Year in Review

As I was putting away my "old" calendar and getting ready for 2009 I was struck by how many things have happend this past year. Each month had something fun that we did. Looking back at the fun, you forget all the mundane. So here's to 2008, it was great!

January: Russell turned 34! I was called as primary president. Hunter was taking an ABC class. I was able to go to the spa for some TLC and we went and saw The Phantom of the Opera at The Venetian.

February: Hunter turned 4! Isaac ran a 5K. Russell went to CA for a board game convention. The entire family went to the Doodlebops concert!

March: Audrey got a new Easter dress. Hunter took swimming lessons. Isaac started baseball practice. Russell went to Seattle to help his brother move.

April: Russell went to MO to the ranch. The family went to the county fair. Grandma Coral and my Mom came. Cannon was born!

May: Russell took the kids on the ward campout. Russell went to Reno for work. My little sister got married in the LV temple.

June: Isaac got out of school for the summer. Russell went to scout camp. I took the kids to the free movies.

July: Isaac turned 12! The family went to MO for our annual 4th of July trip. The family went to MN for a fun trip. I joined the gym. Isaac received the priesthood.

August: Audrey turned 2! I went to the gym. Isaac started 7th grade.

September: I turned 31. Russell and Isaac went to St. George to visit the church history sites and do baptisms.

October: Russell went to Woodbadge and was gone for 2 weekends this month. We went to Disneyland! Halloween: I-Woopie cushion, H-Buzz Lightyear, A-Tikerbell and C-Dinosaur.

November: Russell got his c-pap! We went to the Valley of Fire ward camp out. We had 2 Thanksgiving dinners!

December: We went to Opportunity Village and saw Santa. Hunter had a choir concert. We had a wonderful Christmas at home.


Can't wait to see what 2009 has in store for us! Happy New Year everyone!

Mrs. Claus is Tired

I was reading "I wanna talk about brooke" and realized that this is exactly how I feel right now.

Let it snow!

Ways to use your gym membership

There are many ways to use a gym membership, I'll just let you know how I used mine today.
First: Drop off the kids at the daycare.
Second: Put gym bag into a locker.
Third: Get a delicious fruit smoothie from the juice bar.
Fourth: Find a seat w/ a table and sit down to enjoy smoothie.
Fifth: Address all Christmas card envelopes.
Sixth: Change clothes in locker room.
Seventh: Go sit in the hot tub.
Eighth: Take a long shower.
Ninth: Take as much time as you want getting yourself ready.
Tenth: Pick up kids at the daycare.

While this might not be the best way to get in shape, it did wonders for my state of mind. I was less stressed about getting things done (i.e. Christmas card addresses) and I was more patient with my children. All in all I think this was a great day at the gym. AND when people ask me what I did today I can say, "I went to the gym" and they'll think how dedicated I am. :)

P.S. I meet with my trainer tomorrow, so I'll be hurting tomorrow night!

Biggest Loser & Chocolate Lessons

Last night while watching The Biggest Loser I was amazed at everything that they had accomplished. They lost a TON of weight. They learned how to exercise and how to eat healthier. The finale is next week and they already look amazing. So while I was contemplating how far they've come, I reached for a Dove chocolate. (I know, I know- not really getting the message of the show) THIS is what the Dove Promise said, "If they can do it, you know you can." No joke.

I thought, yeah I guess I could do it. Instead, (you guessed it,) I ate another chocolate. THIS one said, "Make someday today."

I stopped eating the chocolates. Message received! Dang those Dove Promises!

Gettin' Crafty w/ a Friend

This morning I got together with a great friend to make some Christmas cards. I like to scrapbook and she likes to sew and these cards were a little of both, so we were both excited to make them. The best part of the project was that my friend had a magazine that had all the ideas in it, so we didn't have to come up with anything ourselves. I love doing projects, but I have a hard time coming up with my own ideas. I'm a great scraplifter! Our kids played and made a huge mess while we chatted. Then we had a yummy lunch and even better dessert, 4 different kinds of homemade fudge. YUM!!! I didn't take as many pictures as I probably should have, but you'll get an idea of what the kids were up to while we were crafting.

Cute Jenna
Eliza and Cannon cuddling

And of course Audrey. That girl will accessorize anywhere. If one bag will do the job, how about 4 or more? She insisted on being called the Mama while she was pushing the baby around.

Then the BEST part...when I got home each kid took a long nap!!!

Fashionista

This little girl is just too much! She sure likes her accessories doesn't she? She is just so adorable I just have to squeeze her! Love this cutie pie! :)

Confessions of a Chocolateaholic

I love peanut m&m's!

I mean, I REALLY love peanut m&m's. I guess you can say that I'm slightly obsessed with these yummy treats. I get a little scared when my big 45 oz. bag is almost empty, that I will go buy another one before it gets empty because heaven forbid that I go without m&m's for a minute. They must be there, hidden in my drawer (so my kids can't eat them) at all times. It makes me feel better knowing that they are there and that I can have a quick little pick me up at any time. It's not like its bad addiction, right?

When Russell was at scout camp I went through an entire bag in 1 week. Stress really brings out my need for these chocolatey yummies. After that I averaged a bag every two weeks. I thought to myself that this obsession was getting a little out of hand. SO I convinced myself that portion control would be good for me. Then I got the fun size. And it did actually help. I would only eat 1 fun size bag at a time, and would then only eat a couple bags a day. Victory! ...until I started eating 2 bags at a time. Then last night I fell off the wagon. I went to the store and bought the big bag again.

I'm wondering if I should get in an AA type program or maybe I already am (I do go to the gym)! You'd think that the gym would make me feel guilty for eating so many m&m's, but it doesn't. Some days I go to the gym and then come home and before I even get into the shower, I'll pop a few into my mouth. I mean really, why did I just spend all that time working out! Very counter productive I would think, but it doesn't stop me.

Maybe someday I'll go back to the fun size (or even quit altogether, gasp!), but for now its just me and my big bag.

I mean, seriously the small bag just doesn't cut it! I NEED my peanut m&ms!

Do you think I have a problem?

Black Friday

My sister Sara and I braved the crowds and went out shopping on "black Friday". We weren't crazy and camp overnight or even stand in long lines waiting for stores to open, but we did get up at 4:30 and get to Walmart at 5:00 for their opening.

It was PACKED! We had Cannon sleeping in the bottom of one cart and Sara was pushing the other one. We quickly abandoned the second cart and even had me step into a side asile for a while so that Sara could brave the electronics department. After an hour and half the store was fairly empty and we breezed through the checkout line with almost everything that we came in for. Success!

Next we went across the street to Home Depot. Where after a lot of help from some great employees we went to a different Home Depot so Sara could get her $50 7 1/2 ft. tree. A little time consuming, but successful!

We then went to Sears and then on to Target. By 10:00 we were TIRED and done! :)

Only a few more items to pick up and projects to finish and then I can say I'm ready for Christmas!

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Valley Of Fire

On Friday afternoon we headed out of town to the Valley of Fire for our ward campout. Russell took the afternoon off, so we were able to get to the campsite and set up in the daylight! That night Russell made some yummy cowboy dinners(tinfoil dinner where I grew up) and a delicious peach cobbler. Isaac was a great help setting up the tent and Audrey was a great help cleaning up all the dirt and rocks (not looking forward to that diaper!) We really enjoyed spending time with our great ward family. It was nice to get away and just relax a little.

Turkey Party

On Friday morning Audrey and Hunter invited their LV cousins over for a Turkey Party. (We wish the MO cousins could've come, dang that 20+ car ride!). A turkey party is something I made up and since I made it up I had to come up with all the things pertaining to that day (thank goodness for the internet!).

I made some Turkey cupcakes.

Hunter and Isaac helped make some Turkey Oreos.

I also made an edible Turkey out of fruit, cheese and a red pepper. It looked adorable!

We played Turkey Bingo and Find the Turkey Egg. We made some Turkey crafts. We looked at Turkey books and watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. It was a Turkeyrific Party!

Sleep? Oh, Sleep! Where are you?

Once I realized that I was going to have snore free nights, I was overjoyed! What I didn't count on though was my children.

On Sunday Night (Mon. morning) all three of them decided that 4 AM would be a great time to wake up. Monday night, Hunter snuck into our bed for half the night until I took him back to his bed. The other half of the night Cannon was up every two hours until I let him sleep with us. Audrey actually stayed in her bed and only cried once.

This brings me to last night.

11:00 PM I turn out the lights and go to bed, thinking to myself that Cannon will probably be up in an hour.
12:00 AM Cannon wakes up. I feed him.
1:00 AM I wake up, slumped over with Cannon still in my arms to Audrey screaming. I quickly put Cannon back in his bed and go see Audrey. She is standing up with her blanket and sippy, has already said "good bye" to binky and is ready to get out of bed. I bring her back to bed with me.
2:00 AM Fight with Audrey about the covers (she doesn't want any), her kicking me and other things that make sleep difficult.
3:00 AM I actually don't remember. Could I have been asleep?
4:00 AM Cannon wakes up. I feed him.
5:00 AM I wake up, slumped over with Cannon still in my arms to Hunter trying to crawl into my bed. I told him to go to Dad's side because there wasn't any room with Audrey there. He said that he wanted to sleep with me. I put Cannon back in his bed. Tucked Hunter into my bed, and then snuck to his bed.
5:30 AM Cannon starts crying. I get up and put in his binky.
6:00 AM Russell's alarm goes off.
7:00 AM All kids are awake and ready to start the day.

Sadly this is a fairly typical night lately. Is it any wonder that I'm super crabby and have no patience with my kids? I find myself yelling a lot and getting angry really quickly. I feel really bad about it, but can't seem to stop.

Any solutions to getting more (any) sleep?

Super Sexy Shorts & Socks

My wonderful husband was out Scouting for food today. I didn't see him when he left, but this is how I saw him when I came home. He didn't want me to show his entire uniform, but you do get to see the best part. Isn't it great that he walked around the neighborhoods like this?
Sorry ladies, he's taken!

A New Phase in Life

Phase 1:


Girl falls in love. Girl gets married. Girl finds out that her new husband snores. LOUDLY. Girl spends most of her newlywed nights sleeping on the couch, trying to get away from the noise.


This hurts the Boy's feelings. Girl eventually gets used to the noise and can now sleep in the same room with Boy.





Phase 2:


Boy is having a lot of trouble sleeping. Boy gets a sleep study done. The test showed that the Boy stopped breathing 125 times per hour. The Girl is scared. The Boy gets a CPAP machine.
This machine blows contines oxygen into his face so that he can breathe througout the night. This is a picture of Boy showing Girl what she will sleep next to for the rest of her life.
Boy is really excited about this machine. Boy is ready to have a good night's sleep. Boy is ready not to be tired all day. Boy says that in the morning he will jump out of bed and be refreshed. Girl is a little nervous about sleeping next to "Darth Vadar". Girl is happy that Boy is happy.

Boy sleeps peacefully.

Girl sleeps peacefully. There is NO MORE LOUD SNORING!

Girl has a miracle!

$2 Movies

I found this information at kvbc.com I hope it will fit into my schedule to go. I love movies, but don't love the price!

Thursday, November 13, 2008
Channel 3 Day at the Movies - Regal Cinemas Aliante

$2 movies, $2 popcorn, $2 soft drinks!

Proceeds to benefit COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS

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Get Smart 1:00, 4:30, 7:30, 10:05

Hancock 1:05, 4:15, 7:10, 9:30

Hellboy 2 12:20, 3:15, 6:15, 10:20

Incredible Hulk 1:25, 4:45, 7:50, 10:35

Indiana Jones, Crystal Skull 12:30, 4:00, 7:00, 9:45

Iron Man 11:50am, 3:30, 6:20, 9:15

Journey: Real D 3-D 1 2:05, 3:45, 6:50, 9:50

Kung Fu Panda, IMAX 1:30, 4:55, 8:10, 10:30

Made of Honor 12:45, 4:10, 7:40, 10:50

Sex and the City 12:10, 3:10, 6:35, 10:00

Space Chimps 12:50, 3:55, 6:30, 9:00

Wall-E 12:25, 3:40, 6:45, 9:20

What Happens in Vegas 1:20, 4:40, 8:15, 10:45

Kim's Island 12:40, 3:25, 8:00, 10;15

Shrek the Third 1:10, 4:20, 7:20, 9:35

Speed Racer 11:55am, 3:00, 8:15, 10:45

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is the date we honor living veterans and those still serving.

Today is the day that we celebrate the lives of those that have served our country. Today is the day that I celebrate my 89 year old grandfather that served in WWII. Today is the day that I celebrate my uncles that served in Vietnam. Today is the day that I celebrate those that are right now defending my freedom. Today is the day that I celebrate the red, white and blue. Today I am proud to be an American.

Card Class

There is a card making class being offered at Desert Breeze Community Center this Saturday the 15th. Its only $10. If you're feeling crafty, sign up! I did it online, it is super easy. I hope that some of my friends might sign up, otherwise I might have to make new ones!
;)

Sports Class

Audrey and Hunter are taking a sports class at the community center. Hunter has taken this before, but this time it is a different teacher. The kids learn all different sports, and basically run around and have fun.

Disney Fun

We had so much fun in Disneyland. It was great to be with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and especially cousins! The only bad thing that happend was that our camera got stolen. So these are the only pictures that I have. Hopefully Grandma and Uncle Josh will give us copies of the pictures that they took. Thank you everyone, we had a fun time with all of you!