We're Off and Happy Birthday to Meg

We are off for 10 days on a nice, relaxing vacation! We are going with
Sean for the first 3 days to Las Vegas because he has a conference
and then we will play in St. George for a week at our Condo.
I can't wait! No telephones ringing, no kids to watch-- just my own, no errands to run,
no house to clean, etc.
(Can you tell I am excited!!)

When we get home it will be the countdown to the baby! Wow- I can't believe how soon it will be here!

Also, a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH to my cute little niece Meg on Thursday! We hope you have a fabulous day! We love you lots and lots!!! Too bad you don't live in Las Vegas anymore, we would totally be there to celebrate with you!

Also, Happy 1st Day of Summer on Thursday. I think I may fry the little guy on our trip :)

Loves to All!! Don't miss us too much!

Happy Fathers Day!

I think I have the greatest Dad and Husband in the world!

Fathers Day is a hard day, but also a great one to reflect back on all the great

things my Dad did for me and what I see my husband doing for my kids to build that same relationship that I cherish! They

are 2 lucky little girls to have a Daddy like him. I love you babe!

Dance Recital

Tayler had her Spring dance recital last night and now she is all finished with DANCE for the year! I can't decide what class to put her in for the fall. I have been looking into gyms for

gymnastics so I'm not sure what she will do. She will also be in soccer! She learned how to do a back walkover with only a little spot and the splits. Crazy huh?

Anyway, last night was fun to watch her dance. None of the pictures turned out of them up on stage, but these one's did.

This is her and her teacher Paige.

Tay and her pal Rozlyn

Rylee being so excited for her big sis. She loved watching all the dancers

Afterwards, our friends had a backyard SMORE party. We went for a little while, but then Rylee was exhausted from being in the sun all day so I took her home to bed. It was a fun day!

Friday night we had a progressive dinner with 3 other couples. We made the appetizers and then sacrificed our house to have all 8 kids here with a babysitter while we went to every ones houses. It turned out to be a fun night!

Our friend from Nebraska, Dave Conklin, came and surprised us on our doorstep. He was here for a job interview and came by, so we were able to visit with him for a bit. It was nice to see him! Thanks for stopping by-- our fingers are crossed that you will get the Job here in UTAH! We can't wait to see you guys in July.

Also, Hip Hip Hooray to Julie for graduating with a Masters!!!!! She had her graduation on Friday. We are so proud of you and thought about you ALL DAY! Can't wait to hear how it goes.

Relaxing Weekend

This weekend was SO much more relaxing than last weekend.. even though I had to work on Friday and Saturday at the dentist office. Sean came home early Friday to watch my kids which was so much nicer than bothering someone else to watch them... even though I am still watching EVERYONE's kids (I can't wait for a vacation in 1 1/2 weeks!)

On Saturday after I got home from work and Sean finished the yard we took a picnic to the park. This is Tayler's favorite park because it has lots and lots of monkey bars and rings.

We had a great time and then came home for naps. It was a perfect Saturday and much needed. Afterwards we woke up and went and played games and dessert at our friends house. It was a fun night!

Today I had a Dr.'s appt. and everything is going well. I HATE stepping on the scale, but it's all for a good cause right??

Happy Monday everyone!

I think she may be part Monkey

Tay can do things that are amazing I think for her age. She can cross this huge span of monkey bars at the park and the rings with no problems at all. She taught herself how to do a perfect headstand and can hold it for quite a while. She does flips and all kinds of tricks. Pretty good for a 4 year old don't you think?? I think she may be gymnastic material.

We are having a rainy, rainy day! I think it has been raining for 4 hours straight so far. I love it! I wish I had time to make bread. Hope you are having a great Wednesday too!

Thank You

• A special thanks to my sister for sending me a package with lots of "undies" for little Rylee and a darling outfit for my boy! Thanks Jen- You're the best!

• Also, thank you Brent and Ashley for the postcards to Rylee and Tayler! They loved them. You guys are always so great for remembering them and that means the world to us as well!

• We also received Julie's graduation announcement! Wow Jules- your Masters! You are amazing. I wish I could be there to see you, but we will sure be thinking about you! Way to go!! We love you!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Yesterday we hosted Sean's sisters baby blessing and luncheon at our house.
Sean and I worked all day Friday and Saturday to get everything done. I don't
think I have been so tired or sore in a long time. Saturday night my feet hurt soo bad
I could barely walk, but it was all worth it. I finished so many of my projects and things
I have been wanting to do. I re-painted the red wall in my kitchen. It is more of a
rusty red/brown color now. I LOVE it! (It is the Suede paint too). I will take a
picture soon. We have one more place to fix and then I need to hang some of my
things back up. I also fixed all the nail pops everywhere (such a pain) and repainted
a little wall in my family room that looked yucky. We also did everything in the
yard to get it ready, cleaned out the garage, washed the cars, cleaned the carpets,
washed the blinds, mopped all the floors, de-junked tons of stuff, and so on.

We also had a baby blessing for Sean's best friends little baby in Herriman yesterday
morning at 9 a.m. so we were up early and gone all day. It was a nice day and fun
to have Sean sit with us in Church! His friend and wife have tried for 7 years to have
a baby so it was a neat experience to be there. She was so tiny. I forget how little they
are.

I can't believe that I am almost 32 weeks! The time has gone by so quickly. Sean
told me Saturday while we were outside working that he and Tayler would write the
baby's name on the driveway with sidewalk chalk and so when I came home from
the hospital I would see it. Yeah, right!

Anyway, today we are taking it easy and not doing a lot except painting toe nails and
maybe walking to the park!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Today's events were fun. We met my Mom and then went to lunch at Chili's (Sean met

us there because he was at work). After lunch, he and Tayler headed off to see Shrek 3

and Rylee, my mom, and I went up to my Dad's grave. Tayler made some pictures to

leave for Grandpa. They were very sweet.

Rylee loved running around to all the different graves and distributing flowers from one to the other. She was out of control! They have a beautiful fountain there too that she loved playing by. Afterwards we went back to the mall and went shopping for a few hours. It was a fun afternoon.

Tonight we sadly watched the Jazz lose! We had 2 families come over and watch it with us. It

was a mad house.

Pictures of the Loft

Here are the results after painting the Loft. I think it turned out fairly well. I love the "suede" paint look. Now I need to find curtains that I love and organize a few more things.

I think I am going to do the red wall in my kitchen in suede now.

It needs some kind of texture!

I am so excited that "So you Think You Can Dance" started again tonight. Love that show. I just wish my pal, Carolyn, would have made it-- since that girl can dance!! I'm not sure what they were thinking??

Well, Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! Jen & Fam have fun camping!

Story

So yesterday I lost my wedding ring. I noticed it an hour or so before I had to leave for work and so I frantically searched all over the place. I knew that I had left it right by my earrings in the girls bathroom the night before so I knew it had to be in my house somewhere! I went through all the garbages and searched the floors. I figured Rylee was probably the culprit so I kept asking her where it was. She would say "ummm" and start looking, but nothing ever turned up. I told Sean when he got home and was sick about it! He asked me if I had said a prayer, and I said "no I was in a rush"

Well Tayler said the prayer for FHE and blessed that we would find "mommy's ring" and sure enough when we put the girls to bed a little while later Rylee came right out holding it! I was amazed and teary eyed! (seriously I had looked EVERYWHERE!) It was a total testimony builder to me!



Afterwards, I went downstairs to watch the Bachelor. Well, I was still amazed at the whole wedding ring thing so when Bevan was let go at the end I teared up. Tayler was down there cuddling with me and also started to cry (she always does if I do). I was dying and started laughing so hard at how pathetic the whole situation looked. Sean would have died if he had seen us and thought that we were crying over a reality show. It was humorous!



Anyway, just thought I would share that before I forgot. It looks like little Rylee was the culprit after all. Lesson learned: No more leaving it in the girls bathroom!



Last night, we went to Target to buy a cord for our new computer and Rylee got to pick out a baby doll for potty-training. She was so excited to go down the aisle and choose whatever she wanted. Here is the one she chose! Such a big girl! We love her! And Tayler was so great to not complain or get jealous that she didn't get one. She really is the best big sister ever!!!

Quick story: On Saturday, Tayler was invited to a neighbors house to go swimming and so she ran upstairs to get her swimming suit on. In the meantime Rylee also got hers out thinking she was going too. When Sean and I saw Rylee, we told her that just Tayler was going this time. Well, Rylee started to cry of course. Tayler felt so bad that Rylee was sad, she decided to just stay home and swim with her in our pool instead of going with her friends to a different pool. I am so thankful for such a tender-hearted little girl. She amazes me everyday with the selfless things she does. I think she is heaven sent for sure!!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! It is cold and rainy again today which I actually don't mind. It's nice to stay home. I even made chocolate, chocolate chip muffins! Very yummy.

Catch Up

We finally have our computer back up and running! Hooray for us. Sean bought me a new one for Mother's Day and now we are back in business. Our old one kept freezing every few minutes and making horrible noises. Well while it was all unhooked I painted the loft. It's a greenish tan suede and I love it! I will take pictures once everything is put back to normal.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother RYAN and brother-in-law STEVE!! Hope you both had great days! Sorry I can't post any pictures. I'm not sure where they are??

The best news of the weekend is that Rylee is potty-trained 100%!!! It's so nice! I need to relish in no diaper changing before the new one arrives. I have 9 weeks to enjoy that :)
We started Thursday and by Friday evening I was ready to be done and quit, but then it just clicked. They even came and got me while she was in nursery because she told them she had to go potty. I am so proud of her. She had 2 accidents and many hours were spent in the bathroom, but the outcome is SO worth it! I love it!!

Friday we went to the duck park and had a picnic. I love when I can escape with my little ones and go and play. I was suppose to babysit all afternoon, but I cancelled on the person. It felt so good. We had a great time and enjoyed the sun.

Saturday I painted and then we went out with some friends for his birthday. We went to eat at Wingers and then went bowling. It was great fun!

I finished painting my room too. I love the 2 other walls brown instead of white. Now, I just need to finish sanding and painting the chair rail in the baby's room and I can get everything put back together again. It feels good to cross off projects from my list.

Anyway, I hope that you all had a great weekend as well!!

Happy Mothers Day!

I am so thankful for a husband that takes care of me the way he does! Yesterday he made an awesome breakfast for all of us and then made a Fabulous dinner. I am so thankful that he is such a good cook. Last week was really a hard week and he made me feel so much better about everything! I love him more than I can say! I know that he is SOOO busy, but yet does everything without complaining and still gives me time that I need.

Saturday my mom came up so we hung out for a while before she went to her parents house. It was great to see her. We tried to convince her to stay with us, but she had to tend to her parents and I completely understand. I will do a tribute to my mom later.

Yesterday for dinner, Sean's parents and brother came up to eat and then we all watched the Jazz game and then had dessert. It was such a good game. GO JAZZ!

Tonight we are having a get together at the park with all of Sean's family. We are having a pot luck dinner and meeting and letting the kids run around and play. It's too hard to take ALL of the kids to a restaurant these days so we'll see how it goes.

My kids gave me the cutest card for Mothers Day!

I loved it and laughed so hard. Tayler and Rylee bought me new pans so now I get to throw some of my old ones away. Sean bought me a new computer so when he un-hooks the old one (hopefully tonight) I bought some Suede paint to paint the loft and then buy curtains. I am so excited, I can't wait! I painted 2 walls in my bedroom today as well. I love to finish projects and get things done!

Well, I just want to wish all the Women out there a Happy Mothers Day! It should be "Women's" day because every woman is a mother in some way!

Have a great week everyone! Rylee says hi too! Loves!!!

Our basement is finished!!!

I wanted to post some pictures of our basement- finally!! It is pretty much finished (except for the bathroom). We need to buy a toilet, vanity, and finish the tile around the shower, but other than that we are done! It is so much fun and we all love to camp out down there. We are loving the big movie screen! It takes TV to a whole new level.

This is looking down the hall. The storage room and bathroom are off to the left and the girls playroom under the stairs is to the right.

The play area. I still need to figure out how I want to paint and decorate it.

Tayler enjoying Barbie and the Nutcracker.

The back of the room. There is a closet (the component shelves) and then the door into the bedroom.

The screen. It can adjust to be the whole wall. I have it little for Tayler.

The back bedroom.

Today is freezing! What is up with this weather! I think it's a great day for a nap. We were up way too late last night. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Loves!

Happy Birthday Mom

Friday was my mom's birthday!! We went out to be with her Friday afternoon after school. We had purchased some balloons the day before (since I had my nephew for a few days) I was trying to plan ahead, but from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon only 3 of the 8 balloons were still a float! So the balloon bouquet we took was minimal, but at least we tried. Sean met us out there after work and we went to Bajio for Dinner. I was going to make a cake, but figured we would go somewhere with dessert so I didn't, but Bajio didn't have desserts so we stopped and bought a big banana split and put a candle in it! I hope that you had a great day mom!

Saturday was a day of projects. Sean had a huge list of things he needed to get done and he did most of them. Way to go honey! The weather has changed to warm, warm, warm! I turned our AC on because our house was 84 degrees and opening the windows wasn't doing anything! I can't believe it's almost May!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Projects

This is for Jen! (she requested some pictures)

I finished painting the nursery, but now all the finishing touches need to go up like the curtains, pictures, chair-rail, nix-nacs, etc. but here is how it turned out. I love the brown color against the blue. It really looks like a boy's room to me.

(it was hard to get a good angle because of all the stuff still in the way. I'll get a better one in a few days. Sean is going to put up the chair-rail on Wed. night when we put all the baseboards back on in the basement. Then Thurs. and Fri the guy is going to do the touch up painting and I will have pictures! I can't wait.

This is just the bedding. It's microfiber and so soft. Not such a stellar picture either, but hey,

Last Tues. I cut my hair off and put highlights in it. This picture is right before bed with no make-up and Rylee is pretending everything is a Binky.

This is an awful picture, but my belly at 27 weeks!

Tayler took this picture for me (and the one with Rylee and I). I thought she did a great job.

Sean worked all day and got his projector hooked up on Saturday. It is SOOO awesome!! We watched Cinderella with Tayler and Rylee. Tay kept saying "I love this movie theater" After they went to bed, Sean and I watched Freedom Writers. I was a good show and so fun to watch with the projector!

The weather is suppose to warm up a little again with scattered showers every now and then. I love spring rains (not snow), so I'm excited to go outside and play. I hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

Today is my nieces 3rd birthday! I can't believe that she is 3 already. I remember seeing her for the first time in front of their Las Vegas house as I met them there coming home from the hospital (Tayler and I had driven up from Utah). She was so tiny and so Beautiful!! It has been fun to watch her grow up into such a smarty pants! We love you baby!

(This is Emmy the big sister holding little Alyssa and of course Tayler trying to get her hands in their too!)

Today I woke up at 5:30 to go to work, but apparently all of the appt.'s were cancelled and no one told me! I was a bit mad, but what do you do? If I would have known I could have had a lot of other things planned. Anyway, I am getting ready to paint the nursery. Wish me luck.

Last night we went to the Blaze game. We had the executive tickets so we got to sit in the suite and eat dinner, but when we arrived at 7:35 (it started at 7:00) they already had dinner cleaned up. Seriously, the games go until 10:00 and most people don't arrive until after 7:30. I was so angry and really was close to tears when they said dinner was already cleaned up. We ended up leaving and walking to the Gateway to eat. Thanks BriAnna for babysitting for us!

Hope you all have a splendid Saturday!

Oh the cold...

Here comes the cold front...It totally feels like winter. I can't figure this weather out!

Anyway, this weekend we went up to our friends cabin in Liberty (so only 45 minutes up Ogden canyon), but it felt like a different planet. It was so nice with no phones ringing or computers or even TV. We played outside a lot, slept and ate. It was great and the cabin was so nice! We left Friday afternoon and didn't come home until Monday afternoon in time for me to hurry and get to work by 2:00.

Rylee and Bethany-- Rylee carried this doll around 24-7Cutie Tay

All of the kids loved the bike stroller. We will definitely invest in one of these

We roasted marshmallows and hot dogs Sunday night and Rylee found a rusty old barbecue to run right into! She had the hugest goose egg on her head. After a few tears and some Tylenol she was just fine, but man the bruise was huge. Always a catastrophe!

Yesterday I finally picked up a packet to register Tayler for kindergarten and I am having a really hard time with it. I actually cried! We have to go and get some shots this afternoon and then I will turn my packet in. Luckily, they are just starting to do track assignments so we aren't too late. I had no idea when registration was?? (It was clear back in March), but if you don't have another child in school I'm not sure how parents know?- unless they are way more on top of it than me. Oh well, everything will work out fine.

Have a great Wednesday everyone! I best go and control 5 kids now!

New Stuff

My bedding arrived today for the nursery!! I love when things come. I'm so excited! It is exactly what I ordered and I love it. The sheets are a microfiber and so soft! I am going to Lowe's today (hopefully) to get the stuff for the wain's coating and the brown paint. I need a project to do so I am excited. I love finishing rooms in my house.

They finished the hardwood floors yesterday so everything in the basement is still in disarray, but it is getting there. I have heavy stuff set along the edges of hardwood strip so tomorrow I think it will be good to go and I will try and clean it up and take some pictures. It looks really good. We need to get the baseboards put back on and the touch up painting done and then we can put everything in it's place.

Anyway, after the babies room I am painting my loft and hanging up curtains and my master bedroom and bathroom. I just need Sean to tape them off because I really can't get it straight. Pathetic I know, but true!

Tayler and I are doing preschool together since her teacher moved to St. George and it is so much fun! I can't believe how smart she is. I actually cried the other day thinking that she was going to preschool. I was sad and actually don't want her to go, especially with the new baby coming! She is such a great helper, I will miss her and so will Rylee. I know that it will be fine I just can't believe that my baby is growing up.

Okay, so Spring weather is bizarre! It is 70's one day and then 40's and snowing the next. What the heck? I shouldn't have planted my flowers so soon. I hope they can survive these next few days!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Happy Easter Weekend

Happy Easter!!

We had a great weekend!

Friday night the Bishopric was in charge of the Ward Easter Barbecue. Sean did almost everything because the other members of the Bishopric had things they needed to take care of.

Thursday night we went to Sams Club and got all the food. We had a HUGE turn-out (I actually thought we were going to run out of food), but it all worked out and I think everyone got fed!

Afterwards we had an Easter Egg hunt for all the kids. I took Rylee with her group and Sean took Tayler with hers. They both had fun!

Saturday I didn't have to go to work because the Dentist was out of town and it was SOOO nice!

The girls and I slept in until 8:30 and then we got dressed and went and got donuts and choc. milk. Sean had a list of 20 or 30 items he needed to get done that day. He actually finished most of them too.

I played with the girls and pushed them on the swing and then cleaned out the garage. It was a nightmare (with all the stuff from our basement). After a trip to the DI and throwing tons away it looks much better!

Afterwards I made the kids lunch and then put them down for naps and went shopping. It was nice to be all by myself. I bought some shoes and clothes for the girls. When I got home Sean was leaving for a Baptism so I mopped all my floors while the kids were still sleeping and then the girls and I had a fashion show. When Sean got home we went to the park for a while and then went to Applebee's for dinner.

Sunday was a beautiful day. Sean had bishopric meetings but was home before we were awake. When the girls woke up we had an Easter Egg hunt and then played the CD's they got from the Easter Bunny.

We made breakfast and I started my 2 batches of rolls. After we hurried to get ready for Church and made it just in time. I came home during RS to check on my dough and it was ready to be rolled out, so I hurried and rolled out all the rolls and then went back to get my kids.

Sean only had to stay after Church for an hour and then was home again. We made wontons for lunch and I started baking all the rolls. (I think I had 6 cookie sheets full!)

These are some pictures from after Church.

At 6:00 we had a dinner at Sean's sisters house. It was so good. The kids then had another easter egg hunt! I think we have more candy than we did at Halloween!

We hope everyone had a happy Easter too! Loves to ALL!

Spring is in the Air..

My cherry tree is flowering and my tulips and daffodils are blooming! I love this weather!

I feel like spring cleaning, well not really!

Our basement is painted and carpet (minus the stairs) was put in yesterday. The guy ran out of staples to finish so he is coming back, but who knows when? The hardwood floor part is being installed on April 10th and then our paint guy will come finish the touch-up's and we will be done!!!! HOORAY.

We went to John Paris furniture last night looking for some kind of seating that will fit down there. I think we found one thing (a set of 3 theater chairs) we really liked that we will buy, but then the rest is a dilemma. The family room is long and narrow so we are having a hard time finding things to fit and have enough seating, but not have it be too squishy.

I purchased some boy bedding for my nursery today! What do you think? It came with everything except the lamp and mobile (which I will purchase in a while)..The nursery is already the light blue color, so I am going to put up a chair rail (or something cool) and paint the bottom that dark chocolate color and then have tan accents. I found a really pretty brown paint at Restoration Hardware that is suppose to be beautiful with the blue color so we'll see how it turns out?? I can't wait to get started now that I can move all the toys down to the basement and some back into the girls room!

I had another Dr.'s appt. yesterday and everything looks good. I finally broke out the maternity clothes too. Blah! At the ultrasound it is always comforting to see that the baby has 2 arms and legs, both hands and fingers and toes, and that everything is developing normally. That is the best part of it I think. He is a little mover. If I lay on my side he will kick me until I change positions and then stop.

Sean and Tayler have chosen the name Fennis (of course, as a joke) but Tayler keeps telling everyone that is the name so then people don't know what to say? (probably wondering if we are serious or seriously have lost our minds).

Last Thursday we spent the day in Provo at a funeral for Sean's cousin. She was climbing Y mountain and fell. She was 20 years old and such a beautiful girl. It was sad, but so comforting to know about "The Plan." She has a very strong family too!

Afterwards, we finally got everything done for our car. We got a Saab 9-5 and it is fun! I will take pictures of the basement and our car and post them soon.

Conference weekend was great (except for Sunday when I again had the stomach flu for the 50th time!) Friday night my little sister, Julie, stayed overnight and then we went out to my Mom's on Saturday when I got home from work. We got to see Katie (my brother Jared's wife) and Tayler was so excited! We hung out, watched conference (kind of :) and played games and Katie was great and played with my kids the whole day. For dinner we went up to Leatherby's. It was a fun, fun day! I hope you made it home safely Jared, Katie and Julie! It was great to see you guys (Jar, one of these days I'll see you!)

Have a happy week everyone!