My (last) Week in review.. part 2

Yeah so, I'm slow to get the second part of my last week posted.... but here it finally is!

So Friday I had the great pleasure of going through the Temple with my dearest friend Rachel. It was really beautiful and it's been a while since I've gone, so I'm glad I had the opportunity to go with her. :) Also, her parents (my adoptive parents for all story purposes) took me to lunch with them and Rachel's Branch President from CA and his wife at the ever fabulous Panda Garden. Highlight of the meal... Rachel's BP unkowingly took a giant spoonful of "Wasabi" (hot japanese mustard if you don't know) and his face like seriously almost exploded! I felt so bad for the poor man! But I'm happy to say he survived after much gagging and water guzzling and finally eating something not so hot.

Dang we look just fabulous!

Rachel, her parents and her branch president and his wife from California. They were great people!

Ray's parents. I'm pretty much adopted into their family so I call em Mom and Dad sometimes.

So that was my awesome friday....

Saturday however.... not so awesome. Here's the story. We had some friends over for a visit and Kaitlyn was having a "bad night" in the fact that she wouldn't go to bed. Bedtime with her is a constant battle any more. Usually it starts around 8 when she starts to feel tired, but gets super hyper because she doesn't want to go to bed yet. Around 9 is when i generally try to put her down to bed after a quick routine being jammies and diaper, brush teeth, get a drink, read a story, say prayers, put on a movie and she goes to sleep. But the past oh... 2 months or so Kaitlyn firmly believes she can not go to sleep without someone laying next to her and tickling her back basically all night or she wont go to sleep. It's screaming and crying and tantruming and all that fun stuff that goes with a 2 year old. And if you leave her room while she's sleeping, she generally wakes up withing 10 minutes and either cries at the gate (if i have it up), climbs the gate, or just plain comes running in screaming at me to come lay down by her which wakes up her sister. Always not goood! After these 2 months of this and no change even when I've tried pretty much everything from letting her cry it out to giving her constant attention to a little attention... nothing was working!

SO! Saturday I had finally just said "Enough is ENOUGH!" Alex and I decided to close the door to her room and basically hold it shut because she can unlock it and can climb the gate so she can escape when she wants to. So we said we'd just let her scream and cry and whatever no matter what we were not going to go in until it was quiet. So we close the door, immediatly she comes pounding and screaming trying to open it, but i was holding the nob so she couldn't turn it. This made her MAD! She starts pulling out toys all around her room in rebellion. First I hear the dishes from her play kitchen come flying out as she's screaming and crying, then she came and checked the door again and screamed. Next the stuffed animals. More cries. Then I start hearing louder crashes and bangs. I want to cry because I don't want her to be upset and doing this, but it's tough love. Then a LOUD CRASH!!! It made me nervous so me and alex finally went in despite that she was still crying.. i didn't want her to get hurt.

We opened the door. The crying immediatly stopped. Alex and I stood at the door for about 10 minutes just speechless............... Seriously.

I didn't know what else to do about 20 mintues after standing there so I took pictures becuase I don't think i could even begin to explain. And the pictures still don't do it justice!

Okay so here's Kaitlyn's room when it's clean....

This panoramic didn't turn out as good as the other one.. some of the pics didn't quite line up.. but it's still gives you the idea... and trust me the pink and purple stripes really are straight!

And THIS.... is what her room looked like when me and Alex walked in....

I put the pictures together in a panoramic view to possibly convey the damage. Bed moved, toys and all that scattered everywhere. What really scares me is she pulled down the TV and the shelf above it, and managed to tip over her huge kitchen cabinet that weighs a minimum 50 pounds!

The other picture didn't show this but her side dresser that usually goes next to her bed is moved clear across the room under her build in desk. That is awkward to move and weighs about 25 pounds. I swear she turned into like the Hulk or something!!! (please note Kaitlyn laying in the bottom corner of the picture drinking her bottle like it's no big deal. Luckily all she got was a very small bruise on her cheek which she just says it's from " i make a crash! It give me boo boo's!"

So this all took place at like 1:30 in the morning, and i hadn't slept the entire night before, so all this stress and chaos led to me having a panic attack.. yeah that was exciting! Then Kaitlyn got really serious and apologized to me and Alex. We could tell she was sincerely sorry because she was really sad and made sure we were looking at her when she said "Daddy, i sorry i make a mess. i help clean up!" followed by a hug and she started to clean up her toys. It was a miserable night, and letting her trash her room really didn't help because she still does the same basic things at night, but we're working on other options. I'm open to suggestions as well!!! :)

SO! that's about it! i hope you enjoyed it. Next blog will be Kylie's birthday pictures! She's turning one on Wednesday and I'll be happy to post pics from her party when it's all said and done! EXCITING!

Welcome to my week in review!

Alright campers! Ya ready for this? OK! This is what has happened in my life in the last week! (technically 5 days.. but hey)

SO! On Tuesday Kaitlyn, Kylie, my mother, and me went up north to visit Jessie and give her a hand organizing all her wedding gifts and such in her first house. We arrived at about 3:30 and met Jessie at her work, which is an awesome tanning salon. She let me get tan.. so I'm a smidge less albino now but you can't really tell because I don't tan enough.. especially if i stand next to Jessie who makes me look like I've never seen the light of day, but it was still fun. My tanning session was followed by dinner at Olive Garden, which was tastey good. Anyone who knows me well knows I am a pasta addict and love my noodles! :)

After dinner we went to see Uncle Chad down on the farm. Which was SO fun because Kaitlyn and Kylie got to ride his horse, Leo.... who Kaitlyn lovingly renamed "Wee-woh". Kaitlyn was absolutely loving it... kylie was more just bugged to have sun in her eyes. Ha ha! So after they rode Leo with Aunt Jessie, we went out into the field where chads dad was training their BIG horses for a horse pull. (Horse pull- Great big horses... seriously the biggest horses you will ever see... are hooked up to sleds with a bunch of weight on them. Horse teams compete to see how much weight they can pull for like 15 feet each time weight is added to the sled. it's CRAZY how strong those horses are!!!) SO Kaitlyn hopped on the sled and helped "drive the horsies!" which she thought was amazing. I love the dust pictures cuz it's like "Where's Kaitlyn?". So after a big lap around the field, Kaitlyn said by to Leo, who was a gentleman and bowed to her, then she blew him a kiss... and he tried to return the favor.. which made her a little bit nervous, but was still cute and made her giggle afterward.



Cute right?! We had a lot of fun, even if it was pretty hot that day. Then with our dusty dirty sandals we were all wearing on the farm (brilliant right?) we decided to go to the mall and do a little shopping. Got myself an awesome new shirt, Kaitlyn got a cute new bracelet she doesn't hardly take off, and kylie got some new pjs which were desperately needed! We headed to the hotel after shopping, got a little sleep, then went to Jessies house the next morning to help her decorate and make her house super cute, then went home on Wednesday afternoon. I think it was a fairly successful trip!

OK! THURSDAY! Got up, got ready... went to a chiropractor appointment.. came home and noticed that our dog Daisy wasn't at the gate where she usually is when i come home. I go in to peak on her and lo and behold there were 2 little puppies in there!!! We knew she was pregnant (something i failed to blog about) but she was still going! Luckily alex's friend Skyler had come over to see Alex (who was working) and he jumped in to help with the kids while i helped Daisy, who by this point was seeming a little stressed and tired. I also called my mom to come help with the kids, as to not dump them off on poor Skyler. So I went in to help her deliver 5 more puppies, two of which scared me a little because they weren't breathing, but they are alright now. It was really exciting and I'd never seen puppies born before so I was a little nervous too. But here are some pictures of them! We have 3 girls and 4 boys... all SUPER adorable! We plan to keep one of them, but the rest will be sold to good homes and some are already going to family and friends. :)


Darling I know right?! So Iwill finish this post tomorrow as I'm having crazy busy times right now and can't finish. but this is what's up! SO Enjoy and see you tomorrow!

Random bits of Rochelle

My dearest amigo "Katria" did this on her blog and said no one else would do it... so I'm doing it mildly to spite her but more because i think they are entertaining.


1. Do you always answer your phone?
Only if i recognize the number, or i'll call back if they leave me a message.

2. Its four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
Probably one of my friends either asking a "mom emergency" question or having a melt down.

3. If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I always wanted blue eyes.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
I truly enjoy strawberry limeades!

5. Do you own a digital camera?
Yes, used to have another, but sold it, but my mom and dad let me use their nice one too. :)

6. Have you ever had a pet fish?
Yes, Goldy. Won her at the school Halloween carnival. That tiny little goldfish grew great big and lived for like 3 years!

7. Favorite Christmas song(s):
I'm with Katria on Carol of the Bells. And O Holy night is a good one.

8. What's on your wish list for your birthday?
I fiercely want new clothes... also a trip to Disneyland wouldn't be bad!

9. Can you do push ups?
Yes, not a lot tho... and probably only girl push- ups. but I'm working on it!

10. Can you do a chin up?
I really don't think i could if my life depended on it.

11. Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Both... because that means my kids will grow up which is exciting because i can get my life back a little.. but makes me very nervous because it will all be new to me. Also... future means again... which is always scary!!

12. Do you have any saved texts?
Yeah.. way too many!

13. Ever been in a car wreck?
Luckily not too bad of ones, but technically I've been in 3. but no one really got hurt! just a little bit of whiplash.

14. Do you have an accent?
Some people say I have a "hick" accent... and some people say I have that "teen" accent... which i think just means I slur my words because i'm lazy. But I'm really good at doing other accents too... i work a mean brittish accent!

15. What is the last song to make you cry?
It's the strangest thing.. since I've had kids, I am a big boob and cry at pretty much everything. I started crying when Kaitlyn was singing the tinkerbell song "fly to your heart". Basically any song about children and such could make me cry. But the last song I heared that really mad me cry is "Baby, mine" redone by Jim Brickman. Gets me everytime!

16.Plans tonight?
Not yet... but I intend to come up with something besides sitting on my butt or having my kids driving me nutters!

17. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Yeah. not a happy place to be. The "THUD" sound my head makes when i hit is a little bit entertaining tho.

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday.
Dinner.... Mini golf passes... and Go cart tickets......... me and alex had a date night.

19. Have you ever been given roses?
Yes and I'm always willing to accept more!

20. Current worry?
Everything.

21. Current hate right now?
Finances and business

22. Met someone who changed your life?
Several.

23. How will you bring in the New Year?
Probably quietly watching the party in times square and the fireworks in town from my balcony in an attempt to not wake my kids up.

24. What song represents you?
"You had a bad day"

25. Name three people who might complete this?
hmmm... well Katria already did... maybe Erin and uh... Lindsey?

26. Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
Possibly but just to relive some of my best times.

27. Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
Only my hubby... goin on 6 years this fall. (not married.. just dating)

28. Does anyone love you?
I'm pretty sure a few people do... at least i hope so!

29. Ever had someone sing to you?
Alex used to sing to me every night over the phone when we were dating. Still does on occasion.

30. When did you last cry?
Yesterday.

31. Do you like to cuddle?
As long as I'm not sweating.

32. Have you held hands with anyone today?
Does my toddler count?

33. Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
Generally old friends, but I do have few new ones.

34. Do you like pulpy orange juice?
ACK! Pulpy orange juice is one of my biggest pet peeves! I don't like "chunky" drinks thanks!

Some scrapbookin goodness!

So I've been doing a little bit of digital scrapbooking lately, and I thought I'd share my works with you. Now given it's nothing fabulous... but it's a way for me to remember things about my life and to share those memories with others. :)



Sad to say it but this is the first scrapbook page I've ever really done of kylie. I made a little brag book back a month or so ago, but that wasn't custom or anything. So here is Kylies very first scrapbook page!


Okay so this i've been working on for a while. this is a mini album of Kaitlyns first birthday.






It's not finished yet, and i know she's what like 2 1/2 now, but it's cute!

so that's what i got for you right now... more soon to come as i am making more time for myself to do some digital scrapbooking and get a little bit caught up. Enjoy and see ya soon!

Jessie and Chad's guestbook

I didn't want to post all the engagement pictures, but i made a slideshow version of the guestbook for you all to see which has a lot of pictures in it. I made the whole thing in photoshop with some of my digital scrapbooking supplies. I sent the whole thing into Shutterfly and had it hard bound which looked really nice. I plan to make more books through them because of how nice this turned out to be! As you will notice, the wedding was country themed and this book turned out super cute and tied it all in. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Make a Smilebox photobook

The return of the delay fish....

SO! I'm still alive! Just had the crazy busiest few months of my life i think. So here's what's been going on.

1- My sister got married! YAY JESSICA!!! Her wedding was so beautiful! This is were the busy part comes in. I made 6 trip up north in the 2 months leading up to my sisters wedding entailing: I was matron of honor, 2 Bridal Fairs in Provo to help with wedding decisions, trip up for engagement photo shoot, trip up for Bridal Portrait shoot, 2 Bridal showers (one in STG on up there), 2 bridesmaids dress fittings for alterations, designing and printing a LOT of invitatons, editing and printing engagement and bridal portraits, creating floral arrangements for table centerpieces, designing and printing a custom mini scrapbook/ guestbook, scanning old pictures and creating a DVD slideshow of the bride and groom, getting a flower girl outfit for Kaitlyn, making matching hair bows for the flower girls, making jessie a hair bow for the luncheon, making a music CD for the wedding ceremony, actually getting to the wedding with husband and 2 children alive and dressed for the occasion.

I think that's about it... give or take a few projects or so. It may seem like a lot, but it was worth it for my sis! :) Here's a few pics from the invites, showers and bridals. Wedding pics (which we hired someone to do because i was in the line) should be coming shortly.



Nextly, Alex and I celbrated our 4 year anniversary in June. We had tickets to go see Footloose out at Tuachan, which was FABULOUS. I just can't believe we've been together for 4 years! It seems like our wedding was just yesterday, but I guess time flies when your having fun right?

Alex is really lucky then way things worked out for him holiday wise. First he gets fathers day, which I made him breakfast in bed, and Kaitlyn colored him a card. Then he gets our anniversary, followed by his birthday. All 3 of these holidays fall within about 2 weeks of eachother. Not to mention that the day after his birthday is the 4th of July, which bring fireworks and all that excitement. Lucky dog. Anywho, we celebrated Alex's birthday, then the fourth of July, which was super fun. We go watch the big fireworks in town from Alex's grandparents who live in town so we get a GREAT view from thier front yard. Here's a few pics from that.




Things are staying pretty busy around here, but we're doing really well. I'm going to try to blog more often because of just some of the funny little things that happen in my life. i want to try to post them on here not only for you all to read, but for myself as a way of remembering. It's getting pretty late, and I'm super tired. So for now, enjoy and see you soon!

Wedding plans and Easter

Firstly, i apologize for not posting for the entire month of April! It was a very busy month! NOW!

HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY!!!

I am very happy to say I am celebrating this event all day long! As part of my celebration, I am updating my blog, because it is a form of scrapbooking to me because it's archiving photos and memories! I am going to be out and about around some of the scrapbook stores today with all the free scrap parties i can go to and freebies if your in the store! :) No I'm not going to be shopping, because heaven knows I don't need anymore scrapbook supplies right now! And if I get any digital scrapbooking done, which I plan to later this evening, I will post those to my blog here for all to see!

SO! Here's what's been going on lately!

As I said in my last post, I took a trip up north to see my sister Jessie's graduation from hair school about a month ago, and I did a photo shoot of her model she had to do as part of the graduation. I'll just pick out one of the favorites as too not overpower you with all the pictures that will be in this post. So she styled her hair and did her make-up to go with a "Vogue" theme of the graduation. And as an added note, Jessie and MADE the hat! Way cute huh! FABULOUS!


Here's jessie and chad after the graduation! Way to go sis!

So after the graduation we went to go get some dinner with Chad's family, then went back to the hotel. Then after a little bit of sitting there, Jessie calls and asks if she can come visit us at the hotel. She her and Chad show up and *SPARKLE SPARKLE*!!!


My sister is engaged (congrats little sis), and I am helping with all the wedding plans! SO! 3 trips to South Jordan, 2 Bridal Fairs, and 1 engagement portrait session later, here i am! Haven't finished editing the engagements yet because I just took them like a week ago and have been crazy busy since, so when I'm done, I'll put a few up! :)

Next topic... We had Easter!

Coloring some easter eggs at grandmas house!



Kylie's first Easter! Look how cute she looks in her dress!


Kaitlyn got some "Pet Shop" stuff in her Easter "basket"(it was kind of a jewelery box)


Then we went up to the Gifford Easter party at Alex's grandpas feed lot.

Kaitlyn with Grandpa Dean


She is a little obsessive about the chickens up there...

So that's kinda whats been going on. and i'll have some more goodness to add later today (don't judge me if i dont!)

Quick update

I haven't posted anything in a while so I thought it best to give you a quick update on how we've been. Alex has been working away on some really exciting deals, so we'll see how that works out. Kaitlyn is getting really smart! She's pretty much got her ABC's down, and is starting to learn some of the sounds each letter makes. She also has been more into the mommy taking care of baby thing by dragging this little " Fur Real Friends" baby panda everywhere and feeding it and rocking it to sleep. And she discovered her cousins "littlest pet shop" toys and is getting into playing pretend with a few we've got for her.
Kylie's first tooth popped in yesterday! It's the bottom front left tooth. It's just a tiny white line right now, but that sucker is sharp if she bites ya! Also, she can almost sit up on her own. She's a good roller, but just can't quite get the balance to sit on her own yet.
As for me, most of you know I've been crazy sick with what I thought was mono, which tests said it wasn't,, but still never managed to get a diagnosis. Luckily it's mostly gone now, besides a sore throat and earache. On a happier note, I'm super excited to take a trip up north to see my sister this Friday. And blessed day, I get to go without my kids!!! Ha ha! Not that I don't love them, but I have yet to take a trip without them since kylie was born. I'm going with my parents to watch jessies graduation an staying a night and my awesome alex is staying home with the girls. I'll take some pics and letcha know how it went! As for right now... I'm taking a nap!

X marks the spot!

Jumping on the train with Katria and Chilly...

"X" marks the things I have done during my lifetime:

(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
(X) Been to Hawaii
(X) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
(O) Watched someone die
(X) Been on a plane (don't remind me... it makes me sick!)
(O) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost (always...)
(X) Been an extra in a film (I'm counting TV with Ray. We were so pro!)
(X) Been to a TV show taping
(O) Visited Washington, DC
(O) Traveled by San Francisco trolley
(O) Traveled to Europe
(O) Traveled to Asia
(O) Went to the top of the World Trade Center
(O) Been to Notre Dame (Cathedral)
(O) Been to Jamaica
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Skipped a final exam
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Watched the birth of a child
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only
(O) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
(O) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies in 2009
(O) Been deep sea fishing
(O) Driven across the United States
(O) Been in a hot air balloon
(O) Been sky diving
(O) Gone snowmobiling
(O) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(O) Seen the Old Faithful Geyser
(O) Seen the Statue of Liberty
(O) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(X) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
(O) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
(3/4 of an X)Been to Disneyland, Disney World, and Japan's Disneyland (no japan)
(X) Been pulled over by a police officer (6 times with NO tickets!)
(O) Gotten a ticket
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(X) Been in a rain forest (Artificial ones and the rainforest cafe!)
(X) Seen whales in the ocean (made me sea sick!)
(O) Been to Niagara Falls
(O) Ridden on an elephant
(O) Swam with dolphins
(O) Been to the Olympics
(O) Sat on a jury (I bailed on jury duty! don't tell!)
(X) Learned to juggle
(O) Walked on the Great Wall of China
(O) Saw a glacier
(O) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
(O) Been snow-skiing
(O) Been to Westminster Abbey
(O) Been to the Louvre
(O) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game
(O) Been to a National Football League game
(O) Been to a Professional Soccer game

My Kylie Album!

OKAY! So finally I have an actual scrapbooking type project to post on here! I had some extra time this morning and finished up this little thing i've been working on for a while. It's a little generic, cuz that's all the program will let you do, but it's still cute! SO... enjoy!!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Activity Days and my kiddies.

Today I got to be in charge of our "Activity Day" activity. They used to call it "Achievement Days" but someone or other changed it. Anyway, I was so excited because we got to do a scrapbooking activity!!! The girls had to do something to pass off in their little progress books they have, so i came up with these little "Count your blessings" mini albums! I cut out some 4x4 tag pages on my cricut and then just got out as much misc. cutsie, 10-11 yr old girly stuff I could find. I was so excited because this is my first time doing an activity since I've been called as a leader and it turned out that they absolutely loved it! They decorated all the little pages and were "awe-struck" by my scrapbook room, which I'm proud to say is incredibly clean and organized, accept for the closet (still getting there). So I have become the really cool leader and we've thought of doing other things like making bows, and even a "glamor shot" activity where they get all fancied up and be super models! I am really excited about this because I get to be involved in a church organization and be able to help all these girls with their "faith in god" award program, but it's really not all that hard to me. Just fun!

In other news, Kylie is starting to inchworm crawl around. She can scoot a few inches on her tummy. She is baby talking a lot more now too which I love! She says "Dadadadada" the most, which is good for me because Alex always thinks it's a cry for "DAD" when she needs something and he jumps right in! HAHA. Kaitlyn in the last week has gotten down about 20 out of 26 letters of the alphabet, both capitol and lower case. The only issue I find she is really struggling with is she keeps confusing the capitol O and an oval shape. so if she see's an O... it's and "Ov".

But I got a few new pics to post so here ya go.

Kylie being her adorable little self!

Kaitlyn LOVES playing with her little kitchen. Her most recent favorite has been having tea parties with me at 3AM.

A family moment..... seems kinda like it belongs on a church ceiling somewhere...

Kaitlyn found this hat at her Great Grandma's house and didn't want to leave without it. She thinks its the most beautiful thing ever. Hey! I think she looks cute!

The kindess of strangers

I feel it very necessary to tell this story of what has just happened. Our family, like most in the country right now, have been struggling finacially, and are pushing through the rough times. We have been kind of at eachothers throats lately because of our stress and as sad as it is to say, struggling spiritually as well. So tonight, Alex, the girls, and I decided to go out to eat even though we really couldn't afford it. We went to cracker barrel because alex thought it sounded good to him, even tho we like never eat there. We had a pretty good meal, and I personally was worried about how much the bill would be. But when the waitress came to bring us our bill, she said "just so you know, the couple that was next to you already took care of your bill." I had only glances at them once while we were eating, it was a little older couple and they had left before we had a chance to thank them. I had never met them and don't know if I'll ever see them again. But it was just a really great gesture that touched my heart. So thank you whoever you are. You have proven to me that 1- god still loves me even if I am having a hard time. 2- that there is hope for mankind even if I Obama is in charge (ha ha) and 3- that no matter what happens, there are still people out there willing to help someone in need, even if they don't know it.

Stress and Trauma at the Park

So today I met up with some of my friends at the park to let our little children play at the playground. They were all having fun and going on the slides and doing really well, so I sat and watched Kaitlyn while sitting with Kylie. Alex showed up for a few minutes, and I had hoped he would stay and help supervise, which would have really been a great thing. Shortly after he left, Kaitlyn was running around and playing on the playground, which is awkwardly close to a very busy road. So she comes up by me on the sidewalk, then suddenly starts running out toward the street!! She ran between two cars so there is NO WAY anyone could have seen her coming. I am literally screaming at her to stop, as I had a baby on my lap and couldn't get up very quickly, but blessed be my friend Shay who jumped up and grabbed her just as a car passed!! I was in like a mild state of shock and it startled Kaitlyn pretty bad too!

So as I sit here shaking, thinking of the event, I make a note to myself.... Don't play at that park unless I have Alex, a large group of friends to help, or there is literally NO cars on the road. I suggest a different park for next play date. Not that it wasn't fun up to that point... just scary and I would feel better at a more secluded park where the odds of a kid getting hit by a car are MUCH slimmer.

Besides that, I'm now going to enjoy my weekly "scrapbook night" and hopefully make some progress that I can soon post something finished! :)

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well... my birthday was actually last week, but I just have to express my joy as to how good of a day it was. Firstly, my husband let me sleep in a bit, which is always nice. Then out of all the fabulousness suprises in the world, my bestest best buddy Ray came all the way from California to see little ol me on my birthday, seeing as how we couldn't make it down to disneyland like we planned. She took me to lunch at the bear paw cafe, where i saw fit to take this lovely picture....


(pardon the quality, these are from my phone.)

So we had fun times hanging out, shopping a bit and redoing my fabulous fireplace floral arrangement, which i failed to take a picture of yet. But it looks totally awesome!!! So after she had to leave me, which was sad.... Alex and I got to go out to dinner without the kids! (thank you erin and i'm sorry they were evil!) We went to this steak place that's kinda fancy, and then got this awesome chocolate fondu for dessert with all these wonderful things to dip in it. And believe it or not, they gave us edible orchids! yeah! cool huh!? I wasn't brave enough to try it, but Alex did. It was kinda sad to drench such a pretty flower in molten chocolate.... it was like you could hear it screaming almost....


ANYWAY... I had a really good birthday, which is special for me cuz those who know me understand how few birthdays i've had without a mini disaster striking (no i'm not being a drama queen about it... my birthday is just jinxed!) So much thanks to my best friend Ray, my hubby, and my brother and his wifey for making it a good day!

Meet Sophie!

So on Friday, January 30th... the Gifford family increased by one! We discovered this little cutie on one of our many afternoon drives we like to take, when we saw a sign for Lab/Wiemaraner puppies. Alex has been wanting to get another big dog since Ruby(our last big brown lab) has been gone. He was so excited at first when he picked one out... then after thinking it over through out the day decided against it... then the next day I managed to talk him back into it and low and behold... we got a new dog!!

Her name is Sophie Ann, and she it about 8 weeks old. She is so cuddly and such a sweetheart. The day we brought her home, she would not leave my side. I cuddled her all day and she would just fall asleep in my arms. I am her comfort blanket since she left her brothers, sisters, and parents. It's sad, but she seems to be very happy with us now. She and our Corgi, Daisey, are getting along very well. They love to wrestle around and cuddle up next to each other at night. I didn't get a chance to take a lot of GOOD pictures of her, but you can at least see her for now! :)

As for me... I'm off to bed, cause honestly... who blogs at 2 AM!?

Isn't she so adorable?!?!

Look how good she matches our couch! Who needs more accent pillows when you can get a dog!

Confessions of a grown up Disney fan...

As I watch my daughters grow up, I am excited to see their interest in all things Disney. We love watching some of the old Disney classics so as they can know the characters at Disneyland and be excited about it. Oddly enough as I watch some of these movies I haven't seen in years, I discover some new and rather interesting points in these films. Yesterday, in watching Peter Pan, I discovered that Peter is probably one of the most arrogant main characters ever and he's quit the pimp! Also, I find it odd how much tinkerbell is celebrated now when in the movie she is rather maniacal, openly admitting to tryin to kill wendy! Another movie I was pretty disturbed by is Tarzan. At the end when Clayton dies... Honestly probably one of the scariest Disney deaths I've seen! I mean come on!!!! You just don't show a man hanging there dead with lightning flashing! It's scary!!!

I find myself enjoying but over analyzing the newer movies of Disney, like the Little Mermaid prequel, Wall-E, and tinkerbell. They are much more kid friendly and politically correct, though they are still cartoons and some of the basic laws of nature don't apply. But hey, that's why it's entertaining right?

Also... You may have noticed I'm attempting to revamp my page, so hang in there with me until it's beautiful again!

A hopefully LONG blog.

Okay! So I know I'm a lame blogger and because of such, no one really checks my blog. So for those few followers who have nothing new to read, this ones for you!

SO! Firstly here are some of my pictures from Christmas!

How beautiful my sister in laws tree is! I love it! SO cute!
This is my precious niece Andrea, who is about 2 months younger than Kylie. She's a very chill baby and I love her to death!
One of our family traditions which i know quite a few families that do as well, opening our pajamas on Christmas Eve so we can look cute for Christmas morning!

Me and my Ky-Pie just hanging out. Kylie was very entranced by all the shiny packages and crinkling of tissue paper.

My dad enjoying one of life's simple pleasures.... the Slinky.

K... This is one of my family traditions that we've had for as long as I can remember. This is "The Big Sock". My grandma and grandpa Anderson bring it with them from California every year and fill it with all kinds of random toys and candy and just anything you can think of really. Then it is dumped out on the floor and everyone goes mad grabbing for misc. stuff until it's gone. It's kinda random, but I LOVE it!


Kaitlyn and Grandma Bev checking out the spoils of the big sock. (I have no idea what she's holding!)
This year was our first Christmas Eve we stayed in our own house as a family. the past few years we've stayed with family but we thought it'd be fun for the girls to have Santa come to our house this year!
Kylie Grace totally mystified by the lights on our tree!

Check out what Santa brought Kaitlyn! 5 AM Christmas morning she came downstairs and saw this slide and in her sleepy, broken, 2 year old speech, started saying "SWIDE! SWIDE! WEEEEE!" I swear she went down that thing 50 times before we could get her to look at any other presents!

This cabinet was really meaningful for me to do for Kaitlyn. It used to be in my little play kitchen when I was a little girl and I thought it was gone, but my aunt actually had it and it had gone through so many layers of paint over 20 years that we had to sand it down through about 8 different layers of paint so we could repaint it. We added new hardware and matched it to the little kitchen she got for her birthday. She was so excited! which is really good because Alex was up till 4 AM christmas eve painting it so it could be ready!

Opening some gifts.

Kylie's gift from Santa! it's a "Jumperoo". Oh the entertainment!


As you can tell, she was ECSTATIC about everything!

Alex got cowboys stuff.... he's a happy camper!





Next is photo's from the christmas lights at the temple. My dad is the sole coordinator of all the christmas lights for the St. George temple. He did an awesome job this year so me and ray went to document and enjoy some of his work!



A lot of people were really impressed with the new LED lights they added to the temple grounds this year. They are super bright and look so beautiful!



Ray in all her photographing glory.... the butt sticking out is a must!


Light by the front gate! SO pretty!!

The visitor center was all decked out in christmas as well! Jesus is always in the holiday mood! :)

Please note, as part of the volunteer set up crew, I personally helped wrap these trees which have about 30 strands of lights on each tree! I got dizzy after walking around wrapping the trunks.



Now, here's some good stuff with my kids!



Big sister holding little sister! So precious!




Kaitlyn was Tinkerbell for Halloween. (Yes i know it was a while ago but I wanted to show you anyways!)

Kylie was a mermaid! SO cute!



Playing in the snow in Zion National Park.


Kylie's Blessing Day!


Slidin at Jumpin Jacks!
Kylie wanted to ride too! :)

My beautiful daughter and her adorable smile!




Let's wrap things up with a naked baby picture! Nothin like a cute nude girl to put a smile on your face!! lol :)

Well, that's about all I got for right now, it's getting late and i'm hearing a little one still awake upstairs. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and I'm REALLY going to start updating more often! Toodles for now!