These are a few of my favorite things...

Life has been really good lately. Jared got to take off Friday just for fun so we had a nice relaxing day; went and played tennis, ate a pizza buffet for lunch and the kids ate free :), and just hung out. It was great! The weather has just been beautiful this weekend and I've decided this spring I'm going to enjoy every bit of it that I can. I feel guilty just sitting around outside so I'm thinking of all kinds of stuff to do outside, and a big thing is planting a garden. I've been digging out the garden this past week and today I planted half of it. I'm so excited and I really hope I have a green thumb! :) So as I'm sitting here tonight and it's quiet, the house is getting clean... and I'm taking a break I wanted to write some of my most favorite things today...

1. playing with the kids outside and letting them have tons of fun in the dirt...
2. showers/ baths!
3. alone time that I get with each child. I have so much fun playing with them! I think I love it too because it doesn't happen very often.
4. My cute husband
5. our new tent
6. homemade granola.... recipes coming soon...
7. a clean- or mostly clean :)--- house
8. our big back yard
9. The computer
10. Everything about Spring!!

Happy Earth Day Cake

Last night Jared and I were talking about how today was "earth day" and he said that I should make a cake for his work. I don't think he was really serious, but I took it seriously and started baking away :) It was actually really easy and I had fun.

Sacrament Meeting Craziness

Every Sunday we load up our kids in the car and prepare to battle Sacrament Meeting. We fill the diaper bag with all the necessary things... treats, toys, and more treats :) Jared helps prepare the sacrament so we get there 30 minutes early. Lately I've been taking a couple laps around the church with the girls during that 30 minutes so they can get out some energy and hopefully behave a little better during sacrament. Today as I was walking around with the girls many people commented how cute they all are... if they only knew :) Well I told Aliza to fold her arms and that she needed to walk. She got the fold your arms part, but not so much the don't run in the church. It was a pretty cute sight I have to admit... a cute chubby little girl folding her arms and running around the church :) Sacrament meeting was crazy like usual, but during the meeting I was standing up with Rachel at the back and was able to observe all the other families and realized that I'm not the only one who doesn't always get to hear much of the program. It's hard for the little kiddies to sit for an hour! I am thankful though that I can go to church every Sunday and at least feel the spirit that is at the church, and I am SO thankful for the nursery workers who take care of our girls for the second and third hours! I don't know if they realize how much I appreciate them! I am also thankful to have a ward family who I can rely on to help me out since we don't have family nearby. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and knowing that wherever I am I can find people who believe the same things I do!

Stampede, Salisbury, Spanish Radio, and Jazz

Last night Jen, Rachel, and I went to the Idaho Stampede vs LA Defenders. It was the semi-finals of the NBA-DL and the crowd was small but energetic. It was fun and of course, the tickets were free thanks to Shane Stevens. We are the dump when friends want to get rid of their tickets, and are proud of it.

I've been working on analyzing the surveys for Matt Salisbury. He is running for the House of Rep, which means he's running against Sali for the Republican nominee. I hope he wins. His grandparents live across the street from me, so that's how I got involved. It's kind of fun seeing what stuff goes on behind the scenes. I got up twice this week before 5 to volunteer to crunch the numbers, but I have fun doing it, well sometimes.

Another exciting thing this week was I was on Spanish Radio. Some lady named Delia called work and wanted an interview, but no one else knows Spanish, so it fell on me. I'm low on the totem poll, but I did it. It was scary since my Spanish is out of practice, but I practiced a lot for it and it went okay, I'd give myself a B-. It was on 1260 AM which is in the treasure valley. Jen recorded it for me. It was 20 minutes live interview. Yikes. The people at work said I did good, but they don't know Spanish, so I'll just let them think that.

I also was a little limp this week since I sprained my ankle playing basketball last Saturday.

Speaking on Basketball, I'm so excited that the Jazz are in the playoffs. Today it starts, so I'll be watching the games. Jen said she hopes the Jazz lose so that we don't have to watch so many games. So either ways it's a win-win situation. If the Jazz win, I'm happy and if they lose, Jen's happy, and if Jen is happy, then I am happy . . . right?

Even ESPN is giving them some love. They said the Jazz have the highest chance of winning the West. Unbelievable. Last year, all their "experts" picked the Rockets to beat the Jazz, yet the Jazz prevailed. Then again, they all picked the Warriors, yet the Jazz prevailed. Then the all picked the Spurs, and they were all right. But this is our year. It seems like I say that every year.

Jared

Happy Blogiversary!!

We have officially had a blog for a year now! It is a great thing! I just love letting you all know what's going on in my life and also keeping a little journal for our family. (I'm always trying to multi-task somehow) So here's to another year in the blogging world!! For all of you who haven't got a blog yet, now is as good a time as any!! And now for some fun pictures...

Aliza's Terrible Two's Already?

This is what happens when I talk on the phone to my sister...























Good thing they are so cute!! :)
Rachel didn't even cry, just sat there smiling. What a sweetheart!

More Memories from Utah

One day while we were in Utah we got to go visit Brittney and her kids. Aliza and Natalya (pictured) are only 2 days apart! It was really fun being able to chat while the kids played.



It had been a LONG time since I'd seen my roommates from BYU, so I arranged to hang out with Lindsey and Tina. I thought it would be fun to take my girls since they pretty much hadn't ever seen them. Well, it was fun, but my girls were HORRIBLE! I felt bad, but luckily I was able to eat lunch with Lindsey the next day so we were able to catch up a little bit! I loved my college experience and having Tina and Lindsey as roomies was great!

Other memories:
- staying up until 1:00 in the morning making cards with my sister Melissa
- going to a really good enrichment program with my mom- and making my dad tape The Biggest Loser since the program was during the show :)
- Going swimming with all three kids, luckily I had a lot of help!! :)
- Going on a walk with my dad
- Playing "come get me" with the Morgan, Jackson, and my girls... okay so mostly Jackson...
- Rachel getting FOUR new teeth!
- trying on old prom dresses with Brittany
- Visiting friends (Brittney, Tina, Lindsey, and Denise)
- Watching conference
- Picking up Jared and then going hiking in a canyon in Springville
- Going to a park with Jared, our girls, Brittany, Steven and Morgan between sessions of conference
- Spending time with both sides of family

Kansas City Trip

I went to Kansas City for a week by myself. My work chooses this city often since it is centrally located in the U.S. so that it is cheaper to fly everyone there. The trip was okay. Other than work, I did enjoy eating out at Jack Stack's Barbecue with some co-workers. Everyone says that KC is known for barbecue.

I also went to some Mormon History sites like Independence Visitor Center and Liberty Jail. It was fun going to Temple Lot where maybe one day an LDS temple will be build. I remember Joe and I running in that field when I was a kid. I say the RLDS temple which was fun, but they close at 5:00 so we didn't go in. Liberty Jail had a fun tour too. I would recommend going to these locations if you ever go KC, Missouri.
I wanted to go to a Royals game, but no luck.

I enjoyed coming home to see the family. Jen and I watched general conference between our two families (my parents and her parents only live 20 minutes apart). My favorite talk was from Elder Holland about continuing revelation and Jen's was from Elder Ballard about families. It's always nice to hear our optimistic church leaders, especially since the national media mocks us often.

Cousins Cousins and more Cousins

2008 has been a baby boom year for both of our families, so Rachel has a lot of new little cousins that will be her age. Rachel is really small for her age, so it's funny because she is 8 1/2 months old and her cousins who are 2 months old weigh pretty much the same as her! They will all have lots of fun when they grow up!Rachel and Hallie

Avalon, Brayden, and Rachel

Over the River and Through the Woods.....

We just got back from a fun vacation to visit our family in Utah. Jared had to go on a business trip to Kansas City for a week so we decided I would go and stay with my parents. It was a nice relaxing week, and I actually got to spend time with some of my friends! Usually when we go down we have so much family to visit in such a short amount of time that it is just too difficult to see our friends too, so that was fun. It is very convenient that both of our families live within 1 hour of each other, and the girls just loved getting to see both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. I never want to spend a week away from Jared, but if it has to be done, this is the way to go.