Once there was a snowman...

Paige wanted to build a snowman so badly, that Brian decided to help her out. The bad thing was the snow was so powdery that Paige and Brian had to add water to it. That's what Paige is doing in the picture below. Taking a bucket of water to Daddy so the snowman won't crumble to pieces!

Paige giving her snow buddy a hug.
It snowed quite a bit the next day and Paige was a little worried that her snowman wouldn't be able to see, but all was well. Too bad we had a minor heat wave soon after and her snowman melted. You should have seen her sad face whenever she looked outside and saw it drooping a little more each day!

Valentine's Day 2008

Here's Paige's Valentine's Day project. It's made out of a cardboard egg carton. Paige painted each of the egg carton cups and I glued them on the background papers. She did such a great job and was very proud of the finished product, as you can see! :0)
Here are the V-day gifts for Paige, Brian and Austin. Paige and Austin absolutely LOVE their books. Paige's book shows her how to do dances, such as "The Sugarplum Fairy dance", a Clogging dance, a dance from "Swan Lake" and a few others. It came with a CD of the music from several ballets. She loves, loves, loves it!! Austin has really gotten into his books lately and loves his "Find the Teddy" book. Brian's present was a candy bouquet and each candy bar had a little "love note" on it. It's cheesy, I know, but very cute, right?!? :0) I think my favorite one was "My heart plays 'Twix' on me whenever you smile!" :0) There are others that I don't think are quite appropriate to post on here, but Brian sure liked them! :0)

I hope all of you had a great Valentine's Day. Oh yeah. Brian's present to me was....

Yes, that's right, Jim Brickman's "An Evening of Romance" concert!! It was such a fun date! He is such an amazing pianist. Thank you, Brian, for enduring the jokes your friends made about going to his concert and taking me. :0) I love you!!

Oops!

One of my friends pointed out that I spelled my husband's name wrong. Brain instead of Brian. Oops! I really do know how to spell his name, I promise! :0) He is a brain, though, because he's so darn smart! Thanks, Gwen, for pointing it out!! :0)

A little something about my sweet hubby

A couple pictures of my one and only. I absolutely LOVE this picture of him with Paige. Such a sweet daddy, isn't he?!?

What is his name? Brain Patrick

How long have you been married? 6 ½ years

How long did you date? We worked together the summer of 2000 and then dated for 6 months after that. It took him all summer to actually hold a true conversation with me! (Just kidding, but not by much!) :0) We were engaged for 4 months and sealed for time and all eternity in the Bountiful Temple on August 16th, 2001.

Who said I love you first? Brian

Who is taller? Brian

Who can sing better? We both sing a little, but I have to say that I really love Brian's voice. He's very good at singing parts. I've finally been able to get him to sing in the Ward Choir, but only because I'm the director! :0)

Who is smarter? I'd have to say Brian. He just amazes me.

Who does the laundry? Me

Who pays the bills? Me. I have to agree with Laurie and Heather...thank goodness for online bill pay! I even pay our rent online. So nice!!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Brian. He has to deal with the alarm in the morning, but I have to deal with Paige coming into our bed in the morning because I'm closest to the door.

Who mows the lawn? Brian and sometimes our sweet neighbor who just does it to be nice! Seriously, we are very lucky with the neighbors we have. To return the favor, Brian shovels the snow in his driveway.

Who cooks dinner? Me! Unless putting a frozen pizza in the oven counts as making dinner. Brian's very good at that! :0)

Who drives? Brian. I don't mind one bit!

Who is more stubborn? I think we're pretty even with this one. We can see this quality in our children also. Makes life interesting, that's for sure! :0)

Who kissed who first? Brian kissed me first, but he teases me that I wanted it more.

Who asked who out first? Brian asked me out. I was working with Intramural Volleyball as a supervisor and he was working as a lifeguard in the RB on BYU's campus. He saw me in the hall and asked me. Very romantic, I know. :0)

Who proposed? Brian. He put my engagment ring on my finger while I was asleep. I woke up a little confused and then full realization came and all I could say was, "Yes, yes, yes". Even before he asked me formally! :0)

Who has more siblings? Brian. He has 4 brothers and a sister. I have 3 brothers and a sister.

Who wears the pants? Depends on the issue at hand!

I love you, Brian, with all my heart! Thank you for all you do for the kids and me!

*** I tag Tammy A., Gwen A., and Brittany B.

Crazy 8's

OK, Tammy. I have to apologize for taking so long in answering your tag. This is a fun one, too, but life just seems to get in the way (especially when you have a sick baby). Austin is finally feeling better so here it goes! :0)

~Eight things I'm passionate about
1. My husband (more about him in a future post!) :0)
2. My two beautiful children
3. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
4. Playing the piano
5. Reading
6. Volleyball
7. Card making
8. Almost any other craft, especially paper crafts

~Eight things I want to do before I die
1. Go to Germany
2. Vacation in Hawaii (Can you tell I need a vacation?!?) :0)
3. Visit all of the Church History sites (Winter Quarters, Kirtland and Nauvoo are already checked off the list
4. Go on a cruise...that's right, I've never been on one. How sad is that!
5. Learn the correct way to lead a choir (I do the best I can right now with my ward choir, but I know I'm just winging it the entire time!)
6. Learn how to play the violin
7. Learn how to play the guitar
8. See all of my children sealed to their sweetheart in the temple

~Eight things I say often
1. Please make good choices!
2. I love you!
3. Oh my goodness
4. Be nice to Austin
5. Hey, bud!
6. Hurry home
7. It's clean up time
8. What do you want for dinner?

~Eight books I have read recently
1. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
2. The Prelude to Glory series by Ron Carter (I'm on book 7 of 9)
3. The Elm Creek Quilts books by Jennifer Chiaverini
4. Sleeping Beauty
5. Little Mermaid
6. Pocahantas
7. Beauty and the Beast
8. 101 Dalmations (#4-8 have been about 1000 times in the last month. They rotate for each naptime and bedtime....exciting, I know)

~Eight songs I could listen to over and over
1. Any song by Jack Johnson
2. Any song by Jim Brickman (Brian's taking me to his concert for Valentine's Day, by the way!!)
3. The Prayer by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church
4. Bedtime Girl by Ralph Covert
5. Can't Stop Now by Keane
6. The Les Miserables Soundtrack
7. You're Beautiful by James Blunt
8. Two Points of Honesty by Guster

~Eight things I have learned this past year
1. Never have a baby and then 3 months later have your husband graduate from professional school and move across the country. It all worked out, but was VERY hectic!
2. How much I like living in a small town again.
3. Having 2 kids isn't as hard as I thought it would be (most of the time, anyway) :0)
4. It is wonderful to finally have an income and not have to live off of savings and school loans!!!
5. That I love my family more than anything!
6. I have the most dedicated husband who does an amazing job being a father and is also an amazing optometrist!
7. It is so nice living closer to family after living in Ohio for 4 years
8. We can all be guided by the Holy Ghost to make the best choices in our lives if we just listen!

~Eight lucky friends who get to do the "Crazy 8's"!!
1. Alecia R.
2. Laurie G.
3. Kiki C.
4. Kara H.
5. Kristy G.
6. Nancie M.
7. Tricia P.
8. Emily A.

Have fun!!

Paige and Austin's favorite pasttimes

Here's Paige's latest dance. Seriously, she has the MOVES! She definitely doesn't get it from me...maybe Brian has some secret dancing talent that passed on to Paige! :0)

Every day, all day!! It's either this cupboard or the cookie sheet drawer. At least he's kind enough to hand them to me, right? ;0)

A tribute to President Gordon B. Hinckley

I've been sent this link a couple times and I thought it was great.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

I know I am a better person because I have tried to follow President Hinckley's teachings and counsel. President Hinckley will definitely be missed, but I am so happy for him and his sweet wife!

I'm back!

I've actually been back for a week, but I'm just now getting to posting again. It's been a little crazy since I've been home. I had to clean my house from top to bottom to get ready for my Usborne book party that my mom so wonderfully put on for me and during that time, my children came down with some pretty bad colds. Now, since they can't seem to keep their hands, mouths and slober away from me, I, too, am sick. Not fun, but that just comes with having kids, right?!?

Anyway, I had the most wonderful time visiting friends in Ohio. It was so good to see almost everyone and realize that it's not my home anymore. That was a great feeling, by the way, to know that we finally feel settled where we are now. I was a major slacker with pictures while I was there, but I did manage to take a few. What I'm most proud of, though, is that I was able to get most of the kids from Paige's playgroup to say Hi to Paige through video. Paige LOVES watching them and remembering the fun times she had with them. She seriously has such a good memory. Once she saw the videos, she would tell me something like, "Mom, remember when I played with ____ (fill in the blank with either Sammy, Zachy, or Emalyn) yesterday in my white house?" The white house was our condo in Ohio and yesterday means anytime in the past...it could be years or months ago or actually yesterday. We need to work on the time concept, I know! ;0) A wonderful thank you to all my friends out there, especially Laurie who let me stay with her most of the time I was out there, who made the visit so fun. Seriously, we really need to do it again!!

These first two pictures are from the amazing COSI in downtown Columbus. Austin LOVED it, especially the cloth stacking toy, as you can see. Peek-a-boo is one of his favorite games, if you couldn't tell that from these pictures already! He was such a good boy throughout the entire trip. He slept on the plane (the entire flight home, I might add), was very flexible with going so many different places with me and even missing a few naps. He was a trooper, that's for sure!
Here's Austin and his new buddy, Grace. It's so fun, because Grace's big brother, Sammy, was one of Paige's best buddies out in Ohio...by far...and Austin and Grace hit it off right away, also. Austin would go over to Gracie every time he saw her on the floor and give her slobbery kisses on top of her head...seriously, EVERY TIME! Grace didn't like it much at all, but Austin sure enjoyed it. A true boy, that's for sure! :0)
Here's my wonderful friend, Krissy, and her daughter, Kate, with us at a wonderful little ice cream shop. Krissy gave me the idea to make a little girls' trip out to Ohio and I am so glad that it all worked out!! It was so wonderful to see her again!!! Thanks, Krissy, for everything! For all of you in Ohio, if you haven't gone to Jeni's Ice Cream yet...GO!!! It was so yummy and they have some of the strangest yet most delicious ice cream combos. I think my favorite one was the Chocolate with cayenne pepper (I can't remember what they called it). It was sweet, but had a nice little kick at the end! :0)

I'm in OHIO!!!

In case you've been wondering why I haven't posted anything for awhile,  it's because I've been in the great state of Ohio!  It's been so much fun seeing so many of my "long-lost" friends.  Their poor husbands, though, probably think that they don't have wives the past couple days since we've been having "Girl's Night Out" every night since we've been here.  Well, I'll post more once I get home.  I have a few pictures to put on, also, but that will have to wait!!

Oh, I forgot...one more thing!

Yes, there is something else that happened Saturday and I forgot to mention it. On the way home, Paige finally fell asleep about 15 minutes from our house. She stayed asleep while I got Austin and all of our bags out of the car. I carefully undid her buckles in her car seat, gently lifted her out, and got a big whif of urine. Yes, she had peed in her seat. Yummy!!!!

Who....me?!?

When I posted this picture this summer, several people commented on the "look" on Paige's face. I have always interpreted this face as being very mischievious and guess what...that's exactly what our little girl is!!!

Here's our story for the day. It all began while eating breakfast. The kids were eating their cereal and I thought I'd jump in the shower real quick while they were happily occupied. It was a very short shower so I didn't think anything would happen. But alas, after I was dressed I went into the kitchen to find the milk jug on the table. (Not a problem usually, but I knew I had put it in the fridge before my shower.) I became very suspicious once I saw Paige's face. I told her that she needed Mom to help her with the milk next time and as I was putting the milk back into the fridge I noticed something moving in the jug. Lo and behold, there were tons of Cheerios in there, but that wasn't what I felt moving. It was a spoon. Paige thought that it would be a good idea to mix in a few Cheerios in the milk with the spoon, but realized that she couldn't get the spoon back out. So that resulted in just under 1/2 gallon of milk wasted. Great.

As soon as I got myself and the kids ready, we left to go visit my sister, brother-in-law, niece and brother. Once we got there, we fed the kids lunch and I put Austin down for his nap. One child down, one more to go. Since my niece was also taking a nap, I decided that it would be safer and more convenient to put Paige and Austin in the same room...Austin in the pack'n'play, Paige in my sister and BIL's bed. After storytime, Paige laid right down, no problem and I thought "Wow, this is going to be much easier than I thought!" I went downstairs to visit with everyone and make a necklace with my sister. After about 20 minutes I thought I heard something upstairs so I went to check up on Paige. I walked into the room and found Paige rubbing almost an entire bottle of lotion into Austin's head. She did manage to rub a little in her own hair, but most of it was on Austin. Austin was awake of course (maybe managed to sleep 30 minutes...maybe). Paige instantly went to timeout while I took Austin downstairs to clean off his head/hair and my wonderful sister took on the task of cleaning off Paige. I should have taken a picture, I know, but I was too angry at the time to do it. After all of this, I knew there wasn't a chance of Austin sleeping again for awhile, so I kept him downstairs and once again went upstairs to try to get Paige to take a nap. (I normally wouldn't worry about it, but I knew she was so tired because she had major bags under her eyes which is her obvious sign of being exhausted!) Once again, she laid down with her doggy and lamb and looked like she was going to fall asleep. I went back downstairs and began working on my necklace again. About 10 minutes later I heard a little someone coming down the stairs and I called up to her to just come down because I knew she wasn't going to sleep. As we were getting ready to leave, I went upstairs to make sure we didn't leave anything and guess what I found this time? Paige had gotten into a drawer and found a certain type of "stash" that I'm sure most married couples have next to their bed and spread it all over the bed...the pillows, sheets, comforter, etc. It was awful. I instantly called down to my sister to show her the evidence. She took it a lot better than I thought! :0) Luckily it was already "wash day" at their house and she put the load of bedding in before we left. So, I don't know if our little "angel" is just curious or purposefully looking for things to do to drive my crazy...I just hope she doesn't have another day like today!!!

Cute Background templates!!

One of my friends had this site on her blog and I absolutely LOVE the backgrounds. Check them out for yourself at http://cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com/.

She can go down by herself!!

By the end of our day at the sledding hill, Paige would go down it by herself!! Such a big girl! I was in the car with Austin, but Brian said that she just laughed the whole way down.

More fun in the snow!

Here are some more pictures of Paige and Daddy sledding down the hill. She had so much fun, even when Daddy sprayed snow in her face on the 1st run. When I went down with her right after that she told me not to spray snow in her face like Daddy did. Very funny!

Paige and Austin on Sledding Day

We went sledding yesterday at our local golf course. Paige had a blast and I think Austin would have, too, if his face wasn't so cold. He was trying to smile when Brian was pulling them on the sled, but he couldn't get his face to work, I guess! ;0) As soon as I took him into the warm car, he started talking and laughing watching all of the kids going down the hill. Paige was a very good big sister and held onto Austin the whole time to make sure he didn't fall over. Good job, Paige!

One of our Christmas crafts

I saw a couple of my friends do this with their kids and I had to try it. Paige LOVED picking out everything to put on her snowman. She hand-selected everything you see on this snowman. She told me where to put the glue and that's all I did. Paige was so happy when it was done. Isn't it cute?!? ;0)

We're back...sort of!

I have been quite the slacker lately with my blog, but almost everyone has been over the holidays, right?!?



We had a wonderful Christmas and were able to see almost every one on both sides of the family. We started out our "vacation" (it's in quotation marks because I'm not sure if it really was a vacation with all of the traveling we did :0)) going to Island Park with Brian's family. It was so much fun playing in all of the snow. We stayed in a beautiful condo/cabin with an amazing view. Brian, Dan (Bri's little brother) and I were even able to play a little racquetball!! I was very out of practice, but it was so fun playing again. I really need to find a place to play here!! Paige had so much fun climbing the "mountains of snow" and making snow angels. Bri and Paige stayed there until Sunday, but Austin and I had to leave Saturday night because I had to lead the choir for our Ward Christmas Program on Sunday. (It went really well, by the way. I have such a wonderful, dedicated choir!)



We then left Sunday night to go to WY to visit my side of the family. We had all of the grandkids together for Christmas so that was so much fun!! We were just missing my brother and his wife. We missed you, Lance and Bekah!! I was just sad because we forgot my camera at Island Park, so I'll have to post pictures of our time there once I receive them from my sister-in-law. Sorry!! :0) Paige loved her Christmas presents. She received a Make-your-own bear kit, which she LOVED!! Her cousin, Challis, got one also and opened her's first. When Paige saw it, she was so excited. She put her hands to her mouth and let out a big, "Ohhhhh"! It was so cute. Then when she opened up her own kit, she was ecstatic! It was so fun. She also received some books, coloring books, puzzles, a dress, a "Wizard of Oz" doll set (she likes the Wicked Witch of the West the best, strange, I know!), a hot pink camp chair, and last but not least, a Barbie tricycle! She rides it all over the house. Silly girl! Austin had fun on his 1st Christmas, also. He received lots of books, a shirt that says, "It's Mister Little Man to you!" :0), a ride-on and push toy, which he loves! I think his favorite part was "helping" me put his push toy together. He was lots of help as you can imagine!



Here's a few pictures from our adventures this Christmas vacation. I'll post more once I receive them...this not having your own camera for Christmas Day really stinks!!!

These 2 pics are from our bedroom at Island Park. Gorgeous view, isn't it?!?
Paige with her cousins
Paige showing off her "Wizard of Oz" dolls. She took them to church on Sunday and loved playing with them. One of her little friends saw them and tried to play with them, too, until they started fighting over the Wicked Witch of the West....nice!
Austin modeling his new shirt that was actually his daddy's when he was little. He called it his "Hoss" shirt because he LOVED Bonanza growing up! :0)

Our family pictures!

My family was finally able to get together about a month ago to get family pictures taken. It was quite an experience with so many little kids, but my sister-in-law's dad did a great job taking the photos, don't you think?!?

Isn't it amazing how families grow and change?!? All 5 of us kids are now married and starting our own families. The wonderful thing is that all of us have been married in the temple and are active in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for guiding us and loving us enough to make this possible. You are amazing people to deal with all of us growing up! ;0) I know we didn't make it easy for you through the years! Thank you for everything and getting us to this point! We love you so very much!!

Adding a new instrument to the list

A couple weeks ago, one of my friends came over to practice her flute arrangement for "Silent Night", one of the songs we're doing for our Sacrament meeting Christmas program. Ever since then Paige has been fascinated with the instrument. She uses a chair to climb up to the counter and gets a wooden spoon out of the container. Then uses it in this manner. She always is so proud of herself. "Mommy, I can play the flute, too!!" I know never know what she's going to come up with next!!!

Ward Christmas Party = SANTA

I finally am getting around to posting the pics from our Ward Christmas party. Paige really LOVED Santa even though these pictures don't really show it. I had to play the piano right before Santa came in (yes, our new ward has discovered that I play, so I'm put to work quite often) and Paige was next to me. She pretty much flipped out when he walked through the door. "Mommy, Santa's here...Santa's here!!" All the while, jumping up and down. Pretty funny. She had to be right by him the whole time he was standing in front of everyone. Once he went up on the stage to hand out the Christmas bags, she was one of the first ones. Silly girl!

This is a pic of Paige, one of her nursery buddies, Joy, and another boy from our ward. I felt sorry for him because Paige and Joy refused to leave Santa's side (or front in this picture) to let the boy have his picture taken alone with Santa. Not so silly girl! :0)
And here's the best thing she received that night...a candy cane. Yep, she's a candy cane addict. I have to hide them so she will sometimes forget about them! :0)

Paige's haircut

Paige's hair was getting a little too straggly for my liking, so I decided to trim it a little. I have to say that I LOVE it!! I think I love the idea that she actually has hair to do something with. Remember not too long ago that she was completely bald except for a tiny bit of fuzz?!?

Reindeer antlers...some like them, some don't!

As you can see, Paige loved her reindeer antlers, but little Austin...not so much. I have to say, though, that they're growin' on him now. I had them on him for a good 10 minutes this morning and he didn't mind them at all. They both look pretty darn cute in them, don't you think?

Paige's new dances!

So Paige is learning tempo and figuring out how to change her dancing style depending on the music. Very smart, I know! ;0) Here's the latest. Enjoy!!

I love the drop to the floor and then kicking the feet. Classic dance move right there! ;0) Don't you love Austin percussion techniques in the background. It pulls it all together, I think!

The "After" picture

This pic was taken about 10 seconds after the first pic. She slept like this for quite a while. Talk about neck-ache!!! At least Lucky was there to act like a pillow....kind of! :0)

This is the girl who doesn't sleep in the car?!?

Yes, we have proof that Paige does sleep in the car....sometimes. :0) We were on our way to celebrate Grandpa A's birthday and she surprised us. I love that her dog, Lucky, was in that position also. She HAD to have Lucky on her lap like that or she got very upset (he had to look at her). I also love her glasses. Those are her movie star glasses and she has to have them on every time she's in the car. When she realizes she doesn't need them (cloudy day, for example) she doesn't take them off...she puts them on her forehead. Don't ask me where she got this from!! :0)

The Sick Household

Just wanted to let you know that if you were planning on visiting us this week....DON'T!! This week, well actually the last 2 weeks, have been interesting. We are all trying to get over some nasty colds. Austin has been by far the worst, so that means little rest for Mommy, who isn't feeling up to par either. At least I know how the kids are feeling. (A little empathy never hurt anyone.) Paige started in all about 2 weeks ago. She then gave it to Austin which in turn gave it to me. Luckily Brian has been able to avoid most of it. Thank goodness. This is the excuse I'm using for not posting as often this past week! :0) We have been busy, though, with Ward and Relief Society Christmas parties and just life. (I'll hopefully upload some pics of Paige with Santa at the Ward Christmas party. She was quite hilarious!)

Our little elf family

I saw this on one of my friends' blogs and had to try it. Brian and I were laughing hysterically. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1144926522

Paige singing her ABC's!

This has to be one of the cutest things ever. Paige was so excited to have a project of her own because Aunt Kandra and I were working on our crafts for almost 2 days straight. We've been playing with Paige's letters almost every morning when Austin is taking his nap. She loves it and is doing pretty well learning her letters. Her favorite one's right now are S and P. Very fun. Enjoy Paige's song. She took the liberty of adding a few new lyrics! :0)

A couple Thanksgiving pictures

We spent Thanksgiving with Brian's parents, grandparents, Uncle John, Aunt Bethany, and Uncle Dan. It was so much fun. We did feel very bad for Uncle Dan, though. He broke his collarbone the day before Thanksgiving. He went snowboarding on the opening day at Targhee. Paige kept asking him if she could see his owie, but we told her he had to keep it in his sling. She seemed to accept that since she's never seen a sling before. We just hope Uncle Dan is doing better! :0)

I completely forgot about the camera because we were all busy either getting the food ready, watching the kids, watching football (this probably more than watching the kids!) and playing football at the park. But I finally remember that I did bring it and took a couple pictures before Thanksgiving dinner. I love that everyone is actually looking at the camera in this pic. Between Paige and Austin this doesn't happen very often. I also LOVE Paige's hair in this pic. I love actually being able to do something with it because it's finally growing!! Yeah!!!

I absolutely LOVE this picture. Paige is such a good big sister. She's almost always willing to help Austin play with toys, get his diapers or burpcloth, and just playing with him. She's been especially loving lately, which I definitely can't complain about! This is just one time that I caught her being affectionate towards her little brother (who, by the way, adores his big sister)!!