HOLY CRAP!! SHE'S 12!!

Malory turned 12, 3 weeks ago on Dec. 1st!!  I can't believe I have a 12 year old!!!!  Andrew and I were talking and realized that if she has a baby at the age I was when I had her then we will be grandparents in 8 years!!  SCARY!  But she insists that she is going on a mission first and finishing college before we are grandparents.  I can only hope that this holds true!  

I know that I haven't blogged in a while.  sorry.  We've been busy.  But arent' we all busy these days?  I know I shouldn't use it as an excuse, some of you awesome people just know how to manage your time better.  Any pointers?   

Here are some pictures from Malory's Birthday..........

She was excited to get some boots that she was hoping for!
So Beautiful!
These were pictures from her birthday party with some friends on Nov. 21st.   She had a late over and they made their own pizzas and sundaes, played games and I think had a fun time!
This was the cake that I made.  Most of her friends were really impressed and jealous because they said that there mom's never made them a cake.  1 brownie point in heaven for me on this one I guess!   Happy birthday  mal!!  

Halloween 2008

I wanted to share our Halloween pictures with everyone.  They are out of order because I am posting them from a Mac and lets just say I am not as competent  in the Mac dept and am still learning the ropes.  I can't figure out how to move the pictures around once I have added them to a post. And I don't know why it is underlining everything I type.  I can't get it to stop.   So if you know how then Please let me know.  Anyway.....  Malory and Trenton went Trick-or-Treating with some friends of theirs from our ward.  Andrew and I took Raegen around for about an hour.  This cute Frankenstein blowup was at one of the houses.  Here they all are ready to trick-or-treat!  
The finished Jack-O-Lanterns!
Raegen giving  her Jack-O-Lantern some love
Malory with her Jack-O-Lantern!  WOW!!
Trenton had to make a character pumpkin for school.  Any guesses as to which character he chose??  
But here he is with his finished Jack-O-Lantern.  Both Mal and Trent received help from Andrew to get them finished.  And of course I did Raegen's.  We printed off patterns from the Internet.
Malory the PIRATE!!  this was at our ward Trunk-or-Treat on the 29th.
Trenton the SCARY GHOST!  also at the trunk or treat.
And sweet baby Rae our little Cowgirl!!
We had a fun Halloween and hope everyone else did too!  We were bummed that they don't let kids dress up for school in this town.  But the kids still had fun and go way to much candy!  Plus, we didn't get even one Trick-or-Treater so we have all of our candy that we had bought to pass out left!

Pic tag

My cousin Heather tagged me. What you do is go to your 10th picture file and then post the 8th picture. And the winner is..................................................................

June 3rd, 2006 at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City. We went with friends Kristen & Kody, Kelly & Jason and also Family Muriel & Matt and Clay & Takako and all of the kids that go with our families to the park for some kick ball, soccer and other fun games. In this picture you see the back side of Kelly, Muriel is way in the back, Malory is in the orange tank top to the right is Matt and the little girl up front is Kelsey, Kristen and Kody's middle child. We had a lot of fun that day!

This was fun to get a random picture and reminisce a fun memory. I tag anyone who wants to play.

Homecoming festivities

Last weekend was the WT homecoming parade, game etc. I took the kids to the parade in the morning and was approached by a news reporter and asked if I would be willing to be interviewed. So if you have a couple of minutes and want to see my claim to fame then click on the link and enjoy!! http://myhighplains.com/media_player.php?media_id=32351#

By the way....... have you ever been on the news? When I was in Utah a friend of mine who is a reporter asked if I would be willing to be interviewed for a segment on the rising costs of power/energy bills. So I did that once too! I guess I am a pro by now so move over Oprah!

2 years old

I can't believe how fast time goes by. We just celebrated Raegen's 2nd birthday a week ago on Sunday the 21st. My parents were able to fly in for the occasion. They flew in late on Wed. the 17th. My mom and I went to watch Malory in her gymnastics class on the 18th, while My dad watched Trenton's football practice. Nice back bend Malory!!

Then on Saturday the 20th we all went to see Trenton play in his football game. He is on the Canyon Eagle team this year. The team is made up of 4th, 5th and 6th graders so him being in 4th and one of the youngest on the team he doesn't get much playing time this year. His team had been undefeated until this game. :( Here is a picture of my parents with Trenton. Notice how incredibly flat it is. No mountains. so sad!!Then of course on Sunday the 21st it was Raegen's 2nd birthday so we had a big celebration. Malory and Trenton decided to buy Raegen a stroller for her baby doll. As you can see in the background our table is currently a picnic type fold up table and a cooler as a bench seat! We are sooooo living the high life! Because Raegen has SO much energy, NEVER stops going and LOVES gymnastics, we decided to get her a mini trampoline of her own to jump some of that energy out! She loves it so much and gets mad if anyone else steps a foot onto it! She ended up having two cakes. I made the Elmo cake for her and Malory decorated the other. If you remember back to my post last April on my birthday. I was able to use the cake decorating kit that Malory and Trenton gave me to decorate. It was fun.

Raegen also got some clothes and a Halloween Mr. Potato Head. She loves the original potato head, especially his nose, she carries it around all of the time. Go figure. So Grandma and Grandpa got her the Halloween version and she LOVES it! My parents had to leave on Monday afternoon and we were sad to see them go and wish they could have stayed longer. We will miss them!!

I also helped my mom set up her own blog her link is to the right under mom. So check it out. Hopefully she will keep up on it and blog often!

Generosity at its best

We have been in need of a new bed for Raegen. We were thinking of getting a toddler bed or twin for her. However the other day I received an email from our RS pres saying that a generous sister in the ward had a King size bed that she was no longer in need of and wanted to get rid of it and to let her know if we were interested. So I thought well, if we got the king bed we could give Malory the Queen and Raegen her twin. So I let them know that we were interested if no one else was interested. So on Saturday morning we picked up the king bed. Now starts in on the funny parts of the story. As we were driving down the street which is a country back road Andrew says look out the window and see if it is staying on top of the car ok. I said looks good to me. And within seconds the mattress flies off the car and starts tumbling down the road!! Thank goodness the person behind us was far enough behind and could see it coming. He stopped and helped us put it back up and we were on our way home. So we got home set it up and all was ok. On Sunday we had stk conference in Amarillo and on our way home thought we should quickly stop by their house and drop off the straps that we had borrowed to tie the bed down with and pick up the Mattress cover that was still in the dryer when we picked up the bed. Let me tell you about this couple that gave us the bed. They are probably in their late 50's early 60's. She is Greek and He is from New York but what is the Navy and met her in Greece. When we got to their house She wasn't home and Andrew got out of the car to take the straps back while I waited in the car with the kids. He then comes out to the car and says, "What are you going to have for lunch?" I said, "Chicken Parmesan" He said, "Do you have to prepare it when you get home?" I said "No, actually I prepared it yesterday and it just needs to be heated up" (Which any of you that really know me, know that I NEVER DO THIS! THIS WAS AN ALL TIME FIRST FOR ME!! I don't know the phrase prepare in advance!! Anyway, He says "well it's going to take time to heat up so why don't you come in and wait for her to get home and in the mean time have a Hot Dog?" I said, "OH that its really nice of you to offer but we'll be ok." He then says to the kids "You want a Hot dog don't you? You look Hungry, I bet you'd eat one wouldn't you. You need something to tide you over while your Mom heats up lunch." My kids, "Sure, ok, yes" So we go inside and He cleans up the kitchen table starts making Hot dogs. He sets out Bread, condiments, Hot dogs, Beans. She gets home gets out fruit and some cinnamon bread. He asks us all if we want Mac and Cheese we said Oh, I think we are full but thanks anyway. I start to pick up plates and she says, "Oh I think he has some more food coming!" He Brings out the Mac and Cheese and we eat!! In the mean time we are getting to know them asking questions and I said, "aren't you going to eat? He says no, I'm fasting for a DR appt that i have tomorrow." I said, "well then this is probably torture for you!" He had told us that this meal he was fixing was his favorite meal. He said, "Oh it's ok we're glad you're here and love company." So through the food and stories we find out this story and I find out something I never knew before. And if you check kellie's blog out this is what I find funny about her latest post. So he is asking my kids what their names are and then he said Well my parents named me John so that they could call me Jack. And I was like, HUH?? What?? must be an older generation thing or something. He then tells us that back east if you want to call someone something you have to name them something else but in Texas if you want to call someone something then you need to name them exactly that. And John was for Jack and Richard Rick and Robert for Bob and William for Bill etc. I have heard most of these but never had I heard John for Jack. Very interesting. It also ended my wonder why J.F.K. is John but has been referred to as Jack. But Kellie just for the record I like John and Jack and I never knew or thought of that before yesterday and I think it is an older generation thing.

So to finish up this long post that I found humorous only because every time we said No Thank you we were found eating more and more and eating somethings that we don't care for very much! ie: beans for me. It was my first experience with the Greek and I have heard that they push food down you and don't take No for an answer and I did indeed experience this for myself. They were and are true examples of generosity and the pure love of Christ.
By the way, in case you were wondering. We were too full for my pre-prepared meal. We did have it later that evening for dinner though and it was good!

Part of the family..........

This is for my brother Jared who IS a part of the family! Jared recently emailed me to inform me that he had checked out my blog and that although it was nice he noticed that I hadn't mentioned him as a part of the family and that I had better fix it or else! So here is a special SHOUT OUT to Jared.................................. Jared, you are indeed a part of the family. And a very special one at that! I remember swinging you into the corner of a wall while playing ring around the rosie as kids, splitting your head open, causing you to get stitches and have a forever scar! Now if that doesn't shout out LOVE and REMEMBERANCE then I don't know what will. Because when you look at that scar in the mirror you can always know that it was given to you by ME your SISTER and that I LOVE you and that just as that scar is there FOREVER, you are a part of the FAMILY, FOREVER!!

So here are some pictures of Jared, my brother, a part of my family for you all to see!! Wave running this summer at Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee!! (by the way the water was freakishly warm!) And I think that the exact day that this picture was taken my sister Muriel, also a part of the family, just in case she was wondering, called to tell me that it was 45 degrees Farenheit in Idaho that day!!

So Jared, do you still think it's a good idea to hang on to the back while pulling the wave runner around to the other side of the dock? Just in case you are wondering.......... yes his shorts are a comin' down!! Now isn't that LOVE!! FAMILY LOVE!!! well that is what families are for!!

And Jared, If you ever question my love for you and being a part of the family again...... well I may just come over there and give you another scar to match! So you better behave mister!!

Heather Tycksen Photography

Check it out! So a good friend of mine started her own photography company. She specializes in young children and babies. She uses natural light and natural settings and catches great shots of the kids just acting natural. She is very talented and does a great job! While I was in UT I met up with her so she could take some pictures of Raegen. Here are some of those pictures!! And of course the one at the top of my blog was taken by her too! Her link is at the bottom.

http://www.heathertycksen.com/

TV as a babysitter?

C'mon... admit it! All who have children have used the T.V. as a babysitter a time or two. Sometimes it was the only way I could get a little more sleep in the morning when Mal and Trent were little and I was working late nights waitressing. Or just needed them to stay occupied while I cleaned a bathroom or had a phone conversation with someone. Either way it came in handy a time or two or three!

So now my dilema.... Raegen is not interested in the T.V. at all. I couldn't figure it out, I thought how can she not even care about the singing, dancing, animals, anything? Well I finally found what she likes to watch. Yes, she can't keep her eyes off of the T.V. when Gymnastics are on the Olympics! Then she tries to or thinks she is doing the moves. I guess this means look for her at the 2024 Olympics!!

It's been a while!

I know I haven't posted in a while. I will post some pictures soon, but to update................ We stayed in Idaho with Muriel and fam for 10 days. We had some fun times at the waterpark, on the 19th at the 24th celebration (Where Mitchell and Archer threw balls at the dunking machine to dunk Malory and Trenton) And just had a lot of fun hanging out together, taking pictures and catching up on, "So you think you can dance" Thanks Muriel for recording them for me. Then we went to Syracuse and stayed with friends Kristen and Kody Anderson. We were with them for 5 days and we had fun, swimming, wave running, and hanging out. We then went to Salt Lake Area on July 27th and had dinner at Andrew's sister Krista's house and saw family there. We stayed at my Grandma and Grandpa's house up at Suncrest for a few nights and had a family dinner at the park with the Seastrand side. We were able to visit a lot of family and friends while in Salt Lake, Sorry if we didn't get to see some of you. We were running like chickens with our heads cut off the entire time! We love all of you and hope that we can see some of you that we didn't see next time. We were able to stop and see my Aunt Nancy and while visiting her got to talking and found out that my cousin Melissa and her family had moved back to UT and were living with her parents, my aunt and uncle and because they live so close to Krista we were able to stop and see them for a quick bit and see them and my other cousin Katie. We were able to go to our old ward and see some old friends, that was nice. One day I met up with an old friend, Heather who is a fantastic photographer and we had some lunch together and she took some pictures of Raegen for her web page. I will post some later and her link. She does fantastic work! I would highly recommend her. After Salt Lake we went back to Kristen and Kody's for the remainder of our stay and left on Aug. 5th. Thank you to everyone who had us stay with them. WE REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU DID FOR US!!! We love you all!!

So as I mentioned on Aug. 5th we flew back to Texas and our friend Lacee picked us up from the airport drove the kids and I back to Borger, we dropped off our luggage, picked up our car and headed back to Amarillo to pick Andrew up from the airport. We got him and headed straight to Canyon to see a place to live. As we were worried about finding a place to live while we were gone I thought I should call the Bishop of our new ward to see if he knew of any places or anyone who owned rental properties. When I talked to him he said, "Well actually my wife and I own places and actually we have one coming available and proceeded to tell me about it. It seemed that it couldn't be true! It was exactly what we were looking for in the area we were looking for and it seemed perfect! So we went and saw this place as soon as we got in to town. The only downfall...... the college students that were living there were still there finishing and the Bishop asked us to overlook the mess which we did and we signed a lease. We had a few days until it would be ready so our friends Luke and Lacee invited us to stay at there place. Thank you Luke and Lacee for having us!! We really appreciate your friendship. On Friday the 8th we drove back to canyon to get a couple of things done and then we picked up our truck in Amarillo drove back to Borger and loaded it. Then Sat. morn drove back down to Canyon where some of the members from our new ward were there to help us unload. Our RS Pres showed up that evening to welcome us and brought us lasagna for dinner and on Sunday the EQ pres and his family invited us over for dinner. Everyone has been so welcoming. I guess that is what you get for moving into one of the Bishop's places!

So here I am at the Library making this post. We still don't have internet connected at home but should soon! So for now I can't post pictures but I will when we get internet and finish getting settled. It is taking longer to get settled than we hoped because the place we moved into was sooooo dirty! Lets just say I don't think the college girls ever cleaned and I hope that they didn't get there deposit back! The Bishop did give us a discount on our deposit because he knew it wasn't clean. But we are getting to the point of it feeling like our home and it being our clean!!!

Sorry if this post sounds like a ramble and doesn't make sense. You know at the library you only have so much time on the internet!! Love you all, and thank you again to everyone for being there for us! This summer was truly AWESOME!! and much Much MUCH needed!! We had a great time everywhere and with everyone and we created some wonderful memories that we will never forget!!!

Welcome to the blogging world Mal Mal

My daughter Malory decided to start her own blog. She has been on myspace for a while (not my first choice) but at least privately. Anyway, she decided to try blogging. She is going to be private so if you are interested in checking out her blog now and then let me know and then we will send you an invite!

Upon arrival...............

So we (the kids and I) flew in to the Salt Lake airport on Sat. the 12th. When we got off of the elevator we were immediately in a crowd of people with a sign saying, W E L C O M E H O M E T R E V O R !! Each letter on its own piece of poster board. Well being in Salt Lake one can only assume that it is for a missionary returning. But Malory and Trenton asked what I thought it was all about and my reply was most likely a missionary but also could be a soldier from Iraq. We proceed to get the luggage and I have the kids waiting with our smart cart out of the way while I get our bags. In the meantime we hear screaming, clapping, and whistling. I looked over and noticed that it was a return missionary. So you might be asking yourself, why is Sandi telling us this story? Well it was what Trenton said when I got back to them with the bags. He said, "Hey mom, sounds like Trevor is here! I heard everyone screaming. And mom, I looked over there and saw a guy in a suit..... I think Trevor was a missionary." It was so funny. He says the funniest things sometimes.

On another note, Muriel picked us up from the airport we went straight to Cafe Rio in Layton for lunch. Kristen, Kody and their kids met us there for a quick lunch, mmmmm good! Then we had a quick stop at Costco and then headed up to Pocatello. So we are here now and excited for our time with Muriel, Matt and the kids!

Pedicure Paradise!

My mom and I went to have pedicures done today. My 2nd on in my life. I have to say, I could definately get used to them. Is one a week to much to ask?? The best part is when they rub your calves....... oh I love that. How about a massage to go with it? Well I did enjoy the Homedics massage chair while getting the pedicure! Maybe when Andrew is done with school I can get one at least every month!

Sing Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!! Finally, after a long await........... Andrew is accepted into the nursing program at West Texas A & M University in Canyon, TX!!! He had been on the wait list and it was starting to not look good that he would get in this sememster, but we just found out the other day that he was! It's about time we see a little light at the end of a long, long, long tunnel.

So what does this mean? All of our belongings are currently being held in 2 storage units and in our 2 cars in Borger, TX. Borger is 45 miles NE from Amarillo. When we get back to TX on Aug. 5th we will be getting it all out and moving to Canyon. Canyon is about 60 miles from Borger and about 15 miles south of Amarillo. And is much prettier than Borger. Well pretty much anything is prettier than Borger!!

He has about 6 sememsters before he will graduate with his BSN. So if all goes well and the school continues to get funding for summer classes then he will be done in 2years! Of course we will not be done after that but we are so happy and feel like we are getting somewhere!

Other than that we are still in Tennessee having a great time. I still haven't been able to get the pics to load on my blog though. Raegen is finally off of the Binki!! Yay! Andrew is working hard with a Pest control company. It is long hours and he has to wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt in the heat and humidity, but he is a trooper and we are so grateful for the job opportunity. Everyone has been so nice here!

Also, I'd like to give a shout out to Lacee and Luke, friends back in Borger who have been babysitting Torty Mctort Tort or just Torty our Box Turtle while we are gone! And have been taking care of our mail for us. Thanks a bunch!

Time in Tennessee

So far we have been having a blast in Tennessee! We have been to the lake several times for Wave Running (Thank you Jared for having a wave runner and for being willing to take it out all of the time!) Oh lets face it, we don't have to twist his arm to take it out. The lake water is ridiculously warm for June and the scenery is beautiful!



We have seen Indiana Jones (for the 2nd time for my family) and Kung fu panda (very cute). We have been shopping at the Opry Hills mall (my feet have never hurt so bad in my life). We have gone to the pool countless times, and have eaten out way to many times. (at least fat looks better tan, right?) We go to bed around midnight every night and get up around 10am! It is awesome because I am not a morning person at all! My mom, dad, Jared, Andrea, Andrew and I went to the Nashville Temple the other day. After, we stopped at Costco for browsing and lunch! (I love Costco! We just don't have one close enough to us in Texas, so I we to live it up here while we can.) The kids love to have sleepovers at Clay and Takako's and at Jared and Andrea's houses!



Other than all of that we get a kick out of listening to my mom's pregnant neighbor take her dog out to go to the bathroom. She just stands outside yelling at him...... "GO POTTY! I SAID GO POTTY!" It is funny!



So Andrew finally got a job for the summer here. I was getting nervous for a while. I guy from the ward here owns a pest control business and they needed a guy to fill in for others that were working 6 days a week getting burnt out. It will be a great job for him. We will hardly see him anymore but we are soooo grateful for the job! It did change our plans a little though. Originally I was going to stay here with the kids until the 24th of June and then go with them to Salt Lake. And then Andrew would fly back to Texas from here and the kids and I from SLC on the 15th of July. But the guy wanted Andrew to work until the end of July. It will be worth our while for him to do so, so now the kids and I will fly to Salt Lake on the 12th of July, we will go to Muriel's in Idaho for a week then come back to Salt Lake and Stay with my friend Kristen for a week and my Grandma and Grandpa Seastrand for a few days. During our stay we hope to see as many friends and family as we can! The hardest part is that we don't have our own car to use. But we will be around until August 5th when we will be heading back to TX to get settled there. (That is a whole other story in itself!)



Hope everyone is enjoying there summer as much as we are! I probably won't be posting a whole lot but I do get on to check everyone else's blogs! I am trying to post pictures from my dad's computer but for some reason they aren't posting. I will try to get some on later!

Is this really my daughter????

Malory had her music class concert this morning. She was able to play the piano for one number. Have a listen! Way to go Malory.

Yesterday the school had their award assembly. Malory receive in total 5 awards including Honor Roll, and was commended on her Reading and Math Taks Test. They are really hard tests that Texas State requires and the kids have to pass to move to the next grade level. She got 100 on her reading and missed 2 in Math. We are so proud of her, she works really hard and always gives 110%! It's just left us wondering if they switched babies on us at the hospital? She is a wonderful daughter and we are so happy she belongs to us!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's assembly. Receiving her award and with her principal Mr. Hatfield. He is a great principal. I guess they are all good if it is your kid getting awarded and not reprimanded right?

Happy Anniversary Darlin'...................

Step 1 before you continue reading this post. You must go to my playlist and listen to Alabama's, "Forever's as far as I'll go." Yes that was "our song", the song we danced to etc. etc. cheesy I know but it still makes me get teary eyed. And If I ever am so mad at my hubby if I listen to it, I soften up.





This was the picture that we used for our announcement.

This picture was taken at the spot where Andrew asked me to marry him. It went something like this.......... Sandi....... (gets on on knee) will you marry me?? Then he says, "I don't have a ring yet..... but I have a good set of knives!" (he at the time was selling cutco knives) I mean...... wow! how romantic! How could I ever resist!! (by the way.. the knives have been great!)Wouldn't it be nice if someday I could actually fit back in to my dress??? Wishful thinking!

My bridesmaids...... left to right, Muriel, my sister and my maid of honor, Jen (Jenny foy foy) my cousin, Michelle (Meesh) friend and Kristen (Kwissy) friend. Thanks for being there for me. And I know Kris had to sacrifice going to her senior prom for me! Thanks a bunch! You're a true friend! And of course if you were confused I am the one in the middle in white!

Ok, so now I will finish this entry by finally responding to a tag that I received from Jen once or twice before. It only seems fitting now that it is my anniversary!


How long have you been married? 13 years today! (is that a bad omen?)

How long did you date? Hold on to your seats...........10days before engagement, 3months of engagement.

How old is He? 34

Who eats more sweets? I would say we tie in that department.

Who said, "I love you" first? Probably Andrew, I am not sure. I probably have it written down in my journal somewhere, but I am not that ambitious to look it up right now.

Who is taller? Andrew

Who can sing better? Me

Who is smarter? It depends on the subject. But with an associates degree behind him and schooling coming up, I guess Andrew.

Who does the laundry? Me, but he knows how and does help out when he can.

Who does the dishes? The kids!!!!!!!! We all do them. Again, Andrew does do them when he is home and can. However, when we were first married, in one of our first places with no dishwasher, Andrew was washing dishes and broke a glass and cut his wrist open. I am now thinking that he did that on purpose so that I would never let him do dishes again! J/K!

Who pays the bills? I do. It stresses Andrew out to much.

What are his hobbies? Tools, building stuff, woodworking, computers, camping, being with his family, watching Sci-Fi stuff.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

What are his guilty pleasures? Collecting Junk! (well at least that is what I think it is.) But that junk made us a butt load of money at our garage sale last summer! We tease him because he is not afraid to dumpster dive!! I guess the statement, "One man's junk, is another man's treasure" really fits him.

Who mows the lawn? He does. I have on occasion if needed.

Who is his best friend? I would say me.

Who cooks? Me and it is not something I love to do. He has also cooked on occasion, he actually made our first roast and made one for the neighbors who needed a meal. And I will add it was good too!

Who drives? I do a lot just because when he drives he just mosey's along and it drives me nuts! He would say that I speed but I usually am within 5 miles of the speed limit and he is usually under 5 miles! My brother once asked if Andrew ever drove. But he actually drives a lot more now and I would say we are about even.

Who wears the pants? Probably pretty even. Maybe me a little more than him.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me.

What was your first date? It was on Valentines day 1995. We went to see the live action movie Jungle book and then went to Village in for Hot Chocolate. After we were married I read in his journal about our first date. He commented on how expensive the movie was ($5.50 per person) and how that would be the last time he ever spent that much on a movie!!

Who proposed? He did. (see above with picture)

Who has more siblings? He does. He is one of 10 and I am one of 6.

What is your favorite thing about him? There are a lot of things.......He loves his children so much and loves to spend time with them. He changes diapers, feeds, clothes, bathes and watches them. He has always looked at this as both of our responsibility! Actually, I think that he did more night feedings with Raegen than I did since I wasn't breast feeding. He is an awesome dad!! He treats me with love and respect and has never treated me like he was above me because he was the man of the house. He is a hard worker, people that he has worked for always comment on how hard he works! Again there are many more things!!

I tag........anyone who wants to take the time! NO PRESSURE.

The pics I promised

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I would post some pictures from my birthday and parents visit. Well here they are! On the night of April 25th we went to eat and then went swimming at the tiny (no exaggeration) indoor pool at our hotel. The kids had fun swimming and the adults had fun soaking in the hot tub!Well the pool was a little cold for Raegen and the Hot tub a little too hot. So Grams held her close to keep her warm.On Saturday the 26th we drove to Lubbock, TX to visit the Buddy Holly museum. My parents are big fans and we thought it would be fun. The adults enjoyed it and the kids were bored. But it was fun.The kids did like playing on the Giant glasses in front of the museum.

In February when we were all sick we were watching T.V. once and Malory and I saw an infomercial for this Betty Crocker 100 piece cake decorating set. I mentioned that I thought it would be neat to have and she remembered! So that was my big birthday present! (watch for posts of upcoming birthday's to see how the cakes turn out!)Then of course we finished the night at a fav of mine...... Olive Garden! YUMMY!
Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad! We had so much fun!

Congrats Grad!

On May 2nd Andrew graduated from Frank Phillips College with his Associates in Science. We are so proud of him. Yes it is a 2 year degree that took him about years, but we are so happy to finally be seeing some results and to feel a light at the end of the tunnel!! This is him with the President of the college who told Andrew that he was the school's most studious student!Andrew's brother Ammon took us all to eat afterwards to celebrate the occasion.
But were not finished yet................... We are moving to Canyon, TX which is about 60 miles from where we have been living. Andrew will be attending West Texas A & M university where he will continue his education and work towards his BSN in nursing. We should be done with that in 2years and then he will continue for his Masters in a Nurse Anesthetist program. But let's just take it one step at a time.

what's my deal!!

I know, I know...... I have slacked off in the blogging dept.  main reason...... I don't know.

When I got back from my trip to UT, I kind of went through a little depressed state for the next week after.  Then we've been busy with baseball, school stuff and I don't know what else.  Also, I know this is lame but I still feel like I have to post a picture to blog.  I know that I don't but for some weird reason I always want to.  My laptop that has my olympus photo program on it is not plugged in right now.  We've been using the emac that we got from Andrew's dad so that  Malory could load songs onto her ipod.  Therefore, I haven't had pics to post.  So ok,  I'll get over my craziness and start posting more.  And another thing, maybe I'm not alone in this but maybe I am, you tell me.......... Sometimes I feel like it's one more thing on my list of things to do when posting and I don't want it to feel that way.  I know it doesn't take a long time but why do I feel this way??  Ok now I know I'm crazy!!  

So my parents flew in to town for my birthday!  I'll try to post some pics later. We stayed in a hotel in Amarillo and drove to Lubbock on Saturday where we went to the Buddy Holly Museum.  My parents are big fans.  It was fun, and interesting.  I enjoyed it.  Then we shopped at Old Navy and went to eat at Olive Garden.  

~~Jen, I promise I will get to the tags!  so keep posted for those!

visiting....

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would drop a quick line. We went to Colorado to visit Andrew's parents over spring break and we got back late last Sunday. We had a few short days at home and then Raegen and I took a flight from Amarillo to Salt Lake on Thursday morning. The purpose of our visit is mainly to pick up our old car. My Brother Drew was using it for a while but is now going to buy a newer car. It will be good to have a 2nd car again. My friend Kristen picked us up from the airport and we went straight to get the car. We then met Michelle our other friend for lunch at noodles and company. Then I went straight to the hair salon to get my hair done! No this isn't a joke. I haven't had my hair done since last August. Kristen's sister Stacy has done my hair for the past few years and I really like how well she does it. So I figured I would take the opportunity of being here to get it done. I can't believe how much better it is. Muriel also had her hair done that afternoon too. Kristen had kept Raegen for me while I was getting my hair done. And thank you so much Kristen, I know she cried the whole time. After we met up with Kody (her husband) and their kids for Mexican at Javier's. So for the weekend we are up in Idaho visiting Muriel, Matt and the kids. I was so happy to finally see my newest nephew Cameron. He is definitely a cutie pie!! So here I sit at Muriel's computer completely enjoying my time with her and her family. And of course I just enjoyed my leftovers from the best Mexican restaurant ever, Senor Iguanas! Yeah, I know, Mexican already 2x!! But hey, I love mexican and I could eat it every day if my bowels and indigestion weren't a factor.

So I have plans to go to my Grandma and Grandpa Seastrands house tomorrow and spend some time with them. Then Tuesday my sister-in-law Krista is going to watch Raegen for me while I go to the Temple with My Aunt Karen and My Grandma. Thank you Krista in advance because I do fear that Raegen will be crying the entire time. She is a little attached. Tuesday night I plan on visiting my brothers and my other sister-in-laws. It feels like there is never enough time to do and see everone and everything that you want to but you do your best. Tues night I'll be back at Kristens and Wed we are meeting up with Kim (another friend) for lunch and then Kelly and Michelle (friends) for dinner. Can you say a lot of eating out? I hope that I don't gain too much weight! Then Kristen is going to drive back with me to Texas starting on Thursday morning. We will go to Andrew's parents house the first night, then through Denver to show her some sights and to meet up with my other friend Kellie who lives there for lunch on Friday. We should be back by Friday night. Saturday I will show Kristen the sights of Borger. That should take about 5 minutes!! Then we are going to Amarillo for the night and I will take her to the airport first thing Sunday morning. It will be fun!

I don't blame you if you stopped reading after the first two sentences. I know I kind of rambled on, but oh well, blogging is the only form of journaling that I am getting in right now.

Basketball

Malory really enjoyed her first year of playing basketball. She made 2 baskets all season and she was fouled once and went to the free throw line. She was a better defensive player than offensive, but she was a great hustler and she stole the ball several times!


She is # 3!

The girls had fun. I thought some teams were a little to competitive. Being 5th and 6th graders. One coach had his team full court pressing by the beginning of the 2nd quarter when the score was 2 to 2. A little over the top for me. I say let them go out there and have fun!

This was the game that she was at the line. I missed the picture of it though because I forgot that I had brought my camera!