Holiday Season

I just thought I'd say how excited I am for this holiday season!!! I love everything about Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think my parents did a great job making sure that we always had a spiritual and enjoyable experience through the holidays and I hope I can do the same for my little girls. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday season. I hope we all remember that it isn't about the presents, the best trees or anything else. It's a very special time to remember the birth of our Savior, the life He lived, the example He set and the sacrifice He made for all of us. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!!

Crazy 8's tag

Okay, so I got tagged like a week ago, and I'm now just getting to it, sorry!

8 Favorite TV Shows

Heroes

Biggest Loser

The Office

Jon & Kate plus 8

Fringe

Phineas & Ferb...I know, but it's funny!

If walls could talk

Ugly Betty

8 Favorite Restaraunts:

*Cafe Rio

*Wingers

*Chile's

*Olive Garden

*Bacci's

*Pizza Factory

*Bear Paw

*Red Robin

8 Things I did yesterday:

*Laundry

*YW activity

*Volunteered at Emma's School

*Dishes...blah

*Tried a new recipe

*Learned Calligraphy

*Went to the Library

*Updated my blog :)

8 Things I love about Fall:

*The Leaves

*Football Season...Go Cougars!

*Halloween

*Buying the pumpkins

*Carving Pumpkins

*Cooler weather, but not cold

*Shopping for winter clothes

*Bowling starts again!

8 Things I look forward to:

*Thanksgiving & Christmas

*Getting our family pictures back

*Nick coming home from work everyday

*My girls bedtime

*Checking peoples blogs

*Playgroups

*The Weekends

*The next BYU game

8 Things on my Wish List:

*A bigger house

*More time in the day to get things done

*Taking my girls to DisneyLand

*More Family time

*More Golfing for Nick...really...

*Going to Brazil

*A Cleaner house

*Less laundry

So now I'm supposed to tag a couple of people, so let's see....Jessie, Amber, Chantal, Angie & Shelly. You're it! Have fun :)

Mat & Candace

On October 11th, Nick and I were fortunate enough to attend Mat & Candace's wedding & reception. It was a beautiful ceremony, and an awesome reception. My ears have just barely stopped ringing, but it was well worth it. The ceremony was at Post Chapel up by the U. It was beautiful and very sweet, no doubt I cried. And Candace looked amazing! I wish I had gotten a better picture of her, but she was always on the move. I love weddings & how mooshy we all get! Then we went to Pierpont Place for some great food and dancing. I even tried sushi, anyone who knows me will agree that's a big step. I don't like fish cooked, eating it raw...not so tempting. But it wasn't so bad. Honestly, I probably won't ever eat it again. But hey, I tried it. The rest of the food was really yummy and then the band started up & Nick pulled out all the stops. It was very entertaining! I don't dance, so I was happy to let him take the spotlight and enjoy the show. It was so fun to be there with all of our good friends. Especially since we don't get to see them as much as we'd like. Here are a couple of pictures from the reception. Mat & Candace, we love you, congrats and thanks for the great party! Lori, Chris, Misty & Shaun, thanks for keeping it fun and making us laugh! And Nick, what can I say....I love you and thanks for being so much fun!

My Family

So I might just be breaking my blogging record, I'm posting a second time in a week. I know, watch out! Just teasing. I was checking out a lot of other people's blogs and I stumbled on Nick's mission presidents daughter's, Avery. I didn't know her that well, but I've met her a couple of times and liked her. Well she's since been married and has two little kids. Her little girl, maybe a couple of months old, has had some serious heart problems and has Turner's, I'm still not sure what that is. Anyway, so I'm reading her cute posts about how glad she is that her and Bela are home from yet another surgery and long stay in the hospital and how she's looking forward getting things back on track. She gives a list of her daily tasks and the list of times she has to give meds (10 separate times in a day) to Bela. Her posts are always so positive and upbeat, which just makes me feel horribly guilty for my silly complaints about normal life. I'm sure she'd love to just get back to normal and enjoy the stupid things I gripe about. I really am so blessed to have such a wonderful, happy life. I have a fantastic husband and two beautiful, healthy girls. Truly, I do worry all the time about having another baby, what if it's not healthy or what if it needs special care and I'm not able to offer or help with the needs. I know it's stupid, but I worry about that. And then I read Avery's posts and how sweet she is with little Bela and her patience. Not that she'll ever see this, but if you do, Thanks for the reality check Avery! I have so much to be grateful for, and I truly am. I'm not sure my life could get better than this. I have everything I could need and more. And I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father who blesses me with all of these things.

Fall

Fall is here. This makes me both happy and sad. Happy because I love the fall weather. I love football season and I love the leaves changing. Sad, because summer is officially done and I only have snow to look forward to. It's a love/hate relationship for me. I'm excited to go pick pumpkins with my girls and excited for Halloween. But really, does it have to get so cold and miserable? Oh well, what are the options.

Camping

We went camping two weekends in a row, first week down in Manti at the Palisades and the second weekend in Park City. We went to the Palisades for the Powell Family Reunion, we do this every year. And every year it's just as fun. Nick has an awesome family and they're a lot of fun to be with. We got there on Friday and Nick got in 9 holes with his cousins. Then on Saturday he went again in the morning and when he got back the family did the auction. It's a lot of fun, but man, the bidding gets out of control! You end up paying $5 for a glow in the dark bouncy ball, that only really costs 88 cents! But it's all part of the fun. The kids had a lot of fun riding bikes and catching frogs, ewww! I can't figure out how to spell my disgust for those little frogs, it's something along the lines of yuck, blah and gross. Emma was loving it, I'm not sure why. At one time the kids had caught 22 frogs. Why is this so much fun???? Then we pulled out the homemade slip and slide, the kids always love that, and Paula volunteers to hose down the kids while they're sliding. She's so cute with the kids. Then we pulled out the vanilla and chocolate pudding and they did some body painting with it. They enjoyed it a little more than we thought. Averie had her body and hair completely covered in chocolate. At least it'll wash off without staining right? It was a lot of fun to watch though.

That night we watched a slide show that Kelly had put together for the family. It was just the Powell family from very early on and very neat. Kelly did a great job. It was a lot of fun for me to see these pictures of such wonderful people I never got to meet. Thanks Kelly! Sunday morning we rounded things up, said our goodbye's to family until the next year.

Then Friday we were at it again. We went to Park City with our good friends, Dave & Lisa. Bob and Chantal joined us for a little while and the Ruttenburs came up on Saturday to visit. But the first thing on Saturday morning, Emma hops on her bike and decides she's going to take on the little dirt road hill by our spot. So she gets going as fast as she can, and totally eats it. I wasn't there, fortunately Nick and Dave were. She got a bloody nose, fat lip, scraped knee, and a lot of scrapes on her face. Poor Emma. I felt so bad. Her little lip was swollen hurting so bad she said she couldn't even drink her capri sun. :( Well, she learned to be a bit more careful and not so speedy. Overall, we had a lot of fun camping and feel like we are done for this year.

School is in

I've been slow at posting, I had a couple of problems getting the pictures from my camera to the computer. But I finally got Emma's cute school pictures on here. She was so excited to start school! We went in for the assessments on the Tuesday morning before school started and she was so upset when she had to leave 30 minutes later. I reminded her that we'd be back in an hour, so we went and got some lunch and headed to the park. I knew if we went home it would be horrible, every 5 seconds she'd ask if we were late for school or if it was time to leave. So we just played it safe and kept her entertained. She loves her new teacher and has had a lot of fun getting to know the kids in her class. She's already made a good friend and can't wait to have her over to play. I'm not really sure what to do with that. I'm new at the whole school friends thing and I know I don't want Emma going to some one's house when I don't even know their family or stuff like that. Am I sounding over-protective yet? If so, Good. I'm okay with that for now. We'll see. But for the time being, my little Diva is enjoying her new school and friends. I hope her enthusiasm stays around for a while!

Random

I know I just posted yesterday and it is SO not like me to post this soon after but I'm throwing that out the window. Just kidding. I just thought while I was on checking peoples blogs I may as well post, right? These are just some random pictures of our family this summer that I wanted to throw on here. But can I just say, I absolutely love my little family. I have the best husband who is always happy and willing to help me. And my girls are fantastic! Emma and Maggie are such happy, silly girls and they are so much fun. Ironically, after I finished typing that sentence, Maggie went into fit-mode. She wanted a sucker and I said no. No worries, I still think that she's an awesome little girl!

Sorry I'm not going to write something on each picture, so just enjoy them. I wish I had so many more pictures to put on here. Pictures of friends, and all of our family. Maybe this will encourage me to take more pictures.

Third Eye Crew

This is such a funny picture of Emma, I just had to post it. We were at Harmon's doing some grocery shopping and she was bending down to look at some fireworks. When she stood up she walked right into one of the metal signs that says "20 items or less". She had this gash on her forehead, but I'm not sure it hurt right away. She just started laughing and of course we teased her about it. When she got home and looked in the mirror she kinda got a little worried, so we slapped a band-aid on it. Nick was good enough to draw an eye on it to make it funny. You can tell from the picture that she wasn't too distraught about it. But Nick also put a band-aid on his head to make her feel better and so she drew an eye on him. What a good Dad!

Catching up

I've been slacking so much with this blog, I'm not sure how I'll get everything caught up. Oh well, here it goes! The summer has been a lot more crazy than I would like, it's slipping by so fast! I've been really busy just trying to stay on top of keeping our house clean and ready for showing. The only problem is that not many people have come. It's a little frustrating, but we realize the market is a little nuts right now. I have to admit that it's been nice to have my house always clean and looking so nice, but then I get frustrated when the girls take stuff out and make a mess. I just have to remind myself that we do still live here and that it's all just part of the game. But Nick and I did recently take a little vacation to St George with 2 other couples, no kids! It was great. Kelly was sweet enough to take our girls for the weekend. We headed down on Thursday and came back on Saturday. It was a short jam packed trip. Friday we got to go boating at Sand Hollow, my first time there, it was beautiful. The weather was great and there weren't very many people there so we had a lot of fun. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures. Sorry! When we got back, we jumped right back into the water!

Me, Emma, Maggie, Aly, Cole and the Schiess Twins went swimming at Draper pool on Monday.

Wednesday we went to classic.

Thursday we went to South Jordan Rec Center with Megan, Whitney & Brynn.

Friday back to Classic with the whole Cook clan, Kelly, Garrett & Averie & the Ruttenbur family. We have been swimming all week and I know my girls have been loving it! I'm sure you've noticed that Emma isn't anywhere to be found in these pictures. But please don't worry, I knew where she was and she was always safe, but never still enough for a picture. She didn't think she had time to stop and smile, too much to do...too little time. But I can always count on Maggie being there, she loves the camera! Saturday night we went to my cousin, Cami's, reception. It was in her Aunt's backyard and was beautiful! Emma had so much fun dancing the whole time with Cami's friends. And we had a lot of fun chatting with all of the relatives. My Grandma even caught the bouquet. She swears she's going to marry her boyfriend Reldon. The great part about that story is that he doesn't even know he's her boyfriend and I'm sure would be floored to know she's thinking of marrying him. Grandma....always good for a laugh. Over all, we've had a great summer, so far..... :)

Maggie's Birthday

I can't believe that Maggie is 2! It's truly amazing how fast our little ones grow up. We just had Emma's birthday in May and I was remembering when she was born and what a fun baby she was and is now such a grown up girl. Now I'm doing the same for my Mag-pie! She's finally 2 and ready to start that fun stage, the TERRIBLE TWO'S. I'm really not looking forward to that. She's such a cute and silly little girl. She loves to tease and be teased and loves to play games. She still isn't talking a whole lot yet, but she's seemed to learn quickly to tell Emma to stop crying and go to her room. It's pretty funny. Every little girl is either Emma or Ana, her little friend. I've loved being able to be home while going through the baby stuff with Maggie. I missed a lot of that with Emma having to work. She is such a special little girl and is such a blessing in our lives. We love you lots little Mag-pie! Happy Birthday!!!

Congrats to the Grad!

Congrats to Aly who just graduated from Hillcrest on Tuesday, June 3rd. She barely made it, the night before graduation her dumb counselor, with whom she's been having major struggles with, called and said that she didn't finish her biology class from her sophomore year. Okay, so Aly and mom go into freak out mode and figure a little prayer couldn't hurt. So Aly decides that she will go look through her things. Amazingly she finds her bubble sheet completed and graded test from her biology class from 2 years ago. So she turns it into the dumb counselor and she gets the okay to walk at graduation. What a relief. She didn't want to go to the graduation ceremony but Mom made her. It was actually kind of fun. Every time Mari & I cheered the kid sitting 2 rows in front would cringe and give a really weird look. It was hilarious. So we started cheering for anyone whose name sounded familiar. Eventually he stopped freaking out, boring. But that's when the beach balls started flying, literally. There were probably 20 beach balls, not all at the same time. The teachers did their best to stop it, but eventually gave up. Except one teacher who was very angry about it and would slaughter the ball if he got it. It was hilarious. Even the crowd got into it and boo'd every time he snatched another ball. Very entertaining. Anyway, back to Aly. We just want her to know how proud of her we all are. She's such a sweet and sassy girl! My girls just adore Aly and Emma was really sad today because she knew Aly was going on her graduation trip. Thanks for being such a great sister and a wonderful aunt. I hope you know how special you are and what a blessing you are in our lives. Love you Aly!

World's most entertaining drummer

So here is a video we took of my sister Alyson. She always keeps us laughing and she didn't disappoint while playing Rock Band with our family. She gave me permission to post her video. Just remember Boofie...we love you and we're not laughing at you, sort of. Thanks for being a good sport. You can post my jumping picture. Love you, Aly!

Up for Sale

After much debate, Nick and I have decided to sell our house. We've decide to test the market and see how it goes. So it's official, our house is listed on the MLS. We have no idea where we're going to go if it sells, we're taking things one step at a time. We're keeping our eyes open for houses we like and are in our price range. But only time will tell if our destiny is to stay or leave. We'll keep you posted and if you know someone looking, point them in our direction :)

Our favorite 5 Year Old!

We just celebrated Emma's 5Th birthday and it was such a fun day for all of us. Emma woke up and ran into to wake us up and let us know that she's 5 now and that she's old enough to go to school and to play in the 5 year old group...whatever that means. We laid out all of her presents the night before, but in her excitement to remind us how old she was, she didn't even see them when she jumped out of bed. The first thing she said after the birthday announcement is, "Where's all my presents??" So we pointed her back to her room and Nick got up and snapped some pictures of her. I can't believe how much my little Emma Jean has grown up and I have to admit, I love it! I'm only a little bit sad that my toe head baby is growing up too fast.
Does she look like anyone you know? Maybe her baby sister?

Emma's such a fun girl and has such a great personality. She's a loving, caring, and happy person and she's a fantastic big sister. She loves helping Maggie and playing with her. I'm so grateful for my Emma Beans and what a sweet little girl she is. Even though we have our days, I hope she always knows how much Nick and I love and adore her. My little drama queen...what would we do without her?? Love you Emma Jeanie who eats zucchini!

For Nick

Nick & I Nick & Emma Nick & Maggie


Here's a post to the Man of our family. The one and only man, unfortunately for him. He's such a wonderful husband and a sweet daddy. He might try to act tough, but when it comes to our girls, he's a tender and loving person. When the garage opens at 7:00 both of our girls start screaming and yelling in excitement. They look forward to Dad coming home. And truth be told, every time the garage opens or closes they start screaming for dad. He & Emma have had so much fun making up games and teaching them to Maggie now that she's getting old enough to play. The usually include chase, Emma hides and Dad finds and chases her. This generally ends in our bedroom tickling Emma. Catch, where dad sits at the bottom of the stairs and Emma sits at the top and they throw the ball back and forth. The girls love it.
These pictures of Emma and Nick are so dang funny. The second picture needs explaining. They decided that they would count to 3 and both lean down and sneeze in the water at the same time. A silly game but Emma thought it was hilarious. Usually dad's sneezes lasted longest and Emma busted up laughing. So cute! This is how Nick is everyday with our girls. He's silly and tender and their best buddy. I love watching him play sports, games or video games with the girls. They all usually end up laughing cause he's being so silly. So here it is, an Ode to our Dad. He's a great man and a great husband. I feel so lucky to have someone so amazing in my life and for my girls. Love you Nick!

Hogle zoo

On Monday April 28th we got to go to the zoo for Emma's monthly preschool field trip. Aunt Mari and Aunt Jerrica went with us. We had so much fun! We got to see so many fun animals. We got to see baby spider monkeys, Maggie had lots of fun imitating the monkeys. Emma had fun running around with her preschool friends and her aunts. Maggie walked almost the whole time, fortunately we got her a little harness to wear that looks like a dog backpack. She was in heaven! She loved seeing everything and taking it all in. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post. I forgot my camera, duh Amy! But my neighbor, Amy Colbert was kind enough to take some for me, she'll e-mail them to me later. There aren't a whole lot of highlights, except for the tiger. When we were looking at the tiger he started to talk. It was so cute, he went on for a couple minutes. It was so soft you couldn't hear it if you were talking. But we all stopped and listened to him. It was really cool. After the tiger we took a break for lunch...mmm...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After that we headed back to the front and visited the gift shop, then left for home. We were only there for about 2 hours, which was perfect, Maggie was exhausted on the way out. Her little body was just worn out. But she did so good. Overall it was a good trip and the girls learned a lot about the animals.

Catching up....

You might have thought that the Powell's have left the blogging scene due to our lack of posts. But that's not the case. It just seems that life has been crazy along with a few problems with the Internet. But alas....we are not gone! In fact, I have lots of posts to catch up on. About a month ago we went down to St. George yet again, that's the only place we know to vacation at. We went down with the Ruttenbur family and truly relaxed. It was very nice and the weather was very nice as well. We left on Wednesday night and unfortunately hit some bad weather in Beaver. The roads were just ice and two semi's got in an accident and had the freeway shut down. So we sat on the road for about 20 minutes and Nick decided to get out and talk to the semi drivers to get a status update (they have CB radios and were talking to others closer to the accident). He got out of the car and almost slipped and fell right there, it was that bad. We got a status update and let the other drivers around us know and then waited about another 40 minutes. Our girls were so good! We were there for so long but they didn't whine or fuss at all. But we got going and finally got to St George. The Ruttenburs showed up on Thursday night. Friday we went to Zions and did a couple of little hikes, again, the girls were all so good and they had a lot of fun. Anna, Lena, Emma and Kylee

Our only mishap was Maggie tripped and face planted in a puddle of mud. I wish we'd have grabbed the camera! It was sad but so funny. Poor Mags. Zions took up most of Friday so we headed back home and got some grub and just hung out. Saturday we decided to go to the park and the weather was so nice! It was sunny and warm. All of the girls had a lot of fun playing on the playground, blowing bubbles and running races. They raced each other two at a time. First Lena and Kylee, then Emma and Lena, then Emma and Kylee. Anna didn't have anyone to race so her dad was good enough to race her and let her win. It was cute. I'm sure her mom, Sowako, would have raced if she wasn't 8 months pregnant. This is Lena and Kylee racing

We spent all day Saturday playing and enjoying the sun. Sunday we packed up and went home. It was a short vacation, but still a lot of fun. Thanks to the Ruttenburs for entertaining us.

The Meanest Mom Ever

Okay, who knew Hannah Montana could cause so many problems. I'll explain... Emma, Maggie and myself go shopping for Emma's summer clothes, she has very little and needs a lot more. So we go to target and then head over to Kohl's. They always have lots of cute skirts and I've been informed that she won't wear any shorts, just "skirts that twirl and cute dresses." So we go to the little girls section and find skirts and some jammies. Unfortunately, she also saw the purses. Now anyone who knows Emma knows she loves purses. She sees this Hannah Montana purse and "just has to have it!" I told her no...wow...wrong answer! She flipped out. Screaming and crying and making a scene. I had to keep telling myself "I love my girls, I love being a mom." She sits down and tells me she won't leave until she gets it. So I pick her up and Maggie starts crying and trying to dive out of the cart. I told her we wouldn't buy anything and we leave. I had to literally drag her out of the store. It finally started to hurt so she stood up. We get to the car and she tells me I'm the meanest mom ever! You know, I can handle that. So we have a good chat. I ask her, "Why do you need another purse?" Emma: "It has a fun arm handle thingy!" Mom: "How many purses do you have right now?" Emma: "12." 12!! For a 4 year old I think that's plenty. So she tells me that she wants a new family and she's leaving the house. So I ask her where is she going..."To Grandma and Grandpa Powell's! They'll buy my whatever I want!" I laughed so hard, that's funny! She needs to ask her dad about that. Anyway, I tell her I'm going back in to buy the skirts and she needs to wait in the car. Her response..."FINE!!! But then you take me to live at Grandma's!!!" She actually did calm down and realized how silly it was to flip out like that. We had a really good chat about how she acts and how it affects her and me. I assured her because of the way she acted she'll never get that purse. Again, I was told I'm the meanest mom ever. But that line actually makes me feel good. I must be doing something right if she thinks I'm horrible right??

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was no doubt, lots of fun. Nick was sick, so I was flying solo at church with the girls. I think they were a little antsy because the Easter Bunny hadn't come yet. He decided that it's best for him to come after church to we don't have to fight over taking any candy or toys with us. We reminded Emma all day Sunday and a couple days before that Easter isn't about the easter bunny, candy or easter egg hunts, it's about the Resurrection and the life of Jesus Christ. She was very good to remember and to listen. Maggie is still too young to get it. She just loves the suckers in her easter basket. Hence the reason her mouth is all blue. Love those blue suckers!! We were able to enjoy a little time together as a family and then my parents, Mari & her room mate Rebecca, Grandma Holyoak, and of course Cole, came over for dinner. Aly was on Choir Tour in California and we missed her a whole lot, that's why we invited Cole, to have a little piece of Aly with us (that's her man). Grandma & Grandpa Cook came with a few more gifts for the family, books for the girls & Enchanted! Nick and I got a FHE box. My smart mom knows me all too well. I always need help there. I made pumpkin rice soup, nobody was too sure about it at first, but they all liked it and there wasn't a single drop left over. Even Cole, the pumpkin-anything-hater enjoyed it. We played some games and tried to eat dessert, but no doubt, I screwed it up. It was an eclair type dessert w/vanilla pudding, but I bought the wrong kind...the cook & serve, not the instant....my bad. Oh well, we had enough candy to fill up every one's sugar needs. But most importantly, we got to spend time together as a family and remember the great importance of Easter & the sacrifice made for us to be an eternal family and return to our Father in Heaven and Savior. Hope you all enjoyed your day!

Easter Egg Hunt

We usually do the Easter Egg Hunt at our house, so we did this year again. We thought it would be a miserable day, but the weather worked out perfectly. We had my brother Chris' kids (Garrett, Keaton, Maysen & Jaycie), my girls, & our sister in law Kelly's (Garrett & Averie). Aunt Mari, Uncle James & Aunt Jerrica came to supervise the events as well as Grandma & Grandpa Cook, Grandma & Grandpa Powell & Grandma Holyoak. Maysen, Garrett C, Averie, Garrett P, Jaycie, Chris, Emma, Keaton & Maggie (left to right)

Maggie's favorite part, no doubt, all of the candy. Notice a sucker in each hand!

Emma with her stash of eggs & candy.

Maggie got first dibs on the front yard, she made out pretty good.

We also do a money egg. Usually there's a quarter or a dollar for each kid. Well I have to say all of the kids made bank this year. Uncle James & Aunt Jerrica brought a $2 bill for every kid. Grandma & Grandpa Cook did 18 money eggs, 9 $1 & 9 50Cent eggs. Grandma & Grandpa Powell also threw in a dollar for each kid. No doubt they loved the extra money. If you notice in the first picture, Garrett P is holding up his money. He was the most excited. It was so fun to have everyone over and to be able to enjoy each other's company. We all hung out for a while and just enjoyed the nice day.