The Stoddart's Est. 2000

Grandaddy Turns 105!!

2012-01-10T08:00:00.004-07:00

My Great Grandaddy turned 105 yesterday. He is the oldest man in Utah (there are some women older than him that he is determined to outlive!), the oldest general authority, and the longest serving general authority. BUT to me and y family he is GRANDADDY!
The Deseret News did the following article about him. President Monson came over for a visit along with the reporter, Gerry Avant. I am posting it, along with all the pictures so that I will have a copy of it in my blog book for all my family to see and remember.

Elder Eldred G. Smith , who served as patriarch to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1949 to 1979, turned 105 on Monday. Among those calling upon him at this home to extend greetings was church President Thomas S. Monson .

Sitting shoulder to shoulder on a sofa in the living room of Elder Smith's home in Salt Lake City, they reminisced about their long years of service in the church. They spoke of their travels together to such places as Australia, Samoa and Italy.

"We had a good time together," President Monson said.

They still enjoy a close association. On the first Thursday of each month, Elder Smith, who retains the priesthood office of patriarch and is an emeritus general authority, attends a meeting with all the church's general authorities who are in Salt Lake City. President Monson said he often calls upon Elder Smith to speak. "We always enjoy hearing from him," President Monson said.

In addition to sharing memories of their church service together, they spoke of their shared interest in the outdoors. While President Monson said he enjoyed hunting pheasants, Elder Smith said he hunted deer. "But once you pull the trigger, the fun is over," he said in reference to the work involved in dressing out the deer and preparing it for the table. He said his mother had an excellent method of cooking venison. "One time, she cooked venison along with some beef. No one could tell the difference," he said.

As the two talked, they learned that each once had a dog named Freckles.

Elder Smith is the last person to have held the position of patriarch to the church. The office originated in 1833 with the calling of Joseph Smith Sr., father of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Elder Eldred Smith is the great-great-grandson of the Prophet's brother Hyrum. Elder Smith's father, Hyrum Gibbs Smith, was patriarch to the church from 1912 until his death in 1932. Eldred G. Smith was called as patriarch to the church on April 10, 1949, by George Albert Smith .

As a general authority, Elder Smith traveled to stake conferences with individual members of the Quorum of the Twelve and was a frequent speaker at general conferences.

As a descendant of Hyrum Smith , Elder Smith has inherited several artifacts that he has displayed on various occasions.

He married Jeanne Audrey Ness in 1932; they had five children. Following her death, he married Hortense Child in 1977; she was then serving as a counselor in the Young Women general presidency.

Five years ago, when he turned 100, a reporter asked to what Elder Smith attributed his long life. Reminded of that interview, Elder Smith laughed gave the same answer: "Keep breathing."

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T08:09:00.003-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We have been so abundantly blessed this year I am just overwhelmed. This year, because I really wanted to make sure that the kids remembered the reason we celebrate Christmas I made them start off with a prayer to thanks our Heavenly Father for all the things that we have been blessed with. I had Abby say it, and it was so sweet and simple. After that then I let them go to town. I think they all had a wonderful Christmas and all got what they wanted. Here are just a few pictures of Christmas.

The annual Christmas Eve Pajamas picture. I had to take 5 sots, because people kept pulling funny faces (mainly Pug and Abby).

Looking through their stockings.

Abby got a DS, so now she doesn't have to steal one from her brother or sister.

Cameron got a guitar (which I broke the E string while trying to tune it, so guess who gets to go and buy him a new one :( )

Apparently I didn't take a picture of Kenzie with her Santa gift, don't know how I missed that one. But she got a telescope. McKenzie loves any thing to do with space.

This was one of the biggest hits!! A barrel of Cheese Balls!!! Who knew?!

My in-laws are taking the whole family to Hawaii in March, and they told all the kids at Christmas. McKenzie has been trying to get her Grandpa to take her for the last 3 years!! She was so excited she started to cry. Oh I love that girl!!!! This is their reaction to hearing the news.

We all went to church together, so we had to take a nice Christmas church outfit picture too.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Temple Square

2011-12-21T11:52:00.002-07:00

Last night we took all the kiddos up to Temple Square to see the lights. We try to do this every year, and last night was the only night we had open to do it. I am glad we went when we did. It wasn't too cold and it wasn't too crowded. I love being able to go there and remember the real reason that we celebrate the season.

The Temple was beautiful as usual.

And of course I had to take pictures of the kids all over the place.

Merry Christmas! May our Heavenly Father bless each of you during this holiday season.

All the kids

2011-12-21T11:46:00.003-07:00

On Monday we had a whole McCullough family home evening. We started the evening out with a trip to Walmart for each of the grandkids to pick out a toy to donate to toys for tots. After that we came back here for dinner and a lesson. We talked about serving others and giving to those who are less fortunate than us. Then we "reenacted" the nativity (I put it in quotes because with 13 kids it was more chaos than spiritual:). Our plan was to take pictures of EVERYONE, but the kids were so far gone we were lucky to get this one picture of my parents and their kids and their spouses. So, if it looks like we are all about ready to keel over we probably were. It was so much fun to be able to spend some time with my parents.

Outdoor flag ceremony

2011-12-21T11:42:00.002-07:00

One of the few things that Cameron needs to get his Wolf in Cub Scouts was to participate in an outdoor flag ceremony. Cameron's den had done it one time when he was away at soccer. So he needed to do it. Luckily we have very patriotic family. So, before our McCullough family party, Cameron, Pug, Nelson, Mike, and Josh all put on their scout uniforms and did a flag ceremony at my Grandmas house. It was really kind of fun. Thanks for all your help guys!

Chrismas Dance Recital

2011-12-21T11:39:00.002-07:00

The girls had their Christmas dance recital last Friday. They have been working so hard and they did such a good job!!

Here they are all ready to preform.

Abby is the little one in the middle.

Kenzie is on the left.

Good job girls I am so proud of you.

Abby visits Santa!

2011-12-21T11:27:00.002-07:00

I just had to post a picture to prove that Abby did sit on Santa's lap and really did talk to him. Hopefully we are now past the "Sataphobia" stage now!

Baby C pictures

2011-12-10T09:31:00.003-07:00

I was so excited/ nervous to be asked to take pictures of my friends new baby. I am usually an outside photographer, so I kind of struggled with taking pictures inside. Some (alot) didn't turn out how I was hoping they would. BUT I think we got a few good ones. Here they are! Let me know what you think.

Abbott Family Pics

2011-12-05T08:00:00.003-07:00

On Saturday I was able to take my sister Heather and her family's pictures. One thing led to another to another, and unfortunately we didn't get out there to take pics until noon (I know the worst time to take pics, but you do what you have to!). So I had to deal with all the lovely shadows, but I think that they turned out okay. Can you tell how cold and windy it was?! Thanks Heather! I had a great time with you guys :)

2011-11-30T15:00:00.003-07:00

So, here are the pictures that I took yesterday with the kids. It was really fun! Infact, Cameron asked me this morning if we were going to go out and do pictures again!! Silly kid.

I am a little bummed about how they look on the blog. They look so much darker than they did on photoshop. I am still struggling with that program! I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the onto a disk for me to view them from there (so if anybody want to come and show me how to do that I would be greatly appreciative :P).
Even though they are a little darker than they should I am sure you can get a good idea of what they look like. I hope you like them... I sure do!

Photo Card

2011-11-29T19:50:00.001-07:00

Mod Merry Ornaments Christmas

Create from the Heart: photo Christmas cards from Shutterfly .

View the entire collection of cards.

Gratitude

2011-11-23T09:48:00.002-07:00

At this time, when there is so many hard things we are dealing with, I am completely overcome with gratitude. I think that it is a "blessing in disguise" that we are going through this trial at this time of year. Yes, it may be true that we no longer have a job, we know exactly when our money will run out, we are scared what the future will bring, BUT we have faith that all will be well, and we can see a little more clearly all the things that we have been blessed with.
We have the worlds most amazing family and friends. I am almost overwhelmed by the amount of love and support that has been shown to us in the past month. We have had financial support, but more importantly we have had emotional support. We have been taken places by our friends and family (mostly out to dinner- YUMMY) to take our minds off the bad and have time to focus on the good. We have had people just tell us how sorry they were, if there was anything they could to let them know, if there was anything that we needed. I am just amazed.
We live in a ward like no other. The sympathy and support we have received is wonderful. We haven't even had to ask for anything. Just the other day an entire Thanksgiving feast was delivered to our door. People are contacting people they know getting Jeff's name out there. Again, amazing!!
We have been blessed with good health. Yes Abby did just break her arm, but she did that while we still had insurance. And all the follow up care for the next month will be covered at no expense (we just have to pay for xrays). We have what we need. There is food in the house, we can still pay for the things we need. And we can focus more on what the real meaning of Christmas is.
This year, yeah it will be a small Christmas, but I have a feeling it will be one of the best Christmas' ever. The focus will be more on our Savior, and less on Santa and presents. It will be more about our love for one another, and less on "so and so got this from Santa." It will be more about making memories together as a family and less on "we need to get gifts for all the neighbors and the kids friends." So, it may be a "small" Christmas as far as gifts go, but it will be the biggest Christmas ever in terms of memories and togetherness.
So, for those of you who have offered a kind word of encouragement, food, money and any and all types of support... THANK YOU! We love you!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T08:55:00.003-06:00

We had a great Halloween this year. And costumes were super easy too! Abby wore a poodle skirt that I had made for McKenzie. Cameron wore his soccer uniform and went as Nick Rimando (all I had to do was cover the name on the back with Rimando, and cover the Rage logos with Real sticker logos! super easy!) And Kenzie was a bumble bee. I made a tutu out of black and yellow tulle, put yellow duct tape on a black shirt, and added wings and antennas! I think this was one of the easiest years for costumes ever. LOVED IT!!

Here is Abby waiting for the school parade to start.

Kenzie in the parade.

Cameron in the parade.

Abby, just before trick or treating. Showing off her poodle.

Kenzie the bumble bee.

Nick Rimando- aka Cameron

And this is what happens when you try to get 3 children who are already hyped up on sugar, waiting to go out and get more sugar, to pose for a nice picture together...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Seattle

2011-11-02T08:33:00.004-06:00

We had an amazing weekend trip up to Seattle over Fall Break this year (Oct. 20-23). We were able to head up to Seattle to spend some time with family and friends. We started the night of the 19th, spending it in Boise with his sister Julie. Then early the next morning we were off to Seattle. The drive was good and the kids were great. We arrived in Seattle just after 4:00, and went straight to the temple.

As you can see Cameron was totally thrilled by having his picture taken. Who can blame him, he was in the car all day.

Pug's Grandfather designed this temple. He loved the grounds and commented on how it smelled just like his grandpa's backyard.

The next day we spent with his sister Ashlee who lives in Auburn. She took her kids out of school for the day so they could play with their cousins.

We took the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. It was really neat, and the kids loved being out on the bow of the boat. Then we just drove around downtown Seattle. We saw the troll under the bridge, and then went to a toy store in Seattle. Across the street there was a totem pole. All the kids had to pose in front of it!

That night we hung out with his friend James and his little girl Esme. We took a walk in a park right across the street from their house. So beautiful there!

The next day, Saturday< we went to Pike Place. Unfortunately they weren't throwing fish while we were there :( but we did get some YUMMY doughnuts, and Pug and James loved going through the little Italian shop there.

We went to the top of the space needle, but unfortunately it was raining and cloudy, so we couldn't really see much of anything. But I was able to get this pretty cool shot!

And of couse we had to get the kids to pose all together!!

Later that day James took us to Snoqualmie Falls. It was beautiful. But with the sound of rushing water we were only there about 2 minutes before all the kids had to go to the bathroom!

Here is a river that we went to in Old Town Snoqualmie. Everything there is so beautiful and green. We had an amazing time!

Thanks again James for making this dream come true! Thanks Ashlee for taking us around Seattle. We love all you guys!

McKenzie's Room Make Over

2011-10-07T14:17:00.003-06:00

When we moved into our new house just over a year ago, I had told McKenzie we could decorate her room however she wanted. Well, her favorite colors are green and blue, so we found this adorable bedding set at Bed Bath and Beyond for around $50 (we actually bought it before we moved, so I am not counting that towards her room makeover). A year later, I FINALLY got around to decorating. The theme she wanted was Paris. Super cute, and there are TONS of cute decor for a girls room for Paris- if they chose pink as their color. Not to worry though, I think I pulled it off. And the whole thing was less than $100! I will give the break down later.

Here is her room before. Every room in our house is that tan/brown color. Not exactly girly.

Here is a look at it AFTER!

A view of another wall.

The closet and door.

So, just to let you know how cheap everything cost, here is a run down:
Paint: $30 for both green and white (had a mail in rebate)
Vinyl stickers: $9 (40% off coupon at Robert's)
Eiffel Tower: $11 (50% of at Hobby Lobby)
Shelf: $14 (40% off coupon at Robert's)
Picture holder: $10 (50% off at Hobby Lobby)
Curtains: $19 (Target)
Total: $93

These curtains were fun. I bought one long panel at Target. I cut that in half and sewed a pocket for the rod on one and made a hem for the other. Then I hung them and tied black ribbon to bunch them up. I think they turned out cute for only $19.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2011-09-27T12:51:00.002-06:00

Wow! I can't believe it is already the end of September! Time sure does fly! We have been so busy! It seems that there is something going on everyday (usually there is!) Here is what our schedule has been for the past month:
Monday: Early out day,homework, laundry, FHE (pretty easy day)
Tuesday: homework, piano, soccer 5:30-7:00
Wednesday: homework, scouts 4:00-5:00, activity days 4:00-5:00, soccer 5:00-6:30, tumbling 6:00-7:00
Thursday: homework, dance 4:00-5:00
Friday: collapse in a big heap
Saturday: Soccer games, Real Games, birthday parties, baby showers, lesson prep, squeeze in house cleaning
Sunday: Church

Plus all the other stuff I forgot and the usual everyday things. Now there are at least one other day of soccer thrown in there in between Tuesday and Friday for another game as well.
Needless to say we have been busy. Crazy BUSY! But you know what... I love it. I love that my kids are so active and involved in different things.

Here are just a few pictures of Cameron's activities from the past month.
Soccer! That kids is a natural when it comes to soccer.

Rain gutter regatta! Of course it had to be a Real boat!

Happy #5 Abby

2011-09-08T10:33:00.004-06:00

Today my baby turns 5 years old! My goodness how time flies. Abby has been such a joy to have in our family. She is definitely our comedian. She loves to laugh and make friends wherever she goes. I haven't found a person yet that Abby hasn't won over. She is 5 going on 16, lots of BIG attitude pack in a little tiny body. Abby loves to have her picture taken, especially if she is doing crazy things. Unlike last years birthday post (just using professional pictures), I thought I would do snapshots that I have taken of her. You can really see her personality shine through.

I could have posted about 1000 pictures more of Abby. I love you little girl, you are my sunshine...

Abby's last First Day of Preschool

2011-08-30T10:05:00.002-06:00

Today was Abby's last first day of preschool. I kind of have mixed emotions. I love that Abby loves school, and is so smart. She is already reading, and can add things. She is actually more ready for kindergarten than a lot of kindergartners are. But she missed the deadline by a week. So we get to do preschool one more year. I am glad that I get to have her home with me for one more year. It kind of makes me sad to see that my baby is getting so big.

Here are just a few pictures of her first day of school.
Abby in her new outfit.

She just LOVES to get her picture taken. Can you tell?

Abby with her fabulous teacher, Miss Jenny. She is one of the main reasons I am not too worried about her being in preschool one more year. She is wonderful with Abby, and I know that she will make sure that Abby is challenged at school.

Now I just need to get my schedule figured out for the times when I don't have her home. (Probably at the school helping the other kids classes)

First Day of School!

2011-08-23T11:49:00.002-06:00

The day has finally come! The kids have gone back to school! Now, don't get me wrong. I love the summer I love having my kids home, but by the time August comes around the vacations are all over, and the kids start to get bored. Then they start to fight, and complain. Well.... Now that is all over with! They are so excited to be back at school! To be with their friends, and have fun with their new teachers. It will be GREAT!
Abby was a little sad this morning as we said goodbye to them at the bus stop. I think she will be okay. She has Mommy all to her self again!
Here are just a few pictures from this morning. (None from the bus stop. They told me I would be too embarrassing if I brought my camera there)

Lookin good in their new school duds!

What a handsome boy! And can you see how green his eyes are getting?

Beautiful! (Maybe a little nervous)

Abby had to join in the fun too!

From the mouths of babes

2011-08-10T14:49:00.002-06:00

I have been meaning to post this for awhile now, but I just never found the time. But I knew that I really needed to get this posted before I forgot.
Pug's Grandma, June Fetzer, died back in at the beginning of July. Abby and Grandma had a very special bond. Nobody could quite explain it, but there it was. Grandma struggled near the end of her life with remembering who people were. She called me Kelly and couldn't remember McKenzie or Cameron's names. She could remember Pug some of the time. BUT she always remembered Abby.
The two of them would sit together on the couch and "read" books together, or just hold hands. Abby always gave her hugs and kisses. Grandma loved Abby and Abby loved Grandma.
A few weeks before we left on our trip Grandma suffered a stroke. In fact they said there were 7 blood clots found in her brain. We weren't sure how long she had left. She progressed amazingly and just before we left she was in a nursing/rehab home. We went to say our goodbyes- certain that she wouldn't be around when we came home. We walked in her room, she didn't recognize any of us. Until she saw Abby. Her face beamed. She knew Abby.
Well, Grandma passed away a few days before we got home. Luckily we were able to make it to the funeral. Which was very nice. There were times after Grandma died that Abby would get sad and teary eyed when I was putting her down. She just said that she "Weally misses Gwandma." We would talk for a minute and then she would be okay and go to sleep.
The last time she said this was a few weeks ago. But she added to it. I asked her what was wrong. She said, "Am I going to forget Grandma?" I told her that she might forget a few things. Then she said, "I am starting to forget heaven, and Jesus." As you can imagine tears were forming in my eyes as I talked with her about it. She explained in detail somethings from heaven. She remembered a chandelier, but not like any she has seen here. And a table, a big table to fit lots of people. She said it was nice, but she was forgetting.
After I finished our conversation I was amazed! She was able to describe in such details things that I am sure she has never seen here. Kids are amazing, and the veil is very thin for these little ones. I hope you don't forget Abby, but unfortunately you probably will.

Summer...so far

2011-07-22T08:59:00.002-06:00

This summer has been a fun one, so far. And it has seemed a little different from any past ones. We spent the first week of summer break getting ready for Cameron's birthday, and baptism, and getting thing put together for our BIG trip back east. We left for Virginia the Monday after Cameron was baptized (June 13th). And my Mom and I drove cross country with 3 kiddos and a dog in tow. The drive actually wasn't that bad! The kids, for the most part were well behaved. Then we spent almost the next month enjoying time with my parents and enjoying the wonderful historic sites in and around the area. We were always busy doing something. Pug was lucky enough to take off work for the last 2 weeks of our vacation and come out to be with us all. Now that we are home the "other" half of our summer has started. For the most part the kids were doing good, we were busy with all sorts of things (Grandma Fetzer's funeral, cousins, cousins, and more cousins to play with, soccer and more soccer, friends, etc.). But now we have hit a rut. We haven't gone anywhere in a few days, and my kids are starting to fight:(. I am not sure why we haven't done anything- we made a list before school was out of things that we wanted to do this summer. And they had some GREAT ideas (fun things like Promontory Point, Kennecott Copper Mine, downtown SLC). BUT we haven't done any of them! I am just feeling a little burned out I guess. So, I am putting this out there for all to see that I am promising my kids we will do at least 2 things a week on our FUN LIST. Now, some cost money and some don't so I won't have to spend all my money in a week. I just want my kids to think that the summer of 2011 was a great summer!

Pre-Preschool Graduation

2011-07-20T11:15:00.002-06:00

Abby "graduated" from preschool in June. Unfortunately she misses the deadline to start kindergarten by a week, so she gets to wait another. Luckily she has the BEST preschool teacher (Teacher Jenny) that gets to have her one more year! Abby is so smart and catches on so quickly. I am so lucky to have such bright kids. It definitely makes school a much more enjoyable experience.

Cameron's Baptism

2011-07-20T11:01:00.002-06:00

I am feeling quite guilty about not having this post done sooner, but with leaving for a month 2 days after Cameron was baptized and then coming home to a crazy busy schedule I haven't really had much time for blogging. BUT here I am finally posting a few things about Cameron's special day.

Cameron was lucky to be baptized the day after his birthday. Normally baptisms are held on the first weekend of the month, but out here with Pony Express Day's we had them on the second weekend- which meant that Cameron would be able to be baptized in June.
Cameron had been looking forward to that day for about 6 years! He couldn't wait to take that important step and join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Cameron is very sensitive. He can feel the spirit and has a gift of faith that is amazing. I hope that he can keep that gift of unquestionable faith as he grows. He loves the scriptures, and loves that he now has his own copy of the Book of Mormon and Bible.
He looked so handsome all dressed in white.

We are so proud of Cameron and the decisions he has made to really try hard to do what is right.

His baptism day was wonderful. And we are so grateful to all of the family members and friends who were able to come and share this special day with him, and those who weren't able to come, but were still there in spirit.

Yes and No

2011-07-15T14:47:00.002-06:00

Yes, I do remember that I have a blog. Yes, I have a million and one things to blog about. No, this will not be that blog. Yes, we had a blast on our month long vacation in Virginia. No, I will not be posting all of those pictures on here (way too many- making them into a book for us instead). Yes, Cameron did get baptized, Yes I will blog about that too. No, this will not be that blog. Yes we are all still alive and happy, and way too busy.
Okay, that is all for today!

St George

2011-06-01T12:39:00.003-06:00

We were able to take off for the Memorial Day weekend, escape the cold and rain, and enjoy some good times with good friends. Here are just a few pictures that I took while we were there (I took over 90, so this is just a few). Maybe if I have the time and energy to post more I will do that later. Lets just say we had a great time!

Here are the kids on the red rocks above the Dixie sign. They all had such a blast climbing around on the rocks!

This is a silhouette of all the kids on the rocks.

And of course the gorgeous St. George temple.

Dance Pictures

2011-05-30T18:42:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday my girls had their dance pictures. They had fun getting all dressed up, and having makeup on. They looked adorable! Being the cheapo that I am I thought I would take my own pictures of them instead of purchasing them from the photographer. So, before I took them out for their pictures, I did a photo shoot myself with them. Here are just a few of the pictures that I took.

Abby was first. It probably helped that the older kids were still in school. Abby had a BLAST posing for me! I have a ton of just sassy poses from that kid! Here are just a few that I have edited.

See, what did I tell you? Sassy! I love her :)

I thought this one looked amazing in black and white.

McKenzie was last. Her shoot was a little crazy. I had to run soccer stuff over to Pug in the middle of it, them we had to hurry and finish before we had to leave for her studio pictures.

Such a beautiful girl.

And of course a black and white one.

I am starting to understand my camera a little more each time I use it. I am hoping to one day actually take a class and really learn. Until then, I will take 100 pictures just to have 10 good ones :)

Why can't they assign seats?

2011-05-24T12:13:00.002-06:00

I love going to the schools and listening to my kids sing, talk, and watch them dance. I know how hard it is to get all the kids in the whole grade to sit down and do what they are told. I understand why they always have the tall people in the back and the short people in the front. And I understand why all the parents want to sit in or near the front. BUT being the mom of short people I have one complaint. If you have a short child on the front row, you CANNOT see them when you are anywhere past the 3rd row! We could see the top 3 rows of children perfectly when we went to Cameron's end of year program (oh and FYI I was there 30 minutes early). We could not see Cameron at all! Even when he was standing! The only way I was able to get this picture was to climb over everyone on the row to get to the isle, squat down (so as not to get in the way of others photographing or video taping), and wait. All I am asking is for those who have children on the top few rows, please be considerate of those who have short children in the front, and let them near to watch their kids.
Thank you.

That is Cameron, front and center in red, on the front row!

"I lost 8 inches in just 2 hours!"

2011-05-10T12:50:00.003-06:00

So here is me on Sunday. Notice how long my hair is?

A view from the back...

Then today I FINALLY went and had it cut! I am donating it to the Pantene hair donations Beautiful Lengths, in memory of our friend Paige who died last year from cancer.
Here is my needed 8 inches! It is curling a little, but it is all there!

A view from the back.

And the view from the front. (Maybe I should have put on some lipstick :)

$20 up for grab

2011-05-09T08:03:00.002-06:00

Many of you are aware of our up coming trip to Virginia/Dc area. My kids are beyond excited and are counting down the days until we leave. They also have been wanting to do a little extra in the chores department to earn some spending money. Cameron has been the worst with hounding me about what he can do to earn extra money. Here in lies the problem. I don't feel like they should be paid for the things I expect them to do anyways. I have come up with a few things- like cleaning up all the dog poop, weeding, and other things that aren't part of their weekly chores. But of course they don't want to do THAT! So, after a particularly BAD day I came up with this...
If they can not whine, complain, fight, throw temper tantrums or attitude, PLUS obey, and be kind to each other for a full 24 hours I would give them $20! That's it!
Okay, so day one. Cameron lasted 15 minutes before he lost it with his sister. McKenzie made it a whole 45 minutes.
Day two was much better. Cameron had gone 9 hours! McKenzie was about 7 hours. It was really sad about Cameron. If he had only hung on for about 2 more hours he would have been going to bed and slept for a HUGE portion of his time. Darn- I don't give second chances :)
Day three. Sunday- Mother's Day. Cameron and McKenzie were doing great, until it was time to go to church. Out goes Cameron before we even made it into the car. Out goes McKenzie before we make it over to the church.
Today is day 4, and yes, they have already lost it.
Apparently it is really hard to get along with you family and be PLEASANT for 24 hours. I have faith that they can do it. And every morning I will start their time over (the time is 7:00am- 7:00am). Until then I have 2 twenty dollar bills burning a hole in my wallet.

Pictures

2011-04-30T15:44:00.002-06:00

After I posted the last entry I went back and edited a few of the pictures from the race. Here is what I have done with them. I think they turned out pretty good....

A 5k and kids fun run

2011-04-30T15:01:00.004-06:00

This morning I ran a 5k race for a charity that is just getting started out here in EM. It is called the Cupcake Charity and they raise money for people who are sick, or have family members deployed, or any other need that they see. So, anyways I ran that this morning. The weather started out cold, but sunny. In fact as I was running I started taking off my layers (well, the gloves, hat, and sweatshirt). I made pretty good pace for me. I was the 4th woman through at a pace of 29:32. There weren't a whole lot of people there (maybe 40?), but I feel like I did pretty good. Afterwards they were going to have a mile fun run for the kids, but due to the snow they changed it to just a short sprint. I don't know what the distance was, but McKenzie took 1st at 1:01 and Cameron took 3rd at 1:07.

Here are just a few pictures from this morning.

Abby (obviously I DIDN't fix her hair before I left)

Me near the finish line. I don't look like I am running very fast (and I really wasn't at this point).

At the start of the kids run. I love how Cameron looks like he is just flying!!!

McKenzie nearing the finish line.

Cameron nearing the end. And McKenzie finished.

Abby is ready to call it a day. It was cold and snowing by the time the kids ran.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T09:35:00.004-06:00

Here are my kids Easter pictures. I made the girls skirts and bows and I think they turned out pretty cute (if I do say so my self).

Sweet Abby.

Beautiful McKenzie.

My two girls.

Abby.

Kenzie

Handsome Cameron.

Cameron.

All three good looking kids.

My brown eyed babies

Pug and his cute Grandma.

The Happenings...

2011-04-25T08:51:00.004-06:00

I have not been very good about posting things lately. Here are just a few pictures of what I have been up to lately.

We finally got Abby a new dresser. She has been trying to squeeze her clothes into a dresser that we got a Kmart for Kenzie when she was a baby. Needless to say it was time for something new. We found this at Ikea and Abby loves it (especially the "hidden" drawer inside the top drawer).

And on the same day as finding the dresser we found this wonderful find at Hobby Lobby. For those of you who have seen my house, you know I have a very tall, very empty wall right when you come into my house. I was always saying I wanted a huge mirror to go there. But they were WAY too much money for the size I wanted. AND Pug thought they would be too heavy (imagine a big mirror falling- eeeek!). So we found this painting of Portofino, Italy and knew we needed it. Pug served in Portofino while on his mission. So, when he got home he looked through his mission pictures and found some photos that he had taken of the same scene as our painting. So I scanned, edited and printed out three of them as 8x10's, framed them and hung them on the opposite wall. So cool. I will take pictures of the whole room when I finish decorating it.

My parents flew into town on the 16th for the weekend. BJ was blessing his sweet baby Halle on the Sunday. It was so good to be able to have BOTH Mom and Dad there. Unfortunately Dad isn't able to make it out here as often as Mom is, so we taken any time we can get with him :)
Here Pa Bob is loving little Halle.
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My cute Mom :)

Great Grandma "Little Piggy" aka Grandma McCullough.

Great Grandma Skeen

And according to my neighbor this is the first time in the 5 years she has been here that there has ever been water in the Tickville Gulch (which is right behind my house).

Another thing we did while my parents were here is get together for FHE. My mom decided that we needed to do some sort of a service project. So we put together hygiene kits for the church welfare.

Here is our final count- I think it was 23 (I can't remember).

Sneak Peak

2011-04-05T20:09:00.003-06:00

I am starting to get a hang of some simple techniques of photography. Tonight B.J., Jenni and family came over for a photo shoot. I was so excited to get the chance to try out my skills (and I am sure my kids were excited that I wasn't taking pictures of them again). We did a bunch of family pictures, and then some of just Halle in her blessing dress (which my amazingly talented sister MADE!!)

Here are just a few that I loved!!

The FAM

Totally LOVED this one in sepia.

I got this idea from Abby's blessing dress pictures.

As you can see I am really going crazy with this whole photography thing. I think I should see about taking some sort of class so I can really learn how to use my camera. Then who knows what kind of pictures I can take :)

An Evening at the Park

2011-04-02T16:09:00.004-06:00

After a long cold winter, we took one of the first nice evenings and headed out to the park. They had fun playing basketball, swinging on the swings, rolling down the hill, and playing in the tunnels. I had fun taking pictures and trying out new things. here are my newest additions to my photos.

Sweet Abby.

My handsome toothless Cameron.

Beautiful Kenzie.

Then I thought I would get a little artsy here.

A shadow picture of Kenzie, where I enhanced the blue sky.

All three in sepia.

And all three in black and white.

I had such a fun time taking the pictures and editing them. Tell me what you think...

Collage

2011-03-24T16:03:00.001-06:00

I have been playing around with the collage options. Here are just 3 that I have done. Kind of fun.
I really want the weather to warm up so I can go out and take a bunch of pics of my cute kids!

More Photos!

2011-03-22T11:09:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, before my sister Annie and her kids went back to Texas, we decided to get together for a celebration and try to take some pictures. The kids were rowdy, a stray dog kept running through the yard, it was chilly. I took about 20 pictures or so of all the kids (minus Mike who was at scout camp) and this was the best one! Oh well, I guess when you get that many kids together at one to take a picture you will never have a perfect one!

Then my brother and his family wanted a family picture as well with their new little Baby Halle.

And of course a Happy Couple picture

This is one that I took earlier, but I now have Picasa and can do a little editing. So this one has been lightened up and I took away the scratches on her face. What a Dolly.

Last Weekend

2011-03-21T08:30:00.004-06:00

Here is a brief synopsis of our weekend:
Friday I FINALLY got my new kitchen table. 2 weeks after my other one broke. 2 weeks after I bought the new one. A week after I was supposed to get it! But I really like it. It is smaller than my last one and fits perfectly in my eating area. Plus it has a bench so I can fit 3 kids on one side!

Abby had a long Sunday and fell asleep while Pug was Home Teaching and I was reading a book. Poor thing.

Sunday night about half an hour after they were supposed to go to bed, Cameron came up and said his tooth was ready to come out. Now his 2 front teeth have been wiggly for almost a YEAR! This boy refused to wiggle his teeth at all, so when he said that I thought YIPPEE! So I wiggled it just a bit farther and pulled it out! He was so excited.
What a cute smile!

Then this morning he said his other tooth was a little wiggly too. So I did the same thing as last night... and out popped the other tooth! Now he is a toothless wonder! So cute. I love it when they are missing both front teeth!

Photog... sort of :)

2011-03-18T10:58:00.003-06:00

I was lucky enough to have two adorable baby girls over at my house last week. So what did I do? I grabbed my camera and "attempted" to take some pictures. Now I am not very good at this yet, and I don't have photoshop where I can fix my pictures, so this is just how they turned out. Not too bad, but definitely room for improvement!

Halle (6 weeks):
This one is a little dark, but what a cute face!

Lilly (10 months):

11 Years and Counting

2011-03-09T09:26:00.004-07:00

11 Years ago, in the Salt Lake temple I was sealed for time and all eternity to my best friend. Since then I have had so many good times, bad times, happy and sad times, highs and lows. Luckily the good FAR outweigh the bad. I have grown to love Pug more each day. He is an amazing husband. He is always willing to help out with the dishes, the kids, cleaning, pretty much whatever I need him to do. Thanks Babe for 11 wonderful years! Lets keep them coming!!

Our engagement picture.

At the temple- in between snow storms.

And now.

One last post about Kenzie's Birthday... well for a year

2011-03-07T12:56:00.004-07:00

McKenzie had her birthday party last Friday. Her theme this year... SPA! I really had a lot of fun planning out this party- which would have been a complete failure if it weren't for my good friends Melissa and Deborah. Thanks so much for coming and helping me out!!!

Here are a few pictures of the activities and things that went on at the party!

Kenz wanted cupcakes, so we made strawberry cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Then on top of the cupcakes I wrote one letter on each spelling out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENZIE 10" It is kind of hard to read, but that it what it says.

When each girl got there they were able to pick out a bag. Inside each bag was a headband to keep their hair out of the way during their spa stay, a hair elastic, and an empty plastic bottle (which they later filled with bath salts they made.

I had all the girls split up into 3 groups. So that we only had 3-4 girls in each group (much more manageable that way). Then they got to rotate through each activity. Here is a picture from each activity.

Here is the group before we started.

Face Masks. I had all the girls lay down on the futon while they got their face masks on and their cucumbers for their eyes. They actually just laid their the whole time relaxing while their masks dried!!

Bath Salts. I googled a recipe for bath salts that was really easy! I picked up some fragrance and color from Hobby Lobby for just a few dollars. It smelled soooo good! (And they worked fabulously too!!)

Nail Painting. I bought some teen magazines from Walmart for the girls to look at while they had their toes painted. They loved it!

After they had done all the stations they all sang "Happy Birthday" to McKenzie and ate their cupcakes.

Over all I would say the party was a compete success! I even had one of the girls thank me for putting so much effort into the party. I was great fun- but I am glad it is over!

Making the cut

2011-03-02T14:42:00.004-07:00

I finally decided that my kids looked like orphans and needed hair cuts. Luckily, the Great Clips by us is having a 6.99 hair cut sale. So, yesterday after school I look the whole motley crew to get a cut.

Here are the before and after pictures- now remember, Great Clips doesn't style your hair, so these pictures are just of the cuts. You can still get an idea.

Abby Before:

Abby After:

Cameron Before:

Cameron After:

McKenzie Before:

McKenzie After:

The Birthday...

2011-03-02T14:27:00.004-07:00

For McKenzie's birthday we started the day out by waking her up with her presents.

Here the three kiddos are curiously looking at a new DS game.

My cute girls. Abby is such a cheeser!!

Here she is in one of her new outfits, looking so cute and grown up.

Grandma and Grandpa Stoddart came out for dinner. Here is McKenzie opening her gift from them.

Daddy bought her some beautiful flowers.

Hmmmm... Who is helping McKenzie blow out her candles?

And me just being creative with my camera and her rose.

Happy Birthday McKenzie!!!

2011-02-28T08:27:00.004-07:00

How did this happen?!? How did I become the mother of a beautiful ten year old?

My sweet baby girl is turning 10 today. I am amazed at how quickly the time flew by. I can still remember when she was born. I was so excited/scared/worried/happy pretty much every emotion imaginable. McKenzie is such a joy to have in our family. She is my big helper. I can always count on her. She helps so much with her younger brother and sister. She is learning how to cook and help out with the meals. McKenzie is so smart, not just in school, but in the gospel as well. She really tries hard to be good and do those things that both her parents and her Heavenly Father wants her to do. Kenzie is a good friend to all who are near her. I have had so many of her teachers say that if there is ever a child that is having a hard time they can always count on McKenzie to be their friend and help them to be happy. I love McKenzie so much and I am so grateful that I was chosen to be her mother.
I love you Kenz!!!

Here are a few pictures of her past 10 years (some are missing because when I scanned the 8x10 they all saved as pdf for some reason and I couldn't figure out how to change them)

9 months old

1 1/2 years

2 years

3 years

5 years

Kindergarten

Family pictures when she was in 1st grade (6 years)

Third grade

4th grade

Missionary Prep!

2011-01-31T08:13:00.002-07:00

So, Cameron got a "real" tie for Christmas. Not a clip on, or zip, or any other means of easy tie putting on. A real tie. I thought it was cute and would be kind of fun for Pug to start teaching Cameron how to tie a tie. Pug would hold the tie tight and tell Cameron what he needed to do.Well, after 4 weeks of having Daddy help I think he is starting to understand how it all works. Cameron came up to have Dad help him with his tie, but Dad was in the middle of something and couldn't help right away. So, Cameron tied his own tie, all by himself, a double windsor knot! I know the proportions are not quite right, and that will all come in time.... BUT look at how nice that knot looks!! How many 7 year olds can say they know how to tie a double windsor knot?!

Here is Cameron just goofing off- after the tie has been tied again.

This picture- besides it being a really cute pic of Cameron- kind of shows you the black eye I game Pug. For those of you who don't know the story, I will just say it happened in the middle of the night with my elbow. WHOOPS!!

Party Hair

2011-01-25T10:41:00.003-07:00

McKenzie went to a party on Saturday night, hwere they did the girls hair and nails. Well, she wanted to sleep in her hair and wear it like that to church on Sunday. Every morning that Kenzie wakes up her hair is always a mess! So I told her to try sleeping on her back to lessen the mess. Sunday morning it actually didn't look too bad. So I pinned up the parts that had come out as best I could. This is what it looked like for church.

After I took her pictures she told me that I needed to post it on the blog, so here she is. I just hope that she doesn't expect me to be able to do that to her hair!!!

And just a random picture of the cutest little waterdog out there enjoying her bath!

Is it really that hard?

2011-01-21T13:41:00.002-07:00

Is it really that hard to smile "normally" for a picture? All of these were taken in one night. Pug's Mom wanted a nice picture with all of us, and this is what we got to pick from.

It is a good thing I love him. He really does have a nice smile (as evident in my previous post)

Some of my favorites...

2011-01-20T10:51:00.002-07:00

Okay, so most you you know that I got a new camera for Christmas. I have always wanted a nice camera, and I have always wanted to learn how to take nice pictures. Well, I haven't really learned anything yet about how to take pictures (hopefully someday). But I have had fun just trying different features on my camera. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Abby is just the cutest little thing there is. But she can be sooo naughty! I took this picture of her sleeping so I could always remember how sweet she is... when she is sleeping. :)

I kind of cheated and took my camera out of the box before Christmas, just to try it out. Unfortunately I had to do it when the kids were at school, so my only subject was Kirby. Needless to say, whenever he sees me take my camera out of the bag he now runs and hides under the couch. Anyways... I liked this one of him.

I don't know why I like this one so much, you can't see McKenzie's beautiful face, but I really like it. I think I like how I was able to have focus up close and a blurred background. Don't ask me how I did it, cause I have no idea!

This is actually one of the first pictures that I took. What can I say, I love the subject so I should love the picture!!

This was taken one morning in December. I went to let the dog out around 7:00 am and this is what I saw. I just stepped out onto my porch and snapped a picture. I LOVE the sunrise and sunsets here. Always beautiful.

Anyways, so there are just a few of the pictures I took that I really liked. Now, maybe someday I can get photo shop, a new lens, a flash, and whatever else I feel like I might need, and take some really nice pictures!

New Years Eve

2011-01-13T10:36:00.003-07:00

Okay, I know New Year's Eve was like, 2 weeks ago, but like I said in my previous post, I have just learned how to make my pictures small enough to download here.

We have made it a tradition to get together with our good friends the Naccaratos. We have done it for the past several years. Even though we live almost an hour away we still do it- only now we make it a sleepover!! Here are just a few pics of all of us having fun.

The BIG girls having fun.

The LITTLE girls causing trouble.

The boys playing wii together.

Melissa and me.

Pug and Tony.

Toot my own horn

2011-01-13T08:23:00.003-07:00

Okay, so I have been trying to post things for about a week now, but my new camera takes way too big of pictures, and it took me awhile to figure out how to shrink them, but now that I figured it out hopefully I will be able to post some more things.

These cutie patutie (is that even a word?) girls are wearing some skirts that I made (yes I made them) without a pattern. Now I know for wonder women, like my Mom and sister that is no big deal. BUT for people like me who struggle I think I did a pretty good job! In fact McKenzie has asked me to make more of them for her!! And even some of the girls in my activity days want some. So, here I am tooting my own horn.

Okay, I am done now :)

Christmas Morning

2010-12-28T11:31:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids all got what they asked for, and so did I!! I wanted a new camera. Not just a point and shoot, but a nice good camera. I got a canon rebel ES. I needed something that has a quicker shutter so I can take pictures of my kids playing sports and not have them either blurry or not in the picture. Also, I have always wanted to learn how to take good pictures. So, now I just need to learn how, trial and error.
Anyways... here are just a few picture of Christmas morning.Sorry, they are going backwards

Here we are all dressed and ready to go.

Every year my Mom make the whole family Christmas pj's. We had a huge bin full of old jammies that she has made. So, for one of McKenzie faith in God projects, we decided to cut the pants up and make a blanket out of them. McKenzie did most of the cutting (which turned out to be 300 squares). Then she sewed the fabric and batting into "sandwiches" and I sewed them all together. I think it turned out really cute!

Kenzie thrilled with her ipod shuffle.

Cameron opening his ipod shuffle.

Abby opening her Madame Alexander doll.

I was so proud of my kids this year. They were so grateful for all of their presents. It was a smaller Christmas, with a lot more homemade gifts, but they loved it. That night as I was tucking Cameron in he told me that this was the best Christmas ever.

Christmas Day

2010-12-28T10:58:00.005-07:00

Our Christmas Day is always a marathon day. Not that I mind. I love that I am able to visit with so many grandparents. I know not everyone is as lucky as me to have so many living grandparents. Here are just a few photos from our various stops.

Visiting with Great-Grandma and Grandpa Skeen (my Mom's parents)

With Great-Grandma "Little Piggy" (her name is Peggy, but the kids always thought it was Piggy, and it has just stuck. She is my Dad's Mom)

Here is the whole crew with Great-Great-Grandaddy and Hortense. (he will be 104 on Jan 9!!!!) They were fascinated with the ipods my kids got!

My cute kiddos in their Sunday outfits. Cameron got a "real" tie. He actually tied it himself (Pug just held it tight for him)

On Sunday visiting Grandma Fetzer. (Pug's Mom's Mom)

Life

2010-12-14T09:10:00.002-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about life, love, and what it really means to be happy. Recently there have been many things going on around me that has reminded me what is really important. Last week a very dear friend of ours passed away after battling cancer for 6 years. She was only 34, and their newly adopted baby wasn't quite one yet. She was such a beautiful amazing person. Her death was a reality check- slap in the face. It just didn't seem fair that she was chosen to be the one who would suffer from cancer and leave this earthly existence way too early. But, here is the thing. Who am I to know what is best for someone? Paige was a person who seemed to be perfect, without flaw. Someone who was needed far more in heaven than here. She was sent here to bless the lives of those she met (and BLESS them she did). When she had finished all that she was meant to do here one earth she was called home. Life is so precious. We never know when our mission here on earth will be fulfilled and we are called home. I have tried so hard lately to make more time for my children, to be a better mother, wife, friend, neighbor, and daughter of God. I am trying harder to be more diligent in my scripture reading, and be more sincere in my prayers. Life is short, even if I live to be 104. I hope that all of us can just "try a little harder to be a little better." And especially at this Christmas season let us remember our Savior and all that He has done to make it possible to be together with our loved ones after this life is over. And for those few of you who read this blog, just know that I do think of you as my friends. Thank you for supporting me.

Christmas Devotional

2010-12-06T11:34:00.002-07:00

Last night McKenzie and I went with my sister Heather and her 3 oldest kids downtown to the conference center to see the First Presidencies Christmas Devotional. McKenzie and I had never been before so we were both pretty excited. We weren't sure exactly where our seat were, but Heather assumed they would probably be in the nose bleed section. Well, she was wrong. Our assigned section was in the lower bowl on the left side. We tried and tried to find at least sets of 2 seat together, when we couldn't even find ANY seat we asked one of the ushers to help us. And help us she did! I asked if she could find at least 2 or 3 seats together because we had little kids, she went and talked to another usher came back and said I found a group of seats where you can all sit together, but it was one section over. Fine by us! Well, she took us down to the front, past the security rope and to the 3rd row in the security section!! AMAZING!!
The program was so beautiful! McKenzie was singing along to all the songs (even just the choir ones), laughed at President Uchdorf's talk, quietly listened to President Eyring's talk, and seriously pondered President Monson's talk. It was so warming to my soul to hear how we should not dwell on the gifts, and the parties and the activities that inevitably come at this time of year. The true meaning of Christmas is about love. Loving our family and friends, loving our neighbors, loving those whom we don't know, and most importantly loving our Savior.
When I was talking to McKenzie about what she learned I was amazed at her complete acceptance of what she had learned. She knows the story of Santa, and know the story of our Saviors birth. When asked about what Christmas means to her, she said loving Jesus, and being with family, and showing our love. Not once did she mention Santa, or presents. She is such a sweet little girl. I am so proud of her and her testimony already.
At the end of the devotional we were able to see a few of the General Authorities. I hope I can remember which ones (Heather may have to correct me if I am wrong), Elder Ballard, Elder Oaks, Elder Cook, and I think there was one more, but I can't remember. What a fabulous way to start off my most favorite time of year!!

Family Pictures

2010-11-17T11:18:00.003-07:00

So, we finally got family pictures done! We have a good friend (Cindi Braby) that takes pictures at a VERY reasonable prices, so we jumped on the band wagon!!

Here are just a few picture that we had taken.

Pug and me. Ahhh... aren't we just so cute together?

My handsome boy Cameron. The girls will be all over him in a few years.

Beautiful McKenzie. She looks way too grown up!

Sweet Abby, who just loves to pose for pictures!

The whole FAMILY!!

Preschool trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-21T10:28:00.002-06:00

Let me just start off with saying I LOVE Abby's preschool teacher!! Jenny is amazing! I had both Cameron and Abby in her preschool and they just love her and love to learn. Anyways... So every month they go on a field trip. This month was to the Pumpkin Patch. I was quite concerned when we pulled in to the parking lot to not only not find a spot, but to not find one on the street either. It was so crowded!! I saw three buses on top of all the cars that were there. Luckily, I think most of them were getting ready to leave. So, it turned out to be a pretty good trip. They have a corn maze, farm animals, a non-spooky alley, and 2 different play areas. Here are just a few pictures from that day.

Isn't she just the cutest?!

Holding hands with Teacher Jenny. All the kids just love her!

The crew.

Cutest little pumpkin in the patch.

A busy week

2010-10-18T15:21:00.003-06:00

Life hasn't seemed to have slowed down any, but that is okay. Last week Pug took McKenzie and Cameron to ride their bike over to the bike park. I rode in the car with Abby (we were pretty sure she wouldn't make it, and my bike has a flat). They had fun riding there and back, but the actual biking at the park was a little much for them. Maybe with more practice...

Here is Abby running down the trail. She must have been moving at warp speed to be so blurry :)

McKenzie looking a little bit concerned coming down the hill.

Cameron enjoying the ride.

Last Friday, with no school and a beautiful day, we went to the zoo with my Mother-in-law and her Mother. We love being able to have fun times with family! Great-Grandma turned 94 in June. What an amazing woman :)

I ran my first 5k on Saturday. I wish I would have trained a bit longer/harder. BUT I did run the whole time!!! My official time was 30:07, but I am saying that I ran the 5k in under 30 minutes because the distance on my ipod said 5.32k. I loved it and I am hoping to run another one soon.

The past few weeks...

2010-10-13T09:51:00.002-06:00

Okay, here is a quick, and I mean quick, view of what we have been up to the last few weeks. At the beginning of the month we took a weekend trip down the St. George to watch my brother in law run the marathon. Well, we actually only saw about 30 seconds of his run, but we were just happy to be there and support him.
Pug and Abby waiting for Scotty

The posters the kids all made for Scott.

Last Sturday marked the last soccer game for McKenzie. Here is her team and coaches.

Cameron had his last outdoor soccer game yesterday. (indoor starts next week)

And poor Kirby now gets to wear the cone of shame. We had him fixed yesterday as well. He REALLY hates that cone. He won't move if he has it on. hehe

Why?

2010-10-06T08:22:00.003-06:00

So, for those 1 or 2 people who actually read my blog, I thought I would tell you why I haven't had any new posts lately. That can be summed up in one word... TIME. I have not had enough of it! We have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off!! With soccer four days a week, school, homework, preschool, piano, Zumba, yoga, impromptu trip to St. George, and life in general we have not had a single day where there is nothing to do. Outdoor soccer ends next week, and then I have a week break before futsol (an indoor soccer) starts. Maybe that week will be the week that I get things done. Probably not.

My Baby is 4!

2010-09-13T10:58:00.003-06:00

So, I am a little behind on this post. My sweet little baby girl turned 4 on the 8th. I don't know how time flew so fast, but there it is!
Abby is the sweetest little girl. She loves everyone and is not shy to give anyone a hug (including complete strangers at the store or credit union or wherever else she might be). She loves grandparents and thinks that anyone who is older is a grandparent and deserves a hug. Infact she has adopted the lady across the street as one of her unoffical grandmas!
You always know where you stand with Abby. If she is mad at you she will stare you down with one of her dirty looks (anyone privelaged enough to get one of those knows what I mean!!). But she can also be the most loving, caring, thoughtful person you could meet.
Abby is the clown of our family. She can always make her Mommy or Daddy laugh. Not to mention all the laughing that she does with Cameron and McKenzie.
I am so glad that I have Abby as my daughter. I just can't imagine our life without her. I love you Abby, Abigail, Abster, 6- pack, Abby Caddabie, Lou, Munchkin, Pooper, Princess, and whatever else we have called you!!

Here is a look at Abby over the past four years.

Hospital

2 Weeks

3 months

9 Months

1 Years

2 Years

3 Years

4 Years

First Day of School

2010-08-31T13:56:00.002-06:00

McKenzie and Cameron started school back on August 25th. This is their first time riding a bus and they were so excited!!

Here is Cameron sporting his new duds...

McKenzie all decked out and ready to go.

I tried not to embarass them by taking a million pictures as they were getting on the bus, so all I have is one not good picture, but here they are getting on the bus.

Abby had her first day of school today and was so thrilled to finally be going back to school. Doesn't she look so cute in that bright green cast?

New House

2010-08-31T13:30:00.003-06:00

So I finally have a phone and Internet, so I am going to do a quick post with just a few pictures of our house. Just a note- we LOVE our house and our new neighborhood. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming. My kids have lots of new friends so it has made the transition much easier for them.

Here is the outside of the house- I probably should have moved the car, but oh well. I am sure you can get the gist of it :) (and remember I am not all the way unpacked- which is why I don't have a picture of every room)

Our Living room...

Family room...

Kitchen (not the best picture, and I REALLY should have cleaned off the counter, but I wanted to get this done)

Master Bedroom...

Master Bath...

Abby's room...

McKenzie's room...

Cameron's room...

Not pictured.... we have an office, guest room, 3 and a half more bathrooms, and a family the size of Texas!
At least you can sort of see our new crib :)

So now... we wait

2010-08-12T09:37:00.002-06:00

Okay, so as a lot of you know we were supposed to be closing on both of our houses on Monday and moving on Tuesday. Well... late Tuesday afternoon I got a call from my mortgage guy. He said not to worry everything looks great on the loan we are perfectly approved, BUT they are about 7-10 business days away from final approval. So best case scenario we could close on the 23rd worst case beginning of September. WHAT?!?!?!?! Where are we supposed to go for 2+ weeks and what are we going to do with all of our stuff- not to mention that school starts on the 25th!! Then yesterday we got some good news and more bad news. The good news... The house we are buying is vacant, and the person selling it said that he would let us rent it from him. HOWEVER, if we have not closed by the 31st of August he wants us to move out and clean it all up again. REALLY?!?! It isn't a matter of if we move in, it is just a matter of WHEN. Why is he being so stubborn about it? Then we got some more news, I am thinking that it is good, but kind of bad. The people buying our home cannot close on Monday, they have extended to Friday to close- which would give us the weekend to move. Great more time to wait in our home while we wait for the mortgage to get all figured out. Bad because I have everything packed up. We figured out what food we needed to get us through until Monday, what clothes we needed, etc. So that is where we are standing at this moment. I know that somehow, someway everything will work out, but I am honestly NEVER MOVING AGAIN!!! (unless I have to) This has not been the most pleasant experience.

Moving On?

2010-07-21T09:43:00.002-06:00

Well, I have been waiting to post this, just in case something happens. We have sold our house...again. So far things are going just fine- keep our fingers crossed. They have until Friday at 5:00 to back out and still keep their earnest money. So, hopefully that doesn't happen again. We have also put an offer on a house about 15 minutes from here. Not too far, but just far enough. I will post more about the house once we have moved in (ie pictures and stuff). But I will say that it is 6 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and almost 3300 sf. Very nice! So things will be CRAZY over the next few weeks, so don't plan on too many posts for awhile. :)

Bear Lake

2010-07-08T10:08:00.006-06:00

We were able to go up to Bear Lake for the long 4th of July weekend. We headed up on the 1st after work and came home on the 5th. It was great to be there with family and to have fun together. Here are a few pictures of our adventures...

Cameron loved holding the flag when Pug was out skiing.

Cute Abby sitting on the boat ready for some fun.

Pug out skiing. It was soooo cold and the water was way choppy. I chickened out, but Pug did it! Way to go Babe!!

Abby loves to pose and have her picture taken. I could do a whole post on just the poses that Abby has :)

Kenzie coming in from the wave runners.

Cameron having fun at the beach.

Saturday it was COLD. I think the high was 69* brrr. So after the lake we went to a heated pool to play.

The view from our cabin.

The Cabin.

Abby, posing again...

Cameron with the view

Beautiful Kenzie

This may look like a cute picture, but they were all yelling and fighting with each other in it. I thought it would be a cute picture. :}

Sunday after church Glen and Margaret wanted to take pictures of each family. Abby wanted to do it her way. She wanted to stand on Pug's knee and pose.
(see how happy she is?)

I wanted her to sit nicely on Pug's knee.
(see how sad she is?)

It was such a fun trip. I am so glad that my in-laws made it all possible. Thanks a bunch! We love you!

June- in a nutshell

2010-07-08T09:45:00.004-06:00

June was a crazy busy month!! I have not been very good at blogging lately, so here is part of our June (the part that I actually remembered to take pictures).

Cameron had his birthday party. It was wild a crazy!! Waaaayyy too amny little boys!! j/k We had a great time. Cameron wanted a Star Wars party, so we ate Galactic Pizza (Little Ceasars) with Yoda Soda (Sprite and lime sherbet) to drink. They all went on a Jedi Quest to become a true Jedi. At the end of their quest they were all presented with a Light Saber (pool noodles with duct tape). Everyone had a blast, and I was very happy when they all went home. Wheww!

This was the best picture I could get with all of them.

Pug's sister Heather came up with her kids- from Arizona. And we all went to the Bee's game. I don't think that we ever really watch the game- we just go for the socializing!
Cameron and Dave

Ella and Abby

Heather and Max- Some how I forgot to downlaod the picture of Kenzie and Elise, but I have a really cute picture of the two of them.

Abby got the chance to go to the Real game with JUST Pug. She was so excited that it was just her and no brother or sister :)

One of Pug's friends from his mission married an Italin girl and moved to Italy. He was here in Utah for a week and made time to come and see us. It was great to see Tom and hear how things were going for him and his cute family. We missed Stephy and their two adorable kids.

Well, that just about covers most of June- except like I said for those MANY time I forgot to take picture. Oh well, maybe I will get better in the future.

Happy Birthday Cameron!!

2010-06-10T08:04:00.004-06:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy Cameron!! Today he turns 7 years old! How did that happen?! It seems like just yesterday he was the cute chubby little thing that was content to sit on the floor (mostly because he couldn't crawl) and watch sports on tv with his Dad. Now he is the one playing the sports!!! He is such a sweet and caring boy who tries so hard to make people happy. I love you Cameron!! I am so glad that Heavenly Father decided to give you to me.
Here is a look of the past few years (minus his kindergarten picture when he was 5. That got packed up a year ago with the intent of being moved into another house by now, but that hasn't happend yet).

Cameron was born 6/10/03 at 12:11 in the afternoon and weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz.

6 months old

One year

Two Years

Three years

Four years

6 years (his first grade picture)

What do you do in the "summer" time?

2010-06-01T14:15:00.002-06:00

So, what do YOU do on a cold rainy day in June?

Happy Birthday Pug!!!

2010-05-26T08:11:00.002-06:00

Honestly!!! This guy can't take a picture without pulling a face! Oh well, I still love him!

Happy Birthday to the greatest guy in the world. He is so good to me and to our kids. He is always pitching in to help wherever it is needed. He loves to play with the kids and gets them so giggley and wired. He loves to tuck them into bed and read them stories. He is so good about being a good example to those around him. He loves the gospel and tries to live his life the way Heavenly Father would want him to. He is sweet and caring and understanding. I couldn't have asked for a better husband. I love you Babe! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (I won't mention the #) hehe

McKenzie's Piano Recital

2010-05-13T08:08:00.004-06:00

The Ups and Downs of Mother's Day

2010-05-10T10:33:00.003-06:00

My Mother's Day was actually more of a Mother's Weekend. It started on Thursday when Pug told me to go and get some new (desperately needed) clothes. So I bought me 2 casual skirts, a pair of capris and shirts. All very cute, but nothing I can wear when the temperature doesn't get above 65! But soon they will be part of the rotations! Then on Friday I got these lovely flowers from my parents. They smell as good as they look!

On Saturday- well it was wild and crazy. The day started off with a Primary Activity. Which is great now that all 3 of my kids are in Primary. I was able to send them all off together down the street. While they were gone Pug and I got everything ready for Cameron's soccer game and then the Real game right after. We picked the kids up just before 11:00 and went to watch Cameron play. He did great and of course their team won (although just barely 2-1). After the game we went and had Cameron's team pictures taken. Then it was off the the Real game.
I love Real games! They are so fun and energetic! And we were lucky enough to be able to take the whole family this time. Right before we entered the stadium I was approached by a lady wanting to know if I wanted to participate in the Mother's Day Dash. 50 women running half the length of the field for 50 unknown prizes (all raining from $25-$500). I thought "Sure, what the heck! I am guaranteed at least a $25 gift." So at half time I run with all the speed I had and claimed my envelope for the prize. I was so excited when I saw I won $175 gift certificate to Simplicity Photography, a $25 gift certificate to Staley's Stiches, a Flirty Apron, and 7 new flower clippies. And to top it all off Real won 3-0!

So, as soon we got home I turned on the computer to check out the websites for the photographer and Staley's Stiches. Well, I don't think that I will be able to get family pictures like I had hoped. The session fee for a family of 5 is $275, PLUS a MINIMUM order of $400 worth of pictures!! WHAT?! Are you CRAZY!!! So I would have to spend at least $500!!! NO THANKS!!
The blog for Staley's Stitches was a little better. She only had a few items and most of them are baby item. And as you all know my BABY is almost four, and I don't see anything on the horizon. So I might be able to get my sister Annie (who is having her baby any day!!) a little something for her Lilly.
Now, let's get to the actual day of Mother's Day. It started out at 6:45 am with all three of my kids yelling "HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY!" I was actually okay with them waking me up that early because I was having a Stake Baptism nightmare (trust me you really don't want to know). After about half and hour Pug went down to "help" them make me breakfast. They made me cinnamon toast and a glass of oj. After they brought it up we decided that I would eat it downstairs with them. My kids really did try to behave for me, but i guess after you have been good for so long something bad is bound to happen. And it did. Cameron had one of his BIG temper tantrums that take at least 30 minute to calm him down. Luckily we were able to get a handle on things fairly quickly. Then at church nothing out of the ordinary happened. In fact McKenzie and Cameron were quite good. I ended up helping out the Primary again, so I missed the Relief Society lesson, but that is okay. The Bishop made all of the women 2 cookies (which I put in my church bag to eat at a later time, only to find that Kirby sniffed them out and ate both of them and half the bag they were in this morning).
When we finally made it home, that is when everything fell apart- for Abby at least. She was screaming and crying about EVERYTHING! I had to lock myself in the bathroom just so I could call my own mother and wish her a Happy Mother's Day. Dinner was good. Pug bbq some chicken and we had potatoes and broccoli.
The best part of Mother's day was when the kids were all asleep. I went in to see their sweet peaceful faces. And thought about all the hugs and the "I love you Mommy!" and all the little silly things they do to make me laugh. And that is why I am so glad to be a Mom.

Ever had one of those days?

2010-04-28T09:41:00.002-06:00

I have been dreading today for about a week. Not that anything bad was going to happen, just that it was going to be a really busy day. I am lucky, I am in two carpool for my kids schools with some great people. I only have to drive to the Elementary school once every three week and same with preschool. This week is my week for EVES. Not a problem. My neighbor who was driving preschool asked if I would drive today as she was trainning for a new job and couldn't do. Not a problem. Cameron has a fieldtrip today. He is walking to the fire station and the library. I was a little concerned because it was supposed to be cold and stormy (and unfortunatley the weatherman was right, it is trying to snow right now). A little bit of a problem. Except I found out that the fieldtrip is supposed to go until 12:15 or so and the preschool kids get out at 11:15. A little bit bigger problem. I usually go and help out at McKenzie's class on Wednesday while Abby is in school, but with Cameron's fieldtrip and with me going on McKenzie's fieldtrip on Friday I thought I would be okay just not going to her class at all today. Problem solved. My mom flies in at 4:15 today. I had planned on switching carpool for Cameron's soccer practice, which starts at 5:15 and which may or may not happen due to weather. But my brother said that he was available to pick her up. Not a problem. So it seemed that I had everything figured out. Until about 2:00 this morning when Pug told me that he thinks he has kidney stone!!! He waited and debated until about 3:00am then he called his Dad to come and take him to the hospital (actually he told him he would just drive himself to the hospital and have him meet him there- HELLO?!?! He couldn't even walk to the bathroom). I was just going to wake up the kids and take him, but he didn't want to do that. So his Dad drove 40 minutes to our house, another 30 to the hospital, stayed with him while he was there and then drove him home around 7:00 this morning. Thanks so much Glen! So... needless to say I am NOT going anywhere today (well, I am driving carpool, but that is easy). I am going to make sure poor Pug doesn't have anymore stones to pass. He is doing fine right now. The morphine has worked well, and he is sleeping.
Just another day....

Kirby Looks Like a Poodle!!!!

2010-04-14T12:52:00.002-06:00

So, the first time that we took Kirby to get groomed we took him to PetSmart- that didn't turn out very well. He ended up looking like a Scotty dog. This time I did some research and found a lady that does it out of her house in Harvest Hills, Scotty's K9 Design. She did an AMAZING job! Anyways... here are some pictures of Kirby looking like a poodle.

What to do with Abby....

2010-04-04T17:23:00.003-06:00

Abby is the cutest little girl, with big brown eyes and a smile that could melt a heart of ice in 2 minutes. She is also very mischievous. She does things that the other two never even dreamed of doing. I think that she must have been up in heaven looking down just shaking her head at McKenzie and Cameron thinking, "Why aren't they doing this? They could totally get away with doing that." etc.
Well, Friday afternoon- just a few hours before we had to go into Sandy for my niece's baptisms- Abby was quietly watching TV and cutting paper (a new hobby of hers). I was reading my book in the same room. I noticed that she ws standing in front of the TV. I walked up to her to tell her to sit back down. That is when I saw this all over the floor.......

Why is it that when you have somewhere important to go something ALWAYS goes wrong? Anyways, so here is what she looked like after her scissor incident...

Luckily I have the most wonderful neighbors in the world! I frantically called up two of my neighbors that do hair. Neither one was at home, but Kelsee was going to be home around 4:00. PERFECT!! We didn't need to leave until 5:30. She got home and I raced Abby right on over and just look at how cute Abby's hair is!!!

Kelsee, I can't thank you enough!! You are a huge lifesaver!

Life gets busy

2010-03-31T08:41:00.002-06:00

I know, I know... I haven't been blogging lately. It isn't from lack of activity on our part. Just the opposite. We have been crazy busy! It was so much fun to have my family here for so long. It started on March 14th when my little sister and her 2.5 girls (she is due in May with another girl) drove up here from Texas. Then on the 16th my Mom drove in from Michigan. On Friday my Dad flew in. Then my uncle was married in the Bountiful temple on Saturday the 20th, Annie drove home and my parents stayed for another 10 days!!! The amazing part was that my Dad was able to stay the whole time! He is usually so busy we are lucky if we can see him for a day when he comes to town. So anyways, the days that my parents were in town were full of eating out, shopping, and just hanging out and having one adventure after another. Last Saturday all the boys went out into the desert to go shooting (and any other manly things they might have done) and the girls all went to a day spa to get a pedicure. Personally I think that we got the better end of the stick. Then on Sunday we all got dressed in our Easter attire and headed down to my sisters ward for church. My nephew, Mike, turned 12 last week and was ordained a decon in the Aaronic priesthood.
Why are there not more pictures you ask? Well, I am not very good at remembering that I have my camera. So enjoy the picture of Cameron shooting (pre shooting his finger- well okay he didn't actually shoot his finger, it just got burned and pinched as he pulled the trigger. it looked alot worse than it was. and no Pug did not take a picture of it), and the picture of the kids in their Easter clothes!

March 9, 2000

2010-03-09T08:55:00.003-07:00

10 years ago, at 9:40 in the Salt Lake Temple, I was lucky enough to marry my best friend. And life from there has been wonderful. Together we have had three beautiful children, lived in four different places, had good times, hard times. Sickness, job loss, enough money, not enough money, family vacations, death of loved ones, birth of loved ones, too many cars to count, too many different hair styles to count, and too many happy times to count. I have been so blessed to have a husband that really tries hard to make me happy, and provide for our family.

Here are a few pictures of way back when...
Sorry, this was before digital camera's and I haven't scanned them yet, so they are really blurry.

Here is our engagement picture- my dad took it down in St. George. My dad also did my bridals, but I don't have one of those handy.

It was so cold and snowy that day. We really didn't get too many pictures at the temple because I was turning a bit purple. But here is one that was taken in the alcove.

We had our reception at the Walker Lane Reception Center. It was snowing so hard. I am very thankful to those who braved the weather and came to support us.

I am so very lucky to have been able to be married to such an understanding, hard working, loving man. I love you Babe!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

Future Olympian

2010-03-01T08:36:00.002-07:00

Abby seemed to be quite the natural at ice skating! This video was taken after just skating one lap. She was MUCH FASTER by the time we left 3 laps later. I think we might have a future olympian on our hands!

Happy 9th Birthday McKenzie

2010-03-01T08:23:00.002-07:00

Yesterday McKenzie turned 9 years old. How I am old enough to have a nine year old, I don't know. But McKenzie is such a good girl. I have been so lucky to have such a sweet, smart, obedient child as my first. I can always count on her to help me when I need it. Whether it be cleaning, making dinner, reading books to her younger brother or sister, or just being a Friend to a child that needs one. She is very sensitive to other people's feelings and tries so hard to be a good friend to everyone. She is a super reader and loves anything that has to do with space. She has been playing the piano for about 9 months and is doing just great. She has excelled faster than I thought- way to go kid!!! She is such an amazing important part of our family and I love her so much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MCKENZIE!!!!

Blowing out the candles at her late over.

McKenzie and her friend Savannah...

...and her friend Amariah

Saturday she wanted to go ice skating at the Olympic Oval with her good friend Megan.

Opening up her presents Sunday morning.

Hair Cut

2010-02-26T09:29:00.003-07:00

We were finally able to go and get Kirby groomed yesterday. We took him to Petsmart and told them he was a toy poodle and that I wanted a poodle cut. I assumed they would know how to cut a dog like a poodle, but he come home looking like this. Now don't get me wrong, he is still cute, but he is not sportin a poodle cut. Cameron said he looks more like a scotty dog, I think he looks kind of like a schnauzer. If there is anyone out there reading this in the EM or SS area and takes their dog to a good groomer, please let me know. I am not impressed with PetSmart. Good thing he is a cute puppy!!

Classic Skating

2010-02-26T09:21:00.003-07:00

Every once in awhile our Elementary school does a free family night at Classic. So, last Tuesday we went up to Sandy and let the kids have fun on their scooters.
Grandpa Glen was able to come too. Although he decided not to skate this time (last time wasn't so much fun falling on his bottom)

We were having so much fun we didn't get very many pictures. Here is Pug and Abby and me getting Abby out on the floor. She would do lap on her scooter, then come back and put on her skates, do a lap, come back switch, over and over and over... She did NOT want to leave when it was time to go.

Kenzie rather enjoyed going on her scooter. We rented skates for her and Cameron, but after falling on their bums so many times they decided against skates and went with the scooters the rest of the time.

Trying to get a picture of Cameron, but he was just too fast!!

Field Trip to the Farm

2010-02-26T09:14:00.003-07:00

Back on the 17th Abby's preschool class went on a field trip to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point. We have been there many times and Abby just loves it!

Here is a picture of group and Teacher Jenny.

Feeding some of the goats.

Having a good time!

My Sweet Cameron

2010-02-18T09:49:00.002-07:00

Cameron can be the sweetest most caring little boy in the world, but then again he can be quite naughty. Lately he has been having BAD temper tantrums. Pug and I just could not figure out what was going on. At parent-teacher conferences I asked his teacher how he was doing and she said he was doing great. He is one of the top readers, he is great at math and pretty much everything else they do. He finishes his work really quickly and then get bored and starts to talk and get into mischief. We worked on a plan to make sure he always has something to do- including making his work a little more challenging. I go into his class every week to help out and his teacher said that he was doing great, much better. Then why were we still having so many problems at home?! Well, last night, after another Cameron blow-up, Pug took him to his room and FINALLY got him to talk a little. He said that there are second graders that have been making fun of him (they call him "small mailman" which when you are a small first grader is not very funny), and at lunch he always sits by himself (he always has cold lunch and he said that his friends have hot lunch), and then can never find anyone to play with at recess. As a mother I think that one of the worst things you can hear is that your child doesn't have any friends. Now I know Cameron and I know that he is a very friendly boy and can make friends with just about everyone, so... how can this happen?! I went in to talk with his teacher this morning to voice my concerns and to see if she has ever noticed any problems. She said that of all the children in her class Cameron was one of the last people she would have suspected as have a hard time. He has lots of buddies in class, but she is not outside during recess. She talked with the teacher of the 2nd graders that were teasing him and said that they were all working on being friends this month. Now with that cleared up I only have one more issue. Poor Cameron doesn't have any friends that really live close by (you know, close enough that I would feel okay to let him walk to their house by himself). I am a huge slacker when it comes to making play dates for him. I don't know why. So if you are reading this and your son is a friend of Cameron's, hopefully they can get together and play- he really needs it.

Student of the Month

2010-01-29T11:39:00.002-07:00

Congratulations to my wonderful, beautiful, smart, etc, etc, etc, daughter for being the student of the month! We love you McKenzie!!!

Zion's

2010-01-29T11:23:00.004-07:00

Last weekend we had a once in a lifetime opportunity to stay in a million dollar cabin down in Zion's Ponderosa. It was amazing!! A little scary getting there- driving through a huge snowstorm. THere was about two feet of snow on the roads, no plows were out, but luckily neither were other cars. So, we just put it into 4-wheel drive and took it nice and slow. We finally made it there around 9:30 at night- we left at 3:00. But it was worth it!!! If I could design a dream house and not have to worry about money, this would be pretty darn close!! And it was HUGE. On the main floor there were 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a large family room and the kitchen/dinning area. The master had a king size bed and the other 2 had queen beds. Upstairs was a loft area with 6 sets of bunkbeds and another bathroom. In the basement there were three more bedroom (2 with queen and another bunk bed room with 3 sets of beds), a large family/game room with a wet bar and a theater room. It was an amazing place! No body wanted to go home.

This is the master bedroom (it also had a fireplace)

The upstairs family room

Kitchen and dinning area

The theater room

Part of the downstairs family room

The outside of the "cabin"

Some of the snow and ice we had around the cabin

A view from the front door

We were a little snowed in :)

It's a BOY!

2010-01-18T09:05:00.002-07:00

So, here is the newest member of our family. A cute little 12 week old toy poodle named Kirby. My Mom thought that with all the bad news that we have had we needed a "Puppy Pick me up". So Saturday she called and gave me the number of someone selling toy poodles. I called and picked him up. He is so good with kids. He just follows the kids around, kisses them on the face and just loves them. And we haven't had any "accidents" yet. He goes potty outside. Thanks so much Mom for such a wonderful surprise!!

So now...

2010-01-15T13:12:00.002-07:00

Okay, I am sure that most of you know by now that the house that we built actually was sold to someone else on Christmas Eve. And surprisingly I was okay with it (well after about 30 minutes of crying and feeling sorry for myself). We thought that we would keep our house in the market for at least a little while to see what happened. Pug actually applied for a promotion with John Deere that everyone said was his. Well, we just found out that they gave it to someone from New Mexico- Pug was second, but unfortunately 2nd is not good enough in this case. So, for now we have decided to take our house off the market and kind of regroup and see what we want to happen, or more like what will happen. It was hard getting a double blow like that, but what can I do but move on? Life has it's challenges, and hopefully I am learning what I need to learn from these and others that are happening now. But I must remember, I am very lucky. We didn't have to move. We can afford our house, our kids are happy and healthy, my husband loves and cherishes me, I have a good ward, wonderful friends, and a family that will support me through anything. What more could I ask for in life? A bigger house and better paying job will come in time (and hopefully baby #4), but until that time comes I need to just be happy with what I have been given.

Holiday's 2009

2010-01-07T10:13:00.004-07:00

Here are just a few pictures of the happenings this holiday season.

Pug's sister Heather came up from Arizona for Christmas this year. We all went up to Temple Square to see the lights. Our kids have so much fun together!

I just thought that this was a cute picture of Abby and her Daddy so I had to post it :)

McKenzie always wanted a dress coat to wear to church, so this year for Christmas she got one. I think it makes her look so grown up.

All three kids in the Christmas Sunday attire.

Cameron sporting his new white shirt and tie- he didn't want to be in the picture and was mad that I made him.

Abby in her new dress. I love sweater dresses!

Every Christmas Eve we get to open up one present. Always pajamas from my mom. Thanks again Mom for the way cute jammies!!

This one got out of order-
For Abby's preschool field trip we went to see Santa. Last year Abby did NOT like Santa, in fact she called him the "Bad Man." I thought things might be a little different this year, NOPE! She still would not go anywhere close to him (unless I was there). It might be hard to tell in the picture, but Abby was holding on to me for dear life. At least she likes him from a distance this year, baby steps.

For New Year's Eve we were able to spend the night at our good friends, the Naccarato's, house. We ate way too much, played many many many games, stayed up way too late and got up way too early. It was so much fun! Then they let us tag along with them as they went bowling. What a great way to ring in the new year!

Well, here's to hoping this year is as wonderful as the last.

Naughty or Nice

2009-12-21T15:13:00.002-07:00

Conversation between me and Cameron:
Cameron: "Mom, I really, really, really want a DS for Christmas."
Me: "Well, you have asked Santa for one, now all you need to do is make sure you are being a good boy."
Long moment of pause
Cameron: "Mom, do you think that you could get me a DS?"

Fun times!!

Faith without work is dead

2009-12-10T09:09:00.002-07:00

I am absolutely amazed at the hand of God in my life. When we first put our house on the market back in May we went to the builder and picked out our house and our lot and put money down to buy it. We had until July 23 to get our house under contract or we would lose the lot and house. We had prayed and felt that this was right, this was where we needed to be. July 23rd came and went and nothing- so, we lost it. We were sad because we felt that was where we were supposed to be. Then in September we got an offer on our house. We put an offer on a beautiful home in the Ranches, but they accepted the offer they received just a few hours before our came in. We were heartbroke and discouraged. Pug took off work early that day and drove around. He ended up at our old lot and found a hole had just been dug. He stopped in at the model home and found out that they were building "our" house on "our" lot as a spec home. We were able to again put money down on the house, we just had to close by the 24th of October. Well, then our buyers backed out, but the agent with the builder gave us an extension to get our house sold, December 8th. Well, that day came and went, and we thought we were just out of luck and that maybe that we weren't supposed to be there. But the agent called Pug up and said that she really feels that we need to be in that house, so amazingly enough, she has found a way for us to yet again extend out contingency for another 30 days to get our house sold. I don't know why every time I think the door has closed and we aren't going to get that house another one opens. But, faith without work is dead, so I am doing all that I can to get a buyer. And I am asking you again to help me. I know that someone out there knows someone who is looking for a great house in a very low price range (we have dropped the price again down to $165,900) the $8000 first time home buyer has been extended and our house qualifies. With the rural housing loan, and with us paying $5000 in closing costs the mortgage payments would only be about $1015 (give or take a few). So please spread the word. And thanks for listening to my woes.

One last effort

2009-12-01T12:39:00.003-07:00

I am trying one last time, no make that pleading one last time. Our house (my dream house) will be finished in just over a week. If we do not get an offer in before that we will lose our home again. If there are any of you who are looking for a home or know of ANYBODY looking for a home PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send them my way. We are asking only $169,000 and we are willing to pay closing costs. Please pass this message along to anyone you know in the market- even those who may not be:)

2009-11-11T12:56:00.002-07:00

So, after going through over 800 pictures from the last two weeks I just got over whelmed and thought that I would just post a few pictures on a slide show for those who wanted to see them. We did way too much for me to write it all down. So, if you REALLY wanted to see our pictures from the trip- well you will just have to come over!
enjoy!

Yellowstone! again

2009-11-11T12:26:00.003-07:00

So, after our last trip to Yellowstone in June everyone had such a good time we thought that we would do it agin over the kids fall break. This time we had our good friends the Walton's come with us. Here are just a few pictures taken of that weekend trip.

Old Faithful

A coyote we saw in the parking lot

McKenzie, Cameron and Abby

The Fam at the lower falls

Coming in time

2009-11-10T10:49:00.001-07:00

Well, we are back from our two week hiatus to Michigan. I have around 500+ photos to go through before I can post anything. Lets just say that we had a great time!! Thanks to my Mom and Dad for everything!! More to come...someday!

Hopefully this won't jinx us

2009-10-19T10:18:00.002-06:00

So I have decided to post pictures of "our house" being built. I am hoping that this won't jinx us and we lose it again. Just wanted you all to see the progress!

Not so fast

2009-09-30T08:14:00.003-06:00

Sometimes when you think that everything in life is going great you are thrown a curve ball. Last night at 8:30 our realtor called and told us that our buyers backed out. NOOOOOOOOO! So, now if we don't get our house SOLD- not just under contract- by November we lose our house again! AHHHH!! So, for some reason or another we are going through another trial with the house. So, if you know of anyone that is looking for a house out here send them our way.

A Big Change

2009-09-29T08:46:00.002-06:00

Well, a lot has happened in the past few weeks...
Our house SOLD!! Yep! That is right! Now, granted we didn't get all the money out of it that we wanted, but who can in a market like this? But we did make enough to get a bigger house.
So, those of you who remember a few months back when we put our house on the market will remember that we had put money on a lot to build a beautiful home in Harvest Hills. BUT we had to have our house under contract by July 23rd. Well, that time came and went and nothing on the house. So, we lost the lot and the house :(
Then when we finally has our house under contract I found a beautiful house in the Ranches, completely finished, fenced, with every upgrade imaginable!! Any ways, we put in our offer, but they had accepted another offer about 3 hours before our made it in. It seemed like we were going to be homeless! Well, Pug was so upset that he left work early and just drove around. He ended up at our old lot and noticed that a hole had been dug. He stopped in at the model home to talk with the agent and found out that they were building OUR house on OUR lot and that nobody has bought it yet! So, we are doing what we thought we were supposed to do in the first place! It is amazing how everything worked out the way it was supposed to!
We are moving into a condo in the Ranches until December, and we are planning on just driving the kids into Harvest Hills for school. And in for church as well.
We are really going to miss the friends that we have made out in City Center, but I know that we are not all that far away!

True Religion

2009-09-21T11:37:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I am trying to make a little extra Christmas money (we are going to visit my Mom in Michigan for Christmas) and I am selling True Religion Brand jeans to help out. Here are 3 of the jeans that I have right now. I know there are a lot of sceptics out there on whether or not these are legite, so I will tell you I did my reseach on how to find an authentic and how to spot the fake. Everything listed on how to tell if they are real I found on the jean:
*Red Buddah on inside pocket
*TRBJ on the pocket studs
*3 tags- 1 with the size, 1 with a silver thread and one with the CA#
*Horse shoe print equal on each pocket
So, as far as I was able to find out these are authentic (my guess is that they are their "seconds" I have had some miss marked jeans)

If you or someone that you know likes the designer look, but not the designer price let them know about me. I was selling them for $75, but I am now going to sell them at $65. I can order sizes from 26-31 in many different styles.

Here are three that I have right now- I am expecting another shipment of jeans sometime this week.
This one is marked as a 31, but fits more like a tight 29 or loose 28. The inseam is 32". It is a Joey Super T, with thick white stitching. Very cute! It is my most popular seller!

This one is a Billy Big T, it is a size 30 (true size) and has an inseam of 31. It has the thick orange and gold stitching.

This one is just like the first one, only it is a size 29 (true size), with an inseam of 32".

Like I said if you or anyone you know wants a pair either give me a call or email me!
My email is stoddartkpmc@yahoo.com

I know, I know...

2009-09-09T12:53:00.005-06:00

Okay, well my idea of keeping up on this blogging stuff didn't work out, so here are a few pics of what we have been up to the past few weeks...

The first Thursday of the month (as usual) we go to the Thanksgiving point farm and the zoo. Forgot to take pictures at the zoo, but here is Abby on the horse at the farm.

But on the way to the farm I had a little mishap. See that thing sticking out of the tire? Yeah, that would be a kitchen knife. Yes you read right, a knife! I was in the Ranches, almost to the Maverik when all of a sudden my car started to rattle- very loudly! I pulled into the business park across from the gas station, check the trunk to see if something was rattling in there, opened Abby's door to see if she had dropped something. That is when I heard the low hissing sound- a flat tire!! Luckily Pug wasn't too far away and was able to come to my rescue. Of all the things to run over, who know it would be a knife!

We went up to Deer Creek with our friends the Walton's for some fun on the water one Saturday too.
Here are the little girls have fun in the water faucet.

Here is Cameron and Pug out on one of the wave runners

More of the crew waiting to go out.

Every Tuesday in August Thanksgiving Point was offering $2 admission to any of their venues. So the last Tuesday in August I went with Melissa and 3 of her kids to the dinosaur museum. It was very crowded, but the kids had a blast!

Pug took Cameron to the monster truck, along with his dad, brother-in-law Matthew and nephew Nathan.

We went out to dinner with some of Pug's mission friends, the Cahoons and the Dennisons.

Kenzie and Cameron started soccer (don't ask why I only have a picture of McKenzies game and not Camerons- I will bring my camera to his next game)

Abby learned how to ride her bike.

Abby started Preschool with Teacher Jenny- even though Abby missed the deadline by 8 days Jenny was more than happy to take her.

Cameron's first day of 1st grade.

McKenzie's first day of 3rd grade.

August- in a nut shell

2009-08-20T12:33:00.006-06:00

Okay, so August has been a little bit busy. It is hard enough for me to remember to blog when the kids aren't here, but when they are it is near impossible (which would totally show in the lack of posts this summer). So here is a quick recap of what has happend so far.

The first weekend in August Pug and I were able to take off for the night to the Daniels Summit Lodge. It is about 20 minutes outside of Heber. For those of you who have never been there- well it is beautiful up there. Pug's work was doing a 4-wheeling trail the following day and we were lucky enough to be given this room for free. Here are some pictures of the room.

This is view from the balcony.

The next day we had a friend drive our kids up to us (thanks Nancy for watching them Friday, and thanks Tim for driving them up to us). Then we were one of one two SUV to take the trail- all the rest were 4wheelers or motorbikes. And the Durango did amazingly!

There was also the meet the team day for Real. Pug was able to take McKenzie and Cameron along with him and his dad. Here they are with Leo.

McKenzie swam her little heart out in swimming lessons and has moved on to level 4.

Cameron is a great swimmer and will hopefully be in level 3 next year (he has to do the front stroke and back stroke a little bit further- we are working with him on it)

And of course for the first Thursday of the month we get to go to the Thanksgiving point Farm and the Zoo for free.
Cameron and Abby petting a baby pony.

This time they decided to ride the carriage instead of the ponies.

The Stoddart and Naccarato kids in the boat at the zoo.

This baby giraffe was only 6 days old when we saw him/her (I can't remember what it is)

It is kind of hard to see, but there is a baby snow leopard playing with its mommy here.

We also went camping last weekend. My mom was in town so we all decided, why not? So Thursay we all headed down to Payson Canyon and camped at Maple Lake. Thanks Mom for being willing to watch my kids so I could go celebrate my birthday!! My kids stayed Thursday night with Mom, BJ and fam and Heather and kids while I went out to dinner with the Naccarato's. Then I came down Friday and stayed until Saturday. Lets just say my kids were DIRTY!
Here is Cameron and his cousin Trevin (whose birthday is a day after mine, happy #5 T-Bucket!)

Abby in her favorite place- the dirt.

My brother brought up his raft and my brother-in-law brought up his canoe. So before we left, and before it started to rain, the kids all got a ride in a boat.

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So, there is what has happened so far. August is not over and there are still many fun things to come- first days of school, soccer. I will HOPFULLY be able to be more on top of this blogging thing now.

More of July...

2009-07-27T12:43:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more pictures of what has been going on in July. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to the 24th festivities so I have no pictures of that night, but here are a few from the ward Bike Parade/ Breakfast.

Kenzie zooming on her scooter- I think that she thought it was a race, not a parade

Cameron on his bike (again, going as fast a possible)

And even Abby got involved. She can't peddle and steer at the same time, so I opted for the scooter. She isn't any speedy gonzales, but she did finally finish the parade. GO ABBY!

And on one particularly HOT Saturday we pulled out the slip n' slide. We all got a turn slipping' down the slide. Yes there were even pictures of Pug and me sliding, but I thought I would spare you those awful picture. Instead here is Pug enjoying the sun (Abby took this one, not too bad).

Abby prefers to walk down the slide.

Cameron making it to the end.

Kenzie having a splash!