Congratulations Dad & Linda

I am so excited to announce that my dad and Linda Clark are getting married!  They met over a year ago and hit off right away!  On Friday, December 12th, he took her to temple square and asked her to marry him... we're all so glad that she said "Yes!"  Linda is an amazing woman with an incredible story of her own!  She's a talented violin player and such a happy woman!  We are very blessed that she has decided to join our family!  Congrats you two!!

Where I've Been

First of all, we're all okay!  But last Saturday on our way to Salt Lake for a couple of family Christmas parties we hit the heart of the storm that we knew was coming.  After about 20 minutes we hit a patch of ice going about 35/40mph.  We slid until we had turned around then hit the dirt shoulder rolling into the median valley until we were back on all fours.  The truck is totaled but none of us were!  My arm was pretty mangled so they took me to the hospital for xrays, but nothing was broken just incredibly bruised and beat.  We were very blessed!  Another great blessing was that my aunt and uncle were not too far ahead of us, by coincidence, so they were able to turn around and help out at the hospital and give us a ride to Salt Lake!  So we ended up in Salt Lake longer then we had planned so I wasn't able to upload pictures, and when we did finally get home our internet was out due to the unexpected blizzard in the desert!  But life is finally settling back to normal, so I hope to get caught up now!

Congratulations Brittany and Shaun

Last Saturday Todd's cousin, Brittany, and Shaun tied the knot!  They are so cute and beautiful!  I love newlyweds, so in love!  Their reception was absolutely gorgeous!  I didn't know that my uncle had made a miniature St. George LDS temple as a back drop for the reception line. (Except I just realized I don't have a picture of it, I'll have to get one from someone else and post it later.) It was amazing!  My favorite part of the whole night, though, was when my kids got dancing together!  That was absolutely precious!  Congratulations you two and may you have decades of loving moments together!

Look What I Can Do

First of all, you have to understand that I've never really been a "girly-girl".  Well, I guess except for seventh grade when I used to wake up early enough to paint m nails to match my outfit.  But still, I never did like getting my hair done or doing it myself.  My mom even said to me once "I always wanted a little girl so I could do her hair up cute, but..."  Life has a sense of humor so I got a girl first, but I had no idea how to do her hair.  For a long time I didn't do anything, but once I could get her to sit still enough I finally got ponytails, then pigtails, and now I've become more creative!  So this is me, patting myself on the back :) 

p.s. I haven't gotten this good yet, but this mom does some amazing things with her daughters hair!

What a Weekend

It's taken me a little while to get settled back into life after this super fun and crazy busy weekend!  We headed up to Salt Lake City last Wednesday so we could join my family, the Montgomerys, for Thanksgiving.  That day was a lot of fun, but also quite chaotic!  I guess I bring it upon myself... I love traditions, therefore I create and follow through with many.  Which also means that my family loves to tease me about it... why?  I'll never understand!  Anyways, so I like to make a little something to put by each plate.  this year it was little treat bags with turkeys on them!  I also like to have a little scrapbook that everyone can write down what they're grateful for.  I love to look back and read what has been written as well as see how we've all grown!  I love traditions!  After the yummy dinner at my grandmas (which was also her birthday... Happy Birthday Sweet Grandma Norma) I met up with best friend, Laura Joy!  We played Scrabble (ugh!), good thing she was there to think up words for me!  I has very pleased with the day, even though I missed my mom more than ever!

I promised my Grandma Betty that we'd do shopping together while we were up there... turned out to be the only day we could go was also Black Friday, dum dum dum!  I've NEVER been out shopping that day, I'd rather be putting up the Christmas tree & other decorations... BUT suits were 60% off and that is what Todd would be getting from his parents for his birthday, so out into the craziness we went!  But we got a lot done (Gma's was all done), and had a good time wearing ourselves out!  The day was also Todd's 29th Birthday!  I gathered some family and Todd's friends at Golden Coral so we could eat and celebrate together!  It was a lot of fun, I got to meet new people and mingle with those we've known forever, some even our whole lives!  I am so grateful for good friends and family... life would be terrible without them!  But I'm especially grateful for my husband... so I gave him a Wii!  He was surprised & excited!  I was especially okay with getting him this because he said he wanted it so he could play games with the kids!  He's such a good daddy!

We had to head home Saturday morning because we had two weddings to be to that night, one of which Todd was asked to be the best man.  So first we headed to Parowan where we joined in celebrating the wedding for Nate and Cynthia!  It was a small wedding done in her parent's living room, but I was very impressed by how tasteful it was.  The place was beautifully decorated, and the couple was very happy!  Congrats you guys!

After the dinner, ceremony, and several pictures, we loaded up our little family to head to St George so we could celebrate with Tony and Brie!  Unfortunately we missed their ceremony and were only able to get there for the tail end of the party, but I'm glad we did get there.  They are such good friends and we were especially happy that Tony had found someone!  Ahh, everyone is growing up ;)  Congrats to you guys!

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code

Before I get to sharing about this crazy weekend we just had, I wanted to update on this book... I have actually read this book multiple times and have yet to have finished it until now.  I turned my little brother on to the Artemis Fowl series and he still enjoys them, so I figured it had to be good and decided to give it another chance.  Actually, I decided to listen to it since now days it takes a lot longer to get anywhere... I actually have to drive into town instead of a couple blocks.  I really enjoyed listening to Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer.  The story was very interesting and entertaining, and it has twists... I love twists!  But I am getting tired of young teen geniuses or nobodies that find out their going to save to world... I guess that means I'm outgrowing up and out of juvenile fiction :(  Anyways, good stuff to read here!

Mesquite Getaway

Saturday night Todd and I headed to Mesquite, Nevada to join our friends, Tony and Brie, for their combined Bachelor/Bachelorette party.  This sweet couple will be getting married this coming Saturday (the 29th) and wanted to celebrate with all their friends.  Todd and I were very excited for the opportunity to go play!  It was a fun-filled night starting with yummy food at the Eureka.  Afterwards we went back to our hotel, the Oasis, so the party could race go-carts... that was a hoot to watch!  And then we headed into the casino to play.  We had a lot of fun... Tony introduced us to Paigow poker, that was a lot of fun.  Todd and I made $40 last for three hours.  It's fun because you're not competing against each other so everyone is talkative and helpful, and with our friends playing too it was awesome!  Even though that picture of me is at the slots, let me tell ya... I don't enjoy them hardly at all.  First, I don't trust computers, and it's just boring... no interaction.  I played $2 there just because I wanted to play Keno, but they didn't do it old school anymore... just on the slots.  One of my fondest memories is when my dad would buy me a keno card while we ate dinner on vacation in Mesquite.  He'd let me choose the numbers and then we'd watch to see if we won.  So I played for nostalgic reasons, but the machine is not the same!  Anyways... it was a GREAT night!!

Our Little Turkeys

I have found a new love... doing arts and crafts with the kids!  I have really struggled with how to occupy my kids time so that they aren't just watching tv (even though the cartoons amaze me with how much the can teach these days).  One day I discovered the Family Fun magazine at the library, and my world has changed!  I know, I'm a little slow... duh, crafts with the kids is a great past/present time.  But, if you know me, I have a hard time letting the kids get into messy stuff, so I guess for a long time I was just waiting for an appropriate age... when they could follow instructions and not get the supplies all over the house.  Well, we have come of age!  I am loving it!  And it is so sweet to see how proud they are of their creations!  Ah, I love being a mom!  Plus, don't you love their "concentrating" faces!  Gary's is the best cause he'll get really close with his eyes to the project, like he has to see every detail... or he'll stick out his tongue, all sorts of cuteness!  These turkeys went in our window, and the kids love to point them out so no one misses out!  Sweet!

What a Visit

Today Todd and I spoke in church... after we were asked to speak Todd was quick to make sure the people I know knew that I'd be speaking... Thanks Todd (grr)!  Not that I'm complaining completely, because it meant that my family came down to visit me AGAIN!  Two weeks in a row... I'm so happy :)  I called up my Grandma Betty and invited her to come down to so we could celebrate her birthday together!  As you can see she turned 29... again :)  It was such a fun night: we ate a grand dinner, gave her gifts, followed by cake and ice cream!  I loved being able to spotlight her, especially since she's not too fond of birthdays... that just made it all the better to make her feel special!  After we got the kiddos to bed we played games and laughed a lot!  Today was a lot of fun as well (as soon as I got the talk over with ;))... we had more yummy food and hung out a bit before they had to go home again :(  But in a week and a half we'll be up there again for Thanksgiving, Yay!

Flashback Friday

This isn't too far of flashback, but last week was so busy as we led up to Halloween that I never got this posted and I wanted to!  Tuesday, October 28th, our friend, Ty Hansen (aka Linda, my dad's girlfriend's, son-in-law) took us on a flight in his four person propeller air plane!  That was quite the experience,  very different from a commercial jet... especially on the landing.  I don't know if I enjoy such front row seats as the ground gets closer and closer!  I really enjoyed seeing all of our beautiful surroundings from above, though, it's such a different perspective!  That's also different then a jet, since they quickly rise above the clouds.  It was a very unique experience, and I'm glad we took advantage of the opportunity to go!  And we're very grateful that Ty was willing to take us with him!

Our Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun, the whole month was  a lot of fun!!  We started the day at our local library (in Hurricane) where they had a costume parade!  I was very impressed by how many kids were there!  That afternoon we decorated cupcakes with spiderwebs and spiders (don't worry, it was all edible) for our party that night.  Then I told a "ghost story" while they colored paper ghosts to match the story and hung them in the window for their daddy to see when he got home.  We went to a little trunk-or-treat with their little cousin Koda, Uncle Koby, and Gma Young.  And then we headed to St. George where we went to the Ballantynes.  This wasn't only cool because we were having a mini-party, but also because I hadn't talked to Jenny since our previous college days.  We were friends in high school, then roommates at SUU, she did my hair for my wedding as well as one of my bridesmaids, but life hit after that and we loss touch until we recently found each other again on Facebook!  It was fun to reunite as well as watch our kids trick-or-treat together!  We had a lot of fun, and were sufficiently worn out by the end of the night!  And for the first time I'm not complaining about the weather... it was PERFECT!

My Sweet Angel and Little Devil

I finally got the kids all dressed up and to the park so I could take their pictures.  I love how their costumes turned out!  Liv is my little angel (most of the time ;)).  I learned how to make a tutu by copying the one that Chel made for Liv.  I used tulle that has like glass drops on it so when the light hits them the tutu shimmers!  Then I bought a simple long sleeved (cause I'm used to having a really cold Halloween night, but probably not this year) shirt from Target.  I bought a feather boa that I then cut up so I could line the waist of the tutu, the wrists, and the color of the tshirt.  I loved the extra flavor!  Then I caved and bought the wings and halo cause I found them for a great deal!  Gary is my little devil, and it's true, he his a troublemaker!  His costume was really simple, I put together his church clothes so it was simple back and white.  I made him a cape, which I know he'll where a lot in future dress-up sessions with his sister!  And then bought him little devil horns, a tail (which is safety pinned to his pants) and a pitch fork (which I left at home on accident when we took these pictures).  He loves his costume, when he has his pitch fork he loves to do his "evil laugh"... totally pulls his whole costume together!  They both are precious and super excited to go trick-or-treating!  Yay!

Sunday Spotlight

October - I love October, it is my favorite month!  Firstly it's because of my mom... The month starts with Mom's birthday on the 2nd which takes me back to many happy memories.  Her last birthday she was in such good spirits even though she was so sick, and it makes me laugh every time I think about it!  Later in the month, the 26th, today, is the anniversary of her passing.  This a sad thought, but with it comes a whole lot of reminiscing!  And the memories are priceless.  But it's not just those two days, the thoughts of Mom last all through the month since so many things happened during October 2004.  I love remembering my mom!

Plus, October is like the kick off for all the holidays to come for those three months.  It starts with the weather change... I love fall weather, so cool after a hot summer!  And then the activities and crafts all leading up to Halloween night with

 costumes and trick or treating!  We have had a lot of fun creating festive little works of art this year!  The kids absolutely love painting, and it turns out I like to 

let them do so as long as I have some sort of control of the mess!  Tonight we will be carving pumpkins, another favorite tradition.  Usually I take a carved on to my mom's, but I left that to the guys up north this year!  And the most fun part of it all... dressing up!  I love it!  Liv and Gary boy

 will be an angel and a little devil (can you

 guess which is which??)!  I will be posting those pictures later this week!  I hope all of you enjoy your October, Halloween and all the holidays to come!! 

Our Pumpkin Patch Adventure

I have always enjoyed the tradition of taking the kids to a local pumpkin patch to pick their own pictures.  Not only does it provide fun memories and a good time, but it also turns out a lot of cute pictures!  So I asked around to find out where one might be here in hot southern Utah, and learned of the Staheli Family Farm.  Our first attempt to go to this pumpkin patch was last weekend when my family was in town... that was a bust.  Then we decided to try again last Tuesday when Todd was home from work.  We weren't quite sure when they opened.  On their corn maze site it said 5-10p, but we didn't know if that included the patch.  So about 3p we headed out anyways.  The place was like a ghost town... no one was around, but we decided to wander around anyways and get a look at the patch.  We were sorely disappointed.  First, it was a long hot walk to the the pumpkins (now I understand why they advertised "free hayride to and from pumpkin patch") and when we got there the place was so sparse.  Plus, the pumpkins didn't even grow there, they had them brought in.  Of course, I still took advantage of their displays so I could get some pictures taken... hey, I still had to document our adventure!  Then we decided to concede with the pumpkin patch idea, and instead headed to Walmart, bought the pumpkins there (and take more pictures), and then finish off the outing with ice cream!  The actual pumpkin patch was a sad sight, but the overall trip was a whole lot of fun!