Laugh for the millenium.

"Only beautiful girls eat coconut", Ellie announced as she shoved handfuls of the delicious stuff into her mouth. What could i do? I started shoving handfuls in my mouth too....
Love her.

Its a Twista, Its a Twista!!!!

Before I start the story, let me apologize for the poor picture quality, I just had my cell phone handy, and I didn't want to miss this, but I think you can still get the idea. So anyways... We were just minding our own business on this lovely Sunday afternoon, getting ready to eat dinner, when I recieved a phone call from a good friend telling me that I needed to get down in my basement because there was a tornado in my backyard. "What?" I thought to myself, "It's not really even that windy outside." So I walk out into my backyard and this is the scene i see:Craziness, to see this so close! I call the kids to have them come see. That's when I get another phone call from another friend and neighbor telling me that I better get in my car and leave, because it's getting really close. So, even though we didn't feel in any eminent danger, we decided to take a drive and see what more we could see. This little guy touched down a couple more times and then started heading to the east (sorry Kansas). Very cool to see!! We stopped at one of our friends house and the kids all immediately headed for the basement to make a "fort" to keep safe. (They made it out of pillows, so for sure nothing was getting by that!). Ellie was quite nervous, she said a couple prayers, but couldn't stop thinking about it. I am letting her sleep with me in my bed tonight. Carter said it was the "coolest day of his life". It did make for an interesting start of the week though!!!

Gage conquered the Stairs

My little man finally figured out how to go down the stairs by himself, which is a relief and a worry at the same time! We can finally take down the "baby jail gate" to keep him from falling down them, but now it's his favorite thing to do. He follows the kids down there (its where all their toys are), and just makes himself at home! He is soooo proud of himself and is getting pretty fast, he just cruises right down without stopping. Sometimes he will just go down them and then right back up again, just because he can. The little turd.
The 2 older ones like to try and race him up and down, and he thinks its pretty funny. But on another note, looking at this picture below, we have been having the cut your hair debate with Carter. He wants to grow it out a little and I want to cut it, it gets so shaggy. But I decided that he is old enough to make the choice. What do you think??? Cut or Grow???

What's next?

So, here i sit, pondering my life and wondering what could be coming next.... We are in so much limbo right now that it is driving me crazy. When will the house sell? Where are we going to live in Utah? What school's do we want to put Carter in? Should I start them in sports and dance here and then leave mid season? Should we rent our house? AAAAAAAHHHHH! That's me screaming at the chaos. And to make matters worse my stupid fridge decides to start freezing all my produce for no reason, and then the garage door breaks and I have to manually open and close it. And this morning, I woke up all achy and sniffly and chilled. Needless to say, I am kind of a "half empty" girl these days. I also just had a tragic death in my near family that has kind of shaken everyone to the core. All of these things have made me sit back and contemplate what is most important in my life. What do I need to be happy? I decided that is a really loaded question. I went to the Denver temple this last week while my kids were visiting their grandparents to think and find some peace. I also was looking for answers on where my life should be going. I came away with peace of mind and the idea that I was making this too hard. What was important to me? All the things that I had been worrying about were physical THINGS. I realized how blessed I am to have a husband that loves me (even though he is in another state....). I have 3 healthy, beautiful children. I have enough money to meet all my basic needs. I also came across this scripture, which I absolutely love:

2 Nephi 31: 20: Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the words of Christ, and endure to the end, behold thus saith the father; Ye shall have eternal life."

Well, there's my answer. "Press forward, steadfastness, feast upon the words of Christ, ENDURE, have eternal life".
So I still don't know what' coming next, but I am trying to look at it as our next adventure, and at least we will be doing it together, and we will survive!!!!

"Hope" is the thing with feathers
By Emily Dickinson
"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—
And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—
I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

MaMMa MiA...

I just went to see this with a bunch of "the girls". It was so fun! What a great chick flick/musical! I loved it! We had dessert fondue at the Melting Pot first which was also amazing!!! What a fun girls night! i would definitely reccommend taking one soon..... I can't wait to see this on broadway! And I am for sure going to this greek island someday in my future...BEauTiFuL!

SuRpRiSe!!!

We got the best surprise this last Thursday night....MATT!!! He surprised us by driving out to see us for the weekend!!! He almost scared me to death as he got to the house at 1 am and couldn't get in. He decided to pound on our bedroom window to wake me up! I almost pee'd my pants when I heard it! I thought someone was trying to break into our house!!! But when I finally got the courage to peek out of the window, I saw my honey and almost started to cry!!! I should probably catch everyon up on our situation so you understand why this was a big deal... Matt accepted a job in Utah and had to move back there and start working about 2 months ago. So, while we are trying to get our house to sell in this wonderful market, I am staying in Denver with the kids and keeping the house spotless every second of the day in case we have someone who wants to go through it!! So much fun! I feel like a single mom most of the time. It has been really hard on all of us. And Matt has been really busy getting into this job and tackling it head on so he hasn't been able to come and visit at all. So anyways....it was a big deal and we had such a fun weekend with him. (it went way too fast though!!!) We love you sweet cheeks!!! smooches! The kids were so happy he was home. They followed him around the house, hanging all over him!!! I think they are getting sick of mean, mean mom.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Chase and Gagey playing on the playground!
Ellie on the tram ride up to the top of the mountain.
Look at the beautiful view! It was such a fun ride.
This was the lion exhibit, but the lions were nowhere to be seen. Off hiding somewhere....
2 tired mom's after a long day of walking and looking at animals....

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Here is our next Colorado Adventure! We went to the Cheyenne Mountain zoo in Colorado Springs. It is the only zoo in the U.S that is actually on the side of a mountain. Pretty cool. Lots of hiking and walking, but the kids loved it! We were lucky enough to go with our cousins The Housers! Here's all the kids: Carter, Ethan, Cami, Ellie, Tristen, Karina, Chase, and Gagey in the stroller! What a crew! Check out the view behind them!
We took a ride to the top of the mountain! Here's Angiec, Tristen, and Karina.
Me and Carter on the lift ride up the mountain.
All the kids hitting the playground at the top of the mountain.
Anna and the girls.

Braces are off (for now)...

Carter was ecstatic to have his braces taken off this last week. He has had them on for 9 months now and was getting really sick of them!!! So off for a few more years and then back on again when all of his permanent teeth are in. What a handsome smile though? don't you think? My favorite is the dimple on his left side (but he gets embarrassed when I say that!)