Only 2 Days Left!

Brandon and I thought it would be a fun time of year to take the kids to Hawaii. We are going on Tuesday and we are all super excited! Cute Caleb has been marking the days off of his calender to the big day. He asks me about 5 times a day,"Is it time to go on the airplane ride yet?" It's fun to see him so excited! We took him about 2 years ago and he remembers a little bit of it but, I think he is more anxious to go on the plane ride. Thank goodness for our frequent flyer miles B racked up on all of his business trips, we are all able to fly free! Our flight is non-stop and only 60% of the plane is full. How lucky are we? I can just let Caleb roam around and let Izzy stretch out and sleep. I think that's what I am most excited about! Anyway, my question is what are some fun plane activities I can get for my kids on this long flight? If you have any suggestions, shoot them my way!

The Police Are Coming!

Today was a day that both Brandon and I have been looking forward to for quite sometime now. One of our favorite rock groups "The Police" are coming in concert in July! I know that you are probably thinking that we are a little old fashioned to like this group. They were huge in the eighties and nineties until Sting decided to do his own thing. B and I love this kind of music! They are an amazing group! Some of our favorite songs are:

1. Every Breath You Take

2. Message In A Bottle

3. Don't Stand So Close To Me

4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

5. Roxanne

Well, I need to tell you the ordeal that I went through to ensure that we got tickets to this concert. First of all, they haven't toured together as The Police in Utah for years so this is a big deal! The tickets went on sale this morning @ 10 and I started to buy on-line. Of course the site is jammed and it was taking forever! Caleb had a soccer game he needed to go to and B was at a baptism. I also tried calling and the line was always busy. I didn't know what to do. Do I leave the computer to take Caleb to practice and break B's heart for not sticking around to buy them or do I skip the soccer practice and HOPE that they aren't sold out and it wasn't a waste of time? I tried the phone one more time and I finally got through. So here I am rushing to get my kids ready to run out the door and I have my cell phone on speaker so that I could grab it at any minute. We got in the car with the phone still on speaker waiting for, "the next representative" to answer. I was praying that my phone wouldn't disconnect at the point of the mountain cause this was my only shot at this. Finally, someone picked up and found me some tickets. Did I mention that this concert isn't cheap by ANY means! It set us back $215 for two tickets. We're crazy I know but this concert will definitely be worth it!

So, after all of the worrying and craziness WE'RE GOING TO THE POLICE!!!!!

YAY!!!!!

My Future Missionary!

So I have the cutest little 4 year old in the world! We wanted to start teaching Caleb about the scriptures to help prepare him for primary. About a month ago we went and bought this illistrated version of the book of mormon for him. I wasn't sure if he would really like it or even get bored of it. Anyway, we were pleasently surprised! He wants us to read it to him every night! He can even tell us the stories in his own words! He is so fascinated by the picture of the Book of Mormon that was found in one of the stories that he wanted one for himself. Fortunately, Brandon had an extra missionary one that he gave Caleb. We wrote his name in it and told him that it's a very special book. We told him how to take care of it and how to treat it. After B gave him that Book of Mormon, Caleb wants to sleep with it every night. So, he not only sleeps with his favorite blanket but also his own scriptures and the illistrated BOM stories. He is so excited to learn about the gospel! Last night I was reading him the stories for 45 minutes! He would've kept going but, it was getting late. He is going to be a wonderful missionary someday. This has been such a learning experience for us! We underestimated how smart kids are! This experience has brought a greater focus to our family of the importance of having family home evening, family prayer, and scripture study.

I thought this was a cute picture. I wanted to take a picture of his "Valentine Bear" that he made at school and he insisted on having his Book of Mormon in the picture too. How Cute is that?

"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 6:7

Still Under the Weather

Yesterday we forced ourselves to get out of our sick infested home and get some fresh air. After staying at home all day Sunday, we were itching to finally get out. B and I still don't feel 100% but thanks to our good friends DayQuil and NyQuil we were able to still have a fun day together as a family.

First, we took B's car to FINALLY get repaired from the car accident. It's nice to finally have those repairs under way. By the time you get the insurance adjusters to look at it, find a shop to take it to, wait for parts to get ordered, it ended up being a long process! They promised our car to be done by Friday. Hopefully, that will happen!

Next, we went to lunch and headed down to Gateway to the Children's Museum. Brandon has never been there before. Caleb was anxious to show him around his favorite place. However, when we arrived it was SO busy that he couldn't play with any of his favorite things. We couldn't even walk around. We even lost little Izzy in all of the mess. She still doesn't walk but she managed to crawl past us, through people, and out ended up out in the hall. How scary is that? We only stayed an hour. It was too crazy! It was nice to know that we didn't waste money there cause of our family pass.

We continued to shop around. We got some yummy icecream and ended up at California Pizza Kitchen. The weather was so beautiful and it was the perfect day to be outside shopping! After we left the mall, we went to pick up B's rental car. This is what he got to drive for the week.

A Pontiac Grand AM! We laughed because he said it makes him feel like a rocker in this car. This isn't the exact picture but similar. It was either this car or a mini van. We didn't need a huge van so he's stuck with this for a week. He can't wait until he gets his precious car back!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's 58th birthday and he is spending it being sick like the rest of us. We started getting sick yesterday. Unfortunately, it has lingered into tonight as well. B stayed home from church with the kids and I only went to teach my primary class then came home. My poor dad however, has been batttling a bad cold similar to ours for about a week now. Those of you who know my dad know that he will never take a sick day from neither church or work. He just works right through it.

I want to write a tribute to my wonderful dad on his special day. My dad and I have always been so close! Out of a family of 5 girls, I was the "Tom Boy" of the familywhich meant alot of fun time with my dad! He taught me all about softball growing up and turned me into a pretty good ball player. I started working for him at an early age (14yrs) at Taco Time. That is when he really started to teach me about responsibility. I worked closely with him for 14 years until I had Caleb. We used talk each day on the phone discussing work matters. I really miss that. Now that I am a stay at home mom I really have no reason to call him every day. I feel like our relationship is a little different but still close in a way.

I have always looked up to him in so many ways! He brought me up with the knowledge of the gospel and he helped me develop a love for my Savior. I wanted to make him proud in everything that I did. I never wanted to dissapoint or hurt him in anyway because I respected him so much! I always knew that I wanted to marry someone just like him when I grew up. I must say that Brandon has alot of my dad's qualities making him an amazing husband and father. My dad would sacrifice anything for anyone. He always goes out of his way to help others even if it means coming home from a business trip early. We know he will be there!

I feel so blessed to have this amazing person in my life! I am always so proud to call him my dad! He means the world to me and he always will!

Happy Birthday Dad,

I Love You So Much!

A Day At The Dinosaur Museum

Today I took the kids to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. We had never been there before so we thought we'd check it out. The kids had a fun time looking at all of the fossils and dinosaur bones that were on display. Caleb carried around his favorite map of the museum and led us through it. These are some things we saw and did.


Izzy loved crawling through this little tunnel! It was dark in there but she had no fear. She didn't want to miss out.

There are alot of fun displays of animals fossils and bones. Caleb thought this shark had "crazy and scary" teeth. He wanted me to assure him that the shark wasn't real.

There is a fun water and sand adventure that Caleb loved. You dig in the wet sand and look for buried dinosaurs.

Caleb looks so little standing next to this enormous creature!

Just a cute picture!

There is another fossil digging pit for the kids to play in. There were little brushes for the kids to brush off the sand and unveil their discovery.

I tried putting Izzy in the sand to play too. As you can tell she didn't like it. Most kids like to get all dirty but, she didn't even want to touch it. She's all girl I guess!

Caleb soon got bored of all of the brushing so he decided to make "Sand Angles" instead

He also enjoyed playing the dinosaur games on the computers. He could've stayed there for hours!

After we were done with the museum, we thought it would be fun to get some icecream at the Thanksgiving Point Soda Shop. We ran into my friend Sarah and her cute little girl Andie. It was fun to catch up with her!

The whole day was so fun! Caleb's already asking me when we can go again. I told him it would be a while because it was too much money. I just love having my camera with me all of the time to catch moments like these!

A Lonely Valentine's Day

Well, I hope you all have had a fun Valentine's Day with your cute hubbys! I'm home alone again because B is on another business trip, this time to St. Thomas. So let me tell you how my day has gone. I shoveled a rediculous amount of snow AGAIN! This time it was another 2 feet and it took me 2 hours to do my driveway and sidewalks. I'm getting used to shoveling. I don't mind doing it. It's good exercise but I'll really feel it tomorrow! I saw people getting flowers from their hubby's. I'm sad! Well, I did celebrate it with leftover spaghetti from last night and a sick baby. What more could you ask for? Anyway, he gets home tomorrow and that should be the end of the trips for a while. Hopefully!

I thought I should take a moment and tell you about my wonderful husband. Brandon is the most amazing person that I have ever met! He is so motivated to suceed in every aspect of his life! He takes his ward mission leader calling very serious! He is so determined to help those people in our ward boundaries understand and accept the gospel. He is such a great friend to everyone he meets! He is always willing to help anyone out whenever he can! He's very bright and extremely smart! I appreciate the sacrifices he's made to provide a good life for our family. I love how I can talk to him about anything! He is so patient even when I am a brat & sometimes complain when I don't get my way. He has such a love for Caleb and Isabel. I love watching him with our kids! They love him so much! They get so excited when daddy walks through the door each day! I look up to him and admire him for the man that he is! He is my better half and he completes me! I can't imagine my life without him! I'm so grateful that I will be with him for time and all eternity! I could go on forever about this amazing man but, I won't bore you anymore by bragging about how lucky I am!

Even though I am alone this Valentine's Day, I feel his love from 5,000 miles away. I know that he wishes that he could be here with me. At least we have forever to be together! A special holiday like this won't hurt us to be apart from each other. Here are some fun pictues of us. We don't have alot of pictures of us together but, here are a few that I found.

Fall 2005

Hawaii 2005

Hawaii 2005

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH BRANDON!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Valentine's Day Party

This past Sunday we have a fun traditon in my family to have a "Sweetharts Dinner" to celebrate Valentine's Day. We went over to our party house (Jodi's house) and had a wonderful dinner! My mom had decorated everything so cute! If any of you know her, she goes above and beyond with things like this to make it extra special for everyone! We sent all of the kids to the basement and had a really peaceful dinner without the kids around. We all always look forward to this fun holiday!

Me and my sweethart!

Tiffany and Danny

Matt and Kim

My Grandma Jeanne came down to celebrate the holiday with us

Doesn't this look so cute?

I don't have a picture of Jodi and Skyler or Heidi and John. They are such cute couples too! Thanks Jodi for letting us party at your house AGAIN!

What Color Are You?

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Black

Your color is black. The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won't kill you. Overall, though, black is the color of professionalism and achievement, which means it's clearly the color for you.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/rd/50651/color/index.jsp?testname=colorogt&resultid=G

I saw this test on some of my friends blogs and I thought that I needed to post it so you can see what your personality color is. Mine is black. I think there is some truth to this but not all of it. What do you think? Does this describe me very well? Take this test and see what solot you are. You can skip all of the advertisements to find out your color. Let me know what you are!

My Little Hoop Star!

Caleb started basketball up again today. He loves playing hoops! He is in a little league at the Dimple Dell Rec Center with about 25 other little boys his age. It's so fun to watch him interact with other kids. He definately is one of the more outspoken kids in the group. That wouldn't surprise many of you. I think sports at this age are so good for kids! It seems like he is always wanting to watch TV all of the time. This is a good way to get him more active and involved with ofther kids. I know he will grow up to be an awesome basketball player!

Tonight I met my mom at Chili's because B is still in Cozemel. It is always fun to have that one on one time with her. She is such a fun person to be around! She never wants me to be alone when B is gone so she is always inviting me over to spend time with her and my dad.

I am so ready for B to get home from this trip! He has only been gone since Monday but it feels like he has been gone forever! When he is around he just brightens my spirit! I feel like I'm not as happy and I'm a little edgey with my kids when he's gone. I guess that's probably because I really don't get a break. He'll be home Friday night. I can't wait! When he's gone it makes me realize how much I need him in my life!

I love you, Babe!

Fun With Cousins @ Classic Fun Center

Today the kids and I had a bunch of fun @ Classic Fun Center with Jodi, Tiffany and their kids. It brought back a lot of funny memories of going there in junior high. It still looks the same but with a big addition added on. How nestalgic! I could see myself with my friend Melissa going there not really to skate but to meet boys. How lame is that? They even played alot of the same music they played back in the good old "Classic" days. Anyway, times have DEFINITELY changed!

My kids had so much fun! Caleb loved riding the scooter around! He can't wait until it gets warm enough to get one of his own to ride outside. He loved the bounce houses! He used to be a little afraid of them but today he wasn't. They have a fun rainforest climbing area that was lots of fun! it ahs slides, balls and lots of other stuff. I carried Izzy through it and it was quite difficult. It is only about 4 feet high. It must have been a sight to see me (5'9") squeezing through that maze! Izzy loved the balls! I wish that I had my camera! B is out of town to Cozemel, Mexico for work and he took it. I guess you can just picture the cute looks on my kids faces as they played!

It is so cheap! It's only $5 during the school day for all of these fun activities! If anyone is up to going there with me sometime let me know!!

Welcome To The Life Of Blogging!

Last night during the superbowl I setup blogs for my sisters Jodi and Tiffany. It will be fun to have 4/5 sisters in the blogging world. I just need to keep talking my oldest sister Kim into actually getting the internet first then I can help her too. I just love blogging don't you? It's such a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family. I really love how I can see what my sister Heidi in Los Angelas is doing and how her cute kids are growing up. Thanks so much for all of you sweet comments that you have left for me. I feel like I am talking to you all face to face. The question is, now that I have gotten my sisters started with their blogs will they actually be loyal bloggers so the rest of us can keep up with their family happenings? We'll see!

Another Run of Bad Luck!

Last night we had another issue with Brandon's car only this time it's a really big deal! We had just left Hollywood Video and we were talking about how frustrated we are about what happened to his side mirror of his car when something unbelievable happened to us. A girl on her cell phone pulled out in the parking lot and hit Brandon's car on the back passenger door bashing it all the way in. She was leaving JoAnne's Fabric store and rammed into us. She was only going about 5 mph but it did enough damage to our car and of course nothing happened to her car except a broken license plate.

Can you believe our luck with this car? First the mirror, then getting stuck on the stupid ice patch in our driveway, and now an accident. Keep in mind that we have only had this car for a month. You can only imagine how upset B was when this happened after all that we had been through already. The poor girl, Dixie, just kept crying and apologizing to us. She was only about 22 yrs. and she had her two little kids in the back seat too. She was probably going to the fabric store to get stuff to make a blanket or something. I felt bad for her cause B was pretty upset. Before we left B went and talked to her apologizing about being so upset and how he just bought the car. I'm sure she felt so bad cause I wouldn't want to be the one to hit someone else's car.
When we drove away we were talking about how we are so lucky that this didn't happen at a high speed. She hit Isabel's door and it could've been a really scary situation! These things happen I guess. I just can't believe all of this. So there is a lesson to be learned about driving and that is:

DON'T TALK AND DRIVE!!!!!

Out With The Girls

A couple of days ago my mom had a fun idea to get all of the sisters together and have a girls night out. I always look forward to these! So, we left the kids home with our hubbys and left all of our worrys behind and spent a fun night together. We went to one of my favorite restaurants, The Olive Garden. It was fun to talk and catch up on things. It seems like we never have enough time or it's hard when the kids are around to talk so these nights are really special to all of us!

After dinner, we went to the cute chick flick 27 Dresses. If any of you haven't seen this show yet you need to cause it was so fun! Looking over the crowd in the theater there was only a few guys and tons of women there. I don't know if your hubby would want to go to a show like this. It is laugh out loud fun. Just what I have been needing. My sister Heidi lives in California so, she wasn't with us but we sure missed her being with us! We always have so much fun being together! I'm so blessed to have 4 wonderful sisters and an unbelievable mom!

Thanks girs let's do it again soon!