Flashback Friday...

May 1995...this is James, Katie, me and Jesse on the day of Jesse and James' Mission Farewell. Who would have known that two years later we would marry those cute boys we were standing next to and have our receptions in that very back yard we are standing in? I remember crying the entire drive home...so sad, yet happy, that Jesse was serving a mission. I didn't know his Mom very well at the time. I would have found a lot of comfort that day knowing that we would become very close during the next two years. We look so young...funny how I still feel like that little girl in the picture sometimes...

Easter Sunday...

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday spending time with friends and family! Gabe didn't sleep at all that night in anticipation of getting a particular DS game. It was kind of sad for me...he found out this year about the Easter Bunny.

Emma cruising on her new wheels...

We had some dear friends over for Easter Breakfast. Here is one of the little girls. She is SO beautiful...

Emma and Dad.


I had to get one picture of Emma in her dress before she stripped it off. She hates to wear dresses, and I love to buy them for her...

A Week In Review...

One of the things that made me smile this week, was coloring Easter Eggs for Family Night. Look at Emma's face! She loved it!



Some other things that made me smile:

• Friday Fun Club at Gabe's School. I helped them make bunny pins for Easter.
• Playing at the park.
• Going to the Hale Center Theater with our good friends the Long's. We have season tickets with them. This month was "Civil War". It was AMAZING! The singing was the best yet! We look forward to each performance, and our "date" with the Long's.
• Lunch with two wonderful friends at Dear Lizzie's
  
• Easter breakfast with some more wonderful friends. (see next post)
• Spending Easter Sunday with my family...Oh, how I love them!
  

Easter...

So many thoughts about this wonderful holiday coming up. I have a friend who is so eloquent in her thoughts, and I feel like she puts into words how I truly feel. I hope she doesn't mind...read them here.

Flashback Friday...

Okay, these pictures look like Jesse and I got married about 30 years ago...we didn't, it just appears that way... On this one we were actually standing in the Temple parking lot. I just can't help but giggle every time I see this picture. Classic...


Here is a decent one...

Tagged again...

Cute Ya Ya Marisa tagged me, so here goes...

10 Years Ago:
In 1998 I had been married almost a year. We were living in Pocatello in the cutest little house on 3rd Avenue. I was finishing up my last year at ISU and doing my clinical at Bannock Regional Medical Center. James and Katie lived in the basement of the same house, and it was so fun to have them so close. Such fond memories of that little house, our years at ISU, and the life long friendships that were made there.

Things on my to do list today:
1. Give Emma a bath.
2. Update my blog (can check that one off soon.)
3. Teach a spinning class.
4. Meet Steph at the gym so she can be my guinea pig for a step routine
5. Do Gabe's homework with him.
6. Take Emma outside for a while - she is loving this nicer weather.
7. Make Lasagna for dinner.
8 . Read to Gabe.

What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire?
1. I would pay off our house.
2. Buy all of my sisters new houses and cars.
3. Go on some great trips with Jesse - first stop being Greece.
4. Take my mom, dad, and sisters on a trip.
5. Save, save, save.

3 Bad Habits:
1. Being inpatient - I want everything done now and fast!
2. Sleeping in.
3. No self control when it comes to snacks.

3 places I have lived:
1. Lehi, UT
2. Idaho Falls, ID
3. Malad, ID

5 Jobs I have had:
1. I cleaned buses in high school.
2. Video Store Clerk
3. Radiographer
4. Mammographer
5. Group Fitness Instructor

5 Things People Don't know about me:
I honestly don't think I could think of anything new....go to my 50 things about me post.


There you go, Marisa! Enjoy!!

A Week in Review...

Here are just a few of the things that made me smile this week...


Click on this one to get the full effect...no pants, the shoes, gold beads, cell phone, the two babies...priceless.


This is the Car Wash I took my car to this week to have it detailed. The SMELL inside my car DID NOT make me smile...

Flashback Friday...

We just became the proud owners of a Scanner, and I am so excited to scan all of those old pictures I took before I got a digital camera. So, I decided to add a Flashback Friday to my blog where I can share a photo from "The Olden Days". Feel free to laugh at our hair - we both used to have some - and our clothing choices.

For the first Flashback Friday I thought about doing a photo that we always giggle about, but intstead I have been thinking about a particular incident that happened to our family exactly 8 years ago. I would say that this incident changed my life. Here is the picture:
Eight years ago today, I was sitting in the hospital with our sweet baby boy whose 6-month old body was fighting bacterial meningitis. There were several seizures, what seemed like miles of wire, sleepless nights in the waiting room, warm hugs from family and friends, good days and bad days, visits from the Rodeo Queens and members of our singles ward where Jesse was serving, lots of prayers, lots of promises...but what I remember most and the reason why I still have his sweet spirit here with me today is the miracle of modern medicine, loving doctors and nurses, answers to prayers, tender mercies, and most importantly - the power of the priesthood. I am trying my best to keep the promises made during those three weeks. I love my little Gabriel and know that he was kept here for a specific purpose. Maybe, He just knew that his mommy needed him...

Ya Ya Baby Slings

Okay all you hot mama's out there...this is the new "must have" for your babies - The Ya Ya Baby Sling.
My dear friend Marisa is making these great baby carriers, and they are awesome. I saw her put it into action while she was staying with us last week. It looked amazing! And her little one that she was carrying was almost one! Hands free for all of you who love to multi-task! Check them out on her blog. She has some great fabric to choose from AND they fold up and fit right in your baby bag. So go ahead...order one!!

A Week In Review...

Here are just a few of the things that made me smile last week:

• Sharing Sushi with Jesse for Date Night.
• Watching Emma climb up and down the stairs without using her hands...such a big girl!
• Gabe's toothless grin!
• FHE with friends who think of my family as their own. We played "Don't Eat Pete". I have a feeling that was just for Gabe, and I appreciate that more than they know.
• Hand and Foot night and the GIRLS finally winning!! Go Girls!
• Treasured phone calls from a best friend.
• Late nights.
• The sun.
  

50 Facts About Me...

Cute Aly tagged me to post 50 facts about myself, that you may or may not know. 50: That's a lot! We'll see how far I get...

1. I have all sisters.

2. Jesse has all brothers.

3. I grew up in the country.

4. My first pet was a dog, Pepper. Then a girl, Pepper, moved in down the road. We used to joke about it all the time. We became really good friends.

5. When I was little, I LOVED to ride my bike up and down the road. I would pretend that the nuts and bolts were buttons to a radio on my bike.

6. My first tape was Madonna - Like a Virgin. (what was my mother thinking???)

7. I used to trade shoes with Camille Hawkes and Melissa Ward in First Grade. I hated it. I wanted my own darn shoes!

8. I have never broken a bone, but Jesse has broken 21 (or close to that).

9. I had braces when I was in high school. Now I need them again.

10. I love to take hot baths and stand in a hot shower for a really long time.

11. I ran for Head Cheerleader my Senior Year in High School and lost. It ended up being a blessing. I became best friends with the girl who won.

12. I want to go to Hawaii someday. That would be my dream vacation.

13. My favorite part about coming home from school in Elementary was getting off the bus and smelling hot bread that my mom just baked. She still bakes once a week.

14. I don't like being in a lake or the ocean. It scares me.

15. The thing that scares me the MOST is something terrible happening to Gabe or Emma.

16. I want to go back to Greece with Wayne and Susan in a few years.

17. I love my in-laws. How many people can say that??

18. I was an aunt when I was 8 and a great-aunt when I was 29.

19. If I was rich, I would love to take my mom and sisters to an expensive Spa and spend all day pampering ourselves.

20. I wear contacts.

21. I had a lamb in the Oneida County Fair for several years in a row. I hate lambs.

22. I used to watch Days of Our Lives every day after school. My thoughts were consumed with Bo and Hope...

23. My first date with Jesse was to a Brooks and Dunn concert.

24. My second date with Jesse was Spring Break to St. George. Don't worry...his parents were with us.

25. I would love to get a road bike and start riding outside.

26. My favorite day of the week is Saturday.

27. I have been skinny dipping.

28. I love to stay up late doing whatever I please.

29. I love to watch my babies sleep.

30. I get teary thinking of the sacrifices my parents made for me and how ungrateful I was growing up.

31. I rode a school bus across the United States with my family when I was a Sophomore in High School. You can't act cool riding in a school bus with your family. Don't even try.

32. I absolutely hate to camp.

33. I am allergic to grass. My eyes used to swell shut when I was little. I got out of gardening a lot by rubbing my eyes after I touched the weeds in the garden.

34. The biggest fight I got in with my mom was when I was a senior in High School, and I wanted to sleep on the football field with the cheer squad. Sorry mom, I wasn't thinking!!

35. My first real job was cleaning school buses for my dad. I hated scraping gum off of the floor.

36. I love to get together with old friends.

37. I can't believe that I love Sushi. I wouldn't eat anything out of the ordinary growing up. Everything had to be dry - sandwiches, no salads....I was SO missing out.

38. I like to take road trips because I feel justified in buying a whole load of crappy food and eating the entire time we are driving.

39. When I was doing x-rays, Holly and I used to x-ray the Halloween candy looking for anything "suspicious". Then we would take our favorite pieces and give the candy back to the kids.

40. I am a gym rat. I need the endorphin release.

41. I love a clean house, I just don't always want to clean it.

42. I love sticky notes and note cards.

43. If I do something that is not on my "to-do" list, I add it on and then cross it off.

44. I don't like being cold.

45. I can't stand clutter.

46. I love shoes. Especially high heels. I like feeling tall.

47. I wanted to be a School Teacher when I was little.

48. I once walked in on a guy wearing just his undies while at a hotel in Northern Idaho. I thought it was my hotel room.

49. I think Easter Candy is the most delicious of any Holiday treat. I seriously need help...

50. I love to read other peoples blogs and check to see if I received any comments several times a day. I know...obsessed.

A Week in Review...

Another week gone by...this week I will share what made me smile and laugh...

• Gabe-isms: I couldn't help but laugh when I heard these words come out of my 8 year olds mouth - "Oh, Snap!", "I am shakin' like a little girl", and my favorite - "here come my super powers....no, just gas."
• Gabe's front tooth falling out: See previous post. I giggle just thinking about it. Maybe you had to be there.
• The sun actually coming out and warming things up.
• Gabe riding his bike around the neighborhood.
• Me riding Gabe's bike home from the bus stop. (he would die if he knew I did this...)
• Our dear friends, Cash and Marisa, coming to stay for a few days. Although, I wish they came under different circumstances, it was so wonderful to spend some time with them!!
• Eating at a Korean Restaurant with Cash and Marisa.
• Making cookies with Emma.
• The Blue and Gold Banquet: Gabe got his first bead for doing three acheivements on his Wolf. Yay, Gabe!!
• The Barn: A bounce house in Sandy. Emma LOVED jumping around and going down the slide. It makes me happy to see my kids happy.
• Stake Conference: I love Conferences - Ward, Stake, General....I leave with a renewed commitment to be a better person and member of the church. (We have so many conferences because of people like me who need the reminder...)
• Celebrating Sarah's Birthday with her family. Happy Birthday Sarah!! We love you!!
  

Gabe's Snaggle Tooth...

Gabriel's front tooth has been loose for weeks, and he would not let us pull it! By this weekend, it was hanging by a thread. He gave new meaning to the phrase "snaggle tooth". We convinced him to let us tie a piece of dental floss around the tooth and tie the other end to a door. Hey, we have heard that this works, but have never actually seen it. Why not try it on your own kids? So, Jesse carefully tied one end of the floss around Gabe's front tooth....


Of course, Emma had to be part of the process...Cheese


Here is Gabe smiling after Jesse tied the other end of the floss to the bathroom door handle...So far so good...


At this point, Gabe starts to get a little nervous about the whole process. He starts to fuss and tell us it is going to hurt. "Only for a second", was our reply. "Come on, Gabe, it won't hurt that bad...." I am getting in position to hold his body while Jesse slams the door shut, when Miss Emma comes out of no where and pushes down on the middle of the dental floss....POP! Out comes Gabe's tooth right on the floor! Way to go Emma!!!


Doesn't she look so proud of herself???

Jesse and I are still giggling every time we replay this scene in our minds. It was so hilarious!!