update - this is LONG but has really cute pictures

It has been two months since I updated.. sorry. Life has been eventful and I’ll pick up where I left off in September…

The boys found Brent’s ear muff things and had so much fun putting them on and they looked so darn cute I had to bust out the camera

Mid-month I finally gave in to Brent’s constant badgering and we took Daniel to get his first haircut. He did so well and, as expected, he looks like a little “old” man.


- Before, I loved his little mullet -

- During, look at that smile! -

- After, don't tell me he doesn't look like a little old man -

Near the end of the month Daniel and I few to Utah to attend the baby blessing of my brother John’s new daughter Serena. The Navy transferred him to Norfolk, VA (from Oak Harbor, WA) and they were making the drive across the country and stopped in Provo along the way where most of my family is so we could all be together for that event. I had a wonderful time and wish I could have stayed longer. Here are some pictures from that trip;

- Me and Mary (1 week from delivery) I'd never seen her pregnant in person before.. I got such a kick out of seeing my little sister all big and preggers.. she had such a cute waddle.

- My studly brother John, My dad and Daniel -

- My beautiful Mother and me -

- My equally beautiful Grandma Eddington and me (can you see where I get my eyes?) -

- 3 of my nieces, you can't get a more precious picture than this -

- John holding his new little angel, Serena who sleeps like a rock -

October was an extremely busy month but it had many highlights. On the 10^th I celebrated my birthday and my neighbor/friend organized a surprise birthday party/ice cream social for three of us ladies that had birthdays that week. I was really touched since nothing like that has ever been done for me. I did meet my goal for my weight by my birthday. I had a good experience doing my Biggest Loser diet and so I started it over again after the 30 days were up. I ended up losing 4 pounds in those 30 days and another 1 pound in the second 30 days. Granted I didn’t follow it as strictly the second time as the first. I’m almost to the point where I am going to repeat it one more time. The food was good and I really liked being told what to eat for every meal and snack every day. It left no room for cheating.

Then came Halloween. Jacob is at such a fun age where he is starting to realize what is going on and then gets really excited about it. The week before Halloween we attending our ward’s trunk-or-treat and Jacob went as a Lion, Daniel was a giraffe, and I went as an injured jogger (I love doing make up). Brent went as himself. For the actual day we went to a “Not so scary” Halloween party that we were invited to that had a few other young families. We carried on the Turner tradition and made mummy dogs. I was a really happy woman since they served homemade root beer, which I love.


- My little lion and his brother the giraffe -

- ouch -

- At the trunk-or-treat -

Here are some pictures we took when we went to a pumpkin patch with the kids;






- Daniel LOVES his Dad and snuggles with him all the time -

The came a much anticipated event. Jacob’s third birthday. He talked about his birthday for a good two weeks before hand and is still talking about it now. He really likes robots and loves to imitate and talk like a robot so I thought it would be fun to make him a robot cake. His other obsession is fireworks and so when I went to my local cake shop and found sparklers in all the numbers I had to buy the number 3 to set atop his cake. The end result was one really fun cake and one really happy little boy. We invited a few of his friends over to play and celebrate with him and in all had a fun evening. I love that little boy. Sometimes I don’t always show it or I whine about the bad moments, but he really is precious to me. He is so smart and loving and I feel so privileged to be his mom. All of the big transitions I dreaded almost always ended up being easy. He transitioned from a crib to a bed without a hitch, he potty trained quickly and easily, he loves his routines and lets me know if I’ve missed or skipped something. He dances to music and sings along with to his favorite shows and his evening lullabies. He is always eager to help and always wants to be near me. I try to recognize that that won’t last forever and to have patience with him and enjoy these days. And I think that I do. I wouldn’t trade him in for anything or anyone.

- His Robot cake -
- The kids at his little party enjoying their sugar high -

- Daniel, with his mysterious fetish of putting this particular ball in his mouth (he'll keep it in there for an hour and only take it out to swallow and then put it right back in) -

That night (Jacob’s birthday) was the last night I nursed Daniel. I think we were both ready to be done and it was time. I nursed him for just over 15 months! I’ve loved my time with him and yet I also feel relieved to be done. I look forward to a nice break where my body is completely my own before having another baby.

Last week Daniel started walking!! We were told that he probably wouldn't walk until around 18 months so we are really thrilled about this. He is so proud of himself and loves exploring his new heights. I'm amazed at how much he has improved and how much faster he got in just one week.

And that brings y'all up to date! I will try not to let it go another two months before updating again. Life is busy but good and I wouldn't trade with anyone (at the moment anyway)

My next new thing

As most of you know, I really like "The Biggest Loser". The show, the idea, the motivation etc.. we'll I've read a few of the books they've put out and I have their recipe book for families. Well this latest book I've read I liked better than any of the others (so far) and so with September being a new month AND season 8 starting on the 15th I decided to try this diet/exercise program. I think it will be fun to be working along side the contestants and I've never seriously tried a diet before. I started yesterday so that day 7 (rest day) falls on Sunday. It is basically eating healthy and making sure your meals and snacks are complete. Like I usually have an apple as a snack and have learned I need to add a stick of string cheese to it to make the snack more complete. This is actually more food than I usually eat and the biggest change will be switching to healthier alternatives (egg white vs. whole egg, Ezekiel bread vs. white, brown vs. white rice etc.) and a significant decrease in desserts and sugar intake.

This was my first breakfast - blueberries, a homemade egg mcmuffin and milk. I followed Day 1 almost to the letter and thought it was all good and filling. Their exercise program is WAY to easy for me and so I added additional exercises on my own.




I thought I would add this fun picture of Jacob enjoying his very first ice cream cone. This was taken last Tuesday after going to Baskin Robbins to take advantage of their $1 ice cream cone night. I didn't know what to get him, he has never had his own ice cream, only shared ours. Also it was getting close to bed time and I didn't want to load him up on sugar so I got him reduced sugar Oreo cookie ice cream. He loved it!!

New hair!

My hair has been bothering me for quite some time. I have so much hair and I put it back in pony tails or clips daily and it has been giving me headaches lately. I never know what I want to do with it, but I was trying to grow it out so I could donate to locks of love again. But with how much it was hurting me I couldn't take it any longer, so I found a stylist and went in last night.

She was amazed by how much hair I have and suggested a technique to take some of the weight out (kind of like having it thinned, but better). I also asked about maybe getting some color since I've toyed with that idea since moving to Oregon, my hair has turned darker and dull since moving here. This is a HUGE step for me because I have never colored my hair before, nor I have I ever had the desire to until now. She suggested a reddish-auburn and told me of a new way to do it that isn't permanent, called a demi. That sounded great to me since I hate those grow out lines and this will eventually fade away in about 8 weeks. So I excitedly agreed and told her to not cut above the shoulders and that I didn't want bangs, but to otherwise do what she thought would look best on me.

It feels 5 pounds lighter, so crazy! Compared to how my hair felt before it now feels like I have almost nothing up there. It doesn't look like it has been thinned yet if you run your hands through it you can totally tell - she did a wonderful job. The color is very subtle and I like it. Next time I think I will be a little bolder and put more red in it.

Here is the best "before" picture I could find. Sorry it is so dark, this was taken outside on the 4th of July.



And here is the new me!





What do you think? Be honest.

my weekend

We had a wonderful day together on Saturday. We didn't do too much and spent lots of time together. Saturday was fun because I harvested my first item from my little wanna-be garden. One cucumber! We had him for dinner last night as part of a delicious salad and for lunch today sliced with some ranch dressing. He was delicious! I had another cucumber growing and thanks to Jacob he is now dead. So this one cucumber will be all that I got off that plant.

I have about 30 tomatoes growing but they have been small and green for weeks. Finally I have a few turning orange and I really hope they all ripen. Most are only the size of a grape, but I don't care.. I am planning to make my homemade harvest tomato soup which is so yummy! Other than that I have 4 green peppers and two zucchini's but I don't know if they will make it or not. I have the smallest zucchini plant ever and all the fruit has died so far.



Also, the for the biggest news I've had in a while... I bought a lap top!!! I bough an HP 1225dx. This is my first lap top and I am really excited to have my own computer. So far I really like it and I'm looking forward to the convenience of it and especially the really cool media center. I can play music downstairs now!



I've been trying to think of a good name for her. Something quirky, silly and old fashioned. So far I have thought of Petunia and others have given me the idea for Mable or Hortense. Let me know what you think and give me any suggestions you may have and I'll unveil her name soon.

Sunday was a strange day and was hard on me, I'm glad it's over.

This last week I finished reading New Moon - we "read" (book on cd) Twilight in the car when we went to CA last month and I think I have finally gotten on the whole Twilight band wagon. I feel like I'm part of some club now (seriously, I feel like over the past few years I have been asked 100 times if I've read Twilight). Mostly, it feels so good to be reading again. This is the first novel I've read in literally years. I used to be an avid reader and once I hit my 20's that went away. I'm looking forward to reading more and now I want to go back and read some of my favorites.

That's all for now folks.

July.. so far

I haven't blogged in so long I don't really know where to pick up... I guess I'll start with the 4th. My sister Eva and her family (sans Michael) drove up from Provo and they were here for a few days. She stayed with her in-laws in Vancouver and I saw her 3 times. Once to go to an awesome kids park/water park that I discovered, the second time for the actual celebrating of the 4th and the last time for Sunday dinner. I loved seeing her and the kids. I've missed them a lot and I soaked it all in as much as I could while they were here. We had a yummy BBQ with them and then had fun with setting off some of our own fireworks and then watching others. Jacob was terrified and crying at first and then eventually got over it and had fun. Daniel was a little mystified by the whole thing and watched with interest, never crying. True to tradition I made home made vanilla ice cream that turned out fabulous!

Then, much to my delight, my brother Richard and his family came to spend a few days with us the next week. It is their first time coming up to the north west and I was ecstatic to have them here. I rarely get to see him since he was already married and stayed in Utah when my family moved to California in 1997. We had a wonderful time together. They came last Wednesday night and on Thursday I took them to my new favorite kid park/water park (it's called Murase Plaza in Wilsonville about 11 miles south of us). Katy got some good pictures of the place and showing how much fun we had. Check them out

That night after an awesome sloppy joe dinner with corn on the cob and watermelon, we all headed over to tour the grounds of the Portland Temple. I'd never taken my kids there and Jacob had a really nice time. It can get a little hectic with that many kids, but we did ok and we were glad we went. I love the Portland temple and I feel like I'm in a small private forest when I go there, even though it is literally only several feet from the freeway. The flowers were vibrant and beautiful and I loved the uniqueness of them. I am intriged by blue flowers since they are so rare and then have rows of them here. I took pictures but they turned out looking purple and hence didn't show accurately what is really there so I didn't post them. It is surrounded by tall trees and I love my first picture where you can see the shadow of one of those beautifully old trees cast upon the temple.. so beautiful.

They left Friday morning. They wanted to see the famous Multnomah Falls on their way out of town and since we had never been there we decided to go with them and then part ways from there. I would always get shocked expressions from people here when they would find out that I have lived in Portland for two years and had never gone to see the falls. They are some of the most famous ones in the world, more than three times the height of Niagra. It's also the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States. The drive there takes you off the main highway onto an old historic highway and the drive is almost breathtakingly beautiful.. even mystical, like something from another century/time (well, I guess in reality it is). I enjoyed every passing moment as we drove the three or so miles down that gorgeous road.

The falls were beautiful and we were awed by the sheer height of it and then, without much success, tried to quadruple it's height and imagine what Angel Falls in Venezuela (the highest waterfall on the entire Earth at 3,212') must look like. Oregon is so beautiful! I almost can't complain about the rain because that is what is mostly responsible for how green, lush and beautiful it is up here. I'm excited to start exploring and seeing more of it. We lingered at the falls together for about and hour and then sadly parted ways. I just about started crying on the way home. I was so sad to see them go yet felt so loved that they came up here to see me. I really miss being near family and it is something I constantly yearn for.

That brings us up to now. The weather has been enjoyable, and despite the wonderful sunshine my little deck garden isn't thriving well. I have one cucumber and about 32 tomatoes that refuse to ripen and turn red. A few of them are even starting to rot from the bottom. My zucchini's also aren't well. I've grown four, three of which have died and I expect the last one will follow soon. I really wish I had a green thumb. I was hoping that since I'm following the counsel of our leaders to grow a garden to be sustained from that the Lord would bless me and my poor abilities and that miraculously my little garden would grow. I don't know what more to do, but with how much money we've put into it I feel like we will end up with one very expensive cucumber!

Today I finally received the settlement check for the accident we got into just after Daniel was born. It was more than we expected and is truly a blessing that will help us to almost be completely debt free. We have so much medical debt and I will be thrilled to wipe it out! So, in the end, I guess my pain and suffering wasn't all for nothing. That's good to know.

This is getting really long... I'm sorry. But I just have to get it all down. Jacob is potty trained now and that went better than I expected. He is also a talking machine and his imagination is starting to explode. I love to watch him and laugh at the things he does. Daniel is cute as ever, he is almost one and that amazes me (as all mom's are amazed when their babies grow up). He isn't walking yet and I haven't seen him cruise, but Brent says he's seen him do it. He crawls everything and can crawl/climb up the stairs like a champ! He's so good at it we've had to gate it off because he will be almost to the top before I even know he's on them. I love my boys to pieces. I feel like I have been challenged recently by motherhood and that the very things I pray for help with are even harder to handle.. but despite all that I am very happy and feel perfectly blessed with my life.

Califinia vacation

We just got back from our vacation to California. We had a wonderful time and the car ride there and back wasn't as bad as we expected it to be. We spent a lot of time with family and kept it all pretty low-key. We loved playing games and staying up late and hanging out. Here is a time line;

- Thurdsay we drove down in one trip. It went so well! Jacob had some tummy troubles, but otherwise the trip was near perfect and we made it in 13.5 hours.

- Friday was spent hanging out and recovering from our trip. That night most of the Turner family came over to the house for an evening of talking and getting to know you stuff whilst listing the The Number Fox give us an awesome personal concert. Colleen came, much to my delight, and I was able to meet gorgeous little Evaline. We had a really nice time. Jacob however, must have been bitten by the clumbsy bug or something and was falling and tripping over anything and everything! He even collided heads with Colleens son William - poor boys. We also discovered that Daniel doesn't like grass, really doesn't like it! we put a blanket down and even though he can crawl he never ventured off of that blanket.

- Saturday we went to Roaring Railroad camp. What a cool place! We had lunch with all the family and then ventured over to the general store. While on my way to our scheduled train ride I miscalculated the last step on a small staircase and I twisted my ankle pretty bad (pic below), I was holding Daniel and did whatever it took to not fall or hurt him in any way. I have the worst luck with my feet/ankles possible! It took everything in me to not spend the next 5 minutes cursing up a storm. I spend the train ride with my ankle propped up on the window covered with a large ice bag. I can just cry from the frustration I feel over this! We rested in the afternoon and then stayed up late playing games with JoManda and eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream, could there be anything better than that?!

- Sunday was Father's day and other than going to church we stayed in all day and rested. We thought it was really neat to spend that occasion with Brent's dad. More games were played while I continued to R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compress, elevate) my ankle and pop Advil like an addict.

- Monday we left the boys with Brent's parents and we went to Great America. Brent pushed me around in his mom's old wheelchair. It wasn't the best, but I'm glad we still went despite my bum foot. You know, we didn't have that ideal of walking around slowly, holding hands, talking while waiting in line.. all that mushy stuff I love. But we enjoyed ourselves none the less. We were bummed to find out it is no longer owned my Paramount but by the state now and they renamed Top Gun "Flight Deck".. how lame is that! Also, Drop Zone is now the Drop Tower. However, they did have a cool new ride based on the reality hit show Survivor. That night JoManda came over and yet more games were played.

- Tuesday my friend Rebecca came over and we hung out in the morning. Her daughter Brielle came along and played with Jacob for a while, then she went into the hot tub with Ann. I enjoyed our visit and was sad that Jacob was a mean little stinker for most of it. He hadn't slept well the night before which meant we didn't either. Then Amanda came over and we hung out all afternoon (love you Amanda). Then we went up to Fremont to spend the evening with our friends Tom and Angela and their son Alexander. Tom made some seriously delicious pizza and Angela sent us home with a few dozen of the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet. ::Sigh:: We love our friends and were so glad to have had some time with them. Then JoManda came over once more and yet even more games were played! You guys are freakin' awesome!! We love you tons. I called all choked up and teary-eyed after saying goodbye to them. I miss being around family tremendously and was sad to see it all end. We won't be able to come back to California for a year or more.

- Wednesday we drove home. Pretty uneventful thankfully, however we did listen to the entire book Twilight on cd. We liked it, especially the beginning and the end. The middle was a little too much like a romance novel for a teenage girl... poor Brent. He was getting tired of it after awhile, but I sure enjoyed it. :o) Jacob kept telling us he wanted grandma and had a much harder time with they day then he did last week. We got home a little after 11 and crashed a little after midnight.

This morning when we were on our way to playgroup and as I pulled out of our garage Jacob asked where the sun was.. I told him we left it in California. He looked out his window and said, "goodbye sun". I laughed a little at his cuteness but I felt pretty much the same as him... goodbye sun.

Here are some pictures;




- cleaning out the boiler -


- looking out the train car window -


- Jacob loved the train ride and was excited by just about everything he saw -


- the cousins -


- cute little rug rats! -


- Daniel looking silly with a green circle toy in his mouth - Xander was always close by to give him hugs -


- the boys with Grandma Turner -


- the boys with Grandpa Turner -


- My bummed up ankle, don't you just love the greenish sickly color? Ick. -