Yes, we are alive!

I know I am a major blogging slacker right now. I keep telling myself that this is considered my journal and I need to keep it updated, but, boy, does life just get in the way!! Volleyball is still going on (2 more weeks), Paige is going to preschool twice a week, Austin's busy getting into things and just being cute, and Brian's working and has been busy lately with Scouts (helping a few of his boys finish their Eagle). Life has been good, though.

It's funny reading so many blogs and seeing that your kids are doing the same thing that mine are, for example, getting a hold of your camera without you knowing and taking some pictures with the said camera. What's so enticing about these little machines anyway?!? (Maybe it's just that they see us using it all the time to record the silly, cute and memorable things they are doing constantly!!!) Here's a couple of Paige's um.... self-portraits. :0)

Brian's brother, John, and his amazing wife, Bethany, were able to spend the night about a month ago (again...I'm a major slacker). It was so fun spending time with them! Paige had the best time playing hairdresser on Aunt Bethany and came up with some very interesting hair-dos. Austin even joined in at times. Thanks for being such a good sport, Bethany! I guess my kids are just breaking you in for your future little one!!!! :0) (We're so happy to have another cousin to play with!!!)

I've decided that 3-year-olds are much more challenging than 2-year-olds!!
Paige is such an intelligent, energetic girl, but what a drama queen she can be! :0) She is a sweet girl, though, and takes care of her little brother so well. I'm just hoping the tantrums and sneaking around end soon!! :0)

Here are a few pictures from our FHE a few weeks ago. We took the kids to the park a couple blocks away so we could enjoy the warm weather and spend some quality family time together. Boy, are kids funny when you set them free on a playground! Paige had to show Brian and I how big she was and how high she could climb on the rock wall. She would then jump off and tell us that she can jump "SO high". Like I said before.... drama queen!! :0) Life would definitely be boring without her!! :0)

I told Paige to smile pretty for the camera and this was the pose she came up with. Great, Paige!! :0)

Austin has been very funny lately. He finds things that he becomes fascinated with for a day or so and then moves on to something else. The day we went to the park his "item" was this whistle. Luckily there weren't very many people at the park with is, because it could have been very annoying listening to this whistle, over and over and over... you get the idea.

I think Austin was pouting about Paige having the whistle in this picture. I love this puckered facial expression of his! I can't help but to laugh and give him a little kiss!! :0)

'Tis the season for...

...VOLLEYBALL!! Sorry that I haven't posted in over a month. Life has gotten quite crazy the last few weeks. Volleyball season is up and running and keeping my family VERY busy. We've played 2 games so far. We came very close to beating Malad last Wednesday but weren't as "with it" against Soda Springs on Thursday. We now know exactly what we need to work on, though, so that's good. I have a lot of freshman on my team (we only have JV and Varsity this year because of coaching situations) and I'm having to do a lot of skill introduction and teaching. Luckily my girls are athletic and are picking up on things. They are really fun, though, so I enjoy spending time with them.

Brian, Paige and Austin are adjusting to having me gone quite a bit. I think Bri's having the hardest time with it!! :0) I have some AMAZING friends here who have watched the kids while I go to practice and games. Paige and Austin think they get to have playdates every day because of this. Today Paige was upset that she couldn't go to her friends' house this morning. She said, "Mom, I want you to go to volleyball practice now, so I can play at Allie's house!" Yes, that was at 10 this morning and I didn't have practice until 3. I see where I stand now!! Oh well, at least I know they are happy spending time with good friends! :0) (A million thank you's to all of you who watch my little kiddos!!!!!!!)

Anyway, I'll try to fit in a few things that have happened this last month without overwhelming all of you. Here it goes...

My friend, Gwen, actually gave this pictures from the Pioneer Day celebration a while ago, yes, I'm a slacker! Here's Austin running and winning his "race". We start them early!! :0) Paige was all ready to run her race when Austin was running, but then she had a complete meltdown when I told her to wait to race with the girls her age and refused to run her race. Next year, Paige, next year!!

Next, we were able to go to our niece's 1st birthday party. It was so fun. The kids had a great time, especially because we had it at the fire station where Brandon's (Kandra's husband) Dad works. The older kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!! My mom and dad brought up Challis and Preston and it was so fun having them with us. Paige and Challis had to have the same hair-do, which I was happy to do for them!! :0) Aren't these kids so cute?!?

On the 16th of August, Brian and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. Brian surprised me by planning everything weeks in advance and arranging it so his parents would watch the kids. He wouldn't tell me for the longest time where we were going or what we were doing and then about a week before we left, he told me we were going to Salt Lake. I knew not to push him for details, so I left it at that. We stayed the first night at the Hilton in downtown SL and the next morning he took me to the Bountiful temple where we were married. It was so wonderful going back to that beautiful temple and remember that perfect day 7 years ago. After that we went to IKEA so Brian can experience that for himself. I think he's hooked!!! ;0) When we buy a house he's telling me he's wanting to get a lot of our new "home furnishings" there. I think he likes it, folks! The main reason for going to IKEA, though, was to kill time before we had to check in at the little Bed and Breakfast that we stayed at our first night after we were married. Can I tell you, this place is so neat!! It's called Parrish Place and the new owners are so nice. If you're ever looking for a good place to stay, make a reservation there! :0) We also went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner that night. This is where we had our wedding luncheon.

Thank you, Brian, for the best anniversary yet!! You are such an amazing man and I often find myself thinking how lucky I am to call you my husband. Your testimony of the gospel, how you live up to your priesthood responsibilities, and everything you do to show love towards the kids and me make me love and respect you more every day! I love you!!!!

Twin Falls Temple Open House

OK, I promise this is the last post of the night! (I've had a lot to catch up on!!) The kids and I were able to go to the Twin Falls Temple open house last week with my sister, brother, two of my SILs and their babies. It was such a neat experience. This temple is very special to my family because we lived in this area for over twenty years. This temple is amazing, to put it simply. It is absolutely beautiful. Paige and Austin were fascinated by it all and every time they saw a picture of Jesus (and there are too many to count), they would get excited and point at it. Austin would say, "Jesus" every time and Paige would say, "Mom, that's Jesus. He's my big brother!" It was so sweet to see and hear their sweet testimonies through out the whole tour. The best part, though, had to have been when we were walking through the Celestial room. Paige was being a normal 3-year-old through out the whole tour until we got to the Celestial room. She must have realized what a special place it was because she folded her arms and hardly said a word (which is very unlike her, as most of you know). The hosts thought it was the sweetest thing. It's amazing how much you can feel the Spirit there, even before it's dedicated and becomes a working temple. I'm hoping to be able to go again with Brian since he wasn't able to come with us due to a Scout camp. I want to experience it all with him! If any of you are in the area before August 16th, take the chance to go to the open house. It truly is amazing and is the House of the Lord!

From left to right: Bekah (Lance's wife), Julie (Keith's wife), Jaxson, Kandra, Sydnee, Paige, Austin and me

Paige and Austin by the fountain just outside of the temple. As soon as I took the picture, Austin threw Paige's arm off of him. Little stinker! :0)

Paige "posing" on the rocks by the temple. She was begging me to take pictures of her and was very sad when my batteries ran out!! :0)

Pop, goes the........

Enough said!

Pioneer Day Celebration

OK, this post is going to be a long one and there aren't any pics to break it up...Sorry!! (Kind of forgot the camera, silly me!!) This post is definitely more for my "blog-journal" but might be entertaining to a few of you! :0)

Anyway, last Saturday, our Stake had their annual Pioneer Day Celebration. My parents, brother, sis-in-law and nephew came down for it (and also to see my sis-in-law's parents). My mom and I woke up bright and early to run/walk in the 5K. This was the first 5K I've run since I was in the 6th grade! For those who know me, I'm not a long distance runner AT ALL, but I have some good friends here that talked me into training for it. I have to say that it was fun. I hurt my ankle a couple weeks before the race so I had to ease off of my training before the race, but it was feeling better so I was able to run. I finished 4th out of 10 women and my mom did a GREAT job and finished 7th. She even sprinted in at the finish line!! It was fun doing this and if I'm not pregnant by next year, I'll definitely be running in it again. :0)

After the race, my mom and I went home to pick up the kids and my dad (Brian had to work) and we went to the parade. Our ward always has a Root Beer Float float. It was a short parade, but the kids still got plenty of candy and I personally think that it was the perfect length! ;0) After the parade, we had a big lunch, where each Ward in the Stake is in charge of a certain type of food. Our ward does fried chicken, another ward does tacos, fries, hamburgers, watermelon, etc. Can I tell you... AWESOME. The food is just amazing and there are so many people there to help celebrate and honor the pioneers.

After we ate, they had some children races. They start out with the 1 year-olds. Austin was in this group and he was so funny. My parents were at the finish line and he just had a huge smile the whole time he was running to them. I was dumb and forgot my camera, but my friend, Gwen, took some pictures of him. When I get them from her, I'll post them. I can't wait to see them myself! They went through the 2 year-old boys and girls and then when it was Paige's turn to run with the other 3-year-old girls, she was on the ground crying and throwing a major hissy-fit. She was trying to run with Austin and I told her she had to wait and run with the girls her age and she didn't like that idea apparently. We later found out why she was being so "disagreeable"! (Keep reading and you'll find out!) :0)

We went home when Paige was throwing her fit and both of the kids were EXHAUSTED and took some great naps. When they woke up, we went to a Salmon BBQ that the Search and Rescue Dept. was putting on. I don't care for fish, but I have to say that this salmon was good! It was flown in fresh from Alaska and it was very tasty. While we were there, though, Paige wouldn't eat anything and was just sitting around doing her fair share of complaining. As soon as we got to our table she said she had to go potty. They only had porta-potties there at the park so we made our way over by one of them. We had to wait in line and while we were waiting Paige threw up right on sidewalk. It was lovely. Luckily it was sort of hidden from the majority of the crowd, but there was a school-age girl that was waiting also and I thought she was going to puke, too, because it was so gross. So that explained the major tantrum at the Celebration earlier and the not eating thing. I felt so bad for her. She had a few more episodes throughout the evening, but she was fine the next morning, so that was good.

We had a very, very busy weekend, but it was so fun and memorable. Thank you, Mom, Dad, Keith, Julie and Jaxson, for coming to visit us, especially since Keith and his adorable family just moved to Cleveland! (Say hello to O-H-I-O for us!!!) :0)

Hogle Zoo Birthday Party

Our niece, Challis, wanted to go to the Hogle Zoo for her 7th birthday since Christmas. She even wrote a note to put on my Mom and Dad's fridge reminding them of her birthday wish. My mom decided to make it into a little family reunion, so she made sure all of the kids and their families were there. It was so much fun!!! It was a great day and it was so fun getting together with all of my siblings and their families. Here are a few pics showing all of the fun we had! :0)

The Birthday Girl, Challis, and Paige. Paige was so excited to see her cousins again, especially Challis!

My dad sitting on the Bronze Elephant. It squirts water from its trunk and makes some pretty silly elephant noises while doing it. It was pretty funny. It scared the living daylights out of Paige, though. I told her to go stand in front of the elephant so I could get a picture of her and just then it squirted the water and hit her. She flipped out! It was so funny, but I did feel bad for her because she was so scared. It took her a while to even get close to it, but we finally got her to sit on it with Challis and Preston. (See the picture below) :0)
It was a very hot day so the kids were very happy to cool off in the shade and Austin thought it would be a good idea to join the ball in the water. Um, maybe not, Austin!! :0)

There was a little pool of water near the entrance/exit of the zoo and the kids naturally gravitated to that. I'm not sure if it was allowed, but the kids sure loved it! :0) They were soaked by the time we were ready to leave!

Happy Birthday, Challis!! Thanks for inviting us to your Zoo Party!! :0)

A couple new hair-dos for Little Missy

For all of you who have little girls in your household, I have the BEST blog bookmarked. This mom is absolutely AMAZING and comes up with some of the best hairdos for her little girls. Check it out here.

Here's some of the inspired hairdos on my sweet model, Paige! ;0)

Do you think she likes it?!? :0)

Fourth of July Weekend Pt. 2

For the second half of the weekend, we went to my parents' house (where the kids were staying) and played with my parents, "Grandpa" Doyle and "Grandma" Val, Keith, Julie and Jaxson. It was so much fun. We went up to Mirror Lake and enjoyed the beautiful weather, even though the mosquitoes were out in force. Paige had so much fun playing with Yogi, my parents' dog. If dogs are involved, Paige is in heaven. Austin is starting to feel the same love for dogs, too. It's pretty funny!

Julie, Keith, Jaxson, Paige, me, Austin and Brian

We went down the river walk in Evanston and the kids loved it. Paige was fascinated by the fishermen and also wanted to show us that she was big enough to push Austin in the stroller. Notice the second picture of my mom and Paige with the stroller...my mom kind of had to take over in order to keep Austin on the path! :0)

The following pictures were taken up by Mirror Lake. I don't think it was actually Mirror Lake, but it was close to it. (There are many lakes up in that area and we decided this one looked good!) :0) Marshmallows were a hit, of course. Paige and Austin just couldn't get enough of the great outdoors and loved every minute of it.

Feeding "Grandpa Doyle" some mallows. Good sharing, Austin. Let's just hope that it wasn't a half-eaten one!! :0)

Paige and "Grandpa Doyle" on the way back to the cars. It was so fun seeing Val and Doyle again. They were my second set of parents growing up and I loved seeing how well the kids warmed up to them. We're excited that we get to see them again this weekend while I'm there for my 10 year High School Reunion. That's right, folks, I graduated from H.S. 10 years ago. Boy, I'm getting old!! ;0)

P.S. Notice the pictures of Austin with the binkies. Right after we got home from this trip we took these babies away cold turkey. Austin was being such a stinker with them and Bri and I were tired of it, so we took them away. It's been the best thing we've done!! The first night was a little interesting, but he hasn't had a problem since. He sleeps better and we're all much happier. (Hopefully I just didn't jinx myself!!) :0) Bye-bye, Binkies. You were great while you lasted, but there's an end to everything!! :0)