't stand grapefruit, but I know some people will be happy. So Kim, they are on their way! We headed over to the new mall for lunch, and then the girls went shopping. I hit the jackpot! We went into Buckle because they were having a shoe sale. I found some shoes I really liked and they were on sale for $20. And they rang up for only $10! WooHoo! Sammy found some pink, shiny, strappy sandals at Payless she couldn't live without. And they rang up for $6! We had a great time. The weather was sooooo perfect on Saturday. My dad's car read 73 degrees. That night Nate cooked us up a beautiful steak dinner. YUMMY! We ate out on the back patio and it was perfect. During dinner I received some pictures on my cell phone. I had two nieces going to school dances that night, so my brother and sister sent pictures. I can't believe my nieces are old enough to date! They looked so cute. Sunday was a great lounging around day. Nate and my dad headed in to the temple to check out the photograph display that we saw of Friday. (Nikki, I'm not sure if it will be going to Utah. The photographer wasn't sure what the churches plans were for it. Guess you will have to visit!) It was another gorgeous day. I actually took an hour nap in the backyard and got a little sun! Yes I am rubbing it in. We played a lot of apples to apples this weekend. The girls were sooo good! We had a great time and enjoyed my parents company. They are on their way home right now :( but we will see them soon!
On a side note, I am now employed! This is a dream come true. My friend’s cousin was looking for someone to help him with his extermination business. So he hired me to do the phones and a little book work, and eventually I will do his scheduling. The best part? I get to do it all from home! So I am very grateful for this opportunity. I need something to keep me busy and this way I can still do all my volunteering at the girl’s school. Happy, Happy!

Week 6

This was a no brainer this week! I am so grateful for GOOD PARENTS! Nate and I are so blessed to have been born of goodly parents. I love them all so much and I know that I am truly blessed to have good parents and good in-laws. That doesn't seem to happen very often, so I like to brag about it. We've been blessed in the last couple of months to have a lot of family come and visit. As hard as it is to see them go, I realize that it is hard because we love each other so much. I'm am grateful for the way that Nate and I were brought up. We were raised with great values and love. We had a lot of happiness in the homes we grew up in. We had great examples in work ethic, service, sense of humor, and love. I love you all! Thank you for being such great parents!

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Well, I didn't think they would ever get here! But so far, we are having the best weekend. My parents got here about 2:00 on Thursday. As soon as we got the car unpacked, we headed over to the school to get the girls. I wish I had taken my camera. The look of pure joy on their faces was priceless! Of course, grandma brought some gifts, and I was included! Even better, we got a lovely package from Grandma Puppy the same day. And I was included! My parents gave me the cute Kiss Me toad, because I love frogs, and the Walnut Tree book. And Kristy sent me this darling heart candle! Thank you everyone!
Everyone else got gifts too, but this is my blog!
We spend a great afternoon together, hanging around outside. When Nate got home, we headed to Barro's for dinner. Yummy! After dinner, we came home and played Apples to Apples and Ticket to Ride. Both games are a lot of fun.
Friday I kept the girls out of school. We headed south and took in lunch at the Cracker Barrel and then went to the Ostrich Farm. We LOVE the Ostrich Farm. We had so much fun. They have deer to feed, emu, ostrich, donkeys, and lorikeets. Lorikeets are a little bird that you hold out a cup of nectar and they come land on you and eat. Now, I hate birds, but this is a lot of fun. I think birds think my curly hair is a nest, because they love to sit on my head!
The ostrichs will bite, you can see from my dad's hand how rough they can be! (But I think he provokes them a little)

After the Ostrich Farm, we wanted to head to the Mesa Temple to check out the new photograph exhibit they have on display there. If you live here, or you are planning on coming to town, please go visit this exhibit. They were the most beautiful and powerful photos I have ever seen. It is called Reflections of Christ, and it will surely bring tears to your eyes. When we walked out of the Visitors Center, we noticed a bride and groom getting their photos done. Megan exclaimed that it was the photographer from the exhibit. And she was right! So we were so honored to meet him.

Suns

So, the Suns just traded for Shaq. Are you kidding me? How on earth does he fit in with our Suns? Big SIGH! I admit, I've never been a fan of his, but I just don't see where we will benefit. Can't you just see Steve Nash running circles around him?

Mummy and Daddy

Today my parents will be here! Yeah! I am so excited! And I'm pretty sure my kids are too. They got up and were dressed for school before I even woke up. It has been 4 months since I have seen my parents. It feels like forever. I am so very lucky to have good parents, they love my husband and my kids, and me of course! It is always fun when they are here. So, just a few more hours! WooHoo!
And to clarify, I don't really call them Mummy and Daddy.

Post 100!

Can you believe it? I can't. For a girl who has never been able to keep up on a journal, I'm pretty proud of myself. Well, today I was officially released from Primary. I am now an advisor for the Beehives. I'm a little nervous, I guess. I don't know many of the young women in our ward, so it will be a fun challenge. I loved my primary class, but I am ready for a change.
SuperBowl Sunday. Nate wanted to Patriots to win, I guess he is tired of hearing about the 1972 Dolphins that were undefeated. So to be a pain in the butt, I rooted for the Giants. Woo Hoo! Guess I brought them good luck. The best part of the Super Bowl? Nate cooks! I have to tell you what he made today. YUMMO! He spread out tortilla chips on a baking sheet, added diced jalapenos, diced red onions, and shredded cheese. Then he put the baking sheet in the BBQ! When they were all melty and yummy, we dipped them in guacamole that he made. Heaven! We went through 2 bags of chips and 6 avocados today. :]
So, Zoey 101. My girls like the show. I have been open and honest with them about Jamie Lynn Spears being 16 and pregnant and how I don't approve. Megan came to me tonight and asked permission to watch the show. I told her that I would let her make that decision. I wanted to say more, but I didn't. (Pat on the back) Well, she came back in a second and told me that she decided not to watch it. Now, a lot of people may not have a problem with the show, but I am really proud of Megan for her decision. Especially since I had nothing to do with it. I guess I am getting to an age where my kids will need to start making their own decisions. Yeesh! So all in all a great Sunday!
What do you think of Jamie Lynn?

Week 5

This week I am thankful for my sore muscles. Yes, you heard me right. If Nate reads this, he will think he is seeing things because I am a whiny baby when I am in pain. Yesterday I spend the day doing yard work. Which I love to do. I am grateful for an amazing body that does the things that I tell it to do. I used the weed whacker, used the blower, mowed, we trimmed trees and got rid of the branches, the yard looks great. I love being out there and smelling the fresh grass. It would be very sad to me if I couldn't do those things. And my sore muscles let me know that I worked hard! (Of course, if I worked hard like that all the time they wouldn't hurt.) I think our bodies are so amazing!

My day as a 10 year old...

Today was finally the day! The Hannah Montana 3D movie! I was all for this. I figured I saved hundreds of dollars not seeing the concert, and my kids were thrilled! I bought the tickets back in December and gave them to the girls as a Christmas present. Our movie was to start at 10:00 this morning, so when we got there at 9:20, I was a little shocked how long the line was! When they opened the doors to the theater, it sounded like Target on Black Friday. Screaming females all around.
It is a cute movie. My girls loved the 3D. They sang to all the songs and swooned when the Jonas Brothers came on. I think they might be this generations answer to New Kids on the Block. If you don't know who that is, then I am obviously older than you. :) But the movie shows how they organize the concert and choreograph everyone, they show her backstage and how she gets changed in 30 seconds. It was fun. On a sad note, I didn't even think to get Nate a ticket. The poor guy had to stay home all alone. Maybe next time.
Well I have to admit, I have been sucked in by the WebKinz craze. My kids have me play the games for them, and I think WebKinz has programmed my brain or something. Anyway, I decided to be immature and buy one for myself. Imagine my chagrin when I brough home my cute flamingo and Megan told me it was a Shining Star, not a WebKinz. DUH! I should have taken them with me to buy it. Oh well.