What a Full Week!

This week has felt like a roller coaster of ups and downs, loop-dee-loops and way too many upside downs. Thankfully all the downs have ended in ups!

Monday Jan. 4

Today I woke up ready to attack our company website and I thought to myself, "I need to find a certain paper before I can start." Well, needless to say, I spent the ENTIRE day cleaning and organizing and shredding, and never even touched the website. But my desk looks fantastic! I'm glad I didn't take a before picture, it was too embarrassing to show to anyone!

Tuesday Jan. 5

Today was spent working on my menu for the month. Nana offered to take me shopping at Fry's tomorrow, so I needed to have my list ready. So these are all our dinners for the month. They're not in order, or else I feel boxed in, so once I make a meal on the list I cross it off, and go until all the meals have been made.

Wednesday Jan. 6

Today was MAJOR grocery shopping day. Nana is absolutely wonderful and has offered to help us with food the last few months. She tells me to make a list, and she doesn't question anything. I make a menu plan for a month, then make my list, then go through my pantry and frig to see if I am missing anything on my list. My lists are always way too long, and I feel guilty for everything I put in my cart. However I am so very grateful for her help. The menu list makes it so I don't buy excess items that we don't need or candy that we really don't need. The last thing on my list this time was mushrooms and I handed them to Nathan to put in the cart. Well, I turned around for a second, and when I turned back Nathan had opened the package and was eating the mushrooms! After we came home and I put all the food away, we went to the park with some of the ladies and their kids in our ward.

Thursday Jan. 7

Today was definitely a roller coaster day. I received a call at 7:15 that woke me up. It said Maricopa County on the caller id, so I was instantly on the alert that someone in my family was in the hospital. However, I wasn't expecting the voice on the other end. It was a man in our ward telling me that I didn't need to pick up his daughter to take her to preschool today. He then told me his wife had a miscarriage at 21 weeks. I was heartbroken. My mind instantly went to getting a bereavement box to her a soon as possible. My sister Kathryn is part of an organization called Lanee's Legacy that creates boxes for women that lose their babies. http://laneeslegacy.blogspot.com/ I called up Kathryn and she told me where to go and pick up a box. I didn't know if the baby was a girl or boy, so I called back to the hospital and spoke to the husband. I found out that my friend still hadn't delivered the baby, so that made my ergency level go up even further. My friend was having a girl, so I picked up a box and arranged for people to watch Emily and Nathan, and off to the hospital I went. We sat there and cried together. I held her hand and we talked about anything and nothing, and it felt good to be with a friend. I cried most of the day because my heart was hurting for my friend and her family. I'm grateful I was able to be there for a friend, but this day really helped me heal in places I didn't realize were still broken from the time of my miscarriage.

Friday Jan. 8

Today the bugman was scheduled to come and spray the house, so that gave me the extra push to swept and mop my kitchen floor. It was scary! Then I went to Bashas' where they are having a sale that if you buy ground turkey (1.25 lbs. for $5.99-yikes! Can you tell I rarely buy ground turkey?) you get taco seasoning, shredded lettuce, taco shells and cheese for FREE! So we had tacos for dinner tonight! The ground turkey was really good! The whole dinner cost us $6, and we have leftovers for another meal! I like dinners like that!

Saturday Jan. 9

Today was a very full Saturday. I got up and cleaned and vacuumed the family room because we got a new (used) entertainment center from a family in our ward. It was delivered while I was with Mom, Jessica and Kathryn getting a pedicure. Then we went to Paradise Bakery for lunch. That was soooooo good! I loved everything, especially the warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie! There was tons of chocolate-just the way I like them! When I got home the new windshield was being installed on the van. We had a chip on the driver's side that was going to split the window any day. Sure enough, as soon as the repair man touched the window, it split and the windshield was in 4 pieces by the time he got it out of the van. What a blessing we had it fixed today! Then after Nathan's nap, Robby and I dropped the kids off with my mom and went to the mall. Robby received a gift card for Christmas and needed some new Sunday shoes. We had a great time walking around holding hands and talking. It was so nice being able to complete a sentence without a "Mommy?" piping in during the middle of the sentence.

Sunday Jan. 10

Today after church I mentioned to Robby that I had a sweet tooth and then went Visiting Teaching. When I came home, Robby was making a chocolate cake! He even used the heart shaped pans! I have such a wonderful husband! He knows how much I love chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! Well, I love pretty much chocolate anything, but chocolate cake is probably on the top of my list! And I'm not the only one in the family that loves chocolate cake...Look at the chocolate face on my cute boy! You could just eat him up! :)

Another Birthday and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year y'all! I hope everyone has great resolutions that stick this year, I sure hope mine stick!!! Another Facebook quote: A little humor to start the year - "My Wish for You in 2010 - May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips. May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! Happy New Year!!"

Monday Dec. 28
Tonight for Family Home Evening we had a crash course on First Aid. We talked about how to clean and disinfect a wound, and how to dress it and properly take care of the "owie". Then we put together our first aid/medicine containers. The container on the left is for the first aid and mommy/daddy's medicine, and the container on the right is for the kids medicine.



Tuesday Dec. 29
After dinner tonight the kids got ice cream cones. As you can tell from Nathan's expression, they were REALLY excited!



Wednesday Dec. 30
One of my goals for 2010 is to send a birthday card/postcard to all of my family and close friends. I thought, "That will only be a few"...so I designed and ordered 100 postcards. WRONG!!! I am now up to 95 and I still have about 30 more names to go! Family-we need to stop procreating!!! No, just kidding! I love having so many family and friends that I get to wish them a happy birthday. So today I sent out the first batch for all the early January birthdays! This year is going to be so fun! This is my card box of people and their birthdays divided by months. If you think I don't have your birthday, please let me know so I can add your birthday to my file. I don't want to miss your birthday!



Thursday Dec. 31
Happy Birthday to ME! I am now the ripe old age of 29! From now on, I am 29 plus tax! Robby calls me ancient, but I tolerate it because his birthday is 29 days after mine! I get him back when he catches up with me! Today was absolutely awesome!!! I had the best birthday today because, selfishly, I took the stance of, "It's my birthday and I'm going to do what I want to do". My goals for the day: 1. Don't cook any meals (almost got away with this one. I had to make a sandwich for Emily and Nathan for their breakfast), 2. Don't feel guilty if someone asks me to do something and I tell them no because I want to do something else, and 3. Have fun and no worries. All were accomplished! This morning my friend Marianne took me to Crackers & Co. for breakfast. I ordered the New Princess Omlet-So YUMMY!!!! Definitely getting that one again. Marianne mentioned it was my birthday and they brought me out a warm death by chocolate cake! I took one bite and was in sugar shock! I saved it for later and put a candle on top and Emily sang me Happy Birthday! Then I came home and loaded everyone into the van and off we went to see Princess and the Frog with a gift certificate we received for Christmas. Great movie! Nathan cuddled his blanket the whole time and was so cute about it too! The kids did wonderfully through the whole movie. Then after the movie we went to Subway for lunch with yet another Christmas gift certificate. Another absolutely fabulous meal! I could eat Subway everyday! I guess it goes back to the old days when Robby and I worked at Hogi Yogi and I ate sandwiches any time I wanted! We went home and during Nathan's nap Emily and I got gas for the van and picked up some peanut butter M&M's for the Wii party tonight. We stopped by mom's house and their Jessica gave me more movie tickets-YEAH! Now we just have to find another movie! Kathryn gave me a book and a cd I picked out with her on Saturday night AND the new Harry Potter movie (#6)! We went to our friend and business partner's home (the Larkins) for dinner and some crazy Wii partying. I finally learned to play Mario Party and started to enjoy it. Kara gave me a beautiful new complete bedset that even included throw pillows! Her mother-in-law made me homemade salsa and a bag of chips. I was in hog heaven, let me tell you! We were there until 10:30 that night, way to late for the kids, but we all had a lot of fun! My birthday present from Robby was a picture of the 2 of us. Getting that man to take a picture with me is like pulling teeth! Aren't we just the cutest couple? :)

















Friday Jan. 1
Happy New Year! Wow, we are already to 2010! As I little girl this year seemed so far away, and now I'm living it. In Back to the Future, they use the date of 2015. That is only 5 years away!!!!! That movie being made in the early 80's and I don't think the world will look the way they projected it in the movie! Every year Uncle Larry and Aunt Susan have a big Pew get together with all of mom's cousins. This year Aunt Susan got a couple of her horses out for the kids to ride. Oh my were they on cloud nine! Emily was able to feed her horse grass and even a carrot. On the way home she asked for a horse of her own for her next birthday. "Do we have enough money to get a horse, or do we need much, much more mom?" I laughed and added about 500 more much's to the list but she wasn't deterred! She is bound and determined to get a horse and keep him in our backyard. Dream big cute girl! Mom gave me some birthday money to buy new king size pillows for our bed, and Robby's parents gave me some money that I put toward new maroon sheets for the bed! When we got home we attacked the Christmas decorations and took them all down and put them away in the attic. Then we rearranged the family and cleaned it really good. Good start for a new year!





Saturday Jan. 2
This morning the kids and I took all 8 of our pillows over to my mom's house to wash them in her front loader machines. So while the pillows washed and dried, I made breakfast and then vacuumed my mom's house in a small payment in return for her water and electricity. Then my friend Sarah treated me to a birthday lunch at Rancho De Tia Rosa. Heaven in my mouth! Sarah mentioned we were celebrating my birthday, and at the end of the meal, they brought me fried ice cream! What a treat! Then we were off to Wal-mart and she got me some more throw pillows for my bed! She purchased 2 maroon ones to match the sheets I bought yesterday and a navy blue one to go with navy blue accent in the room! I have the best friends in the world! I came home and finally put my new completed and washed bed together! Robby says we now have a fancy-shmancy bed! I love it! I'm still working on the arrangement of the throw pillows, but this set is SOOOOOOO much nicer than any of the other bed sets I have owned! Thank you to all who contributed! Kara-bed set, Mom-king size pillows, Sarah/Ben-throw pillows, Bob/Lil-sheets! I am one happy girl every time I walk in my room. Added bonus: I'm actually excited to make my bed each morning so I can doll it up! Tonight we had pizza and let the kids have a "picnic" with homemade pizza in the family room while we watched #6 Harry Potter.













Sunday Jan. 3
This morning when I woke up, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I had the mood of "Woe is me" all morning. I hate these days! My life truly is a blessing, so I don't know why I get to really discouraged moments. But today at church the testimonies that were born in Sacrament meeting and the lesson that was given in Young Womens was exactly the kick in the behind that I needed to remind me that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know everything I am going through. I am a daughter of God and he only wants the best for me and blesses me with the things I need in his time, and not the time I think would be best to receive them. That in and of itself is my greatest blessing. I know that I would really mess up my life if me, as a finite person, controlled everything. But God as an infinite person, can see what will benefit me the most and bless my life to the fullest, so much better than I could ever do for myself. My heart was so full that I shared my testimony at the end of Young Womens and cried though the whole thing. I am such a blessed person and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for how richly he has blessed my life! This afternoon I followed this tutorial http://treyandlucy.blogspot.com/2009/12/hanging-dishtowel.html and sewed potholders onto dishtowels so that they will no longer fall off the oven door handle. Nathan drives me crazy because he will walk by the first time and knock it off, then walk by a second time and stomp on it, then last but not least will come back again and drag it across the floor. You think this is over a period of time...Oh No! It is a matter of a few short seconds. And he thinks I don't notice! Think again boy! It is chaos trying to keep it hanging up!!!! No I have 8 towels and 12 dishtowels that I can change them everyday and avoid the stinky/moldy smell! Then Robby got out his guitar and played some music for the kids and let them play with the strings and make their own music. I love that we have musical kids and they really enjoyed the special time with daddy! Emily got a hold of the camera and took a few self portraits. This is my favorite! She was so proud to show them to me!

Birthday and Christmas Celebrations

Merry Christmas to all! I hope everyone had a great Christmas with family and friends. This is always a busy time of year for our family with so many birthdays and holidays with in 2 weeks.

Monday Dec. 21

Today Emily received her birthday package from Nanny and Papa. She got candy, a check for her savings account and a card that sings. She loved the card and I'm surprised that the batteries aren't dead because she's plays it often.

Tuesday Dec. 22

Today it was cloudy most of the day, and early afternoon it started to rain. With the rain we got some hail, and then it turned to snow. It dotted the ground and stayed there for about 10 minutes. Of course I took my dear sweet time and didn't get the camera until it melted! I was too amazed to move!

Wednesday Dec. 23

Happy Birthday Mom! I have been teasing mom for about a week that I had a surprise for her. She tried everything to get it out of me, she even had Kathryn and Jessica try to coax it out of me. We met at Mom's house at 6:30, had pizza from Papa Murphy's, then at 7:30 my cousin Lance pulled up in his LIMO!!! My mom was very surprised and we had the best time driving around looking at Christmas lights. Lance is such a great cousin to treat us to such a great night!

Thursday Dec. 24

The kids and I had last minute errands to run this morning, so we set off early. Nathan got grumpy so I handed him my camera. He took pictures of everything within his sight. So I decided to turn around and have him take a picture of me driving (don't worry, I was stopped). Then that night we went to mom's house and had our annual clam chowder and corn bread Christmas Eve meal. So yummy! Then we let the kids open 1 gift-jammies! We came home and Emily helped me set out chairs for Santa. In our house, Santa doesn't wrap presents, so we label a chair with our name, and that's where Santa puts our gifts. It's a tradition I grew up with. Then Robby and I finished up the preparations for Christmas, and went to bed early so we'd be able to get up with the kids.

Friday Dec. 25

Robby and I were both up around 6am because we had gone to bed so early, so we waited until 7:30am before we couldn't wait any longer and we woke up the kids. Everyone got dressed and we went in the family room to see what Santa brought for us. Then we loaded up in the van and headed to mom's house. We opened up gifts and then started breakfast. Robby made bacon and sausage, mom made holiday (funeral) potatoes, and I made breakfast enchiladas. The sausage smelled funny, but it was maple so we just went on. Robby tasted it, quickly spit it out, and then checked the expiration date. It expired in January of 2008! No wonder it was bad. Robby was the only one that ate any, and he got a little sick, but his iron stomach conquered it. We were very blessed with gifts that were given to us. Our favorites: Robby-money to get new Sunday shoes and pants, Kim-bagless vacuum (So cool!), Emily-Princess scooter, Nathan-Tricycle. Tonight we went to Aunt Linda and Uncle Floyd's home for the Hallsted family Christmas party. We had delicious food and caught up on family stories. Then we did the Nativity story with the kids playing the characters. Emily was Mary (she was a stinker and didn't want to put her costume on), and Nathan was a wiseman. Next we had a white elephant exchange. The theme was candy and Emily got her favorite-Cotton Candy. Then we had dessert and carried on Grandma Hukill's tradition of soaking a sugar cubes in lemon extract and lighting it on fire to see who's cube would burn the longest. So many people blessed our Christmas this year and I can't wait to get started on all the thank you notes! Tonight I vacuumed the family room to see how much my new vacuum could suck up. I just vacuumed last night, so I didn't think it would be much. Holy Yuck! It was so gross! I'm so grateful to have my new vacuum! Thank you mom! I only took 157 pictures today! Haha!

Saturday Dec. 26

I attacked the laundry and cleaned everything but the kitchen today. I was very tired by the end of the day. Mom, Kathryn and Jessica went to see New Moon (I stayed home because those books/movies don't appeal to me) and then I met them at Cafe Rio for dinner. SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!! Kathryn calls it her new Matta's! That's saying something because Matta's has been her favorite restaurant for a long time. Then Kathryn and I headed over to Seagull Book and Deseret Book. I got some Christmas books for next year so I can read a Christmas story each night. We went back to mom's and Allison decided to be really, really cute.

Sunday Dec. 27

Happy Birthday Kathryn! I can't believe my "little" sister is now 25 years old! Today Nathan decided to scream through half of Sacrament meeting and Emily whined at the same time. They got better, but it was still frustrating. In Young Women's today we talked about setting goals, and I got fired up to set some great goals and start accomplishing them. Tonight Robby said he was bored and wanted to see how much he could get out of the carpet in the hallway and the 3 bedrooms. I was just excited to see him vacuum! But he got so much out of the carpet that it made me sick to know what was in my carpet that I vacuum at least once a week. Again, I am sooooooo grateful for this new vacuum. I'm sure it will make my home much cleaner!