Jana's Family

Ode to Anasazi

2012-01-25T19:45:00.000-08:00

So I was looking through old pictures and came across these two. It was right after my mission while I was living in Arizona with an old mission companion Bethany Nuttall and working at Anasazi, it is a wilderness therapy. I was also dating/engaged to Sean at the time.
It was the funnest and hardest job I have ever had. I wish I had gotten to work there longer. It was a blast! I have some of the coolest memories that will not soon fade. I learned that it takes all your emotional strength to do something so physically challenging. Shortly after my brother Spencer passed away I tried going out on the trail again and my mind, heart and body where in different places that it made the trekking impossible for me at that time. It was a real eye opener since I was in the same physical shape but physically could not do it. So I am a big believer that attitude and heart can help you beat the odds or be to your detriment(like with cancer, health problems, etc) That is just one of the many things I learned out there. Also that there is good in everyone even if most people have a hard time seeing it. That there is so much we can learn about nature it is mind boggling and God's voice it clearer when you are out amidst His creations.
Some day I even want to send my kids there when they get older, it is an unforgettable experience!

This is me after I got off the trail.
(yeah those pants, there is NO way I would fit in them anymore)

These next pictures are of life on the trail. I never got any pictures while I was on the trail but I got these either from Anasazi website or my friend.

This is Bethany out on the trail.

Bethany on the right. That is another way you can pack your stuff but I would only do it that way if you are going a short distance

Bethany on the left

Bethany in her sleeping bag peeking out of her shelter

A group out on the trail
(and by trail I mean get from point a to point b with no trails)

"Busting a coal"
rubbing those sticks together till it makes a coal like ember that you put into bundle of kindling. This is literally the only way we got fire while on the trail.
You don't bust a coal =you don't have a fire = you don't eat!

and then blow on till it makes flames

and this is your scrumptious dinner after you cook it over the fire

This is what my shelter looked like pretty much every night. You can't fit your whole body under there and all be covered unless you are curled into a ball. Some nights you just slept on your poncho and if it rained you pulled half of it over you. You also used your poncho to wrap over your pack to keep it dry if you had to cross through deep rivers.

Awe the memories of sleeping under the stars

These next pictures are just from that time period

Bethany, Rachel, Jana
This after Bethany and I where married and we were visiting Rachel and the old place we lived

Me and Bethany

some of the things trail walkers do on there days off. Bethany is 2nd from left

and this is me with them

Subway Art

2012-01-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

This is my first attempt at making subway art. It kinda reminds me of Captain America but I guess that really isn't a bad thing. I learned how to do it here at I am Mamma Hear Me Roar. I love her blog! I use Picnik to edit photos sometimes if I want to do something a little crazier then just cropping and b/w. I had no idea you could do that kind of stuff in Picnik. I have also heard you can make a still picture from a video but I haven't done that yet.

Going Private

2012-01-12T21:21:00.000-08:00

I have decided that I want my blog to be private. I haven't been blogging lately but I plan to pick it up again soon. Since it is pretty much my journal and I post whatever I feel I would rather not have the whole world able to read it, not that they do, but I want to keep my kids a little safer.

So if you want an invite to read it leave a comment with your email, or send me a message on facebook, or email me so I can add you.

Growth Chart- Ruler

2012-01-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

So I saw this on Pinterest and loved it and decided to make one. I Love it! Sean says I should make a bunch more and sell them at the framers market...we will see?

Visiting Santa

2011-12-11T17:14:00.000-08:00

We had a really fun time for Keilei's Birthday. We went to the AWHC(American West Heritage Center) my kids call it The Farm. We all love going there and they happened to have festivities on Keilei's Birthday, they even had Santa and Mrs. Claus.
I will post more picture of Keilei's birthday later.

My Kiddos are so cute 12/5

2011-12-05T15:02:00.001-08:00

Keilei and bugs

2011-10-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

yes my almost 4 year old daughter happens to really like bugs. Some people(my sister and nephew) find this disturbing and want to teach her how to be afraid of bugs. I on the other hand enjoy that she loves all creatures.

The other day Keilei ran in my bathroom as I was getting out of the shower really excited about something. She was carrying her bug cage and she had caught a big grasshopper all by herself! She decided to show everyone.

showing Rush Reilly and Cole

she caught it while she was outside helping grandma pick apples

That night we went to the fun park, or the "Big Playground" as Keilei calls it, for Will's Birthday party. The kids loved it and it was SO good to be able to spend some time with Carolyn and Jordan.
The pink fangs are one of the toys Keilei got for her tickets she won

Fall:Decorations and leaves

2011-10-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

our front porch

pinterest idea

another pinterest idea...they are toilet paper rolls wrapped in orange tissue paper

get "Boo"..Poo and it is toilet paper! hey I thought it it was funny!

First Snow 10/6

2011-10-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

It has arrived

Boo at the Zoo 10/8

2011-10-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

Last night I stayed up later then I should have trying to get the kids costumes done because today was our Boo At The Zoo they have games and trick or treating for the kids. I think they turned out really cute. And everywhere we went you couldn't help but notice that all eyes where on Keilei and Rush. I am not trying to toot my own horn or anything but had had like 20 parents tell me how cute they where and asked if I made them and stuff. I am glad they turned out well cause I wanted to do all the family in a similar costume and I had already started Keilei's Scarecrow dress(I stole the idea from a lady on etsy Here I couldn't afford to buy hers so I made my own.). Sean wasn't too exited about scarecrows but even he said he was really impressed, it made me feel good. And more important the kids had a lot of fun.

Fishing for Halloween treats

Getting a balloon animal from a clown. Rush biffed it right as I took this picture, total Rush, he is always falling on his face

My little Scarecrows

You might not be able to tell but that lady is holding a owl. Keilei and especially Rush loved it.

After that we went to a pumpkin patch and bought a ton of pumpkins for super cheap. I love decorating with pumpkins. I LOVE pictures taken by pumpkins too. Aren't they SO cute...I mean my kids not the pumpkins:)

This is just in support of the Gators today, Rush was dressed up too. Kayla and Andrew her boyfriend were decked out in Utes apparel.

I hope for hope

2011-10-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished a month long round of antibiotics (after taking 4-5 other rounds of antibiotic over the last 6 months).I hadn't even been off it a week and day before yesterday I got a sore! Yesterday I had two! Today I have 5!!! Will this EVER stop!?!

When do you ever hear of someone being on antibiotics for that long and it not clearing up whatever it was supposed to? I NEVER have.

I am petrified that this will never go away. That one day I will have sores they cant get rid off and the infection will spread through my body and since antibiotics don't work I am going to die from this.

I know I am not very positive right now, I am depressed. I just want a brake from having something physically wrong with me. Not only do I have these MRSA sores I have horrible female issues going on plus other crap. So basically the whole area of my body that would be covered with a pair of boxers is in pain and having issues...this isn't new either this has been going on for 6 months now! I am losing it.

2011-09-22T11:59:00.001-07:00

we are at bearlake and sean just ran from the side of the lake all the way to the sinks and back...blows my mind

What Color to paint my kitchen?

2011-08-19T20:37:00.001-07:00

I am the most indecisive person I know, which helps me be a more go with the flow type person but it becomes a dilemma when I am trying to figure out what color of green to paint my kitchen.
I have been wanting to do it since we moved in. I think the cabinets and the walls blend into each other too much. It is just too much beige, cream, or off white whatever you want to call it.
I asked Sean and he said that other then the dark green they are all the same color...boys! None of the colors turned out to be EXACTLY what I was looking for but I am sick of the whole process and now have 5 little paint cans of different colors of green. It has taken me awhile but I think I am going to go with the top green color, which you can't see very well cause the light is reflecting off it, but it will be flat paint when I do it so that won't happen. I will post pics when I finally get around to painting it

The color on the far left is the color I am going with...I think!?

My Sores

2011-08-17T21:52:00.001-07:00

K these are kinda gross pictures fyi. It is a boil and the stages of it so there are pictures of puss.
I keep getting sores on my thighs and butt since April. It is horrible and painful and I just wanted to document it so someday when they are gone I can be reminded to be grateful.

This on is on my upper butt almost to my waist. Which was especially bad cause I couldn't sleep on my back and even sleeping on my sides put pressure on it...I didn't sleep well for a couple days.
They start out small and get bigger in a couple days and then they are really painful because you have a pocket of puss built up under your skin and the pressure hurts. It usually takes a few days of taking super hot baths for 20+ mins at least 3 times a day and putting a moist heading pad on it the rest of the day for it to finally come to a head and pop. Meanwhile trying to take care of my two kids and not let them get near or bump the area.
The scientific word for what I have is Folliculitis (it's something to do with your hair follicles getting infected) I have gone to my doctor, a surgeon and the urgent care(to get one cut open) and tomorrow I am going to a dermatologist. Hopefully this Doc has some answers cause I am on my 5th round of antibiotics and it ain't going away. I think that is because when I got the first one I had it tested and it came back as MRSA. Apparently that can be really hard to get out of your system.So yeah good luck to me!

That is my finger in the pic just so you know. This is the huge, bigger then a silver dollar, red tight sore

this is on the 2nd day of me draining it

that is the core of it that I had to pull out, yeah it hurt

and this is the big hole that is left.
...EWW Aren't you glad you read that, but it will make ME grateful someday I am sure!

My Cute Kids & Baby Zoey

2011-08-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

My little thumb suckers

watching a show

Rush walked in and saw the baby and went over to her and said Awe Baby! And Keilei had to give her a kiss.

Zoey with grandma, Zoey with her Daddy. She wasn't a very happy girl that day

Finished Deck

2011-08-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

Our deck is finished! Now once we get some grass I can put the lawn chairs on the lawn and get some patio furniture to go on the deck. But for now we love it. the kids love eating out there.

Princess dress

2011-08-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

My mom bought this at a garage sale for $3. It is Keilei's new princess dress.

Star Night @ the Farm

2011-08-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

We went to American West Heritage Center for their star night. It was fun it started at 7pm and they had some carnival type games and the kids won prizes like stuffed animals, glow sticks, & pencils. They did water color paintings, dipped candles, had a fire, and a fake robbery of the store with guns shooting. And of course they kids rode the train and horses. They had a place to make lanterns out of cans too but my kids were to young to play with nails and hammers. They also did horse drawn wagon rides after dark and the horse and wagons had glow sticks all over them it looked pretty cool.

Keilei riding the horses. Rush didn't want to this time which isn't too surprising since it was his bed time. Sean and our cute kids! Can I just say I love Logan's summer nights! They are perfect!

Rush and I

I had to put this one on because I love the color of Keilei's eyes in it. Keilei and Sean have the same color of eyes, they both change colors too.

My Family

Keilei on the wagon ride. She had so much fun.
We sat next to a couple that had two little kids and I asked how old their little girl was and they said 1, she was really small and they said she was 3 months preemie. After talking for a second they said they have two one year olds. I looked at them confused and they pointed to their older son and said "he is one and she is one, they are 9 months apart" I swear my jaw would have hit the floor if it could have. That just blew my mind! Even having them 12 months apart, which is what they would have been, is crazy. They are the same age for 3 months out of the year and depending on when their birthdays are they could be in the same grade in school even! Crazy, crazy crazy!

My kids

2011-08-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Aren't they cute!

I just had to put this one on so you could see Keilei's amazing natural highlights

Shaved Heads For a Good Cause

2011-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

So I absolutely hate Sean with a shaved head! I am not bias or anything, some guys can pull it off but Sean is not one of them! So when he told me he was planning on shaving it I was not a big fan. But when he told me why I couldn't tell him no. So today a whole bunch of firefighters got together and had a head shaving party. One of the firefighters wives has breast cancer and she has to shave her head because all her hair is falling out. I don't know how it all came together but a bunch of firefighters shaved their heads as well to show support for her. It was a pretty cool site to see. There where firetrucks parked all around the park and a bunch of guys in uniform getting there head shaved. They had two beauticians there helping and the third chair the firemen took turns, the person getting his hair cut would cut the next persons hair. It was pretty cool. Kenny shaved Sea n's head and let Keilei help and then told her to find our clippers and cut her own hair! Luckily she didn't like that idea and she started to cry, thank goodness that is the last thing I want her thinking about doing!!

Kenny cutting Sean's hair, letting Keilei help

Sean's new hair cut

I just love seeing people wear the pink shirts from Sean's event he put together

Sean taking his turn shaving the next guy. The kid in the middle is the ladies son. A bunch of fireman waiting for their turn

Sean giving some things to Jenny . I guess she used to have long hair but cut it short in preparation. But she ran her hand through her hair and she showed all the guys how it literally falls out in globs. She shaved her head after some of the guys went first.

Keilei's 1st dentist appointment

2011-08-17T20:26:00.004-07:00

She was so brave. Luckily her teeth look good, well other then the fact she sucks her thumb. It is making so she has a really bad overbite. The dentist said that if we can get her to stop that her cheeks will pull her jaw back the way it is suppose to be. It is easier said then done though:( Any bright ideas?

Lori's Birthday

2011-08-17T20:26:00.003-07:00

We went to chuck-o-rama for Lori's birthday lunch, it was fun. Then that night we put up balloons and streamers and made her a cake and surprised her with a little party at Mom's house. Which looked cool but I didn't have my camera on me. Lori is 43 this year.

The Farm

2011-08-17T20:25:00.004-07:00

Rush by the stream where you pan for gold.

I love this picture. That poor kitty was so patient with her. It was her first experience with a kitten and she was in heaven!

Keilei with both of the twin kittens. The one that is falling actually scratched he leg pretty bad, but do you think she let go of the other one, no way:)

Keilei got to go collect eggs in the chicken coop. She did it all by herself. She loved it.

Right after I took the picture with Rush in it he picked up one of the eggs and then dropped it back on the pile of eggs and cracked a bunch. They got to go wash the eggs off and some veggies they had just picked in the garden. And Keilei got to toss the broken eggs out into a field.

Desi & Sara's Birthday Dinner

2011-08-17T20:25:00.003-07:00

So Sara, Desi, Missy, & I drove down together and met Allison & KrisAnn in Layton at Jason's Deli, which was freaking amazing btw, to celebrate Desi & Sara's birthdays. Then we went to Chili's for dessert. It was so much fun. My cheeks hurt the next day! I love these girls! They are some of my favorite people in the world!!

Desi & Sara

KrisAnn & Allison

Missy
I didn't get a pick of me but the 6 of us are our group know as the "Hussies" Although we really don't fit that description. When Allison, KrisAnn, and I moved into together when I was 18 our apartment was a swinging door to a lot of male visitors but you get 6 hot chicks hanging out in an appartment that just tends to happen (although we were all pretty good girls). And somewhere along the line it got named the Hussie pad (I think by Allison). I we therefor were named the Hussies.
I have known Missy & KrisAnn since middle school and Desi, Sara, & Allison since High school. But we have all been really close, always. We would have our years where two of us at a time would bond more, but we have always been there for each other. I want it to be that way forever! I Love these girls and they are friends I know I can to turn to. I am super blessed to have such great friend.

This Is The Place

2011-08-10T14:35:00.004-07:00

I am way behind on my posts, that is an understatement, but we actually went here on June 7th FYI

Keilei and Sean in front of the monument

Keilei on a horse ride. And a pic of Keilei with the SLC valley behind her

Keilei was trying to get some leaves to feed the goat and the goat got up on the bench right by her and it freaked her out when she turned around. Playing in water. Standing by the This Is The Place Monument

Sean feeding a goat, Keilei pounding a design into leather, Sean & I

Keilei on the train

One the little "train" that drives you from one side of the park to the other.

train ride. Panning for gold. Rush's treat

the amazing view of the SLC valley from our little train ride.
I love the one where Keilei is trying to shade her eyes so she can see.

this is a huge stink bug that Keile was carrying around, she is fearless when it comes to bugs
we had to stop the train ride so a bunch of geese could walk across to the pond

the kids washed clothes and pretended to iron them.
There is a mock ship and Keilei is in one of the top bunks. Rush Man

this cabin was home to a husband,two wives, & 7 boys and 3 girls
the boys slept in a loft upstairs that you got to by a ladder on the the outside of the house that Sean is standing by.

Keilei loves riding the ponies. feeding a lamb from a bottle

Sean loves goats don't ask me why but he was excited to see them more then the kids were.
Rush riding a horse for the first time. He only lasted a couple of seconds.

Rush pushing the lamb trying to move it while Keilei is petting it.
Rush and Sean petting the lambs

Sean sleeping while Keilei & Rush played on the playground and in the mini houses they have there.

They even had a little mini Fire station, which happened to be Rush's favorite

Keilei in front of a statue of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith
Rush and Keilei both fell asleep the minute we got them in the car, it was a long fun day:)

Keilei's Bike

2011-08-10T14:30:00.001-07:00

She loves riding her bike!

I Learned Something Disturbing

2011-08-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen Australia the movie. You know what they did to the mixed blood, or half breed(whatever they called them)kids there, taking them away from their family. They did the same thing here with the American Indians and also in Canada but it was with ALL Indian children!
I was reading a blog of someone I worked with at Anasazi yesterday. He is Indian and his article was about Indian boarding schools...has anyone ever heard about them!?! I never have, ever! That is part of why it is SO disturbing to me.
From what I have read apparently the US government had Indian boarding schools that went from 1800's until the 1960's when laws were finally pasted giving Indians rights to decide how to educate their kids. Indian children where forced to leave their families and grow up in a boarding school, that was run like the military, where their hair was cut off, they were forced not to speak their native language or talk about anything in their culture, or they were beaten. As I read about it a lot of them were sexually abused and used as slave in the summer so they very rarely if at all got to see their families. Not only that but they grow up feeling so alone and isolated,other then friends they made, they where never shown love and they didn't know it they where suppose to fit in with whites or Indians.
This went on all the way to the 60's! Am I the only one that is sick to my stomach while learning this. Why have I NEVER heard anything about this! Why isn't this taught in High Schools? I know it wasn't taught in mine, I would have remembered. I told my Mom about it and she had never heard of it either!!!
There are a lot of studies going on now linking those schools and how the kids were raised in them to bad parenting skills, alcoholism, depression, etc. And of course lose of their native language and skills of their culture. But mostly the articles I read about was linking to why some are so, lets say, harsh or demanding and might hit their kids. It totally makes sense to me that is how they were raised. They are some places that are trying to hold classes to teach them the skills they lost and parenting classes and support groups. But these bad habits have been pasted down for 3 generations now if not more. Generally 2 generations in families have gone to the boarding schools. My heart goes out to them and the anger inside me simmers to know this happened in our country, for so long, and that I have never heard about it, they don't teach it in school!
Here is one of the articles I read...Tribes confront painful legacy of boarding schools(from the Seattle Times)

The questions begin with Boobs!

2011-07-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Keilei asked"Why are my Booboo(Keilei's word for Boobs) so small" I explained that they would get bigger when she got older and she said "They will get bigger and lower down?" It's so nice having your 3yr old daughter tell you you have saggy boobs!
But breast feeding both my kids for a year each was totally worth it!

Where I'm From

2011-07-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

My friend had this on her blog and I really loved it and it totally brought back a lot of memories. I'm not from exactly the same things but a lot are the same. Maybe I will try and write one like that sometime.

Here is a bit of it, go check out the rest at Prairie Mama @ http://prairie-mama.blogspot.com/
Where I'm From...

I am from corn fields, football games and popcorn. Swimming all day and skinny dipping at night. I am from fireworks by the pool and catching lightning bugs. I am from Yahtzee, Dominoes, and Wheel of Fortune. I am from peanut butter toast, rootbeer and Cheezies for lunch....

Almost Shot To Death

2011-07-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

So this morning I woke up to a gun pointed at my face!

...My mom had borrowed our pellet hand gun to scare away birds last night, honestly she was trying to shot them(something I do not approve of BTW). When she returned it I left it on the kitchen table, uncocked.

I woke up with Keilei holding to my face saying "BANG! BANG!"

Yeah that was very disturbing! First I was glad it wasn't cocked and second that it wasn't a real gun, yeah I would have died this morning. Not that I would leave a real gun on the table. But Keilei and I had a talk about not pointing guns at people. I am still disturbed though. It makes me not want to own a gun.

"I Want Jesus To Come"

2011-07-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

I was reading a bedtime book to Keilei about how God made us special and a page in the book says that Jesus loves us too and want to be your friend and there is a picture of him with a bunch of little kids.
Keilei got all excited and said, "I want Jesus to come here!" I told her, "Maybe someday." That made her SO happy she was bouncing up and down and had the biggest smile on her face and said "To be here with Me and Rush and my family. And you and Daddy and my cousins!"

It made my heart melt!

It strengthens my testimony to hear her say things like that. Logically speaking Jesus is just this picture she has seen in books and at church and home. She has been taught that He loves us. But to her He is real and she believe that He loves her and is so excited to meet Him. I know that wouldn't happen with just any other picture of a person shown to her. Not in the same way.
I know we lived with Him before and we knew Him, the gospel, and the plan. So when we hear thing down here on earth, especially about Heavenly Father and Jesus, it's like it just rings true. Because we already know it we are just learning it again! It happens at any age if we have the right heart and Spirit with us but I think is so much more clear in little kids.It is so special.

Daddy comes home

2011-06-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

Last night I put the kids to bed and Keilei was out as soon as soon as her head hit the pillow but Rush took about an hour to go down. It is usually the other was around. But I went in to lay him back down and he wanted me to read him a book. I read him a few and then sang a few songs. Then he wanted to sing the Daddy comes home song, go figure, he is all about Daddy. We sang it a few times then he kept pointing to pictures in his room with Sean in them and saying Daddy over and over.
Keilei is pretty used to Sean being gone a lot, I think she understands that he is at work, but Rush has a harder time with it. When he is home Rush doesn't want to let him out of site. When he has to go back to work Rush asks for him all the time. It is really cute but it makes me sad too.

Momma

2011-06-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

Rush has gone through this phase were he won't say Mom, everything is Dadda. He learned how to say it when he was really little. It was one of his first words right after he started saying daddy. But ever since then he wouldn't say it. No matter how hard we tried to get him to. We would tell him to say Momma and he would say Dadda. There have only been a couple times he has said it. Once when he was crying in his room and Sean went to get him and he pointed to the door and said Momma. Then he said it one other time while my little sister was around and she even said that is the first time I have ever heard him saw Momma. That is about it, the only two times I can think of that he said it.
A couple days ago Keilei locked Rush in her room and he was trying to get out and yelling Momma! I was so excited! Then the other night I asked him to say it before he went to bed and he said it! I am hoping that this is a turning point and he will actually start calling me by my name now. I guess we will see.

"Tarnated"

2011-06-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Keilei has her dolls all laying on the ground around her in a half circle, they are all face down. I ask her if they are sleeping and she says " No they are Tarnated" After a while of trying to figure out what that means and still having no clue I asked her what tarnated means and she says "Not right, Not happy"
Tarnated = not right and not happy
That worries me a little cause she puts her dolls face down a lot. I'm not a child shrink but I don't think that is a good sign. Any ideas on why she does that cause I have no clue?

1st Day At The Pool & Keilei Went Missing!

2011-06-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

We were at the pool a grand total of 5 mins before my daughter disappeared!
When we got to the pool we had to wait 5 mins to get into the pool because they had locked the doors because a kid was missing.(should have known that was a bad omen) We got in picked a lawn chair & I told Keilei were she could swim. I put Rush's life jacket on and set him in the pool with Keilei. I stood at the edge and started to spray myself with sunscreen, I only got half done cause I ran out, and then looked up to check on the kids. Rush was right were I left him but Keilei was no where to be seen.(So people when I tell you my kid likes to run off I am not joking, and she is fast) I searched the pool, looking at each little kid individually, no Keilei. She had said when we first got there that she wanted to go on the slides so I looked that way and for a split second I thought I saw her on the stairs. I ran and grabbed Rush so we could go check the stairs to the slide. When I got closer I saw a little girl in a similar swimsuit as Keilei and with short blond hair, it wasn't Keilei though. Crap! if that wasn't her then where is she!?! I checked the kid pool again quickly with no luck. I am starting to really panic now! I am about a second away from going to tell them to do another lock down till I find her when she comes running up to me dripping water from head to toe. I grab her and ask where have you been and she says excitedly,"I went down the big slide, it was scary!" I am awe stuck, how did I get such a brave independent girl? I give her a lecture of course and try to explain things to her. Then I asked which slide she went down, one is a windy one and one shoots straight down. She pointed to the one that goes straight down!
You could tell I was panicked from her being missing but when she pointed to the slide and I looked up I noticed a couple of lifeguards where looking at us. I told Keilei she couldn't do that by herself and she pointed to the lifeguard in the water(at the bottom of the slides) and said the lady helped me. Thank Goodness For The "Lady"!!! You could tell they kinda wanted to say something to this little girls parents but I think when they saw that she was getting scowled cause she had gone missing they understood. I wish I had gone over to tell that life guard thank you though!

When she told me she went of the fast slide my mind was swarming with questions. Little kids aren't allowed on that ride. How and why did she get down it? There is a lifeguard that stands in the pool but at the end of the other slide to catch kids that can't swim. What if they hadn't gotten to Keilei in time?! She must of snuck up there and just jumped right in that slide. But that spits you out and into that water really fast! And without anyone expecting a little 3yr to come shooting down it I am SO grateful they grabbed her! But on the other hand she should have never been able to go down that slide. Obviously the 1st safeguard failed: her parent(knowing where she is and all that) but the 2nd safeguard failed too: the life guard at the top of the slides that tells you when it is your time to go! Luckily the 3rd safeguard was on the ball: the lifeguard in the water.

Later I took Keilei and Rush up the slides so that Keilei could go on the windy on and so I could teach her how to do it right. The lifeguard at the top had her back turned to the lines of people behind her. She was looking over the rail to see when people get done on the slide. She barely turned her head at all when it was our turn, to tell us we could go.
If that is how the other one was it is no surprise to me how Keilei got down that slide. she could have just walked right up to it and sat down and slid without them ever seeing her!

Anyway it was a scary experience! I am going to be putting Keilei's life jacket on the second we get to the pool. It is neon pink so it will help me locate her and so hopefully she can be a little safer if she does end up in deep water again.
I told Sean about on the phone and he just laughed the whole time....I didn't think it was that funny. But I can see why he would laugh. That slide and getting submerged in the water at the bottom didn't phase her a bit. She wasn't the least bit scared when she ran up to me she looked like she had just had an adrenaline rush! So Sean may think it is funny but it scares the crap out of me!

Yards Are Stressful

2011-06-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

So figuring out our yard and money to get it done is more stressful then building the house was. Yards are SO expensive when you are starting from scratch. Right now it is a bunch of weeds and rock piles. And we are running out of money. Then when we do have something to get done Sean doesn't have anyone to help him do it, so it sits and sits and sits. By no fault of Sean's he has tried calling a bunch of people to help him and no one ever can on the days that he has off, it is getting very frustrating.

Dandelions

2011-05-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

Keilei and Rush were in the backyard playing with one of the two things there is to play with back there, dandelions. The other thing is rocks:) But it was so cute I had to take a couple pictures. The first two are my favorite...

gathering flowers for Mommy

Keilei in her grass blanket

Craft -Design T-Shirts

2011-05-15T19:54:00.001-07:00

FYI: It took me 2 hours to load these pictures because our stupid internet. So just an example of why I don't post.(I am 27 posts behind:( and it is killing me)

I had a bunch of plain t-shirts for the kids (they are cheaper) that I decided to make a little spiffier. I wish I had more time to embellish some of them but this will have to do for now...

Keilei with her modeling smile:)

Front, back: Fully Charged

Front: "k for Keilei"as Keilei puts it, back

left:I live outside right:the tie is one I wanted to embelish, I wanted to do a big stitch around the tie.

Front, back-I wanted to sew around this too so that the iron-on fabric won't peel off.

left: Smooth(like butter:) right:Fire Department symbol

Mom's B-day Present

2011-05-15T19:51:00.003-07:00

This is Kayla's Birthday/Anniversary present to Mom and Dad

Keilei loved popping the bubbles but it scared Rush

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-15T19:50:00.004-07:00

K I had to put these two pics cause I thought they were so cute

As usual we have our family Easter egg hunt either at Gueniva or in Mom's backyard. So we had it up the canyon this year. We had a lot of fun as usual even though there isn't many grand kids to actually hunt for eggs

Me trying to get a pic with Rush

chillin and waiting for everyone

I LOVE this picture of Rush

getting ready to start

Keilei finding eggs

Bry helped Rush while I helped Keilei since Sean was working.

K check this out, as I was looking at these pictures I noticed something, Rush has a Yellow egg

Keilei eyes the yellow egg, Keilei makes a swap and Rush now has a red egg and Keilei has the yellow

...notice something? How did Keilei end up with both eggs. She is tricky!

All our family and all our cars

Easter Basket Hunt

2011-05-15T19:50:00.003-07:00

This is the first year I have done Easter baskets. I sent them on a scavenger hunt to find them. I drew 4 or 5 pictures of things in the house and they had to go from one to the next. They each had different cards. We did Keilei's hunt while Rush was asleep and when Rush woke up she helped him with his.
Keilei had been asking for over a month for an Arora doll. So she was excited to get it but both of the kids couldn't stop talking about going on the scavenger hunt...it was there favorite part.

their baskets

Keilei getting one of her clues. Opening her basket

She was excited and then she wanted to go hunt again

Rush has one of the clue cards in his hand. He loved his too

It was fun I think I will do it again but make the basket contents more simple.

Easter Sunday

2011-05-15T19:50:00.001-07:00

..Family

Farm Animal Days

2011-05-15T19:49:00.004-07:00

This is just going to be an overload of pictures but our kids love this and we love taking them!

My cute boy

Keilei loves the horses

The Train

The Chickens

Baby Ducks

Baby Chickens

the blacksmith
Baby Rabbits

Pony Rides

Baby Cows

Can you see why the kids love it so much!?!As you can see we ran into Carolyn and Will. She was helping watch her nieces because her brother and sis n' law were volunteers. Her brother was driving the train.

Keilei's Soccer Game; week 2

2011-05-15T19:49:00.003-07:00

These are all pictures of Keilei stretching practicing and playing. She loved one on one practice. When she was suppose to play she didn't like running and would run over to me every couple minutes and say "I'm hot" "I don't want to run" or she would just wander around on the gym floor. This was her last week because she kept saying she didn't want to play anymore.
I had second thought about making her keep trying but she is too much like me and hates to be hot and so when it comes to something else when she is a little older I won't let her give up too early.

This picture Keilei sat in the middle of the floor and was pouting because she was hot and didn't want to run. These three other little kids were so sweet and sat down with her to see what was the matter with her. It was so cute.

The Park and Feeding the ducks 4/19

2011-05-15T19:48:00.002-07:00

Keilei and Rush feeding the ducks

Duck egg

Keilei feeding the ducks, Sean met us there after his run.

This is Keilei when I told her to smile at the camera. My Rushy boy

Connor & Preston 4/15

2011-05-15T19:48:00.001-07:00

I babysat Connor and Preston for a little while. They all wanted to go outside and play. Keilei loves playing in the rocks and picking flowers. They had fun on the bikes too.

Keilei's First Soccer Game 4/12

2011-05-15T19:47:00.004-07:00

She was on the brown team and she was so excited. She loved the stretching and the practice but wasn't a big fan of the actual game. She didn't want to run so much.

Baby Animal Days 4/9/11

2011-05-15T19:47:00.003-07:00

So it was rainy and miserable. They had all the animals in 2 buildings and you couldn't take strollers in them! That was horrible. Then you crammed like sardines and it was so muddy outside that you could barely push your stroller. I had our season pass but if I had paid to get in I would have gotten my money back, it was not worth going. The only reason I did is because I told the kids we were going to. They should have cancelled and rescheduled.

This is the part of the farm they held it all in.

This is out of order but this is him asleep on the way home. His eyelashes are so long.

Keilei got a balloon and looked at frogs

she loved the rabbits , and tried to smile for me

Rush and the pigs, baby bears

Day At The Park

2011-05-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

We decided to take advantage of the great weather and go to the park to play!
Keilei pouting because she couldn't ride a swing cause they were all full:) Poor baby

No internet = No posts

2011-05-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

Our Internet at our house doesn't work anymore and it will a couple weeks before we can get a tech to actually hook up our connection, so for awhile there won't be any posts. Although I have a ton of pictures to put on. Especially since the last couple of days have actually been sunny!
...I am going to Moab with Sean on Wedn. so I will be really far behind on posting pics when I get back:(

Infection=Pain

2011-04-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

You know that annoying part of your body where your thighs rub together, well at least mine do, I guess really skinny people don't have that:) Well on Thursday or Friday I when I knelt down to have prayer with Keilei I noticed a little pain there on my right leg in that general area. I thought I might have a zit but when I examined it there was none. The surface was red and I could feel a growth under the skin. For the next couple of days I tried hot compresses, heating pads, and hot baths to try and get it to come to a head so I could pop it and get the infection out of me but with no luck. As each day went by it just got bigger and redder. I finally showed Sean and he said I should go into the doctor(he never says that). It was the size of a quarter by this time and you could feel the big growth under my skin.
So I called my doctor and he is out of town for a couple weeks.So I went to the urgent care so I could get an antibiotic. It was a sist or boil and 9 out of 10 times it is staff. They said that they are very common.They also said that there is no way I could have prevented it, that it is just bad luck. But to my surprise when they looked at it they said they have open it up and drain it.
So they gave me a really painful shot and then cut it open and drained it and flushed it out and then shoved packing in it and bandaged me up! I have to go back in every day so they can repack it until it is all the way drained. I went back in today and they had to give me a shot again because they had to re cut it on the inside.
So sitting kills and walking isn't much better. I walk like I have a stick up my butt. The pain killers I am on makes me want to sleep all the time. And to make matters worse I just got a phone call from the nurse and she said the lab work just came back and said that it is MRSA, which in case you don't know is like the worst kind of staff and is really hard to get rid of. So they had to call in an even stronger antibiotic for me.
I have a really crappy immune system. I always get infections. When I got my wisdom teeth out they got infected, when I get stitches..infected, episiotomy...infected, not to mention breast infections and yeast infections! So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I have mersa, it was just a matter of time.
Well at least I don't live back in pioneer times I would be dead many times over. Thank Heaven for modern medicine! I am a big fan of it, it saves my life a lot! I truly am grateful for it.
So hopefully in a couple of days I will be back to normal & cross my fingers I don't ever get one of these again!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

We had a lesson in church today about being grateful. I am so grateful for our Heavenly Fathers love and the sacrfice of His Son! I am grateful for my family and also for the new house we have to live in. There are so so many more things that I am grateful for I could never list them all.

But I am always grateful for those things!

Friends for Dinner

2011-04-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

We had Missy, Desi and their families over for dinner. It was fun to have enough space for everyone!

Will, Mickey, Bella, Payson, Keilei & Rush

Sean & Riley Geoff, Desi & I

Desi, Jana, and Melissa

Fun Day, pretty much

2011-04-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

It was sunny for the first time in days so....

Today we had a picnic in the park, which was cut a little short because it was colder then it looked outside.

Fed the ducks at 1st damn. Sean went on a run and burnt out before he finished it so he called me to come get him. But while we where there the kids had fun.

Keilei's soccer game. I don't know if we will be going to any more? I am afraid she takes after me when it comes to sports. She basically walked around in circles and complained about being to slow and hot....yep that would be me!

I have pictures of all this and will have to wait to put them up till we have better internet service.

Painting Easter Eggs

2011-04-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

Rain Rain go away!

It has been raining, raining, snowing, and then raining again lately. So although we do attempt to go outside a little. I was itching for something fun to do inside so we decided to paint eggs. Keilei has been asking for eggs and baskets for at least a month now. But that, I think, is mostly because I told her she could have an Aurora doll for easter. But she was really stoked to paint eggs.

Keilei telling me it is time to take them out now.

Rush has an egg in each hand and was hugging them. Either that or he was trying to hide them so we wouldn't take them away. He is so cute.

They had a lot of fun

This one is mine:)

Rush giving Kayla kisses !!!!

Keilei sorting the eggs by color

It was a really fun F.H.E

My mom even brought over icecream cones for the kids after, I got pics but my computer takes way to long to load pics sorry.

House Photos, Inside!

2011-04-03T18:03:00.001-07:00

I still have some things to hang up. And we don't have a TV yet(except the little ancient ones in the kids rooms:) but the house is getting there.

Living Room

Kitchen

You might notice the paint swabs taped under one of the cabinets. I really want to paint the kitchen another color so the cabinets don't blend into the walls so much. I am just trying to decide what color to do it. I am thinking a neutral lite olive green color.

please ignore the dishes:)

Dining Room Our new kitchen table!

Keilei's Room

Yeah I know she has way too many things in her room. But until we finish the basement that is just how it will have to be.

Rush's Room

Spare Room

We got this bed a couple weeks ago at a garage sale. The bed and mattress for $200. Then we were out shopping for a table and saw the exact same bed, just different color, at a furniture store on sale for a $1,000! I knew it was a steal when we found it but man I didn't know it was just a good steal:)

It has drawers under the bed on all sides!

More Tangled

2011-04-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

Kayla Showing Keilei how to use her sticker book

Keilei giving her a thank you hug

Kayla and Keilei

Keilei was and is so happy to get all this stuff. She loves it!

Keilei hugging her dolls. She stayed it that dress for 2 days. And still puts it on all the time:)

The Kids

2011-03-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

The day that Tangled came out my sister Kayla went to the store to get Keilei a present. I thought she was just getting her the movie. But then she showed up with a big bag of presents.

She got:

Tangled the movie

Tangled sticker book

Mini Rapunzel

Big Rapunzel w/ hair that changes color

Rapunzel dress

It was like the happiest day of her life! She has been wearing the dress for two days straight now and shows everyone her Tangled spoils!

Showing her dolls so we could take a picture and send it to Daddy!

Keilei in her dress that she won't take off. R:showing me her "friend" rock

She woke me up this morning at 4am holding her Tangled dress and asking if she could wear it now because it is morning!

Keilei tried on bunny ears at the store.

She is so excited about Easter. We picked out Easter baskets and she picked out her grass. She asks to paint eggs every day. She also asks for a Aurora barbie doll every day. She really wanted one and I told she had to wait till Easter.

My little man

Whenever we are getting ready to go outside he puts a hat on. It is so cute! I ask him if he wants to go somewhere and he runs over and puts his hat on and then waits by the door. Like he is saying K I am ready lets go!

Pictures of Keilei & Rush

2011-03-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

I really need some new pictures done of my kids! I didn't realize it but they haven't had their pictures taken for since Keilei was 18m and Rush was 6m. I would have when they turned 3 and 1 but is was the holidays and we where moving it got put to the back burner and then forgot about.We did get some done last Aug. but that was more family pictures and there is a great one of them together. I need to get some pics of them separate but it is a weird age 3y3m and 16m. So I am trying to wait until they are 3 1/2 and 18 m.
I am not a photography, I would love to learn more one day, but I need some new pic to put on the wall. So I took some...granted it is still too cold and wet to go outside but this is what I got...

I wish she was wearing a black shirt it would have matched Rush's better, and just looked better.

I love the way Rush's turned out but it is SO hard to get a good picture of Keilei!

Keilei was watching me turn them black and white and said she wanted one pink so I did this one for her:)

My Cute Kids

2011-03-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

My handsome little man

after breakfast she wanted to "read scriptures to my bouncy ball!"

It was the cutest thing

Wow My Babies are Fat!

2011-03-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

I give birth to month old babies and within a couple weeks they are the sizes of 6 month olds, no joke! I wonder if I will have have a baby that will actually be a baby for more then a couple days!?!

These two are only three days apart and are 3 months old in this picture. Rush has no neck and is in 6-12m pants and a 12m shirt!

This is Rush at 2 months

I didn't have any of Keilei's younger pics on my computer but this is her at 6months. Check out the rolls!

Snow in the park

2011-03-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

This is what my daughter does when there is no snow and she wants to make a snow angel:)

Want some cookie?

Grandma stopping her from face planting

As always Rush loves the swings

..even with snow it is still fun

It 's that time

2011-03-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

I signed Keilei up for soccer for next month. I am excited to see how she does. It is 2 times a week for 45mins and for 4weeks. I am so excited. Although she wants to do basketball, but they don't offer it for her age. She will love that when she can.

My New Haircut

2011-03-10T22:39:00.001-08:00

My inspiration

left is my very favorite for now but with no red

right is how I want to do my hair next time, even the short cut but no bangs, maybe:)

My hair before

My hair now

I know it isn't a huge change but I wanted to keep the length for now and Sean wanted me to stay blond. But I had to do something different! She dyed the underneath a darker brown, not quite as dark as I wanted. Then on the top she didn't leave the bleach in long enough so the first 2-3 inches of my hair at the roots is yellow! Which really upsets me but I can't really fix it cause I loved the way the lowlghts turned out.

p.s. I have been wanting to go dark brown lately. It is cheaper and my sis Kayla can do it or even myself and it's less maintenance. I told Sean how much it was and he kinda freaked out, he does it every time! I told him that is why I want to go dark but he would rather have me pay a small fortune(in our little world anyway) to stay blond. Which is fine by me but I think the cost should come out of his wants not mine!

Keilei in a Hat!

2011-03-10T22:32:00.000-08:00

I had Keilei try this hat on, I thought it looked so cute on her! But she wouldn't leave it on. I snapped some pictures as she tried to face ram my phone. At least it got her laughing and distracted her from taking the hat off.

My Cool Phone Pics

2011-03-10T22:23:00.000-08:00

This is me messing around with picture and the cool stuff I can do to them on my phone...

Sean had to work on Valentines day so I made the bottom right one to send to him. After that I just messed around making other pics to send to him. The b/w are my favorite, I love b/w it make anyone look good:)

Mission Companion & Misc.

2011-03-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

This is my first greenie I trained on the mission, Sister Pilling, who is now Shilayna Parker and her daughter Inara (I hope I spelled that right?). Who am I kidding I will always call her Pilling:) She came to Logan to she her sister and we got to get together and chat and let our kids play. I haven't seen her for over a year! I missed her! She is the greatest I love that chica!
She lived with Sean and I when she got off her mission and was dating former Elder Parker...yep just like Sean & I...I lived with former mission compion Bethany Nuttal and dated former Elder Lowe:)
It was so great to see her. I wish she lived closer.

I have a picture of Keilei doing this same thing! I had to take a picture!

Keilei playing dominoes

Home Update/ Wish List

2011-03-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

This is the only room in the house that is actually totally done!...and yes the Gators is Sean's thing not mine. Once we get a bathroom in the basement that is where this is going to go.

I am starting to get things up on the walls!

Wish List...

Kitchen Back splash

I couldn't get this to rotate, but I want to put up a back splash in the kitchen and then possibly paint it a different color so our cream cabinets won't blend into the wall so much, like this demo at Home depot. right:I am in love with this back splash

Here it is in a demo. I am in love!

Here is a pic I found on the Internet and love but since it is so light we would definitely have to paint the walls darker.

The next pics are what Sean wants. It is called Fasade. He wants the silver, I'm not sure about that. But I like some of the other colors.

Some of the other colors

A gazebo. This shed would match our house perfectly! It would be so nice to have it to put the lawnmower and snow blower in it, once we have them that is :), so they don't take up our parking space in the garage.

This fridge on the left is AMAZING too bad it is thousands of dollars. Right: Living where it snows you have to have somewhere to put your shoes when you come in the house. I was thinking something like this, this is to Asian looking for me. But I got to get some kind of something.

Seeing Daddy at work

2011-03-10T20:18:00.000-08:00

Rush did not like being in the truck but Keilei loves it.

She also loves to play hide and seek and pick-a-boo around them

Sunday Princess

2011-03-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

I finally broke down and bought Keilei a princess type dress to wear to church. She loves it and wore it all day.

She loves twirling in it

more twirling

My pretty princess and me

p.s. you like her beaver teeth that is so from her sucking her thumb. She has a horrible over bite. My poor kids are going to need braces:(

I just bought her the pink one today. I really love the white one too though, but Keilei wanted the pink one, of course:) I might have to go back and get the white one. They are at Ross for less then $15 you just can't beat that!

Single Mom

2011-03-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

I just want to give major props out to all the single mom's out there. You are amazing! I truly don't kno how you do it!?
My husband is ALWAYS gone. There are a lot of times that I feel like I am by myself. My husband works so hard and I know he does it to gives us all the things we want. But I don't think he understands that I would rather rent all my life, live like church mice, and have him home then be alone and have nice things and a nice home.
I would rather have him home to help me put to bed our 3yr old, that drives me to tears after trying to get her to stay in bed for 2 hours, then have a big tv and nice furniture.
I would rather not have any more kids, which I really do want, when I can't even handle the two we have now all by myself.

One Great Night

2011-02-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

DATE NIGHT

Sign/closed on our Mortgage loan

Went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse

Got home in time to put kids to bed

Watched a moviee with my Hubby

Enjoyed alone time

Watched it dump snow

My hot Husband

Rush pushing Rush in her doll stroller

Then playing pick-a-boo in the curtains

After that they wen to bed, but it was fun playing with them before bed.

It snowed...

and snow some more!

It snowed even more! When we woke up in the morning you could barely see the bump of a bike under the snow it was crazy

FYI- following might be TMI for some people...

I finally started my period, 2 weeks late! I was so relieved. I am never that late so I was excited, even with the bad timing:) We had fun anyway and enjoyed our time alone. When Sean started kissin on my neck I didn't even worry cause is really good at not leaving marks on me but I ended up with the biggest "curling iron burns" I have ever had. This happened on Friday night and the kicker was I had to give a lesson in Relief Society on Sunday in our brand new ward that we haven't even been introduced in yet!

I had to go to the store to buy a turtle neck the next day to hide Sean's handy work!

yeah I looked like a cheetah:)

Playing in the Snow

2011-02-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

My cute kids

right: Keilei eating a ice-cycle

Sledding down the mound of gravel we had in the drive way. The kids thought it was a blast.

Keilei pushing her tube up with her head

trying to eat the snow, just sitting watching Keilei

Cute Keilei

2011-02-21T12:12:00.001-08:00

Keilei never keeps hats on. I found this adorable hat I wanted her to wear cause I thought it would look so cute with her short hair, normally personally I not a big fan of hats with short hair, but this looked so cute. So even though she might not ever wear it, other then when I made her to snap a couple pictures, I bought it. But it was only a dollar!

Ain't she cute!!!

misc. pictures

2011-02-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

Just some cute pictures I wante in my Journal

Happy Rush Man

I should have gotten a picture of it but 10 mins after this he was covered in mud head to foot!

Sean walking to my parents house with the kids

Keilei & Rush so cute!

Kids do, kids say

2011-02-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

You know when your kids say the funniest or most surprising things and you can't help but laugh or at least smile, that is kid magic and Keilei has done a lot of that since we got home.

Thumbs up & eye wink:
Sean was getting all our boxes ready to go to recycling and Keilei was helping him. My Mom and sister came over and commented about how she was doing a good job. She looked up from the boxes winking her eye and doing a thumbs up at the same time. We all busted up! I have no idea were she got that. I had never seen her do that before.

Keilei loves running around naked or just in her undies. She was doing this one day and then she went and put her hat on and then put my boots on. After Rush watched Keilei he got my other pair of boots and brought them to me, he wanted boots on too.

Keilei came walking out of our bedroom with my bra on and she came to me and said look mom I have booboos too.

I went in to Keilei's room to get her ready to go to bed and she was dressed up. It was so cute. She is starting to do this more often now, but she still doesn't keep it on for very long.

My Mom took Keilei to primary last week and a little girl walked in with a frilly dress on and Keilei said, "Look Cinderella!" Then another girl walked in with a frilly dress and she got excited again and said "Two Cinderellas!"

The next time I went to the store I kept my eye out for a good Cinderella dress for Keilei. I found one at target the other day. She was excited to twirl in it. She kneels on the ground so that the dress fans out in a big circle around her.

Rush had this blanket and her was trying to lift it and but it on the couch. So I put it on the couch and then he took a piece of it and tried to pull it to the Ottoman. Then I realized what he was doing. He wanted to make a hut. So I made one for him and he started crawling around in it, so excited.

This is rush's black eye he got. He was at my parents house and he was walking to the bench(when he was just learning to walk). He reached to grab it and his hands missed and his head whacked on the bench. He bawled of course. He had a instant bruise under his eye and it got all swollen. He had this bruise for over 2 weeks, poor guy. These picture are of it on it's way to getting better.

While we were in CA my watched the kids and one night my brother stayed with the kid, they were sleeping, so my mom could go watch a show. Well I guess Keilei woke up and so Sam went to put her back down and ended up laying on the floor by her bed waiting to fall asleep. He dosed of and stated snoring, he is the loudest snorer that you will ever hear, and Keilei would look down at him with an angry glare and say "Sam be quiet!" I guess it happened a couple times, I thought it was so funny.

I found out about that story because the other night she woke up and I went to put her back to bed and she said, "Mommy will you sleep with me?" I told her that her bed was too small and that I couldn't. Then she said, "Mommy will you sleep on the floor like Sam?"

I figure that Sam had laid there till she fell asleep so I asked about it later. I thought it was a cute story and I thought it was cute how she asked me to sleep with her.

Sad one:

Sean was on the computer doing stuff and Keilei brought a book to him and asked him to read it. He told her just a minute, she hung her head and started walking away and said "You always say that" :( she continued to walk to the couch to read it herself and a Sean asked her what she had just said. She answered in the same sad voice with her head hung "Dad you always say that"

Of course he stopped what he was doing and read her the book. I know he is not the only one to blame we both tell her just a minute, or maybe later, way to much. I had no idea that she was really at the age were she notices and it really does make a difference.

We are going to have to work on that.

CA Friday -Relax & Sat. -drive home/turtles

2011-02-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

Friday we took it easy and relaxed. We slept in then Sean went for a run on the beach then we did an afternoon show and then dinner. It was fun to not have any stresses for the day.

Saturday We drove home. Sean had stopped the car out in the middle of nowhere and it woke me from sleeping. I thought he was having a hard time staying awake or something was wrong with the car. He said a car had rolled over and he was going to see if he could help. There was already 4 cars pulled over to help but no ambulance or police so I was glad he went to help. There was a person sitting on the ground and one still in the drivers seat. I thought the one in the drivers seat was hurt really bad and that is why they hadn't gotten out of the car. After a little bit I figured that neither of them where seriously hurt just by the way Sean was walking around and then talking to people.

Sean came back after 10 mins. or so and said that neither of them where hurt and the ambulance was on it's way, the driver had fallen asleep fyi- (which is another example to me why I refuse to drive on road trips or very far at all, I fall asleep so easy), so we continued on our trip.

I was so proud and comforted that Sean would stop to help, and so grateful that he has the skills that he has to help people!

This is the St. George temple. We only saw it from the road as we drove by, we would have stopped but we wanted to get home, but it is such a beautiful temple. I love the old style and how white it is. I think it just made it onto my top 5 temples list:)

This was a hotel/casino out in the middle of nowhere but I thought it looked SO cool in the the shape of an old mill/barn.

We made it home! I was SO glad to see the kids! We gave the kids their presents.

Rush got some new sunglasses

We gave Keilei the sea shells we had collected for her. She was excited.

We gave them the two baby turtles we got for them in China town.

She was even more excited!

I was so glad to see them and to see their smiles!

Rush laying with Sean and watching a move before he went to bed. It was so adorable!

The next day I had to change the turtles water and I let Keilei hold the turtles. I thought once they moved it would scare her but she did great.

This next pic is of Keilei petting the turtle and saying "Oh, it is soo pretty!"

It made me happy:)

CA Thurs.- Beaches/Pacific Coast Highway

2011-02-15T20:03:00.001-08:00

We drove up the Pacific Coast Highway and stopped at beaches and played in the water. It was so much fun.

We went to Hunington beach and I since it is a state beach and in the off season they had most the parking blocked off but I was still amazed that there was no one on the beach, the weather was so nice.

Then we went up the 1 some more and stopped at beach. It is the first time I have seen a peir in the ocean. I have seen tiny ones on lakes of course, but nothing like this huge one.

Once again the beach was pretty empty

All the little black dots are surfers, which was cool to see too, also a first

Most of them just sat there most of the time but it was cool to see them get up

Sean looking for sea shells for Keilei

do you see the oil rig in the background, there where 3 of them that you could see from this beach. I had never seen one on the water before. I like the waves in this picture.

The biggest I have ever seen on a beach. The ones you find at bear lake are 1/2 inch big at the most!

This I thought was cool/interesting the sand was covered in what looked like gold flakes. Californians really are rich they even cover thier beaches in gold:)

A toll both for the toll highways.I think we paid at least $20 in freeway tolls:( Our new phones are great they where a life saver with the gps navigation but it take the most direct route which put us on a bunch of toll road and you couldn't tell which roads where toll roads till you on thier exits. Since I was the navigator and still learning how to use our phone i couldn't figure out fast enough if there was other roads to take, but we NEVER had traffic which was awesome!

This beach was my favorite. It was just little and in a residentual neighborhood. But it had good varity. Sean is about to walk through a little stream that lead into the ocean, it was perfect for little kids to play in, and they where. There was a playground by the parking lot. There was also some rock outcroppings and no sea shells to step on.

Sean playing in the ocean!

I know it is probably nothing to most people but check out that wave, can you see why I was scaried to get in!? I tried to go in with Sean. I got about waist deep and I chickened out and turned around to walk out at just the wrong moment, a wave hit me knocked me on my butt and then rolled me around and almost took my swim suit bottoms off! Can I just say rolling around on sand does not feel so good .So the exact thing I was afraid of happened. I have to say it was pretty hilarious though I wish Sean had got it on camera. After I got my balance and fixed my suit I could totally hear Sean standing in the ocean laughing at me, he saw it all. I had gotten a mouthful of ocean water holy cow it is salty! It took awhile to get that salt taste out of my mouth.
But I am determined to get in next time I am at the ocean...NO more being a chicken.

I drew this and then asked Sean to come over so I could get a picture with our feet in it. As he walked up he said are you going to tell everyone I drew that so it looks like you have a sweet husband?

I guess I should have wrote JL +SL so it looked more like I did it but I had to hurry before another wave came and this is what I wrote.

Me being a chicken

I love this picture with Sean sitting in the sunlight

I thought it was cool watching the ocean waves fill in this trench. This is as the starts going out.

This is when the waves come in

It is the first time I had seen mussels(or whatever they are called)

It was so much fun. Sean wanted to take me up to the beach that is in a lot of movies and has like a ferris wheel and stuff but it was taking to long, it took forever driving up the PCH, and I want to go home and shower before we went to dinner. So we went home. Sean wanted to just jump in the pool and then go to dinner. We got in the pool and got all the sand off us.

A couple times when Sean was working on they house and didn't have time to shower before he had to be somewhere he would just but on calogne and go. We always joke about it being a "Hillbilly Bath". So as we where getting the sand off of us in the pool I asked Sean if this is a "Beach Bum Bath" ?! He laughed and said I guess it is:)

We went to dinner at The Olive Garden! I have been asking him to take me there for probably over a year. He says he doesn't really like eating out at Italian places but every time we do he likes it, I don't know what his deal is with that. But it was yummy for sure.

CA Wed. -Dolphins

2011-02-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

Ok keep in mind I have only seen the ocean once in my life, when I was 21 and only for like 1/2 hour cause it was Dec., so I was SO excited to experience everything that had to do with the ocean...which meant I took a TON of pictures everyday.

We had breakfast and then went on a whale watching tour. We got a steal of a deal, it was only $35 for the both of us and there was only maybe 20 people on the boat! We didn't see any whales but we saw a ton of dolphins. Seriously we saw a pod that had about 500 dolphins in it. I was so excited to see them that I was only a little disappointed that I didn't see a whale.

The marina across from RJ's and where we stayed

You see the white condos on the shore line that is where we stayed it was awesome!

Sean & I on the boat

K do you see that line in the water that looks like a wave? That is the pod of 500ish dolphins headed our way!

Here they are when they get a bit closer

Here they are up close and personal!!!!

Can you believe it!? It was so awesome!!!

They are so beautiful I wanted to jump in and play with them

No I didn't really want a picture of me this big but can you see the dolphins behind me!?

Some sea lions just chillin

Sean & I in front of the sea lions

I was so excited!

More dolphins

I just really liked this picture of Sean

I was a little bit wheezy on the boat but was doing good until I had to use the bathroom on the boat. The room was small and no windows and I was swaying. It made me so sick I thought I was going to hurl. It took me like 15mins to get over it but luckily we where turning around heading back at that point so I didn't miss anything.

A cool pirate type boat we saw.

CA Tues.-San Diego Temple

2011-02-14T11:13:00.001-08:00

We woke up and had breakfast at RJ's and then headed to San Diego. Sean & I signed up to listen to a timeshare shpill. We knew we would say NO, we have learned our lesson:) But they gave us a free trip to Hawaii, plane tickets and hotel, plus 4 tickets to Knott's. We went down and went to the temple. It is SO beautiful, even more so in person. Other then Logan, SLC, & Manti San Diego is my favorite temple so it was great to be able to go there. We didn't get to do a session because it was closed. But it is amazing.
When we got done with our timeshare thing we went back to our place then out to eat.

San Diego Temple

CA Mon. - Bonfire & Knott's

2011-02-14T09:37:00.001-08:00

Eating at RJ's Cafe

I don't have any pictures from the daytime because we went to breackfast and then went to Knott's Berry Farm and I didn't bring my camera. But Knott's was AMAZING! The only park I have been to is Lagoon and that was 7 years ago.

There was only maybe a couple hundred people in the whole park. We would ride a ride and then just stay in our seats and go again. We did like 12 rides in a hour and our stomachs where taking a thrashing. After a ride that we sent the boys on themselves(it went backwards and I didn't think my head could handle it) when they got off JC started puking in the bushes! We decided to sit and take it easy for a while. But I am SO glad I didn't go on that ride!

We had lunch and then did another pass at the rides that were our favorite, riding them a couple times each again! Then we walked through the shops and headed home. We changed into our clothes that already smelled like smoke ate some leftovers and then did another bonfire at the beach with smores!

I love the way the fire made these pictures turn out.

I love this picture

Trip to California-Sun.- L.A. & Beach

2011-02-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

Sean & I used our timeshare in San Clemente area this year. We left for a week and left the kids with my Mom. It was SOOOO much fun. We had some friends from Arizona come and stay with us for the first couple of days! It was such a blast to have JC & Erica there with us. I am so glad that they could come.
Sean & I got to our condo at Sat. night had dinner and then where waiting for JC & Erica and we both crashed. I don't even remember them calling to get directions or them getting here, I was out. The next morning we went and had breakfast at RJ's cafe, it was AMAZING, we ended up eating there like 4 times it was that good. Then we drove into L.A. and went to China town and to see the stars and the Hollywood sign. Then we came back and played on the beach right across the street from where we were staying, we didn't want to leave the beach so we ran and picked up some pizza's and smore stuff and went back and had a bonfire and made smores. It was just like in the movies it was amazing! So much fun!

Taking a picture with the kids before we leave, our in case we die picture, it is a tradition of mine.

CALIFORNIA

The view from our condo!!! Right across the street from the ocean, literally!

Driving into L.A.

Sunset blvd. and JC saw this street and pulled over so I could take a picture

China town...

This chicken with it's head still on was laying out to buy. right- Sean trying on a hat it was too small for him, is it crazy that I actually like him in it!?

left- Eating at the place that Rush Hour was filmed, it was amazing food, but the service sucked.

Sean stuck behind the dancing dragon

Erica & I

Me standing at Frank Sinatra's star

Some other cool stars we saw

At the beach...

We went to play in the water and watch the sun set...

Me and my hot hubby!

Yea! I am at the ocean!!!

I LOVE this picture of Sean

Me going into the ocean

Me being way excited about being at the ocean, AND freaking out about the waves!

Sean running from the waves

Jana & Erica

JC & Erica

Me and Sean

JC & Sean

Sean was on his phone a bit, but it was a life saver to find directions and places to eat

Having a bonfire on the beach. We had pizza and made smores :)

trying to make a place to sit

Weight Watchers

2011-02-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

Because I am one of those people that is not afraid to talk about any subject, except subjects I don't know anything about..in which case I just listen, I can tell you that I am on Weight Watchers.
I am going to write down my weight gain & loses as I go. I'm not going to say how much I weigh just cause I am a little embarrassed to have it on the world wide web. But if you are really dying to know you can ask me:)
I am on week 4 well starting week 5
Here are my stats so far...

Week 1
lost 2.8 lbs

Week 2
lost 3.6 lbs

Week 3
gained 1 lbs
-We moved this week and lived off of take out & I was on my period. But I was still bummed to find i had gained.

Week 4
lost 3.2 lbs

Total lost so far = 8.6 lbs ...........SWEET!

Still Unpacking

2011-02-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

I have been super busy unpacking and chasing kids around. There is really nothing new. Sean & I are going on a trip to LA area this weekend. We are going for a week, with no kids! I am so excited and scared at the same time, I mean to leave my kids for that long.

Rush started walking about a week ago and now he is cruising. I got a video i will have to put it up once I find my USB cord. It is in a box somewhere.

Keilei Says Keilei Does

2011-01-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Keilei was being a little stinker at breakfast. It is so hard to get her to eat. She had a little cup of applesauce and she was taking forever to eat it. She kept getting up and down, and playing with toys, etc. Finally I told her if she didn't eat I would spank her bum. Then I asked "Do you want me to spank your bum?" She looked at me with this smug tring to be innocent look and said "If you want to" I was shocked and so i asked her again to make sure I heard right and sure enough she said it again "If you want to."
So I spanked her bum, not hard, and then asked do you want me to spank you harder and she said "No just a little one"
What am I going to do with her?

Moving In

2011-01-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

We have been busy last week packing. Then this weekend we moved in. Now we are busy trying to get unpacked and organized. I still have to go to the old house and clean it tomorrow. It shouldn't be too bad, I hope.
Thank you for the people that came and helped us move. We couldn't have done it without you!

It Works

2011-01-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

I Lost 5lbs. in the last 2 weeks! So I guess I can say that so far weight watchers is working. And to be completely honest that is without me working out at all, literally, unless you count packing as working out?
I know that isn't a big number and I don't feel like I have lost anything but hey 5 lbs. is 5 lbs!

I am really liking learning portion sizes and what is really unhealthy. But I LOVE that I don't have to stop eating certain things, that is why I have never done any other "diets". This one I get to eat what I want to eat, just sometimes you have to figure how to balance it with other stuff, which is the way it should be!

Tangled

2011-01-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

When I was talking to Keilei yesterday about how she shouldn't cut her hair and asked her why she did it she said, "I cut my hair like tangled" and pointed to a picture of Repunzel. I told her no she had long pretty hair. She replied, "But Mom she cuts her hair at the end!"
How do I argue with that?

Keilei Cut Her Hair :(

2011-01-17T18:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a before and after picture for you. Her hair was SOOO gorgeous and long and perfect and then she had to go and take the scissors to it!!!

KEILEI'S FIRST HAIRCUT

I got out of the shower and got dressed and then went to check on the kids. And the first thing I saw was Keilei with a pair of scissors. I thought oh great she has been cutting up stuff, which she had. When I walked into her room to get the whole picture there was some paper stuff she had cut up but then what I saw on the chair made me scream! (Not at her, just in horrified surprise)

She had cut her hair!!!

It was in this dust pan on the chair and on the chair....

A couple different spots on the floor with bunches of hair....

And later I found this in the garbage.
When I looked at her the first thing I noticed was that she had cut at her pony tail....

But after I found the hair in the garbage I checked her more closely.

She had taken a huge chunk of hair off on the side of her head. When I took her hair out of the pony it covered it and it just looked layered in the back, not to bad. But if I did anything with her hair, which I do everyday so it isn't in her face, then this really short chunks totally showed.

So I decided to cut it off. Which made me want to bawl, it still does. But I though a cut a-line haircut would be cute on her. I wanted to keep at much length as possible. I called a couple friends I know that do hair and Shawnee was so sweet to help me out and give Keilei her 1st haircut. I didn't just want to take Keilei to any salon cause I wanted her to have a good haircut. I didn't want someone I have never been to to think oh it is JUST a 3 yr old and hack off her hair. So luckily Shawnee was free.

This is what I pictured in my head, I love how this looks but it turned out a bit shorter.

but the it still looks so cute and I love all the layers in her hair. I love the way Shawnee cuts hair I knew she wouldn't make her look bad.

(I know it looks uneven in this picture but it really isn't)

This is how much length we cut off :(

I am SO going to miss Keilei's long gorgeous hair...I am in morning for her hair(I probably will be till it grows back)

Packing :(

2011-01-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

So now that I am pretty much over the flu that had me in bed the last couple days(all of which Sean was gone-can I tell you how fun that was) now I get to start packing.
Yes that is right folks I am and will be busy packing, packing and more packing. Oh wait and packing what my kids just unpacked:/ Yea for me.
We are planning on moving this weekend if the instection goes without a hitch.
..........I HATE moving!
............................But I am excited to be in our own house!