More pages of the girls...

I love Shabby Princess

For my birthday (and since they were on sale) I bought myself several new digital kits. I love the Shabby Princess kits and have been busy scrapping again. I have so much to get caught up on so it's a good think that I like to scrap! Here are a couple of Sage when she was in Kindergarten. I cannot believe how much she has changed. I love looking at the pictures of the girls from when they were smaller.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

We had such a wonderful day yesterday! The girls enjoyed their gifts (well we all did) and we had a wonderful breakfast here with all the local family! It was just a great day! We played a lot of games and the girls had a blast playing with Grandpa. They must have played Uno for hours. They always have a good time with him. We played Wii and Wii fit and I must say it does much more for your muscles than I ever imagined. I really like the hula hoop game. Dad helped me hook the Wii up to the internet so I was able to download Super Mario Bros. 3. That has to be the very best video game ever invented. Now if I could just remember where to find all of those wistles! ;)


Last night we went over to Brandi's for prime rib and smoked turkey. The food was delicious and the company was great! The kids had a good time, especially the boys. They are growing so fast and it's fun to see their own little personalities starting to shine through.


Last night my dad set up all of his photo equipment and we did a little impromptu photo shoot in the living room. Sage ate it up like no tomorrow. She's such a ham in front of the camera. I'll upload some of the photos next time I sign in from my laptop. In the meantime here are the pages of Lindsay's baptism from last year.


Enjoy!

What a beauty eh?

For the last several years we've had Thanksgiving dinner with JJ's step-dad and I alwasy bake the pies. This year Lindsay wanted an apple pie so I thought I'd make it a bit more festive. I wasn't 100% sure that it would turn out but it did and I think that it's beautiful!

I've been scrapping a bit!

The pictures are from 2003. I'm almost done scrapping that year! I'm excited to get this year done and get all of the pages printed in a book so that we can enjoy them. I'm still working on 2008 and will eventually get all caught up! The 3rd page is my favorite. I love that picture for so many reasons but mostly because they are off MY children. I cannot believe how blessed I am to get to raise these two beautiful spirits. They are amazing. I cannot believe the changed that I've seen in them. Being a mother is truly one of the most amazing callings in life!

Happy Saturday....

Boy it's been a busy day! We had way too many things on our to-do list and it's way too late in the day to get the accomplished.

This mmorning the girls had dress rehearsal for the Primary Program tomorrow. Then we had to rush to Lindsay's basketball game (we were a couple of minutes late...oops!). After the BB game we decided to run into town to buy the girls each a laundry hamper for their rooms. I am so tired of the dirty laundry that seems to blanket their rooms. Libby also has a tendenacy to confuse a pile of laundry with her litter box (stupid cat) so we really need to keep the clothes picked up before she gets it on the carpet.

We also had to go to the grocery store but because we were starving and because Texas Roadhouse smelled so good and because we still had a gift card from last Christmas and because JJ had it in his wallet we had a fabulous lunch first! I love Texas Roadhouse!

I cannot believe how incredibly expensive food has gotten. It seems like the prices on some things have doubled. One pound of butter was $3.09. Last time I was there it was $2.00. It's crazy and I'm just thankful that we have good jobs so that we can pay for all of the groceries we need to feed our family.

On a brighter note, JJ just finished installing a second shelf in the laundry room so hopefully I can utilize that space a bit better. The room is so small and we so much stuff in there. I've been reading several decorating blogs lately and have found some super cute laundry room decor iteas on the cheap so I'm in the beginning stages of planning that room. I need to watch for some cute baskets to put on the shelves now and decide on a paint color for the room. I'd like to brighten it up a bit.

Enough rambling for one night..... :)

Happy Radiologic Technologist Week!

Did you know that my profession has a whole week to celebrate our achievements???

We do several little things at work to help us celebrate. We had a potluck on Monday and lunch brought in yesterday, today and tomorrow and then we get ice cream on Friday. It's not nearly like it used to be due to some party poopers in other departments so it's bit more low-key than in years past but it's still a nice treat.

Kendra called last night and asked if I could watch her kids for a couple of days so that she can fly to Florida to spend the weekend with Grant. She's leaving on Friday and I'm so excited for her. It's got to be tough being away from your spouse and being a 'single' parent for several months at a time. I'm hoping that this might be the last time that he has to be gone for a while, although he's supposed to go to Iraq next summer. I'm praying that the plans change so he won't have to leave.

Kendra needs a ride to the airport on Friday and then we'll keep Mynga (her dog) until Sunday night, when Kendra's in-laws will drop off the kids and pick up the dog, and then I'll have the kids until Wednesday night. That won't be too bad and I bet that the girls will have fun playing and having sleepovers during the week.

JJ will find out today if he has the day before Thanksgiving off work. His brother is having major brain surgery that day and JJ really wants to be there during the surgery. Dave has Parkinson's Disease and it has become very advanced. This surgery offers the chance at a normal life without tremors. I hope and pray that it is a success and that JJ can be there. We did find cheap airfare for him to fly down and back (so he can be here for Thanksgiving dinner) we're just waiting for FedEx to approve his time off. Keep your fingers crossed!

I'm off to get the kids to school and then to work. Have a great day!

Prank on Kendra

So Kendra and I had made some plans to watch General Conference and eat some carmel corn but then Kendra forgot and made some plans with her family (totally understandable). But since I was scorned we decided to get some revenge on Kendra....that'll teach her for giving me a spare key to her house.....eh?

She took it in fun and believe it or not she actually still likes us.....anyone have ideas how to get rid of her??? (JK)

Good Morning....Happy November!!!

I cannot believe that it is already November. That means only 53 days until Christmas!

We had big plans to finally get the siding on the shed but it's raining and so now JJ is going to have to take a day off work to get it done. So instead we took down all of the Halloween decorations (didn't waste any time did I???) and we cleaned up the front flower beds and JJ hosed down the front of the house to get rid of all of the dust and cobwebs that we were saving for the trick-or-treaters. Hehe! Now I've got to find something fallish to put out front to make the house look nice until we can put up the Christmas decorations, which is not happening until at the very least, December 1st. Please do not throw anything at me for this next comment! I know I'm a bit of a scrouge but for as much as I like Christmas and all of the beautiful sites, I get a little tired of red and green and by the day after Christmas it's all down too!

Since it's raining Lindsay and I are going to go into town and see if we can find some fabric to make her some new bedding. She always seems to get Sage's leftovers and she never, ever complains about it. It's time to do her room. I think that we'll probably paint (probably not this weekend) and add some shelving in her room. Hopefully we can find just the right fabric and hopefully it's on sale!

Until next time....

I LOVE Leelou and as soon as I figure it out I'm going to dress up my blog from this plain ol' black. I got the 'I Belong' link from Leelou but I'm still trying to make it work. It's supposed to click to the church's website but it's not working quite right. What happened? I used to be so computer savvy but I got left in the dust somewhere along the way.

Woohoo...It's Friday!

I have today off work and I'm so excited but I have a lot going on! Ashley is here from IF so we are going to hang out and probably go see HSM3 since the girls are out of school. I have a lunch date with my friend Les, which will be fun and then I have to swing by work because it's one of my co-workers last days and he had yesterday off so I didn't get the chance to say goodbye. I'm very sad that they are leaving. It was quite fun working with Robert.



Last night Kendra and I went visiting teaching for the first time in a few months. Grant said that we wouldn't go it we were paired together and so far we're only at 50%. Does that mean that he was right? We got a change of sisters and now we are visiting the Relief Society President so I guess that means we'd better step it up a notch, eh?



Last night's lesson was on Gender as an Essential Characteristic and I realized that we, as children of God were waiting in Heaven for Christ to create Earth for us and that this is not the first time we have waited for Christ's return. As we were in Heaven we waited for him to complete his work both creating the Earth and completing his mortal ministry. Interesting huh? Maybe it's silly but it really struck me as being valid and very important. You can read the article here.

Lindsay has her first basketball game tomorrow and I'm very excited! She is really loving BB. I'll take the camera tomorrow and take some pictures.

Lindsay started Basketball

Tonight was Lindsay's first experience with basketball and she had a great time! The kids learned how to dribble and how to pass the ball and then they started shooting baskets. It took her a little bit to get a hang of it but she made 5 or 6. Not too bad for one lesson. She did get hit in the forehead with a ball and we had a few tears but she recovered quickly. I'm definately going to have to take my camera and record her a bit. She'll love that (the mother says sarcastically)!

I'm getting a cold again. I had one last week and by Friday I felt so much better and thought that I was on the mend but by Sunday afternoon it was clear that the cold was back....darn it!

Tonight someone left some goodies and a Halloween Phantom on our front porch. It was sweet! We got Boo'd a couple of weeks ago so this will be fun to spread around too.

I cannot believe how quickly this month is going by. We still need to get our pumpkins and go to the corn maze. We just haven't had any time to do it and on Saturday the corn mazes are so crowded, plus this weekend I'm on call on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe we can go on Friday?

Geez...Almost 4 months without a peep....

I guess I thought I was better about posting! Ooops!

Life is crazy buzy as ever but we cannot complain. We are very blessed!

We just celebrated Lindsay's 9th birthday. I don't know where the time went but my little bitty baby is growing up so fast. We had lots of family come out for dinner and we had a great time. The weather was horrible and it even snowed! JJ took some video of the weather. As soon as I find the memory stick for the camera, I'll try to remember to post it!

We had a great day at church today and I learned so much. I hope that the sisters learn as least something in Relief Society when I teach. I'm afraid that I'm not a very good teacher but I'm trying. I have to teach next week so I need to get a jump on my lesson rather quickly.

One of my visiting teachers just bought a new house outside of the ward boundaries and I'm so sorry that they'll be leaving. She's been such a wonderful friend to me. She comes every month, almost without fail, and she usually brings me some sort of goody. I'll miss her a lot.

I'm going to try to post at least 3 times this week.....hold me accountable eh?

Here's another page from 2002! I'm determined to get caught up on my scrapbooking! I cannot wait to get enough done to put into a photobook. That will be really exciting! These are some photos that we took a few years ago when we went to Aberdeen to visit with the Simpson family. JJ grew up with Darren and he's always been a very positive influence on JJ. We really need to get together again since it's been about 4 years since we last saw them!

Enjoy your week!

Lots of New Pages and Some Very GOOD News!

Last weekend I managed to get 6 new pages done. I've started working with some of our old photos and plan to work my way forward and continue working on keeping up with the current year. These photos are some of our very first with a digital camera. My babies are getting so big!

Now for the BIG news! After nearly 4 years JJ has been offered a full-time courier position! Woohoo! He works so hard for them and at times he's felt as though they keep passing him over but not anymore! They are even considering working his schedule into four 10-hour shifts. That would be wonderful too! And his schedule will change so he can finally have Saturdays off. I'm so proud of him.

Good Morning!

It's freezing in our house this morning! I have much planned for the day but I'm so tempted to jump back in bed because it's warm in there. We have such a busy day today! We've been working in the backyard trying to get it ready to plant grass (or hydroseed). We rented a rototiller on Wednesday and have been raking out the weeds and rocks the last couple of nights. We're getting there. We're more than 3/4 of the way there. My goal for today is to get the rest of the side yard raked and plant some plants along that side of the house (by the A/C unit). We've got the sprinklers system in and working and we have the garden plots done. We just need to bring in the soil for them now.

So we're off to Lowe's this morning. Rake up the side yard. Plant some plants in the back. Plant some flowers in the front. The girls have a Primary activity at the church at 2:00. We have a birthday party/BBQ for Brandi at 3:30. My mom is coming to town tonight for an early Mother's Day dinner, and I'm on call (cross your fingers that no body needs emergency surgery today). Oh and Sage has a birthday party to go to from 11:00 - 2:00. I highly doubt we are going to get it all done but I'm sure going to try my best.

It's nice outside! A bit chilly still but sunny. Enjoy your day! I'll try to post pictures of the yard later.

2 New Pages

Here are a couple of new pages I made using Shabby Princess' New Promise Collection. Isn't it cute? I love the SP stuff! Marcia - no these aren't quick pages....I actually did them myself!

I cannot believe that I didn't post at all during the month of April! We spent most of our spare time working in the back yard. We got our sprinkler system put in thanks to our neighbor and our home teachers. We also build 2 garden boxes out of retaining wall block. They are 4' x 9' and we are looking forward to the warmer weather so that we can get our garden in. I already have 5 tomatoe plants that I'm nurturing along on my kitchen counter. Mom bought me 2 of them and JJ got the other 3 from work because someone refused a shipment. The pots are cracked but they are still thriving. I hope that we have tons of tomatoes to can and to eat. There's nothing better than a home grown tomatoe. Don't you think?

I am feeling mostly back to my old self since my surgery. I actually feel much better most of the time but I still am having a bit of a problem with some bloating. Thanks to my heating pad it's usually short lived. Overall, I'm very glad that I had the surgery and I would highly recommend it if you suffer from chronic reflux.

I'm getting ready to take a trip to SLC to see my friend Marcia. I'm taking Kellen (another friend from xray school), Sage & Lindsay with me. Kellen is from Kenya and is a hoot! It should be a very interesting trip! I'll post some pictures after I get back.

Well I'm off to the grocery store. I'm doing a once-a-month cooking group and I'm going to get everything cooked and in the freezer before the exchange in a couple of weeks. At least that is the plan.

On the mend!

I'm starting to feel much better and the surgery went well! It has been 4 days and today I ventured out of the house. I'm still sore and I still keep getting these weird spasms in my chest but I think that's probably pretty normal. I've also eaten a lot more today than I have in a few days, which is probably why I feel better. It's just not possible to live on less than 500 calories (a slim-fast and jello). I'm really hungry for pizza and guess what JJ brought home from the store for dinner.....French bread pizza! I'm gonna hurt the man! I was able to eat some very thinned out mashed potatoes and some spaghetti squash today. It's nice to eat something with a bit of substance to it. I get to (or should that be have to) go back to work on Friday. I have a 20lb weight restriction for a week and they are willing to accomodate so that's okay with me. Hopefully I won't have to transport very many patients.

We took Sage to see a dermatologist today....ugghhh....she has eczema! Poor thing! She's itchy all over and that was the one diagnosis I was hoping to avoid for her sake! The doctor looked right at JJ and and I said "Okay, which one of you has eczema?". I promptly pointed the finger at my better half! He's the king of all skin disorders. One kid inherited his allergies and one inherited his skin. Poor girls!

What a long week! I was on surgical call for most of the week and spent most of last Sunday at work and had a couple of long evenings in the OR. I'm glad that it's Friday and I'm so ready for the weekend. I don't have a lot planned but have several things that I need to get wrapped up before my surgery on Thursday. I will have to stay overnight and will be off work for about a week. It's a laproscopic surgery so hopefully I will recover quickly.

For those of you that don't know I'm going to be having a fundoplication on my stomach to correct a defect in my lower esophagus that has been causing my reflux. (sounds fancy, huh? 4 years of college may have paid off after all). I need to get groceries for our Easter meal, finish getting Sage's Easter outfit and get the baskets in order. I got Lindsay the most darling dress for Easter. I'll post a picture as soon as she puts it on. It's very cute! Sage is just outgrowing the little kid Easter dress thing and picked out a black and brown dress. I'm going to encourage her to get something a bit more 'springy'. That means we've got some shopping to do. Darn it! (hehehe)

A couple of new pages

The page with Sagie was made using a freebie quick page that I found. The file didn't have any other information than that so I'm sorry I cannot give proper credit. If you know who designed it please let me know. The one with Libby was made using a kit by Michelle Underwood. I love her stuff! I also used a quote from Elegant Word Art.

Rainy Saturday...

Hello all....

I am having a wonderful morning. The girls are still sleeping soundly in the family room. They wanted to have a "slumber" party in front of the tv so we let them. Libby and I are hanging out in the office. She's watching the rain out the window and I'm getting ready to do some scrapbooking. I've got homework that I should be working on but I'll get to that later today.

I don't have any big plans for the day. I'll probably get some laundry done and run to Costco later for a few things. I know that it seems impossible to just get a few things at Costco but I've discovered that if you don't get a cart you only buy a little bit because it's too hard to carry a lot.

I think that we are probably going to take the girls to see College Road Trip tonight. We love going to one particular movie theatre here. They have seasonings that you can sprinkle on your popcorn and free refils on the large. We always eat way too much popcorn but it's so yummy! We especially love the white cheddar and caramel (but not mixed together).

Enjoy your day and I'll try to post a few pages a bit later!

Wow....I cannot believe that I didn't post for the entire month of February!

I really didn't fall off the face of the earth and really don't have a good excuse for not posting. Life is busy as always for our family. Working full-time and being a mom (not to mention taking 6 credits) is certainly keeping me busy. I am starting to get in the groove and things are becoming easier. I'm still hopeful that JJ will get a full-time position soon so that I can cut back my hours. I'd love to be home more.

I did two new pages today. Okay they were quick pages and I just added the photos and text but still.....2 is good!

Walk like a camel

Classic Lindsay