Tonight I hosted a Pampered Chef party at my place. I had a good ol' time with old & new friends, thanks to those that came it was fun. Half way through the show I was like... where's my camera, I need to get pictures! Then I decided that maybe it wasn't such a big deal to take photos of this event. I hosted it because one of my best friends sister asked me if I'd like to. I've known her my whole life (here name is Melissa [Mellen] Burrow) how could I say no! If anyone wants to order something feel free to go to her web site www.pamperedchef.biz/melissaburrow and if you put down my name as the host (or something like that) then your purchase will go towards my party & that'd help me out! Anyways, it was a real good night! Since I didn't take photos of the party I decided to post this random picture of Liv and me!

Last Saturday BYU played University of Utah. With three seconds left BYU scored the winning touchdown ending the game at 33 to 31! It was a tense game that made my husband very proud (especially since last years game the U won in overtime which was heartbreaking for my husband). So when my friend, Annalese, brought her son by for the day he was decked out in Utah clothes to state the pride they still had for their team. After she left I caught Braeden playing with Todd's BYU #1 finger, so I had to grab a snapshot & post it for all to see!!

It seems ironic for me to write about what I'm grateful for after I just wrote a wish list of even more things, but tis the season & there is so much that I am grateful for. I am surrounded by people that love me, I have a wonderful warm home, and have talents and hobbies that help keep me happy! I am good health, so does my husband & my children. I am super grateful for those two little angels, Olivia & Gary! And I am so grateful for my bestfriend & mother, Suzanne Montgomery. While I'm not grateful for her passing I am grateful to have the knowledge that we will be together again because families are eternal!

We spent Thanksgiving with the Youngs in Toquerville, Utah. It was a lot of fun with great company and good food! Gary enjoyed his first Thanksgiving dinner - graham ers! Liv didn't eat much of anything, which has been normal lately. The rest of us enjoyed all the trimmings. I especially appreciate my mother-in-law for the time she put in to make our family this yummy meal. Oh, and thanks everyone for writing down what you're grateful for and always participating in my little traditions!

Since the big shopping day is coming up I have decided to post our family's Santa letters so loved ones know what we'd like...


Olivia & Gary are easy enough, mostly any toys. Olivia is really into anything Dora or Blue's Clues. On her wish list especially is this aquadoodle barn animals pad that makes animal noises, this fridge phonics magnetic, and laugh & learn puppy. Gary would love the discovery cube, playskool ball popper, and fisher price ocean wonders aquarium.

For Todd he'd mostly like Sheetrock delivered to our basement, but I think a gift card to Lowes would do just fine. He'd also like a weedeater and the XBOX360 game Gears of War.



As for me, I have a long list... what can I say, I'm a ! I'm really into the Quickutz die tool right now so here's my wants from that area: apple RS-0579, books KS-0246 & KS-0453, campfire KS-0051, crayon RS-0100, daisy RS-0015, flower doodads RS-0349, football helmet RS-0146, football RS-0141, footprint RS-0504, frog KS-0572, joy KS-0481, kokopelli RS-0054, love KS-0509, male female KS-0539, mugs KS-0592, night RS-0029, present KS-0055, pumpkin KS-0385, putting green KS-0366, snowflake RS-0214, sparkle RS-0513, speech bubble RS-0543, stocking KS-0478, treat bag KS-0257, utensils RS-0507, wish KS-0495... and alphabets called: Olivia, Calvin, Moxie, Daisy, and Maggie. By the way if you're going to get some of those go to the scrapbook store called Treasured Memories on the corner of 3300 s and 1200 w, my friends there have the quickutz on sale for 30% off! I would also like a new violin case and Natasha Beddingfield (or ford, something like that), Jack Johnson, Narls Barcley CDs. That's it for now... I know a lot!

I have been feeling bad that I don't have any pictures of my dad & the boys on my page so I'm taking care of that right now! I love these guys, they've been a part of my life for forever & forever to come! Both of the boys are doing real well in school. This year Aaron is in 9th grade, student body vice president, and a straight A student! Nate is a Junior at Hunter High School and is now driving!! It has sure taken a lot of stress off of me now that he can help car pool! Both boys were on the golfing team at Hunter, I was amazed at how much they played... every day! I know golf isn't as physical as most sports, but it is still tiresome to do so much. I heard that they got great reviews from their coach at the banquet so I'm very proud of them! My dad is amazing! I can't imagine what he's gone through & his own personal battles he's fought since Mom passed away. She is my best friend, but he was everything to Dad. He takes such good care of the boys & is so much more patient now that he doesn't have a soft cushion for the boys to fall on. I love love love them all!

Yesterday Melissa & Cory's place flooded with raw sewage... yeah sounds super gross! Plus, all the hard work of saving the irreplaceables (pictures, journals, etc.) while wading in unmentionables. Anyways, after all that they needed a place to crash, so they gave us a call. It is so nice to have a home where we can house our friends! I'm not sure how long they're staying, but it's fun to have roommates!

Since we had company Gary did not want to go to sleep. He just had to play with the new people in his house! He did not nap at all... all day. When I took Aaron home (he was at our place working on homework so it was done before thanksgiving break - way to go kid!) I decided to strap Gary into his carseat since I knew he'd fall asleep during the drive. He did! I laid him down in his crib & moments later he was up shaking his bed. He did finally give in to sleep about 8:30, but a day without a nap cannot happen again. I think my stress level goes up when he doesn't sleep, cause as soon as he did my aching head went away. He has to adjust to people in the house, cause, like a said, I don't know how long they'll be with us. What a day!

Last night we went to a Child's Play Birthday Party for our friend Melissa Huff (Cory's wife). It was a lot of fun... we played brutal musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey w/ some crazy spinning action, a very close game of Catch Phrase, and Pinata baseball.
So I'll expand on that last one... We started the traditional way: pinata on string, move it up and down, so on. Cory ruined that by breaking the string with the first swing of the game! Then Todd brought in some phone wire to replace the string. That held real well, but the pinata wouldn't break and eventually the wire tore through. Then we were at a loss, so the guys decided to pitch it & that started the baseball. Of course, by then the broom we'd been using had had enough so they used a bar from the exercise equipment & made short work of the pinata! What fun! I was so disappointed in myself for forgetting my camera... can you imagine, me without a camera!
Since today is Sunday it's all about the football! At the moment my team, Seahawks, is down so we won't talk too much about them for now! But soon my house will have an additional two teenage boys & I won't be able to play on the computer anymore, because they will be monitering their fantasy teams... although Todd is not so happy right now since three of his fantasy stars are hurt. What a day!

I was totally worn out by the end of yesterday. I watched my friend, Emily Wilde's, two kids... which I was glad to do, but it was non stop commotion all around the house. It really made me feal for couples who have twins or more... it's a nice thought to think that my four kids will gradually come instead of a sudden boom of kids all at once! Anyways, her two kids are so cute, though, & they were nothing to complain about at all, so don't get me wrong... it was easy enough, just busy! This here is Parker (3) with Liv & the lower is Charity who's a few months over a year... she's a climber! Good times! Followed by a very sound sleep :)

Gma's Birthday

When I finished scrapbooking last night I ran into a familiar face. It was the mother of a friend of mine from junior high. I asked how the friend was doing & found out that she was killed in a motorcycle less than a month ago. I was dumbfounded... definitely not expecting that. I quickly said I was sorry, but felt like I should share some great wisdom that I have learned from the loss of my mom... something to ease her pain & comfort her soul. Although, what I have learned most from grieving is that everyone is different. The situation, relationship, etc or all different, so what has helped me won't, necessarily, heal another.

On an up note... It was my grandma Betty's Birthday! Don't ask me how old she is, though, cause I have no idea (I quit keeping track a long time ago :))

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

This blow-up tube was given to us from my aunt Shannon (it makes it extra safe) when Liv was a baby. She loved loved loved it! Even when it wasn't tub time she wanted to be in it. She'd drag it out of the tub and into the front room & play in it for hours. It was a hoot & a sad day when she had out grown it. When we pulled it out for Gary Liv was ecstatic, but doesn't understand that she's too big for it. But watching Gary play in it this morning was such a blast! He loves tub time! It took him awhile to understand balance enough to sit, but he finally has. This graduated him to the blow-up tub & just in time (his legs were hanging over the edges of the lay-down blue kind). He loves splashing and splashing. When it's time to get out he throws a real big fit. Luckily, it's right before nap time, so he falls right to sleep after a bottle is in his mouth!

Liv is easing up on Dora, so lately we've had a nice brake! Now she does a nice mix of Dora and Blue's Clues... that's a lot more bearable. I don't like the cold weather so much because he keeps her in doors too much, but she does love pointing out all the snow! Today's been laid back, not too much happening. The rest of the week is feeling up, tomorrow I get to have lunch with a good friend of mine from college... Rachel Koonz (although, I think I just spelled her last name wrong, sorry!). Then I'll spend the evening scrapbooking at treasured memories. Check out their site... www.scrapbookingtreasuredmemories.com. & another good site for those of you who know Sheena (Gardner) Schippers go to www.the-schippers.blogspot.com, she's the one that got me into all this!

To Michele, who I'm so happy to hear from, thanks for leaving your comments. I'm glad you found this site... give me a call or email, I'd love to know what you are up to!

Todd took me on a date last night to see Stranger than Fiction. We started out with dinner at Johny Carino's with his friends, then book searching at Barnes & Noble, followed by a late night movie. We ended up at the 10p show since dinner was so drawn out... Saturday night, ya know. Besides fighting off sleep (yes I have become a mom that goes to sleep before midnight, a big change from the all hours I was in college) the movie was absolutely excellent! I thought it was so creative & had a magnificent ending!

This here is Gary Allen Young, my little buddy (at least I like to think so... he's really a Daddy's kid too). He is always learning & amazing me! He can clap & wave, sometimes. He loves the army crawl, but we're helping him learn to really crawl. Like his sister he is not a fan of food. He'll munch on a graham er or eat the sweet fruits, but not much else! He's nine months old, 27.5 inches long, and weighs 17.9 lbs! We love our happy happy boy!

This is Olivia Lynn, my princess. She loves the color purple! She also loves Dora the Explorer & Blue's Clues. She doesn't like food so much... she went through a chicken nugget phase, but now it's a fight to get her to eat anything. Although, she does like chocolate anything & cheese. She is definitely a Daddy's & a very sweet princess!

This here is my wonderful husband, Todd Young! He takes such good care of our family & especially his wife! He is so care free & goofy that there is never a dull moment in our life. He's a solver so he is really good at taking care of problems as smoothly & quickly as possible. I guess that's also why he does such a great job at his job as superintendent at Desert Point Builders. Love ya honey!

Starting Over

So, I got all confused & ended up with a couple of blogs... hopefully they'll just end up being deleted... BUT this is the one to go to! So we're starting all over, but ten times better now that I'm getting the hang of things!