Fun Family Photos

Ammon was so photogenic and was just eating up the attention from the photographer.
Well, I was excited to have fun but Alivia wasn't on the same page as everyone else. Thanksfully we did manage to get some good ones of her. We had a lot of fun working with Nicole Norris. She did a great job working with us and I'm having a difficult time picking out pictures. These are just a few fun ones that she got.



I absolutely love this one of Ammon. It really shows his fun personality!
Livy didn't want anyone but mom and when she was with me she wouldn't look at the camera or smile.
Is Darren happy or trying to keep from choking? Either way, I love this picture!
There's my cute girl that I adore!


An attempt to get the kids excited to photos. Livy was not impressed prior or after this photo above.
Such a gorgeous day to take pictures! It was a bit chilly but the leaves were gorgeous!

Pop!

Alivia's favorite songs in her life have been 'itsy bitsy spider' and then 'popcorn popping' and now it' '5 little monkeys'. She loves songs with motions. I was trying to get her to them here. Even though I hate listening to my own voice I thought the video was great.

Fun Times Missing Daddy

Die! Die! Die!

I already knew that Sunday would be hard without Darren and so I prepared all week long and stayed up half the night on Saturday making fun things for the kids to do during sacrament meeting. I felt very prepared and confident that I could handle things. Well, I guess Heavenly Father had a different plan in mind. First of all, Ammon would NOT sit with anyone else (I had planned to sit by the Relief Society president so she could help me) and insisted that we sit in an isle in the front with nobody else on it. I didn't want to make a scene and so we sat there. Ammon was doing great until Alivia started screaming and throwing herself on the ground for no apparent reason. I had to haul both of them out of the room and sit them on my lap in the foyer. They sat quietly with no problems in the hall and so I decided to go back in. As soon as we got into the sacrament room Ammon started to hauler out 'Ah! Ah! AH!' as he often does in the garage to make it echo. He would not stop being loud and then started yelling 'Die! Die! Die! Die!' over and over again until we walked out. I don't think he really meant 'die' because I don't think he knows that word or what it means but he was just making noises and saying it over and over again. I was very embarrassed and wanted to just call it quits but I made it through sacrament meeting even though I had to leave 4 times. Hopefully next week will be better. I was just grateful that both Ammon and Alivia are going to nursery. That is my 2 hour brake for the week. Of course they do awesome in nursery and love every minute of it.

I scream, U Scream, We all scream for...

ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We love ice cream pie in our family. I thought I would take it to the next level and try to duplicate a Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake. Oh man! Let me tell you, I wish that you could taste this cake. It was so delicious. It was layers of chocolate ice cream, oreo fudge mixture, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream on top. Unfortunately I got the entire cake put together and then realized it wouldn't fit into our very tiny freezer. While our landlords were gone I snuck it into their chest freezer so it could set up. After we had the party Darren and I barely made a dent in this cake so I went up and offered the rest to our landlords. They were happy to accept it. I will most likely be making this again some day!

How old are you now Darren? Too many to put all the candles on?

NUMMY NUMMY! Digging right in.

Enjoying the beautiful Snow!

Oh the joy of Logan snow! Luckily someone plowed the drive way for us this time. This is right outside our front door the end of February.
03/08/11 we went snow shoeing for Darren's birthday. It was a gorgeous day. Unfortunately we forgot the sunscreen and couldn't be out too long with the kids. Thanks for having a birthday Darren! Loved spending it in the outdoors!
A1 and A2 loved the backpacking. I think they would've enjoyed the ride all day long if we would've let them.
Of course right after lunch A2 was walking on the gravel and biffed it and scrapped up her nose. Had to end the trip with some tears :(
Love the gogurts!

Little Minions

These are some army clothes Dad gave Darren for Christmas. The kids enjoyed wearing them for dress up.
My sweet little girl is getting big so fast! She's been so cuddly lately. She's getting some molars and has learned how to get our attention us with her alarming animal sounds. She is best at a hissing growl, cat and squawk (which is often practiced during early morning hours like 2:30 a.m. until I come to her aid).
Both babies love the bath. Their favorite toys are old bottle containers that they can fill up and dump out. Of course we have to make sure the water stays in the tub and not dumped onto the ground.
First ice cream cone experience. Both kids were rubbing ice cream on their noses and giggling uncontrollably.

Jump baby jump! Kids favorite indoor activity when the T.V. is off limits.
Cheese! This is Buzz's new favorite thing to say whenever he sees the camera now. In this case Ammon would say 'Nummy nummy!'
Super kids!
Shake it! I think Livy was dancing here. This has it's got to be the cutest pose I've ever seen!

Out of the mouth of Babes

I had Ammon pick his own breakfast the other day. We went to the storage room and he picked the raisin bran box. We went to the kitchen and I poured it in his bowl. He stepped up on the bar stool and looked into his bowl and said, 'Dog food!' I laughed because I didn't even think he knew what dog food was. I said, 'Eat your cereal.' As he opened his mouth he said, "Dog food!". I love that kid!

Old pictures

We just got the pictures off of our damaged camera. There are some of the kids when mom was here to do her taxes and from my 10 year High School reunion that me and my best friend Tatum went to. I dropped my brand new camera on the cement when taking Tatum to the airport. It was sad but we got some fun pictures (worth a $95 repair). I have now been lectured about wearing the wrist band that is attached to the camera. Who knew that you were actually suppose to wear that thing :). Sorry, there are a lot of the same thing but I just can't decide which one is best so I have to include them all.

Cutest kids

Tanya got some great pictures of the kids while we were there. Thanks Tan for including us in your photo shoot! The kids are adorable.

2011 happenings

Well, many things have gone down in 2011 already. Me and the kids went to Aunt Tanya and Uncle Ryan's for a month to help with the birth of baby Clara. Unfortunately she didn't have the baby before we left (not for a week later!). We had a blast hanging out with Calvin and helping Aunt Tanya and Uncle Ryan. I even got to help paint the basement. So sad we didn't get to see Clara Isabelle before she was born but hopefully we'll get to see her soon. I didn't get any pictures because I left the camera with Darren. I'll upload what I got from Tanya. Poor Darren had to be at home going to school for 3 weeks while we were away. Tanya got me addicted to the food network. I've learned a lot from 'The Worst Cooks in America'. I even made a very nice looking meal for Valentines day from the tips I've learned from the show.

Alivia is saying tons of words like dog, shoe, coat, meow meow. You have to catch them the first time though because she won't say it again. She is doing the cutest mischievous laugh right now. When I get out of the car to get her out of her car seat she opens her mouth as big as it will go and laughs out loud. Makes me giggle every time! Ammon and Alivia are starting to play really well together. Ammon still goes running and screaming away from Alivia some times. He gets scared of her at times when she chases him but he know how to get back at her. Today he was blowing on her tummy and making her laugh. They are so much fun! All Ammon can think of is cars, cars, cars. "Watch cars"! "Watch Cars"! "Watch cars mom"! "Watch cars"! Finally I give in and let him watch it. The first thing he says when he gets out of bed is (in a whisper) "Eat mom". "get out of bed mom", "eat". "get out of bed mom" "eat". Finally I get up. "watch cars"! "watch cars mom". "Eat". "watch cars mom".

Our ward started a stroller boot camp that I've been going to. It's great times! Love the women in our new ward. They are so much fun and very good company.

T's 2011 Goals

So, I was reading my friend Andrea's blog and she has inspired me to work harder at improving myself and set some goals for 2011. I know that if I will do some spiritual things for myself that I will feel better about myself and get more accomplished during the day/week/year. Here are the goals I am setting for 2011:

Spiritual Goals

• Read the scriptures or ensign every morning at 4:45 a.m
• Say morning and evening prayers every day
• Take time to ponder
• Read the ensign completely each month
• Write in my journal every Sunday or at least once a week

Physical Goals

• Do yoga or some kind of exercise 5 days a week at 5:15 a.m.
  
• Do not eat after 8 p.m.
• Go to bed by 9:30 every night except Sunday (I have to work at 10:45 p.m. every Sunday so that is not a possibility)
• Run a 5K with Tessa this summer
• Lose 10 more lbs
  

Mental Goals

• Read 'Unlikely Truths of Motherhood' by Katie Van Dyke
• Learn something new about the FLEX system each Friday
• Read 4 books that interest me this year (that will almost be more than I've read in my entire life and so this is a good goal for me)...1 book that I am thinking of is the biography on President Monson and that will probably take me all year.
  

Family Goals

• Pay off credit cards
• Get $3,000 in savings
• Get Ammon potty trained by 2 1/2 (Feb 2011)
• Do some kind of physical and mental activity with the kids every day
• Increase our food storage each month
• Find a way to develop some patience (more prayers throughout the day)
• Go on a date each week with Darren

Talent Goals

• Make 7 cards a month
• Dance at least once a week
• Play my clarinet and drum once a week

Now, having written all of these goals I need to go make me a schedule! I'm excited for this new year! Wish me luck!