Big News!

The big news at our house is that Jadyn used the potty!! Whoooohooo! I did the happy dance... but was stopped a little early because she smiled her big cheese and then bent down and splashed BOTH of her little hands in it. I couldn't really say no to her... I wouldn't want that to confuse her since I had just been saying YES YES YES - another day we will have to work on that little problem... we'll call it baby steps... baby steps!

New Blog!

I finally started a blog for my vinyl business... Check it out at http://www.angiesvinylexpressions.blogspot.com/
(more ideas and quotes to be added soon.)

Feel free to refer your friends... :)

who looks like who???

Everyday we get this question... "where did your little one get her blond hair?" Well... I decided to do a little comparision and... as everyone can plainly see it obviously came from her Daddy - which means that it will eventually darken up. (just like Tayler and Kenna's has.) I found a picture of each of us right around the 2nd b-day - a fun little comparison! I am amazed at how similar Tayler and Jadyn look - Dejavu to me...!! (Now where each of our 4 girls got their blues eyes... hmmmm.... Shane and his entire family have brown - I have hazel/green?? I'm sure that some geneticist is thinking that is so simple... it's recessive... I know that... but it is still not what I would have thought!)

Shane Angie Tayler

Saige Kenna Jadyn

What do you think?

Summer Nights...

There is only one thing better than a hot summer day and that is a fabulous summer night! Summer nights are what I long for during our cold winters, and what we as a family take advantage of during our "too short" summer. (Which is why our kids never go to bed until 11 PM...) We love being all together - most nights doing yard work... (well actually Shane and I are usually doing the work and the kids are running around somewhere or jumping on the tramp... doin' what kids do!) But we also cherish having fabulously fun neighbors to sit around and visit with, sharing barbecue after barbecue with family and friends, going on bike rides and walks, and watching the kids play night games etc. Shane is totally into the fun stuff too. Last week he "built" us two new "toys" for our summer adventures. The first was an "outdoor movie screen" for our projector - it is a blast! It's like having our own drive-in movie in the backyard and with our fun and busy neighborhood it will get tons of use this summer! (we used it two nights last week!)

The other was an "Ultimate Jenga Set"... we played this once in Park City at the Mountainside resort and Shane decided it would be fun to make a set for ourselves. It is one of those games that is fun for all ages... Come on over and give it a try! (The only problem is that I'm a little nervous about 60 2x4's falling on somebody's head... or toes...)


Tayler and I look a little nervous in that pic don't we - Shane thought it was hilarious!

Saturday night we had some of my great high school friends over for a bbq - Shelby & Reed, Melanie & Jason and Rachel & Jason and their families. We all had fun catching up on old times, (we were amazed that together we had 14 kids - how times have changed. :)) It was extra fun to get together with the Murray's (Rachel and Jason) before they head back to their home in Kauai - who isn't jealous of that? That would be "summer nights" all year long! But since I don't live there I will cherish every summer night that I have and not feel one bit bad that my kids are up late enjoying it too!

Hmmm??

How is it that children can sleep like this and wake up saying they slept great... and I sleep without my regular pillow and I wake up with a stiff neck... Hmmmm....

And then Shane and I figured it out.... Our nieces Paige and Tara were over for a sleepover last night. Shane says to Paige... "are you sure you don't need a pillow?" Her reply... "no, I have a 14 year old head so I really don't need a pillow."

Hmmmm... something to think about I guess...

But then Shane comes back with... "Oh, is that because you have more air in your head than I do?" (She is awfully blond... and cute as can be!)

Of course we got the ha ha ha reply, but that means that in theory... the stiffer the neck... the less air headed one is...

Father's Day Fun...

Since I wrote earlier about my special day, I thought I ought to post about Father's Day too. There is something extra special about Father's in my opinion... and I don't think that they always get the credit that they deserve. I mean women EXPECT to be treated like royalty on Mother's Day - breakfast in bed... some sort of kitchen gadget... and even a flower at church... (although our ward hands out O'Aggie Bars which I much prefer over the flower... so now we EXPECT that!) But Father's have very few expectations... I'm sure they are hoping for some sort of token gift... poor Shane usually gets new "work clothes" (no difference this year) but he also got a camelback for all those long hikes we take together... or might someday. (we gave him other stuff too, but I can't even remember what they were so... maybe they weren't that great of gifts!) But they certainly don't expect to receive a gift at church. This year our sweet young women passed out microwave popcorn with a cute little note about being our "pops" to all the men... totally caught them by surprise of course... I bet they appreciated it even more than us on Mother's Day!

I have the greatest dad ever and I am so thankful for him and all of the things that he sacrificed and did for me to make me happy growing up. I now enjoy watching another awesome father (and husband!) help me raise our beautiful daughters. One of the most fun time for me is seeing him interact with our girls and seeing the joy in their faces at the love they feel from him. He is everything that I could have dreamed of!












We had a family BBQ that night - something that we seem to do lots at our house during the summer. (Shane and I both love it and are glad that we have a house and yard that can fit us all!) We cooked up tin foil dinners in the fire pit - (Jeff's idea) and they were delicious. We followed that up with banana boats - a new favorite treat thanks to Steve and his girls. The cousins that were here had fun playing together and the adults had fun with Jeff's new "Bocce" set.



My Daddy and my girls "Poppa Tony"













Paige, Saige, Tara and Tayler - we are all pumped to have Tara and Paige here for the WHOLE summer! Lots of fun times between these four!!

This is great - Shane always asks Jadyn if she wants to "pet the buffalo" this night she very willingly took him up on that, and headed right over to Dan's beard.

GOOD TIMES!!

My 34th B-day!

Well on June 18th I moved eras and can no longer consider myself in my EARLY 30's - it's MID 30's for me now! And although I don't much like getting older, I sure had a FABULOUS 34th Birthday! It started out with me being woken up to my girls and Shane singing Happy B-day at 7:55 AM - they were all dressed with their hair done and ready to take me to breakfast. I was given 5 min. to be in the car. What a great start to a great day... I couldn't believe I didn't hear any of them... breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.. (although at home breakfast is cold cereal and pancakes/bacon are reserved for lunch, but the later is really my favorite "breakfast"!)

The rest of the morning was filled with running girls around to swimming lessons and activity days. It was fun to have Saige's activity day girls sing to me on my machine and then come find me at the pool for an encore performance. That afternoon Shane took Tayler, Saige and Kenna swimming at our neighbors' pool and I got to take an hour nap while Jadyn had hers. Tons of friends and family called me or stopped by.. even my 92 year old Visiting Teaching partner stopped by with a little gift, she is amazing! My favorite comment of the day was when she said, "I'm sorry I look so scary I've just been swimming and didn't have time to get ready." I hope I have as much spunk as her in 58 years!!

The girls and Shane were so excited to give me my new camcorder - what a great surprise! That night Shane took me to dinner while the girls stayed home. To top it all off I was greeted at the door with a big sign from my girls and an "invitation" to visit the "spa" for a massage by "Saige's Magic Fingers" and her two assistants, Tayler and Kenna. Saige is quite a little masseuse... She started up a little business at our family reunion last year. She let everyone know that "massages were free, but tips are ALWAYS appreciated." She came home with quite a haul!

And as if I hadn't had enough junk for the day my neighbor Debbie came over with a fabulous apple pie that she had bought with ALL of her service bucks for my birthday! (we had a Service Auction at our Enrichment that night - She donated 6 hours of yard work - then got me the pie... it was delicious and even more delicious because it was so thoughtful!)

I may be getting old, but I still consider myself one of the luckiest people around to have so many awesome people in my life!!

(Happy Birthday to Andy and Rich today!)

What Disney Princess am I?

OK, so I took this quiz off another blog - being a Disney fan and all. Turns out I'm like Pocahontas... Pocahontas??? I don't know who I thought I would be like, but obviously not her... (especially since I know my Disney Princesses and "technically" Pocahontas is not even one of the Princesses... Maybe that's what this quiz was trying to tell me!!)


You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

5 Things Tag...

Apparently I have been tagged by Corynn (my niece). I don't even know what that means, except that I know I have to think deeply which may just put me over the edge today... But here goes!

5 Things on my list to do today (I started this yesterday - so this is actually 5 things from yesterday - and I did them all!)

1. Take Tayler and Saige to Gymnastics - pick up 1 1/2 hours later, take them to Piano - pick up an hour later.
2. Go Grocery Shopping and take the kids to the library.
3. Pick up the house and clean and polish my kitchen cabinets - get my girls to help!
4. Work on vinyl for the 10 people waiting for me to finish their jobs... sorry if you are one of them!
5. Get Tayler and Saige ready for their Dance Review - This means making sure everyone has EVERYTHING, putting on makeup and gluing those fake eyelashes on... Getting there an hour early to get a good seat and spending my second night in a row watching the same show. (Shane will be staying home with Kenna and Jadyn - he went last night and we have another one tomorrow... two nights will be enough for him! Plus it's much easier with out our little Jadyn!)

5 Snacks I enjoy

1. Cookie Dough
2. Brownie Mix with a little bit of milk
3. Gummy Bears
4. Swedish Fish
5. Shaved Ice

5 Things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire

1. I would travel more. (Although Shane has already told me he wouldn't quit his job so I guess I would be going by myself??? Actually I'm sure lots of people would volunteer to go with me - on my tab of course!)
2. Stay in the VERY best hotels
3. Not spend time looking for "good deals" in the ads or on the Internet.
4. Buy each and every line of gymboree clothes for my two littlest.
5. Buy a beach house in Hawaii.

5 bad habits that I have...

1. Eating too much of the above mentioned snacks.
2. Staying up WAY too late.
3. Deciding what to fix for dinner too late - then just eating out.
4. Being late - (even setting my clock ahead 10 minutes to trick me doesn't work... I just figure I have... 10 more minutes.)
5. Not being able to say NO when I know that I shouldn't take on one more thing!

5 places that I have lived....

HMMMMM.... I have lived in 5 different "places"... all within a 4 mile radius!

5 jobs that I have had...

1. Selling concessions at the ball diamonds
2. Lots of Babysitting
3. Cleaning Old Farm Apartments each summer
4. Working as a secretary and then an Interior Designer at Design West
5. Being a momma and doing vinyl!

5 Things people don't know about me...

I hate this one - I figure that if people don't know it, maybe I don't want them to!

1. I do the Sudoku in the paper EVERY morning
2. I have dual citizenship - US and Australian
3. I count things... It sounds a little bit like OCD but it's really not... It just makes me do things faster! (Shane sometimes talks to me in the voice like "The Count" on Sesame Street... it DOESN'T make me laugh!)
4. I choreograph dances in my head while I'm driving... (and no... I don't do them when I get home, but maybe that is where the whole counting obsession thing started ....5678....)
5. I once saw a shark when I was snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. (It wasn't a great white or anything - but I didn't stick around to see what species it actually was - in fact I didn't even wait for Shane to see me leave... or tell him to start swimming... I just "fish-tailed" it back to the boat and left Shane there... All I could think was that our kids needed at least ONE parent! Don't forget I don't even like cats... or baby chicks... So imagine how a shark makes me feel - I'm sure that I must have set some kind of a record, cuz I swam the 100 yards back to the boat faster than I had ever swam before!)

Well that was fun - It only took me two days to think of all those silly things - so now I guess I get to pick 5 other lucky bloggers to do that.... HMMMM I tag... Christie, Alison, Michelle, Kimi and Anne. Good Luck!

Island Park and Yellowstone...

What could be a better way to start out the summer than heading off on a vacation? The day after school got out we left for a week in Island Park Idaho with our good friends the Carlsen's. We had a fabulous time discovering new things, relaxing and exploring the area. We rented this fabulous cabin together which suited our family great. The Carlsen's also have four children and and three of theirs are best friends with three of ours. Tayler (10) and Kelsee (11), Saige and Kaylee (9) and Kenna (4) and Kason (5). Their oldest is Kyler (16) a great, fun guy who puts up with tons of giggling and seems fine to hang out with the parents, he tries to be friends with little Jadyn, but she is still a little scared of him, but happy to play with him from a far! If anyone is looking for a great new cabin that can sleep 12, check out this site. http://www.vrbo.com/173967

We are quite a big group and got lots of looks, especially when one of the "men" was lagging behind for some reason. Kim and I thought a couple of times people looked at us like we must have been sister wives... When we wanted this picture taken we asked a Chinese women to take it for us (for obvious reasons, first Asians were everywhere (foreigners in general actually, since it is a great time for them to travel here with our weak dollar.) second Shane wants any chance to speak Chinese and third... they take the best pictures!) When he asked her and she looked up she said... "OHHHH, BIG FAMILY!" We laughed about that all week.


Some of the things we will remember about this trip... (in random order)

• Spending time with the Carlsen's! Staying up late playing games and talking with Rusty, Kim, Kyler and Jadyn - our night owl. While the other kids giggled themselves to sleep

• Hearing Jadyn say "I Go, I Go" everytime we stopped the truck to get out!

• Having a picnic in the snow and watching the girls feed birds grapes out of their hands. (And yes we did later read in the brochure that they had given us that this was a big no-no... oops!)



• Watching Saige walk into a lake with huge ice chunks floating around her ankles, (a dare of course after she told us, "I bet it isn't that cold!") She admitted it was "pretty cold!"
  


• Going to "The Playmill" to watch "Oklahoma" in West Yellowstone. Since it was Saige's 9th Birthday she was invited up on stage to be sung to. She thought she would just die when the two guys both kissed her! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAIGE!



• Radioing (on the walkie-talkies) back and forth between our vehicles - with every animal sighting or silly comment that one of us had. My favorite comments were when Shane was veering off the road looking for animals and Rusty would say, "Hey Chief... you awake up there." He took the criticism MUCH better from him than me!

• Kenna forgetting to bring her shoes - on our first day in Yellowstone. This was a large problem since we walked a lot. Luckily Kason had an extra pair in their car - although two sizes too big, they were better than nothing. She only fell down about 10 times... We had to tell our little tripper to stay VERY far away from the hot geysers!



• 4-wheeling through the mud puddles. (Kim and I were glad we had a washer and dryer in the cabin - Rusty and Shane didn't really think about how much mud was flying on everyone as they zipped through the puddles! I of course was a much better driver and tried to go AROUND the puddles as much as possible!)

• the dads taking the kids on a 4-wheeler ride and finding a HUGE snow pile, (at least 20 feet tall) - climbing to the top for some photos... Then reading the sign coming out of the area (that they hadn't seen on the way in) which stated "Keep Out - Sewage"




• The kids being "Keeper Kids" and getting to "hide" the food for the grizzlies at The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. (We spent several hours here and watching the bears eat, play and wrestle with each other.) And the kids will probably never forget the annoying little tune played throughout the movie we watched. "Oh momma bear, oh baby bear, fishing in the stream..."



• Seeing all the awesome and amazing animals in Yellowstone.
  


What an awesome shot. We came across a Grizzly and her cub which were probably 400 yards from us. I had someone take this shot with my camera through their scope. I think it turned out AMAZING!

Right before this we saw a Grizzly swimming across the river too!

The second day in the park we watched this black bear sow and her two cubs (They were up the tree in this shot).

Nope this one wasn't real, just a decoy to keep people off their property (in Island Park)- We must admit we were fooled too and screamed at the kids to not get even one step closer to it!

Upon further inspection which involved Rusty throwing rocks at it.... we realized the decoy worked! We all laughed that Kim and I had both taken picture of what we thought was our first animal sighting.

WOLVES! There are only about 150 in the park so we were lucky to see 3 right along the road and 1 that was obviously wounded limping along the road the day before.


Buffalo were definitely in abundance. I like this shot because I think this lady was trying to pet one!



But then I can't really talk because our kids were a little close to this young bull moose too!

We also saw a bald Eagle, Big Horn Sheep, lots of elk, deer and a Coyote! The weather may have been a little cold, but we scored on the animal searches. We spent two full days in Yellowstone stopping at all the sites - It was amazing and something we really should do more often. (And not much later in the season - we already had a hard time finding parking spots at the more popular places - we could hardly imagine the crowds that would be there in July!)




• Having to stop every hour or so to get a sliver out of Kenna and Kason's hands. They LOVED running their hands along the wooden rails. Luckily Rusty is an RN and quite proficient at getting slivers out! I laughed the hardest when I was telling the kids for the 100th time to keep their hands off the rails and Kyler (the 16 year old) was picking at one he had just got!


• Smelling those amazing "Geyser" smells! Kenna could hardly stand it!
  

• Searching for "Penny Smooshing Machines". My girls favorite thing to do on trips - you can go to http://www.pennycollector.com/ and find locations for machines anywhere in the world. My girls are each on their 3rd collector book! Quite a cheap souvenior... although it is starting to add up!

• Going to Church at 9 PM (yes that says PM) - (and yes it was an LDS church). There were about 40-50 people there (we were 12 of those). Rusty and Kyler were asked to bless the sacrament. And it was testimony meeting, which actually turned out to be a nice meeting... but with so few of us there, if it hadn't been for that long winded old man who talked for 25 min we would have had the shortest meeting on record! (They closed the meeting at 9:50 even with him!) That may be the only place that holds their meetings at 9 am, 1 pm and 9 pm - we had to do the late one just for the experience!
  

• Shane, Rusty and Kyler taking the kids fishing one day - They spent hours trying, but I think Shane spent more time getting knots out of the girls fishing lines than actually fishing. And not even a bite the whole day! (Rusty helped his kids catch two - but they threw them back.) We decided the river was a little swift (or possibly they just aren't fishermen? :)) Oh, and by the way that is one cute pink barbie fishing pole Shane is using!!

• One of the gas cans getting a hole in it and leaking all over Shane's brand new enclosed trailer! I'm sure everyone will love their carpet smelling like gasoline... Supposedly coffee grounds will help take the smell out. I was the lucky one who went to the store to buy some the day we got home. Of course I had to explain to the neighbor who got in line behind me why I was buying coffee. He just shook his head and said "NOW, I have heard EVERY excuse!" Unfortunately... it still smells like gas! Any suggestions??

• But of all the things that we did and saw the one that still has us the most baffled (and makes us bust up thinking about) was seen on the drive home through Idaho. Believe me, we all took a triple take when we saw the following scene. Unfortunately we didn't get a shot to do this image justice, but you can only slow down and pass a vehicle while sporting a camera a few times.... But I dare say not many people have seen a full grown DONKEY riding in the back of a minivan... (You can be sure we radioed the Carlsen's van to check that one out!) We couldn't decide which of the two "passengers" felt more like a jackass... the actual one or the man sitting next to him petting it...

We made some fabulous memories in Yellowstone and were sad our week was over. Shane and I wonder what the kids will remember most. We think we may hear this one day, "Remember when we went to Yellowstone and we saw that donkey in the van! Now THAT was amazing!"

Island Park and Yellowstone Pictures