Russian Meal!

Grandma and Grandpa had us over for a special dinner..

... a Russian Dinner!

We all loved the pancakes!

This is soup. It has lots of beets in it.

Grandma spent lots of time in the kitchen to make all the yummy food! Thanks Grandma!!

(Thanks Lisa for taking pictures)!

Happy Bday Dad!

There's no place like home...

.....except Grandpa's place!

Look who got Braces

Megs wears her braces well!!

Time Changes EVERYTHING

Looks at these handsome - little guys!

...And now look at them 5 years later (almost in the same order)!


I can't believe how much changes in such a short time.

It boggles my mind to think how different everything will be in five additional years!

Boarding the Sun-Dance

SUNDANCE!

The boys are getting so good at snowboarding! We had a great time together!!

Gar strapped his board on for the first time and I might add he was incredible.

It sure was a beautiful day!

Garrett - Basketball

Garrett's basketball team had a great season. They were undefeated.

They killed a couple teams with scores like 108 - 10 and 98 - 6. They are animals.

He is quick and collected!

Garrett making a shot!

Go Garrett!!

Basketball for Stocks

It has been a good season for Stocks and basketball this year.

He had really improved his game!

Stocks is a great defensive player.

He even made several free throws!!

Go Stocks!

Niel was the assistant coach this year! We all had such a great time!!

Five Big YEARS!

I can't remember life before this handsome man walked into my life. I say that in a good way!

One of the best parts about our marriage is that we enjoy having a great time together!! I love the adventures we share. Celebrating our anniversary is one of my most favorite things to do every year.

This year, our big anniversary was celebrate at home! Some might think.... "what happened to their excitement??" .... but I will have to say it was an incredible celebration. We decided we had everything a luxurious hotel room would have... a fireplace, a hot tub, a quiet place with no kids, a nice TV, and a comfortable bed. We made it happen! We brought our mattress into the front room, right next to the fire place and TV.... and spent the entire weekend kid-less, in quiet, for 3 entire days! SWEET!!

We went to a movie, watched BYU kick San Diego State's butt, caught up on our favorite shows, SLEPT IN, bought some jewelry (NICE), went to dinner at The Roof, SLEPT IN AGAIN, and lazied around in our P.J.'s all day long!!!

Perfect!

I love his man! I love celebrating our lives together!!

I like to think of all the fun anniversaries we have had together...

4 years in San Diego

3 Year in San Jose - Bruce Springsteen and Wicked

2 years - Salt Lake City

1 Year - Not so successful cruise

Our magical Day! I love this picture. Looks like we are settling into marriage quit well!

Heres to another great and wonderful 5 years!

Another 8 Year Old

Look who got baptized!!!!

Bryn was all smiles for her special day.

It truly was a great day! I love to watch Bryn grow into such a wonder young lady. She is very special and has such an incredible spirit about her.

Thanks for inviting and letting us all share your special day.

Be Mine!

We celebrate yet another great Valentines Day!

Breakfast is our favorite!!! Buttermilk pancakes made in hearts is simple the best!

The boys got BIG KISSES!! They deserve the biggest kisses ever!!

Poor Conner. He got sick and had to be picked up from school in the middle of the day.
He got a nice dose of (red) Nyquil from his Valentine!

Niel was going to take me out to lunch for the big love day. But when Conner had to be picked up our plans changed just a little. Instead, I picked up lunch on brought it home.

We still spend a lovely lunch together!

We figured everything would be crowed in the evening. He ended up at IHOP which was semi crowded but bearable. We all enjoyed a second breakfast...haha!
Grandma and Grandpa joined us. We had plenty to celebrate. It was their 36th wedding anniversary!

We finished the night off with a movie of their choice. The movie pick of the night was Gulliver's Travels. It was actually a pretty decent movie.

Grandma and Grandpa spoiled us all rotten with LOTS of sugar and TONS of love.

After all...

... isn't that was Grandma's and Grandpa's are for?

2010 Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Mr. Nash and all that Jazz

Guess how I started the Valentines weekend???

Jazz vs Suns

I love the Jazz.... but I can't get enough of this incredibly, talented, athletic man.....
(he is almost as wonder as Niel.... ALMOST)

WOW!!!!

I think I might have found a new favorite Jazz player. Gordan Hayward played fantastic. He may look like he is 10, but wow!!! This kid will be around for a long time. I just hope he stays with the Jazz for a while.

Guess who else was there? Yeah... Malone. He was actually sitting just down in front of us. I hate to admit this, but when I wasn't watching Nash.... I was secretly watching Malone. I felt like a stalking fan!

The game was slightly different than other Jazz games. It was the first game I have ever been to, or even seen, when Jerry Sloan wasn't coaching. I am not sure how I feel about the news about Jerry Sloan retiring. When I think of the Jazz, my first thoughts Stockton to Malone and Jerry Sloan. Those were the glory days. The days when the Jazz were incredible. I definitely miss those times and I will definitely miss Sloan.

My favorite moment ever in Jazz history!

Ever had a bad day?

I had my first real bad day of the year. I guess it was bound to happen sometime this year....

It was actually a bad 24 hours.

Started off when a deer ran into my beautiful Sequoia. When I say she ran into me.... that is the honest truth. She charged right to the side of my car. It was real dark and I was driving towards my house. There were mountains on both sides of me. Out of no where a deer just charges out. I only saw the animal, and she saw me, right as she smashed into my door. Then, she slide right through to the passengers side and wrecked that door too. The animal had no saving grace with hitting with such force. She died right in the middle of the road. I was all by myself, so I just left her there. There was no way I could have moved the deer, nor did I want too. I would have got hit myself. Anyway.... super frustrating! Deer hits are not cheap!!

Oh... and throughout this story, keep in mind that Niel was out of town on business this entire time.

The very next day I got up and got the kids up. Stockton started telling me that his stomach really hurt. Stocks is hardly ever sick so I tend to believe him when he is. He roamed around the house and tried to go about his morning routine, but it was pretty obvious he was going to have to stay home for the day. It stresses me out to leave him home sick and I have to go to work. But he assured me he would be fine and would keep the phone near him at all times.... still, stressful.

During my lunch hour I had to take the car into the claims adjuster. I was given the address but no instructions. Usually I can find addresses pretty well so I wasn't too worried about it. While driving to find the adjuster I made a wrong turn. As soon as I made the turn I realized I was going the wrong way.... so attempted to re-adjust myself and get back onto the correct road. I guess I should say I quickly re-adjusted myself. A cop was sitting right there and I realized his presence a little too late. He pulled me over for going 8 over the limit. I tried to tell him what an awful day I was having but he didn't really seem to care.

As I was sitting in the car waiting for him to write me up I received a phone call. I didn't recognize the number so I let it go to voicemail. Once the officer let me go I checked my voicemail. It was the principle of Conner's school. He was calling to tell me that Conner was in his office!! My first response was to freak out.... I mean really? Conner has never gotten himself into trouble. But as I listened to the message he explained that Tylenol was found in his locker. The principle went on to say that any type of over the counter medication was not permitted in the school and that if Conner needed anything for a headache he would need to come into the office and get some. He also said that Conner had told him I had given him the Tylenol, which was true, and so they were going to let him go, but wanted to let me know of the rules. Sheesh!!!!! Later I found out that Conner got a kick out of the entire thing and couldn't believe he got sniffed out by the dogs...haha!

I got home and had this great plan to take the boys bowling. But as I walked into the door it was pretty evident that Stocks wasn't going to make it. He was so sick. Zander lied to me when I asked him if he had his homework done. Since he got caught lying I figured I couldn't possibly take him bowling. When I told Zander we weren't going bowling he totally lost it. He threw a complete, crazy, outragous temper tantrum. Seriously? Do six year old's throw temper tantrums?? He cried and cried. He kicked, yelled, screamed and I thought for a second his head was going to pop right off.... mostly because I felt like mine could have.

In the end, I took Gar and Conner out to get a burritto. Zander cried the entire time. Oh... and Stocks threw up.

So... after I tucked all the kids into bed, and before I could melt away in my own bed, I had to clean up the throw up that was smooshed all over the carpet. I love my children so much! But cleaning up puke is about the most disgusting parent job in the entire world. I thought I wasn't going to make it.... but I did.

I was overjoyed to crawl into bed and pray that the next day would be better.

And it was! :)

Sundance Snow

We had the most perfect snowboarding day ever!!

Here are two of my most favorite people in the world. My adventurous Mom and my incredible husband.

Mom was so patient with Niel and I. It isn't often I get much time to spend with my mom these days, so heading up on the slopes with her made for other great memory. I remember as a kid she would take us skiing every Saturday. I really took for granite those skiing moments. I thought every kid was as lucky as I was had cool parents like I did. I really enjoyed those Saturdays on the slopes with my sisters, cousins, friends, and most of all my Mom! It was great to have her come along with Niel and I.

And Niel.... Wow!!! He is getting really good on that board! Now as an adult I have learned that I am lucky to have a husband that is willing to try new, hard things.... like snowboarding. Together, we have both been learning how to snowboard and I have really enjoyed doing something hard together. We might be really sore when the day is done, but we have so much fun doing it!

Very cool! There is a slope with my name on it!

I have skied Amy's Ridge many times. Yesterday was my first day snowboarding it!

The day was perfect. Great company and a simply beautiful day!

Quick Update

Sometimes life moves so fast.... I barely have time to blog anymore.

Here are some of the other little things we have been up to...

Zander loves his super hero attire. He was a little of everything.

Superman with a Black cap, Robin eye mask, and a nerf gun. He makes makes me laugh!

Conner worked long and hard on his science project. He took stawberries and found out what was the best way to keep them fresh, or how long it took for them to go moldy. Just in case you are curious, the strawberry in a zip lock bag took the longest to grow mold.

Pinewood Derby was interesting this year. Stockton's awesome car had the fastest run down and the slowest run down. Crazy!! Garrett was awarded his bobcat and is so excited to be involved in Scouts!

And Megan.... well, isn't she just beautiful?!

I love this quote...

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

... isn't that true?