Gingerbread Houses

My favorite tradition of all is making gingerbread houses. Check out all this candy!

I love to see what the kids are going to create. This year, Megan and Conner made a candy version of Lagoon!

This year Garrett made his very first candy house. He did a pretty great job!

Stocky made a snowman house with a garage!

Zander made his very own also!! He had to follow Stockton, so together then made him a little garage too! He was sooo excited!

Niel and I made our very own house this year too! We put on as much candy as we could!

We had a blast. The kitchen only took about 2 days to put back together!!

The lasagna party is another family tradition. Everyone on Joyce's side of the family get together for some delicious Lasagna and games.

The boys love the candy bar game! A set of dice are sent around the room. Each person takes a turn rolling the dice. If the person holding the dice is lucky enough to roll doubles, they get a shot at the candy bar in the middle of the room. The lucky person puts on a scarf and gloves and attempts to rip their way into the candy bar... that is until someone else rolls doubles.

Stockton started the game off and after about 15 minutes, and many different people, Conner torn into that candy bar.

Zander couldn't get the gloves on fast enough. Every time he finally got dressed, someone else would roll doubles and his turn was over.

Garrett barely got a chance either. He was just about as unlucky as I was. I didn't even roll doubles onces!

After the candy bar game, we play a present game. This is one game Zander can handle. He got a BIG sucker and was in heaven!

Megan got the great prize everyone wanted.... the bubble gum suckers!

Temple Lights

We all bundled up nice and warm and headed out for our annual Temple Lights tradition. Grandma and Grandpa Dean and Grandma and Grandpa J came with us!

We had a great time!

It was a beautiful night! Light snow! Not TOO cold! The crowds weren't even that bad!

We warmed up inside the buildings and enjoyed the Christmas spirit!

As part of our tradition, we rode the UTA tracks up and back! It makes for a very fun adventure!

Chemical Peel

As I am starting to get older, I have begin to care far more about my wrinkles and skin more then I ever have before..... I know, I am getting vain. I figured it is time, maybe to late, to start taking better care of my skin in hopes to continue looking young.

I happen to be so blessed to have such an incredible talented cousin who is an Esthetician. She knows more about how to take care of skin then anyone I know! How lucky am I?! Last week she gave me a back treatment..... very relaxing and the treatment made my skin so soft! Yesterday, I had my very first facial chemical peel! INCREDIBLE!!! My face was very soft and I could feel how clean all my pores were. It was also very relaxing! I feel 5 years younger!

Check our her site! Make an appointment!! She posts lots of information on taking care of your skin. I plan on making monthly visit to see her AND take care of my skin!! Thanks Rachel! You are amazing!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend - Vegas Style

Grandma and Grandpa Dean took us to Vegas for our Thanksgiving vacation! It was nice and warm! This is the kids.... swimming.... at the end of November!

One of my very good friends, Cole, joined us in Vegas. I was able to meet two of his kids!! I haven't seen Cole for nearly 5 years. I bet you wouldn't guess him and I fought like cats and dogs in High School. We were worse then brother and sister. It was soooo good to see him!

The entire family played at the race tracks! Well, kind of.... we all raced each other and a bunch of other people for the grand prize!

Conner won!!! With Garrett, Megan and Stockton all coming in close behind. I think I took last place.

Grandma and Grandpa took us to the Excalibur to see The Tournament of the Kings! Garrett loved the show!! He didn't eat much of his food and once it was over we had to dash to the bathrooms. On our way to restrooms he said, "Mom, I had to go potty right when the show started, but I just couldn't leave my seat." We barely made it to the bathrooms in time!!

Zander was scared of the fireworks and all the sword fighting. I think he was worn out from the fun day more then he was scared. He spent the last 15 minutes of the show with his hoddy over his head.... under the table.

We walked the streets of Vegas. The night streets of Vegas really aren't the best for kids. I kept saying "Eyes in the sky!" And Stockton saw one of those auto traveling advertisements with a half dressed woman one it. The sign read "Hot Babe" and gave a phone number. Stockton asked me, "Mom, can you really buy a woman?" Oh my! The lights of Vegas are such a sight to see though. We took a visit to the Bellagio to watch the Dancing Waters, Botanical Gardens, and the Chocolate Fountain! I could see those over and over again and still want to see them again!

To end this exciting trip, we headed over to the Stratosphere. I am much of a thrill ride person!!! I actually LOVE to be scared and thrilled to the max. I have wanted to ride the thrill rides on the Stratosphere for a very long time. My wish finally came true! I will have to say.... I was thrilled beyond fear... yes, they really freaked me out! Insanity really is for INSANE people. The ride itself isn't what the scary party is.... the height is what make the ride nearly impossible. I couldn't let go of my safety handle. WOW!!! It was very crazy!

No more Mrs. Nice Amy

Yes, it is true, I have turned into one of those crazy, out of control shoppers! I am almost embarrassed to post today. But I thought I would let my true colors come out.

I was shopping at Old Navy this afternoon on my lunch break. It was a great day! I was in a great mood!!! My eyes spotted just what I was looking for.... scarves!!! My legs hurried me on over to the rack to see what I could find. There was a young lady with a small child in a shopping cart browsing through the wall hangings of winter attire. As I came to the area, I noticed there were not only cute scarves, but gloves and hats to match too! I was overly excited. I began choosing among the many different patterns, trying to find just the right color and style.
I happened to notice in the ladies hands were some pink stripped gloves. They looked perfect and just what I wanted. I spotted another pair of gloves, just like the ones the lady had. I reached over and picked up a matching pair. Once I had the gloves in hand, so happy with myself, the lady standing next to me abruptly said, "Hey.... did you just take those gloves out of my hand?" I was stunned by her mean tone. I simply said, "No" ... completely shocked!

"Yes you did! You just took those out of my hand. I was holding onto those and you just snatched them right out of my bare hands." came her rude reply.

"No, I did not. Look! You are holding these same style gloves in your hand. I DID NOT take anything from you." My voice was fairly loud and raising with each word.

She glanced down to look at her hands and sure enough, her precious gloves were still in her hands. She looked up at me..... and glared. Then she snapped her head in the other direction and walked away.

I couldn't believe it!!! She was so rude! I did nothing wrong and when she realized it, she was still rude and didn't even apologize.

Now... any normal, sane person would have just walked away. But for some reason she just rubbed me the wrong way.... or, maybe I am losing my sanity. As she walked away I began to get even more upset. I shouted (yes, shouted) .... "What is your PROBLEM??" She immediately stopped, turned her head.... and just laughed.... yes, that's right... she laughed at me. Then, without saying a word, she turned her head and continued on her merry little mean way.

Again... I found myself even angrier. And, once again, instead of just walking away and letting it be, I opened my mouth again. "Well... you sure are extremely rude!! Happy Holidays!" Of course I wasn't wishing her anything happy. I said it all in a very even angry tone.

I watched her walk until she turned the corner. Then, I continued looking at the winter attire as I tried to calm down. After about 30 seconds I just laughed to myself. She was a tiny woman... I could have taken her down right in the store...haha!!! Ok, so that isn't what I thought, but still!

I hope your holiday shopping is going well and you find happy, merry, people out there. Hopefully you don't run into someone like me....smile!

Happier Holidays!

Thanksgiving 2008

(Click on image for a better look)

We got to eat plenty of food and spend much needed time with family this past Thanksgiving! My cousin Jen is moving to Japan!! We had a going away/Thanksgiving dinner in Tooele! Cousins came from near and far for the event! It was soo good to see everyone!

We spend Thanksgiving dinner at the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa J, cousins, and Steve!

We ate WAY too much!!!

(Click on image for a better look)

Twilight

I am just wondering if Twilight is all it is cracked up to be??? Anyone seen it yet?

I made this video playlist at myflashfetish.com

Trasiberian Orchestra

If you’ve never taken the opportunity (or even worse – you’ve never even thought about taking the opportunity…shame on you) to see the transiberian orchestra in all their concert glory, you haven’t truly experienced all that Christmas music has to offer. It’s a great blast to the 80’s, and who doesn’t want that to be part of their holiday festivities?? I'm having a hard time limiting my highlights of the show.

Maybe it was lots of lasers and fire and strobe lights and probably about a thousand band members or maybe narrator telling a really cheesy Christmas story, that were my favorites. There were a couple of singers with good gravely voices and ....everyone had really long hair and.... the girls all had blue eyeshadow like barbie and the rockers. There were a handful of guitar duels and an incredible piano duel contest. Then... it started snowing!!!! Yes, you read that right... it started snowing inside of the E-Center.

I’m serious – it had every ingredient necessary to make a perfect flashback rock concert. It was awesome!!! Plus, all their music is so fun – what better way to start out this Christmas season than with a jam session of Oh come all ye Faithful?

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us with you!!!! I had a fantastic time!!!

Good-bye Miss Heidi

Just about very morning I drop Zander off at Kindercare. Today was a little bit more somber then usual. Today was Miss Heidi's last day. Do you have people in your life who you just don't realize how much you appreciate until you know you won't have them in your life anymore? It isn't like Miss Heidi is dying or anything, or that I might never see her again, but I do know she is a person I am going to miss seeing everyday. She truly has been an important person that I took for granite.
Every morning when Zander wakes up, one of the first questions out of his mouth is, "Were am I going to School today?" My answer back every morning is either, "Mrs. Stock" or "Miss Heidi". Now, I know Zander loves Mrs. Stock, but he holds a very special spot in his little heart for Miss Heidi. His eye beam when he knows he will see her. Once he knows Miss Heidi will be taking care of him for the day, his smile is followed by a cheerful, "YEAHHHHHH!"
Today, when I came to pick Zander up, he went over to Miss Heidi and gave her a big hug. We said our good-byes - I tried to hold back the tears - and then we jumped into the car. As we were putting on Zander's seat belt he said, "Mom! I am going to miss Heidi. I am not sad right now, but I am going to be so sad tomorrow."

We are really going to miss Miss Heidi!

Tagged - My Simple Little Life

I have been tagged so many times with so many different tagging requirements. Below is one tag I found interesting and a little different. Have fun!

What do you do all day? Randomly throughout the day, update your blog on your latest life happenings.

5:30 - Alarm goes off. Niel jumps up and turns it off. Then he slides right back into bed. We both try not to fall back to sleep.... and eventually, in aabout 15 minutes, we both crawl out of bed. Niel goes first! I guess there isn't any real reason for me to stay in a cold, empty bed.... so I get up too!

7:05 - Pull out of the driveway to head to work. Pull right back into the driveway because I think I left my cell phone on the counter. I run back into the house, only to realize the phone was in my purse, which is in the car. Laugh at myself! Go back out to the car and get going to work.

7:38 - Sign Zander into daycare. He loves his teacher Miss Heidi!!! She is moving to Heber this week. Zander is really going to miss her.... I am really going to miss her! She says "ZANDER" in a loud, cheerful voice. I love knowing he is happy during the day and enjoying himself.

7:42 - Pull up at the gas station and smile..... gas is $2.08 per gallon. The lowest it has been in almost 2 years. Man! This day is turning out to be a pretty great day so far!

7:54 - Log into my work computer, ready for a busy day. Head to the break room for my daily cup of hot chocolate!

9:30 - Conference call with my customer regarding services we will be providing. Mark came into the office this morning. He is my territory manager. I speak with him on the phone everyday, so it is good to see him in person.

10:32 - Rocky Mountain review with Andy, my area director. I enjoy these team meetings because it gives me an overview on what the quarter holds for us.

11:19 - Received a very nice email from my cousin Melanie! She is always so thoughtful and I am feeling very blessed she is in my life!

11:35 - Headed out the door for lunch. I got to talk with my sister, Ang on the phone for my entire drive down to Lehi. I don't get to talk with her nearly enough. It was nice to hear her voice!!

12:00 - Met Niel for lunch at El Pollo Loco! I love that place, but I love seeing Niel in the middle of the day even more. He had a big audit at work today, so I felt extremely grateful he made the arrangements to spend the lunch hour with me. We had a great time.... as we always do!

1:10 - Walked in the door from work and got a large work load dumped one me. I am working on quotes and making calls to get business in for this quarter. It's all about the money!

1:30 - Took a little bathroom break and ran into Lori and Kat in the bathroom. We did a little girl talk - it was a nice break from the stress of work, even if it was for just a few minutes.

3:02 - Called to switch stuff with our auto insurance.... insurance is expensive!

3:54 - Getting ready to walk out the door from work! Heading to the post office to mail a baby gift for my other Territory Manager. She just had a baby! Speaking of.... you can check out a blog that has some pictures posted on it. That is what I did right before I posted, checked out her pictures here. Sure cute!!!

6:31 - Just got home! I went to the post office, only to wait in line for 20 minutes and not even move. Plus, I was 6th in line, so I didn't feel like wasting my entire night in line. Went and picked up Zander. Then, we headed to the new Smith Marketplace that just opened today. The store is sooo big and very cool! The problem was it was so crowded. We purchased some flowers and salt just so we could go through the express line which took 16 minutes... yes, I timed it! Then, we stopped at Mailboxes etc, which had no line!!! I keep wondering where all these people come from?? It was nice and quiet at Mailboxes Etc!

6:45 - Niel made a delicious dinner.... fish sticks and tater tots. He even made his special fry sauce! We ate dinner as a family and watched Amazing Race! It was pretty good tonight. The divorced girls were booted off!! It is Megan night tonight.... I like it when we are all together as a family!

7:30 - We left the house and headed up to the cemetery. Today is Jayden's birthday. It is very crazy, and hard to believe she would be 10 years old today. I had purchased some yellow daisies. Yellow was a perfect color for Jayden. It was my favorite color on her. My dad had all ready visited the cemetery. It was nice to see flowers from him on her grave. It was great to have all the kids there. They remind me of how blessed I am! Niel was there too.... and once again, I felt overjoyed and extremely thankful for him and the great life we have together. Sometimes, thinking of those who have passed on, reminds me not to take for granite the loved ones I have with me in my life right now.

10:39 - The day is gone. Each day seems to go by quicker then the day before. Zander reminded me to turn on the hall light. Conner talked about is day. He showed me some of the Math tutoring he is doing. When I got into Garrett and Stockton's room, they were both asleep. I even caught Garrett with his thumb in his mouth, he has tried to so hard to quit that bad habit. I got headers done for Ang, Lori, and Amy B. Then I worked a little on Heather's christmas cards.

It sure was a great day! I always wonder what type of emotions I will feel on Jaydee's birthday. This year was probably the best year yet. I thought a lot about her, but mostly I thought about my life now. I have such amazing, incredible people in my life! Heavenly Father has blessed me with more blessing then I know what to do with!! I am ever so grateful!!

Happy Anniversary Steve and Megan!

*** I am tagging everyone I mentioned in this email, and anyone else who really read through this entire LONG blog post!!!! *****

Then there's you....

Who would have guessed, when I walked into Ruby River 4 years ago, I would walk out with my life complete changing? The past 4 years have been the most incredible years of my life!

Four years ago.....I had just started a new job! My new life was beginning!! My adventure with four little boys, part-time school, full-time job, single parenting, life altering moment had just begun. And in walked the best part of my little, crazy life.... Niel!

Things have never been the same (thank goodness). I can't imagine how I survived without him.

Niel makes me laugh! We are silly together and I enjoy every minute of it!

Recently, Dietrich moved back to town. Niel and I took advantage of every moment we got to spend together! Don't get me wrong, family time is one of my favorite things.... but Niel time is priceless!


I can honestly say there isn't anything Niel wouldn't do for me. Any man who will dress up in a sheep costume is a REAL man!!! We even won best couple costume this year for Halloween (yes, I dressed up 3 times this year)!

Dodge City, at Anniversary Inn was a splendid night. And no... we weren't celebrating our anniversary, or birthday..... he planned the entire weekend for us just because. He was suppose to go hunting, but surprised me!

It was a very nice surprise!

To celebrate our first date 4 years ago, we went to Ruby River for dinner and then bowling! I kicked his butt at bowling, but he won the 50 states contest. He is just so smart!

Tonight was our last official alone night. We cooked up a great meal, one of our favorite things to do, and watched Friends!
Unfortunately, Dietrich is moving away. But that will not stop our fun times... no way! We always seem to squeeze in some type of adventure together. That is what I love so much about Niel.... never a dull moment.

One of my new favorite songs, Someone Else's Life, has a phrase I love:

My hands shake
My knees quack
It's everyday, same way
Then there's you!

Every day my life brings new and incredible things. And everyday, when I wake up, my best friend is laying right beside me. I feel like I am living someone else's life.... it almost seems impossible to be traveling down this journey of life with someone like Niel!

It has been an amazing 4 years!

I Dare You...

Warning... this post contains curled bangs, ruffled shirts, and young faces!

Back when we were in High School, we thought it would be so cool to get our pictures taken professionally. What were we thinking? Maybe we just had too much time on our hands...laugh!

These fine girls were my B.F.F.'s!

Jen, Becki, Shatie and myself!

And here we are now.... about 14 years later!

Becki was in town from Arizona a few weeks back, so we got together for a quick reunion. Jen wasn't able to make this one.... so I posted a picture from just a few months before. I wasn't able to make that friend reunion. But there is a picture of grown-up Jen too.

High School makes for some really great memories! I had really great friends!! They were a good influence in my life. I miss those days sometimes! We don't get together nearly enough.

So... now I dare you! Let me see what you looked like 14 years ago!

Champions!

Garrett's football team won the Championship game!!!! They played their little hearts out! Below is a picture of Garrett taking on 3 big kids! He was an excellent, strong, little lineman!

The field they got to play on was ginormous compared to their little bodies! The plays were announced on a loud speaker and everything!

They didn't just win... they creamed Pleasant Grove!
Way to go Knights!!!!

Halloween - Part 2

Happy Halloween - 2008