Enjoying the Journey

Addie's growing up

2009-09-23T22:29:00.000-06:00

A few signs:

Baby Food....I finally figured out that the crying that has recently started during meal time (as she use to sit happily in her exersaucer in the kitchen) was because she wanted some TOO! You can see her red eyes from crying to join in. It was an impromptu starting of solids-- grabbed some applesauce from the fridge and ground up some oats in the pantry.

Sitting in stroller without baby carrier...she's been enjoying the view

First ward camp-out and in a tent... I'm pretty sure she slept better than I did. I kept waking up to make sure everyone was tucked in their blankets and sleeping bags.

New found fear of vacuum and hair dryer... not sure when to vacuum now: when awake and terrified or sleeping and bound to wake-up from noise?
Diaper bag full of baby toys that she now enjoys to play with... the trick is keeping the older kiddos from taking them over.

Addie is nearly six months and so much fun. She seems to just be waiting for anyone's attention to give a great big smile! =)

I Digi Scrapped!

2009-09-09T15:06:00.004-06:00

It's been forever since I did a layout. I found out it takes not changing from my walking clothes, not doing my hair or make-up and doing nothing but essentials to actually get a few quality moments to digi scrap. That was my day yesterday! Here are a few pages I made of the kids' first day of school. I think I'm going to create separate "school" books for the kids and just do like 5 pages a year per kid (my sister Christine's idea). That doesn't sound too hard right? Yeah, we'll see.

To save time, I made them pretty similar (they'll be in different books anyway). My amazing digi scrapper sister Suzanne and new designer at Scrap Matters let me have her new kit to use. I love it! Check her out over there. She likes to do freebies. She will be opening her virtual doors on Friday to start selling.

Firsts

2009-09-01T21:56:00.006-06:00

It's been a few weeks of firsts around here, thought I would post a few pics of them (I'm trying to be better at lugging the camera around!)

Our first camp-out of the season (and maybe last):

We went up to Tony Grove, an amazingly beautiful place. It wasn't until someone asked if the leaves were changing yet that I realized there were only tall beautiful pines everywhere. With keeping track of 3 kids I didn't get to soak it in as much as I would have liked, but loved it any way. We were going to do the tent thing, but luckily we have some awesome neighbors that hooked us up with a very nice trailer. Nothing like a little home on wheels. We went with several families in the neighborhood, so the kids were loving it. There was a fun little lake that we spent the day canoeing, kayaking, fishing and hanging out on shore. It was nice to have a little end of summer fun.

Andrew spent forever "casting" his fishing pole with his friend Wil even though it didn't have a hook on it. I guess the casting is the fun part?

Here's a little slimy creature that the kids found (a water snake!) They played with the poor thing until it was probably near death, but I certainly did not care if there was one less snake slithering around.

Andrew's first soccer game of the season:

Go Green Dragons!!

After we had reserved our camp spots we found out that Andrew's game was at 10:30am the morning that we would be coming home. So, after a very not restful night of sleep, we got up early and raced back home for his game. We showed up just in time, but we were smelling a little like a camp fire and in need of a shower. Luckily some of the other boys on the team were camping with us, so we weren't alone. Andrew's loving this year of soccer because all of his little neighborhood buddies are on his team. His friend's dad is the coach and Justin's kind of the unofficial assistant coach, when he can be around.

Andrew's first day of Kindergarten!!!

Wow, I had thought a lot about this big day. It was crazy to think it finally had come. I was worried that I might tear up (I had previously just thinking about it), but I made it completely dry-eyed. What probably helped was Andrew was soooo excited. His normal 3 bowls of cereal was cut short to one and he was just ready to bolt out of the door. Being a first time mom of a kindergartener, I followed others and jumped in my car to follow him to school. Of course he made it just fine (I'm not sure what I thought might happen). He gave me the wave good bye (again) and he was off. His comment about his bus ride was that he had a hard time finding a seatbelt-- that's my little cautious Andrew. When I met him at the bus stop coming home his first response was "mom we're going to paint tomorrow" Phew-- I was relieved to find out he wanted to go back tomorrow.

Andrew's best buds before they got on the bus

Good-bye!

Good-bye, again!

Ashlee's first day of Preschool:

Ashlee's first day seemed harder for me than Andrew's. Maybe it was the quiet house or something, but how can Ashlee be old enough for preschool. Time is REALLY flying. Ashlee has been looking forward to school since the beginning of last year. Every time I picked up Andrew we would have the same conversation: "I go to school too mom?" and then I would reply, "next year when you are bigger". She then would say appeased, but slightly disappointed, "ok". So, when Andrew was getting ready for his first day, Ashlee was nearly devasted when I told her she had 2 more days. She kept saying "I bigger now, I bigger now mom". She couldn't grasp the concept of 2 days. I'm sure to her 2 days could be 2 years. But, we finally made it to the first day. I got her all settled sitting down reading her book and was about to leave when she gave me the panic look of are you really leaving me, but then she must have remember how much she's been looking forward to this day and was just fine.

It's bitter sweet to see them grow up. I have been worried this summer that I hadn't prepared them enough for the big world of school, but luckily I've realized that they don't have to know everything for the first day. We've got a lot of time ahead of us to keep plugging away and hopefully there's a little, or a lot of help from above to fill in the cracks.

Need a boost?

2009-08-21T17:04:00.002-06:00

If you haven't seen the video "Create" based on a talk from the October 2008 General Conference by Elder Uchtdorf-- YOU MUST WATCH IT! It's such a self-esteem booster and very motivating to go out and do something great! It gives me the chills every time I watch it.

I don't know how to upload the video to my blog, but here is a link to the video on the Relief Society page of lds.org:

http://www.lds.org/pa/rs/home/video.html

Enjoy being inspired!

Full-time SAHM!

2009-08-19T16:32:00.002-06:00

It's official-- I'm now a full-time SAHM! I love nursing and think it's a very rewarding job, but I am thrilled to get to stay at home full-time with my kiddos. Really-- who wouldn't want to be home and be the full-time recipient of this kind of slobery love!

Family Fun Pass

2009-08-13T12:13:00.007-06:00

With the great tip from a neighbor, we got a family pass that's been tons of fun. It's an annual pass that costs $50 for a year of family admission to the Dinosaur Museum, Ogden's nature Center, the Union Station Train museum, Tracy Aviary and the Zoo. (The Zoo is just the first Thurs of each month). So far we've hit the Dinosaur Museum, the Nature center and Tracy Aviary. The kid are loving it! Here are a few pics from our outings:

Tracy Aviary:

Here are a few shots of our fine feathered friends. Here's a mama keeping a close eye on her "peachicks" (

I learned that the pretty colorful peacocks are actually the males.

We made a day out of our trip and also visited the 7 Canyon fountain play area also at Liberty Park. They have man made miniature streams that wind around with bridges and little ponds that are chlorinated and open for kids to play in. This was probably Andrew's favorite part. I was busy feeding the baby and chasing Ashlee so I didn't get any pictures (seems to be a common theme of our outings these days. Oh well. )

Ogden Nature Museum:

We went on this outing while Justin's sister was in town with her 4 kids. It was the day for deals, we also hit the Tree House Museum for FREE. I found this site with free Ogden area activities for every Saturday. Apparently we weren't the only ones who knew about this. It was packed.
Tree House Museum:

Dinosaur Museum:

Not pictured.....I forgot that my camera memory card was in my computer at home! But the kids loved it. Andrew was even brave enough to go through the part with the "life-like" moving dinosaur exhibit this year.

PS-- You can buy one of these family passes at the Dinosaur Museum (maybe the other places to!?!) The Admission to these places are somewhat limited like to only mon-fri, but they are good for a full year starting from the date of purchase.

Bathtime Beauty

2009-08-13T12:04:00.003-06:00

Addison was being so cute and loving being in the buff after her bath that I decided to grab my camera. She loves her feet toes, fingers, whole hands-- whatever she can shove in her mouth. She's turned into the little rolly poley baby that jambers and is so happy. She's almost 5 months and growing up....time is really flying by.

Will I ever blog again?

2009-08-06T22:10:00.002-06:00

Wow, it's 10:30pm and I finally had time to pee again since this morning! (I have a nurse's bladder that comes in handy as a mom too.) It's been a day of lots of laundry, breaking up fighting children, rocking, rocking, rocking and more rocky of baby that doesn't want to drift off to sleep like a little newborn anymore! I'm so far behind on blogging, that I'm sure I'll never catch up, so here are a few things I should be blogging about, but can't find the time:

~preschool graduation (see I'm REALLY behind)
~Trip to Park City for swimming, biking and shopping over memorial day weekend
~Ashlee turned 3!!! Finally her birthday came. She's been talking about it since her little friend had her's back in January.
~Month of July full of family visitors!
~Trip to Bear Lake for annual Todd family reunion
~Addison's rolling all over at 3 1/2 months!

I know there must be more, but really this summer has been so fun and crazy that it's all kind of a blur..... I think we're surviving 3 kids, but just barely. Major kudos to those of you who have gone beyond 3. Well time to switch the last load of laundry and jump in bed!

My Little Angel

2009-06-15T22:24:00.007-06:00

Addison was blessed on June 7th! Wow, for moms with new babies, this becomes quite the ordeal between cleaning, cooking, shopping for a new blessing dess etc. I debated back and forth 100 times whether to buy a new blessing dress for Addison or not, but I was sold on the idea of getting one after my neighbor (Michelle) told me about her tradition of passing on her blessing dress to her oldest daughter to be blessed in. So, a tradition has began. It was nice to pause for a moment the night before as I was trying on her dress (making sure/hoping it would fit at this late hour of getting ready) that I saw my beautiful angel in white! I feel so lucky to have her and realized she was worth all of the stress and time put into getting ready for this day. As far as I'm concerned, the food was good and the dust around not too noticeable. Thanks everyone that helped make this a great day (especially Justin and my Mom!)

Here are some pics from the day:

A Family Pic (Our first all together with Addison, I just realized):

Here are those that helped Blessed Addie:

Proud Daddy:
I decided that the actual blessing day was a bit too hectic to takes some pics of her in her dress, so here she is at a calmer moment:

Go Fireballs!

2009-06-15T14:33:00.006-06:00

This spring we entered a new stage of life--little league! Andrew joined soccer for the 2nd half of the season (we didn't know he was old enough to play last fall-- we're just beginners at all of this stuff!) Andrew LOVED it! He looked so cute in his red and black uniform. He was hilarious to watch. Mostly he ran around with a smile on his face and running in his friendly little shuffle! Justin was busy shouting from the sidelines to run faster and get the ball! I could see that Andrew wasn't being as aggressive as Justin would have liked. I'm sure there is still time for that side of Andrew to emerge.

Andrew with some of his teammates and his coach Casey. He gave them all fireball candy after their last game-- very cute

Here's a little team huddle. Go Fireballs!

Go Drew!

2 Months, at last!

2009-06-02T22:39:00.003-06:00

Wow, the last 2 months have been quite the roller coaster as Addison has adjusted to life, but we're finally getting there! She actually slept from 10pm to 6:30 am last night!!!!! That may not happen again for awhile (and especially tonight, since I am choosing to not jump in bed as soon as I tuck her in), but I thoroughly enjoyed the sleep. I'm trying to take a picture each month and jot a few things down about her for her 1st year scrapbook (that may be all that my kids actually get despite liking to [digi] scrap so much). I probably won't bore you with all of her achieved milestones, but here are some picture of my sweetie:

Smiles All Around

2009-05-12T16:14:00.003-06:00

There has been quite a bit a fussing around here with our little babe, but there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Addison seems to have some reflux and after trying Zantac and now Prevacid, I think we're making some progress. That definitely makes me smile. I also found myself smiling and a little more rested as Addison made her first 5 hour stretch of sleep at night and then the next day she smiled big-- another first! Oh, the little milestones that make this stage bearable! The pic above is from today. Her smiles are still rare, but she often smiles while I lay her on the couch as she stares at the ceiling. What's so funny up there?

A Tribute to Mom!?!

2009-05-10T16:03:00.003-06:00

Today has been a wonderful Mother's day. I have a husband that is a great cook! He made a yummy breakfast with a table topped with fresh tulips from the backyard and he is now busily making me a turkey dinner with all of the fixings! (Turkey, potatoes, candied yams, jello....) and whipping up some chocolate chip cookies for desert while I happily enjoy some computer time. He knows that I have been in need of some new clothes post baby. He was kind enough to get me some capris, probably a couple sizes too small! (I'm glad at least he views me that way even if I'm not!) and flip flops.

Andrew and Ashlee have wished me Happy Mother's Day at least a dozen times today and given me lots of hugs and kisses. My biggest smile came when I read Andrew's tribute to me that he dictated to his primary teacher as part of their lesson today:

For My Mother:

1. My Mom is the best at: "laying on the Couch"
2. My Mom and I like to: go for a walk
3. My Mom's favorite thing to do by herself is "Lay on the couch" (AGAIN!?!?)

The list goes on, but I certainly got the message.... I must lay on the couch a lot! Andrew also asked me the other day why I never exercise. Is there a theme? So when I got home and was on the couch nursing Addie, I asked him if this (nursing) is what he meant by laying on the couch...:"no". Hmmm... what about when I take a rare nap on the couch..."no" again. Then when do I lay on the couch? He said in the mornings when he wakes up and I'm sleeping on the couch with the baby (after being there most of the night!) So, looks like he doesn't think I'm just being lazy and laying on the couch all day, but that I have found a new bed. Aren't kids funny? They are just so sweet and innocent. Here's Andrew looking like the little sweet innocent 5 year old that will probably not last much longer. I love my kiddos soooo much. I really feel lucky to be a mom =)

Happy Mother's day to all of you ladies out there. You inspire me everyday to be a better mom. Thanks!!

One-Handed Wonder

2009-04-23T17:29:00.004-06:00

I have realized (remembered) that a new mom has to become a one-handed wonder. Between nursing nearly constantly around the clock and then holding this sweet angel that tends to be a bit fussy on the off times, I have become quite handy with one hand, often the wrong hand. Here are a few things I have been mastering with one hand:

~cracking eggs
~blogging (including this post)
~emailing/typing
~photo editing of my baby
~reading (yes, I am actually reading. I'm reading this book and enjoying it)
~applying make-up
~eating (most meals it seems)
~paying bills

My days are pretty low key with not high expectations for now. Thankfully this phase will pass and that I am blessed with two hands! Here are a few of my "one-handed" edit pics- Addie at 3 weeks:

Almost 3 Weeks Down...and a Happy Easter

2009-04-15T18:50:00.007-06:00

2+ weeks down, 150+ diapers used, probably 12 hours a day spent on nursing this sweet child every 2 hours around the clock, lots of hugs, kisses and holding from siblings, not much spit up and "colicky" crying [yet?], one very happy, but tired mommy!! What a roller coaster it is having a baby, but worth every moment and I knew it would be from the second I saw her-- our little Addie. I love being a mom. I love it even more at this moment because she has been sleeping for the past 2 1/2 hours and let me enjoy a peaceful dinner with the kids and think that maybe I can survive the next 3 days while Justin is at work.

Here's Addie, sleeping away the holiday fun. She loves the bouncer chair on the vibrate mode. She sleeps so much better this way than the bassinet that I usually have her sleep here at night.

Despite having a new baby, we managed to get in most of the Easter traditions in-- the annual Easter Egg Hunt a the city park and decorating eggs. We had a yummy dinner at my parents and the Easter Bunny even found our house. I even managed to pull my self out of bed to get Ashlee's hair done for Easter Sunday. It was a little weird missing the big Easter Sunday church, but enjoyed a quiet relaxing morning at home with the baby. I treated myself to a very hot bath now that I'm not prego and my incision is healed up and a nap! And, of course enjoyed some Easter candy. Thumbs up to Easter egg Reese's Peanut butter Cups, not sure why Peeps are so popular!?! Happy Easter! And, hopefully spring will follow shortly.

Welcome Baby Addison!

2009-04-03T22:12:00.002-06:00

I can't believe a week has already passed! Addison was born March 27th at 7:59 am by c-section. She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She is healthy and doing well. We are all so excited to have her join the family. So far she sleeps, eats and poops a lot-- I guess all good and normal stuff. I think that this c-section has been an easier recovery this time. I definitely have found it difficult to find some time on the computer-- sorry it took so long to post these pictures! Enjoy the pics!

Blog to Book!

2009-03-25T16:59:00.001-06:00

So after countless hours of blogging over the last couple of years and then more hours of getting it print ready, the time has paid off! I now have 120 pages of my family's life for the years of 2007 and 2008! I will probably never scrap that much, or blog that much again, knowing how life goes so I'm excited to have it. Blurb is where I printed and they did an awesome job-- very worth the money and time.

Just about baby time...

2009-03-24T22:44:00.005-06:00

2 days to go!!! My belly feels like it's going to explode and I haven't seen the shape of my ankles in a while so it must be time!?! I'm scheduled for a c-section this Friday at 7:30am. I'm very excited to meet this little baby girl. I'm wondering if she'll look just like Ashlee. I'm having a hard time not calling her Ashlee. I know that she will definitely be her own little person as I look at Andrew and Ashlee and their very different personalities. I can't help but sigh as I think of the work ahead with a new baby and being baby #3, but I can say that I am really excited! (Maybe it's the sleepless nights and the aches and pains now that are just making me think that it's time to get on with this and have the baby?) Here's probably the last belly shot:

Here's a few shots of the baby room-- just like we had it for Ashlee. No wonder I keep calling her Ashlee right. I definitely am having some de ja vu when I walk past the nursery.

Justin will probably be glad when this baby comes to I can stop my marathon shopping trips. Each week that I don't go into labor I hit the stores again and buy a few more things to "be ready". I couldn't help but buy these TINY little white dress shoes for the big blessing day.

And of course every baby needs a new outfit to come home in:

And below is something I'm very excited about. My awesome sister-in-law made me a "hooter-hider" nursing cover. I'm sure this is going to make nursing in public much easier and I love the fabrics. THANKS Chanc!

So I've also been stocking up on diapers that my sister Suz has help be get through amazing deals. I paid $30 for all of the stuff below (They are all packages of diapers except the one bag of wipes on the left). The way newborns poop not stop, these should last me a week or two right?

And of course we had to upgrade to the "family" car. I never really thought that I would be a fan of minivans (in fact I'm pretty sure that I swore I would never have one), but I can't be more excited about it. I knew I was in love when I did carpool for the first time in it. There are 3 kids in the carpool. I stopped at each house, hit the automatic open sliding door button. They hopped in, seat-belted themselves in and when we arrived at school, I hit the button again and they all climbed out. I felt a little like a bus driver, but there was no getting out the in rain or snow for me any more!
So, here we go again!

Thirty something!

2009-03-23T18:58:00.000-06:00

Wow, Justin's entered the 30 something age (just barely I guess, he turned 31) and I'll be following in November. He seems to be taking it well. For Justin's birthday we had some friends for cake and ice cream on his actual birthday (if you're wondering why there's no frosting on the cake it's because Justin's too healthy to enjoy cake and ice cream. It has to have fruit or something, so we had strawberry short cake) and then the next night his sister was very nice and came and watched the kids while we went to dinner. It was hard to not dwell on the idea that this would probably be the last time that we get to go out without any kids (or baby) for quite awhile!

Those crazy leprechauns!

2009-03-17T16:31:00.000-06:00

We heard that on St. Patrick's day if you put a rainbow at your door you might be visited by some leprechauns and left with a pot of gold. We colored a rainbow, posted it on our door and look what happened....

So, not exactly a pot of gold, but some yummy chocolate nuggets in golden wrappers and those crazy little leprechauns sneaked in while we were looking at the chocolate nuggets at the door and dyed our milk, alfredo sauce and jello green and left us with some yummy mint and chocolate chip creamies! Andrew said he'll be ready next year to catch them in the act!

Welcome Dallin!

2009-03-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

We ran up for a quick weekend to Idaho to welcome the newest member of our Hogge family-- Dalin Miller. Such a cutie! Welcome! My kids couldn't get enough of their cousins! Thanks for the great weekend!

Pic's for Grandparents

2009-02-10T22:19:00.004-07:00

Justin's parents are serving a mission, so I thought I would send them a few pics of the kiddos for Valentine's day. Here's our attempt:

I love Valentine's day! Yes, it may be very commercialized, but it's just fun! I'm looking for ideas for a cute Red/Pink breakfast for Valentine's morning. If you have any fun ideas, please share!

Blurb is Back!

2009-02-04T13:57:00.004-07:00

Maybe you didn't even know they were gone from the blog printing business, but good news-- THEY'RE BACK! I was very discouraged over Christmas when I found out that Blurb no longer printed blogger blogs and that was one of the reasons I took a big break from blogging over Christmas, wondering if I would continue.

So, now I have another big "to-do" on my list of "before the baby comes": print out my blog for 2007 and 2008.

To check out Blurb to here: blurb.com

"A" names

2009-02-02T14:47:00.003-07:00

Here's a list of names that were thinking about--not really a final list, but a first list. Justin has eight kids in his family and the names all start with "J", so since we have 2 "A" names already, we thought it might be fun to carry on the tradition. I have several "A" girl names that I like, but I'm not sure I have any boy "A" names, in case we ever have another boy-- before we commit ourselves to having all "A" names. SO, I need some help. First-- what's your favorite girl "A" name and do you have any favorite boy "A" names, if you're willing to share!

Addendum: Addison seems to be the popular choice. It's actually my first choice too. So, good job on ready my mind! I guess we shall see!

A Facebook Tag

2009-01-30T14:17:00.005-07:00

I just did a facebook tag and thought I would post it here to share (for my non-fb friends and with a few added pics). I'm not really sure how to "tag" people on facebook like I am suppose to do, so hopefully I can figure it out and actually post it!?! You're suppose to put down 25 random facts/goals/whatever about yourself:

1. I've been married almost 9 years
2. I have an addiction to the internet/computer/emailing/FB/digital scrapbooking
3. Photography is becoming my next addiction
4. I have two very energy filled kids, one on the way (April 8th!)

The Belly Shot:

5. I'm not much of a reader. I started Twilight and never finished it (gasp!)
6. My favorite show is lost and really the only show I watch
7. I love to organize, more than I should. But, usually I'm too cheap to spend the money to do it.
8. I would rather spend my money on traveling than almost anything.
9. I'm a RN and work 2-3 times a month. I work on different floors-- my favorite is the ICU.
10. I have a twin brother and a little brother and sister that are twins too.
11. Before most ultrasounds of my babies I dream that they find twins (refer to #10)
12. I lived in the Philippines during highschool (4 years) and loved it!
13. I would love to live abroad again, but I have a hard time thinking about leaving my parents and siblings.
14. My husband would probably make a better mother/wife than me (he cooks, cleans, reads stories, turns off the TV-- I do too, but not half as well as he does)
15. One day I might go get my master's in nursing to become a nurse practitioner. The responsibility scares me though.
16. I talk a lot about digital scrapbooking, but have actually finished very few pages.

However, I finished 2 layouts/pages last night (I'm trying really hard to get Ashlee's 1 year book done before baby #3 comes...)

17. I eat a lot of pickles and even more when I'm pregnant.
18. I'm horrible at exercising-- maybe I'll be better after this baby comes (it's a new years goal!)
19. I'm buying a minivan next month and I'm really excited for the automatic sliding door.
20. I'm running out of things to say
21. I love to blog, mainly because I hope to print it out one day to be like a journal.
22. If I had a few hundred $ to blow right now, I would spend it on new towels/decorations for my bedroom/bathroom-- I'm in the process of redecorating it (or really just decorating it)

My Room: So far I've painted, added drapes, new pillows on the bed and a few decorations. Definitely still a work in progress. I guess I'm looking for the few hundred dollars to blow.

23. I plan to take some more photography classes this year.
24. I love to take pictures of babies-- can't wait to take some of mine, especially now that I have my dslr.
25. I've spent all morning on the computer. (It's 11:30 am)

Where to start....?

2009-01-26T20:45:00.005-07:00

Sometimes life seems to come at you too fast and there's no time to blog. As I have been easing back into the blogging world, I have LOVED reading everyone's updates, thoughts, inspiration. I'm afraid that I've lost some of the details that I would have captured if I had kept up, but over-all I think that this has been one of my favorite Christmas season's since we got married because:

1. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day in town

We got to spend Christmas Eve at home for the first time. We had my parents, Jennifer and Jared (Justin's siblings) over for a nice dinner. Justin pounded chicken breasts all afternoon and made yummy chicken cordon blue for dinner with all of the fixen's. We baked some cookies for Santa and left them out. We sang Christmas carols and watched the touching film of "Joy to the World" that the Church put out a couple of years ago and tucked some very excited children in bed. (Unfortunately I have no pictures of the night, see #2 below) .

Sadly, Justin did have to work part of Christmas day. He was on reserve for the day (on-call) and so we weren't sure if he was going to get called in at 4am (with which I was sure we were going to have to wake the kids up and do Christmas then to have Dad around), but luckily he didn't have to leave to the airport until 9am so we were able to open gifts and have a nice breakfast with dad. Then Mom (me) got to have the fun of cleaning up and putting together toys while Justin flew a round trip to Canada and was back in time for Christmas dinner at my parents. We've been really lucky with Justin's schedule over the years and have never had him gone the entire day.

2. I took a record low number of pictures

I was very surprised after the holidays were over that I had so few pics. I got my new camera last year for Christmas and have been going picture crazy ever since. But, it was just really nice to take a few pics and then just enjoy the moments.

3. I was done shopping nearly a week or two before Christmas!

This is mostly thanks to online shopping. The internet is such an amazing thing. I laughed all month long as I saw the UPS and FedEx trucks racing up and down the street all day long for weeks before Christmas and stopping at our house many times during that period. Luckily I have children that are very believing and accepted whatever lame excuse I could come up with of what was in the box!

4. My kids are starting to get what Christmas is about!

We started doing a Christmas jar last year after a neighbor gave us a jar and a poem about saving your change all year and giving it to someone in need at Christmastime. We did add to the jar, took our jar to the change machine to find out how much we had (we decided that we wanted to do something with the money instead of give the jar of money away) and attempted to deliver, but because of complications we were unsuccessful. I was even on the phone on Christmas Eve trying to make arrangements without luck. But, my kids loved the idea and in order to not break their hearts of wanting to carry it out, I had to promise that we would save the money for next year and I vowed to follow through next Christmas. Andrew eagerly even took money from his regular coin collection jar to add some extra. It was pure joy to me as a mother to see them excited to serve! I also loved to hear all December long Ashlee squeal with excitement when ever she saw a picture of baby Jesus.

So, I did actually take some pics of the season. Here are some of the photo highlights:

Our trip on the Polar Express.... A train ride, cookies, hot chocolate. I really believe that life for Andrew in his mind couldn't have gotten better at that moment!

Andrew getting sung Happy Birthday to on our Polar Express ride (the ride was part of his birthday present and we went on his actual b-day)

My cuties in their Christmas attire the Sunday before Christmas

Ashlee eating her firsts of many handfuls of snow this season

Our house we bought to rent out. Hopefully the saying that goes with boat ownership doesn't apply to this: 2 happiest days of a boat owner-- the day they buy the boat and the day they sell it!

Andrew being a "seed" as part of his preschool Christmas program

"Oh, I got just what I always wanted!" (Mom sighs!)

Ashlee loving the Christmas gift opening thing! "A Doll House!"

Ashlee putting more candy on the gingerbread house than in her mouth-- a first.

Andrew finally getting to make his gingerbread house after being nearly in tears everyday that it wasn't the day yet to do it. He could have spent all day working on it.

Ashlee dreaming of all the fun she's going to have wearing her princess dress-ups from Grandma Todd (and never regular clothes again)

Since the holidays have been over, I've been feeling the "nesting" upon me. I have been making lists and more lists of things to get done and trying to work on them despite my growing belly and diminishing energy. Good news-- baby is no longer breach (though I probably will still have a c-section after weighing the risks!?! But, at least a VBAC is an option now), my amniotic fluid levels are still good and baby is actually showing 3 days ahead of schedule by weight! So, maybe I might have a few more weeks to work on that to-do list and not have another premie! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Christmas Card Pictures-- Checked-Off!

2008-12-10T22:14:00.004-07:00

Two weeks to go and my checklist seems to only be SLOWLY getting done. Today I finally took some pictures to use for our Christmas card-I know, with having my own photocard business, I should of had this done weeks ago and cards in the mail. Oh well. I had a lot of fun editing them with some cool techniques that I learned on this site. Here are some of the pictures. Doesn't Ashlee look so grown-up. Where's my baby gone?

No Tears Here!

2008-12-09T22:00:00.006-07:00

For preschool I signed up to carpool the kids to visit Santa. Since I would have Ashlee with me I told her of our exciting outing to see Santa. She squealed with delight, smiled big and said, "And Baby Jesus too?" I was happy to realize that she connected Santa/Christmas with Jesus and that seeing Baby Jesus would be just as exciting.

Taking Ashlee with me reminded me of when I took Andrew to see Santa around her same age. When we got to the mall and he got his first glance of Santa from a far distance, in a hushed whisper he said with a look of awe on his face, "look Mom, there he is". To Andrew this Santa was the real deal. This year Andrew was nearly just as excited to see Santa, but he kept asking later as we drove home why we didn't see his reign deer. I told him that they were around the back of the mall. He insisted that next time we drive around back to see them too.

Both Andrew and Ashlee did great with Santa. Andrew had his list that he proudly recited and Ashlee climbed right up onto his lap without hesitation. As you can see from the pics below, they were all smiles!

Faces of Thanksgiving

2008-12-09T16:55:00.005-07:00

Silly Faces

A Hungry Face

An Eating Face

Lots of Thankful Faces =)

I was tempted to set-up Christmas before Thanksgiving this year because Thanksgiving fell so late, but I hated to cut Thanksgiving short. It's such a great holiday to kick off the season as we celebrate all that we have been given. Recently, a thought that I heard in church really stuck with me: When you think that you do not have enough to serve/share with others (time, energy, money, talent, creativity etc) that is a form of ingratitude because of course we have been given SO MUCH in all of these areas that we should have plenty to share and should do so to show our gratitude! I know that I often fall into this trap of feeling like I don't have enough of "X" to share, but hopefully thinking of this as ingratitude will help.

The Score

2008-12-09T16:13:00.003-07:00

Day 1

Accidents: 4
Successes: 4
Poops in potty: 1

So, We're potty training around here today. After 2 accidents in a row and no success, I definitely was about ready to throw the towel in. Ashlee's only 2 1/2, but I was tired of her telling me that we had to change her diaper EVERY time she was wet! She seems to know how to go when I put her on the toilet and she has even told me a couple of times that she had to go, but then out of no where she will have an accident after she just went pee pee (excuse the lingo) 5-10 minutes ago. So, I'm calling for help! What's your best potty training advise. (We are doing the small treat after she successfully goes in the potty, but is it worth it to have a bigger incentive for no accidents for X amount of time? She seems young for that) Send any great tips my way!

The BIG -3-0-!

2008-11-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it happened, I turned the big -3-0-. Wow, what happened to the last tens years, I swear I'm still 20. My mom always said growing up that she's 29 and celebrating her 10th, 20th etc anniversary. Hard to believe that I will now be past what was her "ideal" age. I had an amazing birthday thanks to Justin, my kids, my family and my great friends!!

Since I'm a twin, I still feel weird not sharing a birthday party with Randy. It feels like WAY too much attention, but this year it was fun getting a little extra.

This was my awesome day: (Celebrations actually started last week when I got a new computer with a 21 inch wide screen and 3 gb of RAM- yahoo!)

~sleep in
~wake to an amazing breakfast and cards from my kids
~time to go grab some lunch and go shopping by myself!
~professional pregnancy massage (LOVED IT!)
~dinner at my favorite restaurant (The Mandarin) with some close friends
~cake and ice cream at my house later!

Thanks everyone! It was a great day-- I really felt loved! I would have to say, so far life is really good at 30.

2008-11-08T18:59:00.002-07:00

BOY or GIRL?

Halloween Extravaganza!

2008-11-02T21:20:00.006-07:00

In my family I guess we're big into traditions, if we've done something once and we like it, it's an instant tradition (I guess I can't blame Ashlee for her obsessions with bedtime routines, wearing her swim suit EVERYDAY, having to have all 3 of her purses with her at nearly all times, etc-- these are all of her "traditions") So, with Halloween it's no different. Each year during Halloween week we have the cousin party that my mom goes ALL out for in decorating, crafts for the kids, fun "spooky" foods, homemade donuts.... the list goes on and on. It's amazing!

The punch was a real hit this year. She put small scoops of ice cream in cranberry juice with dry ice. The ice cream was suppose to be eye balls in blood!

Here are all of the cousins in their costumes

My Princess has returned! (No more beard!)

Here's Andrew-- giving his toughest look. He's such a tender-hearted sweety, I don't think he could ever scare a fly!

Then we have the 'pre-Halloween' dinner at my sisters. We always have Chili, breadsticks, apple cider and donuts for dessert. This year I braved it and made Chili for the 1st time.

This year we added a new yummy tradition, gourmet caramel apples.

Okay, so the kids' apples don't look so gourmet, but still yummy. I've made lots of combinations, but my favorite is a layer of caramel, then white chocolate on top of that with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top of that. Sounds simple, but really good.

And of course-- trick-or-treating. Flying has been REALLY slow for Justin, but of course he had to work Halloween night. I wasn't very excited taking on trick-or-treating on my own (and the putting to bed my overly tired, sugar high children), but they did great. Ashlee was just in awe that everyone was just handing out cany (her dream come true. She asks for "cany" about 10 times a day.)

I've noticed the list of traditions are quickly growing as my kids get older. I personally think that Halloween is a bizarre holiday, but the kids absolutely love looking forward to these fun things, so I'm a fan.

Some pre-Halloween "dressing-up"

2008-10-31T22:10:00.000-06:00

So, apparently Ashlee changed her mind and wanted to be a pirate instead of a princess this year for Halloween. While I was at work and Dad was ...? Ashlee had a great time doing a pretty darn good job making a mustache and beard on her face with my eye liner. Oh, this little angel.... I know if I haven't seen for for more than a minute or two she is up to something!! In the last week or two alone she has managed to squirt Purell in her eyes and mouth, bite open a glow bracelet that we were handing out for Halloween (I would have called poison control on that one, but I have been there and done that with Andrew when he was this age-- despite how it looks, that glowing stuff is non toxic), she dumped an entire bottle of frog food into the small fish bowl and an entire bottle of fish food into the large fish tank. (She also drank some insect repellent while we were in Hawaii a few weeks ago, did call poison control on that one and again- no worries!) Hopefully she and Mommy survive this "phase"!

2008-10-16T21:35:00.000-06:00

Check out my Precious Prints photocard site to see what my sister and I have been up to. As my sister put it "we've been busy little elves". Hard to believe that Christmas is really just around the corner!

Palm Trees to Pine Trees

2008-10-06T15:51:00.005-06:00

I feel like we've hit all extremes in the last week or so. Conference Sunday we took the moment and drove up near Snow Basin Ski Resort. It was beautiful! The pine and aspen tree covered peaks were freshly snow capped and the leaves were brilliant colors. Even Andrew said they were "butiful". It was a perfect interlude between morning and afternoon General Conferen ce. I thought conference was especially recharging this year. I appreciated Elaine Dalton's thought: "In the Lord I can do hard things!" I'll have to remember that when the "back breaker" 3rd child comes.

An autumn outing wouldn' t be complete without a few snapshots of the family and the leaves:

While yesterday we were bundled up in coats and jackets, a few days earlier we were roasting in the sun on the coasts of O'ahu Hawaii admiring palm trees and crystal clear blue waters. Justin's parents are serving as LDS missionaries at BYUH and the Polynesian Cultural Center and of course we couldn't resist taking the opportunity to visit them. The kids anticipated it for weeks and after shopping for seemed like Christmas (for things to occupy the kids for the 6 1/2 hour flight), we made the plunge.

The flights went amazingly well, however, I was surprised at the challenge of jetlag for the kids. Ashlee was up around 4:30am for the day, everyday! So that made for early trips to the beach (Justin's parents condo was right on the beach),

lots of great sunrise pictures,

mostly taken by Justin as he took the kids out so I could catch a few more moments of sleep. Justin's parents were amazingly patient with our "jetlagged" kids and just loved them to death. They were real troopers! We were in a studio apartment, so when the kids were up, they were up and the same at night.

Justin's parents also made great tour guides. We checked out the famous Waikeikei beach, Pearl Harbor, the Dole pineapple plantation,

the Polynesian Cultural Center,

several beaches for swimming and surfing--go Justin! (Unfortunately 6 days in the sun wasn't enough to help our skin blend in a little better with the locals.)

We also had many wonderful homecooked meals back at the condo. Most meals we enjoyed eating out on the lanai listening to the waves crash just yards away.

Some of the highlights of the trip included watching Justin catching a wave surfing, Andrew overcoming great fears of the water and playing for hours in the waves of the ocean,

seeing Andrew and Ashlee adore their grandparents (and vice versa),

doing a session at the Honolulu temple,

eating at the famous Ted's Bakery (actually famous for pies)-- the only hamburger that has come close to In 'n Out Burger, watching the kids fall fast asleep on the red-eye flight home and sleeping even through the landing (not to mention luckily getting on the flight, flying stand-by with 50 other stand-by passengers!)

It was paradise! Thank-you Grandma and Grandpa Hogge for everything!

"Somethin' in your eyes makes me Smile"

2008-09-19T14:56:00.008-06:00

This song (Smile, by David Gray), caught my attention as it was playing on my ipod and my sweet and so spunky little girl came and gave me a big hug and smooch on the lips and said "I wu oo" (I love you), mid twirl as she was dancing through the kitchen. I couldn't help but smile big. What a perfect moment! She just started returning the "I love you". I forgot how sweet that was when Andrew started doing that. Although my family doesn't always bring a smile to my face, there have been several moments over that last few weeks that have:

Andrew's first day of preschool:

Ashlee posing for the camera in her princess dress-up that Grandma made for her 2nd b-day:

My hubby canning lots of peaches with me...Mmmmm! (Here are a few of them)

One thing to not smile so much about.....

...our new pet "spiderman", a taranchula that my hubby caught and lovingly brought home as a pet for Andrew. Man, I'm a good wife to put up with that! He's staying until next week when we go out of town because I'm pretty sure we won't be able to find someone to feed this scary creature! (Then we will be let go very far from our home!)

Tag, I'm it!

2008-09-03T22:15:00.001-06:00

So, I haven't done a tag in awhile and thought this one looked fun and that I might have something interesting to share:

I am: Pregnant!!
I know: that this is a weird way to share the news
I want: (hoping for) a singlet (not twins, I am a twin and it definitely can be a genetic thing!)
I have: 31 weeks to go (I'm nine weeks. My first appt is tomorrow)
I hate: morning sickness- it sure is here
I fear: having twins (refer to above)
I feel: a little sick to my stomach
I crave: salsa, pickles and gazpacho
I search: for pickles in my fridge often
I wonder: if it's a boy or girl or both
I regret: nothing, here we go again!
I always: go early (nearly a month early has been the norm)
I believe: that these little babes are a blessing from above
I can usually be found: at the computer, half awake, or napping on the couch
I wish: April 8th didn't sound so far away (my due date)
I forget: constantly-already have placent brain. I just bought a day-planner to hopefully help in this department
I am scared: of having twins-- you're probably getting that feeling by now.
I am happy about: my life!
I tag: anyone who wants to do this, or make a similar announcement!!

**Update: I had my first appt this morning and looks like I am having ONE healthy baby!

The Great Outdoors

2008-08-15T22:41:00.007-06:00

I was going to combine the Flaming Gorge post with this one, but as you can see, Flaming Gorge alone got VERY long. So, this summer has been a fast and furious one and here's a recap of some of our other outdoor adventures.

In efforts to finally start using our tent trailer, we took the short ride up to Pineview Reservoir to camp and LOVED it. We fished up at Causey dam and then spent some time at Pineview Reservoir at the beach. We thought about renting a canoe to play in, but opted against the steep price and in the end found this floating plank instead that provided great entertainment.

One evening we made to trek up to donut falls. The surroundings were beautiful! It was a short hike, perfect for the kids. Unfortunately the river was a little high still so we didn't make it across to actually see the donut falls, but the way up was so pretty and worth it. Next time hiking with the kids, I'll remember to bring the first aid kit. Andrew fell (a couple times) and cut his knee pretty good and rubbed against stinging thistle. Poor guy.

We loved going to Pineview so much earlier this summer so, we took the kids up to Causey dam with my Sister Emilie and her family and camped near the river on the lawn of their friends cabin. (It was the 24th of July with no reservations. They took pity on us when they saw my brother-in-law at the store getting ready to go and invited us over.) There was green grass to play on and a bathroom to use!

I love this face, even when it's filthy dirty!The cabin by where we stayed was always swarming with humming birds. It's amazing that there little bodies can stay so still while there wings are flapping like mad.

We spent one afternoon picnicking and playing at the beach at Pineview. It's actually really nice sand and water to play in.

Summer's almost over. Kinda sad, but I'm looking forward to getting everyone back on schedule. Andrew starts preschool 3 days/week. It will be kind of weird to have him gone (nice too). I know he'll love it.

Flaming Gorge

2008-08-15T21:15:00.006-06:00

Last year we stumbled on the beautiful area of Flaming Gorge and found an awesome campground and made it back again this year-- so I think we have a new annual tradition with my sister's family (we're still trying to recruit the rest of the Todd gang-- maybe next year!) The campground is part of the Red Canyon Lodge area. It has a private lake with paddle boats (the highlight of the trip for Andrew) and canoes to rent for fishing. It also has a small kid's pond that they restock every year. Here are some pics around the campground.

Justin and Andrew paddling the paddle boat. Andrew's terrified of the water and boats, but somehow he completely forgets about that when he's on the paddle boat.

Justin's first catch of the trip (and only one unfortunately). The fish were swarming around the dock when kids were feeding them and Justin actually hooked the back of the fish-- ouch!

Here's Andrew at the kids' pond. He became pretty independent with fishing this year. He could have fished all day, every day!

Here's Ashlee on the paddle boat. She's darn busy on land, but luckily on the water she's just along for the ride.

The next day, I mustered up all the courage I could and we rafted down the green river with our kids. Justin assured me that it was a very calm river and we would be fine. The river was pretty calm--mostly-- and we had an amazing time. There we a few rapids larger than I imagined and then we came to a sign along the river that said,

"Caution, Mother-in-Law rapid ahead"

At that point I began to panic. We had been on a couple of large rapids and any bigger was, um, pushing it. I braced Ashlee between my legs and moved Andrew to the middle of the boat. In the end, the anticipation was worse than the rapid.

Of course we only got some pics of the fam while the waters were calm. We tried to do a little fishing while we were floating, but decided that sharp hooks weren't the best thing to be dealing with when you're depending on FLOATING down the river and suddenly you have to reach for your 2 year old that's leaning over the edge or quickly paddle around the sharp rock that appears out of no where. Ashlee learned quickly that her cue to come to me and brace herself between my legs was "Ray, paddle harder!!" because a rapid was ahead, or 'waterfall' as Andrew called it.

Lunch, mmmm. It really tasted really good along the way. We found a rock to picnic on and did some fishing too. There were actually some nice beaches along the way, but somehow we missed them all.
On our last day we decided to go for the tour of the dam. It was a little freaky going down the elevator, wondering if you could really trust the walls of the dam. However, it was an interesting tour to learn about how they build a dam around a river. I could tell Andrew was a little apprehensive getting out of the elevator, wondering where he was.

There were a ton of fish at the base of the dam, waiting for tour goers to feed them. And, of course we did. They say that the Green River that flows from this dam has enough fish to fill 2 fish per cubic feet!

Here's the fam!

The cousins!The lizard that Justin chased and caught for Andrew that became part of the fam for a day until it died while we were out buying food and a "home" for it the next day when we got back home. Andrew was devastated and couldn't part with the dead animal. I had to throw it away one night while he was in bed, hoping he would forget about it.

These pics are from a look-out close to our campground. The water looks like glass from here. Now we just need a ski boat!

Can't wait until next year!

Reunion time again-- Part II

2008-08-02T21:32:00.012-06:00

After the Todd festivities were over we dove right in with the Hogge side. Justin's parents are on a mission in Hawaii, so there was no "official" reunion, but we did get together with those that we could gather. Justin's sister Janell drove up from Southern Arizona with her hubby and 4 kids and stayed with us a couple of days on their way up to Idaho to join the rest of the group. Without wasting anytime after arriving in the wee hours of the morning we went to Lagoon. Of course, the kids had an amazing time and wore all of us adults out. Andrew's favorite ride was the airplanes-- surprised? He was quite timid this year and opted out of many of the "scary" rides. Ashlee, on the other hand, went on any ride they would let her. The highlight of the trip, however, was when Justin took a ride on the SkyRide. Ashlee's response was "Look Daddy-- S-W-I-N-G!" as she squealed in delight. She's currently obsessed with swinging and was ecstatic that Daddy was on such a large swing. (FYI- the SkyRide is a big gigantic swing that you ride on in a harness laying flat facing down. Looks very frightening to me!!!) Unfortunately I had just dropped off my bulky camera to the car, thinking that I couldn't possibly need one more picture at Lagoon. So no pics of this great moment.

The next day we went to the Hogle Zoo. We all had lots of fun, but the kids were exhausted and hungry and so we zipped on through and had a nice lunch at a near-by park. I just loved watching the elephants eating the straw. I can't image, though, riding one of those large animals like they do in Thailand.

"No more pictures!"

Andrew and Ashlee sizing up to a gorilla's hand

That night we headed off to Rigby Idaho to join the others. In the morning we had another packed day of boating and fun at the shore. Justin and the uncles had a great time catching some air on wake boards....and I enjoyed the boat ride. (Maybe next year, the water seemed too chilly for me).Here's Justin getting a little air-- a little more than I anticipated, cropping his head, oops!

Justin and my dare devil Ashlee. I love her expression!

Andrew was the faithful flag holder, at least when he remembered-- no tubing for him. Maybe next year?

Andrew and his cousins Matt and Mckay

For the record, here's a pic of me. Yes, I was there, but took most of the pictures (I'm not complaining of course)

On Sunday, after a nice day at church with the Jon Hogge family and dinner in their backyard we headed back home to Utah. As a last hurah, on Monday when Janell's family made their stop for the night before going on to Arizona, we finally took the frontrunner double decker train to Salt Lake to enjoy the ride, temple square (or "square temple" as Andrew keeps accidentally referring to it, which it is kinda square, or rectangle at least) and some dinner. I opted on not bringing my camera because I would be on my own with Justin at work-- too much to juggle. So, hopefully I can get some pics from Janell now that they have finally switched to a digital camera!

Ashlee's buds. On both sides, Ashlee has 4 girl cousins within 9 mos.

The cousins

What a great weekend. We missed you Grandma and Grandpa Hogge. Thanks for the example you're setting. Andrew prays for you both daily. We are looking forward to visiting you soon.

3-2-1 Blast off!

2008-08-02T21:05:00.004-06:00

I don't know who was begging more for a rocket set with TWO rockets-- my little boy (Drew) or big boy (Justin) at Walmart today! We of course got the one with two and today we blasted the first one off.

This all came about because Justin will be doing this with his scouts next week and everyday Andrew's been asking if today is scouts, so of course Justin couldn't resist and added another flying object to "their" collection. After several false blast offs (we could find batteries that actually worked), it finally worked. I'm pretty sure it made Andrew's day.

Thank goodness for cupcakes!

2008-08-01T21:18:00.000-06:00

After a crazy evening of chasing the kids while getting dinner ready and cleaning up and after a crazy day of more chasing around (I must have pulled Ashlee off the counter at least 100 times today-- she's a great climber) that I thoroughly enjoyed of moment of peace while they gobbled down a left-over cupcake (thanks Sarah and Benj). It only lasted about 30 secs tops, but it was pure bliss. I tried to sneak a picture of them sitting side-by-side to not disturb the moment, but I guess I wasn't sneaky enough.

And, if you're wondering why Ashlee seems to have a swimming suit on at all times-- no we don't have a pool, but it is her permanent daytime attire. Luckily they easily wash out in the sink and are ready to go in the morning for another day. Some how we're going to have to break this habit come fall.

Something fun to try....

2008-07-28T22:41:00.000-06:00

I found this site called Wordle from my friend's blog that looks at the posts on your blog and creates a "word cloud" of the words it finds. It the makes the words bigger or smaller depending on how often it it finds it on your blog. Cool huh! You can play around with the fonts, colors and arrangement and then post it to the gallery to get the html for your blog. Hmm... I must use "like" a lot, and "so blessed" even came up ;).

Reunion time again!

2008-07-28T22:19:00.009-06:00

Usually when the word summer is mentioned, images of relaxing by the pool comes to mind, but for our families-- that's not the case. Justin and I both come from large families (8 kids for Justin's fam and 7 for me, of which only 3 live in the area), so summertime is all about reunions! I LOVE IT! We started with the annual Bear Lake trip for my family. If you know me, then you know that I love to organize and my family is no different. The "Bear Lake Trip" is like a well oiled machine.

Here's the run down: (Sorry if there are more details and pics then you need/want/can handle-- I had over 4 gigs of pics to choose from by the time I gathered all of the fam's pics together.)

Every year we have the same menu! (Why fix somethin' that ain't broke!) Aside from home-cooking at the condo, we always make a trip to get some awesome burgers and fresh raspberry shakes! Mmmm....the food is great and the surroundings-- awesome. I love the little town at Bear Lake. It's so quaint and the valley and lake are so beautiful. Some day I want to find a little old house on this lake front to come and spend my summers!

Here is Andrew not keeping up very well with the melting ice cream!

There is always lake time. Who needs a boat? The kids are entertained for hours digging sand castles and parents get to relax!

Even though Ethan lives in Cali, Andrew and Ethan immediately acted like long lost best buds.

Even Ashlee has a partner in crime. (Actually there are 3 more cousins within a year of her age.)

Is this the smile of complete contentment or what?

Then there is the unforgettable family home evening that grandma and grandpa put together. This year they re-enacted Lehi's dream with black painted pvc for the iron rod and a created tree of life with white taffy as the fruit of the Tree of Life that the children got to partake of-- very desirable!

Here is the cast (left) and Grandpa telling about the grand dream of Lehi (right)

On the left, Andrew is moving quickly to get to the very desirable fruit from the Tree of Life and Ashlee on the right who appears to have fallen by the wayside into the deep and murky river.

There's always a craft or two planned for down time, a round a miniature golf to play (or 2, 3 or 4 rounds by the end of the week) and lots of time to hang out and play on the huge grass field! I have also prodded my family along to get an informal family pic taken here each year to watch as we grow!

BFF already at 2!?!

This is Ashlee swinging "her way". She turned 2 while up here this week and she definitely fits the profile.

The family picture-- yeah I'm the one that looks like I just ran and jumped in the picture and has the remote timer not very inconspicuously hid in my hand. Oh well- it's not going on the wall or anything! It was pretty amazing to have so many little bodies holding still and smiling at a camera with no one standing behind it.

This year seems extra special because Suzanne my sister, by no small miracle was able to come out on a buddy pass to be at the reunion. Thanks for making the huge effort. It's no small task to fly stand-by with an almost 2 year old across the country. We missed her husband Rand and thank him for giving up his wife for a week or two!

We had another week after Bear Lake to hang out with my brother Jon and his family. There were BBQ's, hanging out, trip to the Farmington train park, the parade, swimming at the Bountiful rec ctr and fire works on the fourth (maybe I'll post some pics on another post later), sleep-overs, movies. (I know I'm missing some of the festivities) Whew! It was fun! I have LOTS of pics, but it's taking WAY to long to upload them. So just imagine them. Hopefully I'll digi scrap them sometime in this lifetime. I guess there will be a part II of this post because I haven't even got to the fun we had with Justin's fam. and my bed is calling.

Proud to have a "Mormon Mommy Blog"

2008-07-28T00:15:00.004-06:00

So, I read an email from my sister-in-law that linked to a blog "Seriously, so blessed" that is a spoof on "Mormon Mommy Blogs". Maybe it hit home--I am a Mormon mommy in Utah with a blog and I tend to make comments that are heavily sarcastically made fun on this blog like "I am so blessed--my husband and kids are the best", or maybe I was just finding a reason to not catch up on my very behind blog, but for a moment I thought that blogging for me was out the window. I've heard of blogging as described as a continual fabricated Christmas card that we all cringe when reading because of the amount of gloating that it contains. Hmmm.... I'll be honest, I went back and read my whole blog and I am sure there are parts (or all, who knows?) that sound like that to others, but as I read over the posts and looked at the pictures, it made me happy to remember the good times like this and this and laugh about some of the bad times like this and then I was convinced that blogging is a keeper! So here's to getting it back up-to-date! (I still plan on printing this out-- one day!)

Happy Blogging!

What's in your fridge?

2008-06-19T20:18:00.005-06:00

To be honest, my fridge is nearly empty right now because we're heading to a family reunion in a few days, so I'm doing the s-t-r-e-t-c-h it out thing until we go, but based on our norm, I'm amazed of how much my fridge apparently says about me.

What Your Fridge Says About You You aren't greedy, but you don't really deprive yourself either. You strike a good balance with the stuff you buy.

You tend to be a fairly thrifty person. You splurge occasionally, but you're mostly a saver.

You don't tend to be a very adventurous person, but you do surprise everyone now and then. You have a bit of a wild side.

You are responsible, together, and mature. You act like an adult, even when you don't feel like it.

You are likely to be married - and very busy.

Take the quiz here

The Old and the New!

2008-06-11T15:30:00.004-06:00

Wow, 2 posts in one day. I'm probably going to regret taking the time (I may NEVER unload the dishes and the sink is piled high with dishes!) But, here is goes....

So we've had a baby boom in my family. We've had 3 babies born to the "Todd" family over the last couple months and we've had 3 blessings in 1 month! (Mmmm... lots of good food.) We snapped a shot of the last baby boom and I couldn't resist posting this pic of these 3 adorable little girls. They are finally deciding that they are not merely a threat to their toys, but are starting to play and become friends!

Brinlee, Sadie and Ashlee!

Here's some pics of the next generation of cousin buddies!

Tessa:

Aidan:

Treyden:
Aren't they precious!!!

It's been awhile!

2008-06-11T14:30:00.005-06:00

DORY:
Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do?
MARLIN:
I don't wanna know what you gotta do when life gets you down.
DORY:
[singing] Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do?
We swim, swim.

It's been a little while since my last post..... I feel like I've been doing a lot of just "swimming" per se. How does life get so busy! I guess that I should be grateful that I'm keeping up.

Somewhere in the midst of being busy we planted a garden. I haven't really pinpointed why, but somehow gardening for me is very therapeutic. There is such anticipation of reaping what you have sown. It's very rewarding. We go out nearly everyday to watch the progress. Andrew loves it, although the only thing he may actually eat from it are a few peas (he does NOT like veggies) and strawberries. I had meant to post these pictures of the progress awhile ago, but since we seem to be just trying to keep up with life these days, they a little out-dated and we are now enjoying some of the fruits of our labors!

We've had a great year for spinach so far.

Our lettuce is growing like a weed. Unfortunately the mix we planted this year looks more like weeds (in a pretty way), and kind of tastes like them too. So, we'll be sticking with spinach salads I guess.

We have tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans and LOTS, AND LOTS OF STRAWBERRIES to look forward to. Mmmm! (Each of those little blossoms will be soon strawberries and this is only HALF of our strawberries.)

"C" is for Cutie!

2008-05-29T22:19:00.000-06:00

My little nephew is affectionately called the "C-Monster"-- C must be for cutie! I got to watch Cayden for a few days while my sister Suzanne went for a little R & R in Mexico. He is adorable and the kids just played and played and played! Everything evolved around doing it with Cayden. There will be some serious withdrawl when they head back to Memphis.

Throughout the last few days the kids have been spontaneously giving each other hugs. It was one of those hugs this afternoon that urged me to pull out my camera. Aren't they CUTE!!

Here is an attempt for a group shot. They are all such busy little ones that with the first sound of a click from the camera they were heading 3 different directions!
I think that Ashlee and Cayden are seriously 2 peas from the same pod! They are always on the go! It was nice to have a fenced off yard and a little cooperation from the weather to let them roam outside. Here's Cayden on the go (climbing up the "rock wall" of our new swing set)

Here's Ashlee at the edge of the yard searching for that darn gate-- she wanted out!
You might have noticed that my pictures look a little different then they normally do-- I found this great tutorial for any Photoshop program with a psd file to download that helps add a little punch to your photos. You can find it here Below is the "before" shot of the pic above. Nice huh! Part of me feels like too much "photoshopping" is cheating when it comes photography, but who am I kidding-- I'm not professional, so I 'll take what ever help I can get!
Suz, thanks for sharing your little c-monster with us. We love him!

Giving it a go!

2008-05-21T23:28:00.000-06:00

We bought a tent trailer a couple of months back, but we just finally found a time to give it a try. We headed up to Crystal Hot Springs, near Brigham City over this last weekend. It was so much fun taking off with just our little family. The area near the campsite was beautiful and the temperature was just right. They have several hot pools to swim in. I'm not much of a cold water swimmer, so it was perfect. I would have to say that it's a little run down, but we all had lots of fun. Although everything went pretty smooth with the trailer, we did have one mis-hap-- our trailer tire blew out on the freeway. Luckily we had a spare. We were just nervous that it would blow too.

I can't wait for the snow to melt in the mountains so we can plan some trips up there too. It may never happen at this rate. I hear some ski resorts are projecting staying open until JULY!! That's craziness!

Here's Andrew being patient with me while I attempt to capture
the beautiful surroundings and my little sweetheart!

Here's a view of the pools from the campground

The weather couldn't have been better. Here's Justin enjoying
a little R&R at our campsite

One warning--f you're considering visiting Crystal Hotsprings, the campground is right next to the train track. We had several rude awakenings throughout the night as they blew their horns and they wizzed by. It was a long night!

Digi Scraping Weekend, a perfect mother's day treat!

2008-05-21T23:00:00.001-06:00

Any reader of my blog knows that I am addicted to digital scrapbooking, so the perfect mother's day treat for me was a digital scrapbooking weekend. I LOVED it! I could have digi scrapped 3 more days straight, however. We stayed at a friend's family condo in Park City. The landscape was great and the condo was perfect! Thanks Heidi for setting things up. Hopefully there can be a 2nd retreat in the future. We missed all that couldn't make it.

Here's a shot of our "scrapbooking supplies" (aka laptops!) and some yummy munchies--there was A LOT of it.

Dinner on Main Street in Park City:
Digi-scrapping in progress! Don't we all look soooo happy!
Heidi even managed to digi srap on the couch with her nifty lap table that her handy husband made for her-- nice job Steve. How much do you charge. I need one too!
Another shot of the action:

FYI-- if anyone that went wants a copy of these pictures, just right click on the image and select "save as image" and it will let you download the pictures to your computer to have or use.

Day 25

2008-05-01T16:29:00.004-06:00

I looked out my window and what did I see? (I guess Sarah Parkin saw it too!)

I took this picture a few days ago and couldn't help but sing that little song to myself. Apparently Sarah also had the same thought. LOL. It's May Day and SPRING SHOULD BE HERE! But, instead we got big white snow flakes! I think I'm officially depressed. It seems like talking about the weather is just a filler of conversation when you lack something better to say, but I truly need some rays of sun or I may go crazy!!

On another note (though it may be related to my onset of depression), I think 25 days of us seems like a nice round number to end on. So I hope that you have enjoyed (or endured) my "journey". It's been fun having an excuse to take some pictures and I highly recommend it (or at least a 10-15 day journey!) It seems like life zooms by way to fast if you don't stop and smell the flowers (or take a few pics of them). Thanks for looking and for your comments.

Day 24

2008-04-27T23:17:00.000-06:00

Spiderweb crepes

Since my husband is a little more domestic than the average husband, he decided to make these delicious crepes for a nice Sunday breakfast. Although they weren't the perfect circles that my "type A" personality would have attempted, Andrew got a kick out the "spiderwebs" and we had an awesome breakfast. Thanks babe!

Day 23

2008-04-26T21:56:00.000-06:00

ALL aboard!

The "double decker", as Andrew affectionately calls it, commuter train is finally ready to go! Andrew has been waiting for this day for what feels like eternity. However, when we got to the station to take a promotional "free" ride, we weren't the only ones there. Luckily Andrew decided that 1 1/2 hour wait for a ride wasn't worth it. So, we hope to take a ride later this week. Luckily there was a back up plan of hottubbing at aunt Jennifer's. Andrew was an amazingly good sport considering the months of anticipation of this event.

Day 22

2008-04-23T23:23:00.006-06:00

A spontaneous moment captured!

During a little picnic excursion to the canyon I snapped this shot of Ashlee reaching over and giving her brother a hug. Nice to know that they don't view each other as solely a threat to their belongings or space!

With a small sign of spring we were off to the mountains. It was beautiful. The wild grass was green and the mountains were capped with snow! I'm just sad that with such a late blooming spring that the heat of summer will be here soon. But, I guess I should just enjoy the moment, or it will be gone too.

So, I'm having a hard time sticking to one picture each day. Sorry if you're getting over-loaded reading and "looking" at my life. I just have a hard time thinking about pictures that I know that won't get scrapped and will otherwise just sit in the files of my computer. So, here are a few more:

Here we are out for our little hike:

Day 21

2008-04-22T22:32:00.000-06:00

A fast camera can't keep up with this one!

Today we attempted to take some pics of the kids in their Easter clothes. Yes, Easter was forever ago, but the weather has really stunk around here. Some how shooting in the snow didn't sound appealing. However, getting the weather to cooperate was only half the battle. Andrew was definitely more interested in chasing the ducks then standing still, but I think I still got a few shots worth printing (I better have after taking 92 pictures in only 30 minutes).

Day 20

2008-04-21T16:08:00.000-06:00

8 Amazing Years!

While we were in Idaho for the weekend, Justin sneakily (is that a word?) set-up for us to stay the night in Jackson to celebrate our anniversary, while Justin's parents watched the kids. This has been the year of surprises (I surprised him with a trip to Cali for his 30th birthday. I still have yet to post about it because I ruined the pics and I'm trying to fix them! Sometimes I really miss "auto"). Anyways, we left Sunday night to enjoy a relaxing evening in Jackson. The Tetons were amazing (a bit too cold and windy to capture any good pics). But we found some other interesting photo ops:Some die-hard skiiers!

Anyone up for a picnic in the middle of the snake river?

The geese need a haven, how about the roof?

In honor of being married EIGHT years, I thought I would post the top 8 qualities that I adore about my honey (try not to be too jealous when reading the following, my hubby is pretty amazing!):

1. He's the hardest worker I've ever met! He's not done until the job is done. I still think of him out in the 106 degree weather working on our sprinkler system, getting the job done. I think I lasted about 10 minutes, compared to his hours of time spent! Thanks!

2. He's disciplined (and that's an understatement). If he has a goal (like not sleeping longer than 8 hours a day), his promise is as good as gold. For that reason, he gets up with the kids every morning that he's home.

3. He's domestic!! He often cooks dinner, helps with all of the cleaning, including the bathrooms. He makes banana bread whenever we have an abundance of old bananas and he always lets me leave him a chore list when I'm away at work. I really am spoiled in this aspect. There's no reading the paper on the couch while I take care of dinner around here.

4. He's hot! At least I think so. He's very physically fit. He tries hard to exercise and eat healthy. I really should try harder in this area.

5. He's very giving with his money. He is definitely a saver and "be frugal" kind of guy, but he'll never turn down anyone in need. One time at a gas station, some guy with his wife approached him asking him to fill up their car. The guy said that he had lost his wallet and were on their way to Colorado. $40 later, they were off.

6. He loves me! After 8 years, I know that he's still totally in love with me because he is so good at showing it by his actions. He's always trying to figure out how he can be a better husband and dad.

7. He would make a better mom than me. He's always reading to the kids, taking them outside for a walk, turning off the TV, wrestling with them, going to the library, building things with the legos or whatever Andrew asks.

8. He has a sense of adventure. He would take off today and move to South Africa if the chance came up. He's not afraid to try something new. I LOVE this. I know that we have an exciting life ahead of us.

These last 8 years have been everything that I have dreamed of in marriage. I love you hon!

Day 19

2008-04-20T15:58:00.000-06:00

Farewell Grandma and Grandpa!

They are heading into the MTC next weekend. They are hoping to stop by for a day or two on their way. We look forward to spending a little more time with them. The kids just love them to death. We will really miss them!

Day 18

2008-04-19T15:15:00.005-06:00

Riding like the big boys, minus the training wheels (I didn't even know they had them for kid's motorcycles!)

We went up to Gma/pa Hogge's in Idaho Falls for the weekend to wish them well on their mission to Honolulu. Considering their destination, I'm not sure they needed much well wishing, but we will greatly miss them! (And you can be sure we'll be going to visit them, at least once!) Here are some more pics from the day:

We spent the afternoon riding grma/pa's 4 wheelers. Some how we managed to squeeze all 4 of us onto one 4-wheeler. We all had a great time!

Day 17

2008-04-18T21:59:00.000-06:00

Our new place!
A tent trailer, probably the same year that my Grandma owned. =) But, we can't wait to use it!

Day 16

2008-04-17T21:52:00.000-06:00

*A*N*D*R*E*W*!

Day 15, half way through my 30 days of everyday us!

2008-04-16T23:05:00.003-06:00

I'm declaring the digital scrapbook page below that I posted last night as the picture of the day. Digital scrapbooking is definitely part of my everyday and especially this day and I'm relieved that this day is coming to a close. It's been a bit crazy due to my little enrichment presentation. It's kinda a long boring story, but basically I spent from from 1:30pm to about 4:30pm on the computer dealing with "technical difficulties" all in the name of digital scrapbooking. I do love it however.

So, today as I was trying to free up some hard drive space for tonights presentation, I thought up a horrible computer virus-- one that goes in and "uses up" all of your hard drive space. Yikes!
Don't get any ideas, you awful computer virus makers!

Justin, however, says that it already exists. It's called "CAD", Computer Addiction Disorder, aka digi scrapper/blogger! Within a few months, your gigs will all be gone!

He really had a good point.

Enrichment Night Digi Scrapping!

2008-04-15T23:29:00.003-06:00

For those who hang around me even a little know that I talk about digital scrapbooking a lot-- I LOVE IT! Anyways, you also wouldn't be surprised that I got myself into doing a presentation on it at Enrichment this month. I'm excited to share this fun hobby with new people, but a little nervous about getting up in front of a group. But, luckily I have some awesome fellow digi scrappers that will be helping me out! We're going to talk about all kinds of digi scrapping (photo books, printing blogs, photoshop and templates etc.). I'm sure we'll have some empty seats, so anyone that is interested-- COME! It's Wednesday night (4/16) at 7pm at my church building. Let me know if you need specific location directions. Here's a preview of a page that I will be demonstrating how to make:

FYI, we'll be going pretty quickly through the information. This will be more exposure to the various options out there for digital scrapbooking versus actually learning how to digital scrap. But, maybe there will be a part II?

This is a test =)

2008-04-15T23:15:00.002-06:00

This is a test!

Day 14

2008-04-15T16:00:00.003-06:00

Lunch is served.

Hmm... I wish I had the desire of one of those moms that makes homemade bread, serves only organic fruits and veggies and never prepares any meals that contain cream of chicken condensed soup, but I'm pretty sure that will never be me! I debated this week about putting an order in to buy an electric wheat grinder with another ward, but I don't think bread making is in my future plans. (I do have a hand grinder, though, for emergencies). So, hopefully I'm not doing too much damage to my growing children. And, who knows maybe one day I'll find that desire, but until then, Mac'n Cheese it is!

Day 13

2008-04-14T22:19:00.003-06:00

One opinionated girl!

Ashlee has fallen in love with these snow boots and can't even seem to part with them at naptime. It's interesting how opinionated about what she wears she is at such a young age (21 mos.) whereas Andrew still hardly notices what he wears at age 4!

Day 12

2008-04-13T22:13:00.002-06:00

Heart of the Home

Tonight while doing the Sunday night thing at my parents, we were looking at some old pictures from my childhood. I found a picture of some of my siblings and me sitting around the bar on our beautiful lime green barstools in our lime green wall-papered kitchen with white washed cabinets and WOW, the memories flooded in. I knew that I had to snap a picture of our family kitchen and bar to include in this "every day journey". Usually my now clean island is covered in coloring or art projects, dinner being prepared and other remnants of the days happenings. I wouldn't say that my kitchen is anything special in the design department, but I do know that a lot of life is lived here and I look forward, as I look back over this blog (hopefully in printed version) to being reminded of the great times we're having doing the everyday thing in this spot in our home. My friend Heidi made a great suggestion of creating a mini album from this "every day journey". I think I'll do it. Life seems pretty hectic at times keeping up with the little ones, but one day I know that I will long for these days and it will be fun to have a little album of our every day.

Sorry for the rambling, but today we had a lesson on the restoration of the gospel in YW's and we talked about the beautifully simple things of the gospel that were restored, making me stop and reflect on those things and other "beautifully simple" things in my life that I have been blessed with to enjoy-- the gospel, family life, friends, the good times. Great Lesson Kysha!

Day 11

2008-04-12T14:22:00.002-06:00

Finally, 69 degrees and loving life!

Day 10

2008-04-11T14:18:00.000-06:00

Apparently Ashlee had some make-up time while Mom was
having some computer time!

Day 9

2008-04-10T15:39:00.005-06:00

My new toy: "500 glorious gigabytes", external hard drive (as the box worded it)

Since I've gotten into digital scrapbooking and photography more I've realized how devastating it would be to loose my stuff. So, I'm very excited to have this to back my stuff up. I am trying to figure out how this is going to help my problem of my current internal hard drive being 99.7% full. Hmmm....a new computer? I was surprised to find myself getting wide-eyed looking at some new competers across the aisle from the external hard drives that had very large flat screen monitors, lots of RAM and hard drive space. A year ago I would have never thought this would excite me, nor would I think "glorious" and "gigabytes" could go in the same sentence. Crazy how fast things change!

Day 8

2008-04-09T13:07:00.004-06:00

Best find of the day: A mini FM battery powered radio found in the toy section
of walmart for only $2.00!!

This was one the last items that I needed for our 72 hour kits. Now we're done! (at least 99% done, it' seems to never end) Now on to finishing my food storage-- I don't foresee ever finishing that.

Day 7

2008-04-08T21:55:00.003-06:00

A birthday wish for one of my beehives moving on to miamaids

If wondering what? and how?-- "Sunflower cake": 1 chocolate cake mix, 10 twinkies and 1 can of chocolate frosting. I'm sure you could figure out the rest! I got a "oooh, I get it, cute (heads bobbing from the girls with a little smile) not quite the response that this mom got from her kids after her cool food design, but still worth it to try to keep my awesome girls smiling--even if it's only a little smile =)

Day 6

2008-04-07T17:07:00.004-06:00

10 MINUTES BEFORE WORK:

Justin was getting ready to head out the door to work when the kids starting climbing on his carry-on luggage. Justin grabbed the strap and started taking them for a ride. It made me smile and I thought this was photo worthy and grabbed snapshot.

"Don't leave dad!"

Then, we followed Justin out the door to go for a walk when Justin suggested to Andrew to give the bike without training wheels another try. And, whooo! Andrew did it!

"Yeah!"

Day 5

2008-04-06T17:11:00.003-06:00

Watching conference "King Benjamin" style (in a tent with the prophet's message coming from a tower aka our tall fireplace).

I heard of a tradition of a family where they "camp-out" inside the night before conference in preparation for the prophets message like those did when King Benjamin spoke to them on the tower. This year we only brought up the Ikea tent from the basement to listen to conference, but next year we may let Andrew sleep in it and maybe have a "camp" breakfast (dutch-oven cheesy hashbrowns?). I'm loving that Andrew is getting old enough to start some family traditions!

Wasn't conference amazing! I really loved the words to the "young moms" from Elder Ballard. I can't wait to re-read them. I had a hard time jotting down many notes because I was too busy being a "young mom", chasing after my kids.

Day 4

2008-04-05T16:54:00.000-06:00

Cars, trains or planes-- always!

Day 3

2008-04-04T16:29:00.000-06:00

No baby swings for me!!

Day 2

2008-04-03T22:45:00.002-06:00

My "To-Do-List", my Prozac!

30 days of everyday us, Day 1.

2008-04-02T12:47:00.004-06:00

I was intrigued by an idea that my friend Laura posted that she found here and decided to give it a go. It's a 30 day journey through pictures of our everyday. I'm aiming for the full 30 days, but I can't promise anything. It sounds nice just stepping back and thinking about the little details that make up our lives. Anyone else want to join? (Hey Chanc, I thought this might be fun-- 1st 30 days of life of newborn Aiden? Did you decide on a name? No pressure of course!!) So here I go.

Justin and I have never been much into giving/receiving flowers because "they just die", but after a rough day last week with the kids he brought home these (and ice cream too) and I have been smiling about it ever since! Thanks Justin!
I've decided that there is just something simple and genuine about flowers. I've told Justin he's welcome to bring home more any day!

Isn't this cool!

2008-04-01T22:45:00.001-06:00

So, I opened my "doors" to Precious Prints a week ago today and let's just say that things are still getting rolling in terms of the revenue department, but check out the map above of people that have hit my site- from Argentina to Japan. It's amazing how small the internet makes the world. I have a little tracker/counter on my blog that shows me this and other cool things. If you don't have one, you really should get one. Click here to get it. By the way, I have been adding new cards to my shop, so remember to check back on occasion!

Ashlee's New Do

2008-04-01T22:35:00.005-06:00

If you know Ashlee at all, you know it would be a miracle to keep her still through a haircut. But, she did amazingly well. This was her first trip of many in her lifetime I'm sure to get a haircut! The trim ended up being quite shorter than I thought and more of a bob than stacked and a-lined, but I guess that means longer till the next trip (and I'm just happy for an straight cut for as much as she was moving.)

It was cute when the first big chunk of hair fell on her lap. She looked up confused and said, "uh oh!"

GRAND OPENING!!!

2008-03-25T22:15:00.000-06:00

Well I've decided that digital scrapbooking, blogging and photography are not enough to feed my addictions to my computer, so I'm adding one more thing! I've just opened an online shop making photo cards. It's been sooo fun making cards and hope to be adding new cards frequently to the shop. Sooo.... go check it out: preciousprints.blogspot.com

How it works is you email me your photos, choice of card from my collections and text to go on the card and I create the digital card and email it to you to print however you would like. I'm offering a special discount for the first 5 customers-- $10 per card order from my already made card selection. I also make custom cards. Check out the site for details! Here is a preview of a card I designed using products from my awesome sister Suzanne's digital shop Purple Tulip Designs:

PS-- I would be thrilled if you passed on the info to your friends, I know right now there are lots of mommies with newborns probably considering making 50+ handmade paper cards. I'm sure this could save them some lack of sleep!

Happy St .Paddy's Day, apparently 2 days late!

2008-03-17T11:22:00.003-06:00

So, as we were dressing in green this morning, getting ready to celebrate St. Paddy's day Andrew was asking some questions about the holiday and I realized that I knew very little about this day. So I did a little search on wikipedia and beyond the basics of honoring St. Patrick and the lucky 4 leaf clover I found out some interesting facts: (check out the link for more info.)

* This year it was officially celebrated on the 15th-- Oops!! I guess they change the date when it falls during Holy Week.

* Originally the color associated with St. Paddy's day was blue! As the holiday became more associated with Ireland they changed it to green or orange

*Getting pinched for not wearing green is an American tradition not done in Ireland.

* Though the four leaf clover may be lucky, the more important symbol for Irish is the 3 leaf clover, it represents the trinity.

*It's a feast day, making sure to include green foods. In Ireland the festivities last 5 days!

So, even though we missed the day, I think that I'm still going to make a little treat for FHE to celebrate. Here's a cute, but simple idea I found on kraftfoods

It's Been Awhile

2008-03-01T21:25:00.004-07:00

For anyone that talks to me on a daily basis knows that I talk about digital scrapbooking about on a daily basis (Sorry for the non-digital scrappers, this must be a bit annoying). However, for as much as I talk about it, it seems a rare thing to actually scrap a page or two because I guess life just gets busy. So, I'm very excited that I actually finished 3 pages!! My sister's new kit AHOY inspired me. She's amazing! She's my little sister,but I really look up to her. If you haven't, you really should check out her online digital scrapping store Purple Tulip Designs. I couldn't wait to scrap our San Diego trip that yes, happened 2 years ago. I'm not sure I'll ever catch-up, but I do know that I LOVE digi scrapping. I can't think of anything better than sitting down and reminiscing about the good times I've had with my fam (except of course making more great memories with my little family). To the digi scrappers out there, happy digi scrapping!

PS- You might have noticed that I'm not keeping up very well on commenting on all of your blogs. Just know that I read them all and LOVE it. What amazing people I know. Thanks for the inspiration.

A Little Bit of Paradise

2008-02-25T22:55:00.013-07:00

After much preparation, we enjoyed an amazing trip to Cancun Mexico. When I say preparation, I think I must go a little overboard because Justin's comment the day before we left as I was frantically working on my 25 item to-do list was "I don't think I would ever want to go on vacation if I felt like I had to do what you do to get ready." So I completed my list and we headed to the airport with our fingers crossed that we would make it on our flight flying standby (tis the life of a pilot's family). We made it and even got to fly 1st class (the steak was amazing!) We had ahead of us 6 days of paradise. We left the kids behind with Grandma and Grandpa, with who the kids had a ball and didn't even seem to have missed us when we returned. Infact, Andrew cried when we told him that Grandpa (aka his constant buddy for the 7 days) would be leaving in the morning when we returned. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you Grandma and Grandpa Hogge!

Our resort was absolutely beatiful. I could have spent 6 days sipping virigin pina coladas at the pool. The weather was perfect and the scenery what awesome!

Our first day we went on a tour of the ruins with Helaman Tours, as you can guess it was a LDS guided tour of the Mayan ruins. It was amazing. I had lots of "child free" time to practice taking some shots with my new camera and learning about Book of Mormon history. Here are a few shots:

Chichen Itza:

This type of tree is called the "Tree of Life", coincidence?

On another day we saw the beautiful ruins of Tulum that are right on the coast. I can definitely see why the Mayan people chose here to build their temples.
Definitely a favorite part of the trip was our "jungle tour" from Alltournatives. They took us on a wild jeep ride in the jungle (I truly wondered if we might roll the jeep or get bounced out-- a little more that I was anticipating), snorkeling in centotes (sink holes) and sea kayacking to a coral reef for more snorkeling:

There were a few more pics that I wanted to post (I think I took nearly 400!), but it's taking WAY too long to upload. So, I'll spare you and call it a night. So here's our trip in a nutshell.

Sugar, spice and almost everything nice!

2008-02-14T21:34:00.005-07:00

I had this great plan of surprising my family with a nice Valentine's Day breakfast, but unfortunately they got this: (Some burned cinnimon rolls).

Opps! My breakfast plans were simple because I was suppose to be working, but lucky for me they called me off. So, instead of leaving a partially prepared breakfast and decorated table for them to find in the morning (while I prepared it in the wee hours of the moning at 4 am when I usually go to work), I attempted to make it for them at 8am. Unfortunately I got so excited about my hubbies valentine gift to me (a tripod for my camera) that I forgot about the baking rolls. Everyone was a good sport and ate them anyways along with the red pears and red strawberry kiwi juice.

I used my new tripod to take this family pic. Luckily the pink frosting helped cover up the burned cinnimon rolls, a little.

Later on that day I got called into work for 4 measly hours, not hardly worth the 30 minute drive each way, but I was still able to make it home for a fabulous dinner prepared by my hubby. He's a great cook. He even made some delicious chocolate dipped strawberries. He's certainly not your average husband. Since we just returned from a week long adult only trip to cancun on Sunday we decided to make it an evening at home with the fam! (more details to come on our trip later.) It was a great day! Even though Valentine's day definitely has it's commerical side, I loved having the chance to tell those that I care about how much I love them!

My first "photo shoot"

2008-01-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

With my new camera I thought I would give a little photo shoot a try (Try is definitely the key word). I combed my kids' hair, wiped off milk mustaches and here's what I got. (I've taken a few classes since this day and I can definitely see that I have lots of learning and practicing to do!) I tried out a few classic photography tips. See what you think.

Tip #1: Get closer!!

Tip #2: Use natural sunlight! (Turn off the flash and get near a window or door). I think that these pictures are a little over-exposed however (too much light).

Tips #3- Get out of "Auto" mode and at minimum use program modes (ie landscape, portrait), then move on to adjusting aperture, ISO, shutterspead etc. In this pic I used the portrait mode. See how it blurred out the background (Ashlee).

Tip #4____________. Hmm not sure how to solve this problem yet. Any suggestions?

If any one is interested here is a link to an awesome free online 12 week photography course. The lessons are short and sweet. They are on week 4, but you can go back and download the previous weeks lessons.

A Tribute

2008-01-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

"The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a time to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike."

- President Hinckley (1910-2008)

Being a Utah resident, ironically I heard the news of the passing of our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley from a brother-in-law in southern Arizona. News spread fast. Even though we have been anticipating his "imminent" death for years, it was still a shock to hear the sad news. My shock then moved to almost happiness as I thought of his dear wife and the joyous reunion they were experiencing right then, but as the night progressed and I watched tributes on TV and read them online, it moved to sadness as I remembered the amazing man that he was and what he accomplished during his 13 years as prophet and 50 yrs + of church service. The quote above by his picture was taken from his first general conference address as prophet and his message never changed throughout his time as prophet. He was always so upbeat and complementary, but encouraging us to "stand a little taller" at the same time. He was a little man in stature, but a giant in the spiritual sense.

I will cherish my memories of the prophet. He was the prophet when my testimony of the church and of latter day prophets really matured. I'll never forget my impressions of the prophet that I had as a 17 year old in the Philippines. Pres. Hinckley came to visit the people of those islands and my family was lucky to attend his address. It was going to be held in a large colosseum. It was not the first choice of venues because the night before a cock fight was going to be held and it would require almost miraculous efforts to have it ready for a prophet to visit, but it was the only place large enough to accommodate the numbers of people they were anticipating. The members worked all night to have it ready and I believe that their efforts paid off. The entire place was filled to capacity and they even had to turn people down for lack of seating. (35,000 seats were filled. It was the largest gathering of church members in church history at that time.) We sat up in nearly the very top rows of the stadium and I thought that I would be barely able to even see him, but to my surprise, when he entered the very large Colosseum, his warm loving spirit filled the entire place. It was then that I knew that he was a prophet of God. When I think what the Savior might be like I think of President Hinckley. He truly exemplified His attributes.

He will be greatly missed and remembered by me.

"God be with you 'til we meet again!"

For the Record: A Saturday Morning

2008-01-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a glimpse into a Saturday morning around the Hogge home (or a Monday, Thursday or even Friday, just depends on when Justin has the day off and is home.)

7:30-8:00 am-- Kids wake up. Andrew comes into our room to see if Daddy is home. Then he pulls Dad out of bed (who goes quite willingly--thanks babe, you're the best!!) and heads out to the family room with the kids. I'm not sure what happens after that until I roll out of bed around 8:30am. He such a great dad, I'm sure that he's talked Andrew of watching cartoons, probably has read 5-6 books to the kids, cleaned up the previous night's mess and started breakfast. With my new camera, I decided to "capture" a few moments of our ordinary morning. I'm sure one day when the kids are grown up and moved out, I'll long for these days.

Here's Ashlee waiting patiently for some more milk while mom plays with her camera and depth of field.

Andrew hanging out with dad, while dad checks out ksl.com looking for a great deal on a tent trailer! We can't wait for warmer weather to get up to the mountains. I'm sure Andrew's hoping to steal a moment on the computer, to play Dad's flight simulator.

The "Saturday morning" wouldn't be complete without some good ole Hootnany pancakes (puff pancakes). Justin and I have a running contest to see who's hootnany pancakes turn out the "puffiest". I think mine looks pretty good =).

There's nothing unusual about this morning, just time together as we start out I'm sure another great day. I love being a mother and wife, I don't think life could get better than this!

Create your own fortune [cookie]

2008-01-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Around the Hogge home today seems to be the day of looking into the future. We've been revising our life insurrance plan, planning our next business venture, which I'm sure that we're going to make millions doing ;)(you'll have to wait for future posts if this ever materializes) and making fortune cookies! I thought that this was a fun idea, so I'm passing it along. The fortune cookie is for my newest beehive that we'll be wishing a happy birthday to and welcoming to young women's later today.

The fortune inside says, "You'll have many years of fun in young womens".

I got this great idea from a fellow yw leader (I added the chinese take-out box) and had fun attempting to create one. I'll have to admit, it's a little tricky and it even involved finding some tips and tricks online to help me out since my first tries were a disaster! If you attempt, you may want to check this site out for some tips. I'm sure that there are many different ways you could use this idea. So here are some pics and the recipe!

Fortune Cookies:

1/2 c flour

1/2 c sugar

1 tb cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c oil

2 lg egg whites

1 1/2 tsp water

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sift dry ingredients. Add liquids, stir until smooth. Spread out 1/4c mix on parchment paper with the back of a spoon to make an 8'' circle (as thin as you can). Bake 12-14 minutes, until the edges very slightly start to brown. After taken out of oven and let cool for a few seconds. Peel off paper, place fortune paper in middle of circle, fold in half and bring the 2 egdes together to form cookie. Squish egdges together and hold in place for 30 seconds, until the cookie holds its form. Enjoy! (Makes four large fortune cookies!

Merry Christmas to ME!

2008-01-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well Santa (aka my hubby) was good to me and I'm finally on my way to something I've been dreaming about since I was young.... a nice SLR camera and photography classes to go with it! I got the Nikon D80 and I'm lovin' it. It has some great auto functions, while I'm learning how to do all of this stuff and then you can manually program and adjust as you like. So come spring, if anyone would like some family pics taken (and you don't mind an amateur), give me a call. Speaking of classes, I bought my camera at Inkley's and photography classes are free with purchase (or should I say they are included in the price=)), so I will not be taking the course offered for the community through the district. I know there were some of you out there also interested in the course and I got the schedule in the mail this week, so thought I would pass along the link to the class schedule: adulted.davis.k12.ut.us. Oh and here's my first photography "project". I made it for YW's to introduce our theme. (The idea came from an old Mormonad)We're going to insert each of the girls pictures in the domino box that is left standing and print it on 4x6 photo paper, laminate it and put a magnet on the back.

A little catching up to follow...

2008-01-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New year! Sorry, I'm a little behind and the posts to follow will be an attempt to catch up. (I may even back date them so that I can keep the dates straight when I go to print my blog).

A thought about blogging.... I've been trying to figure out how to blog and not duplicate everything in my digitalscrapbooking (and since I'm obsessed with both and can't give either of them up) this is my solution, if anyone else has had this dilema and is interested, I am going to continue to blog and post about everyday things and holidays, birthdays etc, making sure to journal well and then print them yearly at blurb and then I'm going to digitalscrap "theme books" ie holidays, vacations, school books for the kids etc. I'm hoping that I won't have as much digitalscrapbooking to do (although that still sounds like a lot). This is my current thinking, I would love to hear about how you guys are doing it!!!

Grandparents are great!

2008-01-01T17:19:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing Christmas, packed with so much fun, and I think this is thanks mainly to Grandmas who create it seems endless fun and Grandpa's that support them in these wild endeavours! Our Christmas season kicked off with our annual Gingerbread house making at Grandma Todd's. With all of the local cousins there, they went to work. Even Ashlee gave it a try this year and managed to put more candy on her house then in her mouth.

This year we were extremely lucky to have Dad home for Christmas Eve AND Christmas so we headed up to Grandma Hogge's to celebrate the holidays with them. We ate and ate and ate YUMMY food, enjoyed one of the best snow storms in Idaho in the last few years on sleds and snowboards behind their four-wheelers:

and got to open gifts Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa's. After probably hours spent sewing and sewing, Grandma Hogge gave each of the grandkids a homemade and will be treasured gift. The girls each got a doll and the boys PJ's, personalized with a picture of themselves on the shirt. Both were a hit with my kids, especially Ashlee as you can see in the picture below.

After returning back to Utah Christmas night, the fun did not stop. My out of state siblings began arriving and my close neighbor friend has it right, when my family is in town, she does not see me. All six of my siblings made it home and we seemed to hang out 24-7-- I loved it! We had our annual adult only dinner one night and then another night we had the family party where we all exchanged gifts and of course had lots of GOOD food (it's a given and a must at a Todd function!) In between all of this partying Grandma put on another party just for the grandkids, the "hot chocolate party". They had lunch and hot chocolate, using Grandma's little tea sets, read winter stories and Grandma always throws in some surprises. Like I said before-- aren't grandparents great!!

Andrew and the cousins enjoying lunch and hot chocolate

The kids with the funny glasses from Grandma before going out to play in the snow.

The reenactment of the Nativity at the family Christmas party. Grandma made all of the costumes!

Thank-you both Grandma's for all you did and always do!! We love you!

Tagged!

2007-12-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

So, I've been tagged like 3-4 times and have never done it because every time I start, I just think that I would much rather be talking about my kids or husband than about boring me. But, my friend Heather talked me into filling out the following questionnaire for a YW spotlight. So, hopefully this is close enough!

Were you named after someone, or is there a unique story behind your name? Hmmm… no story really, but my twin brother Randy and I were named with “R” names so that we would share that in common. (FYI my little bro and sis are twins too and they share “S” names.) However, growing up there seemed to be some confusion on my part about Randy’s name. I have been told that on several occasions that I told people that his name was “Randy, no-no”. I guess I had heard it a few times from my mom. So, Randy and I have always had a tie. Maybe it was the “R” name or maybe it was being dressed alike in our bright green over-alls that we both had (you’ve got to love the 70’s)—hard to say. But he has always been a great friend! His wife (who is really cool and so nice-- a big relief) is expecting a baby boy in the spring and I can’t wait to see a Randy JR.

Favorite color: Sage green. I have it on my kitchen walls, half my wardrobe is green, I have a green couch in my bedroom and I drive a green car. (Hmm.. I never realized I had so much green in my life!)

Favorite food: Chinese (The Mandarin). I highly recommend it. It’s in Bountiful. Beware, there is always a wait and people actually line up everyday of the week that they’re open to get in at opening at 5pm. I think General Tsou’s is my new favorite dish! And there’s just something fun about fortune cookies. I just recently learned how to make huge fortune cookies (about 4” across). They look just like the little ones and they’re tasty too.

Favorite candy/treat: Twix—always good at the check-out line after a long, exhausting Wal-mart excursion.

Favorite ice cream flavor: Heath Bar Toffee Ice Cream (Breyer’s)Mmmm…!

Favorite school subject: Human Anatomy—actually the cadaver lab (studying bodies donated to science). It’s what convinced me to change from Dietetics to Nursing. Sounds strange, so I’ll just leave you wondering about that one.

Favorite book: Children of the Promise series.

Favorite movie: Swing Kids (I loved watching them swing dance and the “out” that dance gave them during WWII) I love to swing dance. I belonged to a “Swing Kids Club” at BYU. I had some random partner that would go with me to the dances every Saturday night. Oh… so much fun. I just wish that I could remember some of that now.

Favorite article of clothing: Shade shirts!! Great invention.

Talents (any): I asked this question about me to Justin and he just said hmmm….” Besides modern dance that I did in high school, which I did more because I loved it than because I was good at it, I don’t really have many “conventional” talents (e.g. sports, music etc), but I think that I would be considered a caring and compassionate person. My new favorite quote is by Mother Teresa “Do small things with great love.” Life is busy and there is not always time to do great big acts of service, but small things with great love I think can make just as big of difference! (To be honest I wanted to leave this part out of the “blog version”, but oh well what the heck. I may not be wonderful at this kind of stuff, but I would like to be and I'll keep trying.)
Favorite vacation you have taken & why: Trip to the Philippines with my hubby. I loved it because I went with just my adventurous hubby and no kids and all we had were our hiking packs and were free to explore and do what ever we wanted! And the Philippines is my “home” and it’s absolutely amazing!

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?
India—I would love to explore somewhere really far away and really different from my culture. I had several friends in high school from India and their culture was always very intriguing to me. There are some amazing sites too. What would you do with the money if you won $1000?
A new fancy camera and lens and sign up for some photography classes. (I'm currently looking at the Nikon D80 below. Any suggestions photographers?) After nursing, I think I would choose photography as a career. Growing up I always wanted to be a photographer and travel the world with National Geographic.Name one of your heroes & why you admire them:
Ruth from the bible. I love the story how she went to the king, despite putting her life in danger, to save her people, the Jews, from being killed. She did what she and only she could do. She was extremely courageous and stood up for righteousness.

What would you do if you had 2 hours to yourself?
Spend it digital scrapbooking!!! (Surprised?) Here's my current project-- a desk calendar.

What do you want to do/be when you “grow up?”
Maybe a nurse-practitioner? Or refer to $1000 question.

If you were a dessert, what would you be?
Cheesecake, simple yet so delicious. =) No pic necessary, I think we all know what cheesecake looks like.

Blogging just got better!

2007-11-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some awesome fellow bloggers I have a few tips to share on blogging:

1. Blog Reader (Thanks Suz!)

This is a site that allows you to link to all of your blogs that you read in one place and tells you at a glance if any of these blogs have new posts, (huge time saver!). and you can read the posts and view the pictures all on this site. Click here to check it out!

2. Blog Printing (Thanks Kysha!)

I was VERY excited to hear about this. Kysha found a place to print our blogs. It has a free program to download that extracts the posts from your blog into this program and lets you edit the text and pictures. I tried it out last night and it's super easy and fun. If I wasn't an obsessed digital scrapbooker I would solely print my blog instead, but I guess I'll do both. It prints your pages into a bound book and the pricing is very reasonable. The site is called Blurb and here is example of a blog book:

3. Blog trivia:

The term "BLOG" was created from the words weB LOG. (maybe I was the only one who didn't know this!)

4. Create one!

If you still haven't created a blog yet-- YOU SHOULD! It's so fun and easy. And with my friend's cute sense of humor and great wisdom, Angie put it nicely: "we've finally figured out that blogging is an essential part of parenting. One is simply not a good parent until one has posted photos of their child for all to admire." To start just click on the "Create a blog" on the upper right hand corner of my blog. It will walk you through it. Lastly-- let me know when you've got one and I'll add you my blog's list of "my favorite people".

I Couldn't Wait...

2007-11-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to post my Christmas photo card because Justin thought it was weird to post it and then send it out, but I just couldn't wait. I had so much fun doing it and I figure only a few of you will actually get it because most of you are neighbors that read my blog and you're on the "neighbor gift list" instead. I still haven't decided if I am going to print an actual card that opens up or just the "postcard" style. Hmmm.....

Family Picture Day!

2007-11-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

Luckily for a long fall and a photographer willing to make last minute appointments, we were able to sneek in some family pics before the winter arrived. My adorable counsin, Ann with Anniemations Photography took the pics (Thanks Ann!!) and I can't wait to digi scrap a few, make a Christmas photo card and hang them on the wall!!

A quick note, if you're planning on making your own photo Christmas cards, hurry and do it because Winkflash is having some great sales for orders placed before Nov 21st. 5x7 photo cards, with envelops are 23 cent, with a flat rate of $1 to ship them all. ( regular 5x7's usually run 27 cents each)

"Autumn Again" again

2007-11-10T22:07:00.001-07:00

I know that I already posted a post about autumn, but I wanted to share my latest layout. Suzanne is on a roll with her templates, and I'm loving it. Even though she has opened shop- Purple Tulip Deisigns, she is offering her templates for FREE for now. Here's the layout! Thanks for sharing Suz!

Halloween Fun....

2007-11-03T11:20:00.000-06:00

Instead of just posting some pics, I decided to throw a quick layout together. We had a really fun Halloween.... a ward party, a party with Grandma/Grandpa (all of the food was yummy and very festive-- witch fingers, spider breadsticks, and spider hotdogs!), pumpkin carving with the neighbors, and chilli and donuts with the fam halloween night before some trick or treating. This year Andrew was Captain Jack Sparrow, with a very "terrifying" Arrr and Ashlee was a pink fuzzy poodle!

"To every thing there is a season..." Ecl 3:1

2007-10-18T21:23:00.000-06:00

The year does not seem complete without a trip to see the autumn leaves (looking at everyone elses blogs and their "outings to see the leaves" I think you would all agree). Even though everything is dying, for some reason it feels like a fresh start as school starts and the winter holidays begin. I love having four seasons because it reminds me that time is passing and that I need to not take for granted the good times that I am having with my family right now. I won't ramble more, but enjoy some pics of me and my fam!

My crazy kids!

Ashlee trying to figure out how to get ALL of the leaves in her mouth

Me and my baby girl!