Robin Keeping Record

Sarah's condition

2012-01-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Sarah is my oldest sibling. She has been fighting brain cancer. In May things got pretty scary for a few weeks. Then with chemo treatments she was living very well. She definitely had changed and was living with my parents and her boys had moved in with their Dad, but she was functioning and thinking very well. Before Christmas, Sarah's started showing short term memory loss again and her December 28th MRI was devastating. The doctor's told Sarah and my parents that chemo could no longer do anything for her and it was time for her to spend quality time with her family. She has changed by leaps and bounds in the last 5 weeks. Her short term memory is nonexistant. She cannot do the simplest of tasks without help. Her left side is extremely weak. She cannot balance on her own. Hospice is visiting a couple times a week. My mom has been at her side every minute. My mom is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. My sister Emily was able to come down from Utah for four days and spend a lot of time with her while she was staying at the in care family hospice facility getting her pain meds figured out. The reality and severity of her condition has hit all of us hard. It is really difficult to see the changes that have taken and are continuing to take place.

One amazing thing going on around us though is the kind, unselfish acts of those who want to show their support to our family. Women from my church have been amazing. It felt strange, when I was not sick to have these wonderful women bring dinner for me and my little family. At first I felt selfish to accept. However, it was amazing to feel the burden of my heart being lightened in this way. Having one less physical demand of my time was such a relief. Feeling that these women cared for me and wanted to help me and my family lifted my spirit. Just last night, my sweet cousin who has a new baby brought me a meal as well. For some reason it is just the sweetest show of love and support and it has meant so much to me. Not to mention the many friends offering to take my kids so that I can go and spend time with my sister. Even the act of bringing me a fountain drink has brought me the best feeling of being buoyed up by those that love me.

I know that my parents are experiencing this same kind of show of love and support from so many and I can't imagine how we would all get by without it. So thank you to everyone who has been offering support, thoughts, and prayers for Sarah, her sons, and our family! We couldn't do this alone.

Charlotte turned 6

2012-01-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

So, Charlotte's birthday is December 26th. We did have a celebration with Trent's family at the beginning of the month at the same time we celebrated her Aunt Jen's birthday and her cousin Ashlyn's.

On her actual birthday she woke up to a new bike and some barbies. She had outgrown her other bike and was really ready for a new one. The one Trent had gotten was actually a little too big, so he ended up taking her to go pick out a new one. That was after he took her to go get doughnuts for breakfast. The kids spent most of the day outside with Trent, riding bikes and scooters and enjoying the nice weather. Then Charlotte requested we all go to Souper Salad for dinner. It was so nice spending the whole day together as a family. We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's on the way home to see Trent's sister and her family who had gotten in town from Idaho.

It was too late when we got home to make a cake, so I promised we would do it the next day. When I tucked the girl's in for bed, I sang them a song and when I turned to leave the room I saw Trent standing in the doorway. He wanted us to sing "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte before she went to sleep. I really think he is the cutest Daddy alive.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Christmas Day we enjoyed new scooters, a new bike for me and lots of fun presents. Then we ate sticky buns and headed off to church. I sang in the choir and got asked to bear my testimony and enjoyed the lovely spirit of the day. We enjoyed our toys, some naps and some more family time. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Summers one more time before they left town.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

We spent the evening at my parents with my brothers and sisters eating soup, chili, and rolls, opening presents and letting all the little cousins run wild. We played a fun Christmas song guessing game and all had a great time!

Christmas happenings 2011

2011-12-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. the celebrations for us started the 23rd when we had a wonderful evening with Trent's family. We had our traditional Mexican dinner, gift exchange, pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa, nativity scene with the grandkids, me singing a solo, and Grandma reading "I Believe in Santa Claus". We love spending time together as a family and its always a treat to have Grandma and Grandpa Summers visit!

2011-12-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

Since I have been super lame at blogging (and many other things) I need to put together a year in review post. But at this moment I just have a jumble of things in my head that I have decided to spout off.

My husband is super handsome and I hate that he is always leaving the house super early lately. I like waking up with him next to me.

My children are darling and funny and always (okay maybe not ALWAYS) put a smile on my face.

I love the smell of a live Christmas tree and sitting in it's glow.

I love the smell of the little cutie clementine oranges the kids have been eating all day and hope my hands smell like them all night.

I'm so glad we took a day trip to the snow, even though our plans of cutting down our own tree were thwarted by closed roads.

I am currently still telling myself that I will take pictures of the kids and send out a New Year's card, since I hate the fact that I didn't get a Christmas one done this year.

I am sort of excited for Christmas to get done so I can start focusing on the nursery. Although, I do love Christmas, I'm just feeling exhausted by it this year. I still haven't bought my in-laws gifts. I have 4 days. . .

I love the holidays

2011-11-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

This week is so exciting! I love all of the activities and meaning surrounding the holidays! I am hoping to whip up a cute advent calendar asap. Pinterest is so helpful in saving the cute ideas I find all over the internet. I've already found great recipes and crafts that I can't wait to do.

We have never done Elf on the Shelf, but it looks really darling. Has anyone personally done it with your family? I would love to hear about it.

I love shopping the internet for gift ideas and imagining what to get the kids. My sister recently asked me what things I wanted for Christmas. I had a fun time dreaming of ideas for me as well :) I tried to update my amazon wishlist.

It mostly involves cute colored or patterned tights from kohls.com, shoes, a camera bag, a camera lens, and some books. I also dream of things to make my house cute, like pillows, lamps, and curtains. Isn't Homegoods the best?

Anyway, I think I've gotten carried away. I am just super excited for cooking and hanging with my family this Thanksgiving and then getting out all the Christmas stuff. I hope you are all looking forward to it as much as I am!

November thus far

2011-11-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

november has been beautiful. the weather has cooled just perfectly, blessing us with chilly mornings, the occasional shower, and perfect afternoons in the 70's. I have begun the fun (and daunting) task of Christmas shopping and even put up a small (4 foot tall) lit tree. I have been feeling up to a bit of crafting even. We have been enjoying riding bikes and playing at the park and generally leading a charmed life (between the snot and bruises).
Henry ( 4 1/2 years old) is now riding his bike sans training wheels and is so proud of himself! And so are we :)

We enjoyed celebrating Grandpa Wes and Uncle Bart's birthday on Sunday!

And yesterday was the perfect park day.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

My sister Karen with the kids.

Henry and Weston.

I've been such a lazy blogger. I think it's just become easier to post pictures on facebook and I neglect my blog. However, I still want to keep this up. so I'll try to do better.

Hawaii Trip:Day 5 and 6

2011-11-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

We decided to get up early and enjoy the sun rise off the East shore. It was beautiful and we had the company of a few chickens. Chickens roam everywhere on the island.

Then we went back to the B&B for a nice breakfast on the lanai upstairs with a few other guests. We headed back to the South shore and did more snorkeling. We saw some young kids spear fishing under the water and they even had an eel in their cooler

After snorkeling we cleaned up and grabbed lunch at the Kona fish market. Once again we had the company of chickens as we ate our lunch outside. Then we checked Trent in at the scuba shop and took him to the dock. I dropped him off and headed west. I had booked a helicopter tour with Inter-island helicopters on a doors off tour of the island. I was anxious and excited and wishing I had Trent with me instead of 3 strangers, but still happy to be going. I got the best seat in the house, up front next to the open door hole. The views were gorgeous. Unfortunately I had stopped taking my prescrip for anti nausea because I didn't like the side effect. Toward the end of the flight I embarrassingly had to use an air sickness bag. I was still glad I went, since the views were amazing

. After picking Trent up, we finished the day with dinner at Duke's Canoe Club, which was a cute spot with a nice view of the beach.

The next day was our last one on the island. We spent the morning in bed until breakfast and then packing up and planning our day. We decided to kayak down Waimea river. We rented a kayak and packed sandwiches in a cooler and headed off. It was a really lovely trip. I definitely worked my shoulders out a bit, but it was relaxing too. We kayaked to the spot where all the tours take you and pulled on land to start our hike to secret falls. Toward the end of the hike we veered off path for a bit and followed the river. Big mistake. We wasted at least an hour in steep, crazy, heavily wooded areas, getting banged up, scratched up, and bitten by insects. We finally turned around and got back to where we left the path, to find we had been about 2 minutes from the falls. We hopped in the very cold water and let the falls shower down on us like a heavy rain. It was beautiful and I'm glad we finally made it!
After the hike back, we kayaked just a little further up the river to a swinging rope where we stopped and ate our lunch and took a few jumps of the rope. Trent did a few backflips and I just did one jump. Then we headed back. By then it was time to get our things from the B&B and shower off before we headed back toward the airport. We grabbed a few souvenirs and then hopped on our night flight back home.

Hawaii (Kauai island): Day 4

2011-10-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we didn't get to enjoy breakfast at the B&B because we had to get to the dive shop for a 7am check in time. So we headed right back to the South shore. We grabbed a quickie breakfast at a Starbucks (yummy spiced cider!) and then checked Trent in. They told us to meet them down at the boat dock. By the time Trent finally left it was almost 8:30. Trent thought I should go back to the Sheraton beach and hang out there for a while. But I wanted to check out a couple beaches on the South shore that we hadn't been to yet.

First I went to Shipwreck beach. I brought a beach chair and my book, but I just had no desire to read. I just wanted to soak everything in. Shipwreck beach was really cool, because you are sitting at the edge of a pinetree forest that comes right up to the sand. I climbed the little trail up to the cliff to check out the view. It was really pretty up there and I walked a little further on the other side to look at some other cliffs. Then I headed back to the beach. There were tiny little sand crabs popping in and out of the sand and running sideways everywhere.

The water was pretty rough, so I didn't get in. There was a young man on the beach with a pile of fresh coconuts. He was ripping off the outer green peel with a sharpened stick sticking out of the ground. Then he would hack the top off the coconut with this big machete knife so people could drink the juice out. He wanted you to pay him after that and he would cut it in half for you to get to the fruit. It was pretty cool to watch.

Then I decided to head over and check out Poipu beach park. It was a great family friendly beach with tons of kids and snorkelers all over. By the time I was there for 20 minutes or so it was time to head back to the dock and get Trent. Trent had loved his dives and was excited to go back the next day. I was not as excited to spend another 3 hours alone on my romantic anniversary trip. I wasn't really happy about it, but we decided to let Trent do the dive the next day too.

We drove out to a diffenrent secluded beach off some long dirt road but it was starting to sprinkle and the waves were big and we didn't even get out of the car there. I took Trent back to see Shipwreck Beach. We had borrowed some boogie boards from the B&B, so we took them out to try. Trent got a couple good rides out of his, but after I got knocked around and flipped upside down I went back to my chair to watch.
Before heading off the South shore we grabbed lunch at Keoki's Paradise. The atmosphere was really cute and I liked the place. My sliders were okay and Trent's fish tacos were tasty. We headed up North. We hadn't seen anything North of Kapaa yet, so we decided to try to see a few more spots while we had light. We drove to the Kilauea Lighthouse. The road down to it for visitors had closed about 10 minutes before we got there, so we just stayed at the lookout for a bit.
Then we headed just a little bit further North to Kalihiwai where we took the road to a place that looks to be nowhere by a beach. You park by a cool home being constructed and there is a little trail by a fence that leads to a little downhill hike through some thick trees. Then you pop out at this gorgeous, secluded little beach called Secret Beach. It was beautiful and we could see the lighthouse from there as well. Then hike a little farther to the left on the beach and up onto some lava rocks and you come to a little waterfall and Secret Lava Pools. It was really a cool place. The ocean was pretty wild, so we mostly just climbed around checking it out and got a good view of the sun going down over the cliffs the the Northwest of us. I would definitely go back to that spot.

When we got back to the car it was getting pretty dark and we were tired. We headed back towards the East shore, got dinner at a chinese/pacific place that was recommended in my guide book called Pacific Island Bistro. It was gross. Or maybe we just ordered the wrong stuff? Then we ready to get back to our room adn get cleaned up and tucked in.

Hawaii: Day 3

2011-10-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we woke up and took our time getting ready and putting our bags into our rental car. We decided to skip the $20 hotel breakfast buffet and go back to the place we went the day before. I got the hawaiian sweetbread french toast, which was way too sweet for breakfast, but still enjoyed some of it. Then we went back to the hotel beach and Trent introduced me to snorkeling. At first it was awkward. But it isn't too hard to get the hang of and we were out there swimming hand in hand in no time enjoying the brightly colored fish swimming all over the area. As a bonus we saw a darling sea turtle on our way back to shore after about an hour! I loved it! We dipped our legs in the hot tub again to warm up and then it was time to check out of the Sheraton. Then we headed to Keiki Cove- a little beach next to Beachhouse Restaurant (which we never got to try) where there were a lot of snorkelers and the dive shop told us was good snorkeling. We snorkeled another hour here and I loved it just as much as the first time. The water got a little rough a few times, but I would just grab onto Trent and we would ride the waves. We got to see more of the same cool fish plus a few more kinds and another even larger turtle.

Before we left the South shore we grabbed some "plate lunches" at Sueoka's Snack Shop in Koloa and found a nice big shade tree to sit beneath and eat them. We headed to the East shore which led us through the Tunnel of Trees. It was pretty cool.

We first drove to see Wailua Falls which was gorgeous,

then as we continued North we drove to the Opaeka'a Falls lookout. These falls weren't as close for viewing, but still really pretty and worth the little trip. When you cross the road from these falls there is a nice view of the Wailua river which we ended up kayaking down on our last day.

I know I am not looking cute here, but it is one of the few pictures we got together on our trip, so I had to include it.

From there we headed to our Bed and Breakfast- The Dilly Dally house, the drive was a way out of the main town of Kapaa. The drive was pretty and the grounds were beautiful. Our room was really nice. We settled in and got showered and cleaned up. I actually put on some make up and we went back into town. We decided to try Scotty's BBQ. I wish the sun had been up because it had a great location right on the ocean with great views, but it was too dark for us to see much. I wasn't impressed with most of the food we ate on the island, but got good ribs here and Trent said his pork was really good, so it was probably the best meal we had while on the island. I wanted to try the coconut cream pie, but was too full-and I've been craving some ever since. With the time difference we were always tired pretty early, so we just headed back to our room to relax and get in our really soft bed :)

Hawaii Trip: Day 1 and 2

2011-10-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

Thursday October 6, our plane left Phoenix at 8:40am. We had a short flight to LA, where we had about a 3 hour layover. We loaded onto our plane and were all ready to go when the pilot announced that a latch on the door of the plane was broken and they were having some mechanics try to fix it. shortly after that we were all deboarded and told that we would be waiting a couple more hours. After a couple more hours we were told they were sending us a different plane from Salt Lake and we wouldn't be leaving LA until 7:15 pm. The generously (not!) gave us each a $6 voucher to buy food at the airport for our troubles. So we had a really long day hanging out at LAX eating overpriced airport food and trying not to go crazy. At least I was spending time with Trent. We finally got into Lihue, Kauai at about 11pm Hawaii time (2am our time). We grabbed our rental car and drove to our hotel in the dark.

In the morning we got to sleep in a bit. One of the highlights of the trip for me was waking up that morning in a quiet room to my sweetheart kissing me and then looking out our hotel lanai to see this gorgeous view.

We got ready and headed west to see Waimea Canyon and take a hike. On the way we stopped at a popular spot for breakfast called Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Co. The cornbread muffins they served with everything were delicious. We thought it was interesting that one of the starch choices besides hash browns or toast was rice. Anyway, from there we headed west and up the windy canyon road.

Our attempt at using the camera's timer.

There were some great lookout views.

We hiked the Canyon Trail to Waipo'o Falls. It wasn't too difficult, but wouldn've been much easier if I were in better shape. I heard it could be cooler up in the canyon and wore jeans. I was sweating like crazy and rolled them up as high as I could. The trail led to a small waterfall with a very cold pool beneath and then to the top of a larger fall. It was hard to get a good view of it from the top though.

Trent taking a business call in the middle of our hike.

This water was freezing. I dipped my feet in, but Trent got all the way under!

After the hike we stopped at one more lookout point. The Pu'u o Kila Lookout, which was gorgeous.

Then we drove back down the windy road, where I had to make Trent pull over because I was getting sick. We had a nice lunch at Wrangler's Steakhouse and then delicious Shave Ice at Jo Jo's. They put a scoop of Macnut icecream at the bottom which was really tasty.

Then we headed back toward our hotel. We went to the Spouting Horn, which was a pretty cool spot to see the ocean spray up through a blowhole and hear air hissing through another one.

Then we went back to the hotel and changed into our suits. We went out to the beach. It was cloudy and the sun was going down, so I stayed on the sand while Trent jusmped in and snorkeled a bit. Then we warmed up in the hot tub for a bit before heading to bed. We were too tired and still full from our late lunch to bother with dinner that night.

Just a few things

2011-10-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Tucker-
Is starting that awkward, my teeth are too big for my face, phase. It makes me smile whenever I see his jack-o-lantern grin.

Charlotte-
May seem quiet and shy to the average onlooker, but she is the biggest goofball! She is loving Kindergarten (straight A's on her first report card!) and starting the sound out words, which usually has some pretty funny results!

Henry- Darling and loveable. Sensitive. Always pulling a face. Makes us all laugh and is Paisley's best friend. Really wants to name the new baby "Chubby". (Oh, did I mention that I am 15 weeks pregnant and we are all really happy about it!)

Paisley- Says "Oh my gosh" about everything and describes most things as "wonderful" and "beautiful". She used to want to do everything by herself, but lately whenever I ask her to do anything she replies, "I can't do it." Pretty annoying when she wants me to do everything for her again :)

I am thrilled to be leaving on our trip to Hawaii! But really anxious about being gone from my angels for that long!

Paisley is 3!

2011-09-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that my baby is 3. It doesn't seem like all that long ago I was meeting her for the first time. Man that first year was hard. Charlotte wasn't even 3 when she was born, so I had 3 kids under the age of three for a couple months! wow.

Paisley is our little blondie. She is spunky and funny. She can be shy and clingy. She loves her daddy. She seems to like me too. She has the cutest little voice. She loves to sing songs and look at books. She loves to play with her brother Henry. I get asked if they are twins sometimes. They are pretty close in size and less than 14 months apart, so it doesn't surprise me too much.

Paisley is pretty hard to get to take a nap these days, although she will doze off on a car ride. She takes forever to fall asleep at night even when she hasn't had a nap. She wiggles and squirms, puts her butt in the air, hops out of bed to grab a book or puzzle. We often find her asleep on the floor next to her bed with a toy in her hand or occasionally in the hall. This is in sharp contrast to Charlotte and Henry who fall asleep almost immediately.

Paisley is happy to play alone or with friends. She loves coloring (in coloring books or on any other surface within her reach). She is charming and strangers often tell me she is adorable. I can't argue. She has the best grin with these tiny teeth spaced perfectly apart. She still has large cheeks and a big round face and the tiniest hint of the fat roll line on her neck she had as a baby.

She loves me to put lipstick on her, but pulls out her pigtails in no time at all. She is a really happy girl and I wouldn't change a single thing about her.

We love you Paisley Jane!

Thanks

2011-09-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

I wanted to thank you for all the encouraging comments on my last post. I am feeling excited about keeping up my new work out habits- it has been going quite well for the most part (labor day, a doctor's appt., and Paisley's hurty belly have thrown a couple kinks in). Now the food part is probably going to be the hard part. Anyway, enough of that for now. I have been seriously slacking on the blog.I really need to get a post up about Tucker's baptism. But for now I just have to tell you: I got this email for an exclusive sale at Shabby Apple (shabbyapple.com) a couple weeks ago. I own one of their dresses and really like it, so I decided to check out the sale. I got this dress, that today is listed at $130 for $39 with free shipping. The color I got was Night Lapis (a navy blue with a hint of purple). I got it in the mail yesterday and I love it! Best $39 I ever spent I tell you. Finding a modest, lovely, not super boring dress for that price isn't always easy to do. So that is making me happy today :)

Hating/Accepting my body

2011-08-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

So, a couple years ago I decided to get skinny. I worked at it for a long, long, time and got to a weight that was just a little heavier than my goal weight and I was pretty happy with how I was looking. Then, I got lazy. My work out partner stopped going to my gym and slowly my work out habits faded. I fizzled down to doing just one class a week. Since I had lost much of my weight that I had attributed to baby pounds, I figured it would be easy to maintain. I was wrong. The weight crept back on, little by little, and BAM! None of my skinny jeans fit anymore. I am angry that I let it get to this point. I have never eaten great. I don't eat terrible, but lets be honest, I love carbs and dairy and baked goods. My portions are too big. Yada yada yada. I should probably eat vegetables. You know, that kind of thing. Also, I have been having small bouts of depression. It's pretty normal for me, I just go through periods of low motivation and productivity. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Who knows. At the beginning of May my sister's health began to deteriorate and at the end of May I had a miscarriage just a week after finding out I was pregnant. And because I am an emotional eater, I am sure all of those things affected my increasing chubbiness negatively. The point is, I am overweight again and very unhappy about it. I realized that I am not one of those people that can eat whatever and never work out and still look good. I have to make lifestyle changes and stick to them. That is not easy. But I don't want to be sad when I look in the mirror. I don't care if it seems vain. I used to be fit and strong and I know that I can be. I want to take care of my body. Last week I went and added childcare to my gym membership and managed to go to the gym 3 times last week. I am hoping to regularly go 3 or 4 times a week and take control of my eating habits as well. Wish me luck!

Family friendly Halloween movies

2011-08-20T18:08:00.022-07:00

It's that time of year. It's too early to put up Halloween decorations, but they are already in the stores. I'm starting to think about Halloween and wanting to start watching all the Halloween movies I can get my hands on just for fun ( I am aware that it is still August). I decided I should make myself a list, and thought hey, I can share it on my blog. If anyone even reads the thing anymore. Obviously depending on the age of your kids, not all of these would be appropriate. However, these are the kind of Halloween movies that get me in the mood for Halloween without all the screaming and gore.

-Disney's House of Villains- includes Witch Hazel with Donald duck, the Donald Duck with the big gorilla, and more
-Dr. Seuss-It's Grinch Night

-The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry loves Jack Skellington)
-The Witches (based on the book by Roald Dahl)

-The Adventures of Ichabod Crane (The Headless Horseman)
-Casper
-Hocus Pocus
-Addams Family Values
-Harry Potter (any of them) all the magic and pumpkin juice has me feeling Halloween-y
-Lady in White
-Watcher in the Woods
-Edward Scissorhands
-Ghostbusters
-Beetlejuice
-Psycho (the original)
-Death Becomes Her
-What Lies Beneath
-Probably any M.Night Shyamalan (I love Signs)

I haven't actually seen these last three, but they seem like ones I'd like to try.
-Something Wicked This Way Comes
-Tower of Terror
-Halloween Town series

I'd love to hear more suggestions. Hope you enjoyed my list :)

There are also some great Disney shorts you can watch on youtube or if you have VHS there are
-Disney's Halloween Treat (a montage of disney clips)
-Scary Tales

-Donald's Scary Tales

*Edited to add
-Raggedy Ann and Andy and the pumpkin who couldn't smile
-Return to Oz

Behind- Boys Birthdays

2011-08-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

We did celebrate Henry and Tucker's birthday's. I promise. Henry turned 4 on July 27 and the next day Tucker turned 8. On Henry's birthday, he woke up to a few presents, then we got him his free Krispy Kreme birthday dozen glazed doughnuts. Trent's mom and I took the boys to Fuddrucker's where Grandma treated them to lunch and some games. In the evening we decided to check out a public pool in Chandler that had a little lazy river, a couple slides, and a kid zone. Good times.

Tucker woke up the next day to a few gifts. He was sick of doughnuts and requested scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. We went to Game Stop to get him a new game for his D.S. That night we went as a family to the evening splash at Golfland/Sunsplash. Trent took him an hour before I brought the kids and played lazer tag and goofy golf with him. It's not a good place for a camera, so there isn't much to show. But we did have a good time and we love our big boys to death!

Back to School

2011-08-18T09:03:00.001-07:00

Tucker started 3rd grade on the 11th of August and Charlotte started Kindergarten. She was definitely ready. She says that she misses me all day, but I know that it can't be too bad, because she is always happy to go in the morning! She is so darling. Tucker is the greatest big brother. He was reassuring her that she would make lots of new friends and do lots of fun things. That second day when I didn't walk them into class, he took her by the hand and led the way. There is nothing that could have made me feel better than watching that!

Here they are ready to go on their first day.
*Did I mention that Charlotte cut herself some bangs the week before school started?

10 years

2011-08-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe it was 10 whole years ago that I married Trent. I seriously love the guy so much! We were so young! Can't wait to have him all to myself in Hawaii in a few weeks to celebrate :)

underwater pics

2011-08-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

My brother brought his under water camera over on Saturday when we had some cousin swimming time.

More of Lake Powell

2011-07-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

This year since the water is higher than it has been for a long time, we took the boat ride out to Rainbow Bridge. It was my first time and it was beautiful. We stopped on the way back to swim in the shade and then later at the Marina where Grandma Summers treated all the kids to ice cream.

That's my man.

Trent's parents with all their grandchildren and Grandma and Grandpa Summers

Henry driving the boat with Grandpa.

Photo Challenge: Sunset

2011-07-27T14:55:00.001-07:00

This was at Lake Powell

Photo Challenge: Something Blue

2011-07-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

sorry, i'm just not that cool

2011-07-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

Should I be worried that I can't finish a simple task like posting one photograph on my blog a day? I will continue until I finish all 30, but I guess just in my own time frame. I lost all motivation for blogging the last week. It comes and goes. I still have tons of fun pictures from Lake Powell to share, but I haven't been pulling my camera out every day lately.

Henry and Tucker both have birthdays next week. I have their gifts, but no idea how else we will celebrate. it is a big birthday for Tucker as he'll be 8 this year! More on that later.

I have a to do list a mile long it seems. Getting school clothes and supplies, prepping for birthdays, things to do in my house, get my cat spayed, pack up all the clothes that don't fit the kids anymore and pull out the hand me downs from the older kids, get back into an exercise routine, schedule dentist appointments, etc. ..

I'm hoping once school starts up next month that we'll all slip nicely into a routine and I'll be able to get things done. But who am I kidding?

Photo Challenge: Day 10

2011-07-15T09:49:00.002-07:00

Childhood Memory
Every time we pull out the tubes at Lake Powell I am reminded of being 12 years old. We lived in Utah and one of my best friends was Downi. She had a big family like us. Sometimes they would invite me to the lake with them. We would pile into their 15 seater van and our anticipation would swell. We would pile on to two tubes behind the boat and battle. We would occasionally try to kick the other tube to knock each other off, but mostly we would just hang on for dear life as her dad whipped us around and around making giant waves to bounce us over. I remember my legs flying high above me as I squealed with delight.
It is so fun now that I will get to watch my own kids being tossed all over the lake every year!

Not to mention, my nieces and nephews :)

Photo Challenge: Day 9

2011-07-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Someone you love

There are so many. But since I am lazy, it's pretty lucky that 5 of them live with me and 4 of them spend all day, every day with me. Tucker already headed off to a sleepover with his cousin, so I had a mini session (very mini) with the other 3.

Lake Powell 2011

2011-07-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

We had a great week in Lake Powell with all of Trent's immediate family. Monday- the 4th, we broke up our trip up by staying in Flagstaff with Aunt Kim, Uncle Dan, Deret, and Tristen. They grilled dinner for us while we camped out in our front row spot for the fireworks. The next day we all headed to the lake for the rest of the week. I have so many pictures I don't know where to start. Here are a few from the first couple days.

Aunt Kim and Tristen

His tooth is finally coming in. What a cutie.

My handsome husband.

Henry "belly boarding" on the knee board. He was so funny leaning his head side to side trying to move.

Paisley insisted on trying it too.

It wasn't quite as fun as she imagined.

When Uncle Bart's water trampoline finally wore out, we decided to all go in on a regular one.

Picking up- Photo Challenge: Day 8

2011-07-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

A Bad Habit

I have many, including wasting time on the computer, procrastinating, not folding laundry, soda drinking, snacking. I could go on. My current weakness: Stacy's Pita Chips with hummus. This hummus is jalepeno cilantro. Yum.

So, I'm like a week behind

2011-07-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking on the Photography Challenge. Woops. In the mean time, we have been having fun with Aunt Emily who came down for a few days and having good, cheap fun with dry erase markers. Other than that we have been getting ready for our annual trip to Lake Powell. So long for now!

~Robin

Photography Challenge: Day 7 (I'm a day behind)

2011-06-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

FRUIT

Look what I found

2011-06-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

yesterday and today we actually had clouds in the sky. .

Birthday week

2011-06-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

My birthday falls 3 days before my husband's. Saturday Trent turned 33 and we celebrated both of our birthdays at a pool party at his brother's house. They have the perfect yard for swimming and grilling. We all had a lovely time.

Grandpa Wes

I love this picture of Stella holding her Mommy's hand and her Grandpa's.

Weston

Aunt Jen

My dream swimsuit

2011-06-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

I want this swimsuit from jcrew so bad. It is lovely in the other colors as well.

J Crew swimwear (see more one shoulder bathing suits)

Photography Challenge: Day 6

2011-06-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

From a low angle:

It was fun watching the kids from the bottom of the slide :)

Photo Challenge: Day 5

2011-06-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

From a high angle (sorry I'm late)

Photography Challenge: Day 4

2011-06-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

Something green:

I liked this bit of green peeking out beneath this palm tree bark

Photo challenge: Day 3 (FAIL)

2011-06-24T20:11:00.001-07:00

Clouds
Let me just tell you that today there was not one single tiny wisp of a cloud in the sky. I was on the lookout too. I did end up buying some balloons for someone's birthday tomorrow (grown men love balloons, right?) and they floated nicely in the sky. I am not in love with the picture, but I only had a couple minutes.

And here's my little Paisley against the cloudless sky

Photo Challenge: Day 2

2011-06-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

What you wore today: Mostly sweats, but when I got ready for my class, my new TOMS :)

Photography Challenge: Day 1

2011-06-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Self Portrait

Which one do you like?

Photography Challenge

2011-06-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Pinterest from this website and wanted to try it to get me practicing photography. The challenge on the blog was for the 30 days of June, but since it is a little late for that, I am going to start today in honor of turning 30. Then I think it would be cool to do again next year and hopefully see my improvement.

I love my girl friends!

2011-06-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Last night my friend Kathi took me out to get a pedicure with another friend Merrilee. Then we grabbed one more friend, Marianne, and headed to Joe's Farm Grill for dinner. I had been told that these sweet ladies whom I serve with in church just wanted to take me out for a little celebration. Originally I had told Kathi that I would like my other girlfriends to join us for dinner, so we could all celebrate dinner together. Strangely enough though, none of my friends seemed to be available that night. Earlier in the day I had told Kathi that I wasn't sure about the restaurant choice, and maybe we should go somewhere else. She seemed pretty cool with it. But I decided to take a look at their menu online and spotted several things that sounded really good, so I let her know, that would be fine. As we walked up to the restaurant there was a large party seated outside off to the right that was getting really loud. I looked over to see what all the fuss was about to see a bunch of my wonderful girlfriends sitting there shouting to surprise me. it was such a great surprise and completely unexpected. Being the big baby that I am I teared up immediately. I had such a great night spending time with some of my favorite people and I even received my first pair of TOMS. It was definitely a fabulous way to end my twenties!

My point and shoot camera sucks and the misters at the restaurant didn't help, so please excuse the terrible photos. and I don't really have an excuse for my face, but please excuse that too.

Make a wish

2011-06-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Right now I am wishing for:
-new work out shoes and pants
-combat gloves
-a swimsuit
-basically a whole new wardrobe, I need shirts, bermuda short, casual dresses. . .
-a 50mm lens for my camera
-some time to go to a few stores alone (summer is hard that way)
-motivation to eat well, exercise, and lose 20-25 lbs.
-my husband to surprise me with a special date

Right now I am excited to:
Get a pedicure and have dinner with a couple of darling girlfriends tonight!
To have a fun girl's night next Tuesday!

Fun in the sun and later

2011-06-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening Trent swam with the kids. Henry is really getting good at swimming and Trent was showing him the freestyle stroke.

Wednesday we needed to get out of the house for a bit. A splash park in Chandler was a nice way to change things up from swimming in our pool.

Wednesday, Sarah's boys Chandler and Jack spent the night. While Tucker went to a birthday party in the morning, more cousins came over (Kaleb, Ethan, and Moqui). We played all day.

Sometimes I can't believe how gorgeous my children are.

Today has been wonderful so far

2011-06-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping the trip to Costco planned for this afternoon doesn't change all that.

"Come take pictures of us Mom!"

I love swimming with friends and having kids happy to have friends over too! Next time I need to have Stephanie and Abbie over!

Ella is just 3 days older than Paisley and they are so funny together!

Mel and Gracie

Kathi and Ella

P.S. Did I mention that Charlotte got her ears pierced on Saturday? She was super brave, no tears, and now she loves looking fancy.

June is shaping up nicely

2011-06-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm still practicing getting the right exposure and I'm too lazy to edit right now, so these are straight from the camera.

Swimming with Gracie

2011-06-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fun day. Sunday night after dinner, Tucker and Charlotte both got to have sleepovers with cousins. As soon as Charlotte got home from playing with Ashlyn we got to have Gracie came over for some swimming. Then after naps, Tucker got home from a long, fun day with Dusti, Kolbe, and Kyler and then some friends invited us over to have delicious homemade pizza, breadsticks, and wings. It was a perfect summer day!

Photography workshop

2011-06-04T21:37:00.001-07:00

Today I had the pleasure of taking a photography workshop to finally learn how to use my camera better. I can now use it off the Auto setting! Hooray! Hopefully with more practice I will be able to do beautiful portraits of my kids (and my friends and families and their kids)! I am excited to get more practice if anyone wants to invite me over :) Trevor Dayley is the photographer who taught the class. Check out his site to see his beautiful work. After learning a few things we were able to shoot a lovely model and I got a couple decent shots. I am just happy I finally understand shutter speed and apeture!

The model is Nicole . Apparently, she is amazing in front of, and behind the camera! Now I just need a 50mm lens and some decent editing software!

School's out for summer (singing in my head)

2011-05-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Henry's last day of joyschool was a field trip to Peter Piper. The girls got to come along.

Tucker's school has a year end swim party

.
Finally, Charlotte's class ended with a party too.

Early gift

2011-05-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

I will be enjoying a photo workshop from Trevor Dayley for an early birthday gift to myself. My husband will be gifting me with taking care of the kids all day. Hooray! I can't wait. Anyone want to join me?

Warming up

2011-05-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a warm bubble bath to warm up after swimming in the chilly pool.


Paisley's new "sad lip" face

Henry trying to duplicate it

Paisley is not feeling well today, so we will probably stay indoors.

The big 3-0

2011-05-21T09:55:00.001-07:00

While I am actually feeling a little bummed about the fact that in one month I will no longer be in my twenties, I figured I could cheer myself up by searching the internet for beautiful things to make my "in a perfect world where I get everything I want" birthday wish list.

(all descriptions are links, click to see where you can get your own- except nobody is allowed to buy the elephant necklace unless it is a gift for me)

This book.

This ring.

This ring in the green or seafoam.

This elephant locket necklace has to my favorite thing on here.

These tunic/dresses that my super talented and darling cousin-in-law makes. I'll take two tunics and two in the knee length dress style please :) They seem perfect! I think they would be great in a print or ikat as well.

Navy tankini from Target.

Shirts

like this

That's all for now.
Happy weekend!

Pinterest (edited to add details)

2011-05-19T15:52:00.002-07:00

Recently discovered Pinterest (click here) through my cousin Skye. I am officially obsessed. Such a fun, easy way to keep track of inspiring images. Beware of your time being sucked.

*Okay, on Pinterest you download a button to your toolbar that says "pin it" and then any time on any website or blog that you see a picture you like you can "pin it" to a certain pin board. For instance, you can have several boards, one for home decor, one for crafts, one for clothing and jewelry, one for places you want to visit. . . The possibilities are endless. You can view other people's pins, follow other's pinboards and repin any pictures that you like to your own pinboards. It's so fun and a little addictive!

P.S. The above image is from the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where I will be running away with my husband for our anniversary trip.

Pool Time with cousins

2011-05-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Last post of the wedding pics

2011-05-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

My mom with her bestie DeAnne

My baby brother Spencer with his bestie/nephew Gabe- 1 year his senior!

My baby sister Claire (12) and my cousin's little girl Kylie

Mark and Amber's wedding (part 1)

2011-05-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

Mark and Amber got married in the LDS temple in Mesa, AZ.
That night was a beautiful wedding reception in Amber's parent's backyard. Since we are family we were there early for pictures. As soon as pictures were over Trent left with Tucker and Henry for the father and sons camp out. The girls were so good to stay and hang out with me until almost 9. We missed the dancing, which I was bummed about, but the girls were so exhausted!

Last week

2011-05-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

My lovely sisters Sarah and Emily

My big brother Adam sharing memories about Mark

Jackson and Charlotte making a totem pole behind the head table

My parents

My gorgeous little sister Karen with my niece Elora

We enjoyed the company of my sister Emily and her family staying with us for Mark's (my younger brother) wedding. Thursday morning the kids swam with Brandon for a bit. That night was the dinner for Mark and Amber with both of their families. The food was tasty and the stories were so fun. Seeing them so happy and cute together was so sweet.

Falling behind

2011-05-17T12:44:00.001-07:00

I never said what a wonderful Mother's day my sweet husband and kids gave me. Trent got me yellow roses Friday afternoon before he left for his camp out with the scouts. Mother's day morning my kids presented me with various handmade gifts they had made in school. Tucker's card was all in cursive and I loved his sweet handwriting and laminated place mat. Charlotte had made a coupon book. Henry was feeling very bad without a gift, so he quickly scribbled me a "picture" in the kitchen and told Daddy he needed to put something in it. They came up with a sucker, which he reclaimed later that day. Trent also got me a gift card to go get a massage, that I can't wait to use. Trent's mom joined us for the first hour of church where I directed a small musical number with 8 kids involved including Tucker and then one where all the primary children sang to their mothers. The children did great and I was so pleased!
I was also able to visit my mother and we all enjoyed dinner with Trent's family that evening. It was a wonderful Mother's Day, that was only tainted by my anger and grief towards the cancer that my big sister Sarah is fighting.

Teaser

2011-05-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

We've had tons of fun with Emily (my sister and her family), Brandon, Jonah, and Elora staying with us since Wednesday night from Utah. The kids love having cousins here to play with and we got to go to Mark's (my little brother) "rehearsal" dinner last night, plus the wedding and reception today. I'm too tired to do a whole post, but here are a couple pics.

Elora

Perfection.

My parents

Luke telling a funny story about Mark.

My boys and me.

It begins

2011-05-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

Just get used to the swimming pictures, because for the next 5 months that is pretty much what we'll be doing every day.

This day it was followed by a towel fight on the trampoline and warming up on the grass.

my kids are best friends and I love it

2011-05-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Last Friday after our regular babysitter was unavailable I didn't feel like hunting down someone else. Trent was working hard at putting a gate into our wall anyway. We had Ashlyn and Weston over to hang out. We had a pizza picnic in the front yard while we watched Daddy work. After the cousins went home and it was time for bed we set up a two man tent in our extra room and put the 3 big kids in it (Paisley was asleep at this point). It was pretty much adorable.

This morning I told the kids to go enjoy the trampoline before it got too hot outside. Charlotte came in to tell me that they had set up some chairs and were taking turns doing tricks on the trampoline for a "concert". My kids are awesome. What would I do if I had to entertain them myself all day?

P.S. Tucker's Spring Sing was on Monday. It's always so cute to see him on stage. I couldn't get any decent pictures because of the lighting and also the little girl in front of him blocked most of his face. But here is one of him walking off stage. I can't believe how handsome and grown up he is looking these days!

Stage left.

Easter 2011 (and one hundred billion pictures)

2011-04-30T16:03:00.001-07:00

The Saturday morning before Easter Trent was still on a campout, but our ward had a breakfast and egg hunt at the park. My brother Adam and his kids joined us and it was tons of fun. They spent most of the day with us too and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. Easter morning was gorgeous and we enjoyed church. I have to say that I think Easter is the most wonderful celebration. Jesus Christ lives! What could be more glorious? My kids are hard to capture all being cute at once, but I did try.

We had Easter dinner and more egg hunting with Trent' s family in the evening. It was a wonderful to spend the special day with loved ones.

Trent- after finding the coveted "Golden Egg".

Trent counting out his winnings. Trent's parent like to entice the adults to get involved.

Anniversary Trip

2011-04-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

So we want to travel somewhere beautiful this fall to celebrate our ten years of married bliss! Since we will be leaving our four children to be watched by family members, we will limit our trip to 5 or 6 nights. This means we will not be going somewhere crazy far like Japan or Thailand or Australia (although I hope to visit all those places in my lifetime).
I want to go to the Caribbean. Specifically, I think St. Lucia is my first choice. Although I would be happy going to Aruba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, or probably any of the other islands in the area as well. Some major pros for the Caribbean are:
There are many adult only resorts
Almost all of the resorts are beachfront
scuba diving and snorkeling possibilites are endless
some of the islands have rainforests as well as gorgeous beaches (st. lucia)
Cons:
travel time is a little longer
flights through Delta (which we have skymiles for) are not very frequent and usually have a lengthy layover in Atlanta

Another option we are considering: Hawaii
Trying to research a trip to Hawaii is overwhelming, I don't know where to start.
I guess it's similar to the Caribbean in the fact that there are many different islands and I'm not sure which one best suits our needs/wants for the trip. With such a short trip, I don't think it would be wise to try to see everything we'd like to see in Hawaii. I am sure we could take a day trip to another island than the one we stay on. Any lodging that is luxurious and romantic in Hawaii is very expensive. There are expensive places in the Caribbean as well, but there seems to be more inexpensive options. Since this is a romantic celebration trip I do want to stay at a nice clean place with a large pool and good views and modern rooms, so maybe I am just expecting too much. I am trying to find places under $300 a night for something nice and not too crowded. I would love any insights from those of you who have been to Hawaii. Send me an email-please!

Another option- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The thing I like about this option is that it is the closest, but still has supposedly beautiful beaches along with rainforest as well. It just seems less exotic and exciting to me.

I want to go somewhere with lovely beaches, a nice rainforesty area to hike in (ideally with some waterfalls), snorkeling, delicious food, beautiful sunsets, and some sightseeing. I don't care much about shopping or golfing or casinos or nightlife.
I still have (about) 5 months to plan. I would love to hear anyone's input!

I love food

2011-04-20T13:04:00.001-07:00

Eating out is pretty much my favorite thing to do. I love to try new places and things. I try to stay away from large chain restaurants if I can help it. The Mesa/Gilbert area is not as full of variety and options as Scottsdale or Phoenix, but there is still plenty of places that I haven't tried around here that I would like to. some of the places I go are chains and that's okay too.
I recently tried Culinary Dropout in Scottsdale (where my gorgeous little sister works) and the dishes I tried were wonderful.

Mmm. Food.

I'm pretty sure my kids are such "good eaters" because of my good example :)

Every time we go out, I always have the hardest time trying to decide where to go. Trent doesn't really care, except he prefers that we don't go Italian since he hasn't found a place he likes. I am always wanting to make the perfect restaurant choice and then the perfect menu item choice. I am that person that takes forever to decide. Trent says I pick like it is my last meal. So, I decided to make a list to refer to for my future ventures eating out locally. I would love to hear any of your additions, local or otherwise. Where is your favorite place to eat and why?

Some places I like to go near here are:
Pei Wei
Ichi Ban
Crackers (breakfast and lunch)
Waldo's BBQ
Rosa's
Matta's
Pita Jungle
Costa Vida
Rumbi's
California Pizza Kitchen
Liberty Market
Kona Grill
Flancer's

Some places that I am hoping to try soon in my area:
Tum Nak Thai
ASIA
Sushi Avenue
Pita di VITA
Salsa Cabana
Croshaw's Gourmet Pies
Romeo's Euro Cafe
Blue Adobe Grill
Giant Hamburgers
Streets of New York

P.S. Abbie, you need to start doing Foodie Fridays again or some variation of it!

Spring Kittens

2011-04-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't get our cat spayed in time. Last night we added four tiny kittens to our household. Actually, they have their very own house made of plastic right on our back patio. Maybe with the encroaching heat the kids won't mind giving up their playhouse for a while.

You can't really see the kittens in these pictures. I'll have to get some of them later.

GNO April 2011

2011-04-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

Had our monthly girl's night on Thursday. Sushi and a movie. It was so great. Better turnout than usual (12 people at dinner, 6 stayed for a movie). We took our time at dinner and had some really tasty stuff. I tried baked mussels. I didn't hate them but the texture was weird. Four Seasons had an Ace Roll as a special and it was probably the tastiest sushi I have tried thus far. All the rolls were good and the fried rice looked great too.

Lauren, Abbie, Mel, Karen

Me, Karen (my sister), Amber (will be my SIL next month), Lauren (my SIL)

Abbie, Mel, Katie, Kim, Me, Cassi, Kristen, Janay, Stephanie

After dinner we ran to QT to grab some soda and snacks, then we went to see The Source Code, which was good entertainment. I'm no movie critic, but I enjoyed it. And after that, 5 of us hung out in Cassi's car chatting for another hour or so. I loved the whole night!

Hair

2011-04-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've had my short hair for about a year now! I still like it short, but I am ready for a change. I am going to grow the sides out and change it up to something like this.

Paisley's turn

2011-04-13T19:35:00.001-07:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Singing time before naps

2011-04-13T19:08:00.001-07:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Charlotte's field trip

2011-04-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday Charlotte and I headed off on a school bus to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. Thankfully Kathi took Henry and Terrie took Paisley for me to get to spend some quality time with Charlotte. It was awesome! I was possibly more excited than Charlotte. She had never been on a bus before and told me it was weird that it had no seat belts. She had a blast waving to all her classmates all over the bus.

There were so many fun things for kids there: The noodle forest, the climbing maze tree thing, the grocery store, the kitchen, the art room, tricycles, fort room, and more. We will have to go back soon with Henry!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-04-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

We had a blast celebrating Grandma Terrie's birthday with the P family yesterday afternoon. First of all, Troy and Jen make the most mouthwatering shrimp, chicken, steak, and veggie kabobs in the whole wide world! I almost can't stop myself from eating them until I am going to explode.

Secondly, Grandpa Wes full on entertains all the grandkids and engages each of them, while I sit back and chat with the ladies. Always good times!

General Conference

2011-04-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Our church holds General Conference bi-annually. This means that twice a year we are able to hear talks given by our prophet, apostles, and other church leaders. All of the talks are available to watch/listen to online in several languages and will be available in The Ensign magazine in a month or two. This past weekend was one of those weekends. Sometimes it can be very difficult to feel like I have been spiritually uplifted, since all of my effort seems to go into shushing my children. I try to prepare myself a little better this time and it honestly worked. There were various times I had to shush and regulate children, but overall I listened to almost every talk in all 4 sessions and felt very uplifted and renewed and recommitted when it was all over. Stephanie's favorite talks were the same as mine and she has provided links here if anyone is interested.

We printed off various coloring pages and word searches relating to Conference online and offered treats for each time the words "faith" and "prophet" were heard by the children which helped a lot.

After Conference we celebrated my mother in law's birthday. I'll post some pictures later on.

Mexico Day 3

2011-04-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

Our last full day in Mexico we played at the beach all morning.

This is how close the house was to the water! The last day at high tide, it was slamming against the patio.

After nap time we headed to the fish market for a few trinkets and dinner.

On the way back to the house Trent decided to take the suburban up "competition hill" where all the people on quads and motorcycles like to ride. It was pretty empty. We got about halfway up where we started to turn around. We had the windows down. Trent said "Woa, it smells like coolant." And I replied, " I hope it's not us." to which Trent replied, "Yep, it's trailing behind us".
He shut off the engine and told me all his tools were back at the house in our trailer. A hose had broken. He used a quarter as a flathead screwdriver and bypassed the line so we could get back home no problem! I love having my very own MacGuiver! What a stud!

Lovely Sunday afternoon

2011-03-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

After our Sunday naps we hung out in the front yard for a while enjoying the gorgeous weather!

Friday with cousins

2011-03-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

We played with my brother Adam and his kids Thursday and Friday. Thursday Tucker and Ethan got in the pool, which was freezing cold, in my opinion. Friday we opted to play with the hose and the trampoline.

Mexico - Day 2

2011-03-24T10:06:00.001-07:00

Thursday morning when the tide was low we headed out over 1/2 a mile into where the ocean would be. We went hunting for sand dollars. We did find a couple, but we hadn't headed out early enough and we had to come back when the tide started coming back in. Trent and I took turns carrying the Henry the whole time and on the way back even Tucker was exhausted.

Typical Charlotte! She is so funny in front of the camera.

Yep, Trent was wearing his work boots with his shorts.

We played in the water all day. Trent busted out the wetsuit for a swim. We found tons of snails and hermit crabs. Henry was fascinated watching them with me and laughing when I showed him that while we had been looking some snails has climbed up on my toes. But when I showed him that a snail had gotten on his toe too, he was freaked out. He still wanted to look at them, but wanted me to hold him so they couldn't touch him!

The Daddies taking a swim. I actually took a little swim later (without a wetsuit) and it was pretty cold, but I thought it would be fun to do once while we were there.

Marianne and Sophie

I look out and Charlotte is just standing all by herself on the rocks, shaking it!

Later that night around dinner time when the tide was all the way out again, Trent decided we would just drive the suburban out to look for sand dollars. It was kinda creepy driving out where the water had been deep just hours earlier. This time we went about a mile out and between us and our friends we came back with about 70 whole sand dollars! It was a blast!

Mexico - Day 1

2011-03-21T10:45:00.002-07:00

Many people are nervous to travel to Mexico right now because of the drug problems and the travel advisories, but if you actually read the advisories there are specific areas mentioned, and let me tell you, Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) is not one of them. I love Rocky Point and have been visiting there since I was a very little girl. Spring Break isn't the best time to go, but we steer clear of the drunk college kids. Some friends of ours were kind enough to invite us down to stay there with them for a few days over Spring Break. When we pulled up it was dark, but Henry said, "It looks better than Disneyland, cause there's lots of sand." Here are some pictures from our first day.

A nasty half eaten sting ray that Trent found.

I attempted to "skurf", but was unsuccessful. I am choosing not to share the picture of me flat on my rear.

We went to Pollo Papago for dinner that night. The owner Martin (Mar-teen) knows my Dad from all the years we've been going down and he recognized me as Stan's daughter right away. It was delicious as usual, I highly recommend it!

March 2011 Girls Night

2011-03-11T09:54:00.001-07:00

Last night 5 of us met up at Tia Rosa's for dinner. My shrimp quesadilla was quite tasty as was my mango lemonade. Afterward we grabbed some Coldstone ice cream and went back to my house. I spent most of the evening laughing with my girls. I don't know what I would do without girls night. At one point we were all laughing so hard (courtesy of Kristen) I could barely breathe and Abbie was laugh-crying so hard! I am always looking forward to my next girl's night :)

Big girls bed

2011-03-09T16:02:00.001-07:00

I sold Charlotte's daybed on craigslist and ordered bunk beds for the girls on Walmart.com. Unfortunately I have to put it on the same wall as the window because any other wall puts it too close to the ceiling fan. The kids all enjoy it. It makes a great fort.

All my "Do not jump on the bed" talk doesn't seem to reach Paisley's ears. She doesn't listen to me most of the time. Part of being a two year old I suppose. She has fallen off twice (the bottom bunk), but hopefully that is all behind us. She is making great progress on her own with potty training. She prefers if I'm not around. I have to remind her that we wipe.

Trampoline weather

2011-03-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

Paisley looks so small in her new big girl bed!

We love jumping and having friends over. Henry loves "George Curious" lately. I think he looks like a monkey himself right here.

lame update

2011-03-02T19:06:00.001-07:00

So I have not been doing anything fun or exciting and I haven't pulled out my camera for over a week. I know it's been really lame. The weather has been gorgeous though, so I am making it a goal to get some pictures of my darling kids outside in the next couple of days.
I scored some really cute dresses at Ross the other day and that is about the most noteworthy thing I have to mention.
On the baby front- I still haven't made a decision. Babies are wonderful, there's no denying that. In some ways I just want to experience the wonder of pregnancy and delivery again and that amazing journey. Sometimes I just think that I know we have a loving, stable and happy environment to offer another baby. On the other hand I do feel like I am finally feeling some sense of normalcy and routine now that I don't have a really young baby anymore. I am getting comfortable in my body again. ( It's a good feeling to know I can fit in a size 8 and I am not squeezing myself in there.) It isn't a huge ordeal to leave the house and I am almost done with diapers around here. That is where my hesitation comes in. Then again, I think that is a phase I am willing to do again. Just once more. I guess we'll see. . .

Aches

2011-02-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

My kids have had pretty bad night coughing fits and the girls have been running fevers. I have been having daily headaches and battling my lack of motivation and energy. I'm having a hard time wanting to do much of anything. It is one of those funks I rotate through. I want to exercise, but can't seem to find a good time and haven't been willing to get up early enough (perhaps it is time to bite the bullet and pay for the daycare at my gym). Not wanting to clean or cook. I am getting my desire to decorate back though. The girls bunk beds should be here next week and I bought some paint for the boys room and paint for my picture frames. other than that things have been super low key. I am struggling to decide weather or not we want to have one more baby. If we are going to do it, I want it to be sooner than later. I do make excellent babies.

Hummus baby

2011-02-11T21:10:00.002-07:00

BFF's. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have survived this long without Kathi living just around the corner!

Thoughtful Abbie, Sassy Mel, Animated Pregnant Jill

Hey look Janay came too.

The always beautiful Kim, Abbie sporting her newly darkened hair, Mel wearing that shirt again :)

Last night was a lovely girl's night at Pita Jungle. My portabello pita pizza was delightful. and the company wasn't bad either! I always look forward to a night with my girlfriends, eating, talking, laughing. It's cheap therapy for me. We finished up and then grabbed some frozen yogurt to extend the night out a bit. Then Abbie hooked me up with some new earrings from the Goodie Jar shop and we sat in my car and talked until midnight. See you girls in another month, can't wait!

I hope the weekend never ends

2011-02-05T22:28:00.000-07:00

Charlotte hamming it up.

Paisley, clearly thrilled to have me trying to take photos of her.

Making "Haut Balentimes" at Maddy's party.

Lindy and me.

We went to my parents after the party and hung out with the fam.

Charlotte and "Gee"

Clothingless afternoons

2011-02-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jumping on the bed.

Paisley's recent tongue injury is healing up.

Pretend sleeping complete with fake snoring.

My two youngest children lately seem to decide that after about 4 o'clock they have spent enough time wearing clothes. At least I insist they wear undeerwear, right?

A good sister

2011-01-25T15:38:00.001-07:00

Charlotte made this Valentine for Tucker this morning, featuring none other than his favorite guy, Obi Won.

Tucker recently

2011-01-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Tucker is so cute and funny and optimistic. He has said a few things lately that I don't want to forget.
New Years: "Mom, Two thousand eleven is going to be the best year ever!" Me: "Oh ya, why is that?"
Tucker: "I start third grade, get baptized, start cub scouts, learn cursive."

2 weeks ago he was bummed because Trent had a snow campout with the scouts and there wasn't enough room for Tucker to go. Then his Grandma called to see if Tucker wanted to sleep over at her house with his cousin Kyler. He was thrilled. When I went to pick him up the next day we all went to lunch at Chic-Fil-A, finished up with ice cream cones and then headed to the park where 2 more of his favorite cousins Chandler and Jack met us and came back to our house for a couple hours.
Tucker: "Mom, this is the third best day of my life!"

Yesterday, Tucker comes home from school and says, "I've got good news and I've got great news. The good news is, I kicked the kickball over the fence today, (a home run) the great news, we got to listen to the professional band at school today."

That kid is so stinkin great.

Clothes for me

2011-01-18T20:50:00.002-07:00

For Christmas I said, "I need clothes, bad." I basically had very little that fit or was cute in my closet, I couldn't bare to get rid of all the crap because I knew I would have nothing left if I did. Anyway, I got $300 worth of visa gift cards! I have about $30 left, but this is what I got.

The lighting was bad, but the far left is a navy cardigan.
Target and Marshalls. Also got some work-out pants not pictured.

H&M (my first time)

Downeast Basics (40% off dress sale) Also got a black and a white undershirt not pictured, plus a necklace that I might exchange.

I feel pretty good about my finds. I still needs shoes and a couple pair of jeans, maybe a couple t-shirts. but I'm happy!

I checked out Anthropologie for the first time in person. Such great stuff. But my money would've only gotten me a total of about 3 items there.

3 Day weekend

2011-01-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

Trent didn't technically have Monday off, but it didn't take too much convincing to get him to take us up north for a couple days. We have some very generous friends that let us use their cabin. We had a great time just enjoying eachother's company and the beautiful surroundings.

Captain Morgan anyone?

Charlotte is 5!

2011-01-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Charlotte's birthday is the day after Christmas. One of her favorite cousin Ashlyn's birthday is December 15 (a year later). This year we had a little party for both of them with Trent's family at the same time. It was fun to separate it from Christmas a little bit. So December 12th we celebrated with the P family.

Then on her actual birthday she had her gifts from us and brownies with candles. The next day I took her out to lunch and in the evening we saw Tangled with Andrea and Ashlyn! Not a bad birthday I would say.

Charlotte is getting so big. She says her F's correctly now which is great, but sometimes I miss the cute way she used to say them as a W. She loves to color and paint. She is sounding letters out as she see's them a little now. She loves her school. She likes dressing up and makeup and everything girly, and she also enjoys playing legos and star wars with her big brother. She is getting really good at riding her bike now. She is meek and sweet, she is good at sharing and loves her Grandma and her Nana. She loves snuggling and kissing and is more affectionate and clingy than the other kids. She can be shy at times. She is tender and sensitive. When I scold her she never talks back, but just nods. I love her and adore her. She is a sweet spirit in our home and a calming influence. I know that she will be a wonderful example of peace and kindness to all around her and we are so lucky to have her as ours!

For now

2011-01-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

I had a post about Charlotte turning five, but we are having major computer issues over here and I have no access to my pictures or many other things, so it will have to wait.

The main things on my mind lately include:
-How to releive my poor Henry from the most horrible ear infection ever.
-New Year's Resolutions to do everything better.
-Wondering why I can't ever get my house clean and why I don't ever want to make dinner, since those are major items in my job description.
-Being irritated that I don't know my pupil distance, cause I really want to order some new glasses from zennioptical.com, like yesterday.
-Wanting to curl up under a blanket and warm up my fingers and toes and fall asleep.

Other things

2010-12-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

Trent's candy cane lights along our driveway are so fantastic! I'm going to miss them.

Christmas shopping seemed to consume way too much of my time November/December. I am glad it is over, but I must say I enjoyed it for a while.

I am getting braver with singing (I'm sure the last year as Primary Chorister in our church has helped immensely).I sang a duet at our church Christmas party and didn't shake from head to toe the whole time, which I consider a success. Unfortunately Henry had not napped and was completely naughty enough for Trent to leave early with him and Paisley and miss the performance. I sang again for Trent's family Christmas Eve which was a little shaky, but improved from last year.

Grandma has the grandkids do a live nativity and reads the story I Believe in Santa which tells us how Santa reminds us of Christ.

We exchange gifts.

The grandkids all get new pajamas.

I embraced a lot of retro toys this year, several that reminded me of my childhood. Some I bought included: care bears, my little ponies, fisher price record player, fisher price cash register, little tykes vintage blue roof dollhouse with awesome accessories.

I always have mixed feelings about Christmas morning. I love watching the kids get so excited and spoiled. But of course, I also feel guilty about the excess. I hope as the kids get older I will find a way to scale down on gifts and take the focus off of them. We do like to find ways to help others and show the kids the joy of giving and I hope we can focus more on that in years to come.

Charlotte joins Tucker playing legos often. It was so fun for her to get her own girl legos and they have been spending tons of time building together the last couple of days.

This plasma car has been a huge hit with everyone in our house! Simply wiggle the steering wheel and off you go. Even Paisley can do it no problem.

Trying to open the play-doh on her own.

She really enjoyed opening the presents by herself as well.

Henry was so excited for Daddy to open the gift he made in preschool.

Pop guns for everyone were a great purchase as well.

The day after Christmas is always a little depressing, but luckily since Charlotte was born that day 5 years ago we have more celebrating to do that day.

Grandma's funeral

2010-12-26T22:17:00.001-07:00

I'm ready to stop being busy and sick and lazy and blog again. My Grandma Donna's funeral was a celebration of her life. We will miss her. But my faith in the gospel gives me an understanding about death, that makes this so much easier. I know she is happy and with those she loves. We mourned and remembered as a family and I was happy to spend time with cousins that I rarely get to see.

Pallbearers

Nephews

Nieces

Trent helping Elora place a rose on the casket

My sister Emily and her son Jonah. (We had the pleasure of their company at our house for almost a whole week, along with her daughter Elora.)

Me with my two cousins born the same summer as me. My Grandma liked to refer to us as the triplets.

Many of my Grandma's grandchildren.

My siblings +3 spouses+Emily's 2 kids -Sarah who had left shortly before this picture. Yes, I have 8 siblings.

Reminiscing

2010-12-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

I like to think about being a kid and playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house on McLellan. I like to remember eating waffles in the sun room and Easter egg hunts in the back yard. I like to think about running up and down the stairs with my cousins and playing games on their computer. I like to remember hiding in the closet under the stairs with those foam pads or the closet in the den with the light with the dangling string. I like to remember the cold floor in the basement pantry and the smell. I remember how awesome the cupboard was that I could climb from the bedroom right into the bathroom where the the bathtub that was sunk into the floor was. I remember sleepovers on the big bed and being scared of the weird water heater room. I remember watching "West Side Story" numerous times. I remember countless games of Life and Skip Bo. I remember the red light in the master bathroom and playing with Grandma's orange lipstick. I remember Grandpa waking up early to take a walk and read his scriptures. I remember holidays and birthdays. But mostly I remember feeling loved and happy.

Grandma Donna

2010-12-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

I want this necklace. so cute.

2010-12-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

here it is.