Hubby goes back to work:(

So sad, my hubby returned to work today. He has been so helpful and truly enjoyed his time home. He took care of the kids, did dishes every day, let me sleep in every morning and let me relax. It was really awesome and I know the children all loved him being home. Can't wait for his next vacation but it won't be until late July early August for our annual road trip. We are thinking this year of doing another Northern CA road trip since we havent seen everything we want to see in CA. We were going to do South Dakota, but economically it won't work for us, so CA here we come. We will be able to catch up with those we haven't seen in awhile. Looking forward to planning it.

What a wonderful christmas

What an amazing christmas. This christmas we decided to stay home and not go out of town. On Christmas Eve, my parents came down from Big Bear and my mom made cookies with the kids. Boy, did Trinity make a mess with the flour, drove me crazy but it was totally cute:) We then went over to my in laws for some christmas. Kayleigh got a guitar which she just loves. She plays and sings us many made up songs;) Then on Christmas morning the kids opened all their wonderful presents, man were they spoiled. We hung out all day with my parents just kicking back and relaxing. My great aunt and uncle came over and visited for awhile and later my in laws came over for a brief minute. We had our yummy christmas dinner and then bed! Yesterday, some friends of ours from Northern California came down and visited with us. The kids had a blast playing including Journey and Cadence whom are only 3 weeks apart in age. It was too cute! We visited for a long time, which was so much fun, especially for our jibber jabber girls. We don't get too much adult conversation so we had much catching up to do. Today we are just kicking back trying to catch up on relaxation, now that everyone is gone:( Here's to 2010, I hope Obama doesnt screw us up too bad and California as well with all they greedy hands in our pockets!

What a Wonderful Day!

Today was one of the most amazing days! Kayleigh and I started it off going to lunch and dessert at Chilis (Kayleigh's favorite restaurant). She posed for the best pics (will post at a later date). Then we walked over to the Honda Center for some Disney on Ice. As soon as we walked in you felt as though you were at the Happiest Place on Earth. All the smiles, excitement, pretty items for sale, and all the kids. Of course we bought a program (costing $15!) and a light up toy ($18!), very pricey I know, but it was a one time thing and Kayleigh was so excited. It was our day so I wanted to make it extra special. We then headed into the arena to get to our seats. We had great seats and they didn't cost much. I asked Kayleigh if she wanted to look at the program before the show started and she commented to me "no I just want to watch the show". As soon as it started she started clapping, giggling, jumping, and telling me all the stories. It told the story of Little Mermaid, Cars, Lion King, and Tinkerbell. Of course Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald were there. The story of Tinkerbell was beautiful, it made me tear up. We then came home to hang out with the fam. This will be a christmas tradition I plan on continuing for the girls.

More Christmas parties

Well I had my second christmas party for the kids last Thursday and what a bust!  The party was to start at 10 am and at 10:30 I started receiving all the calls as to why they were canceling, some valid reasons, others very lame.  Only one mom and two kids showed up, but Kayleigh and Trinity still had fun playing.  Next year I will only do one party, if some feel as though there is too many people in my home and they can't take it, then oh well.  I am not going to clean, provide cookies, drinks and a craft for a bust again, not to mention the disappointment for me and the girls.  Can you tell I am offended?  Ok so enough of that:)

Yesterday we had our christmas party for our ISP and we truly had a blast.  We did a little gift exchange and Jordan got Old Main/Go Fish card game and Kayleigh got Uno.  Jordan was actually excited for his card game (he really loves playing games).  At the party we had a cookie exchange, which I must say my cookies sucked!  I tried a new recipe at the last minute and they turned out horrible!  I have about 3 dozen baked cookies sitting in my kitchen that probably won't be eaten:(  The others cookies that the moms        vmade oh my gosh were so yummy!  We made a craft, played board games and had pizza and salad for lunch.  Tons of fun!  Then last night I went to a women's dessert at my church.  I went with my friend Lisa Marie and we had a blast!  I saw so many women I have had the blessing of having fellowship over the past few years with and at our table, sat with many women I knew so it was a lot of fun conversing and catching up.  I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful home church. The desserts were very yummy, especially these peanut butter squares and  the guest speaker.  The woman talked about having no fear in this world since our Savior was sent to take that way.  She has a 20 year old boy who is dying and how she has peace about it.  Well of course that hit home with me.  However, I don't think I ever had peace with Job passing.  I have a sort of peace with it, but I still haven't really accepted it.  Sorry I am selfish and would much rather have him with me!  

So today I cleaned a very messy house and now will relax over some hot coffee, thin mints and movie and rain:)  Loving this christmas holiday, just wish it was more than a month:(

Christmas Parties

We had our annual christmas party for adults last Friday and it was a blast!  We had about 30 people in attendance and stuck with a mexican theme.  We had enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, southwestern eggrolls, southwestern turkey rollups, 7 layer dip, churros and much more.  There was great conversation and a fun gift exchange.  Brent and I ended up with a $10 gas card and a video, Dazed and Confused:)  I got to talk with a friend I haven't seen in two years who is now getting married.  As you probably have guessed, I was in heaven.  I love weddings! and talking about them:)

I had a christmas party for the girls today and it was super fun!  The kids all had a great time! Last years christmas party went so well, that I decided to have 2 parties.  Today we had 5 adults and 6 kids.  We enjoyed each other's company over snacks while the kids decorated cookies, made mosaic christmas trees and santa hats with their names in glitter, and their $1 gift exchange.  You would be amazed at what great gifts you can find that cost only $1.  The kids also played with the many toys that the girls have and played with the chalk that Kayleigh got in the gift exchange.   Tomorrow I host another christmas party for the girls.  We have 5 adults and 8 kids rsvp'd for that one.  I cant wait.  

Update I forgot to say as well is that Trinity is potty trained!  and it took only 3 days to do it!  In the past 2 weeks she has had only 2 accidents so we are faring very well.  She was ready awhile back, but I needed to wait til Thanksgiving vacation (when Jordan had no sports practice or classes going on) to be able to concentrate on only that.  Good thing I waited, it didn't take long at all!

Update!

So what can I say that has happened in all these months.  Well in October,  Kayleigh started Christmas which really has been a blast.  For Halloween,we did our trick or treating at the Festival, went to Friends Church to do rides, and around the neighborhood.  It was a hoot:)

Then in November, there was much excitement for us.  Jordan's football team was undefeated and made it to the championship.  We won!!  There was so much excitement:)   We have a banquet scheduled for January 8, next year.  Thanksgiving wasn't all that great, just dinner with the in laws, like any other dinner any other time of the year.  But then to set up for Christmas, my all time favorite time of the year.  We started the season off with our annual Christmas Party.  We had a blast!  We had about 30 people in attendance, so imagine all the food.  We had enchiladas, fajitas, chips/dip, quesadillas, southwest eggrolls, southwest roll ups, churros, yummy cookies and fudge and cake and of course my homemade apple cider and hot chocolate.  Gotta say the apple cider tasted exactly like Starbucks, verrrrryyyy yummy.  In our gift exchange we won a $10 gas card and a video "Dazed and Confused".    Can't wait for next years.

This week I am having two Christmas parties for Kayleigh and Trinity's friends.  I have about 18 coming on Wednesday and about 10 coming on Thursday.  We have so much fun, we decorate cookies and make a craft over snacks and drinks.  We later have a $1 gift exchange for the kids.  I will post some pics from the party afterwards.  Other than that, not much really has taken place.  Kayleigh is doing wonderful.  Her behavior has improved tremondously!  We now have to take Journey to physical therapy for her neck, but nothing to serious.  

Visit from Family

A couple of months ago, my uncle and 2 cousins came to CA to visit us from New York. Look at Jordan and my cousin, he is sooooo tall. He towers over me. Spencer is only 15 and Jordan is 13, crazy huh? My uncle is pretty tall himself. We had a great and short visit. I sure do love those kids and my uncle is a bunch of fun.

New Blog

I guess I have to reset my blog. Brent's grandmother's neighbor got a hold of our blog and informed her of all of Kayleigh's issues. Not that I care that she knows, I am not ashamed of her ODD, but for someone I don't even know reading about my family disturbs Brent and I. So we are changing our blog and deleting this one. If you want to be able to follow up on our daily blogs, please comment on this blog as to your email or email me (you would know Brent or my email address). I really hate that people stick their noses where they don't belong, but I gues their are people out there.

Vacation...Day 16

Day 16

We left at 8:30 a.m and headed to Las Vegas to see an old friend of mine from High School. Unfortantly she had to work so we got a short visit, but at least we got to see each other. It has been about 15 years since we last saw each other! It was really fun and it was as if there wasn't a 15 year gap:) Then on to the Coca Cola and M & M Store for the kids. The Coca Cola store was fun and refreshing. The kids loved taste testing the 16 flavors from around the world. The M & M Store was ok- it was very much overpriced! For 1 lb of M & M's it was $12.99!!! Needless to say we didn't buy any, we instead bought some from the store. We toured the MGM and Excalibur for Kayleigh and Trinity. They got to see the big castle and the lions. We finally got on the road to home at 4:15 pm and after MUCH traffic, we arrived at 10:45 pm!! Should have only took us 4 hours! But we made it and I am very glad to be home. Next year-Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore:)

Vacation...Day 15

Day 15

Woke up at 8 am. Had a great night sleep. We got ready to go to Bryce Canyon National Park. On our way there we stopped at a local farmers market in the middle of nowhere. Everything was so yummy but very expensive for a farmers market. We bought Elderberry jelly, pumpkin chocolate chip bread and peanut butter balls. Bryce Canyon was a little far, 2 hours, but it really was beautiful. Not really kid friendly due to all the cliffs. We found a place where we could picnic which ended up being a lot fun for the kids, since they got to feed the chipmunk and birds. We headed back to camp for dinner. My mom and dad stsayed at camp to clean up. We took the girls to the Park Ranger program. That didn't last too long with the girls. Although, Brent did stay behind. He loves that stuff! Now this was too funny....my dad went to join us, but as he was walking over to the ampitheater he stepped into the creek and got his shoes and bottom of his pants all wet. Then he saw a lady with a boy and she was carrying a baby on the front of her. My dad thought it was my mom, Jordan and Journey, so he decided to scare them. He stepped out in front of these people, put his hand up in the air like a bear and growled at them. Needless to say it wasn't my mom, they were strangers and my dad freaked them out!:) He decided at that point, it was probably better to stay at camp until we got back;P We later chilled out in the 5th wheel again and headed to bed. This was our last night of our trip:(


Taken of a crow right by us. This was not on zoom, we were that close to the crow.

Natural Bridge, pretty cool!

There was a trail that went all the way down to the bottom. We wanted to go, but it wasn't safe for the girls:(

This is the Bryce Canyon Ampitheater. It was like this all around us, so beautiful!

One of the points at Bryce Canyon NP.

Vacation....Day 14

Day 14

I woke up at 7:45 am and chilled with my mom in the 5th wheel over some coffee. I took a walk with Jordan to the visitors center while Brent and the girls went to the river to look at the tadpoles and baby frogs. Kayleigh actually caught one. Then we went searching for inner tubes to go tubbing on the river. We finally found some and Brent and Kayleigh went down together while Jordan followed behind with his pink one:) He looked pretty with his pink inner tube:) Later, while everyone was sleeping, Jordan and I went rafting down, but we decided to take the river farther than they had before. The rapids were crazy and more fun down further, however Jordan got a little beat up by the rocks since he decided to go down on his tummy and not his caboose. When we got back to camp after our river rafting adventure, Brent and Kayleigh went frog searching again and Kayleigh caught 4 baby frogs. She lost one in our tent (which we never found) and one died. It was really sad. We later let the other two go. We chilled through the rest of the night in the 5th wheel and outside. It wasn't too hot or too cold, just right to sit outside and enjoy ourselves. As we were sitting outside we had a deer literally cross through our camp. It was awesome! We followed it and got a few pictures.

Kayleigh holding her frog.

Kayleigh's 4 baby frogs (and a rock!).

Kayleigh playing with her frogs.

Trinity and Brent passed out:)

My dad:)

Journey passed out on her mama, she is way too cute!

Jordan took this picture of himself. What a nerd:)

The deer further down from our camp (he is the brown figure in the middle of the picture eating weeds).

Vacation...Day 13

Day 13


Had a horrible night last night. Trinity would not go to bed! Finally, around 1:30 am, I went to sleep and let her play around in complete darkness, who knows when the girl fell asleep. I woke up around 3 am and she was passed out on the floor:) The breakfast was AWESOME!!! Eggs, sausage, bacon, cottage cheese w/peaches, toast, waffles, juice, yummy!!!! On to Zion National Park to camp with my parents. First we went to get a DVD/VHS recorder since the sales tax is less here in Utah. We went to see BYU's football fiels, which the seats were pretty cool, but I must say Boise's was very much cooler. We then headed to Ceder Breaks National Monument. Very amazing! We got as high up at 10,500 elevation. It was one of God's natural wonders. Next up, Zions to camp for 3 nights, however my parents have a 5th whell and air conditioning and a bathroom! No showers still, but we have a potty right there:) The first night went smooth, our campsite was beautiful. The moon lit up behind the rock walls beautifully.



View of Ceder Breaks National Monument.

Jordan looking studly. What's prettier? Him or the Park?:)

Another view.

Our campsite in Zions:)

Our own personal backdrop from our campsite. Imagine the moon lighting the rocks up and sun setting and rising. Breathtaking!!

Vacation...Day 12

Day 12

Woke up at 8:15 am to go get our continental breakfast-best one yet! We got a late start and didn't get checked out until 11 am. First we went to the Idaho Potato Museum to learn about the Idaho Potato. Very interesting and fun. When we left, they gave us free hashbrowns and post cards for the kids. Then off to Idaho Falls to see the Titanic exhibit. Oh my gosh, how amazing and interesting, yet so sad. To read on some of the lives of the passengers was so sad. I bought a book that was written by 4 survivors, can't wait to read it. Now we are off to find some potato ice cream at Reeds Dairy. So we show up and they don't have potato ice cream anymore, but that didn't stop us from getting ice cream! The girls got cotton candy, Brent got a Banana flavor with chocolate chips, caramel, and marshmallows, Jordan got Huckelberry and cookie dough (his was so big he was struggling to finish it) and I got Huckelberry and the Banana. After seeing Jordans, I got a single scoop, but with 2 flavors. We had homemade grilled cheese, that is homemade bread, cheese and butter, with freshly made chocolate milk at the dairy. These were the best sandwiches in the world and oh my gosh-I have NEVER tasted chocolate milk like this! YUMMMMY!!! Everyone agrees:) Next up Golden Spike. Place where the 2 railroads met. By the way, 2 hours later Jordan finally finishes his ice cream with a little help from Trinity. We finally reach Golden Spike at about 7:30 pm Kind of lame since the "last spike" was "undriven" in 1942, so all you see are where the 2 railroads, that aren't even in use today, joined. So on to our hotel-La Quinta. A for sure good hotel:)

World's largest potato chip.

Reeds Dairy, there was a farm and a little drive to the side of it.

The cows at Reed's Dairy (only some).

Kayleigh loving her cotton candy ice cream.

Jordan caught. See how huge that thing is. They packed it all the way through the cone!

Trinity wiping off her tongue from the ice cream. We told her to wipe her face and instead gets her tongue.

Caught loving his ice cream! A kid at heart!

Trinity and Kayleigh playing by the cows.

Trinity falling asleep while trying to drink from a coke.

One side of the railway that was joined.

The other side of the railway that was joined. Whoo hoo!!

Say Cheese!

Jordan being a complete goof ball!

A picture of the last strike driven.

BYU's football field, we thought the seats were cool.

Vacation...Day 11

Day 11

Up at 6 am to leave at 8 am. First stop Hageman National Monument. We saw the Oregon Trail which was actually amazing. You could see the wagon trail carved out in the hillside. We also got to see a metal bridge built in the 1920's. Then on to Twin Falls, ID to see where Evil Kanevil tried to jump the Snake River. The drive through Twin Falls was gorgeous. There were many mini water falls along the way. Now you couldn't actually drive directly to the site where Evil Kanevil took off, but you could see it from the visitors center and Brent found a road where we could drive to other side of the canyon and see it head on. It was pretty cool to see where he tried to jump, he was nuts! Next up, Shoshone Ice Caves. I couldn't wait for this one. The ice caves were pretty cool. We went into lava tubes that were about 30 degrees, when it was about 95 degrees or hotter outside, so needless to say it felt really good. Kayleigh was so behaved and really enjoyed it. The only ice in the ice cave was on the floor of the cave and on the rocks around. There was snow on the rocks as well. Then on to Ketchum, Ernest Hemingways gravesiste. What a BEAUTIFUL drive up. We drove through Hailey which we are now looking into as our future move. Only if we can afford it and there are job opportunities. It was gorgeous, and Ketchum as well, but too much of a resort town for me. After seeing Ernest's grave, we drove up to Craters Moon National Monument. Way better than I thought it would be, very awesome! It was very interetsing to learn about volcanoes and how they flow, erupt, and then to see it in person. We all hiked up a huge lava cone to get a beautiful view of the whole park. Good thing we got there later in the day. It was nice and cool and windy. According to the Park, it can get to be about 150 degrees at ground level since it is in the desert and is black sand. Now we have been to White Sands and Black Sands:) Finally on to the hotel which we couldn't wait to relax! But wait...the drive into Arco was very scary. It was a dumpy little town and we were awaiting to see what our motel looked like. As we pulled into our motel their were bikers sitting on the portch with their shirts off watching every move we made. When Brent checked in, the owner upgraded us to a 2 bdrm suite. Well as we walked into the room, we were very scared. The bikers actually walked out to see where our room was, which had us more scared. Brent went to check out a better motel across the street and the rooms were way better, not to mention the guy said we were staying in a "rough" motel. Brent asked me if I wanted to stay somewhere else and immediatly I responded yes. This is a description of our room...A refridgerator from the late 60's on its last leg, a stove that didn't work, beds sunken in, no air conditioner (about 90 degrees in the room), bugs flying everywhere IN THE ROOM, dirty and unvaccumed floors, spotted tablecloth, mousetrap on the doorstep of our room, oh about 2 to 3 pairs of shoes scattered outside in various locations and bugs in the sink. The only clean room was the bathroom. So Brent went to get a refund and the guy got very upset with him. At that moment, we decided to just leave town and stay in Blackfoot, ID, our destination for the next day. We literally threw everything in the car including the kids, we forgot to buckle in Kayleigh we were in such a rush! We stayed at the Super 8 Motel, which was clean, big and in a good area with an air conditioner and no bugs. Boy were we excited to be in our motel!



The bridge built in 1920 near Hagerman National Monument.



Corn field, I thought it was pretty cool:)

If you can see, the falls are to the right. There were many of these along Twin Falls.

Again if you can notice, the Oregon trail is between the brush and bushes. Picture doesnt really do it justice, but had to blog it.

Evil Kanevil's car he tried to jump.

If you can tell, there is a dirt ramp with a hand made ramp built on top of it.

Now you can't really tell from the picture being this small, but this is Snake River which Evil Kanevil tried to jump. The dirt ramp is all that it is left and it is to left in the far back.

Journey inside the caves

Trinity going down the stairs into the ice caves.

Ernest Hemingway's grave, notice all the pens people put on his grave, it was pretty neat.

Downtown Hailey. Where we want to move.

The Albertstons in Hailey. Isn't it cute, all woodsy:)

This is a very cool picture. Taken at Crater Moon NP, notice the lava flow that hardened. You can tell exactly how the lava flowed and in which direction.

Jordan carrying up Trinity up these very steep hill. All volcanic debris, pretty cool.

Kayleigh walking up the hill. She loved it!

Everyone but Brent walking up that steep hill. It was pretty hard carrying Journey, but worth it!

Our sort of family picture. Another one without Kayleigh. I guess we need to photoshop her into all of them:(

The kids and I hanging out at the top of the volcanic cone. The view was awesome!

Kayleigh and Trinity had a blast playing in the black volcanic debris.