The Donahoe Family

2010-02-26T18:56:00.005-07:00

Sweet Conversations

I haven't blogged much lately, (obviously) or even read others blogs. Things have just been really busy here the last couple of months. I was asked to be a representative for a company that I had ties to before, they were branching into Utah and basically offered me the job. With this economy, who could say no to that right? It is a nice blessing to be able to do this job and not have it interrupt life with my kids, thankfully! So now I guess I am a WAHM instead of a SAHM. :)
It has been really busy getting all ramped up on subjects I don't have a lot of knowledge with, and juggling all the different jobs at home and with the kids, but most days I get it figured out. I do understand more now the phrase, "Stop and Smell the Roses." Things have been so busy that I have really tried to make my time with my kids count. Sometimes that is really hard with life whirling around you like a tornado. Today I was talking with Jantz and Abby and having a fun little conversation. At one point Abby said to me, "Mom. why didn't you put that you can bring presents on my baptism invitation?" She is getting baptized next Saturday, which also happens to be her birthday so she is kinda having a hard time figuring out how to blend the two together. I proceeded to tell her that we weren't celebrating her birthday that day, just her baptism. And that some people may bring her a baptism gift, and some may not, but we don't ask them to. It doesn't really matter because it isn't what is important. And Jantz interjects..." Yeah Abby because you are getting the greatest gift you could ever get anyway, the Holy Ghost." He is going to go in you and tell you what to do. Abby doesn't like to be "outdone" by Jantz so she says back a little sassy like "Jantz did you ever see a ghost some down to Josh's baptism and give him a gift?" He says no. I say, "you know that the Holy Ghost is just a spirit that dwells inside of you - you can't see it, but you can feel it and you can hear it...right?" Thankfully she knew this, whew! But Jantz likes to be the know-it-all which irritates Abby more, so he says, " Yeah, like he will talk to you, like if you someone was flipping a coin and you had to choose the wight one and you went to choose one and the Holy Ghost will whisper no, not that one, choose the other one and then you will and it will be the wight one!" How much do I love this kid!! I just hope he doesn't think he can use the Holy Ghost in Vegas or something!

Here is a copy of her baptism invitation. My neighbor next door helped me with it. I absolutely LOVE it, I can't stop looking at it! The pictures are most fab!!
Thanks so much AMY!!
(I scanned it but didn't crop it, I don't think I have a program on this computer to do that!)

2010-02-24T12:13:00.002-07:00

SHOUT OUT!!!

Here is a shout out to my neighbor and photographer extraordinaire Amy......
THANK YOU!!
She braved the frigid weather to take pictures of my sweet little Abby so I could get a baptism announcement ready for the big day!! (next Saturday) WAHOO!
Abby was freezing, literally shaking, and after a short time she was done. It didn't go as well as I had planned so I was really worried that we weren't able to get anything that would work. I need not worry, Amy is amazing and had plenty of pics for me to choose from! Thank heavens!!
Bless you Amy! :)

Check it out:
http://amynfarrphotography.blogspot.com/

2009-12-21T10:06:00.002-07:00

This one is for you Ashley Q

2010 YW Theme Poster

I was telling Melanie H about how much I love this poster and that I wanted to buy it for Abby's room and she told me that you (Ashley) are always looking for things like this for the YW room.
I bought some of these posters awhile back and they are so beautiful! The website is www.realheroposters.com but the pictures there just don't do the posters justice...they are so much better than I thought. I have 5 of them (Joshua, Samuel, Joseph, Esther and Mary) and they are all amazing. The prices are great too. I know he is offering a discount to church groups as well. Sorry for posting this...I guess I need to get your email because I keep forgetting to mention it to you when I see you at church. I am soooo much better at the email thing because it seems like I remember to do things at 11 at night when it is too late to call but not too late to email! :)

2009-12-15T09:42:00.002-07:00

Sitting here just enjoying the holiday, the PEACE of knowing that I am pretty much done shopping, the JOY of no homework this week, loving the snow outside and loving that my kids have been playing in it NONSTOP for days now. Enjoying all the sweet people out there taking their time and putting forth their efforts to bring me holiday goodies even though I don't send any out myself. I am warm inside sitting by my fireplace, loving the glow of the garland and the twinkle of the tree. But most of all, I am LOVING my Christmas music....one of the BEST things about Christmas! I LOVE Christmas music. Holiday Traditions on XM has been playing pretty much 24/7 at my house. Today I threw in a family favorite....Peter Breinholt's Christmas Album - NOEL. One of my favorite Christmas albums ever. It makes me think of our Savior. It is beautiful. If you don't have it, you should!

2009-12-02T10:12:00.002-07:00

Seriously? I am so disappointed!

I get all excited for the Van Halen Rockband edition to come out, and even more excited to see that they have special guest acts from some REALLY good bands like the Foo's, Blink 182, The Offspring, along with some other really cool songs. AND THEN....I look at the set list and realize that we are talking about the David Lee Roth days....I mean SERIOUSLY...David Lee Roth. He is so old school, everyone knows that Sammy is where it's at! Van Halen isn't really Van Halen without Sammy! 5150 - um, one of the best albums ever and I can't even sing DREAM - I was going to put that song on my wedding video!! So sad.
Here is the lame website in case anyone else is feeling like they want to be depressed today.

http://vanhalen.guitarhero.com/

2009-11-18T21:55:00.004-07:00

Aliens or Criminals....

So last night just after midnight and just after we had turned out the lights to go to bed there was this slightly greenish blueish really bright light shining in our window. It was so weird I was quiet. Dayt said what the heck was that? I told him to hurry to the window to check it out. He said, nah, you do it. I was too freaked out and I was a little nervous to open the blinds so I made him get out of bed. He couldn't see anything and I told him it was because he didn't get out of bed fast enough. Typical right? So I was a little freaked out because I knew it wasn't a car or anything even though Dayt repeatedly tried to tell me it was. But the light didn't "roll" across the windows so I knew it wasn't a car turning around in the circle. He told me it was no big deal - but I was SURE that it was a police spotlight from a helicopter above trying to chase down a criminal running through my backyard. It could happen! He said it was just aliens. Seriously, are you kidding! I am not going to be able to go to sleep. I am thinking about the escaped convict in the basement! I am only half kidding about that people! He kept on with the whole aliens story. I said he was so LAME! He thought it was weird that I didn't believe in aliens. I said, oh yeah right, on the 8th day God made aliens. I was not finding it amusing. Anyway, I made him get up and turn on the outside lights to discourage the criminal from hiding away in the unfinished basement - much to his dismay! I finally fell asleep. This morning on the news there was all this talk about a meteor that fell from the sky. Apparently it is a once in a lifetime experience. The meteor that fell through space was about the size of an oven or a refrigerator, 10 miles high in the sky and could be seen ias far away as AZ, CA, MT and ID. The videos they have on this thing on the news are pretty crazy. Go to www.KSL.com. for some great shots. So now Dayt thinks that because aliens are from space, and meteors are from space that he was the closest in determining the source of the light last night. Oh whatever! My theory was so much more realistic than aliens!! Happy Wednesday y'all!

2009-11-16T19:45:00.002-07:00

FYI * Swine Flu Clinic

Just wanted to let everyone know there is a H1N1 clinic again tomorrow at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. Starts at 8am. I heard it through the grapevine this afternoon and my kids needed to get their second dose of it so I cruised up after school to check it out. There was no waiting at all. We were in and out in 15 minutes. The one lady told me they were giving 3000 doses out each day but their website just says 3000 between both days. http://www.webermorganhealth.org/ We got there just before 4:30 and they were giving out tickets that had been originally scheduled for 1pm this afternoon so I am assuming they didn't get as many people as they planned on.

2009-11-12T11:04:00.003-07:00

Shout out for London!

Ok still trying to catch up from my pneumonia coma in October. I am so far behind on blogging and everything else for that matter! It will happen, soon...soon.

For now, check out a friend of mines cute scarves. They were shown on Studio 5 yesterday....

www.lalalovelyyou.blogspot.com

2009-10-21T11:28:00.002-07:00

"...When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God."

My heart has been deeply touched.

Thank you!!

2009-10-13T14:02:00.002-07:00

Sport it Mom

Hey guys a friend of mine has started a little fitness group for kids ages 3 - 5 boys and girls at the sportsplex. Each session they learn and play a different sport. She has classes on Mon/Wed and Tues/Thurs from 10:00am - 11:00am. The cost is $30 a month - so right around $3.75 each session - that's a great deal! Your first class is free so check it out! She used to be Josh's rec soccer coach and she is really awesome with the kids. I am putting Jantz in the Mon/Wed if anyone is interested in carpooling!
You can find more info at www.sportitmom.com or call Amy at 801-593-5855

2009-09-25T14:04:00.006-07:00

Some Love for this week...

Some things I am way excited about this week....HALLOWEEN being the first! I can't wait - I love halloween! (more on that later) Haunted corn mazes - YES I GO! I can almost smell the gas from the chainsaws as we speak! Although I haven't been to the Castle of Chaos, they have a pretty wicked video intro on their website this year. May feel to much like I was in the middle of a horror movie, not so sure I am going to venture to that one this year.
You can check it out here!

The rest - in no particular order:

Finding costumes for the kids. I love when they start talking about what they want to dress up like. They always think of the most interesting things and they always go back and forth a couple of times. Remember when it used to be this simple just a plastic mask and a vinyl outfit....I swear I actually WORE this costume one year!

It is upon us, I can feel it...FALL - my most FaVoRiTe time of year!! The world is at it's most beautiful and the air is crisp and clean!

Talking with Anita Stansfield yesterday...really cool!

Abby making LeMoNaDe out of LeMoNs - I wish we could put the yard in this year, but it looks like that may not happen now. Love this economy! :) We are all jealous of the Farr's next door who are putting in theirs tomorrow! Abby decided to make designs in the dirt with the rake. How funny is that?! Here is a flower I took a picture of before it got too dark.

Josh had his 2nd game of the regular season last night. This is his first year playing comp soccer for Wasatch. I think it has been a little intimidating thus far and I can tell he doesn't have the confidence he had playing rec soccer. He used to score several goals in each game last year and this year it is a whole different ballgame! We have seen him be really tentative and afraid to take the ball down - just kinda unsure of himself. We have been talking with him about it and each preseason game he has made some improvement. He scored his first goal of the season last night - YEA! He was a bit more aggressive and more confident. I think he is coming around. I am excited to see him play with his full potential.
Check out his eyes/eyelashes - so handsome!

I LOVE soccer season. This year is fun because I don't have to wait all week to watch them play again. Josh plays on Mondays and Thursdays and the little kids play on Saturdays so I get to enjoy soccer games all week long - and I DO REALLY ENJOY IT!

We have been able to spend a little time extra time with Phoebe this week. BOY do my kids LOVE her! She is treated like a princess when she is here! Everyone wants to help. They fight over who gets to sit by her car seat in the car, and who gets to feed her and everything else. Abby wouldn't even let me help her change her diaper. She said she needed practice for when she becomes a mom. How sweet is that! We love you Pheeeeb!!!

The challenge our sweet dear RS Pres TIFF gave us - to read the Book of Mormon by Thanksgiving. Scripture reading has become more of a priority lately because I don't want to be left behind. I can't ever say no to a good challenge! (personality thing) But what a good thing - the TV is off more and the scriptures are open more! I know my days have been better because of it, and I know I am receiving blessings.

Being able to look forward to something. With everything that has happened over the last couple of years we haven't had as many opportunities to go away like we have in the past. Next week we get to sneak away for a couple of days during fall recess and stay with Dayt's brother in Denver. We are ALL very excited to see the twins and have some fun. Of course, no trip to Denver would be complete without a Rockies game! I haven't seen one in years and we are lucky enough to be able to catch their last season game next Thursday - YES!!!

Have I forgotten anything....mmmm probably. But oh well.
There is always room for happy posts!

2009-09-20T22:36:00.002-07:00

Who Is Your Hero Posters

A couple of you out of there have asked me where I got the posters for my kids' rooms. You can find them at RealHeroPosters.com
They look great on the website but they are even more BEAUTIFUL than they appear online. There are so many great choices I had a hard time choosing which ones I wanted. They all have such great messages. Because they are relatively inexpensive I am going to swap them out every couple of months. Buy some!! You won't be disappointed!
Here are some images of a couple of the prints for those of you who don't know what I am talking about. They have a scripture reference on each one. They have a bible series as well as a Book of Mormon series.

2009-09-12T15:00:00.001-07:00

I Heart Jack Sparrow!

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - On Stranger Tides - it's official!
More pirates, more Johnny, mmmm yes!!

Read about it HERE

2009-09-11T14:10:00.004-07:00

Goldfish!

I love my little Jantzen! Things have been a little quiet around here when everyone is at school. At least I have Jantz for 1/2 the day - and at very least - he LOVES to chat! I get to sit and talk with him, which, if you know Jantz AT ALL - you know it's good conversation! Here are some funny things he said this week. I want to write them down because I have already forgot the other 8 things that made me laugh this week!

We played "Goldfish" for hours this week. You may know it by it's original name - "Go Fish" but Jantz gives everything a little twist because he can't remember what things are called. I would ask him for a particular fish and he would say
"no - goldfish" or he would say " I believe I do" It was sooo funny! Then as he was about to ask me for the same fish for the 3rd time he would stop and pause remembering that he had already asked and say "mom, did you just "goldfish" or in other words, have you picked up a new card recently.

He was watching Shrek the third - something he hadn't seen for several years and made the comment (as Shrek was getting into bed) that Shrek had forgotten to put on his garments!

We were playing the blinking game and I said playing around with him, ha you blinked...why do you keep blinking. He said, I just blink - that's what I do. I said, why and he said, there is just something inside me that makes me blink, I don't know. I said, well what is it. He said my lungs or something!

2009-09-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

And as for APRIL...

We started off with Dayt's 35th birthday! I was catching an early plane to Denver to do some business at Bella during the day so we opened some really quick gifts with the kids that morning. One of which was a book written as a tribute to the author's child using a Bob Dylan song "Forever Young". Cute book! Great songwriter, voice...not so great. Dayt loves him though!

Dayt met me later that night in Denver and we dropped by the hospital to see the new Donahoe twins. That was REALLY fun! You can see those pics HERE
The next day - his brother Derek took him to the Bruce Springsteen concert for his birthday - what is with this guy - his favorite singers are all actually crappy singers but good songwriters...he he he
It was super nice of Derek and they had a great time. I had an even better time in the NICU holding those sweet little babies - all night long! The next morning we took a really early flight (sorry again Derek!) to make it home for my mom's easter egg hunt.
It was a really quick trip but totally worth it!
Here is a pic of us eating lunch in Denver with Derek and Mandi - Dayt gave this pepper a go just for fun.....it was soooo much FUN for us, not so much him. We laughed so hard! His mouth was burning and his eyes were watering as his face went bright red and his tongue went numb!
Good times!
Later on the next week we had a couple of get together's for his birthday with family.
Dayt LOVES musicals! These were two he didn't have. Can you believe neither of us have seen West Side Story. We both can't wait to watch it and see what all the hype is about.

One of Dayt's other fav things - pork rinds! Random I know! Gross!!

Another fav - coconut cream pie, he chooses it every year! This isn't the coconut pie in the picture, but rather one of the other pies from the counter, we had several yummy ones!

Then we move on to.......

Easter

Dayt was in charge of still pictures while I was taking video...there is nothing more that needs to be said. Hope you enjoy the plethora of pictures!

The day before at my mom's Easter egg hunt he took a "few" more!
The pictures have crappy clarity - but I am not blaming THAT ONE on him.
:)

Here is one I snapped quickly so we wouldn't be late to church.
9am is hard on a holiday sunday! They sure look cute though!

The weather was kinda warming up come the end of April so Jantz and I spent one of our special Friday's together at Swan Lakes. I took him last year and he loved it, so we went again this year as soon as weather would allow. It was fun to spend Friday's with him this year, he didn't have preschool and the kids were still in school. We had some fun. I will always remember this day especially because who knows....maybe one day this will be plastered all over ESPN. :)
K - maybe not this one...keep scrolling!

On this hole - #3 Jantz scored a HOLE IN ONE!
Pretty amazing right! Keep scrolling.....

On this hole - # 6 he scored a HOLE IN ONE!
REPEAT! WOW - and this hole wasn't all that easy - he made it up onto the hill and right into the top - nice and easy.
Who can believe that a 4 year old can do that.....keep scrolling!

TRIPLE - HAT TRICK - whatever you want to call it - he did it again at HOLE # 18! I couldn't take a picture because there were people right behind us waiting - but here is the scorecard to prove it! THREE hole in ones! I guess he gets it from me????
He was a little embarrassed I think because every time he scored a hole in one I started shrieking and yelling and jumping up and down hugging him. We had so much fun!

Maybe it was beginners luck, or maybe he is the next Tiger Woods.

April update - CHECK!

2009-09-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

MARCH MADNESS
March was crazy, although I don't have all the pictures to prove it. We started off the month with Abby's birthday. Then we had a wedding later that day and night and a late night b-day party. The next week we started off with Jantz's Star of the Week, followed by skiing and several other birthday parties. St. Patricks Day and Grandma G's birthday the following week, another wedding, some field trips and dad's and doughnuts at the school. We wrapped up the month with Kindergarten shots and registration, Rylee's baptism and started spring soccer. Whew! It was a BUSY BUSY month! Here are some pics....

Abby was pretty excited about her new bedside table, oh did I forget to mention a trip to IKEA! Gotta love it! She loved the lava lamp, the zebra phone and the i-home to play her new i-pod with. Everything you need to top a table!

She invited some friends over that night for a late night get-together.

We had some orange chicken for dinner - Ab's favorite!

Then each girl decorated their own cupcakes for dessert!

Females only, but how could I deny this cute face a cupcake....

Then we had a Spa moment

PEDI'S

and MANI'S

Opened some presents

Goofed around....all hail to the birthday queen!

And watched a girly show....The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Even though it is several years old the girls loved it and noone had seen it, so that was good! Who doesn't love Duff?

They trashed the place!

Here's Natalie trying to find her "ZEN" in all the chaos!

Later that weekend we had some family parties.
Cami and Abby share the same birthday.

If you are a first grader you gotta have Junie B Jones in your library!

Grandpa D got Abby her very own ice cream cake!! Luuucky!

More money at Grandma Macs - she asked for moolah to buy an i-pod nano

Jantz - STAR of the WEEK!
Jantz had to wait all the way until MARCH for his VIP moment - it was very very tough!! Here he is with the famous Miss Tiffany!

Then on to St. Patty's Day

Color hair GREEN - check!

Put on festive clothing - check!

Have a GREEN breakfast - check!

Eat lots of GREEN things all day - check!
Here is some of Abby's treats that she collected at school that day. Each kid picked their favorite green food to sample. Abby and several others chose green grapes. By the time she got home I was dying that she was going to eat them warm and mushy, but I didn't say anything!

Josh and his friends had some Leprechaun near misses in the field at the school. :)
What a fun day. Then we had a fab green dinner to end it...no pics unfortunately.
We like to party at the Donahoe's. It's good to be Irish!

March update - check!

2009-09-02T08:01:00.001-07:00

PHONICS PEOPLE!
These are some of the cute letters that Abby penned earlier this year. I love first graders and the way they spell!

One she left on my bedroom door - I think I was on "business" in Denver - some of the letter was cut off by "automatic" cropping - what the crap?!

God bless this child that bleeds RED!

2009-09-01T15:40:00.002-07:00

I can't decide is she is crazy - or amazing. Definitely courageous!

2009-08-30T13:01:00.004-07:00

I'm obsessed!

It is hurricane season - which I find fascinating. Mother nature can be ferocious and it can be so exciting and scary and SO many things all at once. It's not that I want people to die or get hurt, but watching these hurricanes come to be - how and why they form and what path they may take...it's all so intriguing. For a couple of years now I will go to weather.com almost every day to get a forecast on our weather, I am totally addicted to the hour by hour details, or to get an update on something else exciting happening somewhere else in the world at the time. But this season I have totally geeked out! Not only do I read the weather on the internet, I have been watching it on channel 362 - YES it's crazy that I know which channel the weather channel is. So the other day when all the Hurricane Bill hype was going on I decided to tune into channel 362 to just "listen" to the updates in the background. You see I had much to accomplish that day and I was afraid that if I checked every hour or so online I might get distracted and check my email or read and article that interested me or whatever, and not get my stuff done. I thought the tv would be my friend. Now mind you, up until this point I had only tuned into channel 362 maybe 5 times EVER! So I start my laundry, cleaning out kids closets etc and turn on the tv in the background. To my excitement they are talking about the Santa Clara river flooding that happened in St. George a couple of years ago. They were playing the actual footage of when the houses fell into the river. SAD - I AGREE - but sooooo interesting! I couldn't look away! I tried to pause the tv and do stuff in between but then "Storm Stories" came on. Then more good stuff - a show called "Storm Chasers" - all about TORNADOS and I was hooked again! And THEN some Hurricane Katrina stories come on...uh oh! They had a couple of different rescue stories going on at a time. Seriously, I had to watch - I mean I HAD to find out what happened to them, would they be rescued, would the poor dog die out on a piece of drifting wood for 12 hours. I won't go on. The bottom line is that The Weather Channel actually has some pretty cool shows not just weather updates on the "8's" and for some reason there is something about destruction that you just can't look away. Is it too late for me to become a meteorologist? I know you are all going to turn on the TV this week and check it out now! There is an area of disturbance in the Atlantic that might turn into a Tropical Depression in the next couple of days - along with Hurricane Jimena and Tropical Depression Kevin - oh yeah - I'll be watching! So maybe it's just me and Hunter obsessed with weather. But I know you ALL have something quirky you are obsessed with - so let's hear it!!

2009-08-23T20:25:00.008-07:00

The sounds of EuPHoRiA
Today is over, I am sad, it was a good day. Scratch that, it was a GREAT day... some thoughts on why I am in a state of EuPhOrIa!
There was such excitement and HaPpInEsS in the air. The boys were excited that we finally got their bunk beds set-up. After I left their bedroom I could hear the muffled sounds of sweet voices talking about how much they love their new bed and just sheer excitement for the next day. Their little giggles and quiet shrieks and full body shakes just thinking about tomorrow is so cute! Kinda like going to bed when you are 8 on Christmas Eve. Around 9 the sounds died down. Now, the kids are asleep, the house seems so quiet. Their most favorite outfits out of all their new school clothes are laid out for the big day, right down to their underwear and socks! I can hear an occasional cough from Boog, and a distant keyboard where Dayt is working on a loan for someone. I can hear the hamster cruising around in her ball getting her nighttime exercise. She is happy that the upstairs is 75% hard surfaces * she can get in more miles that way. :) Occasionally I hear her bang into the wall or a barstool or the fireplace. It kinda makes me laugh to myself. She looks so funny when she does it. Her little body just runs like crazy, her little backside rotates back and forth so quickly, everything about it is cute! It makes me smile!
I just got off the phone with one of my most favorite people in the world, HUNTER Nelson. He is the cute little autistic kid in my previous post (February Fun). I love his random phone calls. Something about talking with Hunter always makes me happy, content, and peaceful. Mostly because Hunter is always happy! Hunter finds the pure joy in everyday, thrilled about the most simplest things. I would love to be more like Hunter. Today, I felt like him. What a fabulous day. We started off the day with a "back to school brunch." We made hashbrowns, toast, sausage, eggs and orange juice. Just a little something to celebrate school! I CELEBRATE back to school! I always loved school myself, so I get excited for the kids to go. New teachers, new friends to make, new experiences and things to learn. What fun! We had a great morning talking about it. We had family night and gave father's blessings. Dayt did an excellent job, each blessing really fit each child and their personality and each individual need. I am grateful for him to have the priesthood here in our home and to be able to bless our kids. It is a GiFt! We had a nice relaxing day. Not having church today because of the Oquirrh Mountain temple was actually quite relaxing and a great way to transition into tomorrow. It gave me a chance to take a breather and get everything in order. The rain, I loved the rain today! It makes me happy! Saw two rainbows tonight. Like always, it made me think about Noah and the flood. :) It makes me feel like FALL is right around the corner. I burned some nutmeg oil today. My house smells fabulous! Our home teachers came today - we love it when they visit. We always spend way too much time gabbing with them, I am sure their families were wondering where they were, very very good people! They talked about how good it smelled in my house. I told them that it made me want some cookies. About an hour after they left, Bro Z's cutest little kids brought over a plate of HOT delicious choc chip cookies. I just ate another one! They were WoNdErFuLL - I have GoOd neighbors, they make me happy! I was productive today - but not too productive. Just a good mix to feel happy about. The kids were good, they didn't even have quiet time today and I survived! :) We had dinner at my mom's - delicious and comfortable. Ok, funny!!! Dayt just came running around the corner saying, "Hamster's out!") I had just thought to myself that I hadn't heard Fancy's ball and that maybe she had gotten stuck behind a toilet again. he he he! Evidentally, she had run into the table hard enough for the lid to her ball to fall off and out she went. We captured her and put her back in her cage. Good thing RuStY and RuFuS were outside. One of them had caught a mouse this evening, it was on our doorstep when we got home. Fun! But I'm still smiling!
I can't wait for tomorrow. This is going to be a great schoolyear!
What will I do with all MY quiet time??? Maybe the sounds of silence won't be as fantastic as I imagine..........hmmm....I'll get back to that!
Good Night and have a pleasant tomorrow!
P.S. I have no idea why most of this post is in ENORMOUS type!

2009-08-14T17:06:00.005-07:00

February's FUN!

Now I remember why I haven't posted my spring pics yet.....because I have A.D.D. and when I put in the disks and immediately remember why I never posted Feb thru April. My camera had frozen, pics were lost :( and when I got the pics off the camera they were NOT in the order in which I took them. When I pulled up the 300 + pictures of 20 + different activities (slight exaggeration) they were all jumbled up and out of order. For someone with A.D.D. to have to sort through them, it is WAY overwhelming. Today I tried my hardest to keep my composure and work on some of the old pics. Here is the first stage, February. Slowly but surely I will have all the pics back in chronological order and posted on the blog so I can print my 2009 blog book without missing any of the months of the year. That's priceless...right? I can do it...anyone have some Adderall XR laying around?

Here is some pictures of Hunter's 14th birthday party. It was a little bitter sweet for me. I knew they were seriously considering moving back to AZ at the time so all I could think about was how much I was going to miss this family, and how many of Hunter's birthdays I would start missing again. I LOVE this kid!
For those of you who don't already know Hunter, he has autism. For those of you who don't know me....I have a special connection with cognitively challenged (what I like to call it) kids since I was little. I have worked with many of them in many different aspects of life. It is soooo rewarding and I miss not being able to be as involved as I was in the past. Anyway, Hunter holds a special place in my heart and I miss him. I talk to him every once in awhile on his cell phone. He just learned to text - THAT has been lots of fun!!

He chooses a "surprise" party every year - look how excited he is!!

Here he is eating some of his favorites...chicken strips, and Freschetta cheese pizza! He only eats about 10 different things.

He was just dying for some hula hoops this year. Here he is doing some tricks....TrIcKy!!

Two more of his "staples" cheese Dorritos and "red" Skittles

Valentines Day in AZ

We took a very spontaneous Trip to Arizona this year. We haven't been in years so it was a much needed trip. We miss AZ so much. We only wish we could've stayed longer so we could have a chance to see all our friends we left behind. Alas, it was just a quick visit for just a couple of days so the cousins could have a chance to see each other. Next time - and we hope it is sooner than two years - we can visit everyone!

The kids were soooo excited to head out on a road trip. We hadn't done a 12 hour drive in a long time! Actually, when we first broke the news to the kids that we were leaving the next day, Josh cried. He didn't want to mess up his perfect attendance record at school! Yeah, I didn't expect that from Josh either :) We gave him the choice to stay at grandma's because he was so devasted, but in the end he told me that he would have plenty of other years to get perfect attendance. Ha ha ha!

I looked back to check on the kids a couple hours in and this is what I saw...no shirt again. This was when he was going through the "no clothes" phase. It was February and COLD outside - he couldn't possibly have been sweating - just getting ready for the AZ sun I guess!

I am so sad that I lost most of my pics from this trip. Why does that always happen when the pictures you had taken mean so much? Here are just a couple.

Josh literally played basketball CONSTANTLY! Basketball is his first love and the Stones had just put in their new sport court just weeks before...he was in HEAVEN!

The weather was nice. I was hoping for sunny rays - a good change from winter weather here in UT. But unfortunately, AZ was experiencing a cold front so the weather was actually quite cool, we wore jackets while we were there....bummmmmer!!!! It did make for nice hiking weather so one of the days we hiked Thunderbird mountain. That was lots of fun and something we hadn't done before. We also got to take a peek at Cardinal stadium. When we moved it wasn't finished being built yet so it was fun to see the finished product! Too bad we couldn't take in a Cards game!

This is Josh, playing late into the night, he couldn't get enough. Jantz and Brady joined in on the fun. The big kids had to wear their jerseys, but Jantz was just fine being "skins"!

One day we saw a coyote in the wash so later that night the kids stood on the deck and made coyote sounds to try and get them to come out of the bushes. The neighbor dogs were going crazy barking, and I am sure the neighbors themselves were not thrilled with all the noise.

We couldn't get a suntan because it was too cool, but we did get to eat outside!
This pic is blurry but unfortunately it was one of the only pics I have been able to recover so I had to post it.

We had such a good time. Usually these cute cousins only see each other once a year but they just pick up like no time has been lasped in between visits and just immediately start running around finding things to do together. I love it!
Thanks for having us on such late notice Stones! Let's do it again!

2009-08-06T20:21:00.003-07:00

OCD...Maybe!

I have been feeling so lousy about not posting recently. My July was absolutely crazy! As a matter of fact, this year has been strange in oh so many ways. As many of you know!
I have never been the one to care about things being in their place, or organized, or anything like that. But lately, I have been thinkin that maybe I am a little OCD! I am freaking out that I haven't had a chance to post my spring months. It is like this mental roadblock, like I can't post anything current until I get that all caught up. It's weird I know! But hey, this is my family's photo album and I can't have it printed while it's missing a couple of months in there, that would be crazy!
Soooo, long story short, I am uploading all sorts of photos from the spring so I can get caught up, and then I can post about SUMMER. We have had a really good summer so far...and it is coming to an end so I better get to it! Stay tuned! (Isn't it funny that I talk like there are people out there that are really anticipating my blog posts! A ha hahha!)

2009-06-30T22:08:00.003-07:00

A Pirates Life for ME!!

I am so excited - if you know anything about me you know I LOVE pirates, skulls, crossbones, the works! Pirate Island Pizza is coming to Layton! My brother went to the St. George location this weekend and they had a ball. It is a themed restaurant and it is all about PIRATES! How cool is that? They have a pirate show, the employees are all dressed like pirates and everything is decorated like being in a pirate village or ship. They have an arcade area and a gift shop (like the Mayan in SLC) but with an Amazing Jakes feel. I pulled some pics off the internet. They have several SLC locations opening soon too! They do have a website but there isn't anything there yet. www.pirateislandpizza.com Thanks Ty for sharing the info - it made my week!
Simple pleasures people, simple pleasures!

Home of the "Kracken" (Pirates of the Caribbean) a 24" pizza.
Looks good enough to eat - plus it's late and I am really hungry!

SOOOOO who's goin with me - we'll have a swashbuckling good time!?
Ok I made it to the end of this post without using any lame pirate lingo, but c'mon, I couldn't resist - It's a PIRATE POST!

2009-06-26T19:35:00.005-07:00

Hardball

So our life has been all about BASEBALL for the past 6 weeks or something like that. Because of the weather our season is still going. Not that I am complaining though beacause I love it! Watching my kids play sports is one of my favorite things to do! The boys finished their games this week and Abby finishes next week. It has been a busy season with everyone playing on the same night (go figure). And of course every game (except 2) at least two of them were playing at the same time and very rarely in the same place! Add that to several practices a week as well as 6 games each week kept things interesting. And to add to the excitement and chaos Dayton coached Abby's team this year. That was quite the experience. I think it was a little harder than he thought. He really enjoyed spending the time with Abby but the girls, shall we say, are a little less coachable than the boys. I am ALL ABOUT girls playing sports - as I played sports all through high school - I have respect. However it was so amazing to me to see the differences in the boys vs the girls. We played Jantz up a year so he played with kids in K and 1st - same age as Abby's team. His team was MUCH better than hers. The girls just don't "get it" like the boys do. That being said, Abby gets it, she is very athletic, and she did a great job. Because I couldn't clone myself to have kids in the same time at different locations, I need to give a shout out to all the grandma's and grandpa's who helped me shuttle kids while Dayt was out coaching.
THANK YOU!

First off - I love this picture (now) but there were days of scrubbin these pants that I could've done without. Trust me - I TRIED to find grey! Apparently Jantz has a thing against white pants. I guess it is something like how I feel about having pants that have that "worn" feel, or maybe it's just that he really likes to slide! This picture does NOT do these pants justice - they were FILTHY! I love how the top part is so white where I have to fold down the top just so they will stay on. And how about the gatorade stains that turn to mud when he hits the field.

I am not just saying this but Jantz has some very natural athletic ability. I was a little worried at first because I had put him in the older age group - but he held his own! He LOVED every minute of it....he ate it up! I wish I had some pics of him playing up to the crowd by sticking his tongue out and giving a thumbs up while he runs into home base. Classic good fun, he was a ball to watch!

Here is J - check out the Babe Ruth pants - this kid is sooo skinny! He is all about baseball season. His baseball backpack was filled with seeds, balls, a bat, his mitt, batting gloves, some powerade and of course - he couldn't miss a game without his eye black! I gotta look for a pic of a close-up of that, he looked so tough! he he he

Sweet little Ab. Don't you love the kid on third freezing her tail off. What a weird season!

She has the athletic mind, she checks third and then throws to first. Gotta LOVE it! I hope she continues to play sports. Nothing against dance and stuff, but I guess I am a little partial to athletics and not so much of the girly girly costumes!

2009-06-21T20:06:00.009-07:00

Sunburn or Hypothermia?

So crazy our weather this year! So far it has been the wettest June on record, it feels like April showers in June. We have had so many baseball games and arts in the park canceled because of all the rain. Add to the list of canceled activities....Father's Day BBQ! On the Saturday before Father's Day we have a get-to-gether at Dayt's mom's house and then off to my brother's house for a BBQ and water party. Last year, sunshine and sunburns...this year we had plenty of water...just not the kind we were interested in! The kids had been looking forward to the water party at Ty's all week. They have been a little bummed that June is almost over and they haven't been swimming outside yet. They kept hoping - crossing their fingers that the weather would clear by 4pm. They even brought all their swim gear! So sad! It rained and rained. We went to Grandpa Mac's to wish him and the rest of the guys Happy Father's Day and then off to Ty's. I can't even tell you how many times they asked me to go out and swim. After we ate dinner I said I didn't care what they did, I mean it was 50 degrees outside with wind and rain. Who would take the plunge anyway......uh yeah, that would be my kid outside with hypothermia!

Don't you just love a good cannonball in only 4 inches of water? Only Josh would try that!

Jantz always quick to follow his older brother, and just as fearless...and brainless maybe! I wouldn't even go outside it was so cold...I took pictures from the top of the deck. And YES it was raining during these pictures!

The girls were a lot smarter, they just tested the water with their toes and took off back inside!

Here are some pics earlier in the week of the kids working on their Father's Day project. They each made some hearts with special messages on them to stick on Dayt's car.

Do you love the I-pod in Abby's ear and Josh and Jantz turned toward the TV...kids of this generation! :)
But what do the hearts say about their personality...

Here are Abby's hearts - laid out in a pattern, and cut as perfect as possible.
Josh's pile - no organization whatsoever, all different shapes and sizes

Jantz's hearts - all the same color, and could be the cutest pile ever!The kids were so excited to sneak out on Saturday night and decorate the car. I was working on my lesson and Dayt was reading a book so I told him I needed to some paper to make some wordstrips for part of the lesson and grabbed the kids and ushered them outside to work on the car. I gave them some window crayons - showed them how to use them, gave them some tape and then went back in so Dayt wouldn't be tipped off. I gave them a few minutes and then I went out to get them. I peeked into the house, coast was clear so I sent them to their lockers to put away their shoes. I told them to stay quiet while I made sure Dayt was still in his room before they made their way down the hall and into their bedrooms. Dayt came around the corner just as the kids peeked out of the mudroom. They all started shrieking and running for their rooms. Dayt just looked at me funny and said what are all you guys doing? Jantzen says....uh uh mom made us get out of bed to put our shoes away and then we just had a snack - like one peanut! (So random!) Josh said at the same time - we just fed the cats. I was laughing!

Dayt was a good sport the next morning. Although I am sure he was a little embarassed in a way, he still drove us to church in his car. The kids were thrilled! On the way to church Jantzen said, "Dad remember when I told you that we were putting our shoes away and having a snack and eating a peanut last night...that was funny. You can lie to your dad on Father's Day!"
Who doesn't love this kid?! The rain had washed away all their artwork by the end of church, and dashed all their plans for the day. They had spent so much time planning their activities to do with their dad today. I felt sad for them. But we made the best of it! Dang rain!

We had planned to blindfold him and take him to our favorite spot in the south fork campground and set up a little 3 man tent and have a picnic lunch. We were going to do a little hike down the river and then the kids each planned a special activity and worked hard on all the preparations by themselves. Abby came up with a water balloon game for us to play, Josh made some targets so we could shoot bb guns and Jantz chose to play tuna toss. Considering that everything is covered in mud right now we canceled the mountains and went to the park! We still had our picnic lunch. The kids picked out special items for Dayt including some of his favorites, PB&J * Fritos * Coke* Better Cheddars crackers. Then they packed them some lunchables and sprite to go along with it. We played at the "castle park" on the playground and walked through the trees down to the river. They played tetherball and soccer too. I thought this was a cute picture of Dayt and Josh having a contest to see who could jump out of their swing the farthest.
All in all it was a good day.

2009-06-12T11:39:00.002-07:00

FiReWoRkS Anyone?

Hi everybody, this is Josh. I am selling packages of fireworks as a fundraiser for my new soccer team. Wasatch Soccer Club. We are trying to earn money for our uniforms. If you are planning on buying fireworks for the Fourth of July these packages are just a bit cheaper than the fireworks stand. Please let me know if you are interested. I have three packages to choose from small, medium and large. The prices are $10, $20, and $50. They have different varieties of fireworks in each package. I will be walking around the neighborhood or you can give me a call. I will deliver the fireworks to your house from June 29 - July 2nd.
You can write a check or pay with cash.
Thank you.

2009-06-09T14:10:00.002-07:00

Cute kids saying the darndest things!

I love my kids! Some of the things they say just put a big ol smile on my face. I know I have a hard time trying to live in the moment sometimes, but I am working on it! I wish I could write everything down, but here and there, it's a start.
Some of these things I don't ever want to forget....

We were talking about her getting married one day and Abby said, I will HAVE to say yes. I said no you don't, and before I could finish explaining she said, yes I do! I have to say yes or I will hurt his feelings! After I explained what I meant, we had a lengthy conversation on "how" she will know if he is the one if she should say yes to, what if someone just asks her and she hasn't had a chance to make up her mind! She is so cute. I love how she is always so concerned about other's feelings. She is a very thoughtful girl. Being thoughtful, is that just a female trait? I don't see that as much in my boys! he he he

Today Jantzen asked me if kidnappers are real. Loaded question right? I don't want to scare him but I want him to be aware, so how do you do that without heading in the wrong direction? Well I said yes, but quickly followed it up with all sorts of good information on why he will be safe from kidnappers. To which he replied with slight attitude in his voice...You can't protect me! You don't even have a weapon! Busted!

Loading into the car to head to t-ball games I was handing all three their waterbottles. Jantz says, is mine filled with gatorade again? I said yes. He says with a huge smile and tilted head - I love you mom! I wish that was all I had to do everyday to get that response!

Jantz telling me about his lunch with grandpa...I had a roll and grandpa had a roll and grandpa had a banana and I had the other half and then we "bof" had some strawberries! The strawberries were wonderful! I said I bet grandpa loves having a little buddy around while grandma is at work so he doesn't get lonely. He said mom, I am not his buddy, I am his grandson!

In scripture study the other night we were reading about when Abraham was asked to sacrafice Isaac his only son that they had when they were 90 yada yada yada, and the questions were coming about age and why you can't always have a baby when you want to. Dayt was fielding the questions mostly and he started saying something about how women only have eggs into thier late thirties or earlier forties (Josh is really the only one that is understanding what we are saying because he is the only one that has had the "whole talk") anyway, they all beg me to have a baby all the time - especially Josh, and he looked at me and said with urgency....mom! And then quietly and disappointedly, you are almost out of eggs. ha ha ha. I was laughing so hard!

Jantzen is obsessed with the touch and brush, you may have seen it on tv. Actually I LOVE the idea, just not sure if it would work as claimed. Anyhow, it is a dispenser for toothpaste so that you always get the "right" amount and don't get toothpaste all over. Our family could really use this! Especially Jantz. Well everytime the commercial comes on he tells me how much we need it and that maybe he will get it for my birthday. Not a bad choice I guess. He must actually "comprehend" my complaints about all the toothpaste in the bathroom where it shouldn't be. Well the other day he was watching the commercial and I heard him say. Oh man! You have to be 18 to buy the touch and brush! Dangit!

Jantzen and Dayt having a conversation at Lagoon, I can't remember what ride Jantz was telling him about and Dayt playing cool said, is that it (pointing to a ride) and Jantz said, yea, and I am going to sit with you buddy!

2009-06-09T13:30:00.003-07:00

Spring Soccer

Just wrapped up the spring soccer season last Saturday. I am missing it already! I love to sit and watch the kids play. They are both so much fun to watch. Josh likes soccer so much he tried out for the Wasatch Soccer Club competitive team and made it! We will be watching a lot more soccer in the months to come and I couldn't be happier! Plus, Jantz starts this fall...that should be great entertainment. Those of you who have seen him play t-ball this season know exactly what I am talking about! :) Here are a couple of pics from their last games..

I was a 1/2 second too late taking this shot, Josh is in the orange closest to the goalie, he just scored!

I think this was a pass to someone in the box, again I'm a 1/2 second too late - they just move too fast! Kinda a funny shot. I felt bad for this cute little team, we beat them in double digits.

Here's Abby with her team. Their cute coach had a medal ceremony after their game.

Here is Abby on a breakaway to the goal

And Abby playing defense

2009-05-15T11:43:00.002-07:00

Enter this contest

I know several great photographers, Veronica is definitely one of them - made my kids look like angels! She has a contest going for a free sitting ("best things about summer session") I thought it sounded like a fun idea - check out the details...
Contest link:
http://veronicareeve.blogspot.com/2009/05/summer-giveaway.html

Proof in the pics:
http://donahoefamily.blogspot.com/2008/07/family-pictures-sneaks-here-are-some.html

2009-05-12T14:31:00.004-07:00

Mothers Day

First of all, I do not like Mothers Day. I hate all the attention and expectations on Mother's Day. In fact, dread it completely. Today, however, I LOVED it!
It is all about the little things for me. I never want to forget the cute little things the kids did for me or the things they said in their own words....

Abby's book from school - some highlights:

What is the most important thing in your mom's life - that she loves me
Why did your mom marry your dad - that they loved ech ether
Mom wants Dad to fix - when the sink is kloged my dad hast to get whatever thats in ther
What can't you do around your mom that you wish you could? - yelling at her
How do you get your mom to say yes when you want her to? - beg rilly rilly rilly bad and say please
What do you think your mom wants the most? - She wants to have fun a hug and she want's our family to be nice

No breakfast again this year - dang that early church time!!

This year they made me a special lunch. They called it "The Sampler Plate"
Each kid chose something that they thought I would love to eat....hmmmm
Josh chose - Tortilla with cheese
Abby chose - Piece of Digorno combo pizza
Jantzen chose - Chicken patty with grapes
Served with a special drink - diet pepsi with Lime ooohhh kudos for that - it's been awhile! I was FULL! I laughed when Abby said that Dad wouldn't let her pick a dessert to give me. He told her that I didnt need one - CLASSIC! I never actually got to the bottom of that whether it was because he didn't want to have to find something or if he really doesn't think I should be eating it - ha ha ha...They also set the table with a real tablecloth - rarity at our house - and they burned some pineapple oil for a fabulous smell!

Here are some questionaires that they filled out....this is my favorite part!

What I Know About My Mom

My Mom is as pretty as
Josh - A daisy
Abby - A rainbow
Jantz - A flower

What is your favorite thing to do with mom?
Josh - go to the movies
Abby - snuggle
Jantz - read a book

What does mom do all day?
Josh - clean!
Abby - work
Jantz - work

What is the smartest thing mom said to you?
Josh - Make sure you take your medicine
Abby - Always read chapter books
Jantz - Go to Lagoon!

What do you do that makes mom crazy?
Josh - A lot of things. Mostly when I am annoying
Abby - Yelling at her and talking back
Jantz - Slap her (This is wither when he contantly hits me over and over to get my attention or when he goes through a mood where he just hits me everytime he sees me or walks by me all day long) Thought that one needed some explanation!

What do you do that makes mom the happiest?
Josh - Giving her gifts
Abby - Help her clean and do work for her
Jantz - Me making a sandwich for her

What is mom's favorite TV show?
Josh - SNL or Biggest Loser or American Idol
Abby - The Office
Jantz - The Amazing Race

What does mom do that makes you laugh?
Josh - when she acts like me
Abby - Tickle me
Jantz - when she tickles me

What do you want to give mom for Mother's Day?
Josh - my school card that I made her (which was soooo cute. Great pic of him, super nice poem and a cd with all the classes favorite recipes that they had typed earlier in the year for homework - LOVED it! He drew a pic of me at the bottom of his paper
Abby - A ring and a hug and a kiss. She also wrote on the bottom of her paper - Dear Mom, I love you. You are special to me and I love you. Happy Mothers day from Abby.
Jantz - Some water in a glass. He drew a picture of a snowman (I think) and wrote the words like only a preschooler can with backwards letters and all - Happy Mother's Day from Jantz

Today was also Jantz's 5th birthday!! He woke up today and said I don't want to go to "chorch" on my "birfday!" He expected to be able to go bowling or out to dinner at Chuck E Cheese or something fun like that. But he had such a great day. More details to come about that. We had everyone in my family over (2nd Sunday of the month) for dinner to celebrate Jantz and grandpa's birthdays and Mother's Day. It was a FAB day!

I couldn't have been happier. No gift could've meant more. I love their special words for me in their little notes. I loved their hugs and kisses and their snuggles. I love my kids, I love my family and I was absolutely THRILLED to be a mother today!

2009-05-07T21:25:00.001-07:00

Can't beat FREE!!!!!!!!!!

I have FREE tickets if any of you out there would like to go - it's this Friday and Saturday. You can find out more about it at www.uvexpo.com

2009-04-28T14:23:00.001-07:00

Where were you.....
When your car hit 100,000 miles? Ok, this is probably a pretty lame post to most of you, and most of you have probably never had a car reach that many miles, BUT.... WE HAVE! And it isn't the first and most likely won't be the last. One day, I will want to remember it. Especially, in say, 7 years when my 16yr old thinks he needs to have a brand new car for his 16th birthday.

This is EXACTLY where we were

We were here on our way to spend Valentines day in Arizona with our cousins. We ended up being pulled off the freeway here because of a rollover fatality. We ended up being detoured around Beaver through some old country roads and up and over the mountains on the west side to cedar city. It was a LONG detour and it was snowing!!

And here is the driver - he he he

2009-04-27T21:16:00.003-07:00

Interesting Facts:

I read an article today in a magazine about keeping kids safe.
I learned two things that I did not know before.

#1 A child under the age of 4 is 14 times more likely to die in a swimming pool than in an automobile accident.

#2 American Cancer Society says tanning booths emit rays 15 times stronger than the sun, and users under the age of 35 increase their risk of melanoma by 75%! Hello self tanning lotion!

And totally unrelated but something I wish to remember: Yesterday during stake conference when Elder Johnson mentioned something about the atonement, Jantzen asked Dayt if when he died he had to die on the cross. Dayt told him no. To which he replied, " oh GOOD! I DO NOT want to do that, that would NOT be fun! So we can just get too old and die!"

2009-04-22T20:21:00.006-07:00

Self Proclaimed - "Tree Hugger * Planet Lover!"

I am feeling so guilty today. Normally I am on top of the whole Earth Day thing...I buy the kids new organic earth day shirts to wear to school and put up some great links on my blog. But this year I have been so busy with so many other things that I haven't had the chance and here Earth Day is basically over. Teach your family to recycle, conserve energy, plant trees - there are lots of things we can do. And I have to say - I am really excited that so many people in the neighborhood are starting to recycle. When we lived in AZ everyone recycled because all of the cities paid for it - but here you have to pay extra to recycle. Since we have been back in Utah we have been the only ones on our street/neighborhood that recycled....until just recently. So cool that people are taking steps to recycle - I LOVE it!! And if you haven't had a chance to watch "The Inconvenient Truth" you should - because it is a really great documentary about global warming. No matter what you believe though, we should all take care of this beautiful planet that has been created for us from Him. I know Earth Day is almost over - but really we should love our earth everyday, so whenever you get a chance, here is a link to check out, it deals specifically with Utah:

http://www.repoweramerica.org/state/utah/

There are lots of other sites with great info and places you can go to plant a tree etc.
If you have one that you think is great - leave a comment and post the link.
THANKS!

2009-04-12T20:51:00.001-07:00

MILEY and more!
We had a crazy fun weekend...here are a couple of the highlights.
(More posts to follow but I just had to get these two out.)

It's MILEY CYYYYRUS!!!!
We have a good friend of ours who works at a theater in South Jordan. A week ago he gave us some tickets to his theater for the opening day showing of the Hannah Montana Movie. He made sure to let us know that he would "strongly" suggest that we make it. Dayt and I were planning to be in Denver so we found some "recruits" willing to take on our kids for the weekend and take them to the show. There was a "surprise" visitor who just happened to pop in to the show and it was none other than Hannah Montana herself - MILEY CYRUS!!

All the kids were super excited! Jantz just could not believe that Miley was "real!" I guess he thinks people on tv don't really exist! If she was a real person he wanted to know where she lived. :)

Anticipating something exciting, the crew got to the theater a little early to wait in line for good seats. (Aunt Cami is taking the pic)

Here is a picture right soon after she walked into the theater

She brought her dad Billy Ray with her

Here are the kids after the show with all their "swag!"

They each got a Hannah Montana wig, a backstage pass book, some posters and an autographed photo!!

When Dayt and I got home from the airport they had all sorts of things to tell us about the day. They had soooo much fun. Everyone liked the movie and were thrilled to be in the same room as a celebrity. Although, I don't think they fully understand or grasp the whole "celebrity" part of it - Abby thought that Miley was visiting everybody who was going to see the movie on Friday. ha ha ha - so cute. I am so grateful to my friend for giving us a little heads up - and for the tickets. It was so thoughtful of him. I am sure they will remember this day for a long time and the older they get the more they will understand how lucky they were.
Thanks a million AR - I am sending some karma your way! One good turn deserves another!

2009-04-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

MEANWHILE, back in DENVER

While the kids were busy meeting Hannah Montana - Dayt and I were meeting the Donahoe twins for the first time! LOVIN it! We had a ball with the babies - they are so sweet and beautiful. We were able to hold them and feed them - so dang much fun! From the moment I saw them I felt this sweet love for them!! They are just so tiny and peaceful and seem so helpless lying together in their little crib - it touched my heart. They were born on March 21 at 33 weeks. They have progressed really well and are doing better everyday. Derek and Mandi are hoping to have them home in another week. Here are some of the pics that we took.

Derek and Mandi - Mandi is feeding Connor

Just look how tiny their little ankles are - the size of one of my index fingers! They took their weights the day we came - Nichole was 5.6.6 lbs and Connor was 5.7.7 lbs
At birth Nichole Rainey was 4.12 lbs and 17.25 inches and Connor Jackson was 4.10 lbs and 17.25 inches

Connor is crying but I love this picture because it shows just how tiny they are with Derek's hand in the picture.

Sweet little Nichole

I have to say I just loved to hold them. The night Dayt and Derek went to the Bruce Springsteen concert (Dayt's b-day gift from Derek) Mandi and I went up to the hospital and just held the babies for hours - it was so wonderful. It was great to be able to just sit and talk with Mandi too. I really enjoyed myself that night.
Here are Dayt and I just adoring these little ones.

Another cute picture - Nichole was so tired I couldn't get her to wake up and take her bottle so I decided to try and unwrap her and make her a little less comfortable. I just thought her little belly was so cute I asked Dayt to snap a picture.

Here they are cuddled up together - Nichole on the left and Connor on the right

Look at how huge this binky looks in Connor's mouth!

It was a really quick trip but it was SOOOOO worth it! There is just something about twins I guess? I dunno. But we had a great time visiting with Derek and Mandi and having the chance to sneak a peak at these sweet little spirits. We are thrilled to have them as part of our family and look forward to bringing our kids to Denver in a couple of months to meet their new cousins. (They just can't hardly wait for school to get out!) Thanks again Derek and Mandi for letting us share these special "first" moments with you! We truly loved every minute of it. In fact Dayt made the comment that it made him a little baby hungry - and I guess it wouldn't be fair if I didn't confess that I wished they were mine a couple of times too - but hey...I am home with my three now and all is well. I feel content!

2009-04-11T19:51:00.003-07:00

My Most Favorite

Of all the talks I have ever heard about the atonement, I loved the one by Jeffery R Holland given in conference last week the very most!! Here is a video clip that was put together with an excerpt from that talk.

Hope you have a wonderful Easter day...

2009-04-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

Josh's Day!

It's no secret, you all know I am behind on blogging....Just as a recap, at Christmas 2007 Aunt Cami gave each of the kids a certificate to spend the night at her house and choose an activity of their choice for the next day anytime during 2008. Jantzen had his day (click here) and Abby as well (click here) but I haven't had a chance to get to Josh's. Last October this is what he did....

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Josh is SOOOOO into music he thought this was really cool. Apparently he couldn't take his eyes off the walls - he wanted to read everything take in as much as he could!

Off to the Clark Planetarium to check things out.

Then to his very first laser show...Rock on Demand!!! You get to choose what songs you want to hear, sorta like a jukebox. Josh chose some of his favorite songs from his youth (ha ha ha) such as Metallica "Enter Sandman", U2 "Where the Streets Have no Name", Led Zepplin "Stairway to Heaven" and Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall". Obviously has a strong influence from dad. I was happy he threw in a Van Halen song but it didn't get played :(

Back to Cam's for the icing on the cake - or the cherry on top. He made popcorn AND and an ice cream sundae before bed!!

Did I mention the fact that he was able to EAT in BED! Yea, he is definately at Aunt Cami's!
It was SO MUCH FUN for the kids to have their own special day with their Aunt - they still talk about it and beg her for a sleepover all the time! Thanks again for giving your time to each of them - that's the best gift!

2009-04-05T20:45:00.002-07:00

Thank you Grandpa D!

Soccer games were canceled Saturday so the kids decided we should go to Lagoon for opening day. They have been counting down to opening day since grandpa D gave them season passports for Christmas. Dayt and I weren't thrilled about the idea...BUT I did think it would be a good day to get our season passports thinking that the lines wouldn't be as bad as they would be on any other given Saturday. So I found out that I was totally right! (no big surprise there - he he he) There were about 30 cars in the parking lot, we had all 5 of our season passports completely finished in under 10 minutes. It was so crazy - noone was there. Maybe it was because there was still SNOW on the ground near some of the rides, or maybe it was because it was 40 degrees outside, or maybe because it was raining, or maybe all of the above! We stayed for a couple of hours and then the wet pants, wet shoes, wet socks, wet jackets, wet hair, frozen fingers and wind chill on the rides FINALLY convinced the kids that they were CRRAAAZZY!! But they also loved it!!! There were NO lines - NO waiting! They rode the new Jumping Dragon ride and picked their favorites to ride more than once like Wicked (JOSH) Wild Mouse (Abby) Rock O Planes (Jantz) and all the others that usually have long lines. Thanks again grandpa D!! Hopefully it will be a little bit warmer before we go back again for more.

So here is a picture of us freezing at Lagoon. Ty took the pic with his camera - it was on a setting where it focuses on one color hue or something like that. I think it kinda turned out cool because it gives you the "feel" of the weather that day.

2009-04-03T21:43:00.002-07:00

Girlfriends
Just wanted to say a little bit about FRIENDS! I absolutely LOVE my husband, however, sometimes you just need a good girlfriend around. My GNO's have been a little fewer and farther between in the last couple of months - things just get busier as you get older I guess. But there is nothing like a good girls night at the movies, shopping, dinner, or just walking Target! I found this saying today that reminded me of some good times I have had with some great friends. It read, "Friendship is when you can say only ONE word and crack up and noone else will know what you are talking about." I have had some fabulous friends over the years. I have friends that I have had for many many years, friends that have moved, friends that I could say anything too, friends that don't judge me for my faults and inadaquecies, friends that I have lost contact with, friends I wish I still had, friends to laugh with, friends to cry with, friends that live close by, friends that live far away, friends that are forgiving - and some that aren't, friends that will always be friends and friends that are new. I have been so blessed to have always had the support, comfort, and love of a good friend. Tonight I was able to make some new friends and for that I am very grateful. (thanks KL) For we can never have too many friends! So to all of you out there - thanks for being my friend! And for those of you whom I met tonight - "there are still good times to be had." (quote from a very famous movie about friends!)
Peace * LOVE * and a good belly laugh!

2009-04-01T20:58:00.003-07:00

"Attention Teachers"

"This is an emergency lockdown - this is NOT an April Fools Joke!"
The kids heard that message over the PA today at their school - Heritage Elementary. He said he knew it was "real" when he saw a policeman escort the milkman into the lunchroom. He said it was fun because he was able to eat lunch in his classroom. He had some great stories - 3rd graders with some great imaginations! You can read about it all over the news websites. Most of you already know the details but for journalings sake I am repeating it in short story form! It started with a fraud bust in a hotel in Clearfield where 2 were arrested and 2 fled the scene. The high speed chase ended at the kids elementary school where the driver was arrested when he abandonded the car. The passenger fled but was caught several hours later. 2 other people showed up at the hotel later in the afternoon and were also arrested. Some weapons were confiscated as well as some drugs. The school was on external lockdown for several hours in the afternoon. Abby was bugged that she didn't get her last recess and couldn't do the monkey bars. Josh was bugged that he didn't get interviewed for the news! Some of our neighbors did though!! :) An exciting day in the neighborhood. I watched helicopters circle the school all afternoon and lots of cops in and around the neighborhoods with several news crews too. Our quiet little neighborhood made breaking news and top stories all day. The ironic thing - the school had a lockdown drill last month. Abby's cute teacher was so worried that it would worry the kids she kept telling them that it would NEVER happen and that it was just a drill to practice! Ha ha ha how funny is that?

2009-03-31T14:33:00.002-07:00

Conference Packets

You can find some great ideas for conference this weekend, including the conference packet stuffed with ideas to keep the kiddos entertained during conference this weekend.
www.sugardoodle.net

I haven't taken the time to look around but I know there are other places out there with similiar stuff so feel free to leave a comment if you have some other ideas.

2009-03-24T18:10:00.004-07:00

Comic Relief

Today I said to Jantz - maybe I should teach you how to tie your shoes so we can go get you some "big boy" shoes. (as soon as you graduate above toddler size ten velcro is hard to find!)
He said "I already know how to tie my shoes"
I say - "Oh yeah, how do you tie your shoes"
Jantz - "I know that you go straight down and then make a loop and pull it through"
Mom (surprised) - "Oh, how do you know how to do that?"
Jantz - "I learned it from SpongeBob. One time he didn't know how to tie his laces and he learned a song so I know how to do it now (then proceeds to sing some of the song)

Hmm - does SpongeBob have any other practical information he can teach my child?

*******

As I walked through the front door I heard Jantz crying loudly, and through the crying I heard him say - "It's always all about you dad!!"

*******

Dayt was looking all over for the remote so he could record a basketball game. After a bit he became frustrated and just sat on the couch for a minute. Jantz started digging around in the couch and found the remote. He walked over to Dayt and dropped it in his lap and then threw out both of his arms and tossed his head from side to side and said "Whose da maaan?!"

We LOVE Jantz - he makes us laugh everyday!!

2009-03-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

January catch up!
Here are the happenings in our house during January. One of these days I might actually be blogging "current" events! I'm getting closer to real time though! Most of this stuff is really old news and probably boring to you, but it still has to find it's way into the Donahoe blog book in chronological order. :)

2009-03-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

13 - 0
We started off the year with the University of Utah bowl game. We went to our friends the Newbould's house in Bountiful. They might be a little more Utah crazed than we are....but....we were all super excited when Utah won!!! What an awesome game! Perfect season 13 - 0. Josh wouldn't be in the picture (BYU fan) so he took it for us.
Check out all that Utah RED!

My cute little UTAH fan.....

I had to get a picture of the BYU fan all covered in Utah RED.
He doesn't bleed RED yet - but he is still cute!

2009-03-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Everybody Loves Chocolate

In January I took a fieldtrip with Jantzen's preschool to Mrs. Cavanaugh's chocolate factory. They watched a movie about where chocolate comes from and how it is harvested ( way over their heads) and then the classic I Love Lucy episode where the chocolate candies roll down the assembly line (they loved that one) and then they watched some women make some chocolate candies, and of course the grand finale and best part of the whole day - they each got a sample of chocolate!!

Here is Jantz with his buddies Rayce and Jake

2009-03-22T16:19:00.003-07:00

The cat and the mouse

This is sorta funny and really unimportant, but hey, sometimes that is exactly what makes me laugh! I was cleaning up the kitchen one morning and out of the corner of my eye I saw a mouse run across the patio. Then the next time I looked up Rufus was trying to sniff around trying to figure out where it had gone. The sun had been out for a couple of days and the snow had started to melt a little. There was the smallest little layer of air between the top layer of ice and the ground, just small enough for a mouse to run underneath. The cat quickly figured out that was where the mouse had gone. He was poking his head down the hole that the runoff from the rain gutter had made. He went from the edge of the patio to the hole and back and forth. I lost interest after a short time. But throughout the morning while I was doing my chores I couldn't help but wonder what had happened. Part of me was cheering on the mouse for being clever and outsmarting the cat by finding a brilliant hiding place. But the other part of me wanted the cat to win because he wasn't giving up. Back and forth he went for quite some time. Every time I walked past the window he was still pacing waiting for his opportunity.

Alas, an hour or so later there was a mouse on my doorstep. That cat has caught more than 20 mice since we have lived here. I don't want to think how many mice are actually in the vacant lots across the street, but at least I know they aren't getting into my house! Well, actually, one did. Quick story: One day Josh opened the garage door and a mouse hobbled in and ran into the pantry. Dayt was called in to verify the story. Sure enough, there was a VERY injured little mouse in the pantry - now that was sad! Poor Dayt didn't know what to do. He already had to kill a mouse just before we moved in to put it out of it's misery (Jantz had thrown a rock into the window well and hit it and injured the poor thing!) He really didn't want to do it again. Long story short, he gave it back to the cat!!

2009-03-22T16:16:00.002-07:00

Pancake Picasso!
Josh really wanted me to post this picture of his pancake. He wasn't even trying but he was amazed to realize that he made a smiley face with his syrup! It's pancake art! Cute kid!

2009-03-22T15:50:00.004-07:00

SKI Day!
Josh has been wanting to learn to ski for several seasons now. This past year Josh received a ski pass from Great Grandma Gibson for Christmas. He was soooo excited. He was ready! Our friends the Crookston's have season passes to Wolf Mountain so we took off one Saturday to meet up with them. Here are Josh, Anna, and Skyler ready to hit the slopes.

Amy and I stayed back at the house with this cute group. They decided to do a bit of sleigh riding. Alex, Abby, Jantzen and Isabel

We took lunch up to the skiers so we could see what kind of progress they had been making.
Dayt said Josh caught on quite quickly and no surprise - was quite fearless and willing to try anything. After lunch the edgie wedgie was history and Anna and Josh pretty much took off on their own a little ahead of the rest of the group. They went down the hill together, jumped on the lift by themselves and took off back down again over and over. Josh had a great time! He loved skiing! We were able to take him up again this month before the season ends for the year.

Dayt and Josh

Josh

Anna

Sky

2009-03-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

TY MICHAEL NELSON
Oh what a sweet baby!
After 5 girls in a row Hunter and Nick really deserved to have another male enter the family. The delivery wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but Ty Michael Nelson finally made it here! He is so yummy! Unfortunately, Candice had a C-Section so she had to spend a couple of days in the hospital - but on the plus side - I was able to spend a couple of really fun nights at the hospital holding this little guy. One of the nights Erica flew in from AZ and we an awesome GNO at the hospital laughing our guts out - I'll spare you the details BUT who wouldn't have a ball with Poppycock and crown burger?! He he he
I sure am going to miss this little guy when he moves back to AZ next month....but I'm not bitter! :)

2009-03-22T15:24:00.004-07:00

Ice Skating
During the winter break we took the kids ice skating at the ice sheet in Ogden. Grandma and Grandpa Gibson were on their way to Egypt/Israel for a couple weeks so we invited them along to see the kids before they left. The kids had a great time! Jantzen decided it was too cold and it looked to hard so he wanted to watch. FINE by me! So the Dayt took Abby and Grandpa took Josh and off they went. The rest of us watched from the bleachers.

Dayt was a little hesitant because he hadn't ice skated much. His first mistake was to ask for hockey skates - ha ha ha. It didn't take long before he decided to get him some truly fashionable figure skates. He did much better after that - "toe pick" (Cutting Edge) Abby was a natural, she did great! She caught on soooo quick. After about two circles around she was doing great on her own, Dayt was so relieved!
Bless his heart, Josh tried and tried to figure it out in his hockey skates. We didn't think about getting him some figure skates until it was basically too late to switch. I felt really bad for him because I am sure he would've enjoyed it so much more. He is a trooper though! He fell time and time again but never gave up. He circled that place over and over again determined to skate like a pro.

Grandpa and Josh making the rounds

The next Kristi Yamaguchi!

Then after about an hour Jantzen decided he wanted to give it a try. I think it looked fun to him after the zamboni came out. Oh crap! I was thinking I wouldn't have to put on the skates. Of course while I am trying to "discourage" him - grandma was "encouraging" him to give it a try. So.....with only a short time left we bundled up and got the tiniest little figure skates I have ever seen and took off to the ice. He actually did rather well for a four year old. I think we only made it around ONE time and then he was satisfied! AGGHHH! After all that - he only wanted to get just a "taste" of it and was done after 5 minutes!

Then he was back to the bleachers again with grandma, snuggled up and toasty!

2009-03-22T14:13:00.003-07:00

Indoor Soccer
Josh tried out indoor soccer for the first time this year. He had a fun time. He played on a team with a couple of kids from his neighborhood. They played older kids and all comp teams so they didn't win any games. However, it was AMAZING to see how much they improved in just 6 short games. They were good sports and they never gave up. It was a great opportunity for Josh to learn something new, and it was GREAT exercise. It was a fabulous way for my little ADHD guy to expend some energy and it was so much fun to watch him.

2009-03-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Abby's Birthday List
I thought this was too cute to not post about. Abby gave me her birthday list a couple of weeks ago....

Translation for those of you who don't have a first grader:

Abby's Birthday List
A new "girl" cd player and the Sharpay that goes with Zeke and that is a Barbie and another Barbie that is Taylor with Chad and another Barbie that is Taylor Swift and my own laptop and a gumball machine and a I-pod.

2009-02-26T23:24:00.002-07:00

Wow!
Seriously, I have to say it...what the hell? I saw it on the counter on my way out of Walgreen's today. I truly don't even know where to start with this.

2009-02-08T15:18:00.002-07:00

I LOVE YA REV RUN!!

Dayt showed me this little caption the other day -- and because I love RUN'S HOUSE so much - and I know there are a couple of you out there that feel the same...I had to share because this picture is a little funny. For those of you who haven't watched the show - Joseph Simmons AKA Rev Run was always teasing his wife about her diet and exercise and what she ate on the show. Just goes to show - we should never judge....he he he
This is what the caption said = While soaking his weary bones in the Hawaiian sun on Thursday, Run D.M.C.'s Rev Run aired out his hairy, meaty breasteses. Somebody get Run a two-piece, stat!

2009-02-06T11:36:00.003-07:00

All Naturale'
Jantzen is going through a phase that is journal worthy. It has been 20 degrees outside and it doesn't matter, this is how I find Jantzen all day long...in his underwear! This has been going on for several weeks. The house hovers around 72 -73 degrees during the day and he constantly tells me he is "sweaty." I cannot keep clothes on him. Not that I don't think it's cute to see his little body in his spidey underwear - trust me - it's adorable! However, it is freezing outside! It makes me cold just looking at him. But really, if the kid likes to be in his underwear in his own house who am I to tell him he can't. At first he just did it at home. Then there was an instance or too at a friends house (sorry Melissa and Holli) we talked about how we need to keep our clothes on at other people's houses yada yada yada. It must have worked, he hasn't come home missing articles of clothing, and I haven't heard about any other problems at this buddies houses. Fast forward a couple of weeks - he is still in his underwear at home most of the day and night (including bedtime) unless we have guests. We decide to have a "Fabulous Friday" together and decide to go to Chuck E. Cheese, just me and him. It was so much fun just spending the time with him without the others. For those of you who know Jantz, you know he is wildly entertaining and has the best personality. We were laughing and having the best time together. We found the basketball game and played over and over and over. I was actually impressed, he was pretty good for a 4 year old. Anyway, one of the balls hit the rim just right and bounced out and into the play area. I turned to go and get it for him - 5 seconds later I head back and see him starting to take his clothes off! I said "Jantz! You can't take your clothes off here!" He said, "Well mom, I am sweaty." He is so funny! He thought that it was ok because it wasn't at a friends house where we had told him that it wasn't ok. He has now learned the definition of "public places." Guess I should've started there to begin with.

This is a shot I took from my phone - playing b-ball in the kitchen
Jumping around on the bed watching Spongebob

2009-02-04T23:55:00.002-07:00

LOSER!!

I know what you are all thinking - two posts in a row what a princess right? Well maybe you all don't care but Josh is probably not going to be happy. He was upset that I didn't mention that he fasts every month in the last post - ha ha ha - must be a little jealousy. I told him it just wasn't as cool to see a 9 year old fast every Sunday - that is just a given! Just kidding - I didn't really. Anyway, my darling little daughter has finally lost her first tooth!! WaHOO! She has been waiting for this for so long! This tooth has been loose for 3 weeks so it is about time! She was so excited. I took this pic on my phone just minutes after the hysteria and excitement - look how happy she is! Yea! Now she can have her name listed on the tooth chart at school - this is BIG! She has felt so left out! :) The tooth fairy actually made it to our house (miracle) and left two dollars (what?) that is a lot for just one little tooth. I was really sad to miss her reaction in the morning. I had to fly to Denver on business and missed the whole thing so this information is what I gathered from my phone conversation with them after school. Apparently she was super excited that the tooth fairy must be some sort of pixie or fairy because she left some pixie/fairy dust behind. Josh was thinking that maybe he shouldn't have saved so many of his teeth and should have sold them to the tooth fairy because $2 is good pay for a tooth (no kidding!). And Jantz just couldn't believe that she was so quiet... "Man, that tooth fairy is good! I can't believe she can go in and out of the doors and we didn't know about it. She is sooo quiet I can't believe it!"

Sent: Feb 4, 2009 11:51 PM
Subject: Abby
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

2009-02-01T17:32:00.002-07:00

My Sweet Abbles!
I've never been one who can articulate thoughts very well, but here goes...Occasionally I second guess my parenting skills, or lack thereof, and wonder if I am making the right choices when parenting these kids of mine. I tend to error on the more strict side, my kids seldom if ever get away with things - I believe in boundaries. That being said, lately as I have been juggling more roles than ever before, I have had a harder time trying to do each of those roles well when my time in each role is so much more limited than ever before. I am NOT a perfect parent, my children are not perfect children. We try to do the best we can. Sometimes we don't get scripture study done, sometimes we miss a prayer here and there, sometimes FHE doesn't end with spiritual overload, homework gets overlooked, I forget to pay lunch money, sometimes the house is a disaster, dinner doesn't happen, and sometimes I am guilty of raising my voice far above where it should be. Sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough, and feel like I am failing in so many areas. And then sometimes there are days that remind you that it isn't always about what happens during "each" day. Sometimes you can't measure the success of each individual day, sometimes you have to look at the big picture. Thank heavens for the small, sweet, simple moments that remind us that the most important things in life aren't always the things that take place every day.
Today Abby came into my bathroom while I was getting ready for church and told me that she wanted to fast. I was somewhat surprised, for she is only six. I asked her repeatedly and each time she replied yes, I want to fast. I reminded her a little about what it meant to fast, and we talked about the different things, situations or people that we might fast for. I told her she could choose something to keep in her thoughts today. She thought for a minute and then said, I want to ask Heavenly Father to help me learn subtraction. I said, would you like me to help you say your prayer to start your fast (thinking that she might not know how to do this considering she was young and had never done this before) she said no - I can do it myself, but you can come with me and listen. I love her! Thank you Abby for reminding me about what really matters.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever - Veronica Reeve posted it on her blog last summer. She does the most amazing job - www.veronicareeve.com

2009-01-31T23:12:00.001-07:00

Go Cards!

I miss you AZ!

2008-12-31T22:59:00.001-07:00

PHOEBE

How cute is she?

2008-12-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

December 2008 - Part Deux!
I had a chance to post a couple of pics during the month of December but I didn't get to put up some pics of Christmas Day. This is our first Christmas in our new house and I believe the 7th Christmas spent somewhere different. In other words, we haven't spent Christmas in the same house two years in a row for 7 years. CRaZy! It is amazing that Santa finds us each year. This first picture is of Jantzen and his homemade gift to Kelsey. He made her a couple of journals and some flower pens. You can't see it from this pic, but there was a lot of leftover glue! He had so much fun glueing - I even let him take a crack at the hot glue gun! You can read about our homemade Christmas here:

Here are some pictures of the kids lists to Santa...with the exception of Josh. He didn't know what he wanted this year other than Lego Batman, so he didn't write a list. This is a picture of him with some art projects he did that month. I can't stand having crap - I mean "art" projects that the kids have made at school all over my house. So I let it hang up for a short time and then I take a picture of it and throw it in the recycle bin. Josh hates it, he can't let go of stuff. He keeps everything. The funny thing was when I started calling them in and handing them stacks of papers and putting them in line for a photo, Jantz was asking what I was doing and I downplayed the situation of course to avoid a meltdown from Josh. He casually said with a sad voice, Oh brother Jantz, she is throwing away all our stuff. He got in line and tried to muster a smile. He is getting better at this.....this time he even tried to look like the elf in the picture.

Abby's list to Santa - courtesy of the Toys R Us big book
And Jantzen - who hasn't quite grasped the idea of just asking for two or three things....his was two sided!

This brings us to Christmas morning. I have to put a bench in the hall so they can't go in and see before the other wakes up. This year was kinda funny. My mom and dad were coming over to see them open their presents from Santa this year, I told them to come around 7am. I thought that was about the time that Jantz usually gets up, but I figured they would all be up before that, but I wasn't willing to start any sooner so I figured I would just hold them off until 7 if I had too. Well Josh woke up at 5:45am. We sent him back to bed. Dayt and I set the alarm to get up and have a shower since we knew there wouldn't be another time during the day to get one. We were ready to go at 7am. My parents come. The kids still sleep. And sleep. We sit down and talk with my parents....still sleeping. So we finally decided to wake them up and get this show on the road. I think that morning was for the record books. I don't think that will happen again until they are non-believing teenagers! I put this bench in the hall so that noone gets up and views the goods before the other one...

Here are just a couple of pics....Abby opening her Nintendo DS. I think every kid her age asked for one of these this year.

Josh received a "surprise" gift from Santa because he didn't ask for anything. Santa did a good job - he knows Josh well - he LOVED his surprise - ROCKBAND!
Santa must also be crazy because I don't know how else to explain this shirt finding it's way to our house.

Rufus loves Abby's pink chair. It is HIS spot! He made Josh share the chair while he played a new video game on the Wii.

Abby took a crack at the drums.

Grandpa Donahoe stopped by and brought with him a crowd pleaser - Lagoon Season Passports!! Our family was sooooo excited! Now we can hang with the rest of the neighborhood all summer! Just look at these faces!

Jantz with his Batcave.

Derek and Mandi stayed for a bit to hang out. We were soooo happy they spent a little extra time with us because we don't get to see them very often.
Derek and Dayt played a little Rockband.

Abby and Jantz broke out the moonsand....Jantz has been waiting for this moment for months! He was so into it he wouldn't look up for a picture.

Josh worked for literally hours on his lego set - this is RARE for Josh.

After Derek and Mandi left Dayt decided to take a little snooze

Then Great Grandma Gibson stopped by. I am pretty sure she is thrilled to be here. LOL
I guess Christmas gets a little boring when you have lived through over 90 of them!!

Normally we head out to Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's for Christmas dinner but because there was a storm coming in, they had canceled Christmas dinner. We were really sad! I look forward to Grandma J's cheesy potatoes all year! Instead, we through something together that paled in comparison. Then we got out the rockband again. Rufus slept through all the racket on his fav pink chair! Check him out! He wouldn't let Abby have anymore of the chair than that. He would scratch at her or nip at her when she tried to push him off. Silly cat!

Josh showing his skills at singing and playing guitar at the same time - so talented!
Then Dayt and I went out to shovel the snow.
My cute little friend London brought over her son Kenyon's old Power Wheels for Jantz. It was sosoooosooso nice of her! She told me Kenyon doesn't really use it anymore because he got a mini quad for his birthday and she offered it to Jantzen after the whole Power Wheels story. You can read about that here. I think she was just doing a sweet thing....she is VERY sweet and thoughtful. She made Jantzen's day! He had a BALL cruising up and down the streets. Thank you so much London and Kenyon! He put all sorts of stuff in his "trunk" in back and took off all over the place. Look how excited he was....

The storm brought about 6 inches of snow and lots of wind. I thought this picture was a great way to sum up Christmas day 2008. You know how sometimes different images just stay ingrained in your mind? Well this picture will stay in my mind forever I hope. Our first Christmas here was picture perfect. We hope it is the first of many "consecutive" Christmases. I love the way the snow blew up against the house. I loved listening to the wind throughout the afternoon. I thoroughly loved spending time with all the family members that stopped by to make the holiday special. I loved sitting inside my house warm and cozy by the fire as the snow softly fell. I loved listening to happy children talking about all the magical things about Christmas and so many other wonderful memories. It was a perfect white Christmas Day!

Coming soon: Update for January 2009 - I am cruising right along!

2008-12-25T21:09:00.005-07:00

Dear SANTA:

So this is what the kids asked Santa for this week:

Josh
Acoustic guitar
Lego Batman for the Wii

Abby
Nintendo DS
Cupcake maker

Jantzen
Moon Sand
Pixos
Power wheels (keep reading...)

Funny story...Jantz has been asking for a power wheels VERY consistently for many weeks now. Dayt and I kept trying to talk him out of it by telling him that Power Wheels are very big and probably MUCH too big to fit in Santa's sleigh. But no mater how often we told him that, he continued to tell everyone that is what he wanted. We have spent the last couple of weeks encouraging him to stay on track with the moonsand and pixos. We figure we have him brainwashed because it has started to work, he has been telling everybody that is what he wants Santa to bring. Success! Ok, fast forward to just a couple of days before Christmas. I tell him that I can't believe we haven't had the chance to go and see Santa yet and that we need to go. He asked me what we would do, (this is the kid who thrives on the play by play of the day) I told him how we would go to the mall, stand in line, sit on Santa's lap, ask for presents, tell Santa he's been good, get a candy cane - you know the whole works! I know with Jantz it has to be very detail oriented and very specific. He says to me. Oh I know just what I will say to Santa. I inquire of course with much interest. He says, I am going to ask him if power wheels can really fit in his sleigh! Drat! I am hoping Santa will come to my rescue!

2008-12-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve
FUN Christmas Eve this year! This year my brilliant sister came up with an idea to do a homemade gift exchange. We drew names and the rest was history. Everyone was thrilled with excitement and anticipation to see what the gift giver had come up with. It was great! Everyone got really creative and the gifts turned out to be awesome! Here are some pics....

This is my dad's feeble attempt to get thrown out of the stake presidency...ha ha ha
Nice KEG dad!

Ty drew out Dayt and made him a microphone stand to play guitar AND sing at the same time when playing Rockband! We ALL love it and have put it to good use! You can't have a cool mic stand like that without guitar hero Aerosmith! We better go get that!

Brady had Jantzen. He took Candyland and recreated all the characters to be people in our family - so clever! The players in the game are not green, yellow, red and blue, they all have pics of Jantz, Josh, Abby and Hailee! All the characters on the board and playing cards have been replaced with all of the members of our entire family - even baby Jake. SOOOOO cute! The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE playing with it. I will have to take some more pictures of the actual game.

Carly had Josh and must have slaved over this awesome Chargers blanket for many hours for Josh. He sleeps with it EVERYNIGHT. In fact, last week he hauled it over to the Erikssons for a sleepover!

This is the jewelry box that Josh made for Hailee. He even used his own money to put some cute earrings, bracelet, and a necklace inside!

This is the pirate mobile that Abby made for baby Jake (I wonder how old he will be before we start just calling him Jake!) He has a pirate room and no mobile above his crib so we thought we could melt the two into one. The little things that hang all have to do with pirates - chest, parrot, hat, sword, ship etc. It turned out really cute - I think Ty looks excited!

Kelsey used all of her old dress up and some of her dancing outfits and accessories to make this cute dress up box for Abby, Abby's friends will have a great time with some of those outfits!

Abby couldn't wait to try a little something on!

Krista also made a magnet board for me for my mudroom. I will have to take a picture when I get it all up on the wall. I know my sister likes to organize but more than that - she LOVES to organize others and I can always use help in that area!

I thought it was so much fun this year to make homemade gifts. I know that my kids as well as Dayt and I really spent a lot of time trying to think of something the other would love, or could really use - and isn't THAT really what christmas should be about. I mean, not necessarily about gift giving, but more about thinking about others and giving of your time more than just running out and buying something on their list? I don't know, I just loved the different feeling everyone had this year. I thought it was the best Christmas Eve we've ever had. Gifts just meant so much more this year! And that's my two cents - I say thumbs up for next year!

2008-12-19T23:05:00.002-07:00

ABBles * BaBbLeS

I'm loving feeling like I am able to blog again!! Hopefully soon I can bore everyone with all the "old" pictures I have been dying to post. I absolutely adore these pictures of Abby in October. I just caught her in a cute moment but the pictures turned out so brilliant. She is the sweetest girl! Abby is such an angel. We are so blessed to have her in our family. She is always so willing to help. Tonight she wanted to help me load the dishwasher. Then when I tucked her in tonight she said, "Mom, tomorrow I want to help you do the laundry and help you clean."
HELLO! How lucky am I?

Here is a picture I took last week of her and baby Jake.

2008-12-19T22:51:00.002-07:00

Some Jantz moments

I'm borrowing a laptop so I am using this opportunity to upload a couple of photos. Here is a picture with Jantz eating his waffle and toast and his latest obsession - the I-pod. He grabs Josh's "Off-pod" and rocks out. He talks SO LOUD when he is listening - and - it's funny to listen to him sing the lyrics to the songs. He comes up with the weirdest lines when he is singing, some of it doesn't make sense.

This was the other day when it was snowing. He came in dressed like this and asked me if he could go outside and shovel. LOVE the cowboy boots that are 3 sizes too big.

2008-12-15T23:34:00.004-07:00

Josh's new comp disc list

Ok, so maybe this isn't cute for some of you - but because this is my journal, I have to write this down because one day I might want to remember it, and exactly how he wrote it.

1- Don't mater (Akon)
2- Chris Brown - Forever
3- Crush (David Archuleta)
4- Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith)
5- Sweet Child (Guns and Roses)
6- Scream! (HSM3)
7- With you (HSM3)
8- Through the Fire and Flames (Dragon Force)
9- Raido Nowere (Bruce Springsteen)
10- Comteirly Num (Pink Floyd)
11- Where the Streets Have No Name (U2)

Obviously, he is influenced by three things - Radio Disney, his father, and Guitar Hero!

2008-12-15T23:15:00.003-07:00

Bob who?

All the kids were working on various projects at the table while I was fixing dinner. Out of the blue Jantzen sings/says "I got the working man blues." I say - "what?" He says, "that's what Bob says." I say, "Bob who." He says, "you know Bob." I say, "no, I don't know, Bob who?" He says -"the Bob that says you burned my barn and stole my horse!" Me - totally clueless..."what Bob is that?" He says loudly - "BOB - Bob Dylan!"

During the commuting days from grandma's to school in Layton it was one of the cd's that played in Dayt's car when he wasn't listening to Laura Ingraham. Josh's words exactly! I'm wondering-WHO is Laura Ingraham?? They other cd of choice was Pink Floyd. Josh said he was tired of listening to NPR every morning on the commute from grandma's to school so he didn't mind. It's a good thing that is over with - I wouldn't want to listen to NPR OR Bob Dylan! The only Dylan I can stand is Jakob Dylan - AKA The Wallflowers - and he is a MUCH better singer than his father!

2008-12-14T15:58:00.002-07:00

You gotta LOVE Wal-Mart

Ok, at least I can text a picture to my blog. I HAD to share this one! Jantz and I were grocery shopping on Friday at his beloved Wal-Mart. Those of you who know Jantzen know that he LOVES Wal-mart. Don't ask me why...but at least on Friday I loved it too. When we started down this aisle this guy was bent over putting stuff in his cart...the picture would've been MUCH more graphic at that point. And trust me, the landing strip that he had about made me vomit! Truly! By the time I got to him this is what I saw. Only at Wal-mart my friends. Jantz and I laughed for the next 4 aisles. Jantz couldn't stop laughing. He kept grabbing my phone so he could see the picture, then he kept saying I hope we run into that guy with the bum again! Good times! I needed a good belly laugh so for once..thank you Wal-Mart!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

2008-12-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hamblin Family Christmas Party

I am borrowing a laptop so I can try and post a couple of christmas pics real quick. Here are a few pics from the Hamblin family Christmas Party at Kent and Cherie's house. Last year Grandma Gibson added a live nativity to the festivities. This year it was definately "lively" considering we had a real life baby Jesus thanks to baby Jake! Grandpa did an awesome job with props, scenery and costume design! Jantz and Hailee played Joseph and Mary. Abby was an angel and Josh was a shepard. There were wise men and even animals! Nice work grandpa! Katie played the piano and we sang some primary christmas songs to add to the ambience.

After dinner and the nativity we had a gift exchange. The kids of course love that. We even got to see some videos of the engagement of the newly engaged couples at the party - super fun! With all my "little" cousins engaged, I am starting to feel old! That seemed like so long ago for me! It will be fun next year to have several new additions to the Hamblin clan...Ashely, Kathleen and Kevin. The party was lots of fun. Thanks to dad for the pictures...I forgot my camera.
I just thought this one of Jake was cute.
Next up for the Hamblin family - 3 weddings!!!

2008-12-05T21:42:00.002-07:00

Any Suggestions....My Journal/blog is severely suffering! I am going nuts! I haven't been able to post forever! After the move it took a week or so to hook up the desktop computer. Once we hooked it up we discovered that the power supply had gone bad. One trip and $30 later we (Dayt) installed the new power supply, only to find out that the power supply wasn't the only problem. Apparently our computer is finally on it's last life. It appears that the computer techies think that it may be the motherboard - bad news for me! This computer holds my life. My vinyl lettering, my pictures, my source to the information superhighway, online shopping, pay for school lunch, on and on and on. This computer has my entire life wrapped up in it. The older I have become the more attached/addicted/dependent I have become on my computer. You know what I am talking about. Everyone out there reading this (all 10 of you) are in the same boat - right? Ok, well maybe not. Regardless, I have no blog life anymore. It is really depressing to me. Before the move I was already behind on blogging because of the upcoming move. Now I am even more behind because of the move, and then this computer thing...well now I am really behind. Here's where I need some help. I am hoping that one of the ten of you that are reading might have some knowledge about blogger. Ty - I am counting on you....for some reason I can't get Dayt's laptop to upload photos. So although I am posting from his computer, I can't actually add my photos from it. I can link from other places online (like the above picture). However, I don't want to have to upload all my pictures every week to photobucket etc. I am hoping there is a simple solution, and that maybe it's something super easy to fix, and maybe it's just adjusting a few things here and there, and maybe it is just a simple search on blogger to find out. I just don't have the time...somebody help! I am desperate! Life without blogging is really no way to live!! Oh yeah, and I also tried to upload them from a jumpdrive on another computer and that didn't work either. So maybe it isn't necessarily the computer, but maybe my blogger account......anybody...anybody...Bueller!

2008-11-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

November Fun

Here is part two of my attempt to catch up on blogging before I publish my blog book. This will be the easiest month because there isn't much to blog. We moved into our new house in Roberts Farms this month so most of our time was spent packing and finishing up things at the new place. We were able to move in before the most exciting part of November - the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to Thanksgiving dinner at Dayt's mom's house. We had a great time, we were able to catch up with family including Derek and Mandi who came in from Denver. We had a great time hearing about how the twins came to be - even though Uncle Derek didn't want to talk about it at all! Nor is he excited about it. We think he will change his mind though! We had a little spare time for a couple of other things too, the first being Abby's first concert, the second being Josh's Jr. Jazz season.

Abby's First Concert

Josh was about six when he went to his first concert. We were in Arizona at the time and Dayt had purchased tickets to several concerts that year. I really really wanted to go to the Green Day concert with him, however, he gave his ticket to a friend before discussing with me first! (I am still a little bitter about it) The last two concerts that were left were The White Stripes and The Dave Mathews Band. I had already seen DMB when they came to SLC for the 2002 olympics. I was 9 mos pregnant with Abby and the wind chill was like 6 degrees. We had to walk about 2 miles that night it seemed. Long story short, I don't have a lot of good memories so I thought I would pass on that one. So I gave that ticket to Josh and went to the Stripes. Who were actually pretty good. Anyway, Abby has been begging us for a chance to go to a concert ever since - you know the whole song and dance - " well Josh got to!" Abby LOVES Carrie Underwood - as do I. We have all her cd's and know all the words. She is so cute, and so talented, we thought it would be great fun, and a good concert for a six year old. My friend Candice and I got tickets to take our cute girls. We stopped at Appollo Burger ate a quick yummy dinner and headed off to the concert. The traffic jam through my clausterphobia into full panic anxiety - BUT - we made it!! Thanks for being patient with me Candy! The concert was great fun, we ended up with super tickets and the girls had a blast!! Who wouldn't enjoy CU?? I love spending time with Abby one on one!

Three cute girls - Kylie, Abby, and Rylee

When she came out on on the catwalk she was pretty close to us. She did a rendition of G and R "Welcome to the Jungle" which was pretty cool.

2008-11-25T11:34:00.001-07:00

ATTENTION TARGET SHOPPERS!!

Doesn't this look so exciting? If anybody wants to come, there is a group of 7 of us meeting around 4 am for BlAcK FRiDaY! If you haven't been before - you should come, it is highly entertaining!

2008-11-25T11:28:00.001-07:00

GO UTES!!

Sorry Cougar fans...we bleed RED at our house...shouldn't you?

2008-11-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

Jr Jazz

Josh has been playing Jr Jazz Basketball for a couple of weeks now. He is doing really well. He LOVES basketball. He plays point gaurd on his cute little team. He usually averages a couple of steals each game, many assists, and his share of points. Grandma pays him for every basket he makes. I am pretty sure he has already earned enough for the Wii game he has been saving for. Last week he scored 18 points, I don't know how many he scored yesterday because I can't remember...I know! What kind of mom am I? I don't actually count the points, I am too busy watching him put the moves on the court. He is HIGHLY entertaining! He throws out a behind the back dribble or through his legs and I am laughing hysterically! I can't forget the subtle little fist pump at his side as he turns and runs back after a fast break lay-up. He cracks me up! He truly, truly thinks he will play in the NBA. Shoot for the stars JJ!!!

Bringing it down the court

Jumpshot in the paint

Dribbling in around some defenders

Going in for the fast break lay-up

2008-11-13T22:12:00.002-07:00

Home Sweet Home

We made it! Last Saturday we made the big move to the new house. And today - I am finally back online with internet - wahoo! We had sooo much help. Thank you everyone for all your help, you know who you are. This is the picture of my kitchen on moving day as I was putting the kids to bed. Amazing - no boxes! Several other rooms were all put away too and I couldn't have done that by myself. So I just want to say thank you everyone!!

2008-11-06T21:15:00.004-07:00

Just a little somethin somethin

I was reviewing Josh's homework tonight and found a little material for the blog. I HAVE to post this before he turns it in tomorrow.

Describe something that is savory to you
CORN

Tell about a time you showed persistence
WII (Trying to pass a level in a game)

Describe something that caused you to be very agitated
FOOTBALL GAMES (when his team is losing)

Tell about a time when you felt revulsion
SEEING MIXED FOOD

Describe something that makes you queasy
GRAPE MEDICINE

Describe something that enraptured you
N.B.A

Tell something that makes you livid
INTERUPTING

Name two other animals that move ponderously
LUNGWORT and GORGE (You got me - probably some animal from either Spiderwick or Fablehaven books)

Describe something that has baffled you
AN UNFAIR CALL (sports)

Describe something that you think is luscious
CORN (what's with the corn?)

He was also telling me a little about his day today. Josh has been bringing his flag football set to school for the last couple of weeks. He told me that today there was a big playoff game at recess and he had to have THREE bodygaurds to get him to the game safely. He had a paramedic on duty just in case, AND he had to sign some autographs for some girls. WOW! What a day!! Is it ok for your kids to think they are the "shizzle?"

2008-11-02T21:59:00.003-07:00

THIS IS HALLOWEEN.....
Sing it with me! So I am so behind in blogging. This seems to happen from time to time, and lately with everything going on I haven't been great at updating this journal of sorts. So instead of starting back a couple of weeks, here are a couple of pics we took on Halloween day. The kids didn't have school which was great because we hadn't had time to carve pumpkins yet. So one of the first things we did was get that out of the way. They each did their pumpkins THEIR way and all by themselves! It was a little hard to not want to jump in and just take over, BUT I was a good mom and just let things go. (I can do that every once in a awhile) Jantz required just a little bit of help here and there inserting his saw, but other than that, he was so proud of himself for finishing his masterpiece alone. Josh of course really enjoyed playing with the guts. Can't you just smell the "pumpkin" when you look at this mess?

Here are the finished pumpkins ready to go for halloween night. Funny thing though, we took a family vote and 4 to 1 we voted to go to the new neighborhood to trick or treat and mom and dad went to Ty and Brooke's so noone was home to lite the pumpkins. Sheesh, all that work for nothing! You mom's out there know what I am talking about right? This year we weren't able to host the annual Donahoe halloween party because we ran into a little snag with the concrete floor at the new house and it cost us a couple of weeks. (Sidenote- we have recovered, the house is done and we will be moving this week) Anyhow, because we didn't have the party - there were several trick or treating stops on our way out to Layton. We hit grandma and grandpa "J", grandma and grandpa Mac, and grandpa Dave. Then we met up at the Hensley house for a little chili and donuts (thank you Travis and Holli). Trick or treating was wonderful - the weather reminded me a little of halloween in Arizona. We all just kind of hung out in the driveway to pass out candy. Daylight savings hadn't hit yet so we had a little extra light. We didn't even require jackets until later on in the night when it started to rain. I can't remember a halloween this mild in forever! Josh went with his friends (uggh he is getting so big) and Abby and Jantz went with their dad and Breck, Olivia, and Jake Hensley. Everyone had a ball. I was so busy hanging with Holli eating chili and donuts, feeding trick or treaters and catching up on some Friday Night Lights that I didn't even remember to take pictures of the kids in their costumes! Ha ah ha ha. Oh well, I have many from the parties earlier in the month...tune in later!

I tried to go for the "glow" effect so the pics are a little blurry

Hope everyone had a great Pagan Holiday!

2008-10-25T15:06:00.003-07:00

HSM3 - You know it!

Because we have such big High School Musical fans in the house - there was no way we could miss opening day! I have to admit, I don't mind the first two HSM's. 2 wasn't my favorite, but I still sing along. Either way, I was a little skeptical about 3. I mean, seriously how are they going to pull of ANOTHER one? They have done everything they could possibly do in the first two. AND how are they going to be able to make a low budget tv movie turn into anything good enough for the big screen? These were the questions I was asking myself yesterday. But, as mothers sometimes you just have to suck it up a bit (ie Beverly Hills Chihuahua). I was sure it wasn't going to be as bad as that was, and I figured it would have some fun music that I would end up singing to with the kids in the car for the next year until the next HSM comes out. HA Ha HA Ha. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a really fun movie. It was entertaining and they were actually able to pull off a third. I think it deserved the 3 star and "B" reviews that I read. The outfits were cute - some of the skirts a little short in my opinion. However, they kept the romance clean - "disney" style. As a mother of a 6yr old "hopeless romantic" I appreciated that. The kids are cute and the songs were fun. The dancing was entertaining and the storyline was a little thicker than other two have been. I actually won't mind seeing it the next 500 times we watch it when it comes out on DVD! :)

Here is what the rest of the clan had to say (in their own words)

Josh

All of us realy liked it, but it was awesome I realy liked it it was better thenthe others good music to.

Abby

it was realy great. i liked the songs. i cant wait until I see it again.

(Took her 10 minutes to type that!)

Jantz

I liked that song thats at the first (Now or Never). I think it was pretty good. My favorite guy in the movie is Troy. I want some shoes like Troy and Josh has.

Dayt - the one who always thinks he is Roger Ebert

I would give the movie 2.5 stars out of 4. With kids movies, you're never going to get realistic plot or dialogue, so I can't be picky about that. But, I always judge musicals by the quality of the music. In this movie, I thought the songs were just average. Some good, some bad but not as consistent as HSM1.

(I am sure over the next year these songs will grow on him a bit and he will probably think otherwise!)

There you have it - Donahoe's OUT!!

2008-10-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

Some fun with some old friends

We were absolutely THRILLED that some of our best friends from Queen Creek were stopping in for a quick visit! Amanda and Preston and the kids came through Salt Lake for one night only and we were very priviledged that they would spend that time with us. We took the kids to Gardner Village so they could enjoy the "fall" feel that we love so much about Utah. We miss a lot of things about AZ and the Strebecks are at the top of the list!

Here is the whole group...Abby, Collin, Josh, Jantzen, Ty, and Case

Ridin with a witch - I love Manda's purse in the picture because it is one of the cutest purses I have ever seen!

The kids had a great time doing the witch scavenger hunt. Here they are hanging out with one of them.

We LOVE Presto - especially because we know he can always act "himself" around us!

Collin and Abby at dinner - Rio Grande = yummy!!!
My best gal - Amanda

Jantzen and Ty

It was only a couple of hours so in a way that was worse than not seeing them at all. But OF COURSE I was glad they came! Yes, tears were shed, it has definately been way to long. Good friends are hard to come by! Hopefully we can see them all again before its been another two years. I'll shoot for spring break in Phoenix - no make that Rocky Point!! Miss you Manda! Thanks for the visit!

2008-10-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

Workin with Grandpa

I caught Jantzen "helping" grandpa the other day. I really wanted to capture the moment because I thought it was so sweet. My dad was out working on his boat and Jantzen wanted to be right in the middle of everything. Of course, I am not so sure Jantzen was much help, but I DO know he brings with him plenty of conversation!

2008-10-18T22:40:00.002-07:00

Stone Cold Visit!!

We were so excited to hear that our cousins were coming for a "quick" visit.  So what do you do when you only have 3 hours and 20 minutes at grandma and grandpa's? 

Here is the whole crew of cousins - Carly, Abby, Kelsey, Hailee, Jake, Josh, Brady, and Jantzen

The newest "cousin" was part of the entertainment for the masses. Jake, get ready for a whole lot of attention! This is Jake before he knew what was about to hit him.

Meeting Jake for the first time
Hailee spent her time doing only one thing - dress-up!
But others read books

Played games

Pictionary, bingo, all the best board games

Jumping on the tramp out back
Playing outside riding bikes and scooters - Kelsey is from AZ so she geared up for the cold weather with a big coat and some equally big glasses!

Taking turns on the Wii

Some Lego action

Eating some dinner - you can't get Little Caesars in Glendale people!

It was a whirlwind of a trip but we didn't care. Three hours with cousins is better than no hours with cousins! We were just glad there was a fundraiser in Salt Lake that Krista and Jim had to attend otherwise none of this would be possible - thank you Jerry Moyes!

How you holding up after all that attention Jake?

The only sad part of the trip is knowing that at first the trip was scheduled to be a sleepover but got cut back to just an evening. So we thought everybody would be able to make it to Jake's blessing the next day - and less important but still exciting for out-of-towners - a snowstorm! Unfortunately, the snow was just a mere couple of hours too late. This is what we all woke up to the next morning.
We miss our cousins and can't wait to see them again!!

2008-10-16T22:50:00.002-07:00

Something to LOVE

FALL! My most favorite time of the year. The other night we went to the pumpkin patch (more pics later). The sunset was awesome. Check out the fields and fields of pumpkins. So this picture was just a quick snapshot and I wish now I had taken more time to make it a little bit better. But I love the chill in the air and the smell of pumpkins and straw - and the pumpkin spice car candle in my van! All the fall colors around.

I wish everyday felt like this!

Definately something to love this week.

2008-10-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

It begins!
My attempt to catch-up on blogging the last quarter of 2008.
I know it seems crazy, but last week as I started going through the process of uploading my blog to a site that prints and bounds it for you into "journal" form, I realized that it wouldn't make sense to print a year that wasn't complete. I didn't really want to have to go back and post everything that I was missing - AAARGGGHH what a mess! However, it's all about the memories and they are only young once - right? I can't skip the holidays, after all, the fall IS my favorite time of year. So sorry to those of you who read this for recreation (if there are any of you in the first place) this is all about the story of our lives.....
So here starts the entire month of October 2008 in a nutshell - in no particular order!!

October 2008
Jantzen on a fieldtrip to the Pumpkin Patch with his preschool class.

All the kids wanted to "drive" the cart at the same time. I'm not going to lie, there was a little pushin and shovin going on!

2008-10-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

More halloween fun with the Erikssons
One of the best traditions we have in the fall is spending a night with our dear friends the Eriksson's. Our families have been hanging out for many years now - try 9 -wow! Anyway, they are close to our hearts and we miss living across the street from them. Each fall Beck invites us over to make carmel apples. She is the best! She can make an apple pie apple like you wouldn't believe - it rivals Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory - fo' sure!

Here is a picture of my sweet little Sammy - he just wanted to wander. How sweet - life is just better with Sammy around!

Josh and his bestest buddy Ryan - whom Josh says have been friends since he was 2 months old.

My sweet daughter - her sweet mother is too lazy to alter the picture

Becky tried to take Sam's picture like 950 times and he kept running the other way because he was afraid someone was going to take his hand and take him home. We finally got one...

Running through the hay maze - couldn't catch the boys - all their pics were too blurry
Love the sunset

Let the party begin - Beck always has lots of "toppings" to choose from. Check out Jantzen's face! He was saying - Oh ya baby!

Yum! Thanks Becky Crocker! he he he What a fun night - looking at these pics again it's making my mouth water - am I on a diet? Can't wait till next year to get my apple pie apple!

2008-10-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

Halloween at school

Abby and her BFF Rylee at their class Halloween program.

Josh in his costume at his class halloween partay - with a *spider* cupcake-big shocker!

2008-10-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Halloween Fun at the Fronks
Ty's friend Fronk's family always puts on a special little haunted house each year. They have done it for YEARS! So many people started attending the city asked them to do it on a larger scale. This year we hooked up with Melanie and Sam to check it out.
Here the kids were having some fun with the cardboard cut-outs.

Josh is into drama and spiders - he LOVES them. He knows a bazillion facts about all sorts of different species of spiders. Here he is pretending that the spider is injecting him with some venom. Good times!

Here are all the kids in the graveyard...we took them through the woods before it got dark

2008-10-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

60th Anniversary
Not ours - thank heavens - ah ah ha - I am so funny! Just kidding - it was Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's 60th anniversary. WAHOO! That should deserve something special in this day and age. We love grandma and grandpa J and are so happy for them. 60 years together is awesome! We had a nice little get-to-gether in the backyard at grandma and grandpa Mac's. It was so great that the weather was still cooperating this late in October.

Yeah yeah yeah - they are sideways - oh well. At least it is journaled now. I love both of these pics of them because they turned out so natural.

Off to WENDOVER for the weekend!!!

Just taking some fun pics of the kids - I love Abby in her natural state. She was just sitting so quietly on the grass listening to adult conversations, she looked sweet - so I snapped one.

Jantz too! It's hard to get Jantz to sit still - so I snapped one of him too!
Then she decided to get active...this is one of my favorite pics of her this whole year. I almost look like I know what I am doing right? :)

Josh just stayed in the same place for the whole afternoon - huge surprise! Nice lay-up J-man!

Congrats to Grandma and Grandpa J - we love you! Thanks for sharing your special day with all of us!!

2008-10-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Black Island Farms

On FHE we took Grandma and Grandpa Gibson to Black Island Farms with us. I am not sure how much fun they had - but we lived with them at the time so they had no choice but to come with us! :) I think Grandpa got pretty excited when he found out about the pig races....

This was the "grain slide" this pic doesn't do it justice. I was thinking twice about going down, especially when as we walked up to the line the kid stopped us and said he was closing the slide for a few minutes because someone had puked at the top - NICE! So why then did I go down this thing??? It ended up being fun. I guess I need to broaden my horizons.

Some of the little slides they have for the kids

This one was kinda gnarly too. Look how small the kids look!

Grandpa and I laughed as Grandma took the kids on a pretty lame "train" ride. After sweating in the sun for 15 minutes - boarding and unboarding and boarding again - (tractor difficulties) They circled a corn field taking approx 45 seconds!!

Again - I am too lazy to alter the pic (just a reminder I don't have my computer back yet - or any of my software for that matter) and Picasa just sounds like too much effort right now.
In every picture Abby would hide behind someone because she didn't want me to take a picture of her being the only one in soccer attire. She is so funny about things like that. She doesn't like attention - ANY - not even positive!

As we were leaving, the cast for the haunted corn maze showed up. Jantz was obviously a bit concerned when I asked them to pose with the kids for a picture. He should be - I went through that maze last year - GOOOOD Times wasn't it ladies?!! I only asked really because Josh is getting to the age where he thinks that he can handle something like a haunted corn maze, plus he had been singing the freddy kruger song all season. I kept telling him about all the chain saws they use in the maze because I was hoping he wouldn't really want to try it after that - and then I would be SAFE from doing that again!

2008-10-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

This one's for Hunter

During October - I think it was over UEA, Candice and I met Ryan at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch and then we took the kids to the Hansen Planetarium at Gateway. Hunter was in heaven!! Those of you who don't know Hunter, he is autistic and he turns 14 this month. He is OBSESSED with space. He can tell you all sorts of facts about space. He is planning a trip to Kentucky in several years so he can be in the best viewing spot in N. America to see a comet pass by the earth - I think! He would love to see the northern lights too. It is so much fun to talk with hunter about space and all sorts of things, he is always wildly entertaining and I absolutely LOVE him! Look how happy he is in these pics!

Hunter with Abby, Haylee and Rylee on Mars....

With Maggee - on the moon :)

Cute little blondies - Maggee, Abby, and Rylee

He had a hard time trying to see through the telescope, but eventually he figured out how to make it work.
Here is the whole clan, Haylee, Jantz, Rylee, Abby, Maggee, Nick and Hunter

2008-10-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Crazy Hair Day

During green ribbon week this year (2 weeks ago) the kids participated in crazy hair day. It is so funny to me how my kids are so different. Josh was stoked and wanted to do something crazy. Hair coloring was banned this year so he asked me if I would do a whole bunch of pony tails all over his head. No problem - easy for me. Josh couldn't wait to get to school. Abby looked at me and said in a very concerned voice, "Mom, Josh is going to be embarassed!" I said, no Abby, he won't, he doesn't get embarassed - he is just like me and we don't get embarassed!

On the other side of the spectrum, my sweet little girl whose goal in class is just to speak in front of the other students, was not thrilled with the idea. She wanted to participate because she didn't want to be singled out as someone who didn't participate, yet, she really didn't want to take part. I gave her all sorts of mild options, she chose two ponytails (I wasn't permitted to make the part on her head crazy) one with a braid and one with just a ponytail. Now that's getting a little crazy don't you think?

Here are the crazy looks that go with the crazy hair.

2008-10-12T20:18:00.005-07:00

Eat Mor Chicken MONDAY!

I checked in on my friend Debbie's blog yesterday, she has a post up about the cutest little 8yr old I have ever heard of. He has such a mature outlook on life and I can't imagine the trial he and his family are dealing with right now. Tears filled my eyes as I read some of the entries on his blog. I wanted to go into my kids bedrooms and give them a big hug and a kiss. I have a 9yr old boy and everything just hit close to home for me. We have been very blessed in our lives. I felt guilty thinking about the things I call a "trial" in my life, they are nothing compared to what this sweet little boy is going through. I know there are many people out there dealing with struggles such as this and my heart goes out to them and their families. I know there are other blogs out there with similiar stories but this one just pulled at my heart. Please read Trent's blog and pray for him. For family night Dayt are sharing his story with our kids and taking them to Chick-fil-a for dinner. If you have a Chic-fil-a close to you, please help support this family.
http://www.trentduval.blogspot.com/

2008-10-03T11:17:00.001-07:00

Soccer -it To em'

Here are my cute little soccer players. This year I have failed to post much about soccer, mostly because I am sure a soccer post every Saturday would be boring, but also because I'm still at my mom's for another couple weeks and it just isn't as easy to post on her computer as it is on mine. Either way, the season is almost over but here are some pics of Josh and Abby playing soccer. They have great coaches again, and both are on teams that dominate. Both of them are playing on undefeated teams who clearly soc it to the other team every week! You like that pun?? They are both playing really well again this year, and not to be the braggin mom - (but the purpose of this blog is for the journaling of the family) - they are one of the best on each of their teams. I love watching them play on Saturdays and love to watch them progress and get better each week. Even though our Saturdays are quite busy with both of them having tumbling and soccer I truly look forward to it every week. Today however all games were rained out - pictures too. BONUS - we were able to go to Garrett's birthday party at the treehouse where the kids had tons of fun - (post later.) On the downside, we have to fit in two make-up soccer games and pictures for both and Josh starts Jr. Jazz next Saturday. Never a dull moment on Saturdays!

Here is Abby playing for the Blue Lightning!

Here is Josh playing for the Orange Strikers. This pic was taken just one dribble too soon, he scored a goal on the next kick, can't you just see it in his face?

2008-09-29T11:35:00.002-07:00

Is that Grandma?

My aunt Darlene came in to visit from California last weekend. We don't get to see her very often and it was so much fun to have her here. We were able to fit in a lot of activities in a short amount of time. My kids could not believe how much she looks like their grandma. In fact, Jantzen said to my mom, "Grandma I saw your sister today and she really looks like you do." My mom asked him why he thought that and he replied: "Her face looks like you and her hair, and her armpits!" So funny! We can always count on Jantz for a good laugh. The first day Josh was to see her since she got in - we were having a big family get together, he said to Abby, where is Aunt Darlene and Abby said, she is the one who looks like grandma. Then later on in the weekend I was helping my Aunt by scanning a picture for her. I had it up on my computer and Josh walked in and said, "Hey, when did grandma go to the grand canyon?" Not more than 3 minutes later Abby walked in and asked me why grandma was there at that place. (I was scanning a picture of her with her friends at the grand canyon.) So Aunt Darlene, this post is for you! We loved having you here and we miss you already! Come again real soon because my kids enjoy having twin grandmas!

Here is Josh with my Aunt Darlene

My aunt picked a good weekend to come. The kids had their primary program on Sunday. Jantzen ended up being just a row directly in front of her. He was PURE entertainment for 30 minutes straight. Don't you just love those sunbeams? He was singing as many words of the songs as he could, played with the animal crackers the teachers kept giving them for bribery to sing the songs, and he helped out with a couple of dramatic hand movements during some cruicial parts of a couple of songs. He almost missed his part in the microphone because I had to literally RUN him down the hall to the bathroom and then sneak him back up on the stage 3 seconds before his turn. Love it!!

Here are the kids after their primary program, they weren't being very cooperative so I just snapped it when they were laughing at Dayt who was trying real hard to make them smile for me. He ended up making gaseous noises with his mouth - which always brings the house down. Apparently that never gets old!

2008-09-29T07:49:00.003-07:00

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose!

A year or so ago Dayt and I heard about this show that was critically acclaimed but noone watched. It was in danger of being pulled off the air after only the first season so NBC tried to get some people hooked on the show by releasing that first season on DVD for only $19.99 (5 discs). We wanted to check it out and for $19 why not. We loved it! We couldn't stop watching it. We watched several episodes (like until 3 am) night after night! We were instantly hooked! Season 2 brought in some more fans but with the writers strike they were still wondering what to do with the show. For season three this fall NBC made a partnership with DirectTV who will play FNL uncut, commercial free, all new episodes starting on October 1st on channel 101 at 9pm. If you have DirectTV you should definately watch! If not, they will air it early in 2009 on NBC so get in season 1 and 2 before then. I highly suggest renting/buying Seasons 1 and 2 you will not be disappointed. Oh, and it isn't all about football!!
However, coach Taylor is a big reason why I watch.

2008-09-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

Baby Phoebe

Yeah! Phoebe is here. Seems like it has been just a few short months - right Beck? After 15 1/2 long years Kenzie finally has a sister! Phoebe Eriksson made her debut into the world yesterday afternoon September 18th. She was 7lbs 8oz and 19 inches long. She has the thickest head of jet black hair ever! She is darling! Last night I was loving just holding her and laughing with one of my best pals! We had so much fun. She has a little bit of all the kids in her. She was dead asleep to the world so I didn't get many pics with her eyes open, and even then she had sleepy little eyes. I get to reap the benefits of all my friends hard work - what a great place for me to be. I loved getting to know you Phoebe! Can't wait to snuggle you again! Congrats Eriksson clan!

2008-09-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

Keep a Lookout for a Waterfall

Last weekend we went hiking with the Crookstons. There is a little hike up by their house in Eden, we heard lots of talk about a waterfall so we were IN for some fun. The foilage was so pretty and green and the air was crisp. I was loving the cool air because it reminds me so much of fall - my fav time of year. AND, we able to wear sweatshirts - another big PLUS because it feels like autumn time. We kinda laughed a bit when we made it to the waterfall, err, uh, I mean trickle down the mountain! No matter, I got a little exercise that was much needed and the kids had a ball. We always have so much fun when we get together. All the kids pair off and take off all over the place and then we don't see or hear from them for hours.
Kids occupied - check - Parents on their own - what a dream!

The whole clan - Skyler, Josh, Anna, Isabel, Abby, Jantz and Alex
Also photographed Maggie the dog!

Maggie was cruising up the sides of the rocky cliff like wall next to the waterfall.

Coming back down - Josh, Sky, Anna, Abby

Sky and Josh trying to get their toes wet and pushing a little closer to the raging river!!

Food is always delicious thanks to me and Amy. The sign of a good BBQ is seeing food all over happy faces!

Alex - has the BEST smile ever!

Josh and Anna - a budding romance??? Stay tuned!

2008-09-19T10:46:00.009-07:00

Happy Birthday Dave

Dayton's Dad Dave turned 60 last Sunday - awesome! We thought that turning 60 deserved something a little extra special. We staked out the place on Saturday night while grandpa was at the Weber game. He got home right as we were about to "decorate" the place. We yelled for all the kids to hide. Abby was worried there was a kidnapper coming (kinda funny) and started to have a mini-meltdown. You gotta love the drama! But after grandpa went in the house they had a great time being sneaky and decorating the sidewalks where the sprinklers weren't spraying, with all sorts of fun little pictures. It was really fun for them. It was dark of course, so the pics aren't great, but here is what grandpa Dave saw in the morning.

2008-09-14T21:15:00.002-07:00

TEAM CARRIE

So as I mentioned before I am at my mom's house and therefore I do not have my Tivo box...translation...nothing good on TV when I actually get a second to watch. The other night I decided to check in to David Letterman because Jack Hanna was going to be on. Sidenote: If you haven't seen Jungle Jack on Letterman you are missing out because he is hilarious! Anyway, before Jack, Jessica Simpson came out - HOW ANNOYING. I did not like her attempt at country with the song she performed, but even if I had liked the song, I couldn't get past how she acted in the interview. She kept making these over the top facial expressions and sticking her tongue out all the time at the audience. Besides the fact that she kept acting dumb (shocker) and tried to add a little more "texan" to her accent. Why do girls think that acting stupid is cute? I don't get it. She also talked about Romo - of course. Then mentioned how she didn't think he wore a cup on the playing field...uh, what?? Are you kidding? She does know what he does for a living right? Sorry, I am not being a hater, I used to like her (way back in the Newlywed days) but I just don't understand this behavior...I lost a little respect for Tony wondering what the crap he sees in her. I miss Carrie.