Annie and Dave's New Place

We went up to Idaho this weekend to help Annie and Dave move from their apartment to their new house. It was a long process, but we got a lot done. I don't want to spoil it for them, but I thought I would post a few pictures that I took. The guys worked hard ripping out old shag carpet and the vinyl floor in the kitchen so it would be ready for the new carpet and flooring to be laid on Tuesday. Annie's mom and sisters did a lot of cleaning around the new place, and I mostly just packed up the apartment for Annie (since she is 8 1/2 months pregnant). We had fun and I am so excited for them. Their place was built in the 1970's and hasn't been updated since. So, there is a lot of work to do, but it has so much potential! It's a huge house that needs some TLC :)

The yard has lots of trees (most of which will be ripped out to make room for a nice lawn). The kids had fun exploring outside.

FRONT YARD VIEW...

BACK YARD VIEW...

The Kitchen...

Dave and Kyle working on removing tack strips...

Ellie liked to vaccuum. This is the front room...

Annie's mom scrubbing the toilet (Bless her heart)...

Their house has three family rooms (a formal sitting room, T.V. room, and play room) SWEET! This is the T.V. room that will be getting carpet this week.

Red Lobster Tradition

Our family has had this Red Lobster tradition for as long as I can remember. My mom, me, Kenna, Si, Janae, and Cass would all go and share this one meal everytime. The server would look at us funny like, are you serious, but we didn't care. It was a tradition! First of all, we always get water to drink. Then we order the batter-fried chicken finger lunch (any time of the day). It costs $7.50 and you get like 7 huge chicken fingers, a baked potato, salad, and "all you can eat" biscuits. We like to dip the biscuits in honey mustard. Their biscuits are the best and their baked potatoes are some of the yummiest you'll ever try. I promise that we always left with full tummies! So, for $10.00 (including tip) all six of us got a great lunch and some great memories. Me and Kyle go there now and share the same meal and always have left overs. Believe me, you gotta try it out!!!
Me and Kenna just took the kids last Tuesday. We get seated and don't even look at the menu. We just say, "We want water and the batter fried chicken finger lunch with a baked potato (butter and sour cream on the side), salad with Ranch dressing, and lots of biscuits and honey mustard." Everyone always laughs because we know exactly what we want. Kinda like we do it all the time. What they don't know is that we do! ;)

Girls Weekend Out

Every year over Labor Day weekend Kyle's mom and sisters go to East Canyon for a "Girls Weekend Out." Since I married into the fam I've been invited too. I've gone for the past 4 years. First by myself (8 months pregnant with Brin), Next with Brinlee, then with Brin and Raigen, and this year with Brin, Raigen, Hallie, and Cass (for a helper). Everytime I'm pregnant I hope for a boy just so I won't have to take ANOTHER girl up there, but no luck yet. HA HA!

Everyone heads up to East Canyon Thursday night. Then on Friday morning we go to Swiss Days and eat the traditional Navajo Tacos (yum). Me and the girls didn't get to do that this year because I had to work Thursday night, but we drove to Swiss Days Friday morning and took a quick walk around the booths and then headed to the Park City Outlets (my favorite part of the weekend). We get so many great deals up there. In fact, I usually get Brinlee's entire winter wardrobe while we're there (shh!). Anyway, Saturday usually consists of a lot of swimming, playing, and munching. We went home Sunday morning for a missionary farewell and then went back up (with Kyle) to spend the last night. We all headed home Monday afternoon. It's a really fun tradition and a great time for the girls to get to know their cousins since we don't get to see them very often. Brinlee loves playing with her cousins!

We went on a little walk around the resort every night...
(Cass, Amelia, Brinlee, and Maggie)


Brin, JaQuoy, and Karson...

Quoy and Hallie...
Bad picture, but this is the condo we stay in. Usually we all share one, but we realized last year that it was a little too crowded so we got two this year so there would be more room to spread out. And to tell you the truth, I kinda missed being crowded. It was weird not being with everyone all the time, but it was still fun.

Family Night

For family night on Labor Day, Kyle and I decided to take the girls bowling and out to dinner. We weren't sure how they would do, but it turned out to be lots a fun. After warming up Kyle bowled pretty well. He ended up winning at 116. I came in second at 108, and Brinlee at 98. We did have bumpers though :) The smallest ball we could find for Brin and Rai was 8 lbs. They liked to roll it by themselves, but after a couple of runs of the ball stopping in middle of the lane before it hit the pins and the people who worked there having to run down the lane and get it, Kyle decided to help a little. I bowled with Hallie and we ended up getting 2 strikes in a row YAH! After bowling we went to Red Robin for dinner. The girls were really good (for once). Lets just say they don't get to go to "sit down" restaurants much because of a few embarrasing experiences, but I think they are getting better now that they are a little older. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Brinlee loved her bowling shoes!

Raigen keeping score...

Daddy and Brinlee...

BEAR LAKE

So, we finally made it to Bear Lake at about 11:15 pm Friday night. Kyle ended up working later than expected so we didn't leave the house 'til about 7 pm. Then our quick trip to Wal-Mart for food and sand toys turned out to be an hour trip :) After that we went to Sports Authority to pick up some life jackets for the little ones. Turns out they were 40% off which was great! Anyway, we finally got on the road at 8:45 pm. The drive to Bear Lake takes about 2 hours, but it took us longer because it was dark and we had to watch for deer. Kyle is a pretty safe driver, especially when we are in the car. When we finally got there we unpacked our bags and had some burgers (wonderfully grilled by Gage and Chief). Then it was off to bed so we could get up early to go to the lake.

Gage's family has two trailers parked up the hill from the lake and they were so nice to let us use them for the night. Me, Kyle, and the girls got the small trailer to sleep in. It was pretty comfortable, but cold. Kyle and Brin took one bed and watched Mulan on the lap top (really roughin' it huh). Me, Rai, and Hallie took the other bed. Chief, Sugar, Cass, Gage, and Mike slept in tents and everyone else slept in the bigger trailer. It's amazing how cold it gets up there at night and how hot it is during the day. Anyway, we woke up at about 9 am Saturday morning, packed up the car, and headed for the lake.

Brin went on the boat for about an hour and a half watching the other kids wakeboard and waterski (however she was asleep most of the time). Raigen didn't like the sand at first, but learned to love it. Trav played with her a lot! Hallie sat in her little beach chair and loved being in Kennedi's floaty in the water. Kyle was a party pooper and stayed in the shade and slept the WHOLE time. He never even took off his shoes or socks. I'm glad I have a great fam that helped watch the girls, because he was no help at all. I think everyone else had fun sun bathing, volleyball playing, sunscreening, boating, and just being together as a family. It was a blast!

Here's a slideshow of some pictures. Kenna took all the boat shots so I'll post them later. This slideshow is kinda weird, just click on the play button and the slideshow will come up in a few seconds in a new window. The slideshow program I usually use wouldn't work. Anyway, check it out.

Bear Lake Slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Tribute to Janae

As I'm sure most of you know, Janae loves taking pictures of herself. Kyle has been setting tile at Ashleys house for the last week and a half, so on the nights that I work and even some of the nights that I don't, Brinlee has been hangin' out at Sugar's. She loves to hang out with JJ (that's what Brinlee calls Janae). Anyway, last night I let Brinlee have the camera for a while. When she finally gave it back to me, this is what I found (thanks J)....

I couldn't stop laughing and I guess you'd have to know my sisters. Half the pictures on their cameras look like this. This just shows that she watches everything we do. She is growing up so fast.

As, I said before, Kyle has been tiling Ash and Jared's house for the last week or so. He finished grouting last night and it looks sooo good. He has spent so many late nights over there and we miss him at home, but he loves to tile and loves to help out family when he can. He's a good guy! I can't wait until the day that he gets to tile our house. He really is getting good at it and much faster than he used to be.

We took this chair over to their house so the girls could sit in it and watch daddy work. This time it was hallie's turn. She is 7 months old today. I think she will pass Rai Rai up in the weight department soon. She is getting so big and is such an easy baby. She loves to play with toys and laugh at anyone and everything. She hasn't quite conquered sitting up yet, but I'm okay with her being a "stationary" baby for a little longer. I already have two other little munchkin's that can get into things and that's good for now.

Anyway, I better get to work. We're leaving for Bear Lake when Kyle gets off work at 4:30 (it's 2:15 right now) and I still need to finish cleaning the house, pack, and grocery shop. My family decided to take Gage's boat up and try a one night camp out. We haven't been the "camping type" so we'll see how it goes. I think some of us will sleep in trailers and some in tents. FUN! Brinlee is totally excited.

OH YEA! CONGRATS TO ASHLEY AND JARED. THEY'RE EXPECTING A LITTLE ONE IN MARCH! THEY'LL BE GREAT PARENTS!!!!!!

Look What Mom Bought

Well, I finally got the girls Hannah Montana shirts. I know it's dorky and I've been hesitating because I really don't like character clothes, but I thought they should have something to remember their love of Hannah. It's so funny that they like her because it's not like we forced them to watch the show. Brinlee has just loved Hannah since she first saw her on Disney Channel and now she has passed that love on to Raigen. Cassidy got them the new Hannah CD and they both sing along to it. It is sooo funny. You'd have to hear them. It's just cute that a 2 and 1 year old can be into a show like that. They'd much rather watch Hannah, Wizards (Wizards of Waverly Place), or CSI (seriously) than watch Dora, Winnie the Pooh, or Spongebob. They're just not cartoon girls and I guess I can't complain.

Here's some cute pics of the girls pushing Hallie in their baby stroller. Hallie loved it as much as they did. Don't worry, I was watching close.

MY LIFE IS GREAT

My life is so wonderful! Just when I start to think about everything that is going wrong or everything I am doing wrong, I remember how blessed I am.

I have a great husband who works hard to provide for our little family. He is always telling me he loves me and I can't count how many times he hugs and kisses me everyday. He is an awesome daddy! Our girls get so excited when he comes home from work and he gets so excited to see them. He always puts family first! I'm so glad I get to spend eternity with him. My girls are my life. They love to read their scriptures and say their prayers. Brinlee is so compassionate and caring...everytime Rai Rai wakes up (from a nap or in the morning) she asks her "You sleep good?" She knows when I am sad and will not be okay until I'm okay. She is very aware of other people's feelings. She helps me with laundry, cleaning up, and taking care of Hallie. I am very proud of who she is becoming. Her sisters have a great example to follow.

I am so thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and for the direction it gives me in my life. I need to be better in so many ways and I will never stop trying. I am thankful for my Savior, The Atonement, and the amazing gift of repentance. I can't even imagine not being able to live with my family for eternity. They are the most important thing in my life. I continue to realize that worldly things just aren't as important as I make them.

I want my family to know that I appreciate EVERYTHING you do for me. You are always so willing to help with the girls and that means the world to me. It is so great to have so much support so close to home and I love you all.

Bonfire, Zoo, and East Canyon

Last week we took the girls to their first bonfire in the mountains. We drove all the way up Farmington Canyon and enjoyed hobo dinners prepared by nate and joni, dutch oven desserts prepared by kenna and gage, and of course, SMORES. It was fun, but next time I think we'll do things a little different like... take a light so it's not completely dark (you'd think the fire would give off enough light, but it didn't) and take a play pen to corral the little ones, but, for the most part, it was great and, for the record, WE HAVE THE BEST FAMILY EVER!!

The day after the bonfire we went to the Hogle Zoo with Nate, Joni, Kennedi, and Kylee (Joni's little sis). Brinlee and Rai Rai had fun seeing all the animals, especially the elephants, giraffes, and snakes. Brinlee posed with the cougar for a quick pic (GO BLUE!!) The Zoo is definitely a once a year kinda place. It is so HOT and there were way too many hills. If fact, it took like two people to push the strollers up some of them because they were so steep. It's good for the kids to see the different animals, but, like I said, it's a once a year kinda place :)

On Friday we watched the Hannah Montana Best of Both Worlds concert on disney channel. Brinlee and Raigen both love Hannah. They wore their 3D glasses and danced with Chief. They are growing up way to fast.

On Sunday we went up to East Canyon to spend some time with Kyle's side of the fam. His mom and dad have a timeshare up there so we go up to hang out with family and swim at least once every few months. The girls love spending time with their cousins and Kyle treasures the time he gets to spend with his dad. Kyle definitely caused his dad a lot of stress as a child. He was the problem child, but you'd never know that now. They have become really close and Kyle continues to learn a lot from him and his example. Brinlee took most of the pictures. She has turned out to be quite the photographer.