Miramonsters

I pity the fool!:)

2012-01-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd better get down a few things that Rhett has said the last couple of weeks that have totally cracked me up before I forget about them.

We were eating breakfast the other day and treated our kids with orange juice (we don't have it very often).

Rhett took a big drink and then asked, "Mom, do I have orange lips?"

Me: "Nope."

Rhett, "Good, cause then I'd look like a fool!"

And...

We've let our kiddo's hang around in their pajamas most of the break unless we were planning on going somewhere. So, Rhett had taken a bath and put on clean pajamas. He slept in them that night, kept them on all day the next day, and then slept in them that next night as well.

On that second day Tony said to Rhett: "Rhett, you've been in those jammies for 2 days now!"

Rhett: "I know Dad. Pretty cool huh?!"

And...

On Christmas morning we let our kid's look at their santa stuff and then open their gifts from Grandpa & Grandma Wilson (they sent up $ and we decided they were all in need of new Sunday clothes and since Christmas fell on Sunday it was perfect!) before we went to church.

As Rhett was opening one of his presents he pulled out his new white shirt and exclaims, "Awww...I don't like sunday shirts."

WHAT A CHARACTER!

More Fall Fun!

2011-10-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the pumpkin's Kyla and I made. I think they turned out pretty cute!! And so super inexpensive...they are made out of Toilet Paper rolls, newspaper, material, sticks, and rafia...cute + easy + inexpensive = LOVE!!:) Got the idea HERE!

And then here's my little Rhett...the carrot lover! Especially if he gets to pick them straight from the garden! He was especially excited about the really big one. What a cutie patootie!!

A little Halloween Fun courtesy of JIB JAB!

2011-10-07T16:44:00.001-07:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Some Halloween stuff

2011-10-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well, technichally it's really just one thing....SO FAR!!!:) I thought this was so cute I had to make it! I've got a few other projects to do...I'll show you them when they're ready also!

Got the FREE printable to put in the frame HERE!! Bought a cheap frame, spray painted it white, glazed it with black glaze and added the ribbon. Pretty cute if I do say so myself!!:)

Kyla's Cross Country

2011-09-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

Kyla decided to try her hand at Cross Country this year! I was a little apprehensive about it, didn't know if it would be something she would enjoy or not, but she has really liked it and is doing a pretty good job. They had their first meet on Friday the 2nd of Sept. and there were a lot of runners!! It was a mile and a half run and was her first race and the longest she'd ever ran (although she didn't run the entire way, but she said it was pretty close).

Here's Kyla before the race started

And here's Kyla going to the finish line!

She finished the mile and a half in around 23 minutes. She said her goal was not to finish last (which she didn't:)) and to improve her time each race!

Good job girl!!

Denver Vacation

2011-08-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

I added it up...we have been home a total of 9 whole days since July 3rd!! OH HOW I LOVE SUMMER VACATION!! It is nice to be home though and to start getting back in the swing of things!:)

Our last adventure before school starts was visiting Denver. Tony got Rockies tickets for his birthday (6 of them...we're so lucky he chose to have us go with him!!:)) and so we decided to make ourselves a little mini vacation.

We headed to Denver Monday morning (Aug 1st)...the boys all got baseballs and sharpie's hoping to get some autographs so we wanted to get to the game plenty early so we'd have the chance. Well......there was some HORRIFIC traffic on I-70 because of construction work. We timed it on the way back and it took us 35 minutes to go 5 miles!!! So, needless to say by the time we got to our hotel to check in and then back to the rockies game it was about 5:30 (still an hour early, but Tony and the boys wanted to be there 2 hours early...probably a good thing there was traffic!:)).

When we got there we wandered down to the side-lines along 1st baseline. We got some great pictures and got pretty wet...but NO autographs! The boys were a little disappointed, but it was pretty cool watching all the guys warm up...especially Tulowitzky...Rhett just loves him!! While we were standing there the camera came by and zero'd in on Rhett chewing his sharpie pen with his baseball in his hand...he was on TV!! Don't know what station or anything, but I wish I could have seen it! The same camera came back around and zero'd in on Rhett again...it pays to be such a cute little guy!!

The kiddo's in the rain!

The boys hoping to get autographs...I know Caleb doesn't look so excited, but he just wasn't feeling well. I felt so bad for him, I don't think he enjoyed it too much because of the way he was feeling, but he did get up and cheer pretty good for the Rockies 2 homeruns that game!!:)

Chacin going out to the bullpen to warm-up...he pitched an awesome game...the closer blew it for him!

This totally cracked me up...he looks like he's carrying a little girl's backpack...so cute!:)

Here's Tulo warming up...we were right there...it was so much fun to watch!

A lot of the team warming up

My cute little Rockies fan!!

Caleb & Rhett with cracker jacks!

Tulo on 1st base

Hoping Smith would hit another homerun to win the game...no such luck!:(

Bunting!

The Rockies ended up losing in the 10th inning....I thought they had it in the bag! Rhett was disappointed, he told us "I didn't go to watch the Rockies lose!" He's not competitive or anything!:)

The next day we went to the zoo....I'll post that one later this week...so until then!

Vacation 2011

2011-07-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd better get some of this year's vacation documented here or I'd never get it done...I'm slacking on the family blogging!:)

Caution: Very long vacation post...read or just look at pictures or skip the entire thing...at your discretion!:)

Anyway, we had a wonderful vacation this year! We started off at Grandpa and Grandma Miramontes' house for Tony's birthday! We spent the 4th at the parade and then had Tony's birthday party and fireworks!

Grandpa with Anastasia, Kyla, & Tyler watching fireworks!

The Grandkids at the Parade: Back row: Anastasia, Eli, Bodey, Caleb, & Kyla

Front row: Rhett, Jaxon, Xavier, & Tyler

Cousins...if Tony & I can make it work, so can they!:)

Tony's 35th Birthday Party...I think it was around 11:00 by the time we had his party...it was a long but wonderful day!!:) He got some clothes, a headlamp, a new mitt, and Rockies tickets!

We also went up to the Payson Pool (a yearly tradition now...it's so much fun!!), and did some shopping and Tony & I were able to do a session at the Manti Temple...it had been WAY TOO LONG since we'd been back to the temple we were married in!!

We then headed down to the cabin to have our annual "Double K Retreat" with the Wilson clan! I actually didn't even get the camera out once that weekend...I knew Mom would take care of that...now I just need to get copies of the pictures from her!:) It was such good times...GAMES, GAMES, GAMES!! Nothing better than that!

Next we headed to Parowan. We went to the aquatic center in Cedar City and had a lot of fun (agian NO PICTURES...I really need to be better!). And just had fun with Jared & Candy & family. We had a pizza party with Candy's homemade pizza's...she's the queen...she make the best pizza's, and played more games!!

Friday, the 15th was my 15 year class reunion. I ended up changing what we were doing because we only had a few people respond that they were coming. So instead of having fun at the Lion's Park and having Cafe Rio cater, we just met at The Pizza Factory and ate and visited. It was a lot of fun and we had some good laughs!!

The Gang (who showed up...there are a lot of classmates that still live in the area that didn't even bother to show up...I came all the way from Colorado, of course I got to set the date to fit my schedule!:))

Left to right: Tanner Adams, Valerie Vincent Evans, Jake Hulet & wife Sandy, Mike Adams & wife LeeAnn

Krysten Ball Reynold & husband Whitney, Becky Crisp Merrill & husband...his name escapes me! oops!:)

We went to Cedar to watch Ben shoot up some pretty awesome rockets with Jamie and her kiddo's. The rockets were amazing! We then went to the St. George Temple with Jared & Candy to do a session. When the session was over Jared checked his phone and had gotten a text from Dad (who is in Kentucky with Mom taking care of Grandma Potter) that said that Uncle Russell had passed away. We knew it was coming and that Dad would probably miss it, but he was able to visit with Russell earlier in the week before they left. So glad for the gospel and the temple sealings!!!

After the Temple we ate at Five Guys and then went to Tai Pan (much to the boys' dismay...but I have to say they were troopers!). I got some awesome stuff, I wish they had one here!!

We went to church with Jamie & Ben the next morning and then spent the night with them so the kiddo's could play. Jamie taught me how to make ebleskivers for breakfast monday morning...they were so much fun to make & were delicious. As soon as I get me a pan I'm going to share that one on my blog!!:)

We were planning on heading home Monday morning, but decided to stick around a little longer so we could attend Uncle Russell's funeral. And I'm so glad we did. It was such a great service. I know a lot of people don't like funerals, but I've always loved them...the spirit is so strong and the messages are so powerful!! This funeral was no exception! We had a little comic relief when I held Isaac...I'd had him for probably around a minute and Rhett was playing with him and he spewed all over Rhett! Rhett's face was priceless...he was so disgusted!! I was laughing so hard (without making any noise!:))

So since we were already around we decided we'd stay an extra weekend. Jared planned a fun hike up on Brian Head for us. It was the twisted forest trail, I believe. It was pretty cool. The pine that grows there is some of the oldest trees in the world and they only grow in certain climates and only over certain elevations, so it was a lot fun...we got some great pictures!!

Caleb's a little monkey...he climbed pretty much every tree he found!:)

Kyla with a pretty awesome lookin' tree!

Here's the view from the top of our trail...looking right into Cedar Breaks! And just so you know...just off that edge is a sheer drop off!! I had Rhett's hand really tight because he kept wanting to go closer and look...scared me to death (and Elyse...haha!)! But it was beautiful!

Rhett posing! What a photogenic little boy!

Tony with Rhett...two pretty handsome men!!

Eli...I was lucky to get this picture...that kid was all over the place!! He really needed to get out!:)

Rhett, Kyla and cousin Kylynd.

Then that weekend we headed out to the cabin. I absolutely LOVE that place...I wish we lived closer so we could use it more often!! Lots of fun at the water slide, gaming with family, hiking, & 4-wheeler riding!!

Hiking Marble Mountain...Tony with the kiddo's!

Who is that stud of a man standing over there???:)

Looking down at the cabin & pond...this is only about the halfway point to where we hiked! It was so beautiful!

Mom with Rhett & Kyla

Tony & the boys...this is another one of those sheer drop edges...they sure made me nervous!

Tony helping Rhett hike down...it was pretty steep & slippery

Caleb

Rhett

Kyla

Eli

THE WATER SLIDE...what a blast, and we had perfect weather for it! Here's Kyla!

Caleb

Rhett...that kid absolutely LOVEd the slide...he looked scared to death everytime he went down, but just kept on going...from the very top no less!

Eli's turn!

The kiddo's & a friend going down in Aunt Elyse's boat!

What a great trip...we love spending time with our family. It's always hard to leave and we always want to stay longer, but life must go on...:)

Say No to Drugs!!

2011-05-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

We got a letter in the mail a month ago or so telling us that Kyla had won an award for her poster she did in school for the So No to Drugs campaign. They wanted to recognize everyone at a dinner that was held May 2nd (Monday). Well, we had 3 things going on that night...so Tony took Rhett to Caleb's game and then Eli and I went with Kyla to this dinner (Kyla's softball practice just had to be missed...can't be 2 places at one time...although sometimes that would be really nice!!)

It was a very nice dinner and then they had the awards. There were 280 something kids who turned in posters and Kyla was the only 5th grader to be recognized (I think there were about 10 in all)!! She was very excited...but the most exciting part...the $25 they also gave everyone!!:)

Pointing out which poster was Kyla's.

"Accepting" the award.

Here's her poster and her award!

It's Baseball time!!

2011-05-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Caleb started baseball the middle of April and had his first game last week. He was able to pitch a couple of innings that first game and did a great job for it being his first time pitching!! His second game he started pitching and did a great job...if I remember right his stats were: 1st inning: 3 stike outs, 2nd inning: 2 strike outs, 3rd inning: 1 strike out; and 4th inning: 1 strike out! Pretty darn good! Here's a short video of him pitching:

Also I've got to tell you the sweetest thing! So Caleb hit one of the batters and I hear his little voice call out "sorry!" Never heard someone apologize for hitting someone on the field before...I thought it was sweet!:) I actually got it on camera...if you listen closely you'll hear his litte "sorry" at the end!

During this game he also went 2 for 4 at bats. He hit 2 pretty good grounders for base hits and then got walked twice. Here's one of his grounders.

I love baseball season!! Although it gets pretty busy when Kyla starts softball and Rhett is starting t-ball this year...we LOVE it!!

Another GIVEAWAY at our blog!

2011-04-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

We're having another GIVEAWAY over at our blog. We're celebrating a new look, new button, and a new facebook page! Come on over and enter to win some cool stuff and to see a delicious recipe for Orange Dream Cupcakes!!

Rhett's 4th Birthday!

2011-04-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

My baby boy (who does not like for me to refer to him as that!) turned 4 on Sunday! I still can't believe it! Honestly...where does the time go? I remember about a month ago he looked like this:

And then a few weeks ago this:

And then yesterday...

OK...I'm killing myself here...let's get on to the birthday party!

He had a party with some of his friends on Friday before his birthday. They had an Easter egg hunt and then cupcakes (leftover from my recital...check it out HERE at our recipe blog!) and presents. He had a lot of fun and was very excited to have his own special birthday party with his friends! I took my camera but forgot to take pictures of the hunt, but got some of the boys playing with one Rhett's toys he got.

Rhett with Parker

Rhett with Ty, Deacon & Parker

We decided to have his family birthday party on Saturday. We'd been asking him what he wanted for his birthday for the last couple of weeks and his #1 answer was....and ipad!!! Can you believe that?! It totally cracked me up. He was able to play angry birds on our good friend Nancy's ipad and now whenever he sees her he asks her if she has it so he can play! Sorry, little man but no ipad this year!!:) But his #2 answer was a bike, so we ventured on down to Montrose to see what we could find for him. He was so excited...this is the bike he picked out!

We then came home to make a cake and wrap presents so we could have a party for him. Well, in the meantime he fell asleep and when we tried to wake him up for dinner he was not having it. He was out cold and if we bugged him enough he'd start crying and get mad, so we decided to let him sleep through dinner. Well, after dinner it was the same thing...he was worn out!! So we decided we'd put him to bed and have his party on Sunday. Well, he woke up at about 9:00 and came and asked if we could have his party. I told him it was too late and that we could have it tomorrow on his birthday, but that didn't make him all too happy so I gave in and we had my little boy's 4th birthday party at 9:00!! I know...Mother of the year award!:) Anyway, here's pictures from the party! Sorry the pictures are so dark...it was 9:00 you know!

Our 4 year old!

Rhett had been DIEING to see Tangled!

Unwrapping more presents.

In his GAME CHANGER outfit! (see what I mean...this is actually what he looked like yesterday...he's growing up WAY too fast!!)

What a sweetie we have. He is so excited to play t-ball this year. That was the main reason he wanted to turn 4 because he knew he'd be old enough to play! He brings so much joy to our family! He loves his brothers and sister, especially Caleb and he still tells his Dad & Mom at least once every day that he loves us without being prodded. We sure do love this boy!!

Kyla's DI (Destination Imagination) Competition!

2011-03-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

This last weekend (Saturday the 26th) was Kyla's DI team's competition. They have been working so hard since December to get everything ready and the day finally arrived. She had to be up to the school on the bus ready to go by 6:15 on a Saturday...UGGHH! But she had a great surprise waiting for her when she got there. Mrs. Green brought her a goody bag full of all kinds of great stuff for winning the design for the DI t-shirts that both teams wore for the competition. Mrs. Green also made t-shirts for the family to wear to support Kyla...Here we all are at the competition in our shirts (except Tony...he tried to squeeze into his, but it was just a little too small!)

Their challenge was at 9:00 in Rifle and we just barely made it in time!! I only got one picture because I was taking video of the skit. So here's that one picture!

Their challenge was calle the Triple Take Road Show. They had to perform their skit to 3 different "pretend" audiences. They did a fabulous job!! And since their skit was at 9:00a.m. and then they had their instant challenge at 1:00, but parents cannot watch that one, and then the awards assembly wasn't until 6:30 we decided to take off and do some shopping in Grand Junction and then head home.

We got a call at about 7:15 from a crying Kyla telling us that they had won 1st place and would be going to state in Denver sometime in April!! I was kicking myself that we didn't stay, but I have no idea what we would have done there for all those hours with the boys!! Anyway, all their hard work paid off!! Now they have to keep on working to make it better for State!! We're so proud of her!!

Caleb turns double digits!

2011-03-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

It was Caleb's Birthday on Tuesday the 22nd. We had a family birthday party on Monday night for FHE. Caleb opened presents:

A Hot Wheels car from Rhett (Rhett picked it out himself and just had to buy the "cool car" for Caleb!)

Eli bought Caleb some Basketball and Baseball cards. Caleb LOVED them!

This was from Tony and I and Grandpa & Grandma Wilson...we wanted him to pick out his own bike so this is how we told him that's what he was going to be getting!

Here's the Birthday Boy with his cake on fire!! Can't believe he's 10!!

Putting the candles on the cake!

Here's Caleb's Birthday Cake...If you would like the recipe head on over to Double the Deliciousness!

It was a great party and I was able to take Caleb out to lunch on Thursday for his "birthday lunch with Mom" (and Rhett!) and we stopped at Walmart and bought him the bike he wanted. I'll get a picture of him on it and post it up soon!

Also, I've been sorting through all our photo's on the computer and came across this super duper DUPER cute one of Caleb!! I just had to post it too!

This was a couple of months after Caleb had turned 4 (which incidentally is about where my youngest is at now...I CANNOT believe how fast time flies!) Isn't he about the cutest little 4 year old EVER!!

How we love our Caleb...what joy he brings to our family!! Always happy and very loving!!

Kyla flying high!!

2011-03-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

It looked so easy from the ground, but when Kyla and Caleb got on there they decided it was a little more difficult than it looked!! Kyla finally ended up trying some flips and got pretty good at them!

Caleb's Turn!

2011-03-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

We tried talking Caleb into trying a flip...He was not going to do it!! It cracked me up!

Eli's Baptism

2011-03-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Eli was baptized on Saturday March 12th. What a wonderful day and it was so great to have some family here to celebrate this special day with us!! Eli was baptized and confirmed by his Dad, Tony. Grandpa, Uncle Brandon, Bishop Clark, Bro. Graff, and Bro. Shean all stood in with Tony to confirm Eli.

The program was beautiful. We sand "When I Am Baptized" for the opening sone and then had a talk on baptism by Uncle Chad, which was perfect!! Then Eli was baptized. I'll never forget that sweet grin he had on his face right after he was baptized. He stood in the font looking out at all of us with the most perfect little grin! What joy that boy bring to our lives!!

After the baptism Grandma gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, which was also excellent! Then Eli was confirmed. What a special day for our family!!

Read the next post to see his birthday celebration!!

Eli is 8!!

2011-03-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Eli's 8th birthday was last Thursday March 10th. I still can't believe he's 8 already...I'm feeling old! We had family come in (Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Chad and Aunt Melinda and there kiddos; Makenna, Madison, Landen and Logan, and Uncle Brandon and Aunt Elyse and little baby Isaac) and were able to celebrate this special day with Eli.

We had a fun pizza party for his birthday and cake and ice cream. Here's the Oreo Cake we had for his party...If you'd like the recipe, head over to our recipe blog!

He got some great gifts that he was pretty excited for!
Here's his remote control monster truck (that does not work and needs to be returned!!), fantasia (the movie) that he's been wanting for months!, and some red vines licorice which he also loves!!

His favorite books are the Magic Treehouse series, so Tony surprised him with the ENTIRE set!! He was pretty excited about that one!

He got this cool magic tricks thing from Grandpa and Grandma too. He's been learning how to do them and has even given a magic show!

Friday we were able to spend the day in Telluride with Chad and Melinda and family and Grandpa and Grandma!

The highlight is always riding the gondola...it never gets old, and not just for the kids, Grandpa said he could just ride it all day!!:)

This picture cracks me up!! This is when the gondola "takes off"...just take a look at Eli and Rhett's faces!!

The kiddo's shoving themselves into the phone booth!! How cute are they?!

Landen and Rhett posing for a picture!!:)

Makenna, Madison, Makyla, and Caleb all tried the bungee thingy!:) They were all pretty excited to try it but then when they got them they all were pretty scared, well, except for Madison!!:) Here's Rhett and Landen watching the fun!!

Makyla was pretty scared at first but towards the end we finally got her to try doing some flips...which she was able to do. I've got it on video if I can ever get this thing to work I'll post it on here

And here's Caleb...he was too chicken to even try a flip, and I thought he would be the one to go crazy up there and try all kinds of things...guess I was wrong!

Kyla's finished room! FiNaLlY!!!

2011-03-09T11:23:00.001-08:00

We finally finished Kyla's room last weekend!! It was a big chore and took more work than I thought it would (don't projects always!), but it is now complete except for the chair rail, curtains, and some more "art" for the one huge blank wall!

Here it is...from the beginning!

The "before" of the closet

The "after" of the closet!

This is after 3 coats of white paint (holy cow...I didn't think it would take that much paint to do white over beige!!) and 2 coats of the red! (we ended up having to do 4 coats of the red!!)

And this is after lots of trial and error on these stripes...at first we wanted to do a red metallic paint for the stripes but just couldn't get that to work so we decided just to do a darker red of regular paint. I think it turned out awesome!!

And now for the final project!! Kyla arranged (with a few pointers from me!) her room by herself and organized all her little nick-nacks! She did a great job!

Makyla was a huge help with this project which was really nice! I had to "fire" her a couple of times, but then always put her back to work! It was acutally really nice working with her. Good bonding time for Mom and daughter!!

Reason to not play basketball in the house!

2011-03-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

We bought a little mini pro basketball hoop for Rhett that hangs on our door in our dining room. That kid has spent countless hours shooting hoops and pretending he's anyone from Jimmer, Emery, Foster, Deron Williams and more that I can't think of right now to being the Boston Celtics, the Utah Jazz, and many more teams (I think he just might know more NBA teams than I do!!)

Anyway, he and Caleb were playing around this evening and there was a "loose ball" and Rhett went for it...right into the corner of the wall!! The wall was fine, but here's what it did to Rhett...
(don't worry I hugged him for a while before I took the photo:)!!)

The poor kid...as soon as he hit I knew it was going to be a bad one. It instantly started swelling and bruising. He sat on my lap all through dinner and I held some frozen corn to his bump. The swelling went down but still looks bad...but it didn't seem to bother him too much! Here he is about an hour after the "incident"!

Also, since we're talking about basketball, I've got a little story! Today Rhett was asking me if we were going to be doing something (I can't remember what it was)...and I told him "no, we're not going to today". He looked at me funny and said "What?? Ogide?" (If you follow Moutain West Basketball you'll understand...my little 3 year old does!!:))

Baby Blessing and BYU Basketball!

2011-02-07T07:20:00.001-08:00

We took a quick vacation this weekend (which was much needed on my part!!) to go to my new nephew's blessing. (He is such a cutie!!) The kids loved holding him! For some reason I didn't get Caleb's picture holding him, but I'm sure he did (We had just come from the BYU game and Caleb's mind was elsewhere...I'll get to that part soon!:))
Here's Rhett lovin' baby Isaac.
And Eli.
And Kyla!
It was so great to see my family even if it was just for a few short hours and to hold that sweet little boy!!

So, since we were in Utah we decided we'd better hit the BYU game while we were there. Caleb was so excited. We arrived about an hour early so Caleb could try and get some autographs. He really wanted Jimmer's, but also wanted to get Davies and Emery's as well. He hung out by where the team warmed up for that entire hour hoping to get some, but they were all just too busy warming up! (Imagine that!:))
Doesn't Rhett just look so dumbfounded!! Crack me up!
Eli and Rhett enjoying the warm-ups
There's JIMMER!!
Caleb with the team behind him warming up...boy that kid LoVeD this!!

So we made our way back to our seats...clear up in nose bleed section...if you look closely, right above the blue banner there's a cluster of people, Tony's the one sitting by the stairs in the blue shirt (yes I packed for him!).

I also saw Lavell Edwards!! And yes as my Dad pointed out I was like Paparazzi taking his picture but I just couldn't help it!!:)

The game was so much fun! It was a lot of fun to watch Jimmer! He is AwEsOmE!! We got to see a few dunks and a couple of missed dunks! Caleb was in heaven, Eli kept asking when we could go back to the hotel and go swimming, Kyla actually had a good time and cheered for the cougars, and Rhett kept cheering for the Utah Utes!! He thought that UNLV was the utes because they were in red. Tony and I both told him it wasn't the Utes but UNLV but he didn't believe us and kept cheering for the Utes throughout the game. It was pretty cute! Tony even cheered for the cougars, but he claims the only reason is because we were sitting right behind some UNLV fans who were shouting innappropriate/blasphemey comments that made him mad!:)

Anyway, after the game Caleb headed down to where the players exit the court and was able to get Abouo's autograph! So we let him hang around after the game for about an hour to see if Jimmer would come out again. Well, he did, but only to do some radio stuff and then he waved and left again. (That's him sitting at the table right above Eli's head!)
But afterward, some other players came out and gave autographs. Caleb was so excited when he saw Brandon Davies! He was able to get his autograph and his picture with him. (BTW he was about the nicest guy...good role model for my little boy!!)
Then Jackson Emery emerged as well and he was able to get his autograph and picture with him as well! (and again...super nice and a great role model!)
And last but not least Coach Rose showed up for autographs as well!! Here's a picture of Caleb getting his autograph!
Here's the page with everyone's autograph. It's a little wrinkled because Caleb carried it everywhere so he could show everyone! He even took it into church to show Grandpa. Grandpa offered him $100 bucks for it and he turned him down so fast I was shocked!! We're going to frame the autographs with some of his pictures. I'll post it when we get it finished!

After the game we went to see baby Isaac for a little bit (pictures above!) and then took off so the kids could do some swimming before bedtime! It was such a spectacular weekend. I wish we could do it more often!!

Another GIVEAWAY!!

2011-01-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

We're having another GIVEAWAY over at our recipe blog....doublethedeliciousness.blogspot.com. It's a product that we use practically EVERYDAY and LOVE. So check it out...just follow this link to ENTER!!

The fondest memories!

2011-01-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

We have a saying in our dinning room on the wall that says "The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table". I'm a believer! Not only do we get to enjoy wonderful food (most of the time!:)), but we get to talk to our kids without interuption (for the most part) that seems to not happen at any other time of the day. We also get to hear some of the funniest things that come out of our kids' mouths, and I've documented quite a few here. Last night there was another one. This time from Caleb.

Eli: Mom, what's your most embarrassing moment?
(Tony starts chuckling...he's thinking of many!)
Mom: I don't know Eli...let me think about it.
Caleb: I bet I know!
Mom: What do you think?
Caleb: When you had your kids.
Mom: (smiling) Why would that be embarrassing?
Caleb: Because a nurse has to pull them out of you through a hole.
Dad: What hole?
Caleb: (shrugging his shoulders) I don't know.
Dad: GOOD!

Our Anniversary!

2010-12-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

Sunday was Tony and my anniversary...12 years baby!!:) We celebrated by going to Ouray (the switzerland of America and one of our favorite places) for a night. (you might remember when Tony took me there a couple of years ago for my birthday!) It was great to get away and relax...and get in a little last minute Christmas shopping!

We stayed at the Wiesbaden (pronouced vee-spa-den). That's the same place we went to for my birthday. We were able to soak in the vapor cave (for only minutes at a time because it is SOOOO hot!!), but then we'd go to the outdoor pool where it was about 40 degrees outside and that felt so nice!! What a relaxing day we got to spend together!!

I teased Tony before we left that I booked us a room that didn't have a TV in it...I had him going for a little bit, but just couldn't stop from smiling. Well, when we got to our room, this is what we found (and incidentally it was the very first thing Tony noticed!):)
...and he wasn't too pleased!:)

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-12T17:22:00.001-08:00

After a fun breakfast with Santa of snowman pancakes the kids all got to sit on Santa's lap (except Kyla who was too embarrassed...she thinks she's too old!)

Rhett was so excited to see Santa...he even brought a candy cane from home to give to him. He was so disappointed as we were walking into the Rec. center his candy cane broke, so we went and asked for some tape and fixed it all up so he could give it to Santa.
He asked Santa for a Steelers Helmet. He's been talking about it for at least a month now!
Eli was a little shy (which is NOT like Eli at all) when it came to sitting on Santa's lap, but he did and asked for a nintendo DS.
Caleb also, like Kyla, thought he was getting too old to sit on Santa's lap, but I talked him into it anyway. He asked Santa for a ripstick.

Wish I would have at least thought about getting a picture of Makyla...even if it wasn't with Santa!
But I'll tell...and show...what she did for our dinner this evening. We had a big turkey dinner with all the fixin's and so Kyla set the table and made cute little place settings with everyone's name on them.

Didn't they turn out so cute. She really is a pretty creative little thing and she is a major crafter!!

Our Nativity!

2010-12-09T12:40:00.001-08:00

When Dad & Mom first got their call to South Africa Tony and I knew that one thing we wanted them to pick up for us was an African nativity set. So last Christmas time while they were still out we let them know that that was what we wanted. So when they returned in June we were so pleased to get just what we wanted (it was a wonderful early Christmas present!) and we really wanted to just display it right then but decided we needed to wait.

Monday night for FHE we were able to set it up and I LOVE having it displayed! All the pieces are hand carved from jacaranda wood and hand painted in Swaziland. They are very unique and very beautiful! (We had to freeze them for 24 hours after we recieved them just in case there was a certain kind of bug in them...can't remember what it is called...because the bug would eat them and we'd be left with sawdust! But freezing them would kill it if there was actually one in there! Isn't that fun...we might have an african bug frozen inside our nativity!!:))

Isn't it beautiful??!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Potter!

2010-11-29T18:14:00.000-08:00

We always have the most interesting discussions at the dinner table. Tonight I told the kids that it was my Grandpa Potters birthday today and they started asking all kinds of questions about Grandpa. I told them that I didn't even get to know him all that well because he died when I was 7 and one of the kids asked how he died so I told them he died of a heart-attack. Eli...who was dead serious...then asked "What scared him so much?"

Recipe Blog Giveaway!

2010-11-16T08:53:00.001-08:00

We're (Kyla and I) are celebrating our 100th post over on our recipe blog with a GIVEAWAY!!

Head on over and maybe you can be a winner...pass the word around!:)

What's important to a 3 year old!

2010-11-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last night Tony had the lesson for FHE and taught the kids about "when you are warned, warn your neighbor". Rhett usually just runs around or just sits and doesnt pay much attention but last night when Tony asked the question "What's one way you can show Heavenly Father that you love Him?" (trying to get the answer...warn your neighbor or share the gospel) Rhett's hand shot up in the air so Tony called on him and his answer: "Flush the toilet!"

Guess that's what's important to him at the moment! He gets reminded of that quite a few times a day!:)

Kyla's 11th Birthday!

2010-10-23T15:26:00.001-07:00

Kyla turned 11 yesterday...my goodness how time flies!! I always get so sentimental on my kids' birthdays...remembering their births and cute things they used to do! One of my favorite memories of Kyla is when she was about 18 months old (during march maddness!) Tony taught her how to say "Dipsy-doo dunkaroo" as made famous by Dick Vitale, but her's came out more of "ipsy-oo unker-oo". It was about the cutest thing ever! And Tony was one proud papa!:) Anyway, we are so lucky to have her as a daughter. She really is such a big helper around the house and with her brothers! She's very artistic and loves anything artsy. She is a good friend and is usually a pretty happy person to be around. It's a lot of fun to watching her growing into such a wonderful young woman (aaarrrggghhh...did I just say that...not ready...not ready...not ready!!) We love you Kyla, and we're so proud that you're our daughter!

Birthday Party Pictures!
Kyla's banana cake...recipe over on our blog HERE!Birthday girl and her cake.
Rhett giving Kyla a hug after giving her her present. (she accidentally poked Caleb in the eye!!:))
Hugs from her brothers!
Card from Grandpa and Grandma

Last Night's Dinner Conversation!

2010-10-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

Eli was being a goof at the table last night which is nothing new!

Tony: "Eli, the squirrels are coming!"
Eli: "What, why?"
Tony: "Because they think you're nuts!"

Unstopable laughter erupted from our dinner table. It was one of those nights!:) Anyway, after the kids finally settled down from their laughing fits this was the conversation:

Rhett (my 3 year old): "Eli, the squirrels are coming!"
Eli: "why?"
Rhett: "Because you're nuts....STILL!"

Even Better!

2010-10-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

I looked out my window after I posted the pictures of our tree and realized it was even more beautiful today than it was Saturday when I took the pictures below so I had to take some more and show you how much it has changed in the last 2 days! I LOVE the colors!

Our beautiful tree!

2010-10-18T07:34:00.001-07:00

When we purchased our tree this summer I made sure that it was going to turn some beautiful colors for the fall. That was one of my many demands for our tree!:) Anyway, he has not let down. The leaves are stunning!! I can't wait until next fall when the tree will be older and hopefully have more leaves that will be turning these beautiful colors!! Just look at that!

Caleb scored Advanced!

2010-10-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

So all the students who scored advanced in at least 1 area got to ride on a float in the homecoming parade a couple of weeks ago (I know I'm a slacker blogger!!). Caleb not only scored advanced in math he scored perfect in 2 of the 4 areas in math and the other 2 were really high as well. That kid is a math wiz! Just thought I'd post a couple of pictures of the parade and brag about my boy for a minute!:)
He's the one towards the middle with the black shirt on!

Remember your childhood!

2010-09-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have to write this down before I forget. That child of mine Eli is continually cracking me up and I'm going to need all of these recorded for his future family!

So Tony came home the other day and told me a funny little story about Eli and his teacher Mrs. Moore. Apparently it was recess time and Eli was hanging around Mrs. Moore talking and she told him he should go and play with some of the other kids because she isn't any fun because she's a boring adult. Eli's response..."well maybe you just need to remember your childhood."

Recipe Blog Address Change!

2010-09-22T09:12:00.001-07:00

Just for everyone's information the address to our Recipe Blog has changed. It is now http://doublethedeliciousness.blogspot.com. The link on the side will still take you right there! Go check out the recipe Kyla made for FHE on Monday...it was a winner!

Kyla's new dresser!

2010-09-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for a dresser for Kyla for quite a while now and have not been able to find anything....until last Friday. Our neighbors were having a garage sale so I just walked over to see if they had anything and there was this beautiful white dresser. I went to check out the price and guess what.........$5!!! Can you believe that? I bought it on the spot and had such great ideas for it! Here is the BEFORE picture.

Saturday Kyla and I went shopping for paints. She decided she wanted to paint it Ivory and I suggested that we glaze it (thanks to Brooke over at All Things Thrifty), and we painted the hardware as well. It turned out so nice if I do say so myself. And now Kyla has tons more room for all her clothes and hopefully they won't be all over her floor from now on! (a Mom can dream right!!?)

Anyway, here is the final product:

So break down of the cost:
Dresser: $5.00
Kilz primer (2 cans): $10.00
Krylon Ivory spray paint (4 cans): $12.00
Already had spray paint for hardware: $0.00

Total for project: $27.00

Not too bad for a beautfiul dresser like that!!

First Day of School!

2010-08-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of school. The kids have been pretty excited to start again, especially Caleb. He LOVES school more than any of the other kids. We went up to the school a few days ago and he wanted to see if he was going to be in the same classroom (his teacher moved up with his entire class this year so he has the same class and teacher!) and as soon as he saw his teacher he gave her the biggest hug and did not want to leave! I'm so glad he's got a good teacher (I should say FABULOUS!) that he enjoys and learns from. The other kids have good teachers as well. Eli was excited to make some new friends and Kyla was pretty nervous about the first day. She didn't want me to leave...and she's in 5th grade. I'm anxious to see how her first day went! Can't wait for them to get home!

So here's there 1st day of school pictures before we left this morning. They are all growing up so fast!! Can't believe I'll have a middle schooler next year!! YIKES!!

I should have taken of picture of Tony too since it's his first day of school...again!! He still hasn't graduated from the 2nd grade...this is his 9th year...he and Eli are in the same grade this year!!:)

More from vacation!

2010-08-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

After all the fun at the cabin and my Mom and Dad's we headed up to Tony's parents house for about a week. The kids had so much fun on the four wheeler and go cart. They would ask daily if they could ride on one! Uncle Smokey even taught Makyla how to drive his sandrail!! What a scary experience!! But she had a blast!
Eli taking Jaxon for a ride!
Makyla after she'd just taken me for a ride on the sandrail! Pretty proud of herself!
Caleb driving the go cart
Eli, Anastasia, and Kyla in the back of the sandrail while Tony was driving...now that was pretty scary too!!
Rhett getting a turn!
Rhett with all the "tools" he could find around!
Tony and Uncle Smokey with thier boys!
Most of the grandkids together. Rhett, Eli, Caleb, Tyler, Anastasia, Kyla, and Bodey.

Caleb's new quilt!

2010-08-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Caleb had his Grandma bring him home some African material while on their mission so that he could have a new quilt (his old one...that Grandma made for him from material from Hawaii...had been washed so many times it was completely falling apart and he was pretty devastated when we had to throw it away!) So while on vacation in Utah Grandma finished up his quilt for him. He loves it! He sleeps with it every night and uses it when he's watching a movie or TV. Now all the other kids want one!! Grandma's going to be a busy lady!:)
Ready to be quilted...mom made up the pattern and sewed it all together before we got there!
Almost finished!
Caleb with his quilt!

More from the Retreat!

2010-08-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

Our drive out to the cabin...and this is what we got to see. Wilson Peak with the rainbow right over it...So beautiful! I wish we could get out there more than just once a year!!

Pictures of the kid's relay racing. They each had to dress up like a cowboy...boots and all! They all looked so cute!
Rhett all ready to run!
Eli running like crazy!
Caleb getting all dressed up.
Kyla bringing up the rear for the Miramonsters!
My nephew Logan lookin' good! What a cutie!
Tony wanted a turn with all the get-up. Looks good on him!:)
After everyone had left Eli had time to read to Rhett...I LOVE those moments!

I was FEATURED!!

2010-08-13T08:45:00.001-07:00

I was so excited to find out yesterday that I was going to be featured on one of my favorite blogs!! Do you remember the VALANCE that I made for Dad & Mom? It was featured on their website: www.allthingsthrifty.com GO CHECK IT OUT!!

Vacation 2010!

2010-08-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our fun-filled vacation for this summer!! We had such a good time and wish we could have stayed longer!! But life has to go on I guess!:) Anyway, the next few posts I'll be doing will be about our vacation.

First off we headed out to my cabin for our family retreat. We were there a couple of days early so we could start framing up our room in the basement. That was so much fun! I think Tony enjoyed using the nail gun...boys and their fascination with power tools!:) I used it once and almost shot my Dad so that was the end of that!:) So here are some pictures of our room!

I should have taken a picture of our view from our window...I think we got the best one!!

Next summer we're planning on doing all the drywall and putting insulation in the ceiling. Can't wait to have it finished!!

More to come tomorrow!!

Some help!

2010-07-19T12:45:00.001-07:00

Please go and check out my recipe blog....I'm needing some help...details over there. SO HEAD ON OVER!!

4 years later and we've got some trees!!

2010-07-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

So we have now been in our home 4 years, and EVERY spring/summer/fall time we talk about getting some trees. We have looked many times and have just been so indecisive about it that we never came home with one. Well, that changed yesterday! I told Tony I was going to borrow our neighbors truck and we were going to come home with a tree...so we did...actually we came home with 2 trees!! YEA!!! I'm so excited for the shade...eventually...and fruit...hopefully!:) I'm also concerned that I just might kill them, but for now they look so nice!

Rhett's job was to dig out the grass and dirt from the hole.

Caleb got to pass off a requirement in his Cub Scout book for helping plant a tree! Also...in the background is our peach tree...I didn't get a picture of planting that one...so there it is. It went in the back yard.

Here's the kids with the tree...Eli really didn't help much but wanted to be in the picture anyway!:)

I walked pass the front window and had to do a double take because I thought there was someone just standing out there on our grass...but then I realized it was the tree and it looked so pretty with the sunset behind it!! The picture just doesn't do it justice!

Mom's (and Dad's too I guess) front room!

2010-06-29T20:27:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to blog about my Mom's front room for a while now, but have been so busy! My only free time is in the evenings (after 9:00) when all the kids are in bed! And tonight I actually have an evening where I don't have a can't-put-it-down book to read and so I figured I'd blog!

As you know, Dad & Mom got home from South Africa in June and my little sister and I had been talking about re-doing my Mom's front room while they were gone and have it be a surprise for her when she got back. I was so excited to get started, especially since I discovered the blog All Things Thrifty about the same time they left on their mission.

So Staci was in charge of talking to Mom to see what she absolutely didn't like or didn't want us to do, but Mom was all for us doing it so she didn't have to worry about that she didn't care! Which made it loads of fun for us!

First there was the painting! I don't think Mom's walls had been painted for quite some time and they had always been cream colored so we went BOLD! (at least with one wall:))

This is also the closet to a "before" picture that I have...forgot to do that before we started painting!!

Also notice the light fixture. We went "thrifty" and decided to use spray paint to paint Mom's old fixture and just purchased new light covers. I thought it turned out pretty cool and you couldn't even tell it was the same light...again wish I had before pictures!!!

Anyway, my project while I was at home was to make Mom's curtains. Well, I had seen this window valance over at All Things Thrifty and LOVED it and so I thought I'd give it a go! It turned out wonderful. Just hit this LINK on instructions on how to make one!

I also made the curtains which was a task in itself! I was rather impressed with myself for making them seeings as how I'd never done anything like that before and am NOT a seamstress!! I also followed instructions found on All Things Thrifty for the curtains.

This isn't the best picture...I was having issues with my camera, but you get the idea!

Notice the pillows on the chairs? I also made those and my sister-in-law helped with the cute little lace flowers...also an idea from All Things Thrifty!!

Here's another picture of the "finished wall" (And Tony playing the piano...one of the 2 songs he knows!:))

We also did a wall with all the grandkids pictures on it. It started out as a wall to put all the nice pictures of all the grandkids, but after talking to my sister we decided to do something a little different. Here's what we came up with instead!

Makes me laugh everytime I look at it!! Notice Dad & Mom there in the middle? This was a picture they took while in Alaska...just as goofy as all their grandkids!:)

I was pretty nervous to see if Mom would like it or not (don't know if Staci was too) but she tells me she really likes it...but I've had dreams otherwise. So if the next time I'm in town and her wall is back to cream...I'll understand!:)

I really wasn't too worried about Dad...this is his sense of fashion...

Don't ya just love the black socks!!:)

They're home!

2010-06-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

We just got back yesterday from 10 days at my parents house. It was so great, the kids didn't want to come home! It was so much fun watching them come down the steps off the airplane and how excited all the kids got seeing them. What a reunion!! Tony and I both commented on our trip home how fast it went for us and how it seemed like they had never even left! But they had some AMAZING experiences and we loved hearing a lot of them, but are so glad to have them home!

My sister Melinda did a TOP TEN post for them over on our family blog that you need to go and check out! It was so fun!!

Caleb's Mesa Verde Field Trip!

2010-05-25T07:18:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday & Friday Caleb was able to go on an over-night field trip with all the 3rd graders to Mesa Verde. I finally talked Tony into going with them since I went with Kyla last year. I kept telling him how fun it was and how I'd like to go again but that I thought he should. Anyway, they return Friday night and I get the story of how Tony was up with Caleb until about 2:00 because he was sick. He started throwing-up that evening and wasn't able to get back to sleep until then, and then the air mattress Tony took wouldn't hold the air so he had to sleep on the hard gym floor and then they had to be up and getting ready to leave by 7:00! I felt so bad...especially for Caleb's teacher who ended up having to clean up the mess Caleb made on the gym floor! I owe her big time...there's nothing worse than cleaning up puke...especially when it's not your own kids'!! They made it through the day though and the pictures turned out good and Caleb said he had a good time anyway, but boy were they exhausted when they got home!!

Here's some pictures!
This is one of the many pictures of the yucca plant that Caleb took. Tony gave him the camera and most of the shots he got were of yucca...what an exciting plant!:)
Caleb & Jeremiah at the Heritage museum.
This was all the boys getting ready for bed...Caleb doesn't look sick to me! But just minutes later...:)
Tony & Caleb before going to the Balcony house!
Caleb with his 2 buds Eli & Clayton.
Trying to start a fire!
Caleb & Tony with their group down in one of the kiva's.
Caleb climbing out of the kiva.
Dad & son...after a long day and hardly no sleep!!!:)

Look what I found!

2010-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to download all of my new photos to my computer from my camera. While going through the new photo's I found a few dark ones that I couldn't see and that I had no idea what they were of. So I lightened them up and this is what I found!!

Still don't know who was the culprit...I'm just glad no one was electrocuted!:)

Inspiration from Swaziland!

2010-04-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago my kids recieved some letters in the mail from Grandpa & Grandma in Swaziland. They sent each of the kids a postcard of an animal with a scripture and a mission story that pertained to that animal. I told the kids to put them somewhere that they wouldn't get lost and where they could see them. Well, the next day I found a couple lying around on the floor and so picked them up and was going to put them away so they wouldn't get destroyed. Well, that night I had an idea...I think it was brilliant but that's to my standards!:) Now they'll be able to see them and be reminded of the messages Grandpa & Grandma sent them. Here they are!

I've got a pretty fun idea on how to hang the boys in their room as well. I'll post a picture of that when I get it finished too! I think they turned out quite well!:)

Rhett blowing out birthday candles!

2010-04-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Or is it Tony...:)
If you watch these next few videos you might want to scroll down to the bottom of the blog and pause the music so it doesn't interfere with the sound on the videos! Enjoy!

2010-04-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here's Rhett opening a few more presents. The bat, balls, and helmet were from Grandpa & Grandma Wilson...HE LOVES THEM!! I think the kids a little obsessed with baseball...his Dad loves it!!:)

Rhett's Birthday!

2010-04-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Here's one of Rhett's video's from his birthday! I love his reaction to his baseball shirt...priceless!!:)

Spring Break....REALLY????

2010-04-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post these pictures I took during spring break. We arrived in Utah on Sunday night and Monday was pretty cold and windy and it started snowing that afternoon and by Tuesday morning there was probably close to 4 inches on the ground!! We were SO mad...good thing we were headed to Vegas!:)

Anyway, Eli made this little snowman Tuesday and it was still standing Wednesday and he wanted me to take a picture before we left for Vegas so that he could knock it down.
That guy has some violent tendencies!! He didn't just knock it down...he took a baseball bat to it!:) It was pretty funny to watch!:)

Rhett's Birthday!

2010-04-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Rhett's birthday was Saturday the 10th of April and so Friday night we decided to go to Sport's Authority to look at some stuff to buy him for his birthday because that is his FAVORITE store! It's like a candy store for him. I've never seen anything like it before...it just cracks me up!! The first thing he always runs for is the baseball helmets and bats. And the cute thing is he has to match them. If his helmet is orange his bat needs to be orange etc.! Anyway, he was so much fun to watch. I didn't get very many pictures because I was taking video and I'm still trying to figure out how to get the video on here from our new camera because I need to post the videos because they just crack me up!! Anyway, here's the pictures I did take!:)

Vegas Vacation...and Utah:)

2010-04-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

So it was our spring break last week and so we decided to go on a mini vacation (thanks to Nancy!!!!!!) and headed to Utah to help my little sis. re-do my Mom's front room before they get home (in about 6 more weeks....YEAH) and then to Vegas for a few days. Staci and I had fun picking out a color to paint Mom's walls and I'm not going to put up the pictures because I don't want to ruin the surprise for Mom and I'm not even going to tell you what color or some of the fun things we tried until after the reveal! But I'm excited about it and hope that Mom likes it!

Anyway, after painting and cleaning for 2 days we headed out to Vegas. Thanks to Nancy we had 2 free nights at the Rio. She came and checked us in and gave us our keys and sent us up to our rooms and guess what we found when we opened our door and started checking out our room?? I really shouldn't have been surprised because Nancy is about the most thoughtful person I know, but she had left and box full of snacks, drinks, chips and salsa, and a game for the kids! It was a lifesaver over the next 2 days!! What a wonderful lady!!

Our first night in Vegas we decided to go and catch the 51s play a game. They are Vegas's triple A baseball team. We got really good seats and Rhett was so excited to see the game and did pretty good most of the way through it. The rest of the kids were ready to go back to the hotel by the 3rd inning!:) And by the way...it was PERFECT weather for baseball. Not too hot, not too cold (although most everyone there was wearing a light jacket, but I'm assuming they are native vegasans) and no wind...we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather!Eli...don't think he caught more than 5 minutes of the game, but he didn't complain and enjoyed whatever it was he was doing!:)
After we decided to go to the game I asked Rhett if he wanted to go watch some baseball and he said "No, I want to play baseball game!" And he had to make sure he wore his baseball shirt he got for his birthday!

The guys enjoying some baseball and sunflower seeds!

The next day we decided to go down to the strip and see a few things. We first went to the MGM grand to see the lions which was pretty cool, but pretty packed. When we got there they were feeding them and they would come right up to the glass where we were and eat the meat right off of the glass. One time the trainer put the meat right on the glass and the lion came in so fast that he ran right into the glass...the boys thought that was pretty funny! After that we went to the M&M factory which was a disappointment to us. The show they usually have going was closed because they were remodeling or something like that so it was just a big M&M store with tons of mechandise that costs an arm and a leg!!
Here's the kids outside the MGM Grand

And here's Tony and the kids in front of the Statue of Liberty at New York, New York

And here's Caleb & Eli with Yoda who was just parked on a corner as we were walking down to see the Bellagio. Whenver they would say hi to Yoda he would lift his foot and wave back...they thought that was pretty cool!:)

Here's the kids at the Bellagio...we waited around for the fountains to start for about a half an hour and then found out that the fountains didn't start until 3:00 and it was about 12:30 at the time!!

So we went back to our Hotel and decided to take the kids swimming at the pool at the Rio. Tony wanted to relax for a minute, but the kids were dying to go swimming so I told him I'd just take them and he told me to just wait 10 minutes and he'd come and I told him we'd just head down and he could join us when he was ready and he said..."Can you handle all 4 kids by yourself?" I just looked at him like he was crazy..."Of course I can!!" So we headed off! I forgot to take my camera so I didn't get any pictures but we found where we wanted to swim and I had the kids take off their shoes and shirts and while I was getting Rhett and myself ready the boys took off around the corner where I couldn't see them. Then Rhett took off and I had to go after him and then I heard a whistle blow and saw the lifegaurd running. My stomach dropped!! I hurried and grabbed Rhett and took off. You guessed it! My boys had to be rescued! Apparently the ran to the deep side (it was 4 1/2 feet deep) and didn't realize it was that deep and just decided to JUMP IN!! Caleb was able to get to the side and yell for help and the lifegaurd came over and was able to grab Eli's hand and pull him to the side. They were fine, just a little scared and then Caleb's head started hurting to where he was in tears about 20 minutes later and so Tony ended up leaving back up to the hotel with Caleb and so the rest of the kids and I stayed and swam for another hour or so. When Tony arrived about 5 minutes after the "incident" I told him what had happened when I was so sure I had it covered!:)

After swimming we decided to head back to the strip because I really wanted to the kids to see the Bellagio! We went to the Mirage first to try to go and see the dophins and the white tiger but it was closed for some kind of party or something so we weren't able to do that, but we did catch the volcano...which Rhett DID NOT enjoy, but Eli later told us it was his favorite thing we did!
Here we are waiting for the eruption!!
Here's part of the eruption...not a very good picture...sorry!
Waiting for the Bellagio!
Eli enjoying the dancing fountains!
Rhett hanging on for dear life!!:)

This is how Rhett and Tony entertained themselves while waiting for the next fountain show to begin! What a crack-up!!

This is how Rhett handled the water fountains! What a brave boy!!!:)

We had such a good time...but like Tony said..."Next time we need to go without the kids!":)

Easter & Conference

2010-04-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Here are the conference clipboards I promised to take pictures of so all could see. The kids really liked them and were eager to use them!

We also dyed Easter Eggs...the kids love to do this every year. Rhett especially got into it. I think he cracked every egg that he dyed though. He wanted to put each egg in every single color and would drop them repeatedly throughout the process!:)
Makyla with one of her eggs.
Caleb with one of his eggs.
Rhett with his cracked egg.
Eli with his egg...the face only a mother could love!!!:) And boy do I!!!

The kids also went to the park on Saturday morning for an Easter Egg hunt. After the hunt the kids could get their picture taken with the Easter bunny. At first Rhett was all excited about it but when we got up close he just wasn't having it so we didn't get that picture, but here's some of the kids and their loot!

The kids spent about an hour Saturday night writing notes to the Easter Bunny. They did such a good job I had to take pictures of them.

There was a candy that Eli had gotten from his Easter Egg hunt inside this paper roll!

3 cheers for Conference!!:)

2010-04-03T22:17:00.001-07:00

I LOVE conference weekend!!! Not only do I get a break from preparing things for my church callings:), but I get to spend quality time with my family enjoying the spirit and time spent together!

I love to bake and try new recipes (and some staples) during conference so the family can eat while we watch and play our conference games. I have quite a few new and tried and true recipes from the weekend that I will be posting on my recipes blog if you would like to check out what we ate this weekend!:) Just go HERE!

I also found a really cute idea for clipboards for the kids to use while they are tallying their words (one of our favorite conference games) and taking notes. I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them so you can see. By the way, for those of you who care...Makyla won both sessions today! 272 and 212 points (or somewhere close to around there!)

Hope everyone enjoyed the Saturday sessions as much as me! The one thing that really struck me was how important it is to teach our kids in the HOME!! We've had some experiences in the last few weeks that I was just appalled about (things kids know and say at school:)) and this confirms my testimony that the home needs to be a refuge and a place that we can constantly teach our children and prepare them to be wonderful missionaries, members of the church, moms and dads, etc. It's a little overwhelming and I know that I need to do better at seeing the teaching opportunities in everyday situations and to bear my testimony to my children spontaneously! I'm so thankful to know that we have a prophet on the earth today who leads and guides our Heavenly Father's church, and that he loves us and wants us to know of the love our Heavenly Father has for us too. What a wonderful day it has been. I can't help thinking how blessed I am!!

Caleb's Birthday!

2010-03-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

Wow...I cannot believe my oldest son is now 9 years old!! I mentioned last night that it will only be 3 more years until he will be able to pass the sacrament and then he informed me that he's only 6 months away from being halfway to going on a mission!! I LOVE that!! What a good little (or not so much anymore) boy I have! I love him to pieces!! Anyway, here's some pictures from the festivities!
Here is Caleb putting his candles on his cake. (which was one of the best cakes EVER...again if you'd like the recipe head on over to my recipe blog and try it out!)
Caleb with his sister and brothers
Caleb posing with his new baseball mitt...he's so excited for little league which he gets to start this year!
He was also so excited for these walkie-talkie's (not the South Africa type either!!:))

Eli's Birthday party with friends!

2010-03-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

We had Eli's birthday party on Satuday the 20th because we were in Rifle for the DI competition on the 13th and couldn't have it then and it had been a couple of years since his last friend birthday party so...10 days late!:) Anyway, we had it at a park here in town and it was actually a really nice day!! Since it is close to Easter we made easter basket cupcakes and had an Easter egg hunt! And then just let the kids run around and play. It was a good day, and Eli had a blast with his friends. Here are some pictures!
Eli with Collin
Eli with Ty
Eli with Eliza
Eli with Quinn
Eli with Austin
Eli with Emma (she didn't want to sit by a BOY...eeewwww gross...cracked me up!!)
Here's the gang with their Easter Egg basket cupcakes!

Makyla and Caleb's (and Tony's) Destination Imagination Competition

2010-03-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 13th of March was the DI (Destination Imagination for you Utahns out there...not Deseret Industries:)) competition in Rifle. Tony was the coach again this year. Since he is now finished with his masters he had the time to take on a team again and both Kyla and Caleb were on his team. They had been working 2 days a week since December for this competition. They put on a skit and during the skit they had to add weights to a structure that they built out of only newspaper and glue that could not weigh over 75 grams. Their structure ended up holding 52 pounds which I thought was pretty amazing considering the requirements! The only thing I was disappointed about was that I couldn't hear the skit very well. They had the kids in a large gymnasium and the acoustics were HoRrIbLe!! They ended up taking
5th place out of 10 teams which isn't too bad, but only the top 3 teams make it to state. The kids were a little bummed about that, but I think Tony was a little relieved!:) Anyway, here's some pictures of the festivities!:)
Their structure was placed underneath that top piece of wood inside that box and then the weights were added on top. Caleb was one of the boys who placed the weights on the structure.
The team setting up for their skit!
Getting all the rules from the officials!:)
It was a fun day spent with the family! They had a dance afterwards and then the awards ceremony. Eli was a HAM at the dance. I took some video and if I can figure out how to get it on here I'll post his "moves"!! It'll give you a good laugh!!:)

Madness!!

2010-03-17T20:19:00.001-07:00

You know you've raised your child right when they pick BYU to win the tournament championship!! Brings tears to my eyes...you go Caleb!!:)

Now we have proof!

2010-03-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

So as I've let everyone know...Tony finished his Master's Degree last September. It was such a relief to have him finished! Now about 6 months later they finally sent his diploma (after having to pay $125 fee for graduation...apparently this is the norm??). Anyway, here it is!

I have to say, I was a little perturbed after reading the diploma which says "Be it known that Cody A. Miramontes having satisfactorily completed the prescibed curriculum"...yada, yada, yada...anyway that word satisfactorily rubbed me the wrong way! After all his hard work for nearly 2 years and only recieving one B+ and one A- (the rest were all A's) and a cumulative GPA of 3.9 he deserved more than just "satisfactory"!! Outstanding(ly):) would have been the word I would have chosen!!

But I do like the title "Master of Education"!!! Sounds pretty high and mighty don't ya think??:)

Eli's apology!

2010-03-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Eli got in trouble last week for calling Makyla the "stu" word as he calls it. This was his attempt at an apology letter!!

(Just in case you can't read it...it says (and I'll fix the spelling:)) "Dear Makyla, I'm sorry for calling you stupid you're just crazy. From Eli.

Maybe he needs a lesson on what an apology really is!!:)

Tony's Roll-top desk...FINISHED!!

2010-03-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

So here it is...it only took about 5 cans of spray paint, adhesive, material, and lots of time, but I think it turned out great! I worked up the guts to even try this by looking at the fabulous website that I stumbled upon about 6 months ago or so that I LOVE!! You should go check it out...they give all kinds of ideas and step by step instructions on how to do things. It's awesome! The website is All Things Thrifty. So anyway, just in case you missed the before picture here it is...
Drumroll please...here she is!!

Now I just have to get Tony to use it to write his #1 bestseller he's been talking about doing since we've been married...and get our computer room cleaned so she'll have a home of her own!:)
p.s. please just ignore my muddy dirty floors and try to enjoy the desk!!:)

Eli's 7th Birthday!

2010-03-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my Eli's birthday. It was a busy and fun day! I picked up Eli for lunch out. He had already told me he wanted pizza for his birthday dinner, but he also wanted pizza for lunch, so we went to a local place called Davetos for lunch and he ordered pizza!! You'd think he'd get sick of it, but he ate 2 pieces at dinner too!:) Anyway, he told me that he wanted a green cake for his birthday because they've been talking about St. Patrick's Day at school and he thought that would be neat, so we decided on making him a Jell-O poke cake. He really liked it! (Here's a picture of his cake and if you would like the recipe head on over to my recipe blog HERE!) I had piano lesson from right after school until 7:00 yesterday so I told Eli that we might have to have his family party a different night because I didn't know how I was going to get everything accomplished and get the kids to bed at a descent hour! He did not like that idea, so Tony was in charge of getting our Papa Murphy's pizza cook and ready at 7:00 so we could eat, and I was able to get the cake mostly done (all but the frosting), and his presents wrapped before piano started. He didn't have much time to play with his presents after the party and before bedtime, but he was happy, so I'm glad it worked out! Anyway, here's some pictures of the birthday boy! SO excited for his birthday!!:)
Eli had been saving up his "piano dollars" (my incentive program for my piano students) for a couple of months to buy a frisbee that was in one of my prize boxes. So after he finally had earned it he wanted to take it to school the next day, so we put his name on it and he was off. When I picked him up from school he was so upset and handed me his broken frisbee. It was just a cheap one and the plastic broke and he was so upset, so guess what he got...a new frisbee, but this one won't break, it's flexible!! He was really excited!
We went to Grand Junction last Saturday and ate lunch at a park. While eating there was a man there who had a remote control jet. It was probably about 5 feet tall! It was huge and he did all sorts of tricks with it. It was so cool and Eli loved watching it and told me he wanted to save up his money so he could buy one. I told him they were probably pretty expensive and so he wanted to go and ask the guy how much it cost, but I didn't think that was a good idea...anyway, so this will have to suffice until he earns that money to buy him a remote control one!
After the park we went to Target and Eli fell in love with this piggy bank...he just had to have it to save all his money in. He's gotten quite a bit of money lately from the tooth fairy and has given it to me to save for him and he wanted a place to keep it. He was so surprised when he unwrapped this one because I told him he couldn't have it!:)
Tony picked out this for him and I think it might be his favorite! This is what he did while everyone else was eating their cake. I told him he needed to try his cake, but he told me he would when he was finished with his picture!! The 3D glasses are pretty cool!
I love my Eli and love having his playful and humorous spirit in our family!! He sure can make me laugh! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Recipe blog!

2010-03-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

I know some of you already know about my recipe blog and are contributors but I wanted to get the word out again for those of you who are interested. The blog is www.recipestoplease.blogspot.com and if anyone out there who reads this and isn't already a contributor and would like to be please comment and let me know and I'll get you an invite! Or you can just check it out and try some of the fabulous recipes we've posted. I'm really starting to get into it and am wanting to try a new recipe at least once a week to blog about...but we'll see how that goes!!:) If not I'll make sure to post a tried and true recipe for y'all! Hope to see you all over there!

A project!

2010-03-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

Tony's been wanting a roll top desk for a long time now and we've looked at some, but they are SOOOO expensive we couldn't justify buying one. Well, we found one on Craig's list for $35 that needed some TLC and Tony told me he'd buy it with the money Dad & Mom sent him for graduation and then we could use the leftovers on supplies to fix it up! It still isn't quite done yet...I'm going to wait until it's all finished to post picks, but I thought I'd give everyone a little teaser!:) So here's the before picture...stay tuned for the after!!! It's gonna a be a beauty!!

HIVES!!!

2010-03-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what is going on with my body, but since Monday my skin has been pretty itchy on my arms, hand, legs, and feet. Well, this morning while scratching myself to death I realized I was covered in hives all down my legs and the back of my arms, hands, and feet! For the life of me I can't figure out why...it's most likely some kind of allergic reaction, but I haven't changes any detergents or eaten anything new. Can seasonal allergies cause hives??? I don't have a runny nose, itchey watery eyes or anything else like that...I'm stumped...anyone got any ideas?? I took a picture of my leg and arm because I wanted to show Tony, because he always thinks I exaggerate (which I probably do quite often:)) but I'm not today!! So, don't gross out over this horribly unfortunate arm & leg!:)
(I decided against posting the picture of my leg...although the hives are worse there...my leg is VERY white, pasty, and ugly...and I'm a little self-conscious about it!!

My toothless wonder!

2010-03-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

In the span of 3 weeks Eli has lost 3 teeth and has another front tooth that is loose and soon to come out! He gets so excited and wants to pull them out himself, and then every morning after the tooth fairy comes he gives me his money to keep safe because he's saving it so he can buy something special...don't know what it is but I'm sure he'll let me know!:) Anyway, here's some pictures of my little Eli!
This is Eli's front tooth ALMOST out!
And here's the final product...2 bottom teeth missing and one front tooth! What a cheeser!!!:)

SNOW!!!

2010-02-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

This is the snow storm that we got the day after my birthday!! This is the most snow we've seen in Delta since we've been here! The kids had that week off of school so were able to play in the snow. Tony even went out and helped them make an igloo! It reminded me of the good ol' days when we lived back in Cedar and would wake up to a foot a snow. I've missed that!!!
Tony shoveling snow for an igloo.
See all that snow!!!The boy's wanted to make forts so they could have a snowball fight!
The beginning of Eli's fort!

The beginning of Caleb's fort...with Rhett's help!

The snow is almost melted from the grass areas now, but the cold has stuck around...I'm starting to get spring fever...I'm ready for the snow to MELT and to see some more sun!!!

My new favorite blog!!

2010-02-26T15:42:00.001-08:00

I found this blog yeserday and spent more time than I should have reading it! It is fabulous!!! Some of you have probably already discovered it, but nobody ever told me about it so I wanted to pass it along just in case. Go check it out! It's www.loveactually-blog.blogspot.com

I'm back to blogging!!

2010-02-25T18:17:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last couple of weeks off, but have had lots to blog about, but I lost my usb connector to my camera and was not able to download any photos...but I started cleaning my computer room today and guess what I found!!! YEAH!!! So now I've got tons of photos to share!! I'll try to spread them out over the next couple of days so as not to bombard anyone!!:)

I just love Valentine's Day...the kids made some tags that said "I hope you have a "beary" happy valentine's day" attached to a bag of teddy grahms. Forgot to take pictures of that one...sorry!:) And I got this great idea online for Tony's valentine to his class. I thought his students would get a kick out of it...they did!!!

Also I recieved these lovely flowers from my sweetheart for Valentine's as well...aren't they beautiful!!:) He likes to tell me about a lady at work who's husband always sends her big, nice, expensive flowers...he said he spends around $100 on them and that he wishes he could do that for me. I told him if he ever did he'd be in BIG trouble!!! As much as I love flowers I could never justify spending that much for them!!!I really do love that man...he spoils me and I don't think I show him enough appreciation! I sure got the good end of that deal!:)

New word to add to the dictionary!

2010-02-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a great friend come over and teach Tony how to make some authentic mexican enchiladas for dinner. They were SOOOO yummy. At the dinner table Eli was eating and mostly talking to himself but this is what we overheard him saying to himself. These are hot (spicy) and awesome...I'm going to call them hawesome. Couldn't help but start chuckling at that one!:)

We've been Practicing SO hard!!:)

2010-01-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

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FOOTBALL!

2010-01-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

Rhett LOVES sports. Ever since he was a little one (probably close to 1 year old) he has had a fascination with balls...didn't matter what kind he loved to hit, kick, throw, etc with whatever ball he could get his hands on! Well, he discovered something the other day that has just cracked me up! He found out "hat washer" (don't know what else to call it) and he thinks it's a football helmet. So he's taken to wearing it around the house with his football yelling hike and then running with the ball for a touchdown (to my dismay and Tony's pleasure whenever he gets a touchdown he yells "touchdown Utah"...I've tried rectifying this but to no avail:()! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures I snapped (sorry...but he was only in his underwear at the time:))

Ready, Set, Hike!!!
Running for the touchdown!
Touchdown!!!

I Wanna Kiss a Girl...but not until after my mission!!!:)

2009-12-30T18:24:00.000-08:00

Family Pictures!

2009-12-30T17:10:00.000-08:00

It's only been about 6 and a half years since our last family picture...I guess it was about time for some more!! We had a lot of fun, one of our friends here in Delta (who we were going to set Brandon up with, but glad it didn't work out because now he has Elyse), Torrey, took these pictures while she was here on Christmas break. She did such a good job...I LOVE them!! If family would like a copy of one just let me know and I can arrange it!:) And everyone let me know which ones you like the best! I also have all of them in Black and White. Thanks!!!

Rhett Reading "Dirty Larry"

2009-12-23T09:43:00.001-08:00

This is one of Rhett's favorite books...and I love the way he says "dirty"!! So stinkin' cute!!

Eli again!!!

2009-12-16T10:01:00.001-08:00

So this has been my way of writing down all the funny things my kids do and say (well, mostly Eli I guess:)) But that kid cracks me up and if I don't write them down somewhere I'll forget!!! So here's Eli's latest.

Don't know where this came from but just out of the blue while in the van Eli says "No one can ever trick me because I just fake fall for it!"

NONSENSE!!!

2009-12-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

For the past month or so every night at the dinner table Tony will say to Eli "Eli, have I ever told you about my days back in 'nam?" And then he'll proceed to tell Eli about hunting "Charlie" and hiding in the "rice patties". It's become quite funny because whenever Tony starts Eli will say "aagghh...not again" or "I already know Dad".

So last week Eli's reading teacher came up to Tony after school and told him she had a funny story to tell him. She proceeded to tell him how Eli and one of his classmates were working together making up some 3 letter nonsense words. Soon afterward she realized that they were arguing about something so went to go see what was going on. Eli's friend had made up a nonsense word that Eli KNEW was a real word and they were arguing back and forth...Eli was sure it wasn't a nonsense word. When his teacher asked him about it he said "I know it's real because my Dad says every night 'when I was back in nam'"!!

Finished product!!

2009-12-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add the picture of the tree all decorated!!! So here it is!

Also a picture of our outside lights...we still need to get some for the garage, but we're taking baby steps!:)

Christmas Tree at the Covered Bridge!!

2009-12-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

So we decided we wanted to have a REAL Christmas tree this year since we've been using our fake one that Tony and I got right after we were married almost 11 years ago that's pretty little. And instead of hiking all over the creation we decided to go to the Covered Bridge down in Montrose that we had been told about. They take you on a tractor/hay ride down to the tree fields (or whatever you'd call them) and then you get to pick out and cut down your own tree, and they give you another hay ride back to the barn and wrap the tree in netting and get it in your vehicle. While the parents are doing that the kids get to have hot chocolate/cider, roast marshmellows, pet the clydesdales, and climb the haystack!! It was so much fun!!
Tony's going to finish the job!
Eli getting the little ones leftover!:)
Our Christmas Tree!!
Eli roasting marshmellows!
Caleb, Eli, & Rhett at the top of the haystack! Rhett was so excited to climb it and then when he got to the top and looked back down at me he wanted back down...he hadn't realized how high he'd climbed and was a little scared!:)
Tony, Rhett, & Makyla on our hayride!
Caleb & Eli on our hayride.
Dad and Rhett looking for just the perfect tree to cut down!
Caleb having a go with the saw!
The kids nervously petting the HUGE horses!
Rhett didn't want to be close to them at all...he just liked looking at them from a distance...this was the closest we could get him and he clung to Tony like his life depended on it!:)

My baby's growing up!!

2009-12-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday after all the kids but Rhett were in bed and sleeping, I was holding Rhett and trying to get him sleepy enough to lay down when I asked him if he was my baby Rhett (which he had been referring to himself as lately) or my big boy Rhett. His reply..."I Daddy's boy!" Tony was sitting right there and was pretty proud of that answer!
Can't believe how fast he is growing up! I really can't call him my baby Rhett anymore!:( How I sometimes wish time could just stand still. I really LOVE this age!

Thanksgiving Spread!!

2009-12-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

Although we miss seeing our family during the Holidays...we really enjoyed having our own little Thanksgiving as a family!! It's so nice having the kids home and not having to run around crazy! We had a really enjoyable Thanksgiving week!!
Here's some photo's of our Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, asparagus, Jell-O fluff, and Helen Jean punch! So yummy!!

This is Eli trying asparagus...he tried making a deal with Tony that if he ate the whole thing he'd get $5!!

Rhett stole Mom's seat when she got up...guess he didn't like what was on his own plate!:)

Snowball fight!

2009-12-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

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I WON!!

2009-11-23T08:32:00.001-08:00

I never win anything and am SOOOOO excited!!! Here's what I won...

2 Paul Cardall CD's!! Not huge, but I'm so excited as I've followed his story with his heart transplant and have always loved his music!! Can't wait to get it! You can win some too HERE and you can go and read Paul Cardall's blog HERE.
I'm just SO excited!!!!

I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free!!

2009-11-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

Eli and I were talking as we were driving in the van a few days ago. We drove through a new area where they are building doctor's offices and this is how the conversation went.

Eli: Mom, are there going to be houses in here?
Mom: I don't think so they're all for doctor's offices.
Eli: Oh, darn!
Mom: Why?
Eli: Because I wanted to live here.
Mom: But we already have a house to live in.
Eli: I mean for when I'm free!
Mom: Free?
Eli: Yeah, you know when I'm an adult!

This kid cracks me up sometimes!
p.s. bonus points if you can name the movie the title comes from!:)

Having too much fun!!

2009-11-10T10:09:00.002-08:00

OK...I'm addicted to JibJab!!! I've had so much fun today watching these videos!! If you want to skip them that's fine...I think my favorite is the last one if you just want to watch one of them! Then go and do it yourself, you'll get a kick out of it!!!:)

Country

2009-11-10T10:09:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Disco!

2009-11-10T10:05:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hip-Hop!

2009-11-10T10:03:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I just LOVE jibjab!!!

2009-11-10T09:58:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween Fun!

2009-10-31T12:17:00.001-07:00

Friday, the 30th Main Street here in town does a Trick-or-treating for the kids. They go up and down Main Street and the businesses pass out treats for the kids! They LOVE this! So after school we got dressed up and headed down to trick-or-treat. When we got there Rhett was so excited...he kept saying "parade!" I guess it was a little like a parade...a costume parade!:) Our ward does a trunk-or-treat tonight that the kids are excited for as well...we are going to have SOOOOO much candy!! My stomach feels sick just thinking about it! Anyway, here are pictures of the kids' Halloween costumes and some of the parties from school.
This is Eli (just in case you couldn't see him!:) He was a ninja. When I told him to smile he looked at me and said "Ninja's don't smile!" So this is what we got!
Caleb was a Knight! At first Rhett was going to be a dragon and Caleb wanted to be the Knight with a dragon...but then we decided to have Rhett be Diego...Ooops!:) Sorry Caleb...no pet dragon for you!:)
Kyla as a Gypsy! I can never get a "normal" picture of her...she always ends up making some silly face or laughing her head off. This was the best of all that I took!:)
Rhett as Diego...his favorite show that he wants to watch 24/7! All the kids together!

Also, we had parties at all of their classes for Halloween and here's what the kids helped me make and take to their rooms.
For Eli's class we made Candy Corn Cupcakes. They turned out so cute!
For Caleb's class we made Caramel Toffee Apple Dip and some apples. Sorry not picture but you can go HERE to see the recipe and what it looked like!

For Kyla's class we made Witches wands! So much fun!
In Tony's class they played a game...bobbing for donuts! It was a lot of fun wathcing the kids try to eat those donuts!:)

All recipes for the kids classes were found at one of my favoriet websites!! You can go check it out HERE!

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2009-10-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

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Slideshow of Kyla

2009-10-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wish I had some baby pictures of Kyla on my computer, but all of those were taken before I had a digital camera! Darn...she was such a cute baby!

Makyla's Birthday!

2009-10-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

So my little girl is 10!! I can't believe how the time has flown! As pointed out to me yesterday..."enjoy the time while you can because before you know it she'll be 18 and out of the house!" Didn't like thinking about that...I've got less time with her than I've already had! But anyway, it was an enjoyable day...busy, but enjoyable!:) I promised Kyla I'd take her out for lunch for her birthday and she decided she wanted to go to Pizza Hut so that's where we went. It was fun getting to talk to her one on one (although we did have Rhett with us and he did interupt us quite often!). She really is growing up so fast!
Then we headed home to make Kyla's treat for school. She requested dirt cups so that's what she got...I was surprised how many of the kids in her class had never had one and were asking if it really was dirt! Yes...I'm really going to bring dirt in cups for my daughters birthday treat!:)
The class singing the longest version of Happy Birthday I had ever heard...(many more on channel 4, frankenstein on channel 9, fat lady on channel 80...and on and on! It was cute!)Everyone had to wait for Kyla to take the first bite before they could...or maybe they just wanted to make sure it really wasn't dirt!:)

After school Kyla had gymnastics and when she got home she got to make her own birthday dinner. (Before you think I'm a terrible Mom...we were trying to get her Faith in God requirements done before it was too late. (she was born at 8:10 so we figured we had until then to get it done:)) She only had one requirement left and it was to plan, prepare, and serve a nutritious meal. And she enjoyed doing it!) So anyway, she boiled the water and tossed in the frozen ravioli's (one of her favorites)...Heated the sauce in the microwave...made a salad (bagged salad:)...but she did cut up a cucumber and green pepper to go in it!)...threw some garlic bread in the oven...set the table...and it was SO yummy!
After ward we had cake and ice cream and presents!
This is the purse that Kyla got from Grandpa and Grandma from Africa...she was so excited for it! What a fun day...I LOVE birthdays! Happy birthday Makyla!

Fun-filled weekend!

2009-09-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

Step Out Walk for Diabetes

So we made a quick trip to Northern Utah this weekend to participate in the Step Out walk with Staci. The walk started at This is the Place Heritage Park and ended at Hogle Zoo. It was only 2.5 miles and we walked it pretty slowly so it was pretty easy. It was all the waiting around that wasn't as much fun! Waiting to register...eat breakfast...cross the road...eat lunch!!! The lines were ridiculous, but all-in-all it was a fun time. Just wish we could have seen Staci for a little bit longer!!! We ended at the zoo and were able to stick around for a little while to see a few animals. So here are some walking and zoo pictures.
All the kids wanted to walk with Staci...they were fighting over who got to walk next to her! She ended up finishing before us with Caleb and Eli...we got stuck in the huge line to cross the road!:)
Here's most of the gang truckin' down the road!
Rhett enjoyed the ride!
Here's Makenna, Caleb, & Makyla with the BEE. He kept riding up and down the street in a van while we were walking...too lazy to walk himself I guess!:)
Picture with the Gorilla.
Rhett was so excited about the Giraffe's! He ran up to a complete stranger and with his hands outstretched looking at him he yelled "GIRAFFE'S!" and then moved on! It was pretty cute!
This is the cute little baby elephant. It was quite the attraction!

BYU Game

After the zoo we headed to Provo to watch the BYU/Colorado State game! I think we were mistaken for CSU fans since we were traveling in a vehicle with a Colorado license plate, so we rectified that by stopping at Walmart and buying everyone BYU hats...well, everyone but Tony! It was a lot of fun and I think Caleb had the best time! I think we need to make this a yearly tradition! Although, we might have to switch venues every other year. Don't think Tony would continue going to the BYU games every year. We might need to hit a Utah game every once in a while!:)

Tony doesn't know I took this picture!! It would be gone and erased if he did! It was SOOOOO hot and the sun was right in our eyes and Tony forgot his hat and his sunglasses. I told him he could borrow Eli's hat becuase Eli wasn't really wearing it but he just looked at me like I was crazy and said NO WAY, but I think it was in the 3rd quarter and he just couldn't take the heat and sun in his eyes anymore and he finally took Eli's hat! Of course I had to take a picture to capture the moment!:)
Through at least the 1st quarter Rhett kept yelling "GO UTES" and I'd try to correct him and tell him it was the cougars and by the 2nd quarter he looked at me and said "no utes?" And by the end of the game he was standing up and doing the BYU song and yelling "GO COUGARS"! Brought tears to my eyes!:)

And then after the game we got to end the day with some dinner from Cafe Rio!! Boy did that hit the spot. I think I'm going to petition that they bring one to Delta...or at least Grand Junction!:) The kids had fun playing with their cousins and didn't want to leave. Makyla actually hid under Makenna's bed and then when we finally got her in the van and took off she had tears in her eyes! And Caleb misses Landen...they sure liked playing together! So here's to a fun and excited and exhausting weekend!!

Tony's a Master!!!

2009-09-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

So it has finally happened!!! After 22 months of weekend classes and LOTS of papers and interviews and other work, Tony has finished his Master's degree!!! He is so relieved and I am so excited not to have to sit through Sacrament Meeting with all the kids by myself anymore!!!:) They had a celebration at DosHombres last night for all the "graduates". It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures!

This is Tony and his classmates...they worked together on their final project. By the way the podium that they presented at is the same podium that President Obama delivered his speech from when he was in Grand Junction a few weeks ago! Pretty neat although I'm not an Obama fan!

His group again!

I guess this was part of the presentation...haven't gotten the whole story yet! (Take a closer look at Stephanie's (blong on the right)shoes...They are so stinkin' cute!!! Loved them! And she just had her first baby a months ago!!!)
This is Tony with the other two teachers from his school who did this master's program with him. And the "L" stands for Lesley...not LOSER!!!:)
This is Tony's cohort group that he's been meeting with for the past 22 months...notice he's the only man!! He's says he's pretty used to that...most of the people he work with are women!:)

It was a LONG 22 months and ALOT of work on his part but I'm so glad he did it and am VERY proud of him! I love that man!:)

Potty training & letting go!

2009-09-04T14:53:00.001-07:00

First off...we're potty training!!! I've really been dreading it but have been pleasantly surprised at how well it is going. We're going on day 4 today and Rhett has only had 1 accident today. He does better during the day while the kids are at school...I think he just doesn't pay attention to when he needs to go while they are home...he's too worried about missing out on all the FUN! We went to the store and picked out some underwear (Rhett calls them "underwoo's"...too cute) and got some tic tacs for his potty treat (thanks Mom!). and we got rolling! Hope he keeps it up!

And then there's Caleb. He has been so attched to this blanket ever since Grandma gave it to us after their trip to Hawaii...I think it's been 5-7 years (not too sure-time flies). Anyway, it's been through A LOT of washings and has seen better days. I've tried fixing it a couple of times, but it is past the point of no return so I told Caleb it was time to get rid of it. He wasn't too happy about it, but when I told him we could take a picture of it before we threw it out he felt a little better. So here's Caleb with his well used blankie!
Oh, and Rhett had to have his picture taken with his blanket too...and then he started following Caleb out to the trash with his blanket...but not to worry, we caught him before it was too late! He would have been mightly sad come bedtime!:)

Photoshop Elements!

2009-09-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

OK...my free subscription to Photoshop Elements has expired and I am now so addicted to digital scrapbooking that I need to purchase the program so I can keep going!! I've been downloading so much free digital scrapbooking papers, elements, alphas that I'm excited to use them!!! Does anyone know a good place to buy it from?? Not sure where to go to get it! Here are a few more pages that I've done! I LOVE digital scrapbooking!!!!