Party Animals

Well, three Christmas parties down and 1 more to go. It has been so fun. I absolutely love this time of year. It's so fun to spend so much time with family, and to watch the kids excitement. There are so many fun traditions and activities. It seems like I am just consistenly happy around this time of year. These pictures are all out of order but you should be able to figure out what is going on in most of them.


I have decided that more than one visit to Santa may not be the best idea. This was the second time the kids sat on his lap this month and Aidan changes what he asks for eash time. Last time he asked for a magic set. In line for this Santa he decided he wanted a robot. When it was actually his turn he told Santa he wanted a telescope. UGH

I absolutely love this picture. She is such a little cutie!

Aidan proudly showing me his gingerbread house he labored very loving on. Shorty after this picture he dropped it and was heartbroken.

Baylee was way too busy eating all the candy off of her house to pose for a picture. She is such a little oinker.

Aidan and Devery having a great time working on their houses.

And again...Baylee eating the candy as quick as dad can put it on her house. At least she's having fun right?

Bigger and Better

Well....it's official, Aidan is growing up way too fast. A couple months ago Barry's brother and sister in law told us about a bed that they had that they would like to sell. It has barely been used and is a great bed. I was a little hesitant at first but asked Aidan if he was interested. The main selling point for him was that it came with a desk. He was super excited to do his
"homework" at a desk. He has been in his toddler bed for almost three years now. It is pretty small and he was starting to look a little big for it. He loved it though and truthfully so did I. We decided it was to good of a deal to pass up so we went for it. I was completely surprised by how big it is. It is a double bed but has a big headboard, eight drawers and a secret crawlspace underneath. It takes up his whole room! lol Good news....he loves it! Bad news......the desk won't fit in his room. We are going to have to wait until we move to use the whole set. He sleeps so much better on it, and loves having a big comfy down comforter. He looks like a tiny little peanut in it. I love actually being able to lay in bed with him to read our stories at night. It is a good transition, but just one more reminder that my baby boy isn't a baby anymore.
Aidan with his cute little Thomas the Train toddler bed one last time.

The new big bed! This picture is a little decieving. It doesn't quite show how big it looks in his room. Baylee has already figured out that she can pull the drawers and step in them to climb on the bed.

Adorable Little Messy Face!

This is what Baylee looke like after every single meal. I am pretty sure she does it on purpose because she know's she will get a bath. This meal was particularly messy. Apparently she decided her bowl made a better accessory than dish. She was having so much fun that I had to fight the urge to stop her and get her out of her highchair. Instead I decided to take pictures. She was a disaster but I sure got some cute pictures!

Goodbye Johnson and Johnson!

Well....Sunday was a rough day for Aidan. His first pet died, his fish Johnson and Johnson. It was given to him almost a year ago from his preschool teacher Miss Margaret. When he brought it home he was so excited! He immediately named him Johnson and Johnson (the KBull 93 D.J.'s) Then he wanted to go get him a new fish tank. We found a cute little pirates tank and began the lesson of how to take care of a fish. He did really good for a while. Then a couple months ago he stopped eating. All the food I gave him would just float on the top and he just hung out on the bottom of the tank. I have been waiting for him to die for months and Sunday it looked like he was ready. I found him laying sideways on the gravel, barely breathing. So Barry and I pulled Aidan aside and showed Johnson and Johnson to him and explained that he was having a really hard time breathing and was probably hurting. I told him that I thought it would be best if we sent him to fishy heaven. What came next was completely unespected.

Aidan looked at him for a bit and understood that he needed to go. Then he looked at me and asked if he would come back after he went to heaven. When I told him no he started crying. He was so upset. He just kept saying how much he would miss him, and how he was the best fish ever. It was the most heartbreaking, sincere cry. He was sitting on my lap and all the sudden asked "So will he be with God in heaven?" I said yes. A minute later he brought the phone down to me and asked if we could call God so that he could make sure that he would take care of Johnson and Johnson. I told him that God doesn't have a phone number, and that to talk to him we just say prayers. Then he went upstair and pulled a chair in front of the fish tank and started talking to Johnson and Johnson and telling him that he loved him and would miss him, and thank you for being such a good fish. By this point I was seriously contemplating doing goldfish mouth to mouth. He was so sincere, and so upset. He asked me to take a picture of him so that he could remember him forever. That's why he is sideways in the picture.

This experience taught me two things. 1) I don't think its a good idea for us to have another pet for a while. I don't if he could handle another heartbreak. and 2) that a four year old can be compassionate, and full of emotion. It was so hard to watch him lern this lesson, but I was so proud that he could feel so strongly and sincerely. He is such an amazing little boy and makes me so proud.

RIP Johnson and Johnson!

Thanksgiving!

Wow....what a fun and delicious week we have had. We started celebrating last weekend with Barry's family. We spent Thanksgiving day with my family, and my aunt, uncle, grandma, and cousins. Last night I had 20 friends at my house for our 7th annual "Friends Thanksgiving." Needless to say we have eaten our fair share of turkey this week. It was so much fun to get to spend time with our friends and family and be reminded just how lucky we are. I really do feel blessed to have the family and life that I have. Thanks to everyone wo celebrated with us, and I hope it was a great day for the rest of you!

Aidan and Baylee sported their Utes shirts at Barry's family party because it was the day of the big game. Almost Barry's entire family is BYU fans so Aidan was getting harassed all day, but if you saw the game you know who got the last laugh. GO UTES!!!

This is my aunts cute little dog Lucy. She and Baylee spent most of the night playing. Baylee chased the poor thing around the house all night, but Lucy put up with it because she was constantly getting food from Baylee.

This is my aunt Melissa's family. They are all so cute, and we had so much fun with them. We are so lucky to have them in our lives.

My family....Scott, Britt, Haley and mom. Love you guys!

Baylee had a great time playing "aka" banging on the piano.

Aidan playing guitar hero and taking it very seriously. He is so funny when he gets so focused on something.

Dinner Idea

Okay sorry it is a day late....For those of you that are wondering what this recipe is all about read the post below.
Last night I made Hawaiin Haystacks for dinner and they were really easy and really yummy. Here is the recipe

1/2 C. Butter
1/2 C. Flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 C. milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 C. fresh sliced mushrooms
6 chicken breasts (cooked and cut into bite size pieces)

Melt the butter in a large sausepan. Add flour and salt and mix well. Add milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add soup, mushrooms, and chicken. Simmer for 15 min. Serve over cooked rice and top with the following items.

sliced celery
grated cheddar cheese
pineapple
chopped green onions
coconut
toasted sliced almonds
chowmein noodles

Enjoy!!!! It serves about 8 people, so if you don't have that many either cut it in half or enjoy the leftovers.

I have an idea!!!

Okay....so everyday, around 2 or 3 I start stressing about what to make for dinner. On the days that I don't plan ahead it's a big headache. I like to have a lot of variety so that my family doesn't get tired of the same old same old. So....I was thinking.....starting tomorrow, because today is too hectic, that Iwould post what I was making for dinner along with the recipe. Then anyone that reads this and struggles with the same thing can put the recipe of what they are making for dinner on their blog. Just leave me a comment that you are going to participate so I know to look. That way you will also be able to see in my comments who else has done it, and then the same thing goes for the comments on your blog. Good idea right? Maybe I am the only one with this dilemma but I doubt it. It will be fun!

Snow day!!!

We woke up to a ton of snow today. Aidan was thrilled! I was not. The truth is, I really don't like the snow. I don't like scraping my windows, shoveling my walks, and having wet pants around my ankles. I know, I know, I am a party pooper. Anyway...yesterday I spent about an hour and a half looking through old pictures of the kids. I found myself feeling really sad that they have grown so fast. I really can't believe how fast time flies. I told myself yesterday that I was going to spend as much time as possible watching them grow and appreciating all the little things. So when Aidan started begging me early this morning to take him outside to play, I fought the urge to say no. I really just wanted to stay inside my warm house in my pajamas all day. I did end up taking him out when Baylee went down for a nap. It was still snowing and his buddy Riley came and played too so he had a blast. We were out there for well over an hour and that was just because we had to come in for lunch and to get ready for preschool. As much as I dislike the snow it was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of great pictures.

Snowbird and Halloween

Last week was very busy for us, but so much fun! Every year, the last week in October, Barry's family gathers and spends a full week together at Snowbird. His parents own five condos at a resort and his family has been going for thirty one years now. It is such a neat tradition and we look forward to it each year. It is so much fun to spend so much time with the family and to be able to do so many fun things for a whole week so close to home. There are a ton of planned activities by the recreation team, and any time that isn't planned out we fill with swimming hiking and playing at the playground. It was such beautiful weather this time which is a little unusual so we took full advantage of it and spent a lot of time outside. Baylee could have walked around and explored for hours each day, and Aidan loved the playground and swimming. Aidan also got to decorate a fun shirt, do some string art, and play bingo. We had a family halloween party and had a pinata, yummy food, and a donut on a string eating contest. Things are getting more and more crowded. On any given day there is about 30 people there at one time. We eat all the dinners together (in one room, lol) which can make things a little hectic, but fun. There are 18 grankids (all but 3 came), and 7 great grandkids (all but 2 came). There were six babies age 21 months and younger there all week. It was so fun to watch them all play together (and fight). We came home Friday so that we could trick or treat in our neighborhood. The kids had a blast. Our neighborhood was so busy with trick or treaters and I loved it. The weather was perfect, the kids were adorable, and it was an awesome Halloween. I took over three hundred pictures over the last week so I cut it way down but here is a brief overview of some of our happenings. Sorry this took so long dad!
Baylee had to stop and pick up every leaf along this path that we were walking on. She loved exploring and collecting leaves, and pinecones.

We rode the tram up to the top of the mountain the first day we got there. Baylee was content to play with the dirt which was good because I was nervous about the steep cliffs. She seriously loves being outside.

Barry was showing Aidan some of his favorites snowboarding trails. I love watching these two when they don't know I am around. They are such good buddies.

Baylee and Barry watching Aidan bounce on the tramp-bungy thing. She wanted to jump so bad.

Baylee going for a little drive. She had so much fun at the playground. We were there for hours this day.

The girl can climb. I am not kidding. It's a little scary. She will climb on anything and everything and loves to jump from the top. She shakes her fingers and says "Two, Two, do!" and jumps. If you hear those words you need to get ready cause she is going. lol

This is a little hut that the kids discovered. Aidan had a gret time playing "the drums" and Baylee has to do everything her big brother does.

So cute.....she wasn't cooperating too well, but I still thinks it's adorable.

This is the donut eating contest. Aidan thought this was awesome! Baylee took a while to figure out what was going on, but finished the donut in record time.

This is the shirt that Aidan decorated. He had all of the family sign there name on the back and I think it will be a fun reminder for him.

This is a few of the kids getting ready for the parade. Aidan, Cayden, Baylee, and Kyler. There were a few more of our family babies there but getting all 7 of them in the picture wasn't happening. lol

Little Red Riding Hood and Buzz Lightyear right before we left to go trick or treating. I thought they both looked really stinking cute!

Mess after mess after mess

So......keeping my house clean is a daily struggle. I spend a lot of time every single day cleaning. Usually I get my kitchen and front room (where we spend most of our time) done first and I am very lucky to get anything else done. It's not because my house is huge, it's not because I am a slow cleaner. It's because I usually have one kid going ahead of me and making a mess, and then another going right behind me making a mess. I really don't know if I will ever figure out how to keep my whole house clean. Especially because Baylee is my destructo! She loves to empty out the bottom of all of our dresser drawers and spread the clothes all over the place. She also likes to get all the tupperware out of the kitchen cabinet. So I decided to document a few examples of my problem the other day while I was cleaning. This day was especially bad because of the magnitude of the messes they made. I was working on some stuff downstairs and heard a bunch of noise in Aidan's room. I didn't go check because at my house noise isn't out of the ordinary. It's when the kids are quiet that I worry. Anyway, After a half an our or so I went upstairs to see what Aidan was up too. Apparently he got a wild hair and decided it was time to reorganize the furniture. I can't accurately describe the mess so see the pictures below. Then after cleaning his room and the rest of the upstairs I came walking downstairs and smelled season salt lie crazy. It was then that I learned that Baylee couln not only reach the spice drawer but also open bottles. Yeah! The pictures are just a small example of some of my surprises each day. Just in case any of you ever come over to my house and it's a mess, it's not because I don't care or try.....it's because I have two cute little monsters!

Here are my two monsters in the morning watching cartoons together. They look so sweet. I am pretty sure they are secretly planning how to cause trouble though, as soon as I walk away.

So here was my first surprise. Does he look remorseful to you?

Believe it or not it actually looks a little better than when I first saw it. I couldn't actually open the door because the mattress was in front of it. I seriously just stood there and tried to take in what I was seeing.

The finished project. I don't know why he was so set on moving his furniture but it turned out okay. I won't be as accomodating next time though!

And here is what Baylee added to the mayhem. She decided to spread papers all over and sprinkle them all with a little seasoning.

I had made a few cards earlier and left my tote out. It was covered. The worst part is that I am out of vacuum bags so now every time I vacuum it reaks like season salt. Ugh!!

Husband Tag

1. Where did you meet your husband? At Murphy's, on St. Patricks Day.

2. How long did you date before you got married? A long time, about 3and 1/2 years.

3. How long have you been married? It was two years last August.

4. What does he do to surprise you? I know this is suppose to be about the cute little things he does when I am not epecting (which he does) but it is way more common for him to scare me, then surprise me. He probably does it daily, and I scream like a baby each and every time.

5. What is your favorite feature? His eyes.

6. What is your favorite quality? He is amazingly motivated and dedicated. He is studying for some new certifications and spends endless hours studying and working to better himself in his career.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? he calls me babes

8. What is his favorite food? Anykind of meat, Salmon, and cookies! He is extremely picky about veggies though and that drives me nuts!

9. What is his favorite sport? He's not really into sports. He loves to Mountain Bike and Snowboard though.

10. When & where was your first kiss? At my house.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Anytime we get to just spend time as a couple we have fun. We usually just go to dinner or a movie though.

12. Do you have any children?Yep, Aidan is four and Baylee is 15 months.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? The first thing that comes to mind is that he can make this crazy bobcat sound. He loves to do it when we are camping or at Lake Powell and it always freaks people out.

14. How old is he? He is 38.

15. Who said I love you first? He did.

16. What is his favorite music? Country

17. What do you admire most about him? That he is such an amazing dad and such a hard worker. He is constantly trying to o better for is family.

18. What is his favorite color? Blue or green

9. Will he read this? Not unless I pull it up and show it to him

Who do you tag? Emily, Lori, Lindsay

Grapes, Grapes, and more Grapes!

So, last year I had my first canning experience. I spent a day canning peaches and decided that day that canning is not something I will ever be doing at my house, or by myself. This year my mother in law asked if anyone was interested in helping can grape juice. I have been stealing grape juice from them for years so thought I should do my part to replenish the stock. ( I had also been told that it was a lot easier than peaches!) So I went to my in-laws house last Thursday, along with my niece Alicia. We spent a while picking grapes from the rows and rows of vines in their garden. Meanwhile, Baylee and my nephew Caden were planted at the buckets eating them as fast as we could pick them. I am not exagerating when I say that Baylee probably ate well over a pound of them. I kept trying to get her out of them but then she would just hide in the vines and pick them herself. She is such a cute little pig! So then it came time to make juice. The process goes something like this....wash a sinkful of grapes three times, put them in the steamer contraption thingie, wait about thirty minutes, get a jar of juice, wait 15 minutes and get a jar of juice, wait 15 more minutes, get a jar of juice. Empty the steamer and start again. I quickly learned it is NOTHING like canning peaches. There is a whole lot of waiting and it is a long process. We spent 11 hours that day and got 34 jars. We also went back up on Tues. and spent another 7 hours or so and got about 20 more jars. It was fun to spend time with the family and learn how to make it. I also have a whole bunch of the best grape juice ever. I will definitly can again, but only with fun company and someone to entertain the kids. This is a look at a small portion of the vines we picked grapes from. And yes that is Baylee getting into the grapes.

Giving me her cutest smile because she knows she got caught!

"I can't say cheese right now. I have a mouth full of grapes!"

Still getting into the grapes...........

Finally deciding she might as well just sit down and get comfortable.

Alicia demonstrating the fine art of squeezing a really tough metal clip and trying to keep the hose directly in the bottle.

Grandma took Aidan for a walk down the street to feed the horses carrots! Thanks mom, for being such a fun and entertaining Grandma!

Aidan on his walk with Grandma! He decided canning isn't his thing.

This is probably about one fourth of the grapes we actually bottled. By the way, those containers are a lot deeper than they look from this view.

The fruit juice of our labor!