Spring Break Skiing

Michael had Spring Break a couple of weeks ago and we went to Steamboat for a ski vacation with the kids. We skiied two days in a row with all three kiddos and it was EXHAUSTING! The first day was rough. Haley was tired and not feeling well and cried a good majority of the day. The second day she wouldn't let us help her at all. She did the bunny hill over and over again until they closed the lift. Conner and Braden improved a lot and had a great time too!

This is our Young Women/Young Men theme for 2010 and I love it. I thought I would share it because I have had it in my head for the past few months and it has helped me to remember to BE STRONG!

It's about time, I know....

So, I have been feeling like a big slacker for not updating my blog. I seriously don't see how most people have the time to keep up. Anyway, life has been busy, but I thought I would share some pictures from the last six months. -And we had our camera stolen out of our car, so this might be it for a while.....

Haley's THIRD birthday!

Conner's FIFTH birthday!

Braden's SEVENTH birthday!

Family vacation to Beautiful Lake Tahoe -August 2009

Awesome hike to Havasupai with some great friends -September 2009 (thanks for the pic, Tina)

Our first triathlon (and we didn't drown!) -September 2009

Girls Camp

I just have to say that I LOVE our Young Women! Girls camp was a few weeks ago and it was so much fun spending time with them. I was exhausted by the end, but it was worth it!

Tornado at church!!

So yesterday during sacrament meeting at our church, our ward clerk/policeman interrupted the meeting and said, "Everyone needs to get against the walls NOW! There is a tornado touching down behind the church!". So we all stood against the wall for about 45 minutes and every once in a while the Bishop would get up and give us an update. He was totally cool about the whole thing. We had a prayer and throughout the whole prayer it was noisy with debris crashing against the windows, and hail (the size of golf balls or bigger) hitting the roof. It was amazing how calm everyone was. We were definitely protected because less than a block away, huge pieces of fence were ripped up and windows were blown in. Our church wasn't damaged at all. -And we got to go home from church early to check on our houses! Kind of an exciting Sunday!

Celebrating out ten year anniversary in Mexico

Our anniversary isn't until the 22nd of this month, but Michael had a break from school, so we headed down to Xph Ha, Mexico (about and hour and a half south of Cancun)for some fun in the sun. It was such a blast and very relaxing. ...And after 10 years, we are still very in love and still totally enjoy being together.
We went down to Akumal to spend the day with some friends. We went snorkeling in Akumal Bay and saw colorful fish, a big barracuda right in front of us, several sea turtles (one turtle with two nurse sharks on it), and a sting ray. It was amazing! After snorkeling, we went back to our friends' condo for lunch. They had a beautiful view.

At the resort, there was the coolest walkway through the jungle. Every day walking to the beach or to one of the restaraunts, we would see about ten iguanas. It was fun!

One day we walked down the street to go swimming in a cenote. It was a cool little spot in the jungle and we were about the only tourists there.

.....More pictures

During a comedy show, Michael was lucky enough to be one of the helpers. ...I laughed my head off!

These are the people we went scuba diving with in Cozumel. It was amazing. We saw beautiful coral, schools of huge fish, sea turtles, and a big nurse shark. -Definitely the highlight of our vacation.

We woke up at 6am on our last morning and watched the sunrise. It was so beautiful!

One last dip in the pool.

In the airport, we had to go through three stations to make sure we were free of the swine flu. They took our temperature and we had to talk to a doctor. ...All worth six days of relaxation in the sun! So sad it's over.

Gotta love Colorado!

We had between 2-3 feet of snow dump on us last weekend. On Monday my kids were in shorts climbing on the snow piles. By Tuesday all of the snow had melted and it was in the 70s!

Easter with the cutest kids in the world!

Projects.....

For the past few weeks I have been so busy working on projects for the young women at our church(for a New Beginnings program and birthdays)and I'm finally done!! I thought I would share some pictures since I think they turned out pretty cute. -And thank you Tagan for your help!

Skiing '09

Michael had Martin Luther King day off and so we took the boys skiing. I hung out at the lodge all day with Haley, and the boys took turns skiing with dad. They had a great time! The weather was awesome and even Haley and I spent most of the day outside enjoying the sunshine. I'm excited for it to warm up again because today is freezing!!

Happy New Year!

Okay, I don't really have anything exciting to post about, but I decided that for those of you who do check in on me occasionally, that "countdown to Christmas" post is getting a bit old.

We had a wonderful Christmas spent in Utah with Michael's family. Christmas morning was a bit crazy with 12 adults and eight grandkids, but it was a lot of fun. We may have ended up with a few presents that belonged to someone else, but we're okay with it.

For New Years, Michael had the idea of having a "Panda" themed party with the kids. We had a great time eating Panda Express and watching "Kung Fu Panda". It was a lot of fun. (I would share some pictures, but Michael has the camera)

Our poor puppy had another accident and cut his leg really bad. He came into the house with puddles of blood and had a cut that went through the muscle. We called around to different vets to find out it would be about $500 to stitch him up. -So, we decided it would be best if Michael did it. Heck, he pulled my wisdom tooth out in our kitchen, why not sew up our dog? So he did and did a great job (with the help of an army vet friend via phone and email pictures). Our dog is healed and doing well! Hopefully no more broken bones or stitches!

Counting down to Christmas

We don't have an advent calendar, so I decided to do these cute candy ropes that my sister told me about. You get a long piece of saran wrap or cellophane, place 12 pieces of candy in a line, roll up the candy, and tie a ribbon between each piece of candy. Tomorrow we will start counting down to Christmas by cutting off a piece of candy for each day.

One Of The Things That I Love Most About Colorado......

Once there was a snowman tall, Tall, TALL.....



(ONE DAY LATER)

In the sunny SUN sunshine he melted SMALL, Small, small.

Are you a snob like me?

As I was driving home from the mall last night feeling guilty for the amount of money that I spent on face soap and lotion, I realized that even though my husband is a student and we don't have a lot of money, there are some things that I am willing to spend money on. I am okay sacrificing in some ways (I really am!), but some things that I am just a snob about. Here are a few......

1. Paper towels have to be Viva. They are so thick that I can scrub the carpet with them. I once had a neighbor boy ask if we throw them away or reuse them.



2. Skin care. I've spent way too much money on soaps, lotions, toners, serum, etc... My current favorite is Murad (thanks, Syd for introducing me way back when).



3. Diapers (which we currently don't have and might never have again!!!) have to be Huggies.
4. Campbells soup, not the generic kind.



5. Dog food. I don't know why, I just think our little puppy deserves the best.
6. Candles. The cheap ones just don't do the job. I prefer something like Salt City or Yankee.
7. Schools. This isn't a splurge, but when we were looking at houses, Michael called me a snob because I insisited that we have our children in a particular school district. So maybe I am a snob, but I also want the best for my children.

I think of myself as pretty frugal but these things are just some of my splurges. I want to know what you splurge on or what you are a snob about.

Proud Mommy!

Okay, it's probably very sad that this is the most exciting thing that I can post about, but our dog has pretty much been my life lately. He has been a lot of fun, but SO much work. Yesterday he learned how to go through the doggy door! I no longer have to let him in and out fifty times a day. Yippee!! I'm definitely a proud and happy mommy. (By the way, I have great kids and I'm proud of them too!)

Summer

I was going through some pictures from this past summer (when I was on a blogging break) and thought I'd share some. We spent a weekend in Glenwood Springs for a little vacation and while we were there we took a beautiful hike up to Hanging Lake. I would highly recommend it for anyone in the area.

Is it bad luck?

What's up with our family and broken legs? Braden, Haley, and now our puppy have all had a broken leg in their first few years of life. I've felt like a terrible mom!