The Nicoll Family

Time Flies

2008-12-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast these two are growing up. I just wanted to do a little update on my two little guys. This is Dax at 22 months, he weighs 25.8 lbs and is 34 inches tall. He is such a tease and has the cheesiest smile you've ever seen. He is the oldest by a whole minute and even though he's a little smaller you can definately tell he's the older brother.

This is Trex and he weighs 28 lbs. and is 34 1/2 inches tall. If I had to describe him in one word it would be "sweet". He loves to play with balls and he tries to be just like his older brother. He's definately the baby of the family.

They are both into everything you can imagine right now but I love watching them interact and grow up. In alot of ways having two is actually easier than one but, and I think most moms know, there are just those days when you feel like you're one step behind and those are the ones that really get me. Like the other day I put these two in the bath and started laying out their clothes on the bed, when I walked back in they had the toilet bowl cleaner and plunger in the tub with them....SO GROSS... so I got them up rinsed them off and got them out of the bath and I cleaned out the tub and then I walk into the kitchen and find that Trexton has pooped on the floor and is trying to sweep it up with the broom. AHHH so I grab both of them put diapers on them and move on to cleaning up that discusting mess. While I'm doing that they move into the living room and throw all the cushions off the couch and are jumping off the couch onto the cushions laughing. I think, "this isn't too bad"..and I put the cushions back on the couch, but while I'm doing that, Dax wanders into the kitchen and pulls an entire bag of lucky charms off the counter and onto the floor that I just finished mopping. That's when my mom calls and asks "Watcha doin?"...The saddest part is that if she hadn't called, I wouldn't have even thought twice about my day. But, even on days like this I love having them around.

Hunting 08'

2008-11-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would post a few pictures, as you can see we got pretty lucky this year. I didn't realize how small these Coues deer are compared to Mule deer. I was feeling pretty proud of mine until Nate showed up the next day with this "Monster" as they call it, I guess my glory days were short lived.... Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I got to go. Thanks to my mother-in-law for coming to babysit so I could go!

I don't think I'll be forgetting this hunting trip anytime soon. After we shot these two deer Nate, Daniel, and Gunner hiked down the mountain to get them and I stayed up top with the binocculars to lead them to the deer. Well, it started to get dark so I hiked down to the spot where I was supposed to meet up with them to hike back to the Artic Cat. When I got there I called Nate on the radio and told him I was there and he said it was going to take a couple of hours so I better find a comfortable spot. I started to sit down right where I was but I heard something. Then Daniel calls me on the radio and says if I start to get scared to start singing Primary songs. I figured the noises I kept hearing must be them trying to scare me, so I hiked down a little ways and hid in a bush. I kept hearing noises so after a little while I cocked my gun hoping this would end their little joke. Well, I must have heard something real close because all of the sudden I jumped up and turned around to see an outline of an animal less than 10 feet away. I knew it was too big, but I was really hoping it was a coyote. Sure enough it turned to look at me and I could see it's cat face, I had a little of that "Life flashed before my eyes" thing happen and I honestly didn't think I was going to walk away from it. My legs froze, I couldn't remember if I had left the bullet in the hole or if I was going to need to cock my gun, but I did know that I only had one bullet. I didn't know if I would be fast enough or if I could even hit it. It's a little harder to shoot a rifle at something that close than it is to shoot a deer 300 yards away let alone the fact that it might be on top of you before you get your gun up. Anyway, it didn't move eithor, we just stared at each other for about 10 seconds that seemed like forever and then it turned and walked away. I called Nate on the radio, let a few words slip that don't usually come out of my mouth, and he grabbed his pack with just about a whole deer in it, and ran up the hill to save me....30 minutes away!! So I stayed right where I was because the only bush to put my back up against was the one with my back already to the Mountain Lion and I wasn't going to sit there again. Instead, I did circles with my little green light, trying to see eyes flash. I could still hear it out there every once in a while so I have to say that 30 minutes was like 24 hours, I guess I'm just lucky it wasn't that hungry!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

Shelbi was a Zombie Cheerleader, Harlee was a butterfly princess, and the boys were GI Joes. (although Colleen thought they looked more like Ninja Turtles).

Here's Harlee dancing with the skeleton...I actually caught her talking to it a few times while we were there.

All this guy cared about was the candy!

The kids had a blast trick or treating with all their cousins.

I thought this picture was cute of the boys taking care of each other.

Nate took the kids on train rides the next day when the line wasn't quite so long.

I'm not sure who had more fun...Nate or the kids!

Harlee and the boys had fun feeding the chickens at grammie's.

The boys lasted a few minutes on the horse. Shelbi actually fell off after this but I didn't get a picture...good thing it wasn't far to fall.

Granpa Steve gave the kids a four wheeler ride afterwards...I'm not sure how many times he circled the yard but the boys loved it!

Anyway, it was a pretty fun weekend and I'm glad Nate let me drag everybody up there for Halloween.

Shelbi's Piano recital

2008-11-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

Shelbi had her first piano recital. It was at a retirement home. She played "Halloween Fun" and they had to wear their halloween costumes. Shelbi was a Zombie Cheerleader this year but we didn't paint her face for the recital. It was hard to get any pictures from where we were sitting so Nate took this one outside afterwards. Nice pose....total cheerleader.

Here she is playing her song. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the look on her face just before she started playing..she was so nervous, but she did great!

Did you say Dingleberry?

2008-11-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

Tiff and I went to the zoo the other day. The kids had a blast seeing all the animals and playing in the water park. Here are a couple of pictures.

Any one that knows Tiffany knows that you can't go anywhere in public with her, without getting imbearassed at least once. Sure enough when we were looking at the baboons she started explaining to all the kids how they have hands just like we do and just then one got up and turned around and Tiffany was like, "look at those dingleberries!". Of course one of the kids asked, "What's a "dingleberry"?" So Tiffany starts explaining exactly what "dingleberries" are without even noticing that there was an extra kid sitting there. I turned around and sure enough the extra little girls parents are standing right behind us. They were like, "Hannah time to go!" right in the middle of Tiff's detailed explaination of the "dingleberry". You should have seen the look on Tiffany's face when she realized that there was an extra little girl sitting there. It was hilarious!

An Unexpected Guest

2008-09-10T10:16:00.001-07:00

My mom came down the other day and she opened the front door to this while she was here. All the girls were running around screaming and Nate is out there trying to catch it while Mike took pictures.

It's funny, the other day I said that I had never seen one out here and since then I have seen three! Now I just can't get away from these things. My poor mom... I told her a story about Trexton reaching down and trying to pick up a scorpian in his room the other day (luckily I had wipes in my hand already so I swiped it out from under his hand just before he got it!) and then she comes down and this happens...I think she's ready for us to move. It's pretty funny how much excitement a LITTLE spider can cause.

Like father like son

2008-09-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

We like to tease Nate a little about his obsession with mowing the lawn. You know how when you go out of town and you have to have your dishes done and your trash taken out...Well Nate has to have the lawn mowed before we leave! When we were landscaping our lawn they told us about this curbing that has a mowers edge on it so you don't have to weed eat...Nate was like "but I like weed eating" No Joke, that's exactly what he said! Yeah, we ended up with the regular curbing, same price I might add. Anyway I couldn't resist grabbing my camera when I saw this going on. So cute he's got a little MOW BUDDY.

Dax's wheels would get stuck so he would just pick the whole thing up and start running to keep up with Nate.

If you need any professional lawn mowing services give this little guy a call!

An update of the past month....

2008-08-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

I was so far behind I decided to cram it all into a little slide show. I like to say I've been too busy to blog but really I haven't, I've just been lazy! Anyway, we've gone to the lake a few times, which is where we saw the Desert Bighorn Sheep. We went camping up at Big Lake and Nate and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. Shelbi started 2nd grade and her teacher's name is Mrs. Spencer. School started for me too but all my classes are online.

What's Mine Is Not Yours!

2008-07-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

The other day I started painting the bench in my kitchen and my boys found a chair out of the paint can...sure enough they started fighting over it so I had to get another one out of the garage so they could each have their own. Who knew a paint can could be the perfect size chair for a little boy, they absolutley love these things.

It's not just the paint cans..they have to have their own on pretty much everything these days. Here's a picture of the boys doin a little "dance dance revolution". They love to dance!

Roosevelt 2008

2008-07-11T13:21:00.001-07:00

Nate rented one of the SRP houses at Roosevelt after the 4th of July so the lake was pretty much empty..We had so much fun! Linde and Luke and their family, Tim and Tori, and Amanda and Kevin all came. I realize now I should have done a slide show for all these pictures but I was already half done and I couldn't pass them up so...

Shelbi doesn't like to water ski but her dad makes her so this is her "I'm Grumpy Face"

She really did have fun fishing, tubing, and hanging out with her cousins!

Here's Linde's boys enjoying smores

Aunt Tori, Harlee, and Kenzi on the tube! Unlike Shelbi, Harlee loves to water ski or tube!

Luke being Luke....

Kooper taking a nap..

Tim getting ready to "Tear it Up"

Nate throwing Kevin out of the boat

Nate showing off..

Tristan, Shelbi, Kason, and Kyron

Amanda and one of her famous face expressions!

Amanda skipping across the water like a little rock

Tim on the tube.....(sort of)

Tim off the tube...

The 4th of July

2008-07-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here's Shelbi, Harlee, Marion, and Alex watching the parade and trying to get the most candy!

Dax was the stickiest little boy out there!

This little guy couldn't have cared less about the floats as long as he had a sucker he was happy!

This was Nate's favorite float....

I thought this picture was so cute of Grandma Nicoll and Grandpa Steve in the Artic Cat and its definately the way to watch the parade... in the shade and comfy seats.

I'm so thankful to live in such a great country, celbrating the 4th always reminds me of how blessed we really are.

I also wanted to wish Shelbi a Happy Birthday. She turned seven on the 3rd of July and we had a little party for her at my parents house, she's such a great kid and we love her. Thanks to all that came and for all the great gifts!

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

2008-06-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

We met up with Rich and Mary at Chucky Cheese today to celebrate Mary and Shelbi's birthday that are a day apart, we had a blast!

Shelbi was pretty excited about her new "Easy Bake Oven" and "Polly Pockets" I'm pretty excited that these gifts don't make any noise! Rich and Mary think it's pretty funny to get the kids extremely LOUD toys! They laugh because they get to go home after the kids open them. Anyway I hope you have a great Birthday Mary, we love you.

Planes...

Trains...

and Automobiles...

Harlee was so funny, she just walked right up on stage and started dancing with Chucky..she wasn't embarrased at all, and I don't think she even knew she was just about the only one.

Got Bubbles?

2008-06-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

The other day Shelbi asked it they could take a bubble bath in my room and I said "Sure"
This is what she meant.... (Actually, when they turn the jets on in the tub the bubbles go nuts)

The boys wanted in on the fun too! It was actually overflowing and the tub is only about half full.

I guess it was one of those days where all you can do is smile and take a picture!

I just had to post this picture...we call it the "Butt Bomb" she learned it from Gunner when he came swimming with us and decided to demonstrate what he calls the "Flying Butt Pirate" Anyway it has given us a lot of laughs! My girls have gotten absolutely crazy in the pool. Nate actually throws them over his head and they do a double flip and dive in and they come up laughing, so as we say in the pool "Put your hands together for the Amazing Shelbi and Harlee"

2008-06-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking on my blog but I wanted to do a little post of our "Vegas Vacation". My mom came down and kept the kids for the weekend so Nate and I could go by ourselves and we had so much fun! This is a picture of us in downtown Las Vegas. I spent a whole dollar that night gambling on the penny slots and it entertained us for about an hour.

This picture I took earlier that evening where they have it all lit up.

Here's nate at midnight watching the water show at the Bellagio.

Here's me when we met up with Nicholas Cage.

And later we saw Cameron Diaz.

This crew is not quite as famous but way more fun to hang out with! This is after the Seafood Buffet....we were so full all I wanted to do was take a nap!

We really did have a great time...We went to see the show Mystere and some show with impersonaters. I wouldn't have cared if we had just hung out in the hotel the entire weekend, because any break without the kids is vacation for me! Although I have to say, I missed the little turds and after two days I was ready to come home...

LINDE

2008-06-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a few pictures of the good ole' days when $5 could still get you to Show Low and back in Tiffany's Scout! I've updated my playlist with a few hits from the 90's that I'm personally dedicating to Linde for her birthday!

Thanks for being a great friend and sister-in-law. Have a great Birthday!

Fun Times

2008-06-02T11:50:00.001-07:00

Jesse and his girls came over on Saturday and he brought his scuba gear with him so we went Scuba Diving in our little pool...I've never been so I thought it was pretty cool, I can't imagine what it would be like in the ocean. The kids had a blast.

Don't ya just love Nate's hat

Afterwards, I skipped out a little early to meet Misty Moo Tittle for lunch, we have been planning on going out without kids since my birthday back in April...and we finally got around to it. We planned to go get pedicures or go shopping afterwards but we ended up visiting so long we ran out of time. We had fun just hanging out though.

Then Nate and I met to go see Indiana Jones which ended up being a total bust, I ended up leaving with the boys and Nate fell asleep in the movie with the girls. He gets that from his dad!
The girls liked the movie though.

Well we came home and and the girls wanted to go swimming again, we were all outside and I saw two wild turkeys right behind our house so Nate called Gunner and they took off in the Artic Cat chasing them. Nate (wearing flip flops) gets out and looks down just in time to see this... all coiled up and ready to strike.

I love Shelbi's scared smile in this picture

This is as close as Dax and I would get to it

The next morning I went out hunting for church shoes in the car and Nate had left it in the garage...I jumped so high and it scared me so bad that no sound even came out of my mouth! I came walking back in wearing my high heels with my pajamas..no more walking in the garage bare foot for me!

Allred Family/Memorial Day Weekend!!!

2008-06-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

I think the reunion turned out pretty great as far as reunions go.

Saturday we went to the lake and had a barbeque at my house. We blew up the water slide, rode four wheelers and even managed to get a few games of paintball in that night.

Sunday we went to the Temple to watch the Joseph Smith film and then gathered at Grandma Mary's for a prime rib dinner and then all the guys went golfing while girls hung out with the kids.

Monday morning we played paintball again and those of us that were still in town went out fourwheeling again. It's a pain to get everyone together but you make a lot of good memories. I have such a horrible memory that I decided I better write down a few of them.

Doug and Caroline getting flipped around on the Tube, (Caroline almost lost her shorts!)

Nate chasing Cord, Mike, and Ryan with the paintball gun! You should see the welts on Cords back, Nate was probably only five feet away! They ended up getting Nate back worse though, one of them shot him right in the ******! Nate just layed there for like five minutes, curled up in a ball.

Going scorpian hunting with Nate Walter, Mike, and Ashley.

Seeing Maddy on the fourwheeler with pure joy spread across her face yelling faster, faster!

The Famous Prime Rib Dinner we always get to have thanks to Brando.

Shelbi's Dance Recital

2008-05-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Shelbi had her first dance recital on Saturday. She was a little nervous getting on stage but by the end she was really getting into it. She even added her own little dance move when she ran off the stage... she jumped and did the splits in the air just before she got to the curtain. My Grandma Mary and Jenna came to watch, and so did Rich and Mary, they brought Shelbi flowers and afterwards we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. It was a lot of fun! Here's a picture of Shelbi in her tap costume.

What am I supposed to do with this???

2008-05-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days, the girls and I have seen this stray cat in the back yard once in a while. Any way the girls call it a kitty...so when Nate called the other night I was like, "We just saw the kitty again." Of course he had to tease me about calling it a "Kitty" and he asked is a kitten or a cat? I was like "shut up, it's a cat okay!" Then the next day I walked in the kitchen and I heard Harlee telling him about the KITTY and then he asked her "is it a baby cat or a big cat?" and she was like "A real baby one...two ob dum". He looks up at me and I'm shaking my head whispering it's a cat, stop teasing us already!

So later that day, after Nate went to work, I pulled into the garage and sure enough there are two baby kittens staring at me, and Harlee snoring in her carseat didn't even get to say "see, I told you".

Now what am I supposed to do? We hate cats! I heard they do eat scorpians though and the girls love them....One is kinda mean and hisses at you if you go near it, but the other one is pretty sweet.

How Many More Birthdays???

2008-05-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ashley! Its a good thing you were born in May, you fit right in with the rest of the family! Hope you had a fun day.

Happy birthday to Elyse and Tori also... They were a few days ago, at least thats what I have written on my calendar. I hope I got the dates right and I hope you both had a great birthday.

I've been pretty busy lately. Last week I finished up my Anatomy 202 class and I barely got an A and I finished my Developmental Psychology class the week before. Then, I was shopping at Costco, and I came across "The Host", and since school is done, I had some time so I got it and I finished it already. I liked it, but don't trust my opinion because I think pretty much everything is good:)

Here's some pictures of the girls when Rich and Mary came by with fireworks, they kinda look like they are doing some kind of tribal dance or something but it was fun watching them run around the yard and hang out. We didn't even have any accidents! Unlike last time when Nate almost burned his hand off lighting the sparklers.

Happy Birthday Ryan...and Mike

2008-05-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

Harlee and I got the pleasure of waking Ryan up this morning when we called to sing "Happy Birthday"....I think I actually heard a mumbled "Thanks" out of him, which is much better than the usual reaction of waking him up in the morning (He's 16 if that explains it, and who could get grouchy to Harlee's voice when you wake up:) ).... Poor guy didn't get his licence though..... No, not because he failed the test.... He just has to wait a week....Good luck, and Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to Mike! Who is also 16....wait.. I mean 25 tomorrow. Don't worry you'll get your wakeup call from the girls too. Hope you do something crazy for your 25th birthday..it only happens once and it's the last time you'll be just as close to 20 as you are to 30!

When ever I clean, the boys follow me around with wash cloths and they love to wash the walls or whatever....so today when I decided to wash the car I thought "oh..I'll bring out extra wash cloths and that will be a cute picture".....Well this is what I ended up with!

Way to go Jen....Now not only do I have to wash the car but two dirty little boys! At least they had fun though....That Trex is fast, he was in that mud puddle before I even realized it was there!

Meanwhile, Shelbi was busy turning her sister into a Princess!

It's funny I remember dressing Emily up when I was little too.

Weekend in Provo

2008-04-30T15:38:00.001-07:00

It was so fun to see everyone in Provo this weekend. Tori's Graduation was so nice and of course, I forgot my camera in the car, but we got together for breakfast the next morning so I managed to get a few pictures. The next day my dad got cheap hotels at the Marriot so we went to Salt Lake to celabrate Emily's birthday...we went to the Planetarium, swimming at the hotel with cupcakes made by my cousin Eric his wife Laura, and their little guys Kylan, and Kason, and that night my dad scalped tickets for the Jazz game and took Emily, Nate, Tristan, and Shelbi. They had a blast. The Next day we went to say goodbye to everyone and pick up Kenzi and we got to spend a little time with the Johnson's. The girls were so cute on the drive home, I think they giggled the entire way home, until they finally fell asleep for the last hour. It was so fun for the girls to have Kenzi come with us, and Dax and Trex were great on the drive....I'm so lucky to have such good boys, I don't think they cried once the whole way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEE!

Look what Nate did to his beard while I was gone!!!
Lately this is what the boys have been doing...they go in their room and pull their silky blankets out through the bars of their cribs and stick them on their heads and walk around like ghosts, or they just hang out with them on their heads just like this.... It's so funny! I seriously, never thought I would have boys that suck their thumbs and have silky's:) but they LOVE them!

Just A Little Update.

2008-04-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

So, my camera is in Flagstaff at Linde's because Nate left it in her car (just like him to do that) when they all went to the Diamondbacks game. Thanks Steve for taking Nate and Shelbi, I know you just about had to twist his arm to get him to go, but once he got there he had to admit it was pretty fun! Linde and I stayed home with the little kids and took them on a little four wheeler ride and made some yummy fruit dip, and ended up watching, "Enchanted" TOTAL girls night. It was great to see everyone and the kids had a blast. You can't blame them with the water slide, a baseball game, scorpian hunting, and even a little rockband! It really was a great weekend. I'm sad I don't have any picture's but Linde has some of the Baseball game, the one of Shelbi with peanuts up her nose is great!

Anyway, Tori is graduating from BYU this weekend (congrats!) and Emily's Birthday is on Saturday so I'm headed to Utah this weekend to see them. Colleen is eithor nice enough or crazy enough to put up with me and the four kiddo's on the drive up...(if she isn't crazy yet she will be by the end of that drive!) I had such a hard time deciding if I should go and I think the deciding factor was when Emily brought up the fact that I am a permanant member of the fun club. That's right, my family has a fun club and it's members consist of M.Jay, Cord, and myself, temporary members are welcome, but to become permanant you have to do some pretty crazy stuff..for example..Sky Diving! Anyway, as I was trying to decide if I really wanted to tackle this trip with the kids, I had to ask myself "Am I Still Worthy To Be A Member Of The Fun Club?" So thank you Emily for reminding me of my true priorities! j/k

THE PARTY!

2008-04-14T22:31:00.001-07:00

The Birthday Girl

2008-04-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

Yep...she is a big girl now, she's 4 years old and proud of it! We had a party for her on Saturday and I want to thank everyone for the time they took to come celebrate it with us, and for all the lovely gifts. We had so much fun.

The water slide was a huge hit for all the kiddos and it was funny watching Harlee get braver every time until she was finally going down the slide on her stomach.

Warming up! The kids got a little cold on the water slide so after awhile they would jump in the hot tub, and then back to slide. Dax is here just hangin with the ladies!

Pinata Time!

The Mad Dash.....

Harlee wanted cupcakes for her birthday "so everyone could have one"

The Gifts!

And finally Harlee got her NOPE!

I also wanted to wish Kason a Happy Birthday! His birthday is the day after Harlee's which always helps me remember. I hope you had a great 8th birthday and we are looking forward to seeing you at your babtism! (we'll bring you your present when we come okay....HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

OUT OF TOWNERS.....

2008-04-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

We are having a little birthday party for Harlee on Saturday, this weekend, in our backyard... so if any of you, that don't live in Mesa, are going to be in town, let me know...We would love to see you, and Harlee wants to invite everyone to her little party!

WHOO HOO!

2008-04-06T16:52:00.001-07:00

I know I should be watching conference right now, but thanks to DVR I am recording it so I can watch it tonight when the kids go to bed and I can actually get something out of it!
Anyway, I've been so busy lately, I thought I'ld finally catch up on my blog:)

The other day John Henderson won some tickets to the renissance festival that he couldn't use, so he gave them to us and Nate had to let my crazy girls try the human bunjy jump!!! Here's Harlee down.....

and here's Harlee up!

Here is crazy Shelbi

They loved every minute of it!

There is a bunch of weird people there, kind of like Carnies but, thanks John, the girls sure had fun!

What Ever Works!

2008-04-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

What a mess, but they loved every minute of eating there spagetti.

All done, and ready for more!

I know Trexton looks like the pig here but really, Dax just eats faster....alot faster!

Clean up time! Ahh, Just throw them in the pool and hose off their highchairs, no big deal!

Garden Progress!

2008-04-06T15:56:00.001-07:00

Here's a few pictures from my garden, I swear if I sat there long enough I could actually see the leaves getting bigger! Every morning when I would go out to water it, I would be so surprized to see how much they had grown over night!

If you look real close, in the middle of this picture, you can see my first tomato!!!!

I know, I know I'm such a nerd! I can't believe how one little tomato can make me so happy but if you've never had a garden...I recomend it...I think it's even been teaching me a little patience.

Any way school this semester has been pretty hard, so I guess my garden has been my little release. Just getting outside every day and having something to do while I watch the kids play has been great.

And The Winner Is...

2008-04-06T10:08:00.001-07:00

I decided I wanted to plant some roses, Nate usually does all this stuff but since I started gardening I thought I'ld give it a try....I planted 2 and they both look about like this.

After I planted mine....Mr. Competitive decided to plant 2 of his own, and this is what both of his look like....I think I win!!! (I never win so I had to post this)

Happy Birthday Nate

2008-03-30T19:53:00.001-07:00

I Hope your day is as wonderful and perfect as you are!

A Few Funnies

2008-03-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Harlee has been making me laugh a lot these last couple of weeks so I thought I would write a few of her stories down so I don't forget them.

We took her to see "The Spiderwick Chronicles" and she has been scared of the goblins ever since. I had to give her a magic word to make the invisible goblins go away....and the first word I could think of was "Bippity Boo". So now everywhere she goes I'll hear her say "Bippity Boo". Nate will say, "Watch out for the Goblins, Harlee!" and she'll take off running yelling "Bippity Boo" or I'll hear her whisper down the hall as she goes into her room by herself..."Bippity Boo" It's so funny, if I knew she was going to use it so much, I might have put a little more thought into the word I chose. BIPPITY BOO!

She asked me if her hair grew or if I glued it on???

For the longest time, whenever she would ask me a question she would get right up in my face and say, "say yes, mom" or "say No" depending on what answer she wanted to hear. It was kinda funny, but after a while I was like, what's up with this kid??? Then the other day she asked me if she could get the mail and I said, "sure" and she said..."Does SURE mean yes or no, mom??" Come to find out she doesn't know what SURE, MAYBE, or I Don't Care Means so just say YES mom!

We let Shelbi in on what we got Harlee for her birthday (which is in a couple of weeks) and we made her swear not to tell her what it is. So we were driving to Mcdonalds to play and I heard them talking and ..
Shelbi says..."I know what they got you for your birthday, Harlee."
Harlee says... "I know too."
Shelbi's eyes got huge and she asked, "what did they get you?"
Harlee said, "A Nope"
Shelbi "A note?"
Harlee "No, a Nope"
Shelbi "What's a Nope?"
Harlee "I don't know"
I was cracking up because when she asked Nate what she was getting he said NOPE!

This is the funniest age!

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Rich brought over some Easter baskets for the kids and Harlee named her bunny...."Easter" (She's just so... creative) she said sometimes it's a girl and sometimes it's a boy:)

The girls had a lot of fun coloring the eggs, and this year we used a little glitter because when it comes to girls, everything is better when it is pink and sparkly!

Poor Harlee was a little sick and she told me "no more pictures mom!". I told Shelbi that we have to leave the eggs out so the Easter Bunny can hide them when he comes tonight.

So the next morning I caught her peeking out the backdoor at like 6:30! She was so excited she couldn't wait for Harlee to wake up.

The boys were just in it for the candy. Trexton is a chocolate lover just like Nate, he ate an entire chocolate egg in like one bite, and the next day he pulled Harlee's chocolate bunny out of her basket and started just muchin away. And by the way he is finally taking a few steps...Yay!

Harlee was so busy getting mad at Shelbi for every egg she found, that she didn't find too many herself....It was so funny...Shelbi would shout out, "I found one" and Harlee would go running over there yelling, "No....SHELBI......ahh". I kept telling her there's not going to be another one in the same spot Harlee, but as soon as Shelbi would say it again, Harlee would take off again. We finally had to shut Shelbi down so Harlee could find a few:)

Happy Easter!

2008-03-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Spring Break

2008-03-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

We had a credit at Southwest airlines that we had to use by June so we decided to take the kids to Sea World for Spring Break! It was soooo much fun. The girls loved every minute of it and the boys loved.....well, most of it.

The boys checking out the Polor Bears

Our hotel had a great Tropical Pool for the kids with a huge sand box. It was great, right across the street from Sea World, less than a mile from Mission Beach, and our balcony overlooked the marina. We fed seaguls from our room and they would catch it right in the air. They even ate the chicken bones....it was so gross, I watched as one ate the entire breast bone in one gulp! so discusting.

The second day was a little warmer and Nate, Shelbs, and Harlee went down Atlantis. Nate said Shelbi was pretty scared but Harlee was hilarious she laughed and screamed the entire way down, she absolutely loved it.

We didn't stay long, but we had a blast at the beach, Shelbi was the bravest, she went all the way in and the rest of us just got our feet wet. The girls love to let the waves chase them and the boys kept trying to race down to the water. The couple next to us kept laughing because as soon as I could get one situated the other would take off down there and this went on and on. They were like "There he goes again....oops there the other one goes"

I had to fight for a picture of us, it looks all calm, but in the background the boys are screaming, Harlee keeps trying to run in the picture and Shelbi is our freezing photographer!

Anyway, I'm so glad we got to go and now I need a vacation to recoup from our vacation:) ...yeah right!

First Day of Preschool

2008-03-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe she is starting preschool. I thought it would get easier with each kid, but it isn't. I hate the feeling of dropping them off and letting them go by themselves for the first time. It's so sad because they are so excited and there you are about to cry. She tried finger painting for the first time, and couldn't believe she wasn't going to get in trouble for having paint all over her hands. She said she got to read some books, and play and she couldn't wait to go next time!

TAG

2008-03-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

If money time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and who would you go with?

I would go to Venice....I think it would be cool to see a city built on water plus I love italian food! And of course I would take Nate with me...

When was the last time you cried?

During the movie.. "PS I Love You"

5 things you were doing 10 years ago 1998

1. Living with Melissa Jo, Jennifer Finch, and Allison Judd.
2. Going to school at MCC
3. Working at Stanley Steemer, and Sunrise
4. Dating....
5. Moved to Utah with Nicki

5 things you were doing 5 years ago 2003

1. Living in our first home in Augusta Ranch
2. Working in the ER at Banner Baywood Medical Center
3. Cub Scout Leader
4. Pregnant with Harlee
5. I think we had just started looking for lots and house plans at the end of 2003

5 things you were doing a year ago 2007

1. My oldest (Shelbi) was in kindergarten in Cedar city
2. Had two healthy happy boys in Feburary
3. Moved back to Arizona in time to enjoy the Lake just a few miles from our house
4. Built a pool and landscaped our backyard
5. Started back to school after a 5 year break

7 favorite hobbies

1. Cooking.. it so fun to try new recipes
2. Reading.. I love a good novel
3. Wakeboarding.. I'm not very good, but is sure is fun
4. Volleyball.. (even though I never get to play anymore)
5. Learning.. because it's seems like that's all I do these days
6. Blogging.. so I don't forget the little things and so I can keep in touch with friends
7. Gardening.. my first time, and it's going good so far:)

5 favorite foods

1. Strawberries (dipped in chocolate or my new fav fruit dip....1 part whipped strawberry cream cheese and 1 part marshmellow cream.... it is soooooo good!)
2 Molly Butler Salmon Yum!
3. Shelbi's Special...a recipe I made up from a couple other recipes basically it's angel hair pasta, chicken, tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes and a cream sauce.
4. Nate's Baby Back Ribs...mmm mmm Tasty
5. Native New Yorker Honey Hot Wings

5 Places you've been

1. Atlanta GA. for the Olympic Summer Games
2. Austrailia for a Volleyball tournament
3. Concord New Hampshire (1st year of Marriage) also Boston temple and freedom trail and Vermont.. while we lived there. ooh and Wisconsen Dells, and Niagra Falls on the way out there:)
4. New York, and Jersey the Statue of Liberty, and the site of the twin towers
5. Disneyland...and Tomorrow....SEA WORLD (I have been there before but I'm excited to go again)

Sorry I just realized I forgot Hawaii we went to Maui:)

5 favorite memories (tough one)

1. Family vacations growing up were so much fun because there were so many of us. Going down to Mexico and Driving up the coast all the way to Oregon was a blast, even just going out to the ranch and telling the "Golden Hand" story and eating homeade icecream as a kid...it was great.
2. The year I spent in Idaho Falls I had so much fun and I learned so much, I decided I wanted to go on a mission and even though I didn't end up going I wouldn't trade that time for anything...which leads me too....
3. The day Nate asked me to marry him (the reason I didn't go on a mission) He was so cute up in Greer down on his knee. I didn't answer him right away....I didn't know what to do, I mean I had, had my farewell and everything, but I know I made the right decision!
4. All the time we have spent at the lake as family and I hope my kids keep these as one of their favorite memories when they grow up too.
5. The day I told Nate we were having twin Boys....it was so fun to watch him first, sweat it out thinking it might be another girl, then worry it might actually be two girls and finally watch him figure it out... running around, calling eveyone he could think of, and calling himself the manmaker!....So funny.

Thanks Linde it was kinda fun going down memory lane......

I Tag, How many are you allowed?......Ashley, Whitney, Melissa, Mandy, and Angie

FYI

2008-03-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

Okay a lot of people have asked me where I get my backgrounds from and I feel a little guilty taking any credit... Ashley, my sister-in-law has helped me a lot and I'm so excited that she finally started her own blog for it, so check it out http://ashleysbloglayouts.blogspot.com or you can get there from her blog on my sidebar:)

The Trist

2008-03-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Today is my little brother Tristan aka "The Trist" or "Tristone's" birthday. Shelbi's favorite uncle and one of the coolest kids I know! Mike took this picture at his basketball game and I'm not sure how they made it look like a drawing but anyway, Happy birthday Turkeybutt

CRAZY DRIVERS

2008-03-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

To get to our house you have to take a little dirt road and that road leads to some trails and a lot of people bring there dirt bikes and horses or whatever out here. Aside from a little extra dust this doesn't bother me....the thing that bothers me is the people that come out here to do....other things. These crazy kids (I know I sound like an old lady) but they are! Anyway, They come flying down this dirt road and have probably been drinking at the very least. One day a group of them got in an accident and we ended up with the entire fire dept. in our house and some stranger in shock bleeding all over my couch! Well today when I was coming home from taking Shelbi to ballet a car came flying around the corner and it made me so mad, I gave him the dirtiest look I could, then I looked in my reirview mirror and probably three car lengths back was his SUV on its side! Holy crap! Somehow it had done a 180 and ended up on its side in the middle of the road the second it got past me..Luckily they were fine and I asked if they needed help or for me to call anyone but they said no...(Of course, they always say no because they don't want the cops to find out what they have been doing). I was trying to be nice but I was so mad, I mean I had five kids in the car with me! I watched them from my driveway for awhile, and since no one was hurt, I could laugh at them trying to push the car back over by themselves and run and hide evidence way off the side of the road before the cops showed up, it was kinda funny! Anyway all I know is after the fire dept. left about five cop cars stayed and they stayed awhile.......good, those crazy drivers deserve it.

Family Pictures

2008-02-29T12:26:00.000-08:00

So we tried to take some family pictures before church on Sunday, and it's a miracle to get us all looking at the camera at the same time, let alone keep thumbs out of mouths, get Harlee to smile, and keep the boys shoes on ...but Mike managed to get a couple, Thanks Mike and Ashley you did a great job!

Nate was actually a pretty good sport about it

Harlee was hilarious, Mike would tell her to look up, or smile big, say cheese, and these are some of the faces we got:)

Our Big Girl Talk

2008-02-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

The other day I told Shelbi I wanted to have a "big girl" talk with her.

She said, "No, I don't want to."
I said, "Why not?"

She said "because I think that means I'm in trouble"

I told her it wasn't and we talked about how important it is for her to make good choices, how sometimes things don't seem bad because everyone else is doing it, but they are, and a few other things, I won't go into all the details... but she kept asking "why?". So I told her that I believe we have a Heavenly Father, and I believe in Satan and he tries to get us to do bad things and sometimes he's sneaky about it. And she said, "Oh! I understand."

The next day she came home and said, "Satan sure tried to get me today, mom!"

I said, "Oh.....?"

She said, "Yeah, he almost made me get a YELLOW sticker." (instead of green which means good).

The funniest part was the look on her face...so serious.

The Opening Act

2008-02-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

I'ld say my boys got spoiled, but there is two of them so why not have two parties????
Rich and Mary came over to celebrate with us and the boys got some practice diving into the cake. It was hilarious, Trex dove in with both hands and was shoveling it in his mouth. But by the end I think Dax was the dirtiest!

Double The Fun

2008-02-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

We got to celebrate the boys 1st birthday in Eagar. It was a lot of fun. Amanda and I made the cakes and if you can't tell they are SUPPOSED to be footballs.. Colleen told us to dip our knives in cold water, which works great by the way, but we had already pretty much butchered them. The boys didn't seem to mind though. Thanks for all the gifts and it was great to see family and friends while we were there!

Happy Late Birthday to Daniel!
And Happy Birthday Amanda!

Happy Birthday Boys

2008-02-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

One of Those Monday's

2008-02-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

First I planted......

MY FIRST GARDEN

I planted Watermelon, Strawberries, Squash, Zuccini, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Jalepenos,

Carrots, and Cilantro! I've always wanted to plant one, so I guess we'll see if it works:)

Next a dip in the Hot Tub

Then...

A Little Rockband Anyone?

Mike and Ashley stayed with us because all of their furniture is now in Cedar City.

Shelbs had vocals

Mike was on the drums

I had the guitar

and Harlee covered Bass while Ashley took a break.

Afterwards, Nate and I even squeezed in, a night out at the movies. What a great day!

The girls got silly...

2008-02-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

Rich came over the other night to eat with us and he brought the girls some Valentines. They got so excited, that they started acting a little crazy, and Nate snapped this picture. Anyway I told Rich I would post it so here it is....Thanks for the Valentines!

I Passed.......

2008-02-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I passed the HESI exam (Nursing Entrance Exam) and I put my application in. They start doing interviews at the end of April so I won't find out if I got in for awhile, but it's such a relief to finally have it done! I'm enjoying this releif because if I do get in it will all be over! It's something I've wanted to do forever. I thought it would take me a little longer to get to this point, and I'm not sure that I'm ready, but for now, I'm just going to keep moving forward until I can't. I'm excited!

Last night I watched "Becoming Jane". I don't know why, but I loved that movie...Probably because I love her books and I just didn't realize how much her own life affected her writing. While I was living in Cedar and pregnant with the boys my doctor put me on limited restriction, so I had alot of time to read and I ran out of good stuff, so I asked by brother M.Jay for any recomendations that I might actually like and he said, "Why don't you go back to the classics, like Jane Austin or something." Great Advice! So if you liked the movie "Pride and Predjudice" watch "Becoming Jane" or better yet, if you haven't already, read some of her novels. This does, however, go beyond "chic flic", Oh and "PS I Love You" ranks up there too!

Details...

2008-02-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

Nate sometimes forgets to tell me little details....like for example

We took down the fence that seperated our driveway from the road in front of our house so a delivery truck could get through. Well, Nate was complaining that everyone was driving through there now (including myself) and it was tearing up our driveway, so he decided to tie a rope across it....and he forgot to mention this to me. So that night I took off in our little car and drove right through it! It scared the crap out of me! Luckily nothing happened to the car or the rope but I can't say what might happen to Nate....

I'm kidding actually he's pretty great, Yesterday he took all the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmonks so I could have some free time! He's brave, I sure wouldn't try to take the twins to a movie.

Shelbi came home from school on Friday and apparently she got her first Valentine. A huge chocolate heart from a boy on her bus. She showed me some diamonds (rocks) he also gave her, so I asked her if she liked him and she said no, but Shelbi can't be mean to anyone so she made him a special Valentine that says "Dear Chad, I'm really glad your my friend, you're a really good friend." I guess they learn what "Just Friends" really means in first grade.

It's the cutest saddest thing ever but lately Dax will reach over and try to give Trexton a hug and kiss him and Trex will just push him off. I get all proud of Dax for doing it....but at the same time, even though I feel sorry for Dax, I get a little proud of Trex for not putting up with it. It just causes a chain of different emotions. Crazy, Cute, Sad, Funny...I don't know, I feel it all!

Just some random thoughts

2008-02-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

I apologize upfront to all you bikers, but seriously

When I was driving home from the park, I came up behind a biker, ugh. They like to ride up by the mountain behind our house and there isn't a bike lane, so when there is oncoming traffic you have to slow down behind them. This is one of the reasons I will never be a biker, along with the fact that they wear those stupid spandex shorts. Anyway, if the built in butt pads aren't bad enough, their helmets now come fully equipped with a reirview mirror!
I guess now they can see me laughing at them.....(or something else I won't mention)

My sister came down the other day to take her real estate exam (which, by the way she passed, congrats!)and she kept telling me to put positive thoughts into the universe and watch them come back to you....
So when we were running late to the movie, and we were all mad, she said it again and sure enough a parking space opened up right in the front row!

My last thought is about how great kids are, they make you laugh, cry, love, and learn more than you ever thought you could. I love being a mom!
D&C 29:47
Wherefore, they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me;

Caught in the Act!

2008-02-05T12:28:00.000-08:00

I totally busted her trying on Dad's work boots, and pants....
We are going shopping to get her some pretty high heels and dresses ASAP
I won't have my girl climbing poles when she grows up!

She's a little turd most of the time but she sure keeps us laughing.
Here's some of things she's said lately
When Nate calls at night she says:
"Hey dad, are you working like a dog in the dark?"
This morning, music videos were playing and I caught her really shakin it in the kitchen
She said:
"I think those girls shake their butts when they sing. hahaha"
When she got in trouble the other night, she was crying and she said:
"Dad made the runny boogers come."

Yummy!

2008-02-05T11:20:00.001-08:00

Nate made his famous ribs for the Super Bowl and of course the boys loved them. They'll sit there all night and just chew on the bones. Football and Ribs.....Well Boys Will Be Boys!

He's in no hurry!

2008-02-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

Trexton still won't budge, He just stands there and dives for it.

He doesn't hesitate to show off his new two front teeth though. We were laughing because he totally smiles for the camera every time.

One step at a time...

2008-02-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

The other day I said Dax could take one step..WELL

He has finally made it to two steps and we are so proud!!

BETWEEN NATE AND HARLEE.....

2008-01-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

So Harlee had a bad week...I won't go into all the details but destroying my room was just the beginning. And I've been thinking what is the deal with this kid?
Is this a phase?
Does she need more attention?
Am I the worst mom on the planet?
Well, I got my answer shortly after she broke the zoom on our camera...
Nate took the camera to work so he could drop it off to get fixed, and he accidently left it at work..Don't worry it didn't get stolen....No, it got drowned in his lunch box that he left in the rain. Has anyone you know ever drowned a camera in a lunch box???
So the answer to my question really is... SHE GETS THAT FROM HER DAD!

This is just an old picture, I thought was cute, on a day we had a lot of fun!

IN A MATTER OF MINUTES

2008-01-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

I was feeding the boys, feeling overconfident, thinking that my girls were in my room watching cartoons...15 minutes later I walk into my room to find cereal all over my bed, every color of fingernail polish out and open in my bathroom, several washcloths in various places where she had spilled, all my photos taken out of their frames and scattered throughout my room.

Man did she get it!

Then I made the mistake of walking into her bathroom....

Here, I found my craft paint open and spilled all over the tile, one of my nice towels on the floor where she had tried to clean it up, desitin smeared on the mirror, and every barbie in a cup where she was giving them a bath

She must have done this while I was cleaning the first mess up because there is no possible way she could have done all of this so fast.

Her new nickname "TORNADO"

Fun, Fun, Fun

2008-01-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

I thought this part of the trip was scary!

Until Nate made me drive.......

I'm a horrible, HORRIBLE driver!

Double Take

2008-01-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

Take one

Take two

2008-01-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

.......

2008-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

There is no real point to this post other than to get rid of that stupid song on my slideshow!

2008-01-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

I just can't stand to hear that song one more time.

Can you say BOY CRAZY?

2008-01-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

So the other day Shelbi came home from school and she says,

"I have a boyfriend mom"

These are the words I've dreaded hearing ever since she was born.

Still hoping I say "OH, what's his name?"

(this is where she used to say Nate), but sure enough she says, "Jacob"

So I asked, "Why don't you tell me about him?".

She goes on.. telling me all about this little turd.

At the end of the conversation I asked "Honey does Jacob know he's your boyfriend?".

"NO MOM! HOW EMBARASING!"

Luckily she stomped off before she could see me laughing. I guess Nate doesn't have to lock her up just yet....

Here's a picture of her after ballet. I'm thinking about putting her in a few more things so she doesn't have time to think about boys.

The Little Tease

2008-01-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

Trexton always wins the fight for toys and Dax is a pretty good sport about it. I just didn't realize this behavoir of teasing started so early. Trex was putting the spoon in his mouth so Dax would try to get it and then as soon as Dax would try he would take it out and would crack up laughing. He thinks he's so funny.....

So this morning when I was feeding the boys (Dax can climb out of his highchair and Trexton can't yet) I saw Dax go for it and I thought for sure he'll win this time, I better get my camera....

Here we see Dax go for the Fruit Loop......

And here we see Trexton take it back.........

I guess the poor guy's never gonna win.

One day at a time

2008-01-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we went to church and a nice sunday drive that may or may not have included shotguns and alot of dove...
On Monday family day (since Nate is working nights) homeade potato soup and hottubbing in the rain...Dax took his first step, litterally only one step and Trexton just stands and dives for it.
On Tuesday errands, errands, errands but I ran into Tiffany and Erin Finch at the mall which was fun, then the girls and I watched Surfs Up and built castles out of blocks so we could knock them down (Harlee's idea)
Tomorrow.....Who know's ?

New Years Resolutions

2008-01-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

Shelbi
Go to the Park more.
100% on my phonograms.
Go to the ghosttown, definately.

Harlee
Go to preschool.
Go to the mall.........
Grow bigger and bigger.

Jennifer
Get straight A's this semester.
Start exercising.
Do better on family home evening.
Be a better mom and wife.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-12-31T13:33:00.001-08:00

My Three Boys

2007-12-31T12:37:00.000-08:00

Nate thinks he's great cause he got both the boys to sleep at the same time, ....did I say both....I guess after all that he needed a little rest himself.

Santa's Theme Park

2007-12-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

We got rained out on the first try, it was freezing on the second try, and we all got sick but it sure was fun. Tammy, Brando, Mike, and Ash all came too.

Christmas Calendar

2007-12-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

The girls had a blast making Christmas Cookies with Mike and Ash for their Christmas Calendar. So far we've also gone to the temple to look at the lights, and gone to Santa's Theme park. Both we're alot of fun and I hope we get to go to more of the activies they planned. The funniest was when Harlee went through the maze made out of glass. She smacked her face right into the first panel and Mike told her to hold her hands up in front of her face, and she was like "o.k." then she turns around and does the exact same thing again. She Listens So Well.....Mike on the Mechanical Bull was a close second.

Steve and Coleen take a crack at it...

2007-12-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

Grammie and grandpa came to visit. They were so great to take the kids so Nate and I could go out on a date. While they were here they gave the boys a bath and I think they had better luck than I did...

Typical bath time

2007-12-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

I start the water. Then I undress Dax and he takes off. I undress Trexton and look over just in time to see Dax pee all over the carpet. I run to clean that up and Trex heads for the bath where I have left the water running. I let some of the water back out and turn around to see Trex pee all over the tile. I finally get them both in the bath just in time for Dax to take a crap! Ew...I grab Dax But Trex is fast and very curious about this new brown floating toy so I grab Trex too (just in time), completely soaking myself, and leave the bathroom feeling dirtier now than when I started the whole process.