To My Mom!

This post goes out to my mom on Mother's Day. My mom is amazing, I really don't think she knows how amazing she is and I don't think I ever realized how amazing she was until I had a family of my own. Not only in all that she can do, but also in all that she is as a person. She did so much for our family and still continues to do so, but she also is a woman of great strength and great faith and I am thankful for her example.




My mom turned 60 this past week and I can't help but rejoice that she is still a part of my life. She has made it through trying times these past 10 years with her health and through it all, though it wasn't easy, she kept learning about the gospel and her relationship with her Father in Heaven grew as she leaned on Him and the atoning sacrifice of His Son. Even though she is not completely healed of her health problems, she has been able to carry on to see her children succeed in their talents, travel with her husband, watch her children get married and have her grandchildren.

She is an awesome mother because she listens, she cares more than anyone I know, she loves to have fun and loves to make people laugh. She's always got a great story and delivers it so that everyone is laughing so hard they can't stop. She supports all of her kids and sons and daughters-in laws and cares about each one and makes them feel welcome and special. She is our greatest cheerleader and I love telling her about the things I accomplish in my life because I know she will be the one who is happiest for me and she'll make me feel like I am incredible!

I love that I was blessed with her creativity and the ability to throw a party with the best food, decorations and most of all her fun and laughter. She can do so many things. She can cook, sew, paint, do all sorts of crafts, teach, and has the ability to come up with the funnest ideas at any moment. She is amazing.

She is a wonderful grandmother. My kids love their GG so much and we have been blessed to be able to visit often. The kids love when she visits because she takes time with them to do art and read with them and is interested in who they are. They especially love to visit the farm in Montana because GG has so many fun toys and will play playdough with them for hours. She will read to them for hours and Brooklyn has loved learning so many fun stories through their reading times. She makes fun lunches and plays fun music to dance to and making cookies is always on our list of things to do. She has a fun yard to play in and Buddy the cat is always fun to play with. I love to see their relationship growing every time we see each other.

I love that my mom taught me the gospel, especially the 4 years of seminary that she taught me. I don't know that I would have learned as much as I did if I hadn't seen her so passionate about what she was learning and expressing to a bunch of bratty teenagers. But she did it day after day and made it fun with class cheers and fun songs and jokes. Thank you mom for being willing to teach me the gospel because of how important you knew it was for me to learn it, I appreciate all your efforts.

Thank you for being there for all of us kids as we went from being cute to bratty and then, finally into maturity. I know it wasn't easy and I know I made a lot of mistakes but the one thing I always knew was that my mom would love me no matter what and I always felt and continue to feel the prayers you send on my behalf.

I love you Mom, you are so amazing. I am so glad we got to spend last weekend with each other. I had so much fun just relaxing with the girls, I loved the manicures and pedicures, the shopping, the french cuisine, the laughing (I'm 60!!!), the awesome talks we heard at Time Out, the fun birthday sushi dinner and most of all just being with you and Laini, who I love so much! Thank you for being you, have a Happy Mother's Day Mom!

A Real House!!!

A one bedroom apartment in ghetto Glendale, living with Chris' parents, living with Chris' sister, a two bedroom apartment in ghetto Salt Lake, a really nice two bedroom apartment in North Salt Lake, a two bedroom townhome in Seattle, a three bedroom townhome in Seattle.....and now..........a 2700 sq ft, 4 bedroom house in Snoqualmie Ridge!!!

That's right, we signed the lease on a house in the area we have been dreaming about for 3 years!! No, we didn't buy, but it's a step closer to getting our dream home someday. This one actually has a yard with grass! And a garage! and two, yes I said two walk-in master closets!!! And it will actually look quite empty after we move in since the house is more than double the size we are in.....no more squishing things into closets or just having to sell or throw it away!

It is in the best location....a block away from the school Brooklyn will be attending and a half block from Chris' bus stop. It's going to be a longer commute but we LOVE the neighborhood, it's out in the mountains (I've always wanted to live in the mountains!) It's so cute and so new! We move in April 1st, the only downside is all the packing I will have to do and saying good-bye to some of the best friends in the world :(

Here are a few pictures...

the front of the house

looking from the front porch at Brooklyn's school

the family room

the living room

a bad photo of the kitchen

through the screen photo of the backyard

bad photo of the upstairs living room

one of four very spacious bedrooms

master bedroom

back of the house/garage

Goodbye Newport Beach, Hello San Diego!

The last night of Disneyland, we came home early to go for a night swim. We were all crazy and jumped in the cold pool and then would get in the hot tub. The kids did it too! We swam forever and then on our way back up to the condo we found a frog and brought it back with us to swim in the bath tub before letting it go, the kids all got a kick out of the cute little frog.

The next morning while packing, the kids had me paint their faces and they wore their matching shirts. They were having so much fun and had a hard time saying good-bye when it was time to leave. They are so stinkin' cute!

Dave, Kiersten and their kids left for their drive back to Utah and we spent the rest of the morning playing around the grounds of the resort. It was a gorgeous day. Ryan and Staci came to get us and we took the scenic coast hwy down to San Diego and had a great visit.

We hung out at their downtown apartment and I realized how much I miss San Diego. The perfect weather, a friendly downtown, lots to do, and it's where Chris and I had some of our first dates and we fell in love! We would both live there in a heartbeat! We took Samson, their dog, on a walk, had a yummy dinner and exchanged some Christmas gifts. The kids were so excited that Aunt Staci and Uncle Ryan got them cute clothes. Brooklyn got the cutest sweeter and pants and Beckham got Buzz Lightyear pajamas. Both of the kids had to put them on right away, it was so cute. They also loved playing with Samson and feeding him treats. It was a fun day.

The next day Ryan took us to the San Diego Zoo. It was so fun! We saw so many animals and walk a long long way, we were tired and the kids fell asleep by the end. The kid's favorite animals were the panda bears, zebras, giraffes, lions and koala bears. We had so much fun! That night we had some good Mexican food and hung out and watched the Sing Off.

The next day we went to the mall I used to work at just a couple of blocks away from where Ryan and Staci lived. We checked out some fun toy stores and then headed to Seaport Village to ride the carosel, window shop and walk along the bay. We had a great day! That night, we met up with my cousin Jenny and her new husband and went to Phil's BBQ, the best BBQ place in the world!!! It was so good and we had a fun time catching up. From there we went to the San Diego temple to see the Christmas lights. The kids loved it and Brooklyn thought we were at a castle. It was so pretty and we had a great time!

The next day we went to visit my Grandma and Uncle Mark and had yummy crepes for brunch. The kids played with Great Grandma and we had a great visit before Mark took us back to LAX to catch our plane home. We got to the airport and we were all sad, we didn't want to end our vacation. But Brooklyn was so excited to be at LAX because she loves the song, "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. In the song Miley talks about LAX and the Hollywood sign and Brooklyn was at LAX and saw the Hollywood sign and said she was just like Miley Cyrus, too cute! We got on our plane and had a good flight back and got home to find everything just fine.

We loved every minute of our vacation, but most of all just being together!

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Last Day of Disneyland

So to continue our December vacation....our last day of Disneyland was so fun! We had already seen many of the things we wanted to so we went back to all of our favorite rides, saw the Christmas parade again, Aladdin, Playhouse Disney, High School Musical street performance (of which Brooklyn and I got picked to dance in) and just hanging out with our friends.

We got to see a lot of the characters again, did a lot of window shopping at shops you don't normally get to see when trying to fit everything in. We took pictures of the fun decorations, I loved how they decorated for Christmas. The Club 33 door is an exclusive club that Walt Disney set up above New Orleans Square. There are a limited amount of members who can go and the membership is crazy expensive.....but our friends know someone and have gone there...they are going to take us someday, we can't wait!

Brooklyn and Beckham got to pick their souvenier, Beckham picked a Toy Story playset and Brooklyn picked Jack Skellington, after a long time of trying to talk her out of it, we gave in. She just loved him and was facinated by him. Brooklyn has always been my little individual, not your typical girly girl. So we thought instead of telling her having a "Jack" doll is weird for a little girl, we just let her be her. Of course, everyone who saw her with it, was a little creeped out that a little girl would want a skeleton for a toy, but whatever! I figure if it helps her confidence in the long run by liking something and being proud of it, then why not. The funny thing was that Avery, our friend's daughter, loved him too! They both had to hold him all night and on the last ride we took of the Haunted Mansion.

Chris and I bought soveniers for each other and we got the disney potato head set for the kids, it's so cute! We ended the night by taking turns watching the kids while Kiersten and I and then Dave and Chris went on Space Mountain, my favorite!!! it was so fun! We took some pictures in front of the castle and said Good-bye to the happiest place on earth! So much fun and so many fun memories!! We can't wait to go back!

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Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!! This was one of my favorite photo shoots of my kids because they were so happy and being so funny. They were excited to have the kitty to be in the picture too! Stinkin' cute!

Relaxing at the Newport Coast Villas

We have THE best friends anyone could ask for. We just LOVE them. Chris and Dave became friends while working at DMBA in SLC 6 or so years ago. Dave is a comedian and he and Chris had a lot of working together with their weird senses of humor. They were really good friends and then we moved away to go to school but they stayed in touch. Finally last year we connected with the whole family and hit it off. Kiersten and I are like sisters, I just love her, she is amazing. Their kids Avery and Emma are about the same ages as Brooklyn and Beckham and they have so much fun together. It's hard to find friends where everyone likes each other but with Dave and Kiersten, it's a match made in heaven for us. They're our couple! We could hang out with them everyday! We are so sad they live in Utah....so we make the best of our time when we do get to see each other. We visited Utah a few times this year and had fun date nights and other fun playdates with the kids.

Then because they love us equally, they asked us to go on vacation with them. We were so excited and couldn't wait. They have a time share in Newport Beach and asked us to go with them and stay at the resort and go to Disneyland with them! So the whole time I have been blogging about Disneyland, we were staying at this amazing resort with our friends.

We arrived at the resort on a Sunday, then we went to Disneyland Mon-Wed and we had so much fun and we were so tired that we took Thursday off to just relax at the resort. We started the day taking the kids out to the playground area on the grounds, where they also got to play on the putting green and in a big sand box. They also got to do a fun gingerbread man hunt that the resort put on. We also played around the main entrance where they had fun fountains and a coi pond. We went inside the lobby and checked out the game room, the pools, ping pong and giant chess and checkers boards. It was a gorgeous day!

After playing around the resort, we went to the beach. Kiersten and I relaxed in the sand enjoying the sun while the guys took the kids to the water to find seashells. We had a lot of fun. We came back to the resort to just let the kids play while we got ready for our Christmas party. In between the beach and the Christmas party, the resort was having an activity where the kids got to go and make gingerbread men. The kids had fun making them and we got to listen to some Christmas carolers too. Back at the condo the kids had an early dinner and then the adults had a nice dinner while the kids watched a movie. After dinner the kids made Christmas crafts together and then decorated a Christmas tree with popcorn, seashells and candy canes. They were having a blast together. Then it was time for the gift exchange. Beckham got a Woody doll from Emma, Emma got a game from Beckham, Brooklyn got an Ariel doll from Avery and Avery got a mini tea set from Brooklyn. They were all so excited to watch each other open their presents they got for each other. It was such a fun night.

After we got the kids to bed, it was time for the gag gift exchange with Dave and Kiersten. We have the best time together, all we do is tease and each other and crack up about different things, it is so fun! Chris and I were so excited for them to open their gifts. We got Kiersten a leg lamp from the movie, A Christmas Story. She laughed so hard and loved it! We got Dave corn dog flavored mints and Hobo fake cigarettes. They were so nasty. They smelt like a homeless person, it was so gross, we all got a good laugh. Kiersten and Dave got me a leopard snuggie...I was so excited, they are so funny but I actually love it! They got Chris "Nerd no more" pills and straw glasses. We were cracking up. We played some Wii and watched a movie and had a great night! We could hang out with them all the time!

We love you Dave and Kiersten!!! Thank you for the best vacation ever!! We miss you!

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Day 3 of Disneyland....and California Adventure

Day 3 of our Disney adventure was another great one. We headed to the park early to hit the bakery for carmel apple cider, hot cocoa and Mickey cookies. From there the kids wanted to go on The Haunted Mansion first thing and they loved every minute of it. Then we headed to Toon Town to play in the fun village. We had a great time. Then we decided to head over to California Adventure. We went on Monsters Inc., Soaring Over California, explored the bug's life land, and then met up with our friends.

We went on Toy Story and it was really fun, we also went on King Triton's carosel and then on the ferris wheel with swaying cars....it was kinda scary but fun. then we headed over to the jumping jellyfish before finding a spot to sit and watch the Pixar Parade. The Pixar Parade was a blast. It was so interactive, the characters all waved and smiled at you and some even came up and gave 5's to the kids, they loved it! We called it a day after the parade and headed back to the condo to relax. It was another great day!

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Our second day of Disneyland

Continuing our trip to California in December, our second day of Disneyland was better than the first.....what made it that way was the sunshine! No more rain!

We woke up early and headed to Disneyland and got a tip from one of our friends who has an annual pass that you can ride the monorail straight into Disneyland and can avoid lines with your pass. So we tried it out and it was great, it dropped us off in Tomorrow land where we went on "Finding Nemo" for our first ride of the day and we were almost first in line by doing it that way. The kids loved the ride and we were all in great moods due to the warm sunshine.

Next Beckham and I stood in line for Pixie Hollow to meet the fairies while Chris and Brooklyn went on the Matterhorn. I was surprised Brooklyn went on it, it's amazing what Daddy's can get their kids to do. She really like it, especially seeing the snow monster. They got off that ride and came back in line with Beckham and I just in time to meet Rosetta in Pixie Hollow. Brooklyn was so excited to meet the fairy who had hair the same as her. We also got to meet Tinkerbell, it was really fun. I was hoping there was a little more to it than meeting two fairies but it was still fun and we didn't stand in line for too long.

The next thing we did was explore Fantasyland. We went on Alice in Wonderland, the Teacups, Mr. Toad's wild ride, Snow White, and Pinnochio.

We then went to Frontierland and on our way saw Woody and Jessie, the kids were so excited!! They both love Toy Story. We went to Santa's Reindeer Roundup after that where the kids got to see real reindeer, meet Mrs. Claus and then go into a cute little cabin they had for Santa. Brooklyn was excited to sit on Santa's lap and tell him that she wanted Littlest Pet Shop toys, Beckham did not even want to be next to him. Oh well, we got a cute picture of Brooklyn with Santa and enjoyed the fun decorations and seeing Pluto dressed up like a reindeer, the kids got a kick out of that.

Then our friends met up with us and we went back to Fantasyland and because they had a handicapped pass we got on Peter Pan really quick, which was nice because that line is always long. Brooklyn and Beckham loved Peter Pan! Then we used the pass to get on Dumbo instead of standing in that insane line. The kids loved that too! Avery, Emma, Brooklyn and Beckham had a blast running around Disneyland together. They held hands and took pictures of each other and shared the same love that our kids had of the Haunted Mansion. All the kids loved Jack Skellington from the Nightmare Before Christmas. The Haunted Mansion was the favorite ride between all of them. So we went on that a few times before watching the Christmas parade. The kids all loved the Christmas parade, it was so fun. All the characters, plus dancing snowmen, snowflakes, reindeer and Santa! Beckham almost ran out there a couple of times because he was so excited to see Tigger and Pooh and then Woody and Buzz. It was a lot of fun.

We decided after the parade to go on It's a Small World. The day before there was so much water in the boats that it was not very fun as our feet were soaked and then sat in an inch or tow of water. It was much more pleasant this time and we got off the ride right in time to hear the countdown to the nightly Christmas lighting of It's a Small World. It was so beautiful and fun to see!

We then went to get some dinner and while eating we watched the fireworks over the castle. They were so beautiful with the Christmas/Disney music set to them. Very magical. The kids both fell asleep and we headed back to the condo to rest and to get ready for another funfilled Disney day the next day.

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"Off the Hook" 80's Party!!!

Tonight was definitely one of the funnest nights of my life. I threw an 80's/This Is It (Michael Jackson) party and it was (in my book) a huge success! I had an absolute blast! About 10 of my friends came and we had all dressed in our 80's best and totally got a kick out of each other's outfits. I had Michael Jackson's Thriller album playing as people arrived and every time I opened the door, we all got a giggle looking at each other's outfits. After everyone arrived, we all took some group photos and got some munchies and settled in to watch the "Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship".....we laughed to tears and we want to do this for our next ward talent show....check it out below. You've got to watch the whole 7 minutes to get the whole feel of it. They really should bring aerobics back, look how happy the people are! Thank you Zane for sharing that with me, you always know how to make me laugh....I just wish you would've been here to do a routine for us!!! hee hee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P75hd284E9Y

Next we played a good old game of MASH. I was married to Scott Baio, in a house with 3 kids and we drove a Ferrari. We all got a kick out of our 80's crushes, I was actually hoping that my husband would've been Michael J. Fox or Kirk Cameron, but the numbers didn't fall right....oh well.

We then passed around our worst 80's photos and that was hilarious. Mine of course were terrible, giant glasses, buck teeth, big eyebrows and the hair, WOW, the hair!! Not to mention the really cool outfits I wore.

I was so happy that everyone were good sports and dressed up and brought their pictures. I was glad I had enough 80's prizes to give away. Chris and I had a great time picking out my prizes for dresses up. They were, VHS movies Big (with Tom Hanks), Dirty Dancing, and Sixteen Candles. Audio tapes, Tiffany, Patrick Swayze, and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. And a walkman. Everyone was so excited about their gifts, too funny! Jill was so happy she did the Roger Rabbit for all of us!

Then I had gotten the 80's Scene It Trivia game and we played that for quite a while and had a fun time looking back and remembering tons of fun stuff. We probably could have played it longer but it was time for the main event...."Michael Jackson's This Is It". I had seen it in the theatre last fall but I could not wait to see it again and it was so fun to have people to watch it with! I am hoping that a certain someone will buy me the movie for keeps! and maybe the soundtrack too, no? maybe for Valentine's day....I'll keep dreaming!!! hopefully this was a good enough hint...

We all loved it and could not believe the amazing things they were going to do in this concert he was preparing. I really wish that they could have done one show so we could have seen the whole production put together. It was amazing! My kids loving watching it too and ended up falling asleep on the floor.

Chris was away at a work retreat so I told everyone they could stay as late as they wanted....because I am a night person and with Chris away I knew I would probably stay up late anyway. The movie was over around 10:30 and everyone stayed until 1:30am. We took more pictures and told silly stories, it was so much fun! I should have made it a slumber party, because no one wanted to leave. Even when they were walking out the door you could tell they still wished they could hang out. It was just so fun and I'm glad we all had a blast! Can't wait to plan another party! It might be an 80's movie marathon after all the movies we were talking about! Thanks to all my girl's who made it the best party ever!!!

Below are the photos and below that is the original wording of the evite I sent out...

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So who doesn't love the 80's?!! I actually feel bad for those who never got to experience it, hee hee!

Some awesome things happened in the 80's...one of those things was...Michael Jackson (yeah,I just said that) and since I saw the movie, "This Is It" last fall, I could not wait until it came out on DVD so I could see it again. So, I'm throwing a party so you all get to see it!..and if you don't like Michael and think you'll "have a cow" and pass because you don't want to watch the movie, here are a few things to lure you in. This party will be Outrageous!!!

Requirements:
-wear an 80's outfit with the hair and makeup "to the max!" *there will be a contest!

-bring your worst "gag me with a spoon" 80's photo of yourself *there will be a contest for this too!

-there may be some showing off of "totally rad" 80's dance moves so be ready to "Get Down On It!"

-You are allowed to use as much 80's slang as you want!

-There will be a few games, so study up on your 80's trivia and be thinking of your 80's teen heartthrob choices in a good old game of MASH!!

-We'll take a stroll down memory lane and remember movies, TV shows, fashion, toys, music, etc, it'll be "fresh"!

-I am a HUGE FAN of MJ so no hating on the king of pop!


-bring a drink, appetizer, or dessert to share and put what you'll bring in your RSVP (if anyone finds TAB cola,Shasta, or any other 80's snacks that would be awesome!)

Food, Contests and Games will start between 6:30-7:00pm and we'll start the movie between 8-9:00pm....ps, you can stay as late as you want!

Don't forget to answer the poll questions!

Are you excited yet? See you there!



PS..Deseree'....I so hope you move here so I can throw another party and we can lip sinc to "Angel" by Madonna!

First Day of Disneyland!

So our first day was really fun but quite wet!! We got to the park early and it was pouring and I mean pouring! We had brought the kid's raincoats but only had sweatshirts for ourselves. So our first stop was to get some ponchos. Then we were ready...we got into the park and we were walking down mainstreet and I was an idiot and wore sandals.....it doesn't rain THAT much in LA normally to have a good drainage system so the streets were flooded and I was walking in water almost up to my ankles in some places, Crazy!

We walked into the park and the first thing we saw was Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale in their Christmas sweaters. The kids were so excited, well Brooklyn was. Beckham didn't know what to think at this point, but he got used to the characters and ended up loving them! We took pictures with all of them and Chris and I look awesome in our ponchos, they make you look so good, you know... But it was really fun to see the characters right off and then see all of Disneyland decorated for Christmas, it really was magical.

So we headed right for Buzz Lightyear indoors!! The kids LOVED it! Especially Beckham, he thought it was great getting to shoot the lazer guns. After every time he would say, "Again, Again!" So we went 4 times in a row. No one was at Disneyland on a rainy day so there were no lines, it was great! Each time we went on the ride, Chris and I would try and beat each other's scores but he always beat me by a bazillion.

From there we went to Fantasyland and went on Snow White's Scary Adventure and Pinnochio, both were pretty cute. We had some lunch and waited for our friends and then we all went on The Haunted Mansion together. I didn't know what the kids would think of it....and to my surprise, they LOVED it!!! They thought it was so great with Jack Skellington and they didn't get scared at all. It was easily a favorite.

We went over to go on Winnie the Pooh and it wasn't working so we went to the little gift shop nearby and ended up seeing Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Then Chris and Dave went on Splash Mountain with Avery (Dave's little 4 year old) and she loved it, but Brooklyn really didn't want to even though she was tall enough and I didn't blame her, that drop scares me! Then Chris, Kiersten and I went on Splash Mountain and it was the perfect day to do it since we were already wet and had ponchos. It was really fun!

We took the train over to Toon Town and went on It's a Small World and the kids loved this one too! Beckham was just singing away, it was so fun to watch his reaction. It was all decorated for Christmas and so fun! From there we went to Minnie's house and Brooklyn got to sit on her couch with her and tour her house with Beckham. Then we went to Mickey's house and went all through it and saw Mickey at the end! Brooklyn was so cold and Mickey took her and just hugged her and warmed her up. Then Mickey teased Beckham until he got a laugh and smile out of him. It was so fun. When we left Mickey's, Donald Duck was outside waiting for us with more big hugs! It was a great way to end our day. It was only 4pm, but we were soaked and cold and thought.....we've got 3 more days to come so let's go back and get warmed up and play. We went on Buzz Lightyear one more time and then bought some Toy Story toys and went home to play.

It was a wet and wild day, but we still had a blast!

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